hockey23

So if Rafalski breaks a bone next year the Wings have a better shot at a cup?

Which is why I don't buy into the cup prediction. The guys who will get big contracts (Bieksa, Ehrhoff, Pitkanen, Wisniewski, Laich, Richards) aren't worth it. I agree that Holland will find some 1 year deals and vets to get us to next year, but I don't think that will be good enough to make the Wings cup favorites.

Predicting a cup is kind of a bold considering no one knows what the roster will look like. Even if they end up with $12 mil to spend on 3 FAs, I don't think it will go very far. The Nucks fans on HF say Ehrhoff will get $5.5 if he stays or $6+ on the free agent market. That's just ridiculous, but with the cap going up I think most big free agents will get overpaid. Then the Wings would looking at trades or lower end guys to find reasonable contracts, so who knows how it works out.

I see you're having trouble understanding how this works. Konnan is correct, there's nothing wrong with what Almquist and the Wings are doing.

Ken Holland- Mike Babcock- Kind of interesting that Holland and Babcock say completely opposite things regarding the forwards. I've just been looking at the d-men, so who would be a good top-6 guy? Jokinen? Laich? Cole? Vrbata? Someone else?

Looks like the Wings signed him per CapGeek. Anyone know what the plan is for him the next couple years?

It's not just his trash talking, it's all of his antics. I get that players trash talk, but the classy ones don't.

Kesler sounds like a complete ****** bag. For someone who is considered a star player, he certainly doesn't act like it. His antics remind me more of Matt Cooke or Sean Avery. I just can't imagine any of the Wings stars chirping someone about an injury, let alone flopping all over the ice. Anyway, I just hate Kesler, but I guess the real lesson here is that Clowe should've kept his mouth shut...

Ken Holland-

Another dive. Both of these teams are embarrassing.

Rafalski led all defencemen in even strength points per game. Don't bash the man's offense. He was still one of the best puck movers in the league.

I wouldn't mind Wisniewski, but I disagree with needing a goal scorer. The Wings were 2nd in the league in goals for with 3.13 g/gm and increased their production to 3.27 in the playoffs. Scoring was not a problem and the only changes to the forwards would be Mursak in, Modano and Draper out. The problem was defense, and now with Rafalski gone defense should be the priority. If there is cap space left after defense is taken care of then I'd be fine with signing a scorer or trading Hudler to get one.

Ehrhoff is the safer choice, but Markov is the better player (when healthy). If I had to choose, I'd take both. CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) Drew Miller ($0.750m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.950m) / / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Andrei Markov ($5.750m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Christian Ehrhoff ($4.500m) Brendan Smith ($0.875m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($0.800m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $62,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $60,683,711; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $1,216,289

I don't really know if he's breaking down. He's had 2 unlucky injuries that were severe, but I'm not sure what the long term impact of those injuries will be. I was under the impression that he would be 100% for the upcoming season, but what have you heard about lasting effects of the injuries?

I'm thinking Holland will have to go after a higher end player. Maybe someone like Andrei Markov or go crazy and try for Doughty.

It's amazing how a stick touching your glove causes your feet to go flying out from under you.

I think I love you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stand Kesler.

CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Brooks Laich ($3.000m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.750m) / / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($1.500m) Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($0.750m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $62,500,000; CAP PAYROLL: $59,558,711; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $2,941,289 The defense makes me wanna puke, but I think the Wings need to give Kindl a chance. Also, I think Brendan Smith will be up full time in 2012/13 so next year would be a good time to use him as a 7th d man. Let him play in GR and then call him up for any injuries on D. Also, if the cap goes up to about $3 mil to $62.5, then that cap space could be used to trade for a d-man at the deadline. Maybe someone like Brent Burns.

Looks pretty good here. Hopfully they'll finish the Yotes off and Hank will be 100% for Round 2. http://yfrog.com/n0outbz

Phoenix is on mountain time but they don't do daylight savings time so right now they're 3 hours behind Detroit.

You can use an enhanced driver's license to get into the States if you're traveling by land. I have no idea how long it takes to get, but I think it's supposed to be an easier and quicker option than a passport.

Modano scratched tonight.

Playoffs.

Only regulation and ot wins matter. If Dallas wins two and Chi wins 1 then they'd be tied in points and regulation/ot wins. Then it comes down to head to head and Dal holds that tiebreaker.

I'm gonna make a bold prediction and disagree with your Hawks pick. I'll say that Dallas beats COL and MIN, the Wings split with Chicago, and therefore Chicago misses the playoffs (as long as Anaheim gets 2 pts in 2 games).