Datsyerberger

I don't think they deserved to with their play. That doesn't make that no-goal.. or his officiating of that game/other Wings games in general any less trashy.

It is true that he was shot in Detroit, back in the 80s. He also lives in Detroit. I don't know if the guy has a bias or not, I'm not one for conspiracy theories. But every time the guy refs a Wings game crazy s*** goes down, usually a disallowed goal, or just really one-sided or awkward officiating. I certainly believe that if nothing else, he habitually makes reputation calls and should never ref an NHL game again.

"More games prove us that the Wings defense is lazy and it sucks." Fixed. Ozzie has been unspectacular, but the defense every other game or so has been downright putrid. That said, Conklin is hot right now.. start the hot 'tender.

Bad economy. That WILL stop people from watching TV, as they're busy worrying, working 2nd jobs, trying to find jobs, and dropping cable (which isn't free) or atleast non-standard channels (like FSN, Center Ice, etc) in the case of them not getting VS. Throw in lackluster performances by the Wings all season long. The Euro part may be a small part of it, but I don't think it's substantial as some other reasons. Fighting may be part of it. A lot of Wings fans probably want to see some old time hockey. Cup hangover for the fans, too. They just saw the team win a cup. A lot of fans aren't going to bother tuning in until the next playoffs. You know, the whole jaded thing. I think this one is the biggest factor besides the economy.

You should see some of the photoshops they're doing over there... the Buffalo player riding motorcycles, those little back and forth Disney character rides for little kids... let's see if I can find my favorite. Aha, here it is: Bloody brilliant.

This gem of a picture, found by someone on hfboards (reference thread here: http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=600278) Priceless. The facial expressions really sell it, too. Left me breathless for a moment.

Mike Illitch finally reveals the strategy he uses to keep players in Detroit for discounts during the presser. "Just take 'em out and party with 'em."

No, we're not. Ott is a coward. He'll hide behind a ref or something.

1. Lidstrom. Our current captain, one of the best d-men to ever play the game, and still going strong. He could be at 9 mil/yr and would still be a bargain. 2. Datsyuk/Zetterberg. While I firmly believe Datsyuk to be the more skillful player of the two, Zetterberg is a PK beast. Not only that, he seems to the heir apparent to the captaincy. The combined cap hit for these two is 12.7 million... and could easily be 15 million or more on the open market. 3. Rafalski. Another one of the best d-men in the league, currently.. an offensive beast. Could be the #1 on many teams. Throw in the fact he's making 1 mil/yr less than others of a similar skill set and you have another winner. 4. Hossa. 2nd among our forwards in points, and in the same league defensively as Dats and Z. He's an elite player, and if the Wings can manage to retain him without sacrificing too much, will be even more envied than they are now. The only reason I don't put him above Raffi is because Raffi is locked up long term, and because of how much value the Wings put on puck-moving D. 5. Kronwall. Again, that value on puck moving D-men. Though his defense has been questionable in parts of this season, his offense hasn't.. and he turns into a machine in the playoffs, apparently.. putting up points and delivering huge open ice hits. All at 3 mil/yr for 5 years. Probably the least tradeable asset on the Wings that doesn't have an NTC. 6. Franzen. Considering he's our priority right behind a star player like Hossa, that should say a lot. He's large, can drive to the net, deflects pucks, and is no slouch defensively, either. Guy has some moves, too... and he's solid on faceoffs. 7. Holmstrom. Again, a good contract, a dedicated player who takes huge amounts of punishment, and someone other teams hate playing against. I firmly believe that the value he brings to the Wings with his net presence can't be measured by stats. 8. Draper. On the decline, but the guy wears an A for a reason. He's a long-time vet for the Wings, part of its heart and soul. Still an important PKer and awesome on faceoffs. 9. Osgood. Some won't agree with this, and yea, he's in a slump, so I won't blame them. Regardless, he's still our #1, and was a huge part of our previous cup run. I think we'll see him light on fire again in the playoffs, just because clutch playoff performances is part of Ozzie's game. Huge team guy as well. 10. Filppula/Hudler. The value of these guys as compared to eachother is hotly contested here, and I imagine Hudler will end up with a similar contract to Flip's. Right now, one puts up lots of points, the other PKs, and both seem to have a lot of potential. We'll likely only be keeping 1, though. 11. Stuart. Contract strikes about even with his skill level. A capable #3 on most teams and a would-be #2 on some of the poorer ones. A steady d-man with good physical presence who doesn't take a lot of dumb penalties, with no glaring weaknesses. 12. Cleary. Hasn't been scoring quite as much this year, but the guy can pinch into about any line the Wings have, he PKs, and works hard. 13. Sammy. Streaky goal-scorer, but he's still good for 40-50 points, and he's reliable defensively. Frequently attempts to take the #12 slot from Cleary by trying to assassinate his jaw. The fact that he only makes 1.2 million tempts me to put his value higher. 14. Lilja. He's pretty much established his spot as the #5 d-man, especially with his importance on the PK. Compare to similar d-men at 2-3 million. 15. Maltby. This is partly because he's still a decent PKer, and partly because of the value the Wings put on loyalty to their veterans. 16. Conklin. Has been an excellent backup/1B goaltender.. he's no Sawchuck, but you can't complain about the sort of performance he's been giving for under 1 million. Only reason I don't put him higher is because he's a for sure 1 year rental. 17. Chelios. They're paying to keep this guy around to play less than any of the other d-men for more than just his playtime. Tons of intangibles here, or the Wings wouldn't have him. 18. Meech. Even though Lebda is played more now, I think Meech has more future value, and his ability to be the 13th forward has helped greatly with the cap situation. 19. Lebda. #6/7 d-man. Not great, but not terrible either. He fills his role well enough for .65/yr, I guess. 20. Kopecky. Well.. uh.. he helped us get Hossa, right? Right? 21. D-Mac. The old, loveable, limping, half blind dog that you don't quite have the heart to put down yet. 22. Downey. Not a prospect, so I put him here. D-Mac would appear to have been valued over him, but he's a decent enforcer and a great character. Deserves mention, if nothing else, for his enthusiasm despite the knowledge he'd be in the AHL for most/all of the season. 23. Haydar. Again, not a prospect, so he's here. Farthest down on the depth chart, but someone that could theoretically step into the 4th line and play a steady role if the Wings had a lot of injuries.

I'd say there's a D type as well, which is like A but without the infrequency.

Try to make Ribs "I just got shot in a Western movie and I'm taking a dive off a balcony" move authentic for once?

I agree with the first part there. I don't necessarily disagree with the 2nd paragraph, but am curious as to who you think should be retained, who should go, and who should come up from GR.

Hopefully he doesn't try too hard and take dumbass penalties. On the other hand, it's a home game. Our PK is fine there.

He's worth some good picks I just think he's the poorest choice out of, Hossa/Flip/Franzen/Hudler, where you can only keep 2 of 4. (I'd take Hossa/Hudler or Franzen/Hudler. Then again, some think Flip is worth more than Hudler, so..

My only prediction for tonight is that Downey won't be much use, mainly because Ott is a coward and won't fight, and Downey isn't good for much other than that. As always when I make a prediction against the Wings or a Wings player, I hope I eat crow.

Glad to finally see what Leino can do with a chance in the big game. Woulda liked to see Ericsson as well, but he's injured. Don't expect much to come out of Downey tonight, Ott's a frigging coward and won't drop the mitts with an enforcer. Hopefully Downey makes me eat some crow and does something useful, like pot a goal or something.

Hah! Little do you know that all I'm doing is opening up team windows and looking at the contracts in EHM (I have an accurate 08-09 database) as I sim through a season and wait for the RAID array on an Oracle-running Linux box to synchronize. Thanks, though! I'm just trying to make the realistic options easily visible to other passionate Wings fans who don't have the same time liberties as me.

I'd be sad to see him go, too. But I'd be equally happy to see a player that the Wings developed from a seemingly 3rd line talent into a 2nd/1st line scorer make it big for a few years and retire happy. He was a big part of a cup run for us. If he wishes to move on to make some money, he gets my blessings.

To be fair, the last 3 years are the only ones in which a discussion like this is even applicable. The Wings success from the mid 90s to early 2000s had nothing to do with properly managing a salary cap. As for your statement about almost all of the teams having problems.. yea, that's life. Every team is dealing with problems. Except maybe San Jose, which has probably the most comparable salaries payscale and value-wise to the Wings out of all the teams in the league. It's much more relevant to point out that, since the institution of the cap, the "good" teams on that list have had (for the most part) increasing levels of success, and the teams on the "bad" list have been getting progressively worse. Let's not be so spoiled as Wings fans as not to observe that no matter which of our up and coming FAs we sign, we're still in shape to be one of the top teams in the league. I'm perfectly prepared to eat up 5 guys at an average of 6-7 million because that just happens to be the average for successful teams since the institution of the salary cap. You don't build around a bunch of 2nd/3rd tier players and then toss a couple of stars in.. you build around a core of solid 1st tier players.

I'm going to go the opposite way and say (that with this new Zetterberg contract) Hossa is the best option. Drafting/Developing/Signing two 2nd liners is a lot easier than signing and retaining a top 10 forward. But! The frigging awesome thing about this situation is we can't go wrong either way, and will have an awesome team regardless of which of these players we keep.

+1 to this, especially that 1st paragraph.

Let me, let me! Lids-Raffi Kronwall-Lilja Chelios/Lebda-Meech/Ericsson/Kindl is still one of the best D groups in the league. And while our goaltending hasn't been spectacular, we're only investing ~2.2 mil cap space in them. It's not like we're paying 4.5 for a Gerber/LolBarbera duo. I have faith Ozzie will come through in the playoffs.

This might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. While I want the best possible players we can get for the playoffs, we don't need them all during a season.. having a mid-tier player like this out is perfect for freeing up cap room to test some of our young, up and coming guys.. and see who will be good to have on the roster for the playoffs.

If you manage to retain Hossa at 6 as well, that's 33.55 for the top 3 paid forwards, top 2 paid d-men, and top paid goalie. (Or, about 35.8 for the top 6 paid players) For comparison: Penguins: ~31-32 Sharks: ~36.5 Capitals: ~31.5 Bruins: ~29.5 (And dont they have to sign Thomas? Though you can probably say goodbye to Manny's contract..) Rangers: ~36-36.5 Habs: ~30 (These guys have lots of big UFAs coming up) Duckies: ~31-32 Flyers: ~33 Flames: ~32 Hawks: ~32 Nucks: ~29-30 These are all successful teams, with the unfortunate exception of the Pens, who have crappy coach + big injuries in the 1st half. The Wings seem to be on the upper end of the average if they sign Hossa at 6, but not the highest (and it should be noted the highest is currently the most successful, though #2, the Bruins, are the lowest in this bunch). Let's look at some unsuccessful teams: Bolts: (09-10 numbers, assuming no trades) ~27-2 Ottawa: ~31 (Their problem isn't top 6, though, but rather everything else XD) Islanders: ~22.5 Trashcans.. er, Thrashers: ~22.5-23 Leafs: 23.75 Blues: ~26 (They're like missing 1 or 2 of those all season, too) Kings: ~20 The bottom teams, on average, seem to be paying for a much, much cheaper (and also much less skilled) top 6 players. If you look at the average teams, their numbers are.. well, unsurprisingly, average. I don't think there's any problem with the Wings spending around the same money for their top 6 as the other most successful teams in the league.

Not in Hudler's case, because he's worth quite a bit as an RFA even if the Wings don't sign him.. likely, a 1st round pick or more if someone gives him an offer sheet (which will happen, if the Wings don't sign him)