Opie

DTEOWNER I agree with your list but isn't it sad that two of the most historic franchises in the sport are also two of the suckiest, and have some of the worst ownership. Especially Boston, Most expensive ticket prices in all of the major sports categories, and yet they still cry poverty all the time and let players like Joe Thornton walk away in his prime. That would be like trading away Datsyuk or Zetterberg in a couple of years because Little Ceasars is in a slump. Well I guess that wasn't Joe's prime seeing as he only gets better every year! Edit for clarity: The boston area is the most expensive sport venue, not the bruins are the most expensive ticket in sports!!

First thing that jumped out at me on that list they have Kane going third to Pheonix, I am pretty sure Kane is the consensus #1. And then I started reading the blurbs under the picks. The write for the first pick is all about how the Hawks could choose any of the top three. Well yeah they have the first pick they can pick me if they want but thanks for the info. (J/K) But seriously this mock draft seems to be done differently for the sake of being done differently. It seems like they had most of the teams pick a player for a spot they are pretty solid in and then said "so they can afford to be patient with him". Good post thanks for the article!!

I know he doesn't have the size that we all lust for but Demitra is a free agent after next season as well, anyone besides me like to see him in a winged wheel?

I was just kidding around making the point that it seems like everytime he hits some one hard he ends up hurt.

Please NO don't do it Kenny. Hell if you put Giggy in the same size stuffing Howard wears I bet Howard makes more saves!!!!!

Make no mistake Kronwall can hit with the best of them, he just has a hard time getting up from his own checks.

I don't want to see him succeed anywhere else because success to him is a cup, and I don't want to see any other team win it. But I still think it was time for him to leave, he and Stevie were the face of the team and Hank and Pavel are now that face.

Dude I say post your opinions all you want just try not to attack people, calling some one retarDed is quite an insult! By no means am I an angel we all get caught up in things but this just came off as you were bashing him not the trade.

WOW 20% seems like a high mark, I was thinking more like 8-10% WOW

D'Oh forgot about that trade. Just forget everything I typed about him!!! Edit: I guess I would say no it isn't a bust any year if the wings do not get one of the top 3. This team is always at the top of the league (well at least for the last 10-15 yrs), if last year was a <30 win season I would say yes it would be a bust of an off season with out one of them.

What is the top number this year for salary? Not the cap, but didn't they set a max salary for a player as well?

I think Brad Stuart will want out of Boston bad enough that he may be a little cheaper than most think, especially after spending two years on a sub par team that just doesn's seem committed to winning. And then a team like the wings, Sens, or other committed team gives him a little less he may be interested. RW's- I don't really want either LW's - I like Dimitrakos (not in the wheel though), I would like Smyth but I think he will command top dollar, and the wings won't have the cheddar to get him. C's -I would take Zubrius, Comrie or Gomez, unless they can get Drury. D - Souray is the only one on that list that fills a need the wings have. Unless Kenny misses with Schnieds then they need to go after Rafalski or Sydor.

No real surprise here. I think due to his son, it was either LA or Anaheim, and as I said in another post LA has some really talented young goalies. He had said he was very grateful for how the hospital has been taking care of his son, which leaded me to believe he was not leaving Cali, and San Jose doesn't need him, leaving Ana and LA.

As some one who works in the IT field I HATE F**KING SPAMMERS!!!! sorry for the yelling I get a little worked up sometimes!!

Not sure if you have read the thread about the wings taking a chance on him, but there are a couple of really good articles that explain the stories between him and Downie and actually show that Downie was the ass. I do not know much about Aliu, so you may be right, but I know a lot of people have said they judged him based on the Downie escapade. But like I said you may know more and if you do please share. That is the beauty of this board so many people from so many different areas, there are a lot of sources for first/second hand info on guys like this.

At least his post provoked thought and wasn't a bunch of insults!!!

Sorry to appear to put words in your mouth that was not my intention, I was just grouping the two together because in my mine they are untouchable and need to stay with the wings!

Can I ask why you feel that way?

Does this open a spot for Huds or Grigs, or is it filled by a vet in a trade or a FA. Maybe Babs was so hard on Huds this year because he wanted him to fill this void he knew was coming.

Trading Datsyuk or Zetterberg would be like trading Lidstrom, bad idea. Just because some one can bring more skill or the same skill at a cheaper cost doesn't mean it is good for the locker room. Datsyuk will inherit the A from either Zetterberg or Chelios, depending on if Chelios or Lidstrom retires first. For clarity so I don't get yelled at this post is written correctly if Lids retires the C will go to Zetterberg and then his A goes to Datsyuk.

* Judging by the reported conditions of the trade, the Red Wings have given up their 2007 2nd round pick. Bertuzzi played in 2/3rds of the Wings games but was not one of the team's top five (Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Cleary, Samuelsson, respectively) scorers. If the Wings advanced to the SCF it would've been a 1st-rounder regardless. So, as it stands today, it's Shawn Matthias and a 2007 2nd-rounder. If Bertuzzi re-signs later you can add a 2008 2nd-rounder to the final tally. * *Quoted from Matt from another thread! Edit Link to thread http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=Bertuzzi This post goes into a little more detail: QUOTE(OsGOD @ May 23, 2007 - 10:50AM) * Even with a resign... we gave up nothing more than " fictitious possibilties".... would we have drafted someone who became great... perhaps... would we have drafted someone who became a bust... perhaps. Nothing more, nothing less. Great pickup. It's my understanding that there were two conditions. (1) If (a) Bertuzzi plays in at least 2/3 of the Wings playoff games AND they make it to the SC Finals OR (b) Bertuzzi is one of the Wings top 5 playoff scorers AND they make it to the WCF then Florida gets a 1st rounder in 2007. Anything less, they get a 2nd or 3rd rounder at Detroit's option which, of course will be a 3rd rounder. (2) If Bertuzzi re-signs with the Wings in July of 2007 then Florida gets a 2nd rounder in 2008. Results: (1) They didn't do (a) since they didn't advance to the SCF. As far as (b) Bert was the 6th highest scorer with 10 points behind Lidstrom (18), Datsyuk (15), Zetterberg (14), Cleary (12) and Samuelsson (11). So the Wings have the option to give up a 2nd or 3rd. I'd think they'd naturally opt to give up the third. (2) Remains to be seen. Thanks Wings_Fan_in_KC

It seems as though Babs has taken two different stances with these guys. Filppula got decent ice time, was put out there in more critical situations. While Hudler got low minutes and was almost never on the ice in critical situations. As a DRW fan from outside of Michigan I am wondering what I missed. Was there some issues between them in training camp? Does one practice any harder than the other? Just wondering because to me skill wise they looked to be on pretty even footing, and Hudler (as I recall) was more highly regarded coming up. Do any of you guys know what precipitated this?

I think the confrontation with Downie makes Akim Aliu look like a character, stand up guy, while it makes Downie look like a low class punk bully. If you have a chance to read some of the articles posted in this thread you will see that he was standing up for himself and Downie being a bully didn't like that, and then Aliu had the audacity to touch some one else's stick to compare setups. Holy crap, what an ass! Can you imagine if Shanny had started cross checking and beating the piss out of Zetterberg because he wanted to see how Shanny set his stick up. Would we be calling Zetterberg an attitude problem?, I think not!

As said by others Hasek is a wing now yes, however he was drafted by Chicago which is what this post and article are about, draft successes and busts.

That may be the most informative post I have ever read on this board, and I have read some good ones!! Well written KP