Nev

Why? Because they claimed Miller off waivers because we had so many injuries. Once Franzen came back we had too many players and were over the cap so someone had to go. Miller had earned himself a roster spot with his play and Leino hadn't, so Ville was traded. If Leino had played for Detroit this season like he has played for Philly in the playoffs maybe he wouldn't have been traded. Plus I don't think its fair to pin this on Holland, its pretty clear that Babcock never liked him.

I think some people still think of him as a superstar power forward like he was in his Vancouver days and not a 36-37 year old with a bad back. Others have never forgiven him for the Moore incident. But 1.5M for an 18 goal winger ain't too bad in my book. He was healthy all season, carried the team in December, and if he could just cut out the bad penalties (and the refs quit with the reputation calls) there'd be little to complain about IMO

LOL, I remember that Carolina clip As for his tall tales, he had a bit of a reputation for getting false stories put in his personal bio in the Press guide the teams release each year. I remember one year he got in there that he was the 3rd goalkeeper for Ireland football team in the 1994 World Cup squad

Wonder if in a couple of years time Cheli will regret retiring too early? "man, I coulda played another coupla years in the AHL..." Favourite memories - mentoring Fisher at the same time as winning the Stanley Cup in 2002. Man, what a 2nd pair that was

Beat me to it - was just about to post that Ville says hi from the conference finals. Good for him, sometimes being rejected is what it takes for someone to realise what being an NHL player is all about - cf Cleary, Eaves, Miller.

Perhaps the fact that Montreal fans did this, and the fact that there are incessant Crosby threads on LGW indicates the depth of feeling towards him? Outside of Pittsburgh and NHL head office he is the most unpopular player in the NHL - by both fans and players. I work with a big Montreal fan, after this series he said to me today "I see what you've been complaining about Pittsburgh and Crosby for the last 2 years. It was embaressing at times"

Hal Gill had 7 minor penalties in 7 games against the pens - including 2 in the 3rd period of game 7. He had just 3 in 20 games for the pens last summer. I'm not saying he doesn't clutch, grab, hold and interfere all over the ice, because as we know he does. But its startling how he seems to be held accountable to different standards depending on whether he wear black and gold or not. Anyone who thinks that some sort of conspiracy, in a major sporting league, in a western nation, in the 21st century, needs to read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Italian_football_scandal

Oh man, I forgot about that Eaves fight. The cool thing was that it was so totally unexpected, and a pretty good scrap to boot.

See, the beauty of sucking for most of the season - there's maybe a dozen memorable games in this thread. Isn't that better than the usual Wings 50 win seasons? Ho-hum, another 6 game winning streak. Notice how our players actually celebrated goals this season instead of the usual understated glove tap? Goals are unexpected rewards now, not routine and expected.

As long as he wins Gold and joins the Triple Crown club, its all good. And its hardly like playing a 7 game series against Vancouver is it?

Shame he was pretty much washed up when he got here. I can only echo Babcock's comment about wanting him 4 years ago - a 34 year old May was a different proposition.

Best game of the year was the SO loss at home to Chicago at the Joe (the one live on NBC). Incredible, fast paced, end to end game. If you wanted to show someone who wasn't a fan of the game what makes Hockey so great, I would show them this game. And even though we lost in the SO, Dats and Bert scored with a pair of incredible moves.

This is how I imagine the Detroit zone looks to opposing forwards as they're trying to skate the puck in Awesome work, shame I can only give you +1 rep

Before the start of the Montreal - Pittsburgh series I wondered how many penalties Hal Gill would get for interference now that he's playing against the Pens, not for them. I guess I have my answer. Game 1 - Holding Game 2 - Interference Game 3 - Holding 6 PIMs in 3 games. His PIM total for the entirety of last summers cup run? 6

Hmm, yes, that must be it. Crosby is the only player in the last 6 playoff series to outwork Hal Gill.

Game 4: Two more minors, holding and slashing. Wow, Gill has become really undisciplined since he left Pittsburgh eh?

The entire Joe needs to be chanting Nick's name all night long. This could well be the last time he will ever wear the red & white. I have. Alas it was 92-93, the year we traded for Coffey who was the big name on D and neither I, nor anyone else knew then just how great Lidstrom would become

Actually, he said almost the same thing sometime between the Olympics and the playoffs, ie the knee isn't 100%, its still causing me pain and I won't be close to 100% till next season. To be brutally honest I thought he came back too soon from the injury anyway, based upon what I've read from various athletes who've had major knee surgery.

OK, reading all these quotes from the Wings, I am now officially scared. It is sounding worryingly like he is going to retire. As HoH points out, his retirement is going to leave a gaping hole on the Wings, far bigger than Yzerman's retirement. He's still one of the top 5 d-men in the league, but I guess age and injury have shown him to be human this season, for the first time ever. You never ever saw him make mistakes before. And for a guy who is so used to being perfect all the time, that must be hard to take. I'm reminded of Roy's retirement. He was still good, but no longer dominant. I remember the look on his face after they got upset by the Wild, he couldn't understand why he couldn't stop them from scoring.

All these people who think Babcock is so awful, I would genuinely like to see you name the names of who you think would be a better coach. I sure hope he doesn't get run out of town, because I'd hate for him to go to another contender like Washington or Chicago and be the guy that puts them over the top.

That's precisely the point. We've seen him up close and personal in the finals, committing interefence on virtually every shift, yet getting only 3 minors in 20 odd games. I think he had 1 minor in the Washington series. Now he's playing against the pens and suddenly he gets 3 minors in 3 games. Now, where did I leave my tinfoil hat.....

And yet, in 2008 when we did this we were a defensive machine. We had the ability to totally lock down a game in the 3rd with a 1 goal lead.

Yep, he's not been Ozzie-08-09-regular-season terrible, but to give up 4 goals each and every game.....you gotta at least give your team a chance to win the game, and if you have to score 4-5 goals a game to win, that ain't gunna happen in the playoffs.

This x1000

Yeah, cos that Anaheim team he took to the finals was such a stacked roster And all those obscure minor colleges and junior teams he won with.... Babcock is the best coach in the league, hands down. Y'know, even Bowman didn't win the cup every single year.