reggin

Hes 6'5 250lbs and can fly. He also fights and is known for throwing massive hits, not to mention hes got a little bit of skill about him. Hes only 26 and would give us a player in the mold of Drake and officially replace the failed project known as Thomas Kopecky. Thoughts?

Sounds good to me...

Watch the Game 7 play again, it wasn't a pass to Cleary, Z was trying to shoot it off the back of Hiller's pad, it bounced out instead.

9000

Step 1. Players get replica trophy Step 2. Darren blows all of his cash in casino, divorce, drugs. Step 3. Darren sells EVERYTHING worth anything to pay off debts to said casino. Step 4. Wings buy back cup wings, to save face, return to McCarty. Step 5. This pops up, no reason to believe it isn't real.

You don't get ten days off for playing poorly... There is obviously something behind such a great turn around and chances are it'll never be revealed. On a side note, the most ridiculous Osgood rumor was Atlanta's 2001 First overall pick(Kovalchuk) for Osgood back before he was waived for Hasek. We can only dream

"Discount" is all relative. I look at it as a payment to play for a great organization and a cup contender. Anyone signing long term for a bottom feeder absolutely is just in it for the money. Which is fine, since its a job but people need to stop acting like "player A" is a martyr for taking a million less. Any business professional could probably make more money at another job but there are always pros and cons of any job. Detroit is comfy. Players have to pay for that comfort. If you want the cap max, sign with Edmonton.

I was referring to Edmonton.. and yes, according to the players, its the least desirable place in the league to play.

The only team we'll know that offered more money was New Jersey... Just assuming that Edmonton would offer any and every UFA $10 million a season is ridiculous. Chicago overbid for Campbell for the same reason they overbid for Huet. They wanted to attract fans. Rafalski took less to play here because; 1. He grew up here 2. New Jersey, for all intents and purposes were on their way down the standings. Some of you take these "Discounts" too seriously.

What does this team lack? A big winger who doesn't shy away from hitting and doesn't shy away from dropping the gloves. Trading a second rounder, for a player we can have NOW, instead of waiting five seasons, makes a hell of a lot more sense than drafting another Kopecky and hoping he pans out. R2 makes $900,000 a season... Whos to say he couldn't be taught to play a Holmstrom role on the PP? Know of many defenseman that could move a 6'5 250lb winger out of the crease?

Campbell is younger, Rafalski wasn't going to get a 7 year deal for $56 million from any team. Hossa turned down $90 million from the least desirable place in the league to play. He took around a million less than he would have received from any other team for one season, going to the cup winner. Hossa is going to sign a long term deal with a team next season, probably in the mold of Zetterberg or Franzen's deal. Any player on any team could be making more if they decided to play for the trashiest team in the league, who has to overpay in order to attract free agents.

Rafalski didn't take a substanital paycut.... and Hossa took about $500,000 less than the Pens were offering.

Detroit didn't develop Rafalski, Hossa or Stuart.. A second rounder for a player who can step in day of? Seems like a decent price to pay. He is everything we've hoped Kopecky could be..

"You're suffering from Eastern conference syndrome right now" I see... its fine when you do it but when I actually make a great point you "Stopped reading". You guys claim to be hockey experts, refuting each other's points but the second I make a good point you belittle it because of the way I deliver it. If I spell things out in simple terms, for everyone to understand, im condescending.

I remember... Luongo for Datsyuk Fehr and Brendan Witt for Datsyuk

If he was all about money than why is he in the NHL now? He could have made more in the KHL this season than in Tampa. He bolted because the Bolts wouldn't offer him a spot on their roster after holding his rights for half a decade, after doing the same to the third overall pick Svitov and having a coach that doesn't particularly get along well with Russians. He wanted playing time, not money. Why would you want to play in Syracuse for $80,000 a season when you can play in Russia for a million?

You're missing the point, Datsyuk and Hossa face the other team's SHUTDOWN line, a line not needed for offense. You see, outside of Detroit, teams that don't roll four lines have this thing, its called a checking line or a shutdown line. Todd Marchant, Sami Pahlsson, and Mike Peca all have this role. Their role isn't to score goals, its to prevent the other team's top line from scoring goals. These lines often play with the teams top defensive pairing, whether it be Neidermeyer-Pronger or Keith-Seabroke. Point being, since Dats and Hossa face this matchup 99% of the time, they're really not shutting down anything, unless they're on the PK. Babcock likes to role four lines and Zetterberg's line has faced the Kane-Toews line and the Getzlaf-Perry line. Flip-Hudler-Sammy face the second line of Chicago, which is the Havlat line and they did the same against the Selanne line. You see, the Datsyuk line is getting shut down but they aren't shutting down the other teams top players either.

Detroit's second pick last season was Andersson and hes expected to be a 3rd or 4th line energy guy. R2 was taken 96th overall in 2002 and Kopecky was taken 38th overall in the previous years draft. A second round pick is the price to pay for a guy of this caliber.

The Datsyuk line has faced the Pahlsson line this series.. and the Marchant line in Anahiem. Both teams, "shut down lines". They're not playing head to head against the Getzlaf's, Nash's or Kane's.

Nope just a victim of a rabid fan base so obsessed with country of origin instead of performance. The same fans that overrate one player and belittle another. Case in point.. Nick Lidstrom. Guy apparently doesn't make mistakes, even though Getzlaf walked all over him all series long. If he has a give away, no one sees it, if he gets out muscled in front of the net its because the refs aren't calling anything. The same fan base that said Lidstrom should have been league MVP since 1997? You know, better than Gretzky, Howe or Orr, the great Nick Lidstrom. While Chris Osgood plays his balls off and gets no respect. Datsyuk leads the team year in and year out, is just as consistent as Lidstrom and still plays second fiddle to Zetterberg. Its Yzerman/Fedorov all over again, except this time its Lidstrom/Zetterberg vs Datsyuk.. the greedy Russian. Even though Lidstrom made around $70 million since the year 2000.. and "The Captain" was pulling in $6-$8 million as a third line defensive center. Fedorov was compensated fairly and so is Datsyuk. It just so happens that Zetterberg signed a terrible deal a few years back, so the fan base thinks that he is god.

Yes and it makes just as much sense to lump Datsyuk in with Hossa, as you have done countless times... Datsyuk is working his tail off, while Hossa floats around and Holmstrom plays his game. Datsyuk scored 97 points in the regular season and is up for the Pearson/Hart/Selke Hossa scored 71 points and is up for.......? A new contract on a different team. Im sick of seeing "Datsyuk and Hossa need to step up". Datsyuk has, if anything, feel free to throw Zetterberg's name into the mix also. The empty net king has been pretty "Ghostly" in most games and all season.

Im fully aware of what pepole have been saying about Datsyuk on these boards. Ive been around here since the beginning. I have been supporting Datsyuk since his rookie season, I was even a proponent of trading him to Washington just so he could play for a team that would actually respect him, instead of bitching at the guy. The truth is, the guy wasn't supposed to make it to the NHL. Hes now in the running for both the Hart and Pearson. He has two Stanley Cup's with this team and has led it in scoring since Sergei Fedorov left. What else can the guy do? Hes never going to be Swedish and therefor he'll always be #2, no matter what.

Datsyuk, even has a playoff ghost, got fair market value. Danny Briere got nearly $9 million per season that year, you don't think Philly would have thrown the same money at Datsyuk? $6.7 mill for Datsyuk is a steal even if he never scores a goal in these playoffs.