Opie

1.Howe 2. Yzerman IMO people tend to forget how big of a part of shedding the dead wings label he was, he was the face of the org for a very long time. But I am biased because he is my favorite player of all time! 2B. Lids

I don't like professional athletes in Olympics to begin with. I like the Olympics for the same reason I like College sports (not Football or Basketball those sports are run like pro sports even in college). Even if the Russian team really was a pro team, the Miracle on ice is special because of the people involved, not the countries, it was scrappy college kids VS the BIG RED MACHINE! Sure the US V USSR was a story line, but if this version of the US men's hockey teams beats Russia 4-3 will it be the same story as before, I say no. The only real story would be the Russians losing at home. But then again that is my opinion, and my opinion often times differs from the popular opinion. Where is the line drawn though, anyone with endorsements is considered pro, or anyone with a contract from a pro league? I also think the venues have a lot to do with the way athletes have viewed the Olympics. Being in the US, Canada, London, China, or Japan is a lot different from being in Sochi or South Korea. Athletes, especially professional athletes in NA have become very accustomed to a standard of living and accommodations, which is one reason Sochi is getting such bad press. Spoiled or not, not being able to flush toilet paper or having to take a dump next to another person would be enough to turn me away. The infrastructure and the demands on a town like Sochi are too high for underdeveloped nations or cities (I admit Russia is not underdeveloped, but Sochi is/was.) They spent billions of dollars to get Sochi ready, yet it isn't ready. There are still hotels that were meant for the Olympics that are concrete and re-bar, the well documented Dog issues that plague the Olympics, the Sewer/ sanitation issues, cleanliness of hotel rooms, all things that are being well documented. The conditions of venues is also an issue. Not saying there weren't issues in Salt Lake or Vancouver, but they were not safety and hygiene related! Think about the GNPs of these nations, 1. US ($16 T) 2. China($8 T) 3. Japan (~$6 T) 4. Germany ($3.5T) 5. France (~$2.5 T) 6. UK (~$2.5 T) 7. Brazil ($2 T) 8. Russia ($2 T) 9. Italy ($2 T) 10. India (~$2 T) 11. Canada (~$2 T) 12. Australia ($1.5 T) 13. Spain (~$1.5 T) 14. Mexico ($1.1 T) 15 South Korea ($1.1 T) Do you really think things will be better in South Korea than in Sochi (2x the GNP)? Plus you add to that the political climate there is far worse than it is in Russia. I am not saying they couldn't pull it off, Greece did, other smaller Scandinavian countries have, but those were different times, Athletes now are some of the highest paid people in the world, and as I said above have become accustomed to a certain life style, sharing the crapper is not something I would sign up for and my life is no where near as luxurious as theirs! As far as the comment about Hasek getting his medal from Nagano is off base as Japan may be small size wise, but is very large when it comes to GNP and their ability to spend money to get a venue ready and is also a very technologically driven country, granted their Nuke Plants may not be very strategically stationed but they still have many advantages over Russia.

I didn't see the yahoo article in here, so here you go: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/penguins-39-letang-suffers-stroke-least-six-weeks-184407387--nhl.html

9 points in 9 games. The kids are looking good, I am always amazed at how this team churns out NHL talent, top 6 talent even (Nyquist, Tatar) all while drafting way too late in the draft. They stole Dekeyser (because he never hit the draft), that kid could easily have been a top 10 pick. Back to Nyqusit: I am a UMaine fan so the more (talented) Black Bears on the team the better as far as I am concerned. I love the fact that neither Nyquist or Tatar are afraid of or taken a back by the big stage, they have no fear when it comes to shooting, carrying the puck, or just making plays in general. I would think it would be tough for a youngster to walk into the Wings locker room with all those vets and not be taken a back or play a little bit more conservative. Now if we could just find an over the hill vet to sit in the slot and rifle one timers we could have the 2 kids and a goat line again!!!! LOL!

STRICTLY OPINION: The NFL is looking to make changes in the way it is officiated, the NBA(even without scandals included) has been out of whack for a while and MLB is straight up crazy with Ref/umpire Bias. The NHL is no different, in the past 20 years the 4 major sports in America have increased in size, speed, skill, intelligence and equipment (lighter/faster and bigger/safer) the Refs have for the most part remained the same. Think how old the NBA and MLB officials are and how many have been there for 20+ years. I use the NBA as a great analogy for this, look at the refs, how many are over 6 feet tall, yet how many NBA players are under 6 feet tall. They are outclassed, simply put. The only people who can keep up to the speed, size and skill of the game, are playing the game, they can not officiate themselves, the game is too fast, too big for the officials.

Claude Julien, to me he and Babs are the best two coaches in the game right now. How Tippett is included in that list is beyond me. I know the eye test! TIppett has won next to nothing, he is a cute story, but IMO he is a top 10 coach, but far from best in the game.

I like Nyquist hope he stays a wing, but to say he is just as good as Silvferberg is a reach, and Noesen is looking to be potentially a very good NHLer, I am not so sure Ferraro is. Red Wings glasses get in the way sometimes of how we view our prospects, and then to say that Holland has no balls because you think Nyquist, Ferraro and a pick get you Bobby Ryan is a stretch.

My point was not to assign better or worse system, but to point out the fact that in a defensively responsible system like the Wings and B's have, a guy like Sequin is not going to be the same player as he would be in Dallas. The type of game the stars play allows him to be a true sniper and scorer, whereas in Det or Bos he would have to cover in his own zone, something he has proven less than proficient at! So people clamoring for a true sniper are going to be disappointed.

Here is the problem as I see it, the Wings need a sniper, the problem is very few players can be a true sniper in this system. Their is a lot of defensive responsibility in this system, think about the stat difference for Sequin going from a d first system in Boston to the Stars were he has free reign to score as much as he wants. He is 6 goals and 10 assists away from his best season total with the Bruins and still has 30 games to play to match that season's GP. This team needs scoring badly, but they are not going to get it from one player, the defensive responsibility is too much for one guy to join this team and then put up 70-80 points with 30-40 goals. The guys who can do that in this league are few and far between and cost a lot of money. So to answer your question, really the only thing they can do is continue to develop young talent and bring in the occasional UFA to subsidize the scoring. A guys like Nash/Gaborik/Richards/etc would score with Dats, but would drive Babcock to do heavy drugs!!

Warning this post will seem snobby, I promise! Living through the Dead Wings era, I appreciate this team's success. In an era with Parity and all the other bull crap the Wings are the San Antonio Spurs/New England Patriots of the NHL. Sustained excellence is not longer achieve by out spending everyone, you have to have savvy front office folks, great scouts, and players committed to winning above all. The Wings were 1 win away from the WCF last year, personally I was very happy with last years end results. Sure there were frustrating times and I wish they had won the cup. But I am not an all or nothing fan (Please don't take that as me telling you how to be a fan), I appreciate success, hell I am a red sox fan, I understand longing for a successful team. I think the Wings are building a strong team, all while drafting late every year. They have no top 10 draft picks on the team or in the pipe, but Tatar, Andersson, Dekeyser, and Nyquist show me lots of promise and have me excited for the future. I am a biased Howard fan, I think he will be, when all is said and done, a shade better than Ozzie. Which in my opinion would put him just outside the Hall of Fame and just shy of having his number retired. In Maine he was a work horse routinely making high 40s to 50 saves a night. EDIT: My point here was that he does better with more work. He is a solid top 10 netminder in this league, with a good D in front of him I can see him winning multiple cups as the starter. But then again the youngster Mrazek may push him from his post sooner than he can build that resume!

Right but do the Players push forward or wait to see how much more the NFLPA can get?

Does the NFL suit being blocked by a judge change this case or do you think this one will continue to roll on? http://tv.yahoo.com/video/concussion-settlement-blocked-judge-questions-131346675-cbs.html

I am not so sure their issue is the players on the team as much as who put them on the team!

I came in here loaded for Bear to trash this thread. Unfortunately your post was well thought out and no bashing from me will happen! While I do agree I would rather have a top 10 D-man than top 10 goalie, Howard was the reason this team went any where last season. (Well Hank turning it on at the end helped a lot too) He was rock solid in the post season giving up a few bad goals, but saving the team's collective bacon more often than giving up a softie. For me it would have to be a legitimate top 10 D-man, but none of them are really available, Weber, Doughty, Suter, Pietrangelo (I was hoping his issues in STL this year and the Wings being in the East would have facilitated the wings poaching him), even if you wanted to go for a more offensive d-man like Subban or Karlsson, it will take Howard and a lot more. I think the offseason is really the only time you can get a fair deal for a D-man, catch them in contract dispute or wanting to play for a contender. Mid season everyone remembers how important a Defensive Stud is, and no one wants to part with them. In the Offseason everyone is talking about forwards. I really hoped the Wings would have swung something like Mule for Pietrangelo. It would have been a complete fleecing by the Wings, because to me he is one of the top D-men in the league. I guess my point to all of this, if your netminder is not in the top 5, he just isn't going to get you a lot. Look at the Schneider to NJ deal, 9th overall pick, no roster player, no elite prospect. Just a rubber bullet and a shot in the dark. Don't get me wrong a top 10 pick is better than 25th, but still that is not an elite player they got back.

Anything that involves Mule would be OK with me, but I think that ship has sailed!

So Quincey is a stay at home defenseman in your opinion then? Or is Smith?

I didn't say offensively skilled! They both play a very similar style of game, neither is a stay at home d-man, so yes Quincey is too offensive minded to be paired with Smith!

I still think most of Smith's issue are with who he is paired with. Pair him with Dekeyser and you will see a different player. Quincey is too offensive minded to play with Smith, hell Lashoff would be a better pairing for Smith. EDIT: Quincey smith over two complete wastes of roster space.

As others have said there is no way the B's give up any roster player for Alfie, but to think either Krug or Hamilton would be one of them is crazy, the B's may now be higher on Krug than they are on Hamilton!!

Hard to argue with that. The Wheel of justice keeps on spinning round and round!!!

He has a phone hearing, so <5, my guess would be 2 or so. But I get the feeling from the way the Thornton ordeal went down that the NHLPA lawsuit is going to have Bettman and his minions really cracking down on these kinds of things. His way of saying "Oh yeah, you want to file suit against me for not protecting you, well this is what you get!" I easily would have seen Thornton getting 10-12 games, 15 for a first time offender and a guy who tends to respect the game and the players as much as him was a shock to me. I would not be surprised to see suspension lengths increase 25-33% over the next season or so compared to what they were the last 5 seasons So, the point of that rant, 3 or 4 would not be a surprise either!

LOL like being an original 6 has anything to do with getting money to pay the players salaries or keep the lights on!

Seems to be working well for the Bruins /Sarcasm!

How does Howie get his game back on the pine?

I still think that being three points out/in third in the conference people are overreacting to one forward. Is he the main reason for the loses, no, is he a main reason for wins, also no! Yes I think Cleary is a capable 4th liner, who is probably the worst forward dressing for the Wings, and yes there is no better option on the wings IMO. As far as complaining, complain all you want, but on a forum expect someone to disagree, I do, in fact I expect disagreement almost every time I open my mouth, I am married! The eye ball test tangent was just that a tangent, because I hate when people say watch the game or My eyes tell me all I need to know, in order to argue stats. Which I agree is not the only way to evaluate talent.