numberthirtynine

I'm an angry ex who won't be booing him and isn't mad at him. Makes sense I didn't justify the behavior of people critical of him. I said they had at least more of a reason than Pitt fans.

Nobody wants him? Nooooo no no this doesn't sound right. Even at his contract, having watched sports for over 20 years I've learned that if you're good enough, there's always someone desperate enough. There are teams with alot of space who need a star. Someone. Anyone. Sounds like mind games to me. If no one wants him you don't say it unless you have a reason. An ulterior motive. This comment draws interest or at least attention. And Edmonton wanted him. Just the team you'd think would. A dank, cruddy poor mans Calgary just desperate for ANY sort of good news. They have no star forward. They have no real coach. They only just got a goalie and we all know the playoff run was a monstrous fluke. And they're paying players like Viznovsky almost 6 mil a year either out of stupidity or just to escape the cap floor. Edmonton wanted him but Heatley didn't want to go. You think Colorado wouldn't take the guy? I'd trade the overpaid Ryan Smyth away for Heatley in a heart beat. You're getting rid of an overrated bum and only spending about a mil more to do it, and still you have room to shore up your defense. Why not? I'd scour more teams but NHL numbers is sketching out.

Mule wanted to stay. That sums it up. I'm still happy because we're still the deepest, most mature, and best team in the NHL. And with proper management, we will be for a very long time. Nothing to be upset over roster-wise.

I don't see us forcing out Homer. Not our style. We haven't forced out Malts and he's been worse than Homer for a long time.

At least we have more of a reason. He was actually with us for a substantial amount of time, a full season and a deep playoff run, and then abandons his plans to go to a division rival full of children and a bleh coach. That said, DON'T BOO HIM AND DON'T BE MAD. He never guaranteed he'd stay and hey, look at it this way-we were screwed out of showing the world we were the better team in the finals. Big time. But this we have full control over-let's show everyone we're bigger than the idiots in Pittsburgh and not boo him or stay angry.

He choked in scoring. But he played very good defense, broke up alot of key plays, backchecked like crazy and at least tried to make plays. He didn't score but why do people think that's a good reason to ignore every other contribution. If he did score, and then failed to even try and play D and the other team scored because of his defensive zone error, we'd all be complaining about something else in the exact same manner. We got rid of guys like Hull because they did that right? Only a few guys score per game but it's critical to have everyone on the team play D.

Lidstrom, Nicklas 40 DET D UFA 7.450 Holmstrom, Tomas 37 DET L UFA 2.250 Lilja, Andreas 34 DET D UFA 1.250 Maltby, Kirk 37 DET L UFA 0.883 Abdelkader, Justin 23 DET L RFA 0.850 Lebda, Brett 28 DET D UFA 0.850 Helm, Darren 23 DET C RFA 0.598 Meech, Derek 26 DET D RFA 0.500 Hmmmm... I think next season will be big for Lidstrom as far as his retirement goes. If he stays healthy and pain free he could sign a two year deal worth around 5.5 million. I could see him digging that. Esp if we're in the hunt to sign the future #1 defenseman, though I'm not sure who that would be. Holmstrom, again, this upcoming season will be big. I think he gets resigned either way, but his performance will be a big contributor to whether or not he signs at something like 2 mil or a 1-2 year deal worth 1-1.5. His health though could force him out. He's possibly the best goalie screening slapshot taking madman to ever stand in front of a crease. Would anyone be shocked if his health forced him to retire next season? Lilja I can't even guess. It's so up in the air. Maltby is gone. If we resign him, we're high. Even at vet minimum he's just taking a roster spot from a young forward waiting to come up. There's 800k gone right there. Darth Kader is obviously resigned. Hopefully we get him inked to a deal before he kicks into RFA mode. Lebda, eh, it'll depend if we feel we need a 6th defenseman. If someone gets hurt or doesn't pan out or we have a mass exodus on D with a bunch of retirements he could stay but beyond that, eh. He's valuable to a team who needs a lightning fast blue liner who can pass relatively well for their team. He's not bad at under a million. Other teams would give him 2 mil I bet. If Helm doesn't get resigned, bodies all over Michigan will be falling from tall buildings. This guy has earned whatever he needs. Meech, bah, don't even care. We could be saving upwards of 5 mil if some guys take pay cuts or leave. That will almost sure go into the sock under the mattress to sign Helm and Kader. Anyone else is a bonus. I suspect our next huge signing will be when Lidstrom goes. I just wish we could've gotten Bouwmeester. It's the only way I'd be happy with Lids replacement. Or happy enough. Why Calgary Jay?! They'll indoctrinate you into the goonery cult.

At some point a guy making a mil a year, if he has the chance, will likely take the payday of his life. A jump from a million dollars to 3 million is alot more than someone who already has 40 million in the bank passing on another 5. This payday could be security for his family and his child or childrens future(s). It could be peace of mind for him. It's very easy to blow the kind of money he is making if you're not careful and at odd times, it may not even be your fault. I won't be mad at him for leaving. I'm thankful for what he gave us, glad with the improvement he made, and wish him the best. It's kind of nice knowing that for all the years he was The Whipping Boyâ„¢, during his final couple of seasons he'd silenced most of his critics and gets to leave on that high note(minus those who didn't like him on the PP).

Every team? I'm sure there are other stars who may give a serious thought to signing with us at 5.2 mil. And doesn't a part of you think that if Holland really wanted Hossa, he could've gave him another 1.2 per season? He is Holland you know, he's defied our expectations many times. I could see someone like Kovulchuk heading here for that and hell, I'd take him over Hoss. The reason we'er succesful and other teams are consistently not, is that we wouldn't give Hossa 5.2 million. It sounds crazy to the "win at any cost, a bargains a bargain no questions asked" crowd but I think Holland saw what a few others saw-a guy who stunk under pressure. After this I'd be hesitant to pay him Franzen money nm 5.2.

The point in the discussion trying to be made was that he was or wasn't trying. He didn't score but that doesn't mean he wasn't trying. Or was totally useless. Adn again, even if, this attitude is just so black or white, good or bad. He played vey well. We needed goals but a) alot of guys didn't produce and b) the officials were going to let anything slide on pitt untilt hey won so let's not go overboard with blame.

Exactly. And without our forwards playing D the other team takes alot more than 40 shots. And Hossa broke up alot of key opponent plays. His defensive game is so ignored by some people. To say he wasn't trying is, to quote another poster, asinine and stupid. Besides, cliches? What are we, the NFL?

And he was giving more effort than.....everyone else. And `compare to the play of` is so vague. You`re still not defining anything. Yeah keep playing the excuses card. I`m the one with substantial replies, you`re just being a child. With people like you you`re either playing with enough energy to power a country, or you`re absolutely horrible. You`re truly a testament to how our generation really lacks perspective in shades of grey. This is so stupid. Yeah, we don`t need a bonified 50 goal guy who can play defense. People like you just don`t know the game unless the game is taking 40 shots in the opponents zone.

Such an armchair expert. How about addressing what I said instead of repeating the same point. He looked to alot of people like he was trying. Perhaps your definition of trying differs from his. Or explain why you think he wasn`t trying. He backchecked. Was that not enough. He played D. He broke up alot of opponents offensive zone plays. Were those things not good enough. He didn`t score. We get it. But people like you are textbook overreactors who go too far. Did he choke, yeah. Was he not trying-that`s just stupid.

I don`t even think you really know why you`re blaming him. It`s just to you, it appeared that he wasn`t trying. Maybe you`re not fit to judge who is and isn`t putting forth effort. He was skating his ass off, backchecking, playing D and trying to ass off to make plays. I think he was trying but it`s a matter of his decision making. Maybe he just wasn`t the type of player under pressure that guys like Hank, Pav or Lids are. Then it`s not a matter of trying at all. Then again there`s always someone placing unnecessary blame on someone or another on this board.

Some players try differently. Taking the body doesn`t put pucks in the net, or at least, he might`ve thought that way. Whether he accomplished what he was trying to do doesn`t matter in this debate, it`s whether or not he was trying his best. I think he was, it`s just to some people, their definition of trying may differ from Marian`s. He to me, looked like a guy playing like he thought he had to do it all on his own. He was thinking too much and in sports once you think, it`s game over.

Yeah. Naive. Or mathematically sound. It was another way of saying we couldn't afford him. And if you don't think this seasons playoff performance is enough to force Holland to seek other players for 5.2 mil instead of Hoss you`re the naive one.

5.2 isn't just a number when we're talking about specific players. 5.2 is a great deal for some guys, not for others. Detroit would never want Hossa back at 5.2 after that performance. That's what I meant. 10 years wouldnt' phase Holland if he'd produced.

Eh I won't fault him for Vezina trophies. Brodeur and Roy didn't win many because of one guy who won almost all of them in his time. What I will fault him for, is choking in the playoffs. We are really a team who holds goalies to a higher standard-the ability to win under playoff pressure. Ozzie and Hasek did it. But those types are so rare.

3 months ago I would'ev been on board with a helmet. But now? After that Chicago series where Luo, sorry to say, was horrible? I can usually see when a D lets a goalie down but he didn't. He just choked in the simplest definition. I don't want that. This season more than any other I and I think a few others really learned the importance of a goalie who can play well when it matters. We don't need another Nabokov or Turco. We need another Ozzie or Dom. But as far as players go, I've wanted to see Daniel Alfredsson in a red jersey for a long time. Anyone think he'd take a pay cut at a chance to win one before he goes? I'm unaware of his contract numbers currently. Anyone know?

I said price. You said years. Don't try that.

and detroit would never want him back from chicago. for that price. I keep thinking about it, and i don't know what he expects from there. they're going to be in cap hell sooner than later. they're immature and they're not going to support him like we did. you think if they go down 3-2 in a series they'd be as composed as a team like Detroit? They're kids. We're men. He's ditching the best team in the league for a group of children who had a GM that hit the panic button.

They'd have to make the playoffs first. With their financial scenario that they have coming up in a few seasons, they might be screwed. Talon once again panics and overpays. This is why Holland owns. Calm and patient.

Awesome guy, wish him the best. Go get'em Tye. You were always too good to be a backup. Go start somewhere.

Uh actually a ton of people expected him to stay. And it's nto as if he signed for alot more in Chicago so we weren't unrealistic in thesde expectations either. I'm not mad at him. I won't lower myself to the level of the classless POS fans in Pittsburgh. Thanks for the greatg reg season but he's nto a pressure guy. When under pressure he thinks too much. I won't blame him for his performance in the final as most of our players were held, clutched, grabbed, obstructed and kept from playing a fair game. But unlike other players, he sucked BEFORE the finals too. Chicago can have him. We won without him. Goodbye Marian, thanks for the season. We'll be seeing you and the wife soon.

Shoreline= Exhibit A. Notice I didn't just say this series? You're telling me you didn't notice it? No matter how intelligent an objection, some folks just need to deny anythings up no matter what. Same people who think Dan O'Halloran is unbiased too maybe?