Opie

It bares repeating again: Holland deserves credit, Illitches deserve credit, and the Org as a whole deserves credit for setting up this environment, HOWEVER the most credit should go to Marian Hossa!!! He just did what every average Joe around America complains that athletes never do, he turned down upwards of 30 million dollars to win a cup. Sure Lids and Yzerman did it, however there was never the public bidding war going on for them, they were wings and would remain wings. Hossa had offers that were far and away better than what he got, and the fact that he asked for it, just WOW! My favorite quote (paraphrase) was when Ken Holland told him he would have to call Lids to see if it was ok and Hossa said don't bother, I will take what he makes!!!!! Unselfish to the utmost!!! Even if he is a one year rental he is displaying that he has all of the intangibles that make him a Detroit Red Wing!!!!!!

OK so he steals Stuart for barely anything! Grabs a very solid back up for next to nothing! And now it appears as though he has landed Marion Hossa in a rental role for 1 yr 7.4 million. Where are all of the Holland haters now!!!!

RE: Bolded part You do realize the season before the offer sheet Penner was ranked 2 or 3 for almost every skater statistic on the team, if he wasn't #2 behind Teemu he was #3 behind Teemu and Neids, so I think saying he was one of their best players would be a fair assumption, Burke could have easily matched the offer and given the Bert money to Penner. However, I think Burke used the situation to try and see if Bert had anything left, but he had Lowe as a scape goat. And as it appears that he has not managed his team very well he is now playing that ace up his sleeve, so to speak, and is blaming Lowe for his salary cap woes!

It is not the Red Wings fault that (as stated by others) top to bottom the Illitches have filled this org with nothing but class. Look at the names involved in this Org and tell me one guy who hasn't been class his whole career: Bowman Yzerman Lidstrom Nill Holland Babcock Then a new guy comes into the fold and when they walk in the door two of the first faces they see, or faces they see around the Joe a lot, Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman. It is not just the current Wings that love this org!!! This org shows class towards it current players, treats them with dignity and respect. The only time I can think of anything messy with players was the Feds contract ordeal (Holland and Feds were stubborn and it played out in the media) other than that most contract situations are kept in house. Do they hire a coach who will yell and scream and blame officials or tear into the media, no they hire Babcock who (appears I am not at practice) preaches hard work and commitment to the team philosophy!!! He wasn't in the presser whining about calls or no calls, he just said we have to play harder. Whatever he said in the locker room is between him and his players, but what he says to the media speaks volumes for how people and this team view him. If he pulls a Therrien and is whining about calls, it makes it seem like he only thinks he can win with the refs on his side. It all points to winning, and then on top of that they add guys that buy into the system, they don't go after a guy who only plays on the offensive end. Hossa, Dats, and Z are all very talented without the puck, they won't float in their own zone waiting for the break out. They will all (and that goes for all forwards on this team) help out below the face off dots, and yet there are countless times when you see the last forward to clear the zone, be the guy who gets a great scoring chance or a goal. It is hard work, it is the willingness to bust your ass for just another 10-20 seconds instead of hitting the bench for a breather. IN fact that was one of the downfalls of this team in the losses to the Penguins, the players were trying too hard and Dats and Hank were staying on the ice too long. Babs talked to them about it and the next game shorter shifts and a W! Think about it this way, if you had a chance to take another job, that you knew the benefits were far and away better than your job, but the pay was less, would you take it. Assuming that even though it is less you can still keep you style of life, of course you do, you take the better medical plan, more time off, the flexible hours, the place were your manager is a great guy, it is the intangibles that bring players to the Wings, when you are making 7-8 mil a year what is the big deal with taking 1 mil less, that would be like you switching jobs for better benefits and work environment for 3k less.

That would be hilarious!!!!

You and I have had our rounds, but this is a great post. I am not anti fighter I just don't think it necessary, I know we disagree, but at least you and I can agree a good fight is damn fine entertainment!!!!!!!!!!

Stuart should have gone for atleast 5, look, Orpik and Jeff "Anonymous" Fingers just both got basically the same money. And Kronwall and Stuart will be FAs the same year, in 4 years the cap could be 70 mil it could be around the same, hell if the Canadian dollar drops well below the American Dollar the cap might shrink. So in four years you figure out what they are worth, in the past two days 3.75 for Brad Stuart is a great deal. No harm meant!!!!!!!

Lids makes 7.45

Reasonable deal for him compared to say oh I don't know, Jeff Fingers!!

Leftwinger, take it for what it is worth but Holland said he is done with FA signings, they are now going to focus on their own RFA's. EDIT: He said them by name and included Mac and Downey, he didn't say RFA's, he was listing his own free agents, didn't mean to mislead anyone!

That Sauer Finger article is hilariously true!!!!

With Stuart, Lilja and Conklin odds are Howard and Ericsson get AHL contracts which do not count against the cap.

This signing makes soooo much more sense now that they signed Hossa. What ever Detroit signs Howard to if it is a grand Rapids contract he does not count against the cap, same for Ericsson. So they bring in a cheap and sufficient (did it last year well) back up, sign Stuart and Hossa and you only have 3 guys to sign with your 4 mil not 5 players!!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242261&amp...ain\\

Deal, I have bookmarked the page, this will done!

Alright so here is how it lays out: If the wings don't make the WCF I shave my head. Wings don't win Pres trophy I shave my head. President trophy you shave your head. They make it to the second round you shave your head. Which presents the situation where the wings could win the cup and I shave my head or the wings lose in the second round and we both shave our heads. Unless you want to change the stakes, I just through that out there.

Wow not sure I should take advantage of you if you couldn't figure that out? Maybe I am wrong any other post not follow what I was saying? Either way, I say that this team is tough enough, skilled enough, and has enough heart to get to the WCF. No excuses, no bad first round match up excuse, no they were injured excuse, nothing. I say this team makes the WCF, you are saying teams will cheapshot the wings and that will cost them success. So you let me know how much success you think it will cost them, early playoff exit, not winning the Pres Trophy, not making the SCF, whatever you let me know how much success these cheapshots will cost them.

I have an idea, since you are so sure of what will happen next year why not put something at stake? Not necessarily money but try backing up your thoughts with something real. I will bet you a shaved head and pictures on this webpage if you take the "The Red Wings will have 3 of their major players (you picked 5 above I am just saying pick 3 of them) and end up not winning X" X can be the division the presidents trophy or not make the SCF, I will let you pick. I will take the This wings team is tough enough, talented enough, and has enough heart to make it to the WCF!!!

This is why I only peaked at Christmas gifts once, I learned my lesson, not knowing is better than the torture of waiting. For instance the next 3 months would have been a lot better not knowing the wings had Hossa, than the painful anticipation as every day slowly ticks by. However in this case not knowing would have meant the wings did not have him, and I am cool with the waiting to see Babcock and his new toy! He has soooooo many possible line ups from 5-5 to pk to pp. The overtime lines could be: Dats- Hossa - Hank - Lids Franzen - Flip - Ralf - Kronwall Cleary - Draper - Stuart - Lebda And as enticing as Hank Dats Hossa Ralf Lids is I think the first unit stays the same unless the wings need a goal.

I said it last year I will say it this offseason the Ducks D is overrated!!!!! Detroit D=1 O=1* I say #1 but wouldn't argue as low as 3-4 Goaltending top 10 remember a lot of goaltending stats are team based stats, wins, GAA, the only one that really isn't is SV%

I would much rather Downey on this team now, than any other fighter/enforcer!!!!! This coming from the least Downey guy on this board for the past season! Look at this roster, up and down there is scoring talent. There will be games (Blue Jackets, and others) that the team will want some one there to police things, Downey proved he did that very well last season. However at the same time this team now has a need for a fighter that is willing to be part time, Downey has specialized at that for his career. I am now of the opinion (due to Hossa signing) that Downey is perfect for this team, with that much scoring on the roster there would be no more perfect fighter in the league than Downey!!!

The only reason I beg to differ is the fact that in 01 there were no salary restraints, wasn't the payroll some where near 70 million or something like that! You can take the unlimited salary away from the man, but you can not take his abilities away. That and when you have a perennial winner in an era when everyone is supposed to be as good as each other, you have a bargaining chip. As evidence by the Hossa signing and Stuart!

GS&T I remember you and I defending him during the deadline, taking heat, sure there were others defending him as well but we took some heat for defending him!!! This guy just understands how to build a winning hockey team, you can say Bowman or Nill or whomever else mentored him, doesn't matter! How many times do you see guys with great mentors end up being nothing compared to the mentor!!! He has full respect of the entire organization, players, coaches, ex players, front office people!!! My question is how big of a load did Babcock just dump in his pants?

Dallas Stars sign UFA Forward Sean Avery to a four-year, $15.5 million contract.

Dupuis 3years 1.4 Pitt Perry 5years 5.325 ANA I didn't think Stuart belonged here seeing as the thread is pinned but 4 years 3.5!