mjlegend

Sorry I missed this. Conklin's cheap, comes with little to no expectation of demanding a starter's job and can play well for stretches in the case of injury. He's exactly what Howard needs for the next two years until the Wings decide if Howard is the long-term solution. I wouldn't expect Bryzgalov to play less than 60 games a year if we're bringing him in, even though the ink still isn't quite dry on Howard's extension. Do the Flyers take a stab at Bryz in the off-season?

Stalberg (Chicago)

Your New York Islanders starting goaltender, 2011-12. Seriously, I don't think he'll ever play for the Wings.

D has to be a priority. Kindl is the only D signed past the end of next season. Get Lids on a one-year deal, lock Kronwall up long term this summer and then start prioritizing from there.

The Wings didn't just sign Howard to two years, $2.25 million/ year to get a 60-65 game UFA goaltender who will command no less than $4 million this offseason. Next year, I think we'll have Howard and one of Osgood/Conklin at a $1 million or less cap hit. I think he (Bryzgalov) stays with the organziation. They're a 75-point team without him and Maloney knows it. edit for clarification

That'll teach Datsyuk for getting into a fight. It's been 57 years since a defenceman (Red Kelly) won it, and I can't think of a more deserving player to break that streak.

Kind of surprised not to see James Reimer on there.

Signing RFAs just got a whole lot more expensive. Hopefully, it doesn't change the Wings' spending habits (more for less). I'd hate to see them dip into the free agent pool and pick up a Brian Campbell-like contract when Lids retires, either this summer or next.

Am I reading this right - 3,000 households per game are watching the Panthers?

Draper was 4/9 in faceoffs Sunday. He took 9 of the team's 59 faceoffs in the game. Even in the regular season, his faceoff win percentage was roughly 1 in 20 (four to six per cent) better than Datsyuk/Helm/Z/Abby. That's based on 9 FO/game, that's an avearge of one extra faceoff won every two games. If he's on his game. In the series so far, he's 10/18 (55.6 per cent), compared to the other Cs, Dats (64.9), Abdelkader (57.6) and Flipper (44.4). Faceoffs alone ought not be a reason to keep Draper in. I understand what you're saying but I think I'd rather have the other three for their forechecking tenacity since that's another area to expolit their turnover-prone defence. This is, of course, once Z gets back and there really seems to be no guarantee of that for Monday.

This, but I think Draper needs to sit a game or two rather than Miller. Eaves-Helm-Miller gives you all the speed, hustle and desire you want from a fourth line, and they aren't that bad at faceoffs/pk if you need them. I would also hope Z would take Draper's pk shifts in the event of his return. Unless Filppula get hurt, I really don't see Modano fitting in against Phoenix, and I sure wouldn't have thought that five days ago.

Good thing there's no other crime in downtown Detroit the police need to worry about. Money on the board?

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, c. 1988. Oh, my!

His numbers were better in Kamloops, but still. . . To be fair, these kinds of stat lines are like Cialis to some people here. I never thought he had anything worthwhile to add to anything, be it an NHL ice surface or a radio broadcast.

In before one of the veteran fourth liners goes -2 and goes the way of Mark Hartigan. Modano will play, probably later this series.

Kevin Constantine, anyone?

Glad to see there's no residual bitterness over the whole 'the Wings bought Kris Draper for $1" thing.

CBC is saying they have the games. But they also have Penguins-Lightning, so guess who's going to get the Crosby end of the stick for game one? http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2011/04/10/sp-hnic-playoff-schedule.html Knowing CBC's programming decisions in the past, they probably only show Det-Phx G1 to the Winnipeg market.

They have too much Phil Kessel in their lineup to be consistent offensively.

Embarrassing, yes. But not totally surprising if it does happen, since Albertans hate paying for things.

The Wings slipped to third in the conference, and lacked a lot of creativity wihth the puck, in the weeks without Datsyuk. That ought to tell you something.

Respectfully disagree re: Oilers. If they get any kind of veteran presence around Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, they'll have little problem scoring goals. On d, Whitney was having a really good, Norris-type year before going down with an ankle. They have solid prospects like Teubert and Plante. very close to NHL-ready, waiting for a chance. There's pieces there (finally, and they have $20 million in cap room with six spots needed to fill - and that's not including Horcoff's awful contract. I'm no saying they'll get 95 points or something, but there's a good possibility they'll get 75-80 points.

#winning Such a great accomplishment, even in the three-point-game era. Were it not for the lockouts, it's 90+ points every year since 1991-92. And 13 division titles in that time span.

With the exception of Calgary, you have the think every other team in their division is capable of bettering themselves with another year of experience. A least Edmonton and Colorado won't be the pushovers they were this year.

I hear Dave Lewis is available.