Hankanator

At that cap hit, I wouldn't mind a third goalie pushing Howard for the backup role. Give them Meech or Lebda.

Dipeitro wont play a game all season. They're going to give him the year off to try and get healthy. Its not like they'll be challenging for a playoff spot. They'll just put slick Rick on LTIR and that will cover the cost of both Roloson and Biron.

If Howard was going to be a "Good one" he would have been in the league already. The Wings are giving him the backup position out of loyalty and if he can't hack it he'll be replaced at the deadline. If he doesn't impress I honestly think they'll make a move for Giguere or Hiller next season. Theres no indication that Howard is the next Ryan Miller and hypothetically, if he is, he'll be a UFA before you know it.

Chelios has been the same player since 2006, it just took the fan base this long to realize it. He was exposed in the 2008 cup run against Dallas and was in the dog house all last season.

This isn't NHL09, players don't get worse just because they aged 365 days. Players get worse because of injury and letting their conditioning go, either from being comfortable with their bank roll or status on the team. Lidstrom could play to 50, he plays a game that allows him to do so. Datsyuk could probably pull it off to. If Chelios keeps up his conditioning and skating the only thing holding him back is injury. Generally the players who fade off in their late 30s let their conditioning slip and instead of fighting for a lesser role on a team, they retire instead.

Define "play". He played a role on this team for the last three years and was the same player for all three, hes been terrible since the lockout but he still plays a role. If he takes the league minimum, a lot of teams will pick him up. People acting like Chelios couldn't hack it as a 7th man, 40 games a season are delusional. And this is coming from someone who dislikes Chelios a lot.

Red Wing's fans have every right to be upset with Hossa. He choked on the biggest stage. People can say its a "team sport" but when you're highest paid player(tied) isn't producing and doesn't even step up his game in the absence if Datsyuk, the fan base has every right to be pissed. Him leaving was a blessing in disguise, this team would have been gutted in order to keep him around. Hudler would have been sent and offer sheet, Sammy, Conklin, Leino, gone. Kopecky would stay for obvious reasons. Hossa completely destroyed the chemistry of this team. He wasn't allowed to be criticized because he left so much money on the table to play here. If you commented on his lack of production in the playoffs, you would get a rebuttal of "He scored 40 goals in the regular season", like that is some special accomplishment playing with one of the best passers in the league. "Hes not scoring but he plays great defense!" No, he plays OK defense, in the neutral zone. Hes not even in the same realm as Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Richards, Kessler, Koivu, Pahlsson. Im glad the Wings didn't add another ridiculous deal. It wasn't necessary and everyone saying that Zetterberg, Franzen, or Hossa would be retired before age 40, how do you know? How do you know that they don't have the same passion for the game as Draper or Lidstrom? I mean it makes sense to lock them up long term and the contract is very trade able now but who would trade for a 40 year old Marian Hossa with a five million dollar cap hit? There are just some players in the league that should get deals like that and Hossa isn't one of them. Zetterberg and Franzen proved themselves and Datsyuk, at the time got a relatively long deal for a UFA. Locking up your "core players" is great in principle as long as it doesn't cost you your future and younger players. Adding Hossa for another decade would have done just that. If you're going to tie up that much cash into a player and sacrifice your young players, you're better off just sending an offer sheet to a Tavares or Hedman. In short, signing Hossa would have been crazy.

Any ideas? The jersey was bought before the lockout directly from Olympia Entertainment. I believe at the time it was $150. Im looking to move the jersey if anyone is interested. KOHO, Size XL, great condition(Its been bagged and hanging in my closet for its life) and has a COA from Hockeytown Authentics. You can email me at backindenim@yahoo.com if interested or send me a message on here. Thanks

If you ever wanted to sell and item or even prove that it was signed by the player its pretty hard to prove. With an item like this, you're getting a guarantee from the Red Wings themselves that Datsyuk signed his name. With enough practice you could pretty much fake any player's autograph.

I guess saying his "rights" was wrong, they would be trading Hudler. The return could be decent too, since the KHL refuses to sign him if hes signed to an NHL contract. Sign him for $3.5-$4 million, going over the cap at this point is fine and then trade him. He can't use the "Im going to Russia" card now.

Sign him to whatever he is offered. There is absolutely no reason the Wings should just let him "Walk away". They could still trade his rights and plenty of teams would be willing to sit out in a Russia two seasons. Trading him for a draft pick is better than nothing.

Would rather have Ziggy Palffy on this team.

Biggest reach in the world.. Why did Hudler leave? Because hes entering his prime, coming off a 60 point season playing third line minutes and was offered a five year deal worth fifteen million. Its an insult. Do I think Hudler is worth three million a season? No but chances are at least 15 teams in this league wouldn't mind paying him that price. Although, not many are that willing to give up a first rounder + to sign a guy. When theres guys like Zherdev, Versteeg and Kessel on the RFA, thats why Hudler didn't get any offers.

Hes still playing hockey.. but even if he didn't turn into a poor man's Kovalchuk he still had the tools and body to contribute at the NHL level. Being 6'1, 230lbs coming into training camp after the Wings, going against their own feelings, let him stay in Russia after the accident. They wanted to bring him over right after it happened, so he would get the best care and develope in Grand Rapids. Grigorenko wanted to stay home and the Wings gave him the benefit of the doubt. At the very least, he could have rewarded the Wing's trust with showing up in shape. If he were really dedicated, he would have played in the AHL.

I wanted NOTHING more than Grigorenko to come over after his accident and make an immediate impact with this club. What did he do instead? Showed up completely out of shape, he took off the entire summer from training. He also made it clear that if he didn't get a gauranteed roster spot, he wouldn't play in the AHL and would go back to Russia. You can't blame the accident on Grigorenko's failure at the NHL level. He has the physical tools necessary to be a bottom six guy in this league, he just doesn't want to work for it. And chances are, thats something that has always been in him.

The only problem with Zherdev is that hes already pulled the "Im going back to Russia card" on a couple occasions. The Wings seem to be avoiding all Russians at any cost after Datsyuk "held out" and Grigorenko pulled his antics.

I wasn't referring to that as the trade, just the amount of capsapce we would have to clear up in order to sign him.

Unless you can't score TWO GOALS to put a series away... Zherdev has ridiculous hands, goal scoring ability and he can pass the puck. He'd be the second best puck handler on the team right away. Remaining cap space + Lebda + Meech for Zherdev? Who wouldn't take that? If Zherdev went to any other team in the league besides Columbus he would have been a star by now.

Thanks for the reply guys. I wish I could frame it but since im unemployed im forced to sell it. I just sold an Yzerman jersey and I have another going up on ebay tonight. If an when I move the Datsyuk i'll no longer have any Wings jerseys