umredwing11

You always see those people who leave their car running at 7-11 while they run in real quick to buy a slurpee or something--those people are asking for it. We all let our cars run in the winter, but when you go to a overly crowded (and expensive) place like Starbucks and trust the locals not to steal your truck, you are just asking for it. Take the two seconds and take the key out. Off topic, but not really...anytime the name "Phaneuf" is brought up, I can't help but remember Cleary smoking him in the corner of the rink in last year's playoff round.

I am with you on this--I don't blame Holland for not biting on the Hossa thing or any others where the asking price was high. But Holland got himself into a couple problems, mostly because last summer he said we needed and would go after a second line scorer at the trade deadline. So he realized this problem and justified his decision not to sign someone as a UFA by stating that he'd left cap space to fix this issue at the deadline. Next, on a couple of deals I found the asking price of many players to not be that high (i.e. Lapointe, Fedorov). To that point, Holland justified letting these guys slide by saying they were not a good fit. I am just confused with the decision to not improve with secondary scoring and to only slightly upgrade on d-fence. I don't want to get rid of Holland, I just want to understand how he could stand pat when most of the Western conference vastly improved.

The Wings went into the 2003 playoffs facing zero challenges along the way. When they got there, and problems occurred, they hadn't the mental toughness or physical grit to get themselves out of it. Losing streaks suck, but they let your team know where its weaknesses are and hopefully, how to improve on them. Right now, if feels crappy--come playoff time we'll have fixed these problems (and gotten healthy).

This topic is exactly what I needed. Before the game, I was talking about Ericsson. I've been soo impressed with his play (and he just finished his third NHL game) that I don't understand why there is so much damn emphasis placed on the importance of resigning Lilja. Okay, I know Ericsson makes mistakes, as seen with getting caught flat-footed on one of the Oiler goals today. But he didn't take a hattrick of penalties, one leading directly to a tie and later loss of the game. I know Lilja feels bad when his stick consistently breaks, or when he takes stupid ass penalties, but if you don't have it, you don't have it. I say, ride him (or bench him) through the playoffs, but at the end of the season say goodbye and lets give Ericsson a shot.

I voted 60-80%--but now with the likely richards to dallas and hossa to habs trades, I am pretty convinced that there is no possibility for a big trade anymore (because, hey who is left?). IMO, the wings need some secondary scoring (we saw what happened when one player--Cleary--went down)--so I will hold out for something in that category now.

Crap--as much as I wanted Hossa, I am more concerned at Dallas getting Richards.

Has the night of the trade deadline ever started off this slowly? I feel like every year plenty of big things have happened by this time in the night. I am getting so tired that I got excited when I saw on the home page of lgw the words "tsn is reporting"--and then I realized it was just about Cowen--damn. Good thing my school has properly placed Spring Break week during that of the trade deadline.

Don't forget get about Yzerman's "talk show...talk show...oooo curling" commercial.

Okay, I am a big Michigan hockey fan and a huge Jack Johnson fan--but come on, that is just incredibly cheesy. If that is how the King's promote their team, I am worried about their marketing department. That said, I could not stop laughing after seeing that commercial.

I'm with everybody on that! But I have a question about the IR--why hasn't Cleary been placed on it, especially in preference to Rafalski?

If this whole thing ends up well, this is such a great story. I love D-Mac. That said, I am slightly apprehensive only because he hasn't played at the NHL level in a while, and this is a tough time of year to jump back in it. He'll be good for depth, regardless.

Can you please reinforce the word "need" to Kenny Holland.

I'd say yes to all of them except Iginla for Datsyuk. I like the way Iginla plays, but I can't get enough of watching Pavs play, both offensively and defensively. Other than that, the rest of the "trades" are no brainers.

The last Wings game I was able to watch was the 6 games ago, aka the game that started this current losing streak. I'll be able to watch tonight, so hopefully this will end the losing streak. Wings win 4-1, with Ozzie getting back on track.

Wow, that is really sad news.

The only good thing Cleary has going for him, and what makes me feel like he'll be back by the start of the playoffs is that it is an injury which will not prevent him from keeping up his conditioning. If it were a knee injury, or something like that I'd be seriously worried about him getting back, and when he would get back how effective he'd be. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a late March/early April return--we need that sort of work ethic in the playoffs!

All I know is that this losing streak/lack of secondary scoring is proving just how vital Dan Cleary is, not just to this year's playoff run, but to future seasons for the Wings.

As much as I hate the Sedin twins, this commercial is hilarious.

OMG, I have never seen that before. Hilarious.

Unfortunately, if Sammy was moved to the 3rd or 4th line he'd have to grind it out and actually work hard. That could be a problem.

I don't have a problem when someone isn't scoring, if they work hard they'll break out of it. But that is the thing--he and even Flip look like they are giving about 50% every night. And that is so irritating to watch and that lack of energy I am sure rubs off on their teammates. That said, I don't think that the red wings' problems begin and end here and unfortunately we won't get out of this slump until everyone is willing to give 100% and actually be focused--hint hint Samuelsuck. BTW, this whole seconday scoring situation/dilemma is just proving how important it is for us to sign Cleary long term.

Haha. Love it.

Was too optimistic about the last game, so I'll go with a modest 3-1 victory for the Wings. Also, don't know if anybody caught this in the free press today, but I thought this was hilarious: The first 5,000 fans 16-and-under tonight will receive a Nicklas Lidstrom growth poster. One of the posters was taped up at the entrance to the locker room after Thursday's practice at Joe Louis Arena. Someone wrote "Draper" next to the 5-foot-4 marker and "Hudler" next to the 5-3 line. The Red Wings media guide lists forward Kris Draper at 5-10 and forward Jiri Hudler at 5-9. "Rumor has it it's the last guy in the alphabet that did that," Draper said, calling out Henrik Zetterberg as the culprit. "It's good." Could this be retaliation for all the pranks Draper pulls on birthdays? "Could be, yeah," Draper said. "But now he just leaves himself wide open for a lot more, too. That's the thing. When you go at guys and lead the charge, chances are sometimes things are going to come back at you. "At least I'm taller than Huds."

Here you go It’s been nearly three years since the great NHL lockout of 2004-05 ended in July 2005 with the ratification of the current collective bargaining agreement. That deal was considered “the owners’ CBA”, giving them the cost certainty they claimed to need, mainly in the form of the salary cap, in order to survive. But as the third NHL season under this CBA nears its end, some problems are emerging. For one, the salary cap is rising much higher and faster than most expected, going from $39 million in 2005-06 to $50.3 million in 2007-08, with an estimated increase of $3-$5 million predicted for 2008-09. If the conservative estimate of $3 million turns out to be correct, that’ll set next season’s cap at just over $53 million. It’ll also pull up the cap “floor” – the minimum allowable teams can spend on players’ salaries – up to $37 million. While it’s not much publicized, there’s been speculation suggesting some team owners, particularly those in the smaller markets in the United States, aren’t happy with that sharp increase, expressing concern over how they’ll afford to keep up with the rising cap. The reason for that is revenue-sharing isn’t all that’s cracked up to be, for if those teams eligible to receive it cannot exceed league revenue growth rate by 6 percent each season they lose a certain percentage for each season they fail to do so. As the cap rises it clearly benefits the league top revenue earners (which thanks to the robust Canadian dollar now includes all six Canadian teams), which is bound to also cause some resentment amongst the lesser market owners. That creates the potential to pit the small market owners against the league’s free spending teams in the next round of collective bargaining. It could also make the NHLPA the scapegoat once again for the problems created by team owners. The lowered eligibility age for unrestricted free agency, offer sheets to restricted free agents, no-trade/movement clauses and salary arbitration could become issues the owners and the league attempt to squeeze from the PA. The league could also seek to impose a stricter cap or attempt to reduce the players’ percentage of revenues. These issues sound like the perfect recipe for another lockout. But not so fast, for while these are issues that are bound to be raised in the next round of collective bargaining in 2011 (or 2012 if the NHLPA decides to extend the deal by another season), they may not lead to another lengthy work stoppage. In fact, they might not lead to a stoppage or labor dispute at all. The climate has changed between the NHL and the NHLPA, between the owners and the players, between the league commissioner and the executive director of the PA. No longer is there a contentious “us versus them” attitude that poisoned the last three rounds of labor talks, resulting in a strike and two lockouts. Obviously the hiring of Paul Kelly as the PA’s new executive director has much to do with that, replacing the militant Bob Goodenow and his controversial replacement Ted Saskin. Kelly’s tone is more about conciliation, of working with the league rather than against it, which goes a long way toward changing the tone of future negotiations. That conciliatory tone is obviously reflective of the majority of the NHLPA membership weary of labor wars. But that doesn’t mean Kelly’s a pushover for the league, as his recent comments regarding NHL teams playing in Europe next season being announced before the PA gave its approval would indicate. So too does the PA’s hiring of forensic accountant Bob Lindquist to dig into Hockey Related Revenues to ensure the league doesn’t cry wolf over its revenues as it did prior to and during the last lockout. Kelly will be a tenacious negotiator for the PA, but he’s more willing to negotiate than the hard-nosed Goodenow, nor will he be perceived as climbing into bed with the league as Saskin was. It’s not just the players however who’ll want to avoid another lockout. So do many at league headquarters, among them commissioner Gary Bettman, as does many of the team owners. While the lockout failed to adversely affect league revenues over the long term, it nevertheless threw a scare into many on the league side, and there were justifiable concerns coming out of the last lockout over the potential fallout. Everyone knows they dodged a bullet last time and realize they won't get that lucky again. Moreover, the league remains almost invisible throughout the American sports scene, and while most American teams might be doing well locally, it doesn’t help the NHL to further develop its product if it remains off the American national radar. In short, neither side wants another work stoppage. While there are unforeseen issues that arose out of this CBA, the overall feeling thus far is that these could be worked out without shutting down part or all of a season. Of course it’s possible that attitude could change over the next four-five seasons. If there is a change in the league’s attitude toward future negotiations with the PA, it's Bettman who’ll be the bellwether, just as he was during the last CBA. It was roughly four years into the previous CBA that Bettman first began saber rattling, so if he starts complaining between now and 2011, then it could be batten down the hatches time once again. So far, however, Bettman’s been staunchly defending this CBA – his CBA as much as the owners’- against criticism, as well as being on seemingly good terms with PA honcho Kelly. As long as he keeps doing that, the possibility of another labor war is a remote one. The bottom line is both sides lack the stomach for another costly labor war, one that could not only cause further damage to their visibility problem in American sports market but also could cut into a fan base whose tolerance could be taxed too much by another lockout. Issues exist, some potentially contentious, but ultimately the spirit of conciliation, the willingness to negotiate, the desire to keep the league going and the unwillingness to face another labor war should win out. Another lockout is possible, but unlikely.

Meech doesn't turn the puck over a whole lot, but then again he doesn't do anything very productive. He does not offensive presence (his shot looks like it is in slow-mo), which I guess wouldn't be a huge problem if he had some other upside to him, maybe like penalty kill or something. I know he is young, but never once have i looked at him and thought he was something special. We can't send him to the minors because we don't want to lose him for nothing, so lets trade him--maybe for another d-man, but regardless maybe just to get a look at Quincy and Ericsson.