octopusonice

Sign Flip, round out the defense corps and en enforcer and cut someone loose/send to GR

Yeah, it's not like the fan base isn't interested, just that times are tough. It seems like no one's buying cars right now.

I like the one where he says, "Do you want to go? OK, good luck":

Well, I'm a Wings fan and I have said that they bought the cup in 2002, but that doesn't mean that they did not deserve it. Bowman had to do an excellent job to get all the stars on the team to work together. They also showed a lot of character after coming back from an 0-2 hole against Vancouver and Stevie playing on a bad knee that required an unprecedented type of surgery for him to play on afterwards. The best thing the Wings have going for them is not even so much getting the Cup, but that it's a well run organization, they seem to treat their players well and that they will more often than not do their best to field a winning team. Edited grammar and to remove earlier quoting of myself, DOH!

Maybe if Wilson tells Finger it's a good day to die, he'll play better

A Stanley Cup Champion has improved (at least on paper) without any other team really making enough improvement to match it. You still have to favor Detroit. Now, you still have to go out and win the games and you still have to avoid injuries, but it's advantage Detroit right now.

To me the interesting story is not whether we will sign Flip. Instead, it's who's going to lose the game of Devil Take the Hindmost? Someone at the bottom of the roster is going to be sent packing.

I didn't know that ESPN cared for hockey, but thanks for the props nonetheless. Actually, I enjoyed ESPN's coverage in the past, because out here in SoCal all you can get is Kings/Ducks. Obviously the best coverage you can get for the Wings is going to come from the local TV in Detroit, so no one will probably top that. What would be cool would be to have a Red Wings channel on the internet covering the team so that fans from all over can get better coverage. Otherwise you're reduced to having to chase down video clips from all over the place.

Is it a rivalry? I would say that it's headed in that direction but not there yet. One reason is because of what all the other posters are saying about Chicago needing to win more often and stand in the way of our pursuits to titles. Colorado is still more of a rival than Chicago is in that area. I could be wrong, but it looks like the fanbase has not totally embraced the Hawks yet either. Now they have their share of diehard fans, but it looks like the average sports fan from that area still focuses their loyalty on the Cubs and Bears. To me you gotta have the fans getting into it for it to be a rivalry.

This has got to be as close to ideal for an NHL coach as you can get. Babs can't contain himself right now.

I think he'll wear 66 just to piss off the Pens

When I saw the goals he scored against us in the finals, I thought he was evil too. Glad to have him on my side. I said WTF a dozen times when I saw the news; kind of like that broadcaster that kept saying, "the Giants win the pennant"

I like the signing. This has turned out to be a good day for me as a RW fan. As for Howie, he will get his chance. I am impressed with how KH has not overspent, unlike other clubs, while still filling needs.

I have never been more happy to be wrong in a long time! Next deal!

This is why retired jersey numbers are rare in pro football. You have a 53 man roster combined with the positional restrictions. I never understood why it was so restrictive in the NFL. All you really need it for is to identify o-linemen (50-79) so you can flag them going downfield on pass plays, which is the only restriciton in HS and college do as far as I can tell.

And replace him with Uwe Krupp while we're at it

I think that's just a coincidence, probably because Ward was first in line from Carolina when they started shaking hands after the game. It's not like Scotty sought him out. As the saying goes, money talks and BS walks. We'll know where Hossa stands later this morning. I don't deny what he said in line, but that doesn't mean he won't take a sweet contract elsewhere. It looks to me like he had no intention of returning to the Pens, though.

I have a t-shirt from the Austin Ice Bats. It's a unique name and it makes sense for the area. Heard the team is going defunct, though.

Very fascinating post. It's as interesting as the time I found out that Babe Ruth (#3) and Lou Gehrig (#4) wore their uniform numbers because of their batting order for the NY Yankees.

That has to be a great honor for the Newfoundlanders and very stand-up of Cleary to do that. One question I have is why after so many years of hockey is Cleary the first one from there to win a Cup? Is hockey not as big up there, are there not as many people, or is it just luck?

Yes... noon eastern time

My initial gut reaction was disappointment at signing Lilja, but at least they did not overpay for him, IMO.

As far as Probert's comments go, how many Cups did we win with him around? I do not watch hockey in anticipation of the next fight, but I am also against outlawing fighting. I think that the move to outlaw fighting in the NHL is inspired by the 'People for a Perfect World'. What I mean by that is there are these utopian types that want a world that is perfect so that there is nothing negative. Although negativity by definition is usually less desirable, trying to eliminate it at all costs to the point of absurdity is a far worse fate. You would live in this sterile, overly politically correct world where no one gets an F in school, we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya and instead of saying something sucked, we would say 'double plus ungood'. Someone in this thread said that they know of no one who doesn't watch hockey because of the violence. I'm not going to take the time to look it up, but I'm guessing that person lives in the Detroit area or some area with more hockey fans per capita. Out here in California, I could find several who claim they don't watch hockey because of the fighting. My feeling is that these people have never bothered to learn the game and its heritage and based on the ignorance of the rest of their remarks probably wouldn't follow the game if they did outlaw fighting. The NHL is not going to convert many of these people if they did outlaw fighting. If fighting gets to the point where most games are like a 'fight where a game breaks out' the sport will suffer, IMO. The most extreme example I can think of was a minor league game I saw where the fighting was almost continuous and over 200 penalty minutes were handed out. I would not want to see that all the time and I think even most fight enthusiasts would not either. We like the game of hockey and we like to see good hockey. Fighting is simply a natural phenomenon of the game that arises when there is a need to enforce the Code.

I'm not a big fan of signing Emery. From what I have seen in professional sports, the notion that you can convert a cancer to a stand-up guy fails way more often than it succeeds. The Wings are successful enough and still have a good run for some more Cups in them without Emery, so there is no need to take such a big risk. I would be fine with Godzilla as a backup.

Jesus Saves, but Esposito scores on the rebound