datterberg1340

this has got to be our largest margin of defeat this year, terrible

at least there's a sense of symmetry w/ Howard and Osgood both giving up 3.... so far

We really should start declining powerplays, we look so lost out there regardless of who it is

Can we look any MORE disorganized on our PP? Do we even practice this anymore?

goddamnit

those lines actually may not be a bad idea, but Babcock doesn't seem to want to de-suckify the team tonight

can hardly believe we could only muster 2 shots that whole period, Hank, Dats, Cleary and Lids shot-less so far

you know that was going 5-hole... blah

at least Dallas is getting stomped, too

damn this is a terrible waste of a chance to jump LA, and I know the Isles have been hot lately, but we don't even look like we're trying out there; hope we see an improved effort on Thu b/c if we can't beat the Canes either, then we've got a lot more serious of a problem than all the injuries this year

kick his ass, c-bass!

beware his stern looks, he'll give you the staring of a lifetime

gotta keep the pressure on, can't sit back

and he's supposedly healthy tonight, too

just chop his damn head off- I want blood!!!(okay that may be a bit much, but god do I hate Adam Foote)

at least they didn't give him a 12 year deal, too

I agree, give the kid a real chance. The Wings have put a lot of time and effort into him, both the Wings and Howard owe it to each other to see what he can do. If it turns out he can't hack it, they'll deal with it then. You never know, he could be a late bloomer....

You certainly have a point there, and a guy like Chris Neil would be more ideal for that role, but with all things considered Downey might be the best we can get

Can't see this happening w/o Holland having to get rid of other players off the roster, if this were happening next year it might have been able to happen. Of course next year the cap will probably go down, the only reason it didn't this year is because the NHLPA exercised the 5% cap inflator, if they hadn't the cap would've dropped this year by about $2.5 mil. I think/hope we will let Hossa, Sammy, Hudler, and Kopecky walk, and re-sign Leino and Downey and then go for a guy like Lappy who, much as I dislike him now, would be the Drake type of player we could use to toughen us up a bit plus he's never won a Cup before the line-up, if I had a say in it and considering the cap, could be: Z- Pavel- Homer Mule- Flip- Cleary Leino- Helm- Lappy Maltby- Draper- Downey/Abdelkader Lids- Raf Kronner- Stuart Lilja(if healthy)- Ericsson spares- Meech, Lebda Ozzie, Howard I could live with that line-up, less scoring overall, but this coming year I want to see a better effort defensively and a better PK; I hope that Holland and Co. realize that other team's strategy against us, particulary in the playoffs, is to beat on us physically- we have to get some more grit to help counter this strategy, I want this team to be harder to play against physically

My favorite moments were: Cleary's series winner vs. the Ducks Ericsson fighting Perry and beating him Sammy's OT winner vs. the Blackhawks Kronner's PP goal in game 5 against the Pens, loved the way he broke into the zone then came out in front and put it past flower, just wish that game hadn't turned out to be our last win of the year Abelkader's 2 goals in the Finals, those were both awesome, and a weird thing about them was they were scored exactly one second apart from each other in the 3rd period of games 1 & 2, thought that was freaky worst moments: The terrible reffing in Game 3 of the finals. Ultimately I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but that game had some seriously mindboggling breaks for the Pens Niedermayer's elbow on Dats at the end of game 6, that sh!t was not cool, but at least we beat 'em in 7 Pronger's shoving Hudler from behind into Hiller in Game 7, then Hudler getting called for goalie interference, one of many terrible calls this past post-season everyone's worst moment: when the clock reached zero in game 7

No way should we get Scuderi. I think the Wings learned their lesson after signing Stuart after his performance in the finals in '08. He looked great out there with Kronner and it seemed we got a steal at only $3.75 mil/year at the time, but now I think they regret it a bit, especially giving him a NTC for the first 2 years of the deal. I know for sure we wouldn't have re-signed him if we had signed Hossa before Stuart. Stuart simply isn't worth what role the team is asking him to play, a stay-at-home type 4th d-man. If he wasn't in the mix, we'd still have Lids, Raf, Kronner, Ericsson, Lilja(assuming he returns), Lebda, and Meech. If Max Talbot were an impending UFA, he'd be getting way over-paid for what he can actually provide on a consistent basis.

Most of those guys would not be a good idea at all and some are way out of our price range, though 2 players from that list I'd like would be Lappy or Neil, either one would provide something that we do need- someone to protect our star players; all playoffs long the other team took liberties with our stars and none of them ever really had to answer for it- like Talbot slashing Datsyuk in game 5, in that situation the game was already over for all intents and purposes, so I guess he figured he'd get a shot in, which is a reason the "our powerplay is our enforcer" mentality doesn't always work, and 'ol Maxine never had to answer for it, no one really did anything to him A player I think deserves a chance is Downey(since we're not likely to get anyone from that list anyway), he would be cheaper than all the others and has proven to be useful in the past, plus he's had a great attitude about dealing with the two-way contract situation at his age, which is still not all that old(34 I think); I know he's not going to score, but we don't need every player on the roster for that, that's what the stars are supposed to do, we can't have all our players be a "jack of all trades, master of none"

I'd keep Flip for a number of reasons. He's only 25, we have him for 4 more years with a cap hit of only $3 mil, and he's getting better. He should get much more power play time this season which will help his overall numbers and he had a very solid playoff performance this year. If he gains more confidence in his shot he could be a 25-30 goal scorer with 70-75 point potential. Ultimately it depends on how much the cap changes(it would have to go up at least $3 or 4 mil to get Hossa back and fill our other holes) and how much of a discount Hossa would be willing to take. I doubt he'd take a cap hit much less than what Zetterberg's is, I mean the guy is still worth and can get a deal at at least $6 mil per year. I just don't seeing us being able to make that fit. Besides, even if the cap goes up this year, a lot of people are worried it will go down the following year and from what I've heard the labor agreement is very unforgiving to teams that would be over the cap if it lowers. I believe they would be forced to either trade or buyout players' contracts.

Excellent work, brought a smile to my face in these dark times

I agree Hossa should walk. Even if he takes a great discount to sign here long-term, it's still too much of hit to our depth, which really was the only reason we made it as far as we did this year, Hossa did not help us much, especially when we needed him most. Let the young players come up and infuse a little youth and exuberance in this team.