newfy

Yeah but in the end we were injured half the season. If he woulda taken the offer from Kenny we would've had scoring depth for when they all got injured. Instead h e didn't take it and handcuffed Kenny so that we ended up with Jason Williams as our scoring depth. Thank Hudler for that.

Get rid of Hudler and add Eaves and I like that line up. Boll could be a good enforcer for this team. He isn't like a police officer type enforcer he's morel ike a run around and nail guys so I get in fights enforcer. Maybe get rid of Bert as well for a more legit scorer for the top lines. I just looked at Boll's contract status and he is an RFA at years end but I doubt after Columbus trading Shelley that they would part ways with him. They would likely match any offer sheet sent his way.

Still was teh case though. He skipped out because he wanted more money when in the end we really needed his scoring badly.

What I got from it was that he was awarded money from the arbitrator that was fair but thought that he was worth more so he took off on the team when they coulda used his scoring. Our team is the least penalized in the league(I'm pretty sure)and more times then not Downie is taking someone with him. Sure he's a little over the edge sometimes but Carcillo was over the edge all game today and never caused his team to be penalized. Why shouldn't we have someone like that knocking the opposition off their game? He's like a hybrid of prime Maltby(the agitator) and Mccarty(the fighter) but he has more offensive ability and is only going to get better as he gets older. Downie could become a consistent 30 goal scorer in this league easily as well as a physical force.

How can anyone say Babcock mishandled the goalie situation this year? Howard is the only reason we're in the playoff hunt right now. He should win the Calder and be nominated for the selke for the stats he has right now. We're used to having 2 goalies that play an even amount through the season because we've never really had an elite goalie, or we've had two goalies playing very close to the same level. Now we have Ozzie, who despite winning us cups and blah blah blah can't win a game for us in the reg. season. And we have Howard who is putting up Vezina nominee worthy stats. Howard deserves to play especially with how awful our team was compared to usual this season. Without the stellar goaltending our playoff streak would be coming to an end this year.

This is how I feel as well. Some posters on this site act like Lids is God. While he might be the closest thing to it, he isn't. Plain and simple at age 40 having about 20 years of multi million dollar contracts you think he would be set financially and want to give this team their best chance at winning by not taking alot of salary. I'm sure at this point in his career he would take the pay cut and just wanna hoist another cup. And is there anyone else that would rather let williams and Bert walk and sign more legit scorers. I honestly shouldn't even say scorers in the same sentence as Williams but whatever. Bert is streaky, Williams doesn't score so he isn't streaky, he's consistently bad. Asham would actually score as much as Williams, especially if you took out the PP points Williams gets as the result of playing with world class players.

He's the biggest choke artist in the game right now and is a product of Thorton feeding him constantly.

I don't think bowling and professional hockey are a good comparison. I mean, its bowling... Just saying

Abs wont be playing for .6m. Right now hes making 850,000 a year and he wont take pay cut. I tihnk you'll see Helm and Abdelkader both at about a million. Marleau wont be here, I really wouldnt want him anyways. I would rather take that 5 million and either add more scoring depth down on the bottom lines, not a 40 goal scorer but maybe 2 20 goal scorers and then sign someone intimidating to play with Abs and mentor him. I'm thinking Asham is the guy, he can score and fight. He would be worth letting Miller walk if need be.

And here are some problems with yours. 1. That big raise wouldn't be that huge and we have alot of money coming off the cap this year, its possible. 2. You guys keep saying he plays with Stamkos and St louis ALL the time. He doesn't, he plays 14 minutes a night, I'm pretty sure Stamkos and St louis play more then that. I used to be a Sarnia Sting Season ticket holder while Stamkos was there so I make a special point to watch Tampa games and no he doesn't always play with these guys. St. Louis bumps around alot on different lines and the 14 a night Downie plays shows he's not always playing with those guys. 3. He wouldn't take a discount so he took the wings to arbitration. The arbitrator didn't give him the money he wanted because he thought he should get more so he flew off to Russia. 4. Hudler got most of his points playing with talent like St louis and Stamkos. Hudler was a PP specialist playing on the PP with guys like Dats, Z and Franzen, youre bound to get points then. 5. Huds is small and soft. He's also slow. Downie is a big body, hits fights and has already put up as many goals as Hudler ever did and Downie is only in his second full season. After watching the flyers run around constantly at our team today we could use a guy like Downie to run around at other teams, throw them off their game(see carcillo on homer) and still produce. Theres way to much undeserved love for Hudler on this board. Yes he would be good with Hossa's body and blah blah I've heard that enough. Fact of the matter is he doesn't have that body so if you could get a guy like Downie for him, why wouldn't you?

Yeah and Downie hasnt gotten better consistently? He's in his second full NHL season and hes got as many goals as Hudler ever had with Detroit. Do you think you know how Hudler plays better then Babcock? Maybe theres a reason he gets third line minutes and he's always in the doghouse. It probably has something to do with how he's weak defensively due to his size and never finishes a hit. Not to mention he wouldnt take a discount like everyone else does here when he knew we were handcuffed by the cap so he peaced out to Russia. You know Downie would never fly to Russia because hes from Canada. He's also physical and can play, something Babcock loves. Hudler isn't getting any younger but he probably got alot softer (if thats possible) playing in the KHL. Downie would be much better then Hudler on this team anyday of the week. I obviously have no idea if Tampa would actually part with Downie but we're discussing it as a possibility.

Huge game, I'm thinking the wings win it with late game heroics again and its a tight game the whole way through. 3-2 wings, Dats, Bert, Miller and Belak with 2 for Nashville haha.

He obviously isn't playing with them all the time if he's getting 14 minutes of ice a game. I know I've watched and he does play with Stamkos quite a bit but he clearly doesn't play with them all the time or he would be getting more then 14 minutes. And St. louis isn't always on that line he shifts around. But either way if he was on their line he's still playing against other teams top lines, something Huds never did here because hes small and weak defensively.

Downie plays 14:36 not really much of a difference. And he's playing against other teams better lines. Hudler got those stats against other third lines and on the PP. Hudler's a great player but I would take Downie and a 4th rounder anyday.

Hey UK (or anyone else for that matter) if you have the stream for the griffins abbotsford game tonight. Should be rough and whats better then a good friday fish fry, beer and a rough hockey game filled with redwing prospects?

Well Bert and Maltby might not be here next year. Draper probably has one more year. Bert plays in the top 6 anyways. Downie has 22 goals this year and plays with a chip on his shoulder.Hudler topped out at 23 here and was small and soft. Downie is a guy you can put in your top 6 that can produce and could go smack someone around a bit if they take a run at Pavel or Z. He would be a great addition to this team. Oh yeah and he's 3 years younger. Clarkson while not a top 6 player could potentially be one. He's the same age as Hudler has scored 17 goals for the defensive Devils with no real scorers on the team besides Parise. You trade Hudler for him and a pick to a team that could use some offense and the returns are probably worth it. We get our tough guy that can play regularly and get maybe like a 2nd round pick.

I'd take Clarkson over Downie as well because Clarkson is more of a fighter and Downie is more of an agitator. Downie however does have all the tools to be a 25-30 goal scorer while playing with a chip on his shoulder. I would happily trade Hudler for either of these guys. Clarkson really is like a new age Mccarty and he doesn't seem to have the poor dressing room attitude either. Doubt it'll happen but it would be nice to see either of these guys with the wings.

While I don't see seabrook or Alberts gettign signed I wouldn't mind seeing Chipchura here but obviously I'm a sucker for players that can fight lol.

Leadership is obviously a quality that Tardif has though since he's wearing the C. I cant comment on whether or not he has a freak workout but I've never heard bad talk of his work eithic. He can hit, PK and is just an overall solid grinder that can fight occasionally thats why I would like to see him with the wings. We havent had a true grinder since Mccarty.

Yeah its been too long since Ive seen one of these dumb arguments so I figured why not start one. Oh yeah you know what else makes these threads dumb... When ppl post without any input whatsoever.

Yeah I've been following on Hockeyfights. Really Abdelkader should have one more fighting major for fighting Mciver. Anyways yeah you just decided for me ill be watching.

I hope the wings sign Colby Armstrong. He seems to be the type of guy that Babs would like since he's good for 20 goals and is feisty. I could see Bert not getting resigned in favour of Armstrong. Armstrong Abs and Helm would be a really fun line to watch. Doubt it'll happen but I would be pumped if it did.

Whats the scoop UK? Do these guys usually have rough games or what?

There is no way williams plays for this team. If it comes down to Williams or Bert, Bert is playing for us 10 times outta 10.

Nice this will be nice to get a measure of how Landon can play against the big boys. I've got him pegged as top 2 liner hopefully in the NHL and he's pretty much guaranteed to make the NHL with his speed and checking ability. I don't care if ppl say he thinks too highly of himself, he's in junior he'll grow up and realize he isn't the best thing around once he goes pro.