Opie

The biggest thing I have noticed with him is he seems happy out there. Healthy and happy. He has a big smile and is loving feeding the puck to mule. Good for Det!

I think Babs will alternate for a while and let the two of them sort it out.

Aaron Downey is the only person jealous of Bill Clement's hands, he needs to work on more than just his skating! I know, I know he is not a scorer, but being able to complete a couple of passes would be nice too! Edit: forgot the not!

There is nothing to answer in your what ifs, they are conjecture just as much as the bulls*** I threw out there. Your scenarios are nothing more than monday morning quarterbacking and come of a little bitter as well that is what I get from your posts. Let it go man, the team went from 9th to 5th in a very short time, due in large part to the successful decisions the head coach made!

Dave Tallon won a cup, I would consider it a success, was it a potentially dangerous way to do so yes, but he won Chicago a cup something that hadn't happened in a very long time! Many die hard fans probably appreciate that. I mean it is not like the are the leafs right now. If he had not won a Cup it would have been worse, but look at the fan base he built for that team, bandwagon or not, die hard or not, Jersey sales are up, ticket sales are up, and they hoisted the cup. Perfect example of the ends justifying the means! What if I win the lottery tomorrow, what if after Howard sucks/gets hurt and Ozzie tears a groin, what if Howard went on to be a Calder candidate and help the team go from 9th to 5th, what if Howard gained valuable experience, what if Aliens landed on the planet tomorrow and had the best goaltender in the Universe who wanted to play for the Wings. What if Babcock put in Ozzie for a 3 game stretch after the Olympics and he was as good as he was last regular season, the team loses 2 of the 3, Howard's confidence goes in the s***ter and the Wings finish 9th, how would you feel then? What if, what if, what if, what if. All I know is none of what you were/are worried about happened and like in almost all sports, a coaches decisions are almost always going to be seen as great or horrible, there is no middle ground any more, you appear to be offended or bothered whichever term you like the most, by Ozzie being sent to the pine. Howard helped take this team to the playoffs and you are complaining about could have beens. And even in the Sharks series I would have a hard time complaining about Howard's play, did he have a bad game, meh yeah but the special teams let the Wings down far more than Howard. Look at the box scores from the playoffs and see how many teams needed to score 4 goals to win, so yeah he gave up three a game, he still had a better GAA then the cup winning goaltender.

Does this set as bad a precedence as signing a guy only to trade him during the following season. I mean you trade for a guy and then dump him off, they basically traded Eager, Sopel, Buff for Taffe. But in there some where Reasoner was a Hawk, for like a minute and a half!

Are you seriously still second guessing a decision that could not have worked out any better than it did? Babcock in all of his delusions got this team to 5th place, 4th was completely out of the realm of possibility, there was no realistic way the Wings were catching the Yotes unless they lost all of their games after the Olympic break. The way Babcock coached this team took them from 9th to 5th in a flash. Say what you want about the situation and your personal feelings towards who you wanted to see in net, but his decision worked! Plain and simple it worked, and all of you saying Osgood could have done the same as Howie are doing the same as those who say he couldn't, GUESSING! None of us know if Ozzie would have been better or worse than Howard in that situation because he was not put in it. All we can go on is what happened. Babcock had to weigh Ozzie's last two regular seasons vs what he was currently getting from Howard. Now Howard COULD have collapsed and the team would have been stuck with a rusty goaltender but that is not what happened, and any other thoughts about the situation are conjecture.

NO one on here has ever really denied Feds talent, just his motivation. At times he was the best player I had ever seen, and at times he was the biggest floater I had ever seen.

Going from puck possession DET to dump and chase ANA definitely hurt his numbers.

Not sure he is top 10 yet, but as mentioned in the blog Dater has Craig Anderson as #4 so I question his judgment!

That is indeed a very trade-able contract if it comes to that. Meech is a very serviceable #6 and a team in cap hell that is also in need of a 6th d wouldn't mind taking that league minimum hit on. I think the success Quincey had after being a scratch in DET will help make Meech more trade-able, again if it comes to that. And in the event there is no need to trade him, that is a very friendly cap hit for the Wings who just may have a revolving door in the 3rd pairing. EDIT: also as pointed out and as we saw last year he can be the 13th forward as well as 7th d, all at the same time!

I think him and Hudler on the third line to start the season, with either Abby, Helm or Modo will give him a good chance at returning to form and also allow him to jump to the first line to spell Homer with Z and D once and a while will be great. I really don't want to see him on special teams to start the year. Don't get me wrong he is a very very good PKer, but I would like to see him get some time to make sure he is healed, and his knee can build up to the strength it needs.

Let him get 400 first please!

He brings an experienced 3rd line center who plays great d, but you are right other than the vet part Helm is a better 3rd line center option, his wheels are way better than Madden's, and his pk skills are out of this world. I am not sure how I feel about either Abby or Helm centering the third line, Helm's hands seem to let him down at times. Now I am not saying he his Clement, Clement hands of cement, but they are not exactly silky smooth!

Sign the RFA's add Hnidy. Then if a decent forward is left on the scrap heap for cheap grab 'em in the biscuits! Oh sorry I meant grab them up! If Madden is around and willing to play on the cheap, that would be a great fit. But I thinhk if the Wings play with Hnidy on the back end that makes them real tough, 3 d who can hit you hard, and one of them will knock your teeth out if necessary. I could see the Wings not making any more moves and playing with Janik back there, but I think they should sign a tough vet d!

If Lebda gets 1.45 Hjalmarsson is worth twice that already!

I honestly think he ends up somewhere between 2 and 2.5 mil. Arbitration hearings are at the end of the month I think.

Some players (like J-Ho) are not as good in the AHL as they are in the NHL, motivation is severly lacking for some players when they are in the AHL for that long. Not saying that is why Kindl has underperformed (in the eyes of some) in the AHL, but give him ice time and a chance, if the Wings can sign a Hnidy or McKee let him be the 7th for the season. Rotate him in for Big E or for injuries during the season and see what he has. Smith has plenty of time, no need to rush him up this year unless he looks absolutely phenomenal in camp. Let him play with men for a season and see what he has to offer.

I personally think they should have dealt Sharp to start with, that would have cleared more space to sign some RFA's. Not that it would have helped. Once they signed their big three, they were all but assured cap hell this season. Now in order to keep Niemi it will more than likely cost them Hjalmarsson (sp?). They have 8 forwards, 4 D, 1 goalie signed and 3.7 mil in space. If Niemi gets anything in Arbitration over 1.5 Hjalm is gone, and even then he may still be gone to an offer sheet. I am not even sure (didn't do the math) if that is enough money to sign a full roster to league minimums. They may lose Sharp whether or not they want to, 3.9 would more than double their cap space and allow them to fill out a roster.

While his goal total was down (other than the 4 goal game) his assist total was right up there. Mule is a point eater in the post season, he just always seems to find a way to be on the score sheet! Some one needs to make a "Captain Caveman" type photoshop but it can read "Captain Playoff" and the club coudl be a hockey stick! LOL

Other than the Ralf part of your post I have no problem with this suggestion. But then again I am a huge UMaine fan and so any time a UMainer has a chance to play for the Wings I am all in! Plus the fact he was very solid last year, I just don't think he adds the grit people are looking for quite like a Hnidy.

I don't like the idea of Ericsson being the vet on any pairing, I think it will hurt his development as well as the other member of the pairing. A Hnidy or McKee adds a vet presence and a very solid D man, plus Hnidy is a tough SOB! Let Smith play the year in GR, IMO!

Sharp.

I have never really known for sure, I think there are a lot of guesses out there, but I have never heard a concrete answer.

6 should be like 16, off limits to anyone!