bonan78

I hated when Holland said this at the trade deadline, and I hate it even more now. It should be obvious by now that Hossa intends to test the market come Wednesday, and by doing so has effectively told the Red Wings that he values the money more than the opportunity to sing a long-term deal with a perennial title contender. I bear no ill will towards Hossa, he is well within his right to do so and I cannot say I am surprised, but Holland should know better than to limit himself in this way. Holland will have to face the possibility that none of our current FA's will return, and there are not enough Griffins who are ready to step in full-time should that happen. To just stand pat after coming so close to repeating is not a wise move, and I hope that this is just posturing for the press and that he does plan to throw some offers out there to some guys who are willing to take a discount to play for a winner. Bring in some fresh legs from GR, and a new body or two to add some fresh blood, the rest of our veterans will be even more hungry after tasting defeat with the Cup in the balance.

I see what you did there...

Here's what I would do: Parise/Kesler/Kessel Booth/Backes/Kane Drury/Gomez/Ryan Brown/Modano/Langenbrunner Rafalski/Suter Gilbert/Martin Hainsey/E. Johnson Miller Thomas Extras: Malone, J. Johnson Anyone else bummed that Conklin didn't get the invite, especially over Quick?

Ericsson and Howard are already under contract for this year, their salary did not count against the cap last year because they were in GR most of the year, this year they are both out of minor league options so they will be with the Wings full time, and they will be part of the cap hit. I think it will be pretty easy to sign Leino if Hossa goes, he said he would only go back to Finland if he wasn't going to be on the regular roster, and with Hossa, Samuelsson, Kopecky and possibly Hudler leaving, he would almost be guaranteed a roster spot. I see him getting a modest raise, possibly as much as 1 million per year. Hudler may be a sticky situation. He should get a decent qualifying offer, but his agent could easily push for a contract similar to the one Filppula got last year, based on his breakout numbers this season. I hope this doesn't happen, because that would almost guarantee that he signs elsewhere, because we wouldn't be able to give him that and still have a full roster with the amount of cap space that would take. Hopefully he likes playing here enough that he foregoes the big bucks and takes the discount.

How about Alexander Semin? Does this count? Or maybe Burrows? Great technique there. I'd rather see someone skate away than embarras themselves like this.

Winter and Holland can't agree to anything, we trade Hossa's rights + Meech to TB for next year's 2nd round pick + evgeny Artyukhin Hudler, Samuelsson, Kopecky all get better offers to leave, Chelios and Conklin we know won't be back. Re-sign Ville Leino for 1 million, Aaron Downey for 500k. Sign Joel Ward from Nashville, 850k. Forwards: Pavel Datsyuk, 6,7000,000 Henrik Zetterberg, 6,083,333 Johan Franzen, 3,954,545 Valtteri Filppula, 3,000,000 Dan Cleary, 2,800,000 Tomas Holmstrom, 2,250,000 Kris Draper, 1,583,333 Ville Leino, 1,000,000 Evgeny Artyukhin, 950,000 Kirk Maltby, 883,333 Joel Ward, 850,000 Darren Helm, 599,444 Aaron Downey, 500,000 Defensemen: Niklas Lidstrom, 7,450,000 Brian Rafalski, 6,000,000 Brad Stuart, 3,750,000 Niklas Kronwall, 3,000,000 Andreas Lilja, 1,250,000 Jonathan Ericsson, 900,000 Brett Lebda, 650,000 Goalies: Chris Osgood, 1,416,666 Jimmy Howard, 716,666 Roster Size: 22 Salary Cap: 56,800,000 Payroll: 56,287,320 Cap Room: 512,680 Lines: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary Franzen/Filppula/Leino Artyukhin/Helm/Ward Maltby/Draper/Holmstrom Downey Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Ericsson/Lilja Lebda Osgood Howard

Ironic that Lupul got traded away for Pronger again, and back to the Ducks at that. I see this being a move that benefits both teams, the Ducks get some depth at forward, and Sbisa is a very promising prospect. The Flyers get a lot tougher mentally and physically with Pronger, I think they are my new favorite team in the East, can't wait for the first Flyers/Penguins game, for that matter I can't wait to see Pronger's elbows meet Cindy's face 6 times in the regular season and again in the playoffs. Excellent

The league minimum salary is 450k, so no. Source

Using your scenario, here's what I came up with: Re-sign Downey to a two-way deal for 500k Re-sign Ville Leino for 1 million, he gets a permanent roster spot Sign Joel Ward from Nashville for 750k cap hit Trade Meech and draft picks/prospects to Tampa Bay for Evgeny Artyukhin (1 year left on his contract at 950k) Here's the numbers: Forwards Datsyuk 6,700,000 Zetterberg 6,083,333 Franzen 3,954,545 Filppula 3,000,000 Cleary 2,800,000 Holmstrom 2,250,000 Draper 1,583,333 Leino 1,000,000 Artyukhin 950,000 Maltby 883,333 Ward 750,000 Helm 599,444 Defensemen Lidstrom 7,450,000 Rafalski 6,000,000 Stuart 3,750,000 Kronwall 3,000,000 Lilja* 1,250,000 Ericsson 900,000 Lebda 650,000 Goalies Osgood 1,416,666 Howard 716,666 Roster Size 21 Salary Cap $56,700,000 Payroll $55,687,320 Cap Room $1,012,680 *if Lilja does go on LTIR, then call up Kindl to be the 7th defenseman. Here's what my lines look like: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary Leino/Filppula/Franzen Artyukhin/Helm/Ward Maltby/Draper/Holmstrom Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Ericsson/Lilja Lebda With this lineup, we get a black guy to shoot the knuclepuck for soultrain (I tried a scenario where we re-sign Hudler and add either Neil or Laperierre, and the only way I could make it work was to sign Hudler at 2 million and Laperierre at 1.4 million, but I had to cut Leino loose.)

I just sprayed orange juice all over my laptop, thanks.

I for one hope that Team Sweden tanks it hardcore, not because I don't like them, I just think that the best possible outcome for the Red Wings would be to have their Team Sweden contingent not have a long medal run in the Olympics. That being said, I think that the Olympics will definitely take it's toll on our team, but many of the elite teams in the league will be well represented in the Olympics. It will be interesting to see what the standings look like right before the Olympic break, and how it affects who makes it to the playoffs as well as how teams like ours who have a lot of players playing in the Olympics once they reach the playoffs.

That's why I think it can be done, if he was a FA, he'd probably have a higher asking price and we may not take him seriously. He signed a 2 year, 1.9 million contract with TB last July. I don't think we would have to give up much to make a deal. I wouldn't rely on him to be our only enforcer, I still think we need to go after Neil or Laperriere, but having him as an additional grinder/fighter kind of winger could be cool.

I'm not so hot on Nichol, he's too small (5'8" 175lbs), plus I remember him getting suspended for cross-checking a Canadiens player in the back of the head, we don't need that. Fiddler could be a good energy guy, on Helm or Draper's wing even though he's a natural center. I was very impressed with Joel Ward every time I saw him play, lots of energy, size, and has a bit of an edge to him, too. If we could pick him up along with Neil or Laperriere (sp?), that would be a killer 3rd line, Ward/Helm/Laperriere. Speaking of guys no one is talking about, what about Evgeny Artyukhin? His cap hit is less than 1 mill IIRC, he's huge and he plays with a huge chip on his shoulder, I know he got suspended for whacking Vermette with his own helmet, but I laughed my head off at it.

No, I know what the practice ones look like, this was definitely tblack Pro Player one, with the white stripe and the red half-sleeve, like the one I have. Like I said, it's no big deal and I saw it for sale on eBay a couple of years ago, but I was just curious if they ever wore them in a game.

A lot of those empty seats are either season ticket holder no-shows or corporate-owned seats that, again, were bought and paid for, they just didn't go to the game. They record attendance by the number of tickets sold, not by how many show up. Still disappointing to see empty seats at the Joe.

Anaheim, the name made a significant recovery when they dropped the Mighty and completely revamped everything. Still not the greatest name in all of sports, but much more respectable than the original. Atlanta, the name is cool, the logo needs some work, the color scheme is not bad, they just need to make up their mind what their colors are, they have had 3 different shades of blue as their primary jersey color, and the maroon third jerseys are too bland. Boston, classic all the way around. I never understood what the spoked wheel had to do with a Bruin, and until I saw an alternate jersey with a bear on it, I didn't even know what a bruin was supposed to be. Black and gold is a strong color scheme in any sport. Buffalo, hate their current logo, it looks like a bloody slug. At least when they changed in the 90's to the red, silver and black colors they had a pretty cool logo, I think they need to go back to it with the original color scheme, that would be great. Calgary, cool name, color scheme fits the theme, I like the logo and the jersey appearance, except maybe the third jersey, with the horse head snorting out flames, that didn't really look right. Carolina, as bummed as I waa to see the Whalers disappear, I have to admit they did a good job with the name and concept, though there are way too many teams using red and black, maybe if they kept the black and switched the red for the green in the old-school Whalers scheme. Chicago, original six, can't mess with it, although the concept art for the logo redesign is wicked cool. Columbus, name is using an obscure historical reference about the region, too hard to explain to the casual user, not a bad job with the logo though, I mean the one that looks like a bug, not the one that is just the letters fancied up. COlors are a bit unoriginal, though they make good use of them in their scheme. Colorado, hate the team, can't knock anything about their name, logo or colors. Dallas, the Stars is very unimaginative, especially when they had to drop the North when they bolted MN, good logo and colors for such a weak name. Detroit, what can I say, the winged wheel is one of the most recognizable team logos in the whole world, classic red and white scheme is simple but effective. I like the black jerseys I'e seen, I wouldn't mind seeing them wear it in a game. Edmonton, the Oilers is fitting to the region and not difficult to understand, color scheme is solid, logo a bit dull but it is a classic though. Florida, the Panthers is cool, especially since there are few cat-themed teams in hockey (unlike the NFL), colors unoriginal but they make it work, logo is distinct and unmistakable. Los Angeles, the Kings is unimaginative, current color scheme is a good combination of the original and the late 80's version, logo is OK. Minnesota, I don't know about the Wild, they could have done better, I like the color scheme and the logo is impressive. Montreal, old school works for me. I make fun of my Habs fan co-worker about what a lame nickname they have, but 100 years of history is impressive enough for me. Nashville, the Predators is a very original team name, the sabre-cat logo is cool (the profile one, not the 3/4 one, that is too amateurish), color scheme is fine as long as they never bring back the mustard stained jerseys. New Jersey, again the Devils is an original, logo is good, they need to go back to the Christmas colors, red and black is too common. NY Islanders, no complaints there, although I wouldn't mind seeing the fisherman make a comeback. NY Rangers, O6, nuff said. Ottawa, I know they were really bringing back the old Senators, and they did a pretty good job, but some of the recent changes are not working (i.e. the forward-facing dude instead of the profile) Philadelphia, name is cool and has a cool story, logo is a classic, color scheme is good, not too many other NHL teams using orange. Phoenix, it fits the region, but a Coyote is not exactly something I associate with hockey. I like the recent move to a more classic appearance in the logo and the scheme, but I am probably in a minority of people who thought the psychadelic cave-painting Coyote logo was cool. Pittsburgh, Penguins is not a very common sports team name, the logo I have to agree with some on here, it looks it belongs on a carton of ice cream instead of a hockey jersey, I like the black and gold scheme, especially since all Pittsburgh teams have it. San Jose, the Sharks very original, logo rocks and the colors work. St. Louis, I don't know what significance Blues has to the city or region, but it works. Logo and color scheme are solid, I hope they don't try to tweak it any more than they did for the 3rd jersey. Tampa Bay, the Lightning is cool, again not used very often in sports, logo needs work, colors are good, black blue and silver are very distinctive. Toronto, O6, but I think the Maple Leaf is kind of a lame mascot, (I'm sure to incur the wrath of Canadians everywhere, eh.) Vancouver, name is just OK, I like the Orca theme, not sure about the new/old color scheme, I think they should go back to the black, maroon and purple they had. Washington, name fits, logo is cool, but there are already enough red teams in the league, they should have stayed with the late 90's color scheme.

Our lowest attended game this season (18,862) would have sold out every other NHL arena except: Montreal (21,273), Chicago (20,500), Philadelphia (19,519), Tampa Bay (19,500), Florida (19,452), Calgary (19,289), St. Louis (19,260), and Ottawa (19,153). Source: http://hockey.ballparks.com/, http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance/ Interestingly enough, the bottom 5 teams in terms of % of seats sold are: Atlanta 78.01, Florida 80.31, Phoenix 83.58, NY Islanders 84.51, Tampa Bay 84.60 2 of the 5 arenas that we could have sold out on our worst attendance day are selling less than 85% of their available seats. I know this is being discussed on several other threads, but Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, in it's current configuration, seats 17,383 for hockey, and the Coyotes had an average attendance of 14,876, while the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs had an average attendance of 4,624, or 26.6% of capacity. Food for thought.

I agree with everyone else on here, if Sakic does not play for Team Canada, then Jarome Iginla will be the captain. You could make a case for Pronger or Niedermayer, but I see it being Iginla. Crosby might get an "A" this go-round, definitely in 2010, and likely the "C" in 2014. There are too many veteran proven leaders ahead of him in the Canada program, but he will one day be the unquestioned leader of Team Canada.

How sad is that. The shootout begins at around 5:00 of the clip. Fallon shoots like a girl, he barely broke the one target he hit.

Can you please quote the entire article in a post, the link requires a membership to read the full article.

I don't think anyone really thinks Hudler is a bad player or is not valuable to the team. The real issue is that we are under a salary cap crunch, and of the free agents that we have, Hudler is the only one that we would receive any compensation for if he were to sign elsewhere. If Hossa signs with another team, we get nothing out of it. If Hudler gets an offer sheet from another team, we have the opportunity to match the offer, of if we decline we get compensated with draft pick(s) from the team that he does sign with. That is why there are so many who say that Hudler is the player that the Wings can afford to lose. It is not a knock against his play nor what he brings to the team, it is a business decision. That being said, I feel that Hudler is too skilled a player to be stuck on the 3rd or 4th line, and if Hossa stays, that is what will happen. He is too small and not defensively sound enough to play center in the Wings system, and we have too many wingers who are ahead of him in the depth chart. Granted he does play on the PP, but Cleary or Filppula could easily fill that role in his absence. He is not very physical, he doesn't defend well, he does not have enough speed to make up for his lack of size (like Helm), these are important considerations in the eyes of the Red Wings coaches and front office. I do not want to see Hudler moved, but at least we would get a draft pick out of the deal if he does, and the way our draft picks have been panning out, we stand a better than average chance of picking up a decent player from it. I am confident that Holland will do what is best for the team. If that means getting Hossa to sign a deal that we can afford, then so be it. If it means letting Hossa walk, then definitely keep Hudler over our other FA's (Samuelsson and Kopecky have to go IMO).

What I meant by that is being able to persuade a high-priced UFA like Bouwmeester or Weber (who I think is RFA) to take a discount just for the sake of winning the Cup short-term. I did not say anything about his play, I was merely making reference to the fact that his statement about coming to Detroit to win the Cup, while not untrue, was maybe not such a good thing to say BEFORE you have won anything with your new team. That is all. Other players may not be so willing.

I guess this means the Flyers won't be re-signing Nittymaaki (sp?), maybe we could pick him up.