Opie

Let me use an analogy that makes sense to me as a Boston Celtics fan: The C's traded for Ray Allen, he is the best pure shooter in the game, has the best shooting percentage in the league. However he is coming off of double ankle surgery (This is why I choose this analogy). For the C's however they have absolutely sucked the past 5-8 years. So taking a risk on this guy yields high rewards, especially when you add KG to the equation. Now back to Forsberg, his overall health is an unknown, so there is great risk there. I am not saying he is a soft a J.D. Drew (sorry for all of the NE references) but he has had a history of injuries. So it is a risk/reward situation, does the risk out weigh the reward or vice versa. Only Holland and company have the knowledge and the ability to make that decision. And either way people on here will bash them, if the wings sign him and lose in the SCF people will blame the Forsberg signing and say "had they gone after Feds we (not my we, others use we) would have won the cup" Or if they don't sign him and don't win the cup it will be "We would have won the cup if stupid ass Holland would have gotten Forsberg" Even if the Wings win the cup with the current roster people on here will ***** and moan. That I will guarantee 100% and bet money on!!!! I am reminded of something Theo Epstein said yesterday in the news coverage of the World Series rally, "We won't win it (Championship) every year, but we intend to be battling for it every year!" Holland and crew are a lot smarter than all of us when it comes to Hockey, and they will weigh every single point we all brought up, they understand all of the risk and reward, because they have that same mentallity. For me personally I think he is too much of an unknown, he could come here and tear it up for 5 months and then get hurt and miss the entire post season, he could also tear it up for the next 2-3 seasons in Detroit. But I think it is better to pass on him and hope they can get a guy at the deadline who is more of a constant. I can't say who as of now because I have no idea what teams will be looking to dump some dead weight. Maybe ATL is looking to get rid of Hossa's contract, who knows but IMO Forsberg is too big of a risk for me. But the whole Col thing I am over, Drury for example I would love him as a wing, not happening but would be f-in sweet!!

For you f.Michael I answered the question.

I like to think that I am some what intellectual, however man eva some of your posts give me headaches. They make sense and prove your point but it takes a minute to wrap my head around some of the logic and numbers!!

F.Michael, shooting for the moon a little aren't you here. Having people talk in normal conversation on this board would be like having Brittney Spears putting her kids in car seats!

Even funnier, say hi to the Illitches for me!!!!!!!

Lets play a game shall we: The game is called whose stats are these, your options are Feds and Huds: 1. 13 Gp 1a. 10 GP 2. 3G 2a. 2G 3. 1A 3a. 1A 4. -3 4a +2 5. 2pim 5a 4pim 6. 18 SOG 6a. 20 SOG Point: Feds is an aging veteran who is not what he once was, Huds is a youngster developing his game.

IMHO, for a guy playing in only his second NHL season I think he is doing decent. Is he stellar, no but no one thought he was the second coming of Gretzky. Give the kid a chance he is playing with new line mates, seeing more time, more responsibilities. Have some patience, you need guys like him on your team, he is talented and costs the team very little. If you want a team full of Crosby's, Ovechkin's, and Healtey's crank up the XBOX 360 because that is the only way in todays NHL you will get a roster like that. You guys are calling for the heads of guys who are scoring and doing their job very well (remember other than the Lids, Ralf, Dats, Z, Homer you are looking at a bunch of role players) yet when Downey does his job and gets in a fight half of you soil your shorts. Well what is the difference between Downey getting into 4-8 fights a year and Hudler scoring 10-15 goals a year, that is easy your expectations. This kid will not score 35-40 goals this year or get 100 points. He will be a solid secondary scoring option, and maybe just maybe if the team keeps winning (after all with this "BUM" in the lineup that is what 6 straight now) and Babs doesn't split the lines up, Huds, Flip, and Sammy could be a decent second line once they get soem chemistry. The season isn't even a month old, give these guys time to jell, if in a month they haven't started producing then you can start to worry. As it is right now the team is playing well, and these guys will get better, if not they will sit.

The funny thing is check out this article that was posted here a little while ago http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...1128/SPORTS0103

If Flip, Huds, Sammy, Franzen (when back), Cleary, and others can continue to score goals then there is no reason to split them up. However as I, and others, have said without secondary scoring the two must be split up for the better of the team. Right now the team is getting scoring from all kinds of players and everyone is helping that top line out. The longer those three (homer is having a great year as well) can stay together the better it is for the Wings. Because that means the other lines are scoring, or at least creating opportunities. Obviously if you put two all world players together they are going to be better than if you separate them and give them scrubs. That is like saying Crosby and Ovechkin kick ass together during the all-star game, and that if they were on the same line they would destroy the league. Of course they are going to be better together, but what is best for the team is another scenario.

What hasn't been mentioned is this could be the end of Bergeron's career, or the start of the end. As we have seen with the likes of Lindros in the NHL and guys like Steve Young in the NFL grade 3 concussions can be career ending. Maybe not instantly but it definitely can be the start, if Bergeron takes another one of these it could spell the end for a very young very talented player. As much as the league has cracked down on hits to the head they need to start cracking down on hits like this one. 2 games is weak in my opinion, I have watched the replay many times. How often do you see a guy in that position being hit from behind with little jab like checks. Jones could have easily done that and kept Patrice pinned to the boards and forced him to ditch the puck. I am not expecting every player to play at the level of a Lids, Sakic, Lemieux, Yzerman, etc.. but at least play with the same level of respect for the game and for each other. This league seriously needs to crack down on the young players who have no respect for other players or the game. Maybe getting rid of the instigator penalty would help, but I don't see a lot of these young guys playing with respect, and the Flyers as an Org are showing how classless they are. The season is what 9 games deep and they have 3 guys that have had to be suspended for malicious hits. This hit was not as bad as Downie or Boulerice but it is still bad and should have been closer to 10.

I didn't say it wasn't good, just saying that his fight did not win the game or turn the tide of the game. It may have saved Hank's back, to me that is a terrific thing, and I actually have given credit to them (Drake and Downey) for doing that so far.

I agree, it did send a message to McLaren, and others but it did nothing to change or impact the outcome of that game. It may have prevented Z from getting his back hurt, for this game at least, but the game was won by a goalie giving up a bad goal at a very bad time. Between Drake and Downey the wings have shown that some one will exact revenge for a dirty hit. However, that goal was not scored by a star player that McLaren had been chasing and abusing, nor was it even a good shot. Nabakov should have made that save even if he was sleeping on the ice.

Has anybody heard any goalie comments on these things. Are they constrictive? Do they make netminding more difficult? Anybody have any inside information for me!

Well that would explain it!

He broke a guys nose that was broken less than a week ago. It didn't take a Mike Tyson punch to break his nose. He threw a solid punch but it wasn't even an upper cut, it was a straight right that didn't have much wind up to it. The hardest punch Chara threw hit Koci in the Helmet. And I am not saying I would want to get hit with it, but that was not a huge punch from a guy like Boogard, that is what I meant by average.

And a small add on to what you are saying, seeing you avatar made me think, was Homer really that much better than Ellis in his first couple of years. I know Homer has become a great player in our hearts and minds, but let us not forget what he was before he got to this point. Playing with the professor helped him some, but playing with D and Z took his career to a new level, and the confidence he got from playing with them is starting to really show the player that Homer really can become. I expect Homer to have a career year this year. But the point is, you never know what this guy can become if he has the right people around him and he develops a little confidence. I would love to have another Homer type player development story. Good for me though because I picked him up as a FA in my fantasy league.

I still don't that was a rather average punch that re-broke a guy's nose. I didn't say he couldn't fight, as in he never does it, he just isn't a great fighter. Besides dude that was a one punch fight. I know Chara threw more than one punch, but once that one hit Koci in the nose he was done fighting. Glad to hear that Chara made it back to the bench.

He will play in Russia for 1.8 but not in Det for 2.something. That is some messed up logic my friend!

IF Z signs a deal near the Datsyuk number you are looking at this team potentially having two of the top three biggest/sweetest deals in the league. Thornton at 6.7 is highway robbery, Datsyuk at 6.7 isn't exactly a misdemeanor either, then if Z gets around 7 that again is thievery!!!

Here is my question careful it has steps to it and I haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet my logic could be skewed. If J-Ho is the future and he is in GR to get experience and build his skill set, and Osgood is going to be the starter and J-Ho the back up, What is the point in bringing J-Ho up? Has the wings goaltending corp gotten so weak that he is the only viable option for an NHL back up? Is this a longer term issue than we know and he is going to get some NHL ice time? I am just glad to see J-Ho up with the big club and I hope he shines. I also hope that this is the '08 tandem for the wings!!!

He didn't get cut by the helmet, Chara re-broke his nose for him. Koci broke his nose 3-4 days ago in a fight, the coach ask him to go out there anyways and do what he does. The announcers were saying that when he broke the nose the first time it was on the other side of his face. Which doesn't make sense because your nose isn't on one side or the other to begin with. Maybe he meant the other side from the one Chara just put it on. You can see Chara land a rather routine punch to the face and Koci started bleeding profusely, but kept fighting for a minute or so more. The refs knew something was wrong and once the action slowed they stepped in. That shows some testicular fortitude though to be out there with a recently broken nose, go after Shawn Thornton, who he was trying to pick a fight with, and you end up eating a 6'9" punch to an already broken nose!!! Chara went to the locker room right away shaking his hand, I didn't see the rest of the game because the World Series had started, so I didn't hear how the hand is but he definitely threw some helmet knockers that is for sure.

The only thing reason Holland would leave would be money. Don't forget the staff is just like the players. The better you are the more money you get, and the better a team thinks you can make them the better the offers you get. Other than dinero, which I don't know Holland well enough to judge him on this (well actually I don't know him at all), I have no idea why he would go to the Leafs, unless he really likes a challenge.

The new jerseys are not what the league wanted and Reebok has given them an inferior product to what was promise and what the contract was stipulated. I am not a lawyer so I ask you, is that a violation of contract? could that be a way out for the league?

This part of your post made me think if his agent is advising him on these matters there is definitely going to be a conflict of interest. If he stays in GR his agent will only see a couple of $K, where as if he goes back to the Russian Elite league his agent will see 10s of if not 100s of $K. That is not going to be some one giving him good advice!!!

I say if they want to go with moisture wicking material they should go to the source and in my opinion best place to get that type of gear, Under Armour. Why go to Reebok, for Reebok this line was an experimental thing and apparently was not all that they thought it was. The reason most guys have gone from cotton to poly-pro type wicking material is that once you start sweating in cotton, or Reebok, your gear gets so heavy, you legs get tired sooner, it is a mess. With the poly-pro type/UA gear the moisture is wicked away very well and guys really seem to like them. This is so similar to the NBA changing the Ball last year it is not even funny.