Icesurfer

Filppula for Lehtonen

Datsyuk....Datsyuk.....Datsyuk .......the guy is just unbelievable......he amazes me just about every game. ....Offense and defense!

Filppula more than anyone.....To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected! Osgood was only a part-timer last year and he is on the downside of his career.... so really..... how much could you expect?

Filppula for Lehtonen solves a lot of problems. If Osgood stinks tomorrow expect a trade to be made. Detroit will need a backup for Conklin in the playoffs. Filppula WILL have to be dumped anyway in order to sign both Hossa AND Franzen. Who wants a forward who has a problem finding the net??? Frankly, I am tired of watching Filppula make more "backward passes" than forward passes. Plus his backward passes get picked off. Leino is ALREADY ahead of Leino in terms or ability and skill. Fil and Kari have the same salary cap hit. Kari is a RFA so the Wings would get a draft pick for him anyway.

I can't believe that people actually think Osgood is just going to "flip a switch on" and all of a sudden become a decent playoff goalie. You really must be kidding. He will play in ONLY 11 more games before the playoffs start. He hasn't even had ONE game this whole year that I would consider to be of a playoff quality performance. He has NO shutouts and I think only about 4 games where he allowed only one goal. Everyone knows that it is the hot goalie who is capable of stealing a win and shutting down opponents completely who eventually will win the cup. Osgood is NO WHERE near such a performance. All you Osgood supporters continue to hold on to your hope because that is all you will have. And if you are depending on HOPE you are in trouble!!!! If Osgood starts he will last 2 games into the playoffs and the Wings will exit in the first round.

I wouldn't mind seeing Howard in net on Friday.... give Ozzie a longer rest!

Babcock will be fired when the Wings finish in last place...... in other words..... NEVER!

I predict Filppula will be traded before the trade deadline. If the Wings are to keep Hossa and Franzen he has to go anyway.

OMG..... This is THE MOST ridiculous idea I have ever heard. I wouldn't want Schneider on this team even if he had a ZERO cap hit!!!! Did you forget that the Wings won ZILCH with him on the team? I was never so happy the day he signed with the Duckies! Talk about over-rated!

Maybe 21% of the viewers had their TV's stolen or repossessed.......LOL Isn't Michigan only one of two states that actually lost population in the last few years???? I think the hockey viewers generally have higher IQ's than other sports viewers.....LOL.

That statistic has to be in the Detroit area viewing ONLY!!!! Because here is a story that talks about TV ratings increase across the board!!!! RATINGS INCREASE The answer therefore is very simple...... 21% of the smart hockey TV viewers have left the depressing and economically challenged Detroit area.......DUH! ...and probably the state of Michigan!

Holland isn't even talking about resigning Hudler yet..... His next priority is either Hossa or Franzen and he says he will sign the player who in his opionion gives him the best deal for the money. And then if he is forced to move some salary via a trade he will......so then we are probably talking about trading Filppula.

Everyone is talking about trading Filppula and you are all ass-u-m-ing that another team would want to trade for him and his rising salary. A $3 million cap hit but salary of 2.5 > 3.5 >3.5 > 3.5. If Detroit doesn't think Filppula is worth it or will improve what on earth makes you think that another smart GM will think otherwise. OH..... I'm sorry.... I forgot..... we got one dump GM in the league who likes to go over the cap and his name is Brian Burkehead!!!! Well Holland.... get on the phone to Toronto. After all, Burke did the Wings a favor by taking Schneider and Bertuzzi off our hands.....LOL!

I believe Ericsson has an injury so I hope we finally see Leino since Z is out. Do we really need an enforcer against Dallas?

That post makes no sense. What do you mean "we still need depth player". Leino and Helm are NHL ready and are going to be very good players..... better than Maltby and Kopecky. The players the Wings have coming up the pipeline are unbelievable and because of the depth on the team they have time to develop in Grand Rapids before they are called up. The Wings are the deepest team in the NHL!!!!! And as I posted before..... signing Hossa, a less injury prone player than Z, to a 12 year contract is not risky at all. There is always retirement, LTIR, buyouts, trades, etc..... especially if the cap hit is only $6 mil or less. If there was no cap Ilitch would be spending $90 million as we speak.... even in this economy..... winning the Stanley Cup has several benefits..... the revenues rise.... and the state of Michigan is NOT the only source of income!

Well, all I have to say is if the midget does not want to play for the Wings for 1.8 million for one year is good luck to you and have a good life! He is a restricted free agent. I can not see a contending team giving him 2.5 million and giving up a draft pick to the Wings. Wings would love it anyways because they can't sign everyone. I am sure the San Jose sharks are just chomping at the bit to get the midget on their team half of whom are over 6 feet tall and twice his weight.....LOL! Hudler is a third line player and a power play specialist who plays 12 minutes a night and nothing more. When he plays 15-18 minutes he gets worse. He has already shown that he can't compete 5 on 5 with better first line and second line players. The only teams that would consider signing him are inferior non-contending teams who just want big scorers on their team for fan enjoyment. And if the midget wants to make a few more bucks and play for a non-playoff team I say go for it!!!! Every player signing with this team is taking a home team discount and Hudler would be no different. Any players who decide to leave the Wings and play for someone else will just end up like Federov, Bertuzzi, Schneider and Shanahan........a non-factor and never get another ring!!!! The only exception would probably be Hossa..... but I believe the Wings will offer him a contract similar to Z's. And Hossa has already said his goal is to get a RING.

A 12 year contract is NOT risky!!! When you are talking about someone being 37-40 years old there is retirement...... payments end.....no more cap hit. There is always LTIR. There is buyouts and you still take some cap hit...... but we are talking 8-10 years from now..... A salary of $7.45 million in 8 years MAY be peanuts!!!! I remember just 2 years ago everyone thought that Datsyuk's salary was too much..... it turned out to be a steal for the Wings. OK fine.... If you want to give Hossa 7.45 million for 9 years instead....that is just dandy... no big deal.... play with the numbers any way you want. You can still play with the numbers to lower the cap hit to 5.8333 per year when you are talking about a long term contract. Hossa had played like 80 games every year for a 6 year stretch. Hossa signed for a long term contract is not as big a gamble as Z is!!!!! STOP THINKING SALARY FIGURES AND START THINKING CAP NUMBERS!!! Ilitch was use to paying $70 - $80 million a year for his team....... I am sure he would not even blink to consider a contract like this for Hossa.

I wish people would realize that these are NOT SALARIES...... THESE ARE CAP NUMBERS!!!! THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING!!!!! SEE the post above for an explanation.

If you looked at Z's contract you will quickly realize that Hossa does not have to play for $6 million per year TO HAVE A CAP HIT OF $6 MILLION PER YEAR. These are entirely 2 different figures. Hossa's contract can go until he is 40, 41, 42, whatever with the last few years at $1 million per year IN ORDER to bring down the cap hit to $6 million. FOR EXAMPLE: You can pay Hossa $8 million for 8 years and then $2 million for 4 years. A 12 year contract worth $72 million for a CAP HIT OF ONLY $6 MILLION PER YEAR. Hossa would get 8 million until he is 38 years old and 2 million until he is 42. You can even cut his salary down to 1 million the last 2 years for a cap hit of 5.8333 million per year. In 8-10 years a cap hit of 5.8333 million may just be peanuts!!!!! Hossa is definitely LESS injury prone than Z. AND Hossa can retire at age 38 and there would be no more payment and no more cap hit. So Hossa still gets his $8 million and everyone is happy. This is perfectly legal and a very creative way to manage the cap!!!!!!!!

IMHO Wings are NOT going to sign anyone else until they know what next year's salary cap will be. Whether it goes up, down or stay the same will determined who they decide to sign. If it goes down signing Hossa will be nearly impossilbe without trading away some other big contracts. If it goes up by at least $1 million signing Hossa is possible if he accepts a contract similar to Z's. If the salary cap stays the same for next year the Wings have 14.958 million to replace the 8 expiring contracts. (Z, Hossa, Franzen, Sammy, Hudler, Chelios, Kopecky, & Conklin) This is one way the Wings can retain Hossa without trading away other big contracts. The Wings will not be able to sign Franzen and Hudler (unless Hudler plays for "Sammy's salary": 6.08 - Z 6.0 – Hossa 0.6 - Helm 0.875 - Leino (RFA, not signed yet) 1.2 - Sammy (if he comes back for same salary) 0.716 – Howard or other backup 0.525 – Kopecky (if signs for same amount) ______ 15.996 mil = TOTAL (salary cap would have to increase by about $1 mil) Can’t afford 8 defencemen (If Ericsson will be with Wings Lilja will have to be traded, Chelios retires. Ericsson is .30 less than Lilja) Only Meech on the bench. LET ME REITERATE THAT THESE ARE NOT SALARIES! These are cap numbers and they are NOT the same thing! If you looked at Z's contract you will quickly realize that Hossa does not have to play for $6 million per year TO HAVE A CAP HIT OF $6 MILLION PER YEAR. These are entirely 2 different figures. Hossa's contract can go until he is 40, 41, 42, whatever with the last few years at $1 million per year IN ORDER to bring down the cap hit to $6 million. FOR EXAMPLE: You can pay Hossa $8 million for 8 years and then $2 million for 4 years. A 12 year contract worth $72 million for a CAP HIT OF ONLY $6 MILLION PER YEAR. Hossa would get 8 million until he is 38 years old and 2 million until he is 42. You can even cut his salary down to 1 million the last 2 years for a cap hit of 5.8333 million per year. In 8-10 years a cap hit of 5.8333 million may just be peanuts!!!!! Hossa is definitely LESS injury prone than Z. AND Hossa can retire at age 38 and there would be no more payment and no more cap hit. So Hossa still gets his $8 million and everyone is happy. This is perfectly legal and a very creative way to manage the cap!!!!!!!!

If the salary cap stays the same for next year the Wings have 14.958 million to replace the 8 expiring contracts. (Z, Hossa, Franzen, Sammy, Hudler, Chelios, Kopecky, & Conklin) Here are 2 scenarios for keeping Hossa OR keeping Franzen and Hudler without trading away Filppula or other bigger contracts. Scenario 1: NO HOSSA OR SAMMY (In millions): Franzen & Hudler would also have to take a home team discount: 6.08 - Zetterberg 1.8 - Hudler 0.6 - Helm 0.875 - Leino (RFA – not signed yet) 3.4 - Franzen 0.716 – Howard or other backup goalie 0.525 - Kopecky 0.9 - Ericsson (Lebda and Meech on the bench, Chelios retires to bench coach) ------- 14.896 mil = TOTAL Scenario 2: NO HUDLER OR FRANZEN: 6.08 - Z 6.0 – Hossa (similar creative deal like Z's) 0.6 - Helm 0.875 - Leino 1.2 - Sammy (if he comes back for same salary) 0.716 – Howard or other backup 0.525 – Kopecky ______ 15.996 mil = TOTAL (salary cap would have to increase by about $1 mil) Can’t afford 8 defencemen (If Ericsson will be with Wings Lilja will have to be traded, Chelios retires. Ericsson is .30 less than Lilja) Only Meech on the bench. So based on which way the Wings choose to go I don't think they will be signing any more players until they know what the salary cap will be. There is NO way the Wings can sign both Hossa and Franzen unless they trade away some big contracts like Filppula and someone else.

DRWs should have a Lidstrom look-alike contest for occasions such as this. And if the look-alike had a swedish accent no one would know the difference.

The funny thing about this whole mess is that the joke is on the Duck and Blackhawk fans who spent countless hours and days punching in their votes for their players...... and it makes Buttman look like an idiot either way.

There is no "rule". Buttman is making everything up as he goes along. Buttman is pissed because the most watched hockey team throughout the US is snubbing his game. Does it count if Babcock wears a Lidstrom jersey????

Are you kidding????...... We will prop Lidstrom up on crutches or in a wheel chair if we have to when he is 55 years old. As long as he is breathing we will NEVER let him retire. And even then he will still be the best defensemen in the league. When he retires I will switch to watching badminton instead of hockey.....LOL.