mmamolo

Here comes a barrage of pretzels...

Man, oh man. Drake, I expect so much more from you. It blows my mind the amount of incorrect spelling of player's names in this forum. You're better than that!

I definitely agree that Lidstrom doesnt seem like the kind of guy to stick around past his shelf life. But I don't think that's the question here. The real question is when does his shelf life expire? Because it sure as hell hasn't yet. Another question to think about is would Lidstrom be willing to walk away with plenty of shelf life remaining? He has a lot of gas left in the tank. He has consistently been excellent this season and shows no signs of slowing right now. If he returns next year it's soley based on his desire to play; not his capability to continue playing.

I wouldnt wish that on even the most ignorant Wings fan. No one deserves to be stuck with Lebda again. As much as I despise Leaf fans, to be honest, I felt bad for them when Burke signed him to that insane contract. Granted, my compassion only lasted a moment but still...

I voted yes but it'll be tough because there are so many teams they have to leap frog. This guy on UNSPORTSMANLIKE.CA gives out NHL picks every day and he has been saying New Jersey would make the playoffs going back like 5 weeks ago. He's been predicting them to win constantly. I don't know if any of you bet on NHL games but I've made a ton of money piggy backing his picks. He's gone on an insane streak over the last 6 or 7 weeks. But personally, I give hiim credit for the NJ prediction, not these bums on NHL.com In fact, I just looked it up: Since January 25 he is 50-22 for +2140 units. That's a .695 winning percentage man. Crazy stuff.

At the rate he is playing this year, and with the team the Wings will have next fall, I can't see him not returning. But ultimately the NHL season is a grind and we don't know how emotionally drained Lidstrom will feel at the end of this season. Personally, I don't think he is the type that would walk away from the game when he is still so dominant. Despite his calm and quiet demeanor he's such a competitor and I really do think he'll be back even if they win the cup. But that's just my opinion.

1. buy out works on remaining cap hit, not remaining salary 2. No one forces GMs so sign any player even if the player is holding out. GMs can walk away from any negotiation. Even if some player is being insanely stubborn and asking for 5 times what he is worth if he ends up getting it ultimately it's because a GM was dumb enough or desperate enough to overpay. Then because that GMs cap situation or team play doesnt suit having that player on the roster any more he's cast away to the AHL or some other league (Huet). It is absolutely, 100% the Owners and GMs fault for bloating salaries. Players may stir up bidding wars but if you're desperate enough to overpay it's your own fault. It's like if I had the last piece of gum on the planet and 100 people wanted it and I sold it to you for a million dollars, then you chewed it up, spat it out and now cried and complained about it. It's not my fault, you're the sucker. Only in this example you have zero recourse

First and foremost, Khan is an idiot. Secondly, The Wire is the greatest show ever made

Obviously everyone has heard the Liles rumors and lately Stastny rumors are popping up. My buddy works at TSN and gets insider info emails from McKenzie and Dreger and that was just circulated.

Not only that but despite the Wings having a terrible night he was the one guy battling the hardest out there. Even when playing with Miller and Abdelkader he was creating space and battling for the puck. Even ignoring the goal, any one posting in this thread that can't acknowledge what he did last night is blind. If you're going to say 'well, it's only one game', then you're just dumb because he plays that hard all the time. His value was on full display last night.

Johnson is definitely really good and no one can deny his offensive numbers. But Shattenkirk (albeit as a rookie so his sample size isnt as large) has put up 7 goals and 21 assists for 28 points through 49 games. He's also 22 years old. For me it's really all about Chris Stewart in this deal. He's a budding power forward whose only 23 years old and just scored 28 goals last year plus has 17 in 39 this season (and 34 total points). That swapping of draft picks are an added bonus as well. For me, as good as Johnson is (and he is really good) Shattenkirk looks like he's going to be a real player and Chris Stewart is looking like a power forward that you just never see anymore. Jay McClement was just a toss into this deal. He's not a bad player by any stretch but he's really nothing note worthy when compared to these three.

I think most should be a little surprised that there wasn't a team out there that wouldn't pick him up. With ~25% of the season remaining teams would only be on the hook for 500k cap hit and the dude has 15 goals which is pretty solid. There are a number of teams who are struggling to score goals (Rangers, Preds, Sabres etc.) that could have grabbed him. If it didn't work out they could have just sent him down to the AHL at which point he msot likely wouldnt report anyways and then the team could suspend him.

Dan Ellis to Ducks for Curtis McElhinney

It'd be asking a lot of anyone to keep up a pace like that until the end of the season. But with 22 regular season games left if he could get even say 14-16 pts that would end his season with 43-45 pts. All things considered that would really something he, and we, should be pumped about. It wouldn't be a massive drop off from his last NHL season and considering the start he had it'd be a massive turnaround to close out the year.

The Pens would have been better off trying to pick up Zherdev on waivers

I don't get it either. Personally I think they got hosed in the St. Louis trade...well, hosed is maybe a bit harsh but St. Louis definitely got the better of them in that deal. I definitely don't like the Elliott move either. Stastny should not be moved. This kid is the real deal. Yeah, apparently the Leafs are interested but I think they'd want to move some money off their back end if they were to take on Liles because they'd have too much cash committed back there. If they could move Komisarick then they'd be all over this. Plus, if Stastny is available the Leafs should be making a move. Everyone keeps talking about the Leafs being all over Brad Richards as a UFA this summer (or if he does in fact get moved at the deadline) but honestly, if I were the Leafs, I'd be more interested in a younger, cheaper Stastny.

Fourthperiod.com

I had a tough time choosing between Nash and Getzlaf but I ended up choosing Nash. Only reason is because I assumed we'd keep our current line up and if we were to have Getzlaf (a centre) it would force Datsyuk and Zetterberg together all the time, which I don't like. I like the ability to play them together some times and to split them up sometimes. If Getzlaf was here we'd have to keep them together to make use of Fil as our 3rd line centre beacuse he's so much more useful as a centre than a winger. I'd go with in 2011/12: Franzen - Zetterberg - Holmstrom/Cleary Nash - Datsyuk - Hudler Bertuzzi - Filppula - Cleary/Holmstrom Eaves - Helm - Abdelkader Then whatever they decide to do with everyone else

That's exactly the point, even right now when he's only scoring at the pace he is you're just flat out wrong. Trust me, no one is trying to convince you to like him. You, and any one else, can dislike whomever you want. No one will tell you any different. But when posters come on here and blindly ignore facts and start screaming their heads off about how he's lazy and he sucks it's ridiculous. You can hate him all you want but when you can't admit how well he's doing right now it just shows your ignorance.

Posters on this board are never happy. Take a look at Holmstrom's stat lines from the last 4 years (including this years). For what he has earned and the number of games he has played he has been well worth it. On top of that think of how much goals he has created and not been credited with a point (through screens, driving the net, puck retrieval etc.) 2007-2008 Red Wings GM 59 G 20 A 20 PTS 40 +/- 9 2008-2009 Red Wings GM 53 G 14 A 23 PTS 37 +/- 18 2009-2010 Red Wings GM 68 G 25 A 20 PTS 45 +/- 5 2010-2011 Red Wings GM 51 G 12 A 14 PTS 26 +/- -1 Now poster's want to complain that Zetterberg isn't potting as many goals as he should be. That is absurd. He is getting paid to create goals - whether he is the guy putting the puck in the net or assisting on them. That's on top of being a leader of this team and being one of the premier two way players in the league. He is on pace for: GM 82 G 24 A 65 PTS 89 +/- +10 Yeah, we'd all love if he scored more goals but 86 pts would be his second most productive season in his career. Not to mention that he put this team on his back while Datsyuk was injured. He is currently 5th in the NHL in scoring (pts) and 3rd in the NHL assists. He is one of the best leaders in the game and yet posters are 'irked' by him. Posters are still hating on Hudler despite his turn around from his terrible start to the regular season. He has now registered 22 pts (5 g, 17 a) in his last 25 games and during that stretch he is a +8. So many posters here attribute his success completely to Datsyuk's return which is completely unfair. Prior to Datsyuk's return Hudler had 12 pts (3 g, 9 a) in 17 games. Obviously Datsyuk deserves some credit has since his return Hudler has put up 10 pts (2g, 8 a) in 8 games and we should all be pumped about that but there are so few people on this site that give players credit where credit is due.

For the Modano/Flip/Homlstrom combination has any one heard for sure that Flip will centre that line? I read that Babcock will try the combination but I didnt see anything saying who'd centre. Personally I'd rather see Flip centre the line because he can distribute the puck and he's better defensively but at the same time he's got experience on the wing. Any one heard officially who plans to centre that line?

I remember reading Babcock saying he was going to try a ling of Filppula, Modano and Holmstrom. You'd figire Filppula would centre the line because he's more defensively responsible but at the same time he does have experience on the wing. Either way for some reason I actually think it could work and help ease Modano back in. Or maybe it's just because I want to see our other two lines stay together. None of these guys will be dealt with the only possible exception being Mike Smith but no one wants him at this point. I kinda feel bad for the guy as I think he deserves a shot but that's neither here nor there. The rest of those guys are not viable options for the Wings.

It's a joke that the Sens only got a 6th back for him. Don't ge me wrong, I don't think Ruutu is that good, but considering the return most players have yielded so far you know someone would have given more than a 6th. Sens should have just waived his ass

I live in Toronto and unfortunately see a lot of Leaf games. I absolutely love Nik Kulemin. I even really like Gustavsson (at times) but holy s***, what an over payment that would be. I do believe that both of those players have great potential (Kulemin more than Gustavsson) but it's jut way too pricey. Gustavsson has medical issues and has not shown he can be a consistent starter in this league. Even when he has played well his level of play hasn't been that great yet. Kulemin is showing he can score which is great. But Hudler showed he can score as well. Eaves brings a hell of a lot to a team and if got more ice time his numbers would be higher than they even are right now. Then on top of that you want to toss in a 1st and a 3rd or 4th. I just don't buy it.

Philips would be pretty sweet on our 3rd pair with either Ericsson or Salei. But we'd have to lose a roster player and it would cost some picks. Could be good though. I'm kind of torn to be honest as I'm not 100% sold it'd be worth it.