Opie

I would love to see them have to get rid of Pietrangelo, and him end up a wing. I really like his game! Stewart would not be bad pick up either, other than the glut of forwards the Wings have.

A while ago I thought about changing my to Oglethorpe (after I bought his jersey). I have worn the jersey to a couple of beer fests and people are always yelling things at me like: "Hey Olgie" Or "Olgie watch out for Dr hook."

Oh no the guy dove once, he shall forever be the worst hockey player ever!!!!! /sarcasm I like Perron, good skill guy. Any idea why the Blues were looking to deal Perron?

Can we stop saying Brunner has played a "Season", it was a lockout shortened half season, in which he had issues with consistency. Not saying he wasn't succesful, just that he struggled in a 48 game lockout shortened season!

I literally spit coffee when I read this!

Just a simple matter of semantics but he had a good first half season here!

This 100 xs this!

You mean the European captain that would never be able to lead his team to a cup? Ok, so maybe only Cherry felt that way, but I think being that great and being European hurt his glory. Not sure that is the right word, was going to originally type Fame, but Lids doesn't care about fame, so not sure the word I am looking for there but you get the point!

There is a lot of homers in the media here, and none of them are happy about this deal. Many people are very skeptical about the 8 years. They all admit he is worth the 7mil, but they are very very worried about the term. They also do not seem worried about fitting Bergie (as he is being called) under the cap. I really wonder if they are going to spend lots of money on top end talent and not have enough for the vet leaders like a Shawn Thornton or Chis Kelly. Although Bergereon is quite the leader himself. Last week the media was all happy to have Seguin gone, new week and they are worried about the lack of youth on this team! Between the fickle fair weather fans and media in this area I would never want to play for a Boston team. On your way in you are a character guy with flaws that can be fixed by "this locker room", on your way out you are a horrible person and every secret the team hid from the media and fans is released in about 3 days. Look at how they destroyed Terry Francona on his way out, and that guy was/is a legend still in this area! BTW: I would love Bergereon on the Wings, great character guy, and easily one of the top 3 defensive forwards in the game! He joined the B's as a very young kid and has played exceptionally, I still remember the commercials he did with Raycroft when he was about 20. Shy kid, with a good personality!

Well based on the fact that both of those players came into the league for one year and then wanted or got bigger deals than they had earned. Then in the subsequent seasons they shat the proverbial bed. (Brunner has not done this part yet). And Brunner did it in a half season, I personally have a hard time putting much stake in a half season. Look at Howard's start this year. Was that typical of his play, or is that due to the fact that he didn't play during the lockout? How many guys had a goal on him early that padded their stats, because he had very little preseason? None of us really know There is a reason that in this day and age a player makes it to the age of 27 before he gets discovered, call it a late bloomer. But with scouts from all teams being all over the planet there are few players that have not been evaluated. Brunner made his bones playing with Z, I am pretty sure Z could make me look better than I am, notice I did not say he could make me look good! There are a lot of similarities between Brunner and Leino/Brunnstrim. To say that there aren't, IMO, is ignoring facts to support your fandom of Him. I am not bashing here, because I was victim to the same thing with Ray Whitney. I wanted him to be great on this team, even bought a Whitney Jersey, I defended his play on this board, but really he was not as good as I wanted him to be. Instead of ignoring bad play, you are ignoring the similarities that in this case would make any NHL GM very nervous to sign Brunner to long term money, especially with the way Leino Panned out!

Hard to tell sometimes with the Man Crush he has on "EmDog!"

I am very much good with that line up too! Especially since you put the former UMainer in the top 6!

Last year Helm was not healthy, so the team was short a center, that changes things drastically. Emmerton filled a gap admirably, but if Helm comes back Emmerton will be the odd man looking in, IMO!

I have to think the top 2 lines will be: Applegator Dats Z Franzen Weiss Alfredo

It is ok, you don't have to pretend your friend isn't Holland! LOL!!! Just kidding!

I was an unashamed Sammy supported. Right up until this last signing. Before this last go 'round I thought he was a responsible and decent player. He did what was asked and played hard. This last signing was baffling to me, I still believe Holland to be the best GM in the league, but the pick up of Bert and Sammy had me scratching my head.

Yes but with no Kopecky there would be no Hossa, and then the Wings don't win that cu..... OH nevermind!

Not to get into the Feds debate again, but I will say this. 2 factors into him not coming back. 1. C-bus probably wasn't trading him to a team in their division. 2 Here is where it gets tricky. Think of the bad taste the whole Feds ordeal left in some fans, Feds is a polarizing figure, love him or hate him really no in between when it comes to Wings' fans. Now I have to assume it left the same kind of bad taste in the Management's mouth. And a "potential" (lol) 3rd reason was at that time Flip's potential was supposed to be really high and weighing a few years of Feds against Flips potential was a pretty heavy decision. Sure hindsight being 20/20 you look back on it and think man they should have traded Flip for Feds, but at the time Flip still wasn't a known commodity and the thought was he was going to be a lot better.

Please try and remember that the Wings are now offering the money Brunner turned down to Cleary, they are not waiting on Cleary to make a decision on Brunner. That way your life may have a little less stress in it. Again, Brunner turned the Wings' offer down to test the market, the Wings made at least one offer of 3 years to Brunner. This is not new news either, he turned them down before noon!

Pure speculation. One good season does not make him a legit 30 goal scorer. As stated by other Cheechoo scored 56 once, want him on the Wings still? The list of one year wonders goes on eternal, especially guys who do it in a contract year! Not to beat a dead horse, but that is what Mule is supposed to be for!

The rumors are the Wings offered him 3 years, no dollar amount was stated but since 2.5 is the number all the experts are throwing out there, lets say they offered him 3 years at 2.5 or 2.25 and go with everyone's favorite canned statement "Holland Low Balled Him". He still told them just before noon he wanted to test the market, at that point (with the taste of last years UFA period) I would have filled the roster as soon as I could too. He can tell the Wings he wants to come back all he wants, once he tests the market all bets are off. I know he told Holland he would have the chance to match or beat, but this kid is not the type of player that wields that big of a sword yet to do that!

The other thing to bare in mind is that Brunner was also holding back Tatar, maybe Holland and the Org see Tatar as a better long term fit than Brunner.

Did some one really just post Clowe at that ridiculous contract would be better than Weiss, really!

OK, Sold, Pulkkinen it is! LOL, I know less about Noesen, just know he has a lot of talent! This trade, to me is the epitome of why teams like Ottawa and Anaheim are up and down more than a Yo-Yo. Bobby Ryan is a very good player with a bit of a spur in his saddle. But it is not like the Ducks got a couple of pluggers and a 5th rounder. Nyquist will be on this roster all year and make a difference, trading him and say Pulkkinen for Ryan and a 1st rounder to me is an overpayment. BTW Bobby Ryan has had one season that stands out as far better than Weiss, other than that they are both high 50 to low 60 point scorers. Weiss did that in Florida, and Ryan did it on ANA's top line, with GREAT linemates. Even when he got demoted he still had Selanne! Ryan is 4 years younger, but the price for him salary wise and commodity wise was high. I would still love him on this roster though!

Weiss is better and cheaper than Fil. If Alfie replaces Cleary, upgrade! If Alfie Replaces Abby who replaces Cleary Upgrade. Tatar = Brunner (IMO, will eventually be better). IMO, the Wings are better than they were at the beginning of game 7 against CHI! And the D will be better, Dekeyser will be here all year, top 4 is going to be good for a few years now. Kronner will lead this D (captain it not necessarily scoring, though he probably will lead scoring wise too!)