Casey

Deal Howard, and your backup goalie is...?

CCM/KOHO. This, or that?

Respectfully disagree on the thought that it'll be a corporate name. The Illitches could have renamed it at will in the 80s, didn't. I'll bet they hang with tradition, thought it may be something like the New Olympia Stadium, presented by Little Caesar's. Burgers, sharp cheddar, thick-sliced bacon. Crisp or chewy bacon?

Old school. Name for the new arena... The New Joe Louis Arena (ala the New Yankee Stadium), the New Olympia Stadium, or something else?

Nope. TPBM wants the extra fireworks to stop.

Show me the MONEY! Don't Stop Believin' or Livin' On a Prayer?

Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom: 171, 210, 257. Franzen, Filppula, Hudler: 97, 95, 58. Abdelkader, Helm, Leino: 42, 132, undrafted (signed with Detroit directly out of Finland). Downey, McCarty: undrafted (signed with Detroit directly), 46. Lidstrom, Kronwall: 53, 29. Lebda, Kindl: undrafted (signed with Detroit directly), 19. Meech, Ericsson: 229, 291. Osgood, Howard: 54, 64. There's 17 NHL-caliber players. Average draft position among forwards? 123rd, leaving Leino and Downey out of the calculation. Defense, ignoring Lebda and counting rookie Kindl? 124th. Goaltending? 59th. Detroit can't draft, my ass.

You forgot Lilja.

TSN says still under investigation, as does CBC. Your source?

They'd do it to Detroit. Turnabout is fair play.

Book. Nearly always better than the movie version. Ribs or BBQ chicken?

Yes, yes I do.

The Hawks should have offered qualifying offers before July 1. Since July 1 was a holiday, the listed ones didn't get the offers, so they technically should be UFAs. Kind of a technicality, but the rule is the rule.

Just one problem. How are they going to afford all of these guys next year? Bowman may be a genius, but he never had to face a salary cap issue like this.

Yep- citation. The body is a weird thing- incredibly strong most of the time, then something freakish happens. A friend of mine shattered his femur playing whiffleball, of all things.

Nope. Give me a healthy Rafalski (herniating a disk getting out of your car, talk about a freak injury!) any day over those. If we were going to get rid of Rafalski, I would have re-signed Conks and beefed up the D, not brought back Bertuzzi.

I'm not mad in the least. I just question their strategy of signing endless forwards when there's a gaping hole in their net.

This is going to be interesting. Chicago's primed for a run for one season, save one small problem- their goaltending. Let's look at Huet's stats. 2.45 career GAA, and he hasn't been below 2 in a season with a starting/shared job (30+ starts) since 2001, back in Switzerland. His GAA against the Central last season? 2.95. Against Detroit last season? 4.29. He gets worse in the playoffs- career GAA of 2.73, last year 3.23. I can't help but think Chicago may be in trouble. Hossa for Havlat is a lateral move, and their goaltending got worse.

Truck. Old-school, 1970s with a carb. Carb or fuel injection?

You do mean the guy who had Detroit in game 7 of the Finals to the last horn, right? The one who put up numbers good enough to win it if he'd had any support? Yeah, can't wait to lose that guy...

Feet. I can't wear sandals to save me. Answering Eva's- the Tomcat. Swing-wings are just cool. Worst attribute in a physician- cold hands, or indifferent manner?

Orr could work nicely indeed as a fourth-liner.

This was announced last week- the Walleye will be affiliated with the Wings, and by extension with the Griffins.

I like this move. Isn't he the guy from the Windsor Eye Institute commercials?

Since Hossa's under 35, Detroit would be on the hook for his full contract if he retired during it.