Opie

Thanks for responding with a post that also had a ton of thought put into it. Getting rid of Minnesota is my thought because as I said in the first post was I would like to see Dallas back in Minnesota, but thanks for engaging in this conversation with an open mind!

Unlike Brodeur's unless he has remarried, ewwww!!

I was thinking the same thing, and I think he must be thinking of building a Blackberry Arena or Research in Motion Pavilion somewhere along the line. This guy made his money by being ahead of the curve and thinking way beyond others. He would be the Mark Cuban of the NHL, he has a lot of personality and is a raw person. The only difference is in the NHL he wouldn't be sitting on the ice like Cuban in the NBA.

1 and 7 are the two I find most important

Damnit, It is hard to be successful at sarcasm when I keep screwing it up!! LOL!!

Turtle is so lucky that cam missed with that first one, he would have cleaned his clock. (grammer police notice I said "have")

Thanks for that link I have never heard him talk about Ulf before, in that calm of a manner. Usually it was after a game and he was pissed!! Edit: after watching that video I realized what the wings need to be totally unstoppable, Cam Neely in his prime. You add that type of guy who can score 360 spin-o-rama goals, stand in front of the net like homer, drop the gloves, and will defend his teammates and the integrity of the game until he dies. Too bad there really aren't players out there like that anymore!!!

Have to say though, I would rather have Willy than Lang!!!!

Makes you wonder if we got short changed on the Cheli trade. Damn if Gratton is a second rounder than Erickson had to be worth at least cheli and the entire blackhawks org.

While I agree with the severity of Bert's hit over Ulfie, I will never forgive Ulf for taking out Cam!!!!!!! That is still the worst hit I have ever seen. At the time I was a B's fan, due to the fact that I only saw B's games where I was living in Maine!

Oh you mean like when one of the wings forwards laid down in front of Pronger who wound up to take a slap shot. Only thing there is that if it were Nick with his "Heartless" defense style of not laying down, when Pronger faked the shot and then skated around the prone wing, and then basically turned it into a small 5 v 4 Nick would have been able to still skate with Pronger and stop the momentum of the play. But you are right, nobody is playing good D until they automatically lay down in front of any shot. Think about how fast the game moves, Neidermeyer didn't wind up, if I remember correctly it was a pass, so there was no wind up, if Nick were to lay down he would have just been laying down in front of him just for the sake of laying down. He did what he always does he made the intelligent savvy play.

The article on NHL.com the other day where they discussed the three top norris candidates was saying the same thing. It isn't flashy play, it isn't big hits, it isn't his shot from the blueline, it isn't his flashy personality, it is just him. He goes out night in and night out and does his best, and that is a hell of a lot better than most D-men in the league. Think about it, how many years in a row has he been a top contender for the norris. How many other guys compete for that trophy year in and year out, besides Nick, most of the guys are a year or two here and there then they have a down year and fall of the radar. Nobody talks about this guy unless he makes a mistake, which almost never happens. Even though I dislike Engblom and Melrose, they have said it and so haven't many other so called experts, he has made the position look simple. It is silly how well he uses the poke check, I think he learned that from Larry Murphy, he isn't a crusher but he can take you out of the play with his body. Look at the players he single handedly covered this post season; Iginla and Thorton are not exactly rookies or tissue soft players. This man's best moment is always his next one!

Do you honestly think Stevie Y would call out a teammate in the media. That is what makes him the Captain he knows better than to call a teammate out, in the locker room (Not that I was there, this is hypothetical) he may have said something completely different to Ozzie or anyone else on the team. Asking Yzerman about whether or not a teammate cost the team the game would be like asking Bill Belichek about how good or bad an opponent played. The answer will most often be lip service.

I like the Toskala/osgood then toskala/howard option. But is Toskala really that proven? Asking that question honestly, he had 12 wins in 28 starts 2 years ago and 23 wins in 37 starts last year. Good stats but he has a very talented team in front of him. Has he been winning or stealing games for them? I just haven't heard to much of him and wondering if he is going to be that good or if it is the fact that for some reason San Jose turns out good goalies like it is their job!

For me hands down Dan Cleary, however I was very impressed with the offensive ability the young D on this team have, Lebda is great a bringing the puck up and jumping into the play, and it didn't seemed like he was out of position a lot. Quincey played great when he got minutes, Kronwall when healthy is a force. Franzen was a complete surprise along with Flip. I liked the addition of Calder, but still Dan was the Man this year as far as most improved wing!

I got to admit I am part of Red Sox nation and I will tell you that is the only group of fans that are more serious, devoted, and psycho about their team. Atleast the sox fans had 86 years of s***ty seasons to make them crazy, wings fans are just nuts about their hockey team even with success over the last 75 years!!!

I have to say I have been a member of this board from I think 99 or 00, before it got revamped and became this pretty. And pretty is the only thing that has changed about this board. The moderators do an awesome job, troll headcount has been going down, and it really seems to keep great hockey conversation year round. Most boards are really busy when the season is in, but being the crazy wings fans we are we need a place to chat all of the time, and ladies and gentleman this is the place. I have hosted websites before and had to work with databases and all of the other crap that goes along with it. let me tell you something it is not always fun. So in short Great job to everyone involved in keeping this forum tip top!!!

Oh I was unsure because some one had mentioned that the city might have to cover a portion of the bill!

Your analogy of getting hit by a meteorite is a little of base, unless you are talking about a guy who lives in a meteorite belt. This man would be taxing his heart of day of his life, and putting a lot of UNNECESSARY stress on his heart just to be playing hockey. I agree with you though if doctors give him the thumbs up I cannot wait to see him in the winged wheel!!

Here is a weird thought, and by no means am I saying this will happen, BUT... With all of the economic turmoil in the Detroit area do any of you foresee a possible move out of Detroit being forced by needing a new arena?

He is one of my top 6 d-men on NHL 07 for xbox 360, he is definitely still good on that game and I have to play him. For some reason in my mind if he is on the roster on my xbox he will have a chance to make it back. But like it has been said on this board a million times, I would much rather see him live another 80 years and never skate again, then see him go down like that again.

He won 27 games out of 38 last year, and 21 out of 42 this year. Now a .500 record is not exactly stunning however you have to consider the team in front of him, there wasn't a ton of talent in front of him. I do believe that if Dom does not return we should give the net to Howard and Ozzie.

Agreed if we are going to knock Lilja down from what I saw as a B to B+ performance because of one turnover that led to a goal than Bertuzzi should be at a D.

That is good to know, I would definitely like to have had to give up a first rounder though!!!

I am not saying start him over Dom next year, this post was in response to IF DOM RETIRES!! I may be a Howard fan or a Datsyuk fan but above all I am a Red Wings fan and I want to see the team do what is best and gives them the best chance to win the cup. Hey Stu, Thanks for jumping in with such a great lets debate attitude instead of just insulting people!! Next time try and read the whole thread before just jumping in. My questions were designed to get the answer you just gave me, not stating that Howard above and beyond anything else should be the starter. But thanks again for the insult it shows a lot of maturity, as opposed to that blah-blah or rah rah college spirit that I was spewing forth! edit: spelling