Opie

lmfao

Sorry for bringing this post back from the dead, But I have to say I agree flip-check, this should be attempted murder. If a person knowingly drop poison in a city's water supply would they bet let off after three years. no! This person knowingly walked around with a loaded gun (pun intended) and was willing to do whatever. The problem is that the us legal system is too afraid to do anything in fear that passing such a law would alienate some one or ostracize someone. We have become a nation of people who are to PC to do anything that is right. And man that is an ugly woman/man/thing and that doesn't even include the jersey!!!!

Nick at 5 mil, that would be friggin sweet (queue the family guy music), the players association would s*** a brick. I hope he stays too, I don't see him playing for anyone else, and I don't see him being greedy so this is a possibility especially if he sees it as his last chance (s) to win a cup

I think more over his pride would prevent him from rejoining the wings. I think he felt spited that they didn't offer what Anaheim did. But I could be wrong.

The Lids factor is a little misleading, because while yes IF he does retire after the upcoming season, that 7.6 has to be spent on suring up the D. You can't just take that 7.6 and throw it at Heatley and walk away. You are taking the best defenceman of this era away from the team, his leaving will create a tremendous void. I think Cammalleri will probably command about 3.5-4 and the same with Ryder (through Arbitration) however Penner I am not sure, his numbers aren't as great as the other two but his game comes with a lot more than goals and assists. He is a physical presence who can play a top 6 role and actually contribute. As oppossed to others his size who are 3-4 line guys with size and no hands and no speed. He is not greased lightning but he skates very well. I think if the arbitrators are looking at numbers and what kind of scoring they do, Penner will probably end up the cheapest of the three. I would love it Penner and Howard (Year after) in the winged wheel, NICE!!!!!

Young guns I completley agree this probably doesn't happen but man that would rock, any of the 3 would be sweet.

Cammalleri or Ryder would make this team unreal. That would top off the the top 2 nicely.

Queue the drum roll for that one Lou!!

"Yzerman gave Lalor a beating" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-vo1OVYcyY yeah stevie!!

Sorry but who hasn't been busted for underage drinking. When I was in high school and college all they did was take the booze and wait at the end of the road in case some one tried to drive. Of course I grew up in Maine where people start drinking at age 14.

I think it might have been an option before Drake but now with his signing it seems as overkill to have Peca on this roster. But Drake would be a cheaper better fit, I am only guessing here but I would think that Peca would want 2nd line minutes and I would rather have Grigs or another young guy get those minutes. Plus he is a center correct.

That is the difference the pats have Rodney Harrison who will absolutely destroy you if you don't keep you head on a swivel. Either that or he will destroy himself trying.

Robert Lang - Reche Caldwell Both brought in to fill a void in the secondary scoring department. Both at times seemed to be unable to do what was asked of them and that at other times looked to be the exactly what was needed. Oddly enough, both had costly turnovers in the post season, and were saved by teammates. Both made very important scoring plays to continue their teams post season run. While Reche is still on the Pats roster, I see both of them scoring their next points in a different uniform (of course Lang is on another team, however Caldwell is not yet)

Personally I believe the debate for who is what rank below #2 is subject to a lot of opinions. I think it is impossible to rank Gretzky and Orr any less than 1-2 respectively. Say what you want about the era they played in, equipment, injuries, or whatever else, when you look at what they accomplished no one put up better numbers or were bigger impacts on the sport than 99 & 4. Orr revolutionized the idea of what a defenceman was/is. Gretzky if I need to defend this than I fear some one is letting personal bias interfere with this ranking. I have read valid arguments for Stevie being as high as 4 and as low as 10. I personally have him 7th. I see Sakic coming in not too far behind Stevie put not cracking the 10 spot, probably 12th the lowest. Gretzky Orr Howe Lemieux Hull, Bobby not Brett Richard Yzerman Esposito Dionne Bourque was my list to get to Sakic I would go Messier Sakic I have a hard time seeing those two higher than the other guys I have.

I think this is keeping low key because Rafalski is a low key guy, much like our beloved Nick, Hank, Pavel. This may be far from the truth, but I have notice a lot of similarities between the Red Wings and the New England Patriots. They have started to fill their rosters with Veteran guys, bringing some youth, but also taking a chance on some one that others have given up on. Bare with the comparrisons, not saying the people are the same but their responsibilities towards the team are similar and how they got there are similar. Zetterberg - Tom Brady late draft choices, leaders of the team on and off the ice/field. Lidstrom - Tedy Bruschi - Quiet leaders, team first minded people. Drake - Randy Moss - All but given up on by their former teams, come to the team with a lot to prove. Moss has a better chance of being an impact player than Drake but similar types. Dats - Laurence Maroney - Quite guys, brought in to be the big offensive weapon that carries the team. Rafalski - Adalius Thomas - Brought in to sure up the defense and make the team a championship contender. They may be weird comparisons but if the wings could pick a better salary cap model to use, you would hard pressed to find a classier and more successful salary cap team.

I remember that s***, ha funny was that!!!

Here is a weird thought not sure how it plays in this thread but bare with me. Think of the most popular hockey movie of all times, Mighty Ducks right? Bare with me here do not castrate me yet, I said most popular. Now what is the best hockey movie of all times, easy right Slap Shot. Slap Shot is almost a cult flick, if you are a fan of hockey or a hockey player it is an unbelievably funny and well done movie. Now how many times do you see that stupid ass mighty ducks or d2 or d3 on TV and how often do you see slap shot on tv. It is exactly the opposite of what it should be. Much like the respect the sports get. NBA, NFL, and MLB are going through some of the most troublesome times in their history yet their ratings do not suffer. Hockey has some of the most respectful, well mannered (off the ice) athletes in the world. However what do you see on TV more. As I said in another post, I don't blame ESPN as much as I do the average american. For example what is the most succesful longest running game show in tv history. Price is right, do they put it in prime time, no they put some flashy short lived, high reward, heavy effects show that lasts 3 seasons and people tire of it. Because that is what America wants in that 8pm-10pm slot.

Kind of a long story but the short of it was since I had just moved to NH all of my doctors were technically in Maine, I had a week to have surgery before permanent damage would have set in. So I was forced to move back to Maine for three months in my parents house, and even though I was willing to pay my Dad put up a huge stink about paying for center Ice, "on my cable bill, and my TV" blah blah blah. Trust me I got plenty of tube time, that is how I developed my acute hate for 1st and 10 and skip bayless.

This is my second year in an apartment on my own, and I can tell you barring some catastrophic circumstances, I will be getting center ice. I say catastrophic because last year I destroyed my knee and had to live with my parents for 3 months right at the start of Hockey season. I am glad I didn't know about the early bird special last year or I would have shelled out some serious clams for no reason.

There is nothing that I hate more than when I think I am going to be listening to Jim Rome and whose voice do I hear, but that stupid, incoherent, babbling, closed minded, obtuse, jack ass Skip Bayless. Living in NH for some reason I can't find Rome to save my left nut, so when I do get it driving back to Maine and throw it on only to find out that J-stew and Rome are on vacation and this numb nut is behind the mic, I want to smash my car into the guy next to me. Woody Paige, yes I said it, is a far and away better journalist than this tool. Watching Woody may be like watchin a kid with ADHD who mistakenly took crack instead of his Ridlen, but he is a way better journalist. Reading Woody is not a day at the beach either but most of that is due to how he got noticed on TV. It is an act, notice he and the other complete tool on around the horn Jay Mariotti were always on the show acting like fools, while the serious Journalists would rotate around from day to day or week to week, the show wanted flare. Then came that horrible morning sports news show 1st and 10, and captian crap (Skip Bayless). I have never heard some one mutter so many idiotic strings of thought together in my life. And as you can tell from reading this I can string some crap together. As stated by Hank, if he doesn't know something about a sport or a player or a topic, he starts his rant off with, this is dumb, or this sport makes no sense, this is the dumbest sport ever. Yet ask the man about tennis, not that it isn't valid (well I hate it), he will tell you all of the players life stats. Because he knows something about it he learns all of it. When he knows nothing, he dismisses the sport or issue as meaningless.

This is what gets me about goalies, how many of them have lived up to expecatations. And I don't mean for one or two seasons. How many goalies in the NHL actually play 7-12 seasons. Lets look at the active list now of starting goalies with more than 7 years experience: Hasek Broduer Luongo Vokoun Kolzig Khabiboulin Cloutier Nabakov -I may have missed one or two but I think I got them. Now how many teams have supposedly found their goalie of the future in player x, who just turns out to be a flash in the pan. You know the Johan Hedberg, Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Biron, Martin Gerber, Cam Ward (didn't impress me last year) and dare I say Manny Legace. Not that these guys were slated to be the greatest netminder of all times, however they were expected to be the backstop of their teams for a length of time. A guy like Broduer is stupid to retire right now (not that I think he is, just using him for the analogy), because lets say that the Devils think they can't afford him, or they have found a new future HOFer. Whatever the reason Broduer walks away from New Jersey, he would have his pick of teams in the NHL. I guaranty teams would give up on their future (except a couple like PIT, NYI) to have him back there for another 2-3 years, just like the wings are doing now with Hasek. Goalies are a weird bunch and their success over the long term is really actually quite rare, due to the fact that when a team starts losing, the goalies usually get the blame and get shipped out!

Jimmy Howard:

So you are telling me that you have never heard of anyone on this board up until today, say lids is retiring this year, or lids is retiring after this season. I do believe other athletes have walked away in the middle of contracts so it is not unheard of!

Thanks but I have to say I didn't come up with it. I think I heard Greg Moore refer to him as that after a game, or it might have been coach Whitehead! But I am almost positive it was a player. Edit: that made it sound like I know either Greg Moore, Coach Whitehead, or Jimmy, I don't I was talking about hearing it on the local news station.

The more I see those lines the more I want a Drake - Franzen - Cleary line I know Babs said Drake is going to be Kopecky's mentor so does that mean they are next to each other in the locker room, or on the same line. Damn that line would be a really tough one to play against. The youth on that line are aggressive and talented, this would be a great 3rd line IMO!!