Nev

I completely forgot about the Pain Train....its triple bummage for him to not be able to play

Give that man a prize

Yep, dying seconds of game 6..... To be fair, its been his money move for a while, but he does need to do something different now and then, just to keep the goalies honest. I remember someone saying once that Kariya had a backhand slapshot - anyone got a video of it?

Depressed? no. Bored that this off-season seems 5 times longer than last years? Hell yes! Having said that, Game 7 sat unwatched on my hard drive for over a month (work prevented me from watching it live). In the end, I had to force myself to watch it, just so that I had seen it. Then spent a day wishing Kronwalls shot was 1cm lower, or Lidstrom had scuffed his shot along the ice But once the season starts, I shall probably be depressed by the Crosby hype, which will be at levels of hysteria beyond that previously seen - if such a thing were possible.

Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Cleary Leino - Fillpulla - Franzen Williams - Helm - Bertuzzi Eaves/Maltby - Draper - Holmstrom Homer bumped down to the 4th line to save his body for the PP and the playoffs. I've tried to maintain the skater/shooter-net-front combo that Babs likes so much on each line.

Certain "traditionalists" see it as showing off, "look-at-me" and against the team concept. As for Bertuzzi, great signing at a good price. He was never up to full speed following his back injury when he signed with us last time, and lets not forget he really wanted to sign with us back then but he just couldn't turn down that ridiculous contract that Burke offered him. He's also playing for his next contract don't forget. If he can put up 20 goals and stay reasonably healthy, he can grab himself a 2 or 3 year deal somewhere.

Only if you signed that contract before you were 35 (or maybe 36?). So if Maltby or Draper retired tomorrow, we would be stuck with their cap number till the contract they signed expired.

Soul Train, what can I say except "Joe Thornton makes his wingers rich" John Buccigross.

Don't know why, but this in my #1 Roenick memory. I remember he gave a really great interview afterwards in one of his articulate lover of hockey moments as opposed to his loud-mouthed classless moron moments.

Great thread, with some really great posts. Gotta agree with that. Lidstrom is unquestionably the better player. He's the 2nd best defenceman of all time. As the Wings rose to dominance in the 90s Yzerman was only the 2nd best centre on his team. Yzerman gave the Wings respectability, and gave the fans hope. But try not to look at this with too much hindsight. People forget the **** storms after the '94 debacle, the '95 disapointment, the '96 upset.......am I the only one to remember the calls for Yzerman to be traded, the constant "we'll never win anything with Yzerman as captain" refrains? The rumours of the trade to Ottowa that nearly happened. Fast forward to '02 on he leads the wings to another cup on one leg (my enduring image of Yzerman will be that playoffs, grimacing in pain every time he was knocked to the ice and having to use his stick to get himself back on his skates). Yzerman was the man who built the character of this franchise, the quiet, steely determination that also characterises Lidstrom and Zetterberg. But as another poster pointed out, it was Lidstroms arrival that turned us into a contender every single one of the last 15 years. When Yzerman retired we had Datsyuk and Zetterberg waiting in the wings. When Lidstrom retires.......I'm scared.

Typically narrow minded American list - because we all know team sports aren't played outside of North America, right? How about Sir Alex Ferguson or Fabio Capello?

Of course they were trying to circumvent the cap! Thats why teams sign players to these long term contracts! *shakes head* Honestly, the stupidity of this league never ceases to amaze me. What Chicago, Detroit etc do with these long-term contracts is within the rules - exploiting clauses in them to their own benefit - but within the rules neverthless. If the league doesn't like it, instead of making themselves look stupid, how about tightening the rules next time the CBA comes up for renewal.

Aah, great memories, thanks for posting. Funny how I clearly remember incidents from games 1 & 4, but nothing at all from 2 & 3! Kocurs sweet deke, Feds shot from inside the blue line, the scrum by the benches were the effects mike caught LeClair calling one of the Russians a "****ing commie B@stard". And what was up at the end? First there was no booing of Bettman And what was Yzerman doing leading the team in a handshake? Surely, after winning Detroits first cup in 42 years, after removing the monkey from his back that Detroit would never win a cup with him as captain, you would have thought he would have just wanted to celebrate with his team-mates, wouldn't ya?

Well, since Great Britain won't be getting the chance in 2010 to recapture the Gold that they won in 1936, I guess its back to rooting for Sweden again. Russia will be fun to watch, and as usual I hope Canuckistan falls flat on its face due to its insufferably arrogant fans (sorry LGWers from north of the border).

He wouldn't have scored any more goals because as the videos also showed, goaltending in the 80s and early 90s was absolutely atrocious. Nice mullet into the 90s though

I was also really impressed with all the quotes from him, and he had by far the most media attention because of his parents. He seemed to have a really, really mature attitude to it all. I know its way too early to tell, but he sure sounds like he'll be a full-time Wing in a few years.

Except, he's never really been a first liner until Babcock put him there. And whilst of course the 3rd line won't generate as much offense as the 1st, the fact is that that Babcock encourages demands that every line shoots, shoots and then shoots some more, and likes every line to have 1 player go straight to the net, whether that be Cleary, Franzen, Kopecky, whoever.

I certainly think that they need to drop him down to the 3rd line so he plays less minutes and doesn't get as much punishment. Also, the more he creaks, the less he can keep up with the pace our first line plays at. Cleary has proved he can play on that top line in Homers role. What worries me is the way he is talking about not knowing how much he has left etc. All ex professional sportsmen say the same thing about retirement - its not your body that tells you when to quit, its your head. For a long time, as long as you have the will, you can continue to play through your age-induced physical limitations. Once your head starts saying "enough" the body very quickly folds.

Pronger? Heavyweight? Are you having a laugh? Have you seen the guys fight card? On the rare, rare occasions he mans up and drops the gloves he takes on such reknowned tough guys as Jiri Slegr, Michael Handzus and Dan Cleary (and Handzus was tied up against the boards by the refs, and he poked Cleary in the eye). He is not "a pretty good heavyweight", he's a bully and a coward. Still, I look forward to him cross-checking Crosby 20 times a game, 6 games per season

And as I never tire of pointing out, he had a career high in Assists and Points last year despite spending most of the season on the 3rd line with little PP time. With the loss of Hossa, Sammy and probly Hudler he will get a LOT more playing time, probably centre the 2nd line. There've been a few comments from Holland, Babcock & co this post-season about expecting Flip to take it to the next level this season. He just needs to work on his shot - especially his shot selection. He passes far to often when he should shoot. That and consistency are the only 2 real weaknesses in his game. I expect him to have a breakout year on a line with Leino & Franzen.

Of all his qualities, the one I enjoyed the most about Sammy was his honesty. He was always great for a quote (points at sig). For years to come, we will reminisce about Sammy - when was the last time we had a player who produced both love and hate in you at the same time? For every clutch goal there were 100 turnovers, 500 expletives and 1000 blocked shots. Yet in 10 years time all those blocked shots will have blurred into one, but we'll still remember those 5 huge goals against San Jose, Pittsburgh and Chicago. He was a big part of our run the last 3 years. Good luck in Vancouver Sammy. You drove me insane as you dithered through the neutral zone with the puck, but I'll miss you all the same.

I stand to be corrected, but I'm sure I remember reading that Downey still counted against the cap. Lord knows there were enough threads about the cap last September. No, because players over 35, even if on a 2-way contract still count against the cap (see Sytemfel above stating McCarty cost us $420k)

Sorry, but why? The guy played what, half a dozen games last season? Fact is the Wings wasted $1M in cap space last year on him and Downey (because of their age, their NHL salary still counts against the cap, despite being on a 2 way contract). If they want to give him a contract with the Griffins, fantastic. Let him teach the young 'uns the Wings way, and what NOT to do, but the guy is, sadly, not an NHL player any more Use the money to sign a guy who can fight AND still play in the NHL.

Thing is, everyone talks about his 2 goals in that game, but the thing is that up until the Pens ballsed up that line change he was having a terrible game. That game was Sammy in a nutshell - exasperating and clutch all at the same time. Me, I'll miss his interviews. I've always liked his honesty and refusal to give stock answers. My favourite moment was in the 08 finals, we get the international feed, and every intermission they interview a Euro from one team, and the last question is always "would you like to say something to the folks back home in your native tongue?", which is followed by a load of gibberish which probly translates as "hi mom, hi dad, see you soon". Dave Strader: Mikael, one last thing before we let you go. This broadcast is going out all around the world, would you like to say something to the folks back home in your native tongue? Sammy [deadpan]: No, not really. *walks off* It was classic

2007 was pretty strong - Messier, Francis, Stevens and MacInnis, with Larionov missing out.