stud_defenseman

I was way off

It sure is a bit of a gamble, but Holland's track record as of late has been pretty good. Keep in mind, this isn't just Holland's doing, everyone around him knows what skill looks like and they have surely been informing Holland on Flip's potential. The same goes for the signing of Kronwall. TBH I didn't think he was going to be such a great player, but now I see Kronner as being our #1 guy once Lids retires. Flip looks decent to us fans, but most of us are probably ignorant to many of the small things that are the true indicators of his potential skill level. I expect him to slowly but gradually increase his skill and productivity throughout his career, eventually nearing the 70 pt range.

Seems like smart business to me. Snowbirds are Canadians who travel south for the winter, usually Florida.

Not everyone is going to accept a two-way deal.

haha, c'mon he isn't david beckham. reading the comments on the article are funny, some of the people don't even know who Zetterberg is.

It definetly is possible to get Hossa signed. Holland wouldn't be saying it if it wasn't possible. There are a number of factors invovled though. 1) The cap is going to have to go up another 5 million. 2) Holland is going to have to remain strong on his stance that no Red Wing should make more than Lidstrom. I am fairly confident that Zetterberg would sign for 7.4 as long as he got a long term deal (6 years). Hossa would possibly sign for 7 mill for having the chance to remain a wing. We would probably have to give him a 5 year deal though. I doubt that Franzen will continue to pop in goals at his current rate, so I doubt his value will go much over 3.5 mill. Maybe this is all wishful thinking, but i think it is a possibility.

I watch a lot of OHL hockey via the Oshawa Generals and fighting is generally accepted, even encouraged. It can almost be guarenteed that if a team gets up to a massive lead there are going to be a plethora of fights instigated by the losing team. Everyone cheers, the guys go to the box and that is all.

As much as some people would like to, you can't blame the parents for everything to do with their children's deficiencies. While he has cleary inherited his father's tendencies towards anger and violence, no excuses should be made for him. I'm glad to see that he was charged.

If someone is going to be traded I imagine it will be a defenseman. We will have Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Lilja - Lebda Chelios - Meech Ericsson - Quincey I imagine it will be Lilja, even though they just signed him. I still don't quite understand why they would work to get Cheli signed and get rid of Lilja who is younger and slightly better. Cheli is gonna have to take a 2-way contract if we want to keep everyone.

If someone is going to be traded I imagine it will be a defenseman. We will have Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Lilja - Lebda Chelios - Meech Ericsson - Quincey I imagine it will be Lilja, even though they just signed him. I still don't quite understand why they would work to get Cheli signed and get rid of Lilja who is younger and slightly better. Cheli is gonna have to take a 2-way contract if we want to keep everyone.

That was pretty much exactly what I was thinking. While it may seem strange to pay flip 3 mill to center the third line, having him there would make us ridiculously deep down the middle and would give us a pretty good third line. Considering Babcock's intense man-love for Sammy you could even see him on the second line with Z and Franzen (which actually isn't that bad), and a third line consisting of Hudler - Filppula - Cleary. They will be on the scoresheet on a fairly consistent basis. That would give us 3 good scoring lines. I am getting sick of trying to forecast lineups, because as we all know they will change 100,000,000 throughout the season.

LOL, I said this in another thread.

Sign them all. I believe Quincey can still play in GR without having to be waived, so his salary will not go against the cap. Offer Cheli, McCarty and Downey 2-way contracts. The problem is whether or not they will accept them. But to be honest, I doubt there will be any significantly better offers from any other teams.

I think I like this one slightly better too. Z and Franzen were together for soooo many goals during the playoffs, and while many of them were shorties, I think they have developed some pretty good chemistry. I think Dats and Hossa will just be deadly as well. You can put maltby and mcarty as their line mates and they will still be scoring every night. The only thing I dread is bringing in an elite winger like Hossa and having him being centred by an average center. Babs is not dumb enough to do that though.

According to espn, during the regular season Franzen actually averaged 17.44 min per game while homer had 17.33. During the playoffs this ballooned to 18.49 for Franzen compared to 17.10 for Homer. I just think FRanzen has a lot more to his game than Holmstrom does, he is the better skater, shooter, and has better moves. Homer just has etched a groove out in front of the net, but Franzen has even begun taking that from him. Hence part of the reason that Holmstrom makes so little money. He is a fairly 1-dimensional player, but is very fortunate that he has developed such good chemistry with Dats and Z, on another team I don't think he would be much more than a 3rd liner.

And what I may ask is their other department? Do they have a baseball department?

I just threw up all over my keyboard. Why Scotty, why?!?! edit: after thinking about this for a second, the only reason I can see why this is happening is that Scotty is being sent over as a spy. He is going to start influencing his son to make a deal sending Toews and Kane over to Detroit for Sammy, Hudler, Flip and a 3rd rounder. Phew, smart thinking Kenny., you had me worried for a second.

I could see Homer losing some icetime with Franzen and Cleary showing they are capable of jumping into his role.

If Flip can up his production next year to between 45-50 pts he will be almost worth the money. If he can get himself up to around a 60+ pt a year player he will be well worth 3 mill a year. Can't deny that he is a good defensive player as well. I thought they would have been able to get the deal done for 2.5 though.

could you post one anyways?

And what kind of player was Carbonneau ...He was before my time.

I hate to say it but yea, 10m > Ring. McCarty would probably sell Sundin a few of them for a good price anyways.

I would agree that Pittsburgh was probably the strongest down the middle. Staal is a little overrated I think though. I thought he was going to turn into an elite scorer, but he will likely fall into a draper type roll. Next year if they split up Dats and Z, let Flip center the third line, and keep Drapes on the 4th line they will arguably be the best down the middle. Zetterberg Crosby Datsyuk Malkin Filppula Staal Draper Talbot Impossible to say what the heck they are going to do next year though, but I am almost positive Z and Franzen will be on a line together and Datsyuk and Hossa on another.

Z's wife is smokin hot. I bet when Z gets his time with the cup he is going to make love to his wife with the cup in his bed. Maybe she will be straddling it. Just a thought from the mind of a pervert.

They are both excellent players. I think Z is slightly better overall, but with his injury problems I think Iginla would be the better package. I still wouldn't trade Z for Iginla though as Zetterberg fits into this team too well. Last 3 seasons for both players. Zetterberg 2005-2006 DET 77 39 46 85 2006-2007 DET 63 33 35 68 2007-2008 DET 75 43 49 92 Iginla 2005-2006 CGY 82 35 32 67 2006-2007 CGY 70 39 55 94 2007-2008 CGY 82 50 48 98 Their stats are very comparable, Iginla seems to be a little less consistent though. I just wish Z didn't get injured as much or he would be the clear favourite