Yellowknife Redwing

Even taking into account how well Hudler has been playing lately, if you don't think Hemsky would be an upgrade over Hudler I don't believe the ensuing conversation would really be necessary.

For all these deals offering Hudler, Ericsson, etc, I've been hoping to see Holland put together a similar package for Ales Hemsky. He'd be a perfect 2nd liner here, has a great contract which extends into next year, and I think the idea of Datsyuk and Hemsky together is magical.

Hudler has absolutely nothing on Nick

Perry, Lapierre and Ruutu all together like one big dysfunctional family.

This is really disheartening for me. I've always had a soft spot for the Leafs and I think Kaberle is a tremendous player. I always wanted to see him in a Wings uniform and I fear that I'm going to end up hating him now that he's a Bruin. There might be 2 or 3 teams that I would have preferred less than Boston.

I want Hemsky I wonder what Tambellini would say to Hudler + Kindl + 2011 1st

1 - Hopefully at least 1, realistically probably none. I know that this team is resilient and has dealt with a complete changing of the guard once before, but with Lidstrom's imminent departure and Pav and Z on the wrong side of their primes and an aging group overall, this team is going to be facing some serious challenges in the next decade. Hopefully guys like Tatar, Jarnkrok, Pulu, Smith, etc are up to the task of maintaining the legacy the way our current group has. That said, I have all the faith in the world that Holland will continue to put a contender on the ice every season and I feel extremely fortunate for that. 2 - I believe that Detroit is capable of winning a cup with Howard, but I don't believe that Howard ever be a difference maker en route to the cup. If the Wings do win another one, I believe Howard would be painted with the same brush as Osgood and people would say they won in spite of him, not because of him. 3 - I believe Kronwall can be a part of this team as long as he doesn't price himself out or get too lofty in his expectations. I don't believe that Kronwall will ever be a true #1 defenseman in the NHL. 4 - Who knows, maybe one of his kids will end up on the squad

Streit and Kaberle, ideally both.

Rinne easily and I say that not based on his stats but from watching his play. He's huge, has incredible positioning, is athletic, is calm under pressure and is unbelievable at reading shooters a shootout/breakaway scenario. He also seems to have a great demeanor and would fit in well in a mature locker room setting.

Also, 4 first rounders is a massive gamble and probably not something worth doing.

I'd really like to see Babcock try the Ovechkin/Stamkos thing with Eaves and position him on his off wing at the dot. The Wings' powerplay has been far too static lately and it's been too easy to box them out. If Lidstrom and Rafalski did their blueline switch, Lidas fakes the slapper and feeds it against the flow to the low man on the left side it would force the goalie to move one way and then quickly in the opposite direction. The powerplay has become too stagnant and relies too much on screens and tips rather than getting the goalie to move laterally. I'd also like to see Zetterberg on the opposite wing. He's got a very underrated one-timer.

If they fire Todd, I really hope Babcock picks him up in some capacity as an assistant. The Sharks are in serious trouble though. Not just because they're losing, but they look completely lost. Back to back losses against Toronto and Edmonton.

Remember when that bozo wanted guaranteed 2nd line minutes without ever having played a shift? I was happy to see him go to the Stars. He's entirely the wrong type of player for this organization.

I didn't start watching the team until '88, so I missed out on the very worst of it but I feel like I've gotten the gist of it from the last several years of watching the Lions

When was the last time a defenseman who doesn't kill penalties won the Norris? Through 35 games Byfuglien has 4:23 of total SHTOI. That's not per game, that's under 5 minutes of TOTAL time spent killing penalties. Any consideration that Byfuglien gets for winning the Norris is utterly ridiculous and shows just how bastardized the trophy has become. If Buff wins it, they might as well change the definition of the award to the "highest scoring defenseman in the NHL".

I guess I'm holding a double standard on this one. If that happened in the NHL I'd be disgusted, but since it happened in the KHL I think it's absolutely hilarious. It honestly does look like a Hanson brothers shift.

To avoid the boring Crosby etc answer I'll go with Hall Seguin Tavares Duchene Stamkos Doughty Top 2 from the last 3 drafts excluding Hedman. Extremely young, competitive core. Imagine being able to ice a top 6 of Hall/Stamkos/Duchene Seguin/Tavares/whoever

Even if the Flames fans feel they overcame some great injustice in the first 2 periods, they were given a 4 minute powerplay (on a discretionary call, not automatic) almost half way through the 3rd period in a game that they were leading 4-2. If the Flames had potted one on that powerplay, they would have tidily swept the rest of the game into the W column. It was practically gift wrapped for the taking at that point. I'm all for chewing out the refs for poor officiating, but at some point the onus is on the Flames for not putting the game away with a golden opportunity that the "clearly biased" refs put on a platter for them.

It's easy to become bogged down in stat mongering, but I can't help but crack a smile at this one. That's an extremely positive trend.

Hey touchdown

Anybody have a stream of the game?

Not only this, but it's not an "in depth look" at all. It's a broad overview and quick summary of roster changes and expectations. I could have written those 5 summaries off the top of my head.

This is an absolutely amazing highlight video in terms of both production quality and eye popping highlights:

I'll just paste my thoughts from the HFboards thread here: Roughly this time period and beyond I expect to see: a) acquisition of a big ticket FA defenseman (a 7 million dollar man to "replace" Nick) b) Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl to be permanent fixtures in at least the #5 and #6 positions c) Gustav Nyqvist and Tomas Tatar to become the newest incarnation Flip/Huds on the 3rd line d) Thomas McCollum taking his first real strides toward becoming a full-time NHLer

I'll post what I initially thought this thread would be about. I'm guessing we'll be ranked #1 on the PP and #15 on the PK.