Probie

Lappy and neil are great in place of Grier too. Atleast Grier is strong, hits and plays well defensively. Thats all i wanted as a fourth line Guy. I figured hed be cheaper then Neil and Lappy. But hey if we can sign the other two, go for it..

Exactly, which is why we should bring in grier like you mentioned. Here is a realistic scenario. I would like to get more creative but we have to be realistic. I cant see them trading draper, he cant retire or his salry counts towards the cap, so we have to keep him, and hes a reserve forward like Meech. We Trade maltby even if we have to sweeten the trade for it to happen. Chelios is gone so is Hossa and Conks, Homer(retires). We trade Hossas rights for say a 3rd. let Hudler sign an offer sheet, say we get a first and a 3rd, if its not going to happen trade him for a first. The team that does this wont be a top 10 team, so we would probably get a 1st thats say 15th overal or so. Use the 15th overall plus our 3rd plus say corry emmerton or another decent prospect and additional pick to move up into the 5th overal, and draft say Svenson, who would most likely be ready to play this year, and could even contribute somewhat rightaway(not expecting alot though). Sign Grier, for something similar to his current contract, say 1.8 mil. We need guys that are strong physically and can battle along the boards, and can play well defensively. He would be great on the Penalty Kill. Also fire Brad M as our Def coach. This team needs to play D like last year. Here is our Lineup: Imagine a Forth Checking Line with Grier, Helm, and Gator. It would be great defensively, and they would kick the $hit out of everyone. It would be a valuable line in the Playoffs, they could wear teams down by themselves. I love that line!!!! yes I know Axxelson might not be ready to play next year, but hey..

Brilliant moves eh???!!

Hossa was a non factor, and didnt play with Fire. He was along for the ride. I still thing the team underperformed. That being said, even underperforming, they would have won if they were more healthy. Not an excuse, just a fact. Lilja would have helped, he was no worst then out number 3 dman during the reg season and would have been a steadying influence in the playoffs. Stuart f***ed up bad tonight but had a good playoff(him and kronner sucked as a defensive pair through the reg season).

Yeah I know they always choke, but you cant keep that up forever. They are going to tinker with their team, and who knows they might get it right sooner then later...the three teams I mentioned next year will be the three strongest.

Exactly, we lacked hunger all year,I watched 98% of all the games. We only played hard when our ass was against the fire.

Exactly...

Eactly if they were to keep all their D together, that means they have to lose 3 forward like Guerin, Kunitz and Sykora, and replace them with min salary players. No depth. Bruins, WIngs and SHarks will all Vie for the cup next year, Pitts are done....

Eactly I watched atleast 70 games during the reg season and every playoff game. They theought they were the s***, and lacked drive and motivation. Playing hard only when they had their ass to the fire. They had more talent this year, but were not the same team as last year. They need tinkering..... I forgot to add Sammy to my list of guys that shouldnt return. We need someone else as a right handed shot on the second powerplay unit. Sammy sucks, and turning 33 we shouldnt reward him with a fat contract that keeps him for years when the kids should play.... Our fourth line dragged us down this year.

bye bye hossa, maltby, and homer. Too bad drapes wont be traded, i know if he retires his salary still counts. Bring in Gator, keep helm Lieno and Erricson. Wouldnt mind a trade, like a really good penalty killer seeing as how we sucked so bad at that. D could use some tinckering too...

What a joke, look at the way the team played towards the end of the 2nd...if they had played like that more during the series, this woulndt have gone 7 games. Its totally on detroits motivation and desire. They cant blame nobody.

I love them but this team has serious motivational issues, their not even the 80's Oilers and they dont even show up for Stanley cup games.

It would seem Crosby doesnt have what it takes to be the poster boy, he lacks the temperment and attitude as well as class to do so. Betmans wish for the Pens to be the new dynasty isnt going to happen either, i dont see them winning this series yet(although it‘s possible) and looking at their salary cap situation next year, its worse then ours, they will lose atleast any combos of 3 good wingers or Dmen next year...their depth was their weakness already, now its a real problem. I just feel bettman and his cronies have failed with the Crosby and Pitts experiment and might start hyping Tavares(unless he flops) as the next poster boy. Its a move i see as being inevitable. Tavares seems to have the better temperment and attitude at an earlier age. What do you guys think?

Osgood gets my vote. Z is a close 2nd. I'm suprised Oz flipped a switch the way he did, cause i thought he was done during the regular season, I remember critisizing him.

Well said

He wouldnt be a bad choice, however if its one thing he lacks (atleast so far) to become the next star is a bit more scoring. Hes 70 point guy so far...he might up production as he gets older, but i was thinking the superstar talent is to a degree lacking. Not saying hes not a very good player at an early age...etc etc...

******* AAAAAAAAAA 3-0 Die pens Die

Yeah exactly, the Pens are not going to be the same team next year. Check out their cap space numbers: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/team.php?team=PIT As an example if they resign their D and say Sykora, they lose Guerin Fedetenko and Satan and replace them with 500k players. Ouch. And people say Pits is going to be a Dynasty. It could be said this year they werent the same team as last year. Next year they wont be the same team as this year either. Dynasty puuuuuleeease

Yes exactly, its fatigue. Schedule favors the pens, thanks bettman, what a suprise. I think its obvious Det needs an influx of youth IMO. Homer and Maltby are done, drapes is near the end. Mistake sitting gator too. Hossa is doing jack. He needs to skate hard and use his speed to create openings and chances. hes trying to be the playmaker right now (wtf?). We need a heart wrenching talk between the 2nd and 3rd, the guys have got to gut it out....the pens just are out willing them.

Money save by Osgood at the buzzer

Dude, our country is good at balancing its budget and not ripping its people off when compared to the United States which is extremely Corrupt and the most Debt ridden society in the history of the world. It should be noted i have nothing against the people of the USA, but the US gov sucks.

Well said on Eklund. He may get real info from real sources, but not all of them are going to pan out, as there are lots of trades that dont pan out. I wonder too if some of his sources purposefully give the guy false information to deflect attention away from real soon to be trades etc etc. Or maybe Eklund just likes to make up BS for site traffick. Either way he reports so much stuff that doesnt happen.

Hey off topic, but..lol, who is that chick licking the cup in your avatar?

Yeah I remember that pic, he was real cut. I remember one of the gals making a blushing type of comment...

Hey I know you guys are high on going back to the stanley cup and all and probably dont want to think about the roster situation, but for those that do....have a read: The big decision seems to be to keep Hossa, or not to. If you do, and I have made excel spreadsheets of a 22man roster, and played with Salaries of all the players, you have to lose people. I have even used a conservative salary of 6million (hoping he takes a Z deal). Without moving a dman, which is very hard considering the ntc and nmc etc, then you lose serious forward depth. It is worse then I first thought. You have to kiss Sammy Homer and Hudler Goodbye to keep hossa and hoping draper gets traded to make room for a cheaper rookie like Gator for me to even get our cap hit down to under 57.5 Mill ( I'm hoping the cap goes up slightly this year based on what I have heard). Sammy Homer and Hudler are replaced by our cheaper up and comers whom IMO are not ALL READY. In otherwords I think you do the team a disservice by signing Hossa, which sucks because I have to say I think he is an excellent player. Here is a way to avoid that. Let Hossa Walk. Promote Lieno. Tweak the lineup slightly, promote gator, Lieno and of course Helm stays. Lilja might have to go too. Maybe At the end of next years season, Lidstroms Salary will come off the books if he retires, or if he resigns he can sign for a lessar amount like has been suggested already. Homers salary will also be off the books, there is suddenly enough money to cough up for a higher priced Free Agent. It just so Happens Kovalchuk is a Free Agent at this time. He wants to win, and we could afford him under the cap, and I dont see him resigning in Atlanta. Now here I dont mind throwing a long term deal like Mules or Z's at Kovalchuk because hes at a younger age then Hossa is right now. Hossa is 30 now, Kovy will only be 27 next year, so by the same structure of contract, his ntc years are gone before hes too old to be tradeable or worth anything. Tying up all that money now into Z Dats and Hossa, its a little different because 5 years from now, they will all be somewhere on the way down, and still not tradeable, and handcuffing the team from signing other big talent(younger) due to the higher salaries. Atleast with Kovalchuk he's signing this Hossa deal at a younger age, so its not handcuffing the team as much at all really. I have no problem handing out contracts like that as long as they are not 30 or older when you do it. Now I know Kovy isnt great defensively, but hes still I would consider a better player then Hossa. Another thing to think of is, Huder Cleary Hossa Sammy Franzen are all natural RW or play as RW now (yes I know Huds is playing center right now). We are weaker on LW, with Lieno as being our only LW who is offensively talented(yes I know some of the others COULD play LW). In other words LW could use more scoring depth and Adding Kovalchuk who is a LW obviosuly helps balance that up too. Anyways Its just a suggestion. I'm not saying to do it, but it is a way to maintain our team core(after this season is over) and add a younger slightly more talent player the next year, who will be productive for more years then Hossa would.