Opie

This has best Gm in the world Brian Burke written all over it, that way Teemu and Neids can fake retirement and join Mats about half way through the season. In all seriousness though, if he does join the ducks Teemu and Neids will both be back.

As a former Al Bundy, Shoe salesman, I can tell you that Men's shoe sizes are pretty much an extension of Kids sizes, if you wear a 6 kids and you grow the next size is a 6.5 mens. However I am assuming that you wear a boys 4.5 and a women's 6 fits the same way. That is because the women's shoe scale is different and is usually a size and a half smaller than the mens equivalent size. Sorry now back to being a computer geek not a shoe geek!

1st change: Get rid of Instigator rule! 2nd Change: Goalie equipment, shrink it. 3rd Change: Instant Replay, all goals are reviewed in Toronto already right, why not have hot button and if the guys in the war room think it is close, stop the game and get it right. 4th Change: Non-public Referee critique/ranking, weed out the refs who just can't get it right!

Glen Murray will be either sent packing or bought out. I don't see a lot of interest in him, there was some at the start of last season, I think Dallas, however I just don't see him getting traded with that contract. 4.1 for one year for an aging not so good forward. He is Owen Nolan minus the physical game. Strike that Nolan probably has more upside than Murray right now. I know last year before Kessel got hot, he was benched and there was talk that any trade Boston was involved in Kessel was going. With the uncertain future or Bergereon and Kessel (will he be the man that he was at the end of the season and playoffs, or play like the kid he is and seemed to be all season.*) I can definitely see them making a move for the splash sake of it, not necessarily the right move personnel wise. *He is a kid, and needs time to develop a consistent game, but they need him to be their Flip if not better. Savard on the other hand is the closest thing in the league, IMO, to Datsyuk as far as passing ability, the guy makes incredible passes that more often than not guys are not ready for. I think they are better served getting a solid #2 defense man to go along with Chara over getting an aging veteran like Sundin, I just see them making a bad move in order to keep up with the other teams in the area.

Any one think the Russian League makes a play at him like they did Malkin?

Any word on this, I have been sick for about 3 weeks and haven't bothered looking into it?

I see Boston making a huge play for him, they are getting torched in the newspapers around here for not being a contender when the other 3 teams are winning championships. Not because they haven't won, but because it appears they are not trying to win.

And replaced by Huet on the run to the playoffs, he was supplanted by a career back up, yes I know Huet has been a starter but not on a legit contender. Kolzig should retire, but I see Tampa and the Mullet making an offer for him. Even though I think Smith has the goods to be a quality goaltender.

There is a huge media campaign/assault (for lack of better term) on the Bruins to step up and join the other Teams around here (Boston area, I am in NH, but 45 min outside of Boston) and bring in a championship. The town is in a frenzy and with the C's climb to the top after such a drought has brought a lot of attention to the lack of success and the fact that the B's has been run like a business trying to make money (Joe Thornton trade) instead of win championships. I see the B's making a huge play at Hossa and Sundin and maybe even a mid level defenseman. I could also see them making a play at a guy like Thibault if Tuuka Rask is not ready yet.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=ArJw...ype=team_report

Here is a list I found on line to start the game. * = who really cares, probably staying where they are at. Name---------Age-----Team---Last Salary_______________________----> my guess Centers Joe Sakic 37 COL $6,750,000 Colorado Sergei Fedorov 37 CLB $6,080,000 Washington Mats Sundin 36 TOR $5,500,000 Boston (just a weird guess) Peter Forsberg 33 COL $5,000,000 Colorado Bobby Holik 36 ATL $4,250,000 Atlanta Alexei Zhamnov 36 BOS $4,100,000 * Doug Weight 36 STL $3,500,000 * Martin Straka 34 NYR $3,300,000 Rangers Brendan Morrison 31 VAN $3,200,000 Vancouver Craig Conroy 35 CGY $2,850,000 Calgary Daymond Langkow 30 CGY $2,442,000 Calgary Steve Rucchin 35 ATL $2,400,000 * Bryan Smolinski 35 MTL $2,000,000 * Sean Avery 27 NYR $1,900,000 Pittsburgh Vaclav Prospal 32 PHI $1,900,000 Tampa Jason Williams 26 CHI $1,600,000 Chicago Yanic Perreault 36 CHI $1,500,000 Nashville (another crazy guess) Chris Gratton 31 TBL $1,500,000 Tampa Mike Peca 33 CLB $1,300,000 Columbus Chris Kelly 26 OTT $1,262,000 Ottawa Stephane Yelle 33 CGY $1,250,000 Calgary Mike York 29 PHX $1,000,000 Pheonix Marty Reasoner 30 EDM $950,000 * Stu Barnes 36 DAL $900,000 * Niko Kapanen 29 PHX $900,000 * Ryan Johnson 31 STL $800,000 * Josef Vasicek 26 NYI $750,000 * Dominic Moore 26 TOR $700,000 * Curtis Brown 31 SJS $700,000 * Byron Ritchie 30 VAN $675,000 * Kevyn Adams 32 CHI $650,000 * Randy Robitaille 31 OTT $625,000 * Jaroslav Hlinka 30 COL $600,000 * Trevor Linden 37 VAN $600,000 * Patrick Rissmiller 28 SJS $595,000 * Kris Beech 26 PIT $585,000 * Mark Hartigan 29 DET $550,000 * Jason Krog 31 ATL $500,000 * Glen Metropolit 33 BOS $500,000 Boston Zenon Konopka 26 CLB $500,000 * Wyatt Smith 30 COL $500,000 * Jim Dowd 38 PHI $500,000 Retires Jeremy Roenick 37 SJS $500,000 Re-signed with San Jose for 1 year. Andreas Karlsson 31 TBL $500,000 * Craig MacDonald 30 TBL $500,000 * Tim Taylor 38 TBL $500,000 Retiring Mike Glumac 27 STL $495,000 * Mark Smith 29 CGY $488,000 * Michael Ryan 27 BUF $475,000 * Krys Barch 27 DAL $475,000 * Brad Winchester 26 DAL $475,000 * John Pohl 28 TOR $475,000 * D-men Wade Redden 30 OTT $6,500,000 San Jose Rob Blake 37 LAK $6,000,000 La kings Adam Foote 35 COL $4,600,000 Colorado maybe San Jose Mattias Norstrom 35 DAL $4,250,000 Colorado Brad Stuart 27 DET $3,500,000 Pheonix Darius Kasparaitis 34 NYR $3,116,000 Only the Rangers would sign this guy. Paul Mara 27 NYR $3,000,000 Montreal or Pittsburgh Teppo Numminen 38 BUF $2,600,000 Buffalo or retire Oleg Tverdovsky 31 LAK $2,500,000 Did he even break the roster last year, La again Marek Malik 32 NYR $2,500,000 Pittsburgh or Pheonix Bret Hedican 36 CAR $2,432,000 Carolina Michal Rozsival 28 NYR $2,300,000 Montreal Dmitri Kalinin 26 BUF $2,250,000 * Keith Carney 37 MIN $2,100,000 * Dick Tarnstrom 32 CLB $2,000,000 * Jason Smith 33 PHI $1,976,000 * Brian Campbell 28 SJS $1,750,000 Ottawa or Calgary Mark Eaton 30 PIT $1,600,000 * Bryce Salvador 31 NJD $1,500,000 * Aaron Miller 35 VAN $1,500,000 * Andrei Zyuzin 29 CHI $1,475,000 8 Glen Wesley 38 CAR $1,400,000 Retired John-Michael Liles 26 COL $1,400,000 Detroit Karel Rachunek 27 NJD $1,400,000 New Jersey Richard Matvichuk 34 NJD $1,368,000 New Jersey or Pittsburgh Mike Commodore 27 OTT $1,300,000 Ottawa Jim Vandermeer 27 CAL $1,225,000 * Nolan Baumgartner 31 DAL $1,200,000 * Jaroslav Modry 36 PHI $1,200,000 * Petteri Nummelin 34 MIN $1,200,000 * Jan Hejda 29 CLB $1,000,000 * Andreas Lilja 31 DET $1,000,000 Detroit Ron Hainsey 26 CLB $900,000 * Chris Chelios 45 DET $850,000 Detroit Branislav Mezei 26 FLA $850,000 * Steve Montador 27 FLA $800,000 * Steve McCarthy 26 ATL $725,000 * Bryan Berard 30 NYI $725,000 * Kurt Sauer 26 COL $719,000 * Joe DiPenta 28 ANA $700,000 * Magnus Johansson 33 FLA $700,000 * Patrice Brisebois 36 MTL $700,000 * Alexei Semenov 26 SJS $650,000 * Sandis Ozolinsh 34 SJS $625,000 * Joel Kwiatkowski 30 ATL $600,000 * Mark Streit 29 MTL $600,000 * Matt Walker 27 STL $600,000 * Mike Weaver 29 VAN $600,000 * David Hale 26 CGY $590,000 * Nolan Pratt 31 BUF $550,000 * Rory Fitzpatrick 32 PHI $550,000 * Jassen Cullimore 34 FLA $535,000 * Alain Nasreddine 31 PIT $535,000 * Freddy Meyer 26 NYI $525,000 * Rob Davison 27 SJS $525,000 * Bobby Allen 28 BOS $500,000 * Dan Jancevski 26 DAL $500,000 * Jeff Jillson 26 COL $500,000 * Wade Brookbank 29 CAR $500,000 * Sheldon Brookbank 26 NJD $500,000 * Andrew Hutchinson 27 NYR $500,000 * Jason Strudwick 31 NYR $500,000 * Luke Richardson 38 OTT $500,000 * Micki DuPont 27 STL $500,000 * Garrett Stafford 27 DET $500,000 * Andy Wozniewski 27 TOR $500,000 * Kevin Dallman 26 LAK $490,000 * Jeff Finger 27 COL $475,000 * Allan Rourke 27 EDM $475,000 * Sean Hill 37 MIN $475,000 * Mike Mottau 29 NJD $475,000 * Matt Carkner 26 OTT $475,000 * Ryan Caldwell 26 PHX $475,000 * Brad Norton 32 SJS $475,000 * Doug Janik 27 TBL $475,000 * Bruno St. Jacques 26 ANA $475,000 * Goaltenders Jose Theodore 30 COL $6,000,000 Colorado Olaf Kolzig 37 WAS $5,450,000 Tampa Cristobal Huet 31 WAS $2,750,000 Washington Dominik Hasek 42 DET $2,050,000 Retiring John Grahame 31 CAR $1,400,000 Carolina Johan Hedberg 34 ATL $1,150,000 La King Johan Holmqvist 29 DAL $1,000,000 Ottawa Patrick Lalime 32 CHI $950,000 Florida Jocelyn Thibault 32 BUF $760,000 * Stephen Valiquette 29 NYR $635,000 * David Aebischer 29 PHX $600,000 * Alex Auld 26 BOS $600,000 Detroit (sigh) Curtis Sanford 27 VAN $600,000 * Michael Leighton 26 CAR $550,000 * Jean-Sebastien Aubin 29 ANA $525,000 * Mike Morrison 27 NJD $525,000 * Fred Brathwaite 34 ATL $500,000 * Frederic Cassivi 32 WAS $500,000 * Scott Clemmensen 29 TOR $500,000 * Ty Conklin 31 PIT $500,000 Pittsburgh Dan Ellis 27 NAS $500,000 Nashville Jordan Sigalet 26 BOS $500,000 * Wade Dubielewicz 28 NYI $500,000 * Left Wing Markus Naslund 33 VAN $6,000,000 Toronto Ladislav Nagy 28 LAK $3,750,000 Boston or La Martin Rucinsky 36 STL $3,000,000 * Ruslan Fedotenko 28 NYI $2,900,000 Islanders Brendan Shanahan 38 NYR $2,500,000 Florida Gary Roberts 41 PIT $2,500,000 Retire Petr Cajanek 31 STL $2,000,000 * Cory Stillman 33 OTT $1,750,000 * Andrew Brunette 33 COL $1,600,000 * Matt Cooke 28 WAS $1,525,000 * Geoff Sanderson 35 EDM $1,500,000 * Scott Thornton 36 LAK $1,500,000 * Ryan Malone 27 PIT $1,450,000 Detroit, please! Kristian Huselius 28 CGY $1,400,000 * Martin Gelinas 37 NAS $1,250,000 * Jarkko Ruutu 31 PIT $1,150,000 Philly Donald Brashear 35 WAS $1,100,000 * Jason Chimera 28 CLB $1,000,000 * Antti Miettinen 26 DAL $885,000 * Pascal Dupuis 28 PIT $880,000 Florida or LA Todd Fedoruk 28 MIN $875,000 * Jay Pandolfo 32 NJD $836,000 * Jan Hlavac 30 NAS $700,000 * Niklas Hagman 27 DAL $675,000 * Jody Shelley 31 SJS $650,000 * Eric Boulton 30 ATL $525,000 * David Koci 26 CHI $525,000 * Brad Isbister 30 VAN $525,000 * Darcy Hordichuk 26 NAS $517,000 * Kip Brennan 26 NYI $500,000 * Steve Kelly 30 MIN $500,000 * Matt Murley 27 PHO $500,000 * Jeff Taffe 26 PIT $500,000 * Ryan Bayda 26 CAR $475,000 * Raitis Ivanans 28 LAK $475,000 * Chris Simon 35 MIN $475,000 Signed with a Russian team Mathias Tjarnqvist 28 PHX $475,000 * Mathieu Darche 30 TBL $475,000 * Noah Clarke 28 NJD $475,000 * Jeff Giuliano 28 LAK $475,000 * Right Wing Jaromir Jagr 35 NYR $8,360,000 Toronto Marian Hossa 28 PIT $7,000,000 Boston or Minnesota (not sure why though) Pavol Demitra 32 MIN $4,500,000 Minnesota Miroslav Satan 32 NYI $4,500,000 Montreal or Boston Michael Ryder 27 MTL $2,950,000 Nashville Brian Rolston 34 MIN $2,432,000 Chicago Martin Lapointe 33 OTT $2,400,000 * David Vyborny 32 CLB $2,200,000 * Owen Nolan 35 CGY $1,750,000 Tampa Mark Recchi 39 ATL $1,750,000 retire Teemu Selanne 37 ANA $1,500,000 Anaheim or retire Georges Laraque 30 PIT $1,300,000 * Radim Vrbata 26 PHX $1,225,000 * Andre Roy 32 TBL $1,000,000 * Shean Donovan 32 OTT $925,000 * Brian Willsie 29 LAK $900,000 * Trevor Letowski 30 CAR $800,000 * Mike Johnson 32 STL $750,000 * Arron Asham 29 NJD $700,000 * Matt Bradley 29 WAS $700,000 * Branko Radivojevic 26 MIN $680,000* Wade Belak 30 FLA $625,000 Re-signed with Florida, 2 years. Niko Dimitrakos 28 OTT $575,000 * Dallas Drake 38 DET $550,000 Retires Darren McCarty 35 DET $535,000 * Aaron Downey 32 DET $525,000 * Adam Hall 26 PIT $525,000 * Josh Langfeld 29 NAS $500,000 * Junior Lessard 27 TBL $500,000 * Jeff Hoggan 29 BOS $495,000 * Mark Mowers 33 ANA $475,000 * Darren Haydar 27 ATL $475,000 * Keith Aucoin 28 CAR $475,000 * Eric Godard 27 CGY $475,000 * Scott Parker 29 COL $475,000 * Jesse Boulerice 28 PHI $475,000 * Kyle Wanvig 26 TB $475,000 * Craig Weller 26 PHX $475,000 *

WOW, Penguin players are fighting each other to be the first off the ship, Malone, Hossa, Roberts, Malkin?, Orpik. Don't get me wrong I am not saying they don't have talented players on the team, but they are losing some real talented players.

Probie, For any goaltender to come in and take Ozzie's spot would take a drastic fall on ozzie's part. Much like Dom's of this past season, yes I said past not post. Dom was injury riddled throughout the season, but Babs told him he was the starter and he was the starter until he showed he couldn't right his ship and in turn the Wings ship. Ozzie was just the best goaltender in the playoffs, was an All star, starter because of injuries or lack of desire to go, but still an All star. It would take a monumental season for Holmqvist or anyone to supplant Ozzie, not saying it couldn't happen but it would have to be one hell of a year for that netminder or one disastrous year form Ozzie.

NFM Lebda plays very well in his own zone and is responsible defensively, I agree he does like to break out and does that very well also, however I thought he picked his time very well. I think if he is smart enough to know when to pick a time to rush the puck up ice, he would also be able to recognize when his d-partner is going for a huge hit. Not saying it would be the most successful d pairing but in your words, the Wings don't have anyone that fits that billing on the current roster *at this point*, so I was just saying I feel given the current state, he would be the best fit. I would much rather the team find a UFA stay at home defenseman, but the question is who?

That is one school of thought that is rattling around in my head, the other is will this lower is asking price or make him open to a one year deal? I was pretty sure that he was leaving (Family reasons my only evidence) and I still am. Honestly if he wasn't injured, I haven't said it yet but here it goes, he ends up in Pho. Close enough to the left coast and they look to be finished with "Rebuilding" and look to be trying to form a contender.

Gotta ask, can I see some credentials to your hockey scouting ability, a peak at your resume even. If Holland and Babcock say he should be a wing, than he should be a wing IMO, until your resume or credentials say otherwise I have to disagree with you.

As this thread progressed I was wondering how long it would take before Lebda left the bottom pairing, I would rather have him with Kronwall than Lilja, Meech, Quincey, Ericsson. I think he is more responsible in his own end, would I prefer Stuart there of course but if the Wings can not get Stuart or another UFA I think Lebda would be the better answer.

Wrong, I was calling him an ******* back then, and will continue to call him an *******, YES some people loved his antics, but you know what some people think (Even after being proven) that you can't win a cup with a heavily Euro based team, especially not with one captained by a Euro. Just because some like it hot doesn't mean the majority or everyone likes it that way.

I do it for the fans, that is all the reward I need

I said it before will say it again, this guy can win the Conn Smythe and I wouldn't want him in the winged wheel. He is an asshat, he does not care if he makes an ass of himself or his team. Is he a talented player, yes, but his antics outweigh his abilities imo. If he came back would I root for him, reluctantly yes, but as I post about other players if Holland and Babs see a reason for him on the roster I trust them.

Can I see your credentials as an authority on NHL caliber players, you certainly must have some scouting or player management experience to be making that kind of statement?

Mr. Illitch? Oh you meant the team you root for my bad. When you buy or GM a team I am sure your opinion will be enough to sway people, until then it is your opinion and whether you like it or not Sammy is a Stanley cup champion and Detroit Red Wing The point was someone said he was one of the worst players to have on a 2-1 in the league, I stated facts to point out that was not true. It was in response to people claiming (maybe not in this thread) that he is as useful as a bag of pucks, or that he is useless. Follow the thread not just the posts of those who are in support of Sammy. I am not saying he is my favorite player, but the bashing of him is unwarranted, he played a large role in this team winning the cup, was he a major player no, but the 2 goals in the first game of the SCF set the tone and put the Pens on their heels. His forechecking led directly to two of Franzen's playoff goals. He is what he is, and the fact that WORLD CHAMPION caliber people like Babcock and Holland want him on the team and use him is always going to sway my opinion that way, until the posters who constantly bash him do something on their own either on the ice or behind the bench or in the front office I will take the defending Stanley cup champs opinions over theirs. Det #1 Fan, I said some posters because I was not specifically saying you were saying those things, but you posted a comment in regards to other people posting about him hitting the crest and nice shot Sammy. My point was to say that a lot of posters say lots of things on here that make no sense, so because some posters on here say he is useless or shoots at the crest doesn't mean I believe it, because some of them are the same people who think Lids should have been stripped of the captaincy, or that the team was eliminated after the trade deadline, or during game 5 in Nashville, the same people who claim Holland is a fool and could not get this team to the cup with what it had. I form my own opinion, and I will stand by it on here, much like when I was defending Holland for weeks after the Trade deadline, and even do it on some threads still. Even though the team just won the cup. These type of fans (again not speaking specifically to you) are a main reason why Red Wing fans are seen as spoiled, because the team just won the cup, and weeks later people are back on here bashing him simply because the last player drafted shares the same last name as him.

Really I can think of at least 2 players on his own team that I that are worse than him 2 on 1, Downey and Maltby come to mind. I can think of many defenseman in the league I would rather not have on a 2 on 1 than him. But that is opinion, much like you have yours, I just don't see the need for ragging on a guy who had 3 goals in the SCF series in every possible thread makes any kind of sense! But the last part is mainly because everyone needs a whipping boy and aren't happy until they can ***** at some player. They are the same people who all year ragged on guys like D and Z and Lids, going so far as to say that he needed to be stripped of his captaincy, that will tell you the mental reasoning levels of these people. But you are right, because some one posts on an internet forum that a guy only hits a goalie in the chest, I should believe it.

[sarcasm] Yeah I really hated how his forechecking led directly to at least two post season goals! [/sarcasm] I love the argument that he shoots too much and he sucks on the point, however an NHL coach (who has posted back to back to back 50 wins seasons and JUST won the Stanley cup) seems to be telling all of his players, including Sammy, to shoot more and puts him on the point. Because soooooooo many posters here know more than Babcock when it comes to the players and team. When Franzen was on fire, the best line on the team per MIKE BABCOCK, was Mule Flip Sammy, but, I mean what does he know! Sammy has become expendable because of the progress of Mule and Hudler, his role has become less, he could be traded but most likely will not, especially if the Wings don't sign a righthanded shot for the 2nd pp, which is the main reason (guess on my part) Babs keeps him there, he likes a left and right handed shot on the points. But don't hold your breath there are posters on here that gave all the credit to everyone else on the team even when he had the 2 goal performance, so don't expect too much from them!

While I get the sarcasm, Lilja is a UFA and not property of the Wings so it would have to be the Ham Sandwhich and Kopecky!