Probie

I heard that his ego and teamsmenship has improved of late. Perhaps it hasnt changed that much. I focussed on his play and ability and maybe have shy'd away from following his off ice antics and attitude. Maybe I heard wrong. I just figured if he wanted to win badly, that it might be a possibility. If he is still somewhat flaky and egotistical now, any chance he gets his act straightened out once he arrives? He would have all the higher up and experienced guys to tell him whats upnd make him act the right way. Anyways just a thought. To the fellow who posted above regarding him wanting a huge contract.....he has already stated he wants to be on a serious contender NOW, so after another year in Atlanta, he will be even more desperate, and a bit more mature...is there any chance he might get the team concept through his head and maybe take a bit of a discount, which is what you need to do to win nowadays? Or is he too much of a cash hound who is all about the $$$?

Dont like Kovalchuk? I know our team structure is built to not supposedly need an elite netminder, but what would you think of using the money instead to sign a Loungo? Im not certainly set on it, I think we could still win with a good (not elite) goalie, i just thought I would ask. He is another ELITE FA next year that comes to mind...

SidtheWhiner, why do you continue to stay on our boards talking s***? Go back to the Pits forums. We are not getting mad when people dont bow down and worship the wings. Anyone with any common sense can see how the nhl hypes crosby, and hes the nhl's darling. Fans from every other team not named the Penguins knows that pens/crosby recieve favoritism. here is something to make you smile from last year:

Being from the West Coast I follow the Canucks a little bit. His problem is even though hes not that old hes declining, and has already declined to an extent, and I'm guessing playing hurt so often has advanced his decline with respect to his age. Hes still got gas left in the tank, but we have cap issues even if we dont sign hossa, as I feel well still lose Samuelson or Hudler. Adding another 3 million to the payroll, you are guarantee to lose both those guys and maybe have to move another roster player. Hes not worth it at this stage, if it was a few years ago, then great.

Here is the problem with your argument, some of our top players have been rather silent on the scoresheet yet we are still even or slightly better considering your stats above.... that is with all your guys producing. What happens when our silent guns wake up and light the lamp? Hence more depth. Considering up to the last game, Hossa and Datsyuk have been real quiet and weve gotten as far as we have as easy as we have spells depth. You cant have depth paying Malkin and Crosby that much. What happens when Old man guerin retires, or runs out of gas(soon)? Sykora might not be back either this year. You have one decent offensive prospect in Tangradi that is sure to make it in the nhl, that might enter the league in 2 years. Where is the offensive support, the depth the secondary scoring? Satan? Pulleeease. There is no dynasty in Pittsburgh, they "might" win a cup in the next 4 years, maybe, but there will be no dynasty.

His nickname should be "gator". Yes he looks like an aligator, I totally think the same way. Alligator is too long a nickname. Gator is shorter plus it rymes with the last part of his name "Kader". Its been my nickname of choice for him for a while. Plus its how he plays too, hes viscious. Lets all call him that from now on. If enough people from here keep saying it, then it will spread, and sometime sooner rather then later you'll here on tv that its his new nickname. It might sound far fetched but things spread quickly!!

Cant do a contract like that. You can only decrease it by 50% in any one year. What some people(not you in particular) unfortunately forget is, some hockey players peak before they are thirty. Locking up Zetterburg Datsyuk and Hossa to long term hefty contracts with no trade clauses(yes I'm aware datsyuks expires in another 3 years or so) is a problem because I mean its POSSIBLE(i said possible) both players(Z and Hossa) have already peaked, and years before their no trade clauses come up, they are already declining. How many no trade clause years years did Z have in his new contract, like 6 right? What happens if you have talented youngsters that are future stars you want to lock up but cant because these guys cant be traded and they eat up so much cap space. I would be inclined to have BOTH Hossa and Zetterburg locked up to the one Z already signed if they were younger like Mid twenties..Z already signed that deal, now Hossa who is thirty is signing his? The recipe with this team is to have a few players making lots of money, in addition to young up and comers who are producing but still locked up to lower value contracts. Now all these guys who were making less, Z+Franzen+Hudler are about to cash in. What younger players who are going to produce at a low rate are being injected into the line up? One guy Lieno. Helm and Kader are grinders for now, I'm talking scorers- first and second line guys. The are no cheap contracts like Mule, Z and Hudler etc had upcoming into next season. That recipe for success is now changed. Hossa if he was twenty six I would sign him, as you could deal him by the time his 6 no trade clause years come up(if he gets a similar contract to Z's) and hes not too old.. and then retool. Let Hossa walk this year. Scenario: If they do sign Hossa: Then they should be inclined to let Hudler get signed for a first rounder...the team that does this would likely be a bottom fifteen team. I would use that first rounder and a selection of our other picks to move up this year in the draft and draft someone like a Kulikov who looks like hes going to be an outstanding defensmen...Lidstrom Rafalski are old, it sounds like Nick only wants to play another year or too. Kindl will be ready to take Lidstroms roster SPOT but wont fill his shoes, and Smith might not even be ready by the time Rafalski moves on or needs to be replaced. Drafting this Kulikov kid or another premier talent defensemen to fill this void would be a very good idea IMO, like NOW. If they dont draft a premier defensemen this draft, then use the Hudler pick to move up in the draft to a high spot, and pick a premier forward like Svenson. That combo i talked about of having young productive players locked to inexpensive contracts in addition to high paid stars (Z and Dats) would be somewhat restored if we were to pull this move off. Detroit has no high scoring prospects in the ranks besides hat Trick Dick who is NOT a lock YET...he might not pan out. The older guys need to be replaced, and soon, detroit needs new blood.

"The official reason has been kept pretty quiet-though behaviorial issues is the speculation". Was he out partying, not getting along with teammates, poor work attitude? Can you elaborate a bit more pretty please, or is it shush shush? Sorry, just interested. Thanks..

Hiller is pulled oh yes :lol: :lol: :lol:

Practice goalie, lets Osgood rest if need be. Plus it helps give Jimmie sometime with the team to get more accustomed to the nhl and the team... atleast thats what i think.

I'm not sure Kindl's defensive skills are consistent enough to be thrown into this pressure cooker. I wish i was wrong. I'm all for Lieno though

Yes I agree, we still have enough tools playing now to get the job done, we merely need to change our work ethic line combos and execution to win the series. However, IF the team COULD be IMPROVED with ADDITIONS from OUTSIDE, then why not? You cant be afraid to mix things up when they are not working. Look at last year with Hudler on the fourth line in the playoffs, he made it semi dangerous and helped it score. Lieno can dot he same thing this year, similar to what he did in this year with Drapes and Maltby during the regular season.

^^^ Yeah, bring in Lieno and then our fourth line can score a little bit, then the Duckettes have 4 lines to deal with, and not 3. Hopefully draper is in too for game 4. Rafalski in game 4 would be an awesome boost too. I would love to put Abdelkader in, but I worry about rookie mistakes during playoff time, where as Lieno is more seasoned.

and when the griffs get eliminated soon, why not throw Lieno into the mix. Sit Maltby or Kopecky. Maybe draper comes back too, and I would favor him over those two as well. Have a forth line of Helm-Draper-Lieno. That would be tight. And absolutely brutal call tonight by the Ref. The technicality of the rule is rediculous. How is that fair and justified given the circumstance...oh god....

I'm just a fan, so my opinion doesnt hold as much weight as someone with the experience and knowhow of a guy like Babcock. So, that being said, from my point of view if i can critisize Babcock about anything, and Ive thought about this many times before, its his line combinations and his poor choosing of when to use them in situations and his inability to make them work and change them once they obviously dont work. Ive been unhappy with the jelling of the lines all year. Why not go with Z-D-H, it was considered the best line in hockey. Hossa's best jelling to me this year was when he was with Hudler. 1st: Z-D-Homer 2nd: Franzen-Hudler-Hossa 3rd: Cleary-Flip-Sammy 4th: Maltby-Helm-Kopecky (or switch Flip and Hudler from the 2nd and 3rd lines). To me this year, the wings are not the sum of their parts. There is a mad amount of talent, and although they scored a lot of goals, they could have scored more if the pieces worked better together. Maybe some tweeking personal wise needs to be done during the offseason.

Did Axellson play, and if he did how did he look? Thanks man..

Huds should get us a 1st and 3rd pick, although they might want to use next years picks, not this years. Then we could trade Huds if worst came to worse for a 1st straight up in this years draft. That gives us our regular 1st, 2nd 3rd picks in 2009, plus another 2009 1st rd pick (say maybe 15 overall) from hudler. Any chance we could trade our regular 1st, and our obtained 1st (say 15th overall) to get a top 5 pick? We could draft Magnus svenson or duchene, both could play immediately, shoring up the departure of hudler. Wow we would be more stacked then last year on offense,if we keep hossa and lieno. SVenson I like, i think he has the talent to go 3rd overall but might drop. Cohen on defense...nick might retire in a year, he could fill the spot(just not the skills). If we end up only drafting in the mid 1st round pick, we might be able to get Kulikov who is very talented, if he lasts.

Here are my official picks: EASTERN CONFERENCE #1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens ->Bruins (4-2) #2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers -> Caps (4-1) #3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes -> Devils (4-2) #4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers -> Penguins (4-3) WESTERN CONFERENCE #1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks -> Sharks (4-2) #2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets -> Wings (4-2) #3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues -> Canucks (4-2) #4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames -> Hawks (4-2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll reserve the right to change my 2nd round picks after seeing the first complete, but if i had to guess who wins my fictional second round, it would go like this: Sharks vs Hawks (Sharkies 4-2) Wings vs Nucks (Wings 4-3) Bruins vs Pens (Bruins 4-3) Caps vs Devils (Caps 4-3)

Yeah, I spotted that too. Buddy is looking up the wrong info....

Too bad our boys didnt show up for a bunch of the games the last couple weeks. Oh well, its only the presidents trophy and home seeding through the playoffs. No biggie. As a matter of fact, too bad this team didnt show up and play 60 mins for most of the season, think what our record would have been!

Looks like the little pep talk seemed to have worked, LOL. They seem hungry, like last year, and are hustling.

Hey Boys, in posting that, i was assuming a rosterplayer was moved if we had to in order to sign some of the goalies mentioned. I didnt think Manny would be able to get a salary this year equal to last years pay, which was close 4.75M, I figured he might get in the threes or so as far as offers, and MIGHT take a pay cut to sign here. Just a thought. In looking at my figures, if they are right.... if Hossa walks we might have enough left over. After crunching the numbers now with what i expect each player to get, even without signing hossa (and only keeping howard as a goalie for backup, we have a payroll of 56.01M, and if the cap(56.7) goes up 2mill this year(to 58.7) like its been said, then we have 2.6M to spend, without moving any roster players. Would Roly take a little paycut? Manny? I dont know. I know "Mike" quoted above said Roly is too inconsistent, but hes still an improvement. WHy not go after Anderson for a year, what would he command on the market? Probably 2.6 or less like we have to spend, I mean he wasnt making that much this year right only 575K? If I were detroit I would do it. If you can sign him for less, great it gives us some wiggle room during the regular season. I think we need goaltending that is a tad more talented and dependable/consistent and sacrificing a few million is quite accpetable to improve our weakest link (yeah i know defense needs to tighten up lots too). Just a thought.

If we look at the UFA goalies here: http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=596214 these guys could work: Manny Fernandez G BOS $4,750,000 Dwayne Roloson G EDM $3,000,000 Craig Anderson G FLA $575,000 Scott Clemmensen G NJ $500,000 Not saying we can get them, or at that salary,but they could provide a 1 year plug till Maybe Loungo is a free agent or Howard/Larson/McCollum is ready a year from now(Mccollum will prob need more time then a year). Roly might have 1 year left in him, and might sign for 3mill, maybe fernandez ditto, not sure hed get the same dollar figure he made this year though probably less, say close to 3 mill. I'm not sold on Anderson and Clemmenson(even less). I'd try to lock up Roly or manny for a year if possible, let them sip the cool aid, and tell them stories of the stanley cup, and offer them a one year deal hehe

Hey could someone upload the babcock segment to youtube or whereever? I searched but no one has thrown it up yet. Thank you!!

No doubt defense this year has been "OFF". Once everyone is healthy, come playoffs, I'd like to see stuart and Kronwall split up as i feel they suck this year together, and I'd also like Lidstrom & rafalski not paired up as well. With everyone healthy, I'd like to see: Lidstrom stuart (stuart gives the pairing some physicalness , lets nick be offensive from time to time, nick covers for occasional stuarts gaffs) Lilja-rafalski (lilja stays at home, is physical, rafalski can relish being offensive, lilja helps stablize the line-rafs defensive gaffs) Erricson-kronwall (crazy that I think a rookie can stabalize kronwalls mistakes...speaks volumes). This could be a good physical pairing! lebda extra over meech Offense: Z-D-H (chemistry) Mule-Flip-Hossa (some chemistry, Hossa creates his own offense, flip can set up ok) Cleary-Huds-Sammy Lieno-draper-helm (Maybe switch malts for Lieno) To be honest, I wouldnt mind Lieno over Sammy on the third, I feel he is better, not that sammy should sit, but with Lienos offensive talent it seems wasted on the fourth line, although he could be used to jumpstart the 4th offensively. What do people feel about switching flip and huds, i feel huds would be able to set up hoss and mule better then flip, although huds isnt as quick, its a trade away).