kook_10

It appears you are confused on a few things, son. First, making a baseball analogy doesn't support a hockey "arguemant" in any way, shape, or form. Power play specialists play on lower lines all the time. To say that he has played on the first line for so long because he is one is garbage. Second, his contract has no bearing on which line he plays on. His play and his role and utility on the ice determine that. (see that - a novel concept - A Role sounds familiar, eh Homer?) Third, if Flip is underperforming as much as you say it makes absolutely no sense to trade him. Who would want to give up a $3M in assets for a third liner like you say? If he is only playing worth $2M he will only get a $2M guy in return. Fourth, again, take a look around the league and see who is playing third man on the first line and you will see it is a support player. You totally copped out of an argument on the comparable first line forwards. He has proven a worthy defender of the opposition's first line and is very good at making entry into the offensive zone and controlling the puck on the half boards creating space for his line mates. While you're at it look at second lines around the league and compare Flip. You've got blinders on.

BesidEs, he never conclusively showed he was better than anyone.

That may be true, but I still think ultimately his long absence and recovery, in addition to his status as a short term rental, made it difficult for Babs to choose him to go into the lineup over guys who are more stable components of the team (even if they were playing like s***). I think he was looking for redemption out of his guys, and Modano was never really one of his guys.

I called this matchup and I actually think it will be a very entertaining game. Whether or not they are deserving is another matter altogether.

Severe hand injury?

Terrible comparison? We are talking about who is qualified to be a 1st liner. Has Homer ever been legit point producing 2nd liner on his own? I love the guy, but that criteria is just fantasy - take a look at first lines around the league. As far as being a PP specialist - that is a BS excuse. On one hand you defend Holmstrom being a first liner and excuse his even strength play by saying his value is on the power play. On the other hand, Flip outscores him but he isn't qualified. Out of 3rd wheel first liners on the teams left in the playoffs, Fil could very realistically with full time fist line duties put up numbers comparable to Clowe, Burrows, Lucic & Horton, and already does outscore Bergenheim. So is it the non-elite teams that you want to compare to? If a player could produce on the second line on his own, why would you want him on the first line? So he could eat Dats or Z's points? That doesn't make any sense. Z and D need players to complement them rather than supplement them. Supplementary players should be on different lines.

How did Homer look playing first line this year? His scoring was what? Oh yeah 2 points behind Flip. It appears that the OP has criteria that three first line "types" in the elite sense must populate the first line. Rarely if ever is that really the case. Flip may not be 1989 Stevie Y, but he is great at creating space which has been lacking for Zetterberg in particular the last 2 years. ZDF FTW

The Bolts are turning it on!

...and that wacky baseball you guys have too.

like the Countess said, "money can't buy you class"!

How much does everyone think he is worth on the open market anyway?

Kindl's value is in potential.

Do they even play lacrosse in Finland?

whoa - I just woke up and read the title as "Hitler's Future". I would bet they are almost equally popular around here these days .

Insane goal. Very impressive that he could do it on the fly in one fluid motion.

If you could decide - without regard to contract lengths, trade restrictions, the cap, etc - who wears a Red Wings uniform next year, who would you like to wave goodbye to? Select as many people as you see fit. For the time being this is a poll only - consider it a mood ring of sorts.

For all of his magic and amazements, he still managed to surprise me with that absolute canon of a slapper last night. I have said that if I have a son, I would want him to be like Steve Yzerman on and off the ice. I would amend that now to say I would want him to be like Datsyuk on the ice, but I know that it is essentially impossible. No one is like Dats - his pure talent is off the charts and you just can't manufacture what he has.

There really are no "categories". The poll doesn't allow for more than 10 choices for any question so it just had to be that way.

50+ votes is a good place to open up for comments. It would have been interesting to do this before the playoffs too. I know one Flip who would have had a few more votes.

The Wings are too old for Bieber. It should be Leif Garrett.

Part 3:

just taking it one step further

I Am OZZY