Nev

Does he deserve a raise? Yes absolutely, he is well underpaid for the points he puts up. Do I want him to get that raise with Detroit? Not so sure.... His best play has always been when he's a bit Scrappy Doo and goes to the net - like others have said, a mini Holmstrom. The years when he's done that? 2009 (23 goals) and this year (25 goals). The common denominator those seasons? The magic words - "contract year"

The moving his feet bit was around game 2 or 3. The "ask him" retort was the post game presser after we were eliminated.

What I find interesting is comparing Franzens comments to Babcocks. Babs said in the Nashville series that Franzen needs to move his feet and use his body to be effective, and said "we talk about that. A lot." When asked about his lack of production in the series he responds angrily with "ask him" Meanwhile Franzen says we have the players to win, but that he's bored and wants to have "more fun", leaving me wondering if this is a dig at Babcock being on his case all the time. Whatever, I just want his lazy, floating ass and his terrible attitude out of here as I've already said not least to send a message to the rest of the team - phoning it in and relying on Datsyuk to do all your work will NOT be tolerated.

No. If he's on the roster full time next season it means we've not signed any FAs and are potentially going into rebuild mode.

He did for the first 5 games. Then Games 6 + 7 he stopped giving up his customary one softie per game just long enough for them to win the cup.

Because of his age, won't he have to clear waivers if we try and send him down?

Holland

OK, I didn't realuse Jurco was 6-2, and I wasn't including Smith and Sheahan, was thinking more along the Nyquist/Tatar/Jarnok/Pulkinnen lines There will be someone willing to take him on, someone who wants a scoring winger, or needs to get to the cap floor. If the cap goes up to ~$70m then $4m per year isn't that much, he can retire when he gets older without damaging the cap. Much as we hate him, he's not quite in the Scott Gomez untradable category.

You forgot Holland: Getting Helm and Eaves back are our FA signings and Helm signs Offer Sheet with Penguins

I knew it was going to be a hefty suspension given his history, maybe even double figures. But bloody nora, 25 games????

Of the 2 - definately Holland. Hasn't acted upon the lessons of the SJ losses, and hasn't listened to what his coach wants. And I consider that the job of any good GM, to acquire the kind of players the coach he has hired wants (within reason of course).

You're denying that he kept Maltby too long? And Chelios? And gave McCarty another year which he then spent in GR? Loyalty and continuity have always been one of Detroits strengths, but Holland can be loyal to a fault.

Like Babs said - 2nd round, 2nd round, 1st round. We're going inthe wrong direction. "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence. Three times is a trend"

Hockey is pretty much over for me now, especially since the NHL in their wisdom didn't do a TV deal with a UK broadcaster this year, leaving me to root around on teh interwebz consuming my bandwidth. And anyone but Pittsburgh.

This is something I've tried to to articulate before, all hockey fans have a massive tendancy to over-rate their own prospects. Plus it seems like all our top prospects are (yet more) undersized skill players. Trade him for something, anything, anyone. Even if its a salary dump type trade. Right now its more important to shift his bone-idle arse out the door than it is to get "value" for him. A message needs to be sent to the entire roster that loafing will NOT be tolerated, and that is 10 times more important than whatever player or picks we get in return.

I dunno, he was pretty stoked about the Winter Classic, and I remember a quote at the time from him were he was saying that he was going to use the WC to persuade Nick to come back for another year. Perhaps a more pertinent question is whether Holland will offer him a new contract - or is that a silly question where Kenny and Vets are concerned?

It wasn't just tonight either, he's seemed "off" all series. I posted it in the GDT at the time, but in Game 3, when we went 3-1 down, there was a shot of him on the bench and I was shocked - the look on his face was......defeat.....despair....when for 20 years all we've seen is the same calm, proffessional demeanour, whether we're up 5-0 or down 5-0. That was the moment when I thought "he's retiring" Great shout, this is the way I'm starting to feel. Stevie Y was a 3rd line bit-player by the end, Chelios slowly slid all the way down the depth chart from "Norris Candidate" to "Healthy Scratch". I don't want to see that with Nick.

I remember the home streak - that was when we had a fit and healthy team wasn't it? When our star forward, all-universe defenceman and starting goalie were in form and not coming back from/playing with injuries?

Babs has been simmering since the trade deadline. He wasn't happy with what we added, he'd repeatedly said this was our best team since 08/09 (and it was before the injuries). He's made more references to the lack of size/toughness on the team than ever before. Now he's saying Nashville has 3 Franchise players and we don't, that they had better forward depth....

Dear Detroit RedWings. Do not let this happen again tonight. Thankyou for your time.

NHL's new handbook for player safety and supplementary discipline...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8oEa2csgpw

1) The roster has problems, we all know it, but Babs can only work with the hand he's dealt. I think its pretty obvious he's not happy with the roster as is. He always wants more size and toughness. He wanted a big upgrade at the deadline as he (quite rightly) felt this was our best chance since 2009. He's complained about Franzen not moving his feet or using his size. 2) Before the injuries, we were actually playing really well. Datsyuk and Howard were on fire - since they came back they've struggled to find form, fitness and confidence. We're missing Helm and Eaves which exposes our bottom 6 big style 3) Who is there available who is a better coach than Babcock? I want names people. Babcock is for me one of the top-5 coaches in the NHL. Who is available who could do a better job than him. Don't come here with your Hitchcock's and your Trotz's and your Tortorella's, we ain't gettting them. 4) Thats not to say I don't think some players aren't tuning him out - I think some are. But there will be roster turnover this summer, hopefully an infusion of youth and fresh faces will help - as some have made the comparison when we lost Lang, Schneider etc.

Apart from the puck not being there, leaving his feet, and shoulder to the head - clean hit!

Agree on Franzen, disagree on Hank - he really picked his play up when Datsyuk went down.