talex

Hi, Anyone who has been to a Wings game might have noticed the jackets the ushers wear, they are awesome jackets. I am wondering if anyone has found a place to purchase one of these or simular. I know these are official usher jackets and even inquired a couple ushers on how to get one, but maybe someone on here has found a place to pick one up...

No video, but the story is here on milive I would welcome Mac back anytime he is ready.

Exactly my point, regular season is not the playoff's, the playoff's are much tougher and no doubt the Wings will play harder but I will say it again, there is nothing wrong with voiceing an opinion. Seems mighty pompus to suggest that one should drop being a fan because they have an opinion or show concern which shows vestment in the team. Personally I may not be the greatest Wing fan, I only drive from Milwaukee, WI 6 or 7 times a year to watch them play at the joe, a couple times a year to Chicago to watch them play in person and pay for center ice to watch the rest. I have been a fan since the 70's. I do not have blind faith either and am not the only one to show concern for the current defense which even Babbs said they need to step up which has been being said rather often especially since the AllStar break, so the team is aware of the problem but has not seemed to address it yet with any consistency. I know the team is capable of better play and just because I know this does not mean I or anyone else has to pretend like what is happening is not reality or concerning. No matter what they do in the playoff's I will remain a fan, I will swing with the ups and downs, but I also will not check my opinions at the door... I was at the Oiler blow-out, and the Nashville blowout last week as well as the Yotes game and live you can see the effort, but I keep riding the roller coaster with them... kinda hard to be a fan with out being vested...

Not that I want him to be correct, but I would not be honest that if I had to bet right now I would have to bet being outed by the second round at latest and there is nothing wrong with calling it as you see it. I do not see how they make it past the 1st round let alone the 2nd giving up 4 to 5 goals a game and not holding leads, something which has been pretty consistent all year (especially in '09)...

I would rather trade flip (3.5mil), call up Helm or Leino and try to sign Mule for the 3.5 and look at the Hossa deal seperately and long term.

Under no reasonable circumstances would I let Hossa walk. The fact is within a couple years here we are going to loose Draper, Maltby, Holmstrom and Lidstrom, though their salary is not huge, their presence is and the combined salary there is not puny either, which will allow some wiggle room down the road. I say we keep as much talent on the team as possible, the only thing that troubles me looking forward is Goalie because unless Ozzie starts showing something more we will be hurting there big time because Howard is not proving he can be the go to guy and our other prospects are simply not ready, Conks has shown the ability to step in but at times has been just as bad as Ozzie, maybe he would do better with the full time job who knows, but Goalie is something everyone should be seriously considering as well when looking to the future of this team.

I believe Stuart has a no trade clause.

I am not super concerned with 5+ years out if we go long term on the big 4, 2 of which we already have. I premise this because I doubt all 4 would suddenly decrease in play that much, perhaps 1 or maybe even 2 which would leave us with 2 excellent veterans and most likely 2 above average cast members and that all important experience, taking this risk would also assume a cup or 2 more in the time frame keeping the Wings a team the players want to be a part of not to mention these guys all will make the people around them better, so our young guys as they come up will have this benefit which lends itself greatly to self confidence and a winning attitude, having played sports all my life and watching this great run by the Wings, this has been a HUGE factor in the streak they have been on, thus I am not as concerned as many on signing the big 4 long term, noone can put a dollar amount on how some of our older guys have affected this run like Draper, Malts, Mac, Hasek, Hull, Stevie, Cheli, Shanny, Luc etc, etc... however as I stated, not at the cost of having a 1/2 griffins team down the stretch.

He very well may be worth 4 mil to the wings, however not at the cost of Hossa. Unlike others I would try and get both him and Hossa long term keeping the cap hits as low as possible, I would also shoot to not have a no trade on either. However I do not favor stripping the team of Huds, Val, Sammy and cast in order to keep both, teams with only 3 or 4 stars and a poor supporting cast dive quickly. I know this one has been beat to death, but I would sacrifice Flip to keep both.

The cap system sucks period. Getting higher draft picks was supposed to compensate teams that did poorley. The luxury tax is a far better system, the cap punishes big markets while the smaller ones still suffer, sure they may have a big season, but it soon dies back down and they struggle non the less, while the large markets get watered down and to some degree less interest in the product. The luxury tax system on a cap is a good solution which allows both to do better or what they want to do. I understand the theory behind the cap, but in the NHL it seems to prop up failing franchises, sure there is more parity, but it is not saving some of these teams anyways. I hope they go with a luxury tax system the next go round, even if Illitch chooses not to take advantage of it, it will still allow teams that may have a shot to pick up the extra piece to the puzzle, this will make for exciting hockey as well and allow both big and small market teams a chance.

I like Downey and agree with the other that state he brings something tangible to the team with his physical play and attitude. Not sure if Mac will be up to this role or not, but when Calgary comes to town I sure would like to have either one of them on the ice...

You would bench the leader in scoring from last years playoffs? No room for Mule?

No way I would trade Franzen. With many on here putting his expected salary to be in the 3.5 to 4 range, I would look at moving Flip and keeping the Mule. This year I would leave the team in tack. Holland has said he should have either Hoss or Mule signed by the playoff's (I am hoping Hoss). So I say sign Hoss long term simular to Z, then look at moving people like Flip to make room for Mule. I am not saying Flip is not a good asset, however the cap is what it is and he to me is the obvious move to keep both Hoss and Mule. Draps and Malts do not use alot of cap space, but they will be gone soon which will free up enough to keep around some of our young guys and Lids will most likely take less or retire which will free up more... leaving a super solid core of Z, Dats, Hoss and Mule. Keeping Huds would be a bonus. Players like Sammy and Cleary should also be kept because they are solid role players. Bottom line for this year it makes no sense in trading the Mule...

I like most of the lines and there are some interesting combo's here, except for 1 thing. Hossa and Franzen to me on the same line do not work as well together as they have on other combos. We also have 3 players who do very well in front of the net in Homer, Franzen and Cleary, Leino has also shown the ability to do this as well and I think splitting Z and Dats puts more solid and dangerous line possibilities than the Z-D-H and Mule-Fli-Hoss lines.

Hoss-Dats-Homer Huds-Z-Cleary Flip-Mule-Sammy - Can switch Flip and Mule at center, no preference from me. Mac-Draper-Malts - Lieno/Helm/Kop 3 Power lines, each with a net crasher. Also I think Hoss plays better with either Z or Dats, but especially with Dats. Running 3 powerful and dangerous lines will wear down even the most physical teams and is better than 2 in the playoffs. Lids-Kronner Raffy-Stuart Lilja-Ericcson - Lebda/Meech Ozzy/Conks in no prefered order at the moment.

1st my 2 cents. I cannot stand it when people stand in front, it is not a detroit thing, it's rude and obnoxious, however I usually only get mad when it's a couple bubble heads not paying attention to the game, taking pictures of themselves etc and standing during play, people are going to stand when something is happening, I join them and then I can see. To answer your 2 questions. 1. You are allowed to go down during the warm up pre-game skate to take pictures, watch etc. 2. Basically the same place, although I am speaking of the Chelis in Clinton Twnshp. Same type of menu and atmosphere, both have pretty good food.

I certainly hope they circle that game because I am going to be there, was at the last Nashville game at the Joe where the Wings smacked them 6-2. I particularly do not like Nashville because I am in Milwaukee and although I root for the Admirals, my main loyalty resides with GR and the wings. I have been concerned all year by the calls to bring up a ton of GR players to make room for this player or that player after watching the Admirals beat the Griffins every time they have played, those who only see our young guys brought up to the wings a couple times a year may not have the same insight or enough to realize that our young guys are no better and in some cases not even close to the other prospects in the AHL and brining up a bunch of Griffins will not solve the Wings D woes. Obviously our players have the raw talent to win the cup (last year is absolute proof), however for whatever reason they are not living up to that standard any longer and we need to seriously look at the D, if the Wings as a team are going to maintain the same type of system where a real solid goalie is not required because of outstanding D, then they need to shake the D up or it will be time to alter this and pick up a more solid goalie, I like both Conks and Ozzie but they are not going to steal a game for you, they play adequate when they have an excellent D in front of them. I have said this before and will say it again... for the most part the Wings are built on offense, a goalie can give up 2 and win 99% of the games because the wings have had a great D in front and you can count on the O getting 3 most of the time, right now that is not the case and there have been way to many close games, they are bordering being like a team in football I remember... the Chargers when they had Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow they would put up awesome points, but loose 90% of the time because the D stunk so bad... right now (reg season) the wings are sliding by with this system... it will not work in the playoffs, so something does need to be done, whether it be via roster changes or attitude changes I am not going to say and will leave that to all the pro's on here to speculate, but something needs to be done none the less... My 2 cents.

You guys were at Cheli's in Clinton twnsp for the Wild game???? Bummer... being from Milwaukee I don't get the chance very often... I was there with a friend of mine and my brother who lives around the corner to watch the game (We sat to the left when you walk in by the score board with the 4 lights on it). Oh well... Can't make it to this one, will be in Mich again for games on the 7th, 10th, 27th and 29th... of course in those cases I will be at the games...

off to the game...

Hi, Due to weather I have 2 tickets I am giving away to the Griffins game on 2/21 vs Lake Erie Monsters. There is also a Jack Morris Promo. The tickets are located directly behind the Griffins bench. Section 122 row C seats 9 and 10. These are at the will call and if anyone is interested I will have the tickets put in your name for pickup.

Well since some players seemingly will have to go, I hate to say it but flip seems the best option because of the 3M hit. I would attempt to sign Hossa and Franzen Long term, yes there is risk, but I would submit that short of playoffs we could allow our players rest more often than other teams due to the depth of talent, thus hopefully prolonging their ability to perform at a high level. If I was Holland I would be looking at the upcoming retirements (Maltby,Draper,Homer,Lids) and try to convince some players like Hudler to stick around stay with a good team and their time will come. I would not consider doing anything with Cleary, he is solid, likewise for Sammy for his salary. Due to the coming retirements, there will be some freed up room in the horizon, it is a matter of trust and convincing some of the good role players to stick with the team until these occur, whether they choose the payday or not is up to them. Obviously we have talent waiting in the wings as well. So in a nutshell if I was Holland I would be talking to the role players 1st, then to Franzen and Hossa to see if and which ones would take a shorter term deal until the retirements occur, if that did not work I would 1st get Hossa, Franzen, Hudler, Sammy in that order. Just my 2 cents.

I realize this one might get some flack, however I would fully advocate once these guys retire, placing their numbers on the rafters along with Stevie Y, anyone who has watched the 4 cup runs knows how much a part of this these guys have been. Obviously Lids will get #5 retired and although I doubt the others will... if it were a vote I think it would be a very close and hotly contested one... so I lay the discussion before you... If they manage to win their 5th cup in the next 2 years, it will only serve to make this a real possibility... My vote would for placing #18 - Maltby, #25 McCarty, #33 Draper and #96 Homer in the rafters That's just me...

I never promoted every tom, dick and harry. The players I spoke of are the ONLY ones to be with the wings for ALL 4. Mac in particular played a HUGE role in 2 of the 4, but all 4 players had pivitol roles, I do not feel they were just along for the ride. The superstars changed, but these guys were still there and it got done. I do not take cup wins litely which is why I think the discussion is worthy. None of those guys will get their numbers retired, but without them we would most likely not be having discussion about #14 or #91 either because I do not think they would have won all 3 cups those 2 were part of, winning the cup last year I think is a testiment to our "grinders" who have stood solid and provided heart when we needed it, that's just my take and I once heard it so eloquantly put... all those numbers will hang high in the rafters of my heart for eternity...

I just watched my wings dvd set again and remembering the Russian 5, I thought to myself wow, has there ever been a better team than we had that year. The I remembered the 2002 team and well I still cannot believe the team we had back then, our current team is good and has a solid core from that 02 team still in Lids, Draps, Malts and Pavel... but man what a team... Brendan Shanahan Sergei Fedorov Brett Hull Nicklas Lidstrom Luc Robitaille Steve Yzerman Igor Larionov Chris Chelios Pavel Datsyuk Kris Draper Tomas Holmstrom Boyd Devereaux Kirk Maltby Mathieu Dandenault Steve Duchesne Darren McCarty Jiri Fischer Jason Williams Sean Avery Dominik Hasek Curtis Joseph Manny Legace If there has ever been a better team in NHL history, I cannot think of 1... I am sure this topic has come up before however since I just watched the 97,98,02 previous cup run dvds I could not resist...

I have a feeling Cheli will be going to Chicago for next season and I would think they will retire it there, if not next season then the following for sure, if he retires in Detroit I do not know if we will retire his number here or not. I read an article awhile ago where Cheli stated he saw himself back in Chicago before he retires...