Uncle Danny

I get why Williams is laughed at here. Really, I do. But $600k and two way for a veteran who has proven he can provide secondary/tertiary scoring? Even if he's below average in that role, they hardly broke the bank for him and have no contractual reason to keep him in the bigs if he doesn't put up numbers. He'll never make a huge impact on the ice, but he's also not in a position here to make a huge impact on their cap or roster size. I say good signing. Not great, simply good.

Easily among the top three individual PK performances in recent Wings history (see: Helm, Hank). I was out of my seat when this happened. Absolutely fantastic.

That's what I thought until I read this here

For those using Gamecenter and experiencing local blackouts, has anyone tried using an anonymous proxy (or non-anonymous for that matter) to get around the blackout restrictions? I used Gamecenter for a full season, and decided not to re-up because of these restrictions...but it occurs to me now that proxying might get me around them, in which case I'd subscribe again this coming season. It's a great service otherwise.

Like others have said, there are plenty of options, the pay ones being the more reliable (and honest) options. Fear not. I've lived in California for 12 years, and haven't been forced to miss more than a handful of games I wanted to watch in all that time.

Terry Carkner is going to be PISSED.

You'd probably have better luck running an emulator these days. I'm guessing that even if you could get the thing to boot (and find an adaptor for your TV), those 5.25" floppies gave up the ghost long ago. Anyway, back on subject... if he dons #64, I will be the first in line for his jersey. The only thing cooler would be if he could rock the number ",8,1"

C64s also never had hard drives (but I heart the 1541 drives), and the photo of the afroed computer is a C128, not 64. Oh, HELL yes! Love it!

Selanne assures me that this isn't true

I've reached my quota of +1s for the day, otherwise you'd have gotten one right there. It frustrates me to see fellow fans beating their heads against the wall over what I perceive to be small or non issues, but you're absolutely right here. Vent on, Red Wings nation PS: That doesn't mean I won't vent back telling them that their gripe is silly -- but then, that's kinda at the heart of what you said, no? Good post.

If you aren't aware, the Wings also lost a 36 year old bottom pairing DMan. People, Commodore is NOT Rafalski's replacement! Jiminy! $1m for 1 year for a guy who hits, fights, plays stay at home D? What's the beef here?

I'm still not worried. Holland hasn't moved (that we're aware of) on any of what is a mediocre class of FAs. Good on him, I say (Ericsson signing aside). We "know" that he's trying to unload Huddles, and he's on record as saying he's not after merely "above average" players. To me this smells of him trying to make a big splash by going after a big, big name.

You scared me there for a minute until I realized he's wearing blue jeans. That means he's going to MTL.

On that note, what do you suppose the likelihood that we start seeing more players requesting NTCs and/or testing the UFA market as a result of the past few days? Setoguchi and Carter both just go no-vaselined for signing in (assumed) good faith.

To that end, I agree with you. I don't see this as a net win for San Jose. Gooch is one hell of a player, and to give up the additional assets on top of it hurts a ton. I'm not so terribly concerned with the injury portion, though. Kronwall, just as one example, had a crazy string of injuries a few years back, and has rebounded nicely. Sometimes dumb luck is just dumb luck... and it has to end at some point. This is a good pickup by the Sharks, and they are a better team right now for it. I just doubt the wisdom of giving up so much so quickly. My only gripe in my previous post was people counting them out as perennial choke artists. They've certainly not done much to prove me wrong in recent years, but they're too good of a team to dismiss outright due to some flameouts. Either way, I'm sure Burns is ecstatic and Gooch is pissed right now. What a dick move to sign and trade like that.

Well said. I'd also add that similar things were said about a certain team whose colors are red and white in the early/mid 90's. In fact, I recall a kid wearing #19 was almost traded away as a result. But you all already know this story.

This. I'd add that we've been blessed with hard working, talented vets who have the gift of longevity. It would be a silly move to replace a multiple cup winning plugger whose game is still on with an unproven kid who will benefit more from the minutes played in the AHL (sadly, it seems these days are drawing to an end). Regarding Ericsson, I know GMR was making half a joke, but I have to chime in. As much hate as Big Rig takes on these boards, he's a great example of why the Red Wings system works. This kid was the last person drafted in 2002, and he played his first full season in the NHL in 2009. He may not have (definitely didn't) pan out to be a star, but for the last kid picked on the playground, he's done incredibly well for himself. Many teams would today pick him for their bottom pairing in a heartbeat. In fact, I'd venture that on a team asking for more of a physical presence of him, he'd flourish. Not bad for a kid who was one pick away from being a walk on. EDIT: stupid run on sentences.

Wait, wha? I'm neither a Hudler slappy nor among those saying Talbot doesn't have his merits...but wha? You'd take Talbot over Hudler? F'realz?

Holy crow. That picture makes Nick look like the lovechild of himself and Mickey Redmond.

Actually, seems like they're performing both portions of the equation pretty well.

Since it wasn't the Wings' year, I'm stoked to see the Cup go to an Original 6 team, and the MVP to a Michigan boy. This is just about the second best outcome I could've hoped for. Congrats, Mr. Thomas.

I'm for it, if it can happen on the cheap. I think 70 points is a stretch, but given the right environment and some seasoning, I don't think 60+ potential is out of the question. He's quite a wizard in the SO as well. Imagine having to face both Datsyuk and this kid as an opposing goalie. I think some of those 1 pt games suddenly turn into 2pts for us.

More than Hudler, but less than Shea Weber.

Dude, go back and watch some old Yzerman clips. He had a mouth for miles -- there is a reason he never won the Byng, and I doubt he defies your definition of "classy."

Ditto. I'm going to cling to my faith in humanity and, like the poster above me, chalk this one up to them chanting part of his name.