mmamolo

This is all completely true. From everything that was heard a few months ago there seemed to be interest on both sides (wings and Bertuzzi) of having Bertuzzi return. But I think if that were to happen it'd be as a third line role. Even though he had some good stretches he jsut cant produce enough to be a top six guy. So, you're right, the question is what gives? It becomes a series of questions: Miller vs. Maltby vs Ritola Hudler vs. FA Permanently keep Fil in the top six or is he still better suited as the third line centre? Do we elevate Helm into our third line centre and expose Draper as our fourth line centre? Or has Draper rejuvenated his career because he's been moved to the Wing? Does ABdelkader fit better as a 4th line winger? Do we break up our energy line? Or do we try and force Abs on our third and sacrifice some scoring out of that line? Personally in some ways it'd be interesting to see a line up like: Franzen - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Filppula - Zetterberg - Hudler/FA Bertuzzi - Abdelkader - Cleary Draper - Helm - Eaves Ritola Problem with that is we give up on Miller and personally I think he earned his right to be here. But then, even if he is here, how does he fit? Obviously through the course of a season injuries happen and he'd get time but do you trade and give up on Ritola to keep Miller? At least that way you get an asset in return. When Ritola was up he played decently so maybe that's the route to go. Get an asset in return and resign Miller hopefully for approx 600-750k. THen again, it all depends on how much he wants. Being as he has never been a full time NHLer I cant imagine he'd want that much money. All of this really only gets more confusing if Maltby insists on coming back because we all know Holland will honour that request and then we may have to say good-bye to Bertuzzi and Miller to hold onto Ritola and Maltby and in my opinion that would be a big mistake.

I'll get to work then. My first order of business is to contact Ken Holland for possible merchandise options with your intellectual property on it. Cha-Ching! Now those are some good points. And to think ESPN considers themselves a reputable and credible source for NHL news and information. You'd think they'd at least provide logical information. The fact ESPN thinks Detroit wouldnt outbid Chicago is ridiculous with the amount of salary Chicago has shed this summer. Now, that doesnt mean MZA won't end up with Chicago or Dallas but based on what's been said those don't sound like the logical choices. Hell, Atlanta makes more sense then Chicago and Dallas.

It was really a pathetic showing. Im not one for going out there and cheap shotting star players so Im not sayin gthe Bruins should have gone out there and taken liberties with Crosby or any other undeserving Penguin but they didn't even show up to play a hard fought game on the ice. It was really pathetic. Thornton's fight against Cooke was just your everyday, regualr NHL fight. He landed one good punch and that's it. I thought the Bruins really showed a lack of heart. It would have been a real rallying point if Chara had stepped up, grabbed Cooke in an UN-staged fight and just dummied that classly piece of trash and taught him a real lesson in humility. If the league won't police Cooke's actions then Chara should have taken it upon himself, as the Bruins captain, to exact retribution for his fallen teammate. Even if in Chara's absence the Bruins lost last night's game it would have create momentum for the team. They woudl have come together and rallied around what he did for them and for Savard. Their fans would have fallen in love with the guy all over again and they would have charged down the stretch drive of the season. Besides, it's not like the showed up to play last night anyways. Honestly, the Bruins showed zero heart last night and it wouldnt surprise me one bit if they jsut fell right out of the race now. If I were Savard why would you want to return to this line up? Yeah Thornton fought for you but that was such an uninspired tilt it was borderline ridiculous.

Ahhh royalties....well, I'd like to point out that with any type of royalty deal you'll need someone to look out for your best interests. A manager if you will. That's where I come in. For a small fee of ten percent of all rep points you acquire I will gladly negotiate all deals on your behalf. All MZA jokes, references, puns, and intellectual property owned by you will be looked after and protected by me and my conglomorate of associates who specialize in copyright laws in the fields of entertainment and intellectual property. Signed, mmamolo of mmamolo entertainment law and associates

For me, I dont see any way that Jersey lets Clarkson go anywhere. According to Capgeek.com they have just under $16M in cap space next season and their only impending RFAs are David Clarkson, Rod Pelley, and Mark Fraser. Their only impending UFAs are Ilya Kovalchuk, Rob Neidermayer, Dean McAmmond, Paul Martin, Mike Mottau, Martin Skoula, and Yann Danis. Even with ppl saying Kovalchuk wants like $10M or $11M a year it seems like they'd have a shot at working it out. But hey, that's just me. Maybe The Devils opt to sign Kovalchuck for $10M/yr and Martin for $5M/yr and somehow fill out their roster with scrubs leaving Clarkson on the outs. Strangely I doubt that happens but maybe. Either way, I doubt that happens. To me, hudler comes back. Kovalchuk doesnt end up with $10M anywhere because no one has that space and is willing to give that much to any one guy and Clarkson stays in Jersey. One day Semin ends up moving, most likely after next season because he'll want too much money and Washington will be handcuffed. Backstrom breaks 95 pts this season and re-signs for minimum $6.5M in Washington. Actually, someone should realyl start a thread to discuss Washington's cap and long term plans. Backstrom and Fleischmann are due for big raises this summer. Varlamov will be due for a big raise after next season as well and that's when Semin's contract expires. All the while Mike Green only has two years left after this year and is easily proving to be the most explosive offensive d-man in the league and will only be 27 when his deal expires. Sorry I got so side tracked....

The only advantage to signing Holmstrom to a 2 year deal would be if, for example, year 1 was at say your 1.75 and then year 2 was at say 1.25 for an average cap hit of 1.5. The two year signing gives us some marginal cap reduction. The only other logical reason the wings would sign Holmstrom to a two eyar deal would straight up be out of loyalty. The way Holmstrom plays he could sustain a career ending injury literally at any time. Because he is over 35 years old if he retires at any time during a contract his cap hit remains on our books for the duration of his contract so signing him to a two year deal is really risky from the Wings Management perspective. If you're going to give him a two year deal at 1.75 per year (flat cash, 1.75 year 1 and then 1.75 year 2) you may as well just flat out say let's just sign 1 year deals at the same amount of money each off season. With the long standing relationship and the loyalty between both parties everyone should be comfortable with this handshake agreement. Both sides get what they want and at this point I don't think Holmstromg concern is signing for that extra year just to handcuff the Wings to ensure he gets that extra 1.75M if he is forced to retire because of injury.

As hilarious as those are, and s*** they are hilarious, if the Wings sign him I really hope we don't end up hearing lame as posters start recycling yoru jokes. I'm going on record now as saying that I hope we only ever hear those jokes again under two conditions: 1. MZA actually ends up being a bust 2. you're the one making those posts

It was pretty surreal rehashing that old rivalry. I think what still bugs everyone and what Claude Lemieux still doesn't understand is that an apology does mean something after the fact. No one is saying you apologize for the hit or for playing hockey or for whatever happened on the ice. All you're offering is one of those simple, for the sake of it, apologies for the simple fact that someone got hurt and realistically no one should want to see anyone ever get hurt. It's like if you're at work or school or whatever and a friend of a friend of a friend's dog just died you say, 'I'm sorry to hear that'. It's obviously a different situation but the point is that the principle is that it's common courtesy. There are a simple set of rules that we as humans expect each other to follow in terms of how we treat each other. Whether the intent was there or not when something bad happens, like it did to Draper, you apologize whether you want to you or not. If you want to go the extra mile after that then that's up to you. But you sure as hell at least apologize. That's the absolute minimum.

Here is a pretty sweet link: http://tv.hockeyligan.se/main.aspx?contentid=40218621953 and for the record his stick is ridiculously long

This issue came up in an article during the Olympics. I'll try and find it. But from what I remember the way it's 'supposed' to be taught is your dominant hand is at the top of the stick. So since most ppl on the planet are right handed you get more left handed hockey players. However, most USA hockey programs teach it 'backwards' and thus more american players are righthanded hockey players.

That is a good point. ANother thing to remember is that we will also have a full time ABdelkader on our roster. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that although I enjoy seeing our players lay big hits on other teams I personally like seeing our players play tough. What I mean by that is guys who are hard nosed guys who will take hits to make plays, who will go into the dirty areas of the ice, and who are willing to pay the price to score goals and to win games. You may not see guys on our team (like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Cleary, Filppula etc) lay ppl out all too often but what you do see is them play with a willingness to do whatever it takes to make things happen and that is a massive reason we have been to the Conference Finals and further 3 straight years in a row. From the scouting reports on Zuccarello Aasen, posted in this thread (and that's all I have to go on at this point), it sounds as though he is determined and willing to do those things. Any comparisons, in this regard, to Leino are simply unjustified at this point in their careers/developments. It's true that Zuccarello Aasen won't be laying anyone out and striking fear in any other team but in the last 20 odd Stanley Cup winning teams the Ducks in 07 were the only ones that really, fully played that way (some of you may say Devils teams with Stevens on the point were similar but that's up for debate). In an ideal world we'd get to have our cake and to eat it too. In a couple years we'd have our skill guys in Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Hudler, Tatar, Zuccarello Aasen and then have our forwards rounded out with some bigger bodies like ABdelkader and some more additions to protect the skill.

They are both good players in their own right and in all fairness you can't compare them. Not to the same extent, but it's like saying who's better, Gretzky or Orr?

Plus, if anything hopefully the Wings themselves learnt something from the Leino experience. They should have learnt something about setting their expectations more appropriately, about integrating an unknown entity like European UFA into their line up, about getting him NHL experience before full time NHL duty, about attitudes and chemistry etc. For me, as big of a bust as Leino was on the ice if the Wings, from a managerial perspective, improved I think we're miles ahead of the rest of the NHL (albeit except maybe Dallas as they went through something somewhat similar with Brunstromm - although I think they were silly to through him into the NHL immediately).

If anything it should maybe serve as an eye opener to other european players that the transition between the european game and NA game isn't so easy and spending time in the AHL (maybe even more than they'd like) is necessary - or more beneficial in the long run than they realize. Both Leino and Brunstromm both looked like they could step right into the NHL when they were signed. Brunstromm even had a great first game and has since disappeared. Leino spent a year in the AHL and then busted a massive nut in his first full year in the NHL. Those two guys should serve as prime examples of how easily and quickly a fall from grace can be from being the most hotly pursued european free out there to being yet another NHL bust that can barely crack a line up. Maybe spending some time in the AHL isn't such a bad idea if it gives you a better shot of ensuring yoruself of a long term succesful NHL career. But then again, patience is a viture not everyone possesses.

It's really amazing at how, even now with how much the game has changed and focuses more on skill instead of size, that ppl still shy away from a guy because of his height. For god's sake if you can sign the guy without giving up any assets you friggin' do it

I completely agree with this statement. Plus, a big thing is Hudler's finishing ability. Goal scoring has been an issue this season and Hudlers 23 goals (and ability to stay healthy for that matter) would have helped. Simple as that. In my opinion he should be welcomed back at that cap hit in a heart beat.

Everything ppl are sayign in terms of adapting to the NHL and rink size etc. are true. So in those terms the risks are high that he wouldnt necessarily develop into what we, as fans, would hope. However, anytime you can acquire a player with this kind of potential without giving up any assets in return I think a team would be foolish not to pursue it. Obviously the Wings would want the kid to come over and play in GR and continue his development and learn the NA game and the Wings system. But the simple fact that if thigns don't work out all the Wings have to lose in this situation is a prospect roster spot and some small time cash I don't see a real down side what so ever.

Friday: Minnesota @ Columbus San Jose @ Calgary Detroit @ Edmonton NY Islanders @ Anaheim Saturday: Carolina @ Pittsburgh Ottawa @ Dallas Montreal @ Toronto St Louis @ New Jersey Philadelphia @ Atlanta Buffalo @ Florida Washington @ Tampa Bay Columbus @ Nashville Chicago @ Phoenix Detroit @ Vancouver NY Islanders @ Los Angeles Sunday: NY Rangers @ Boston Calgary @ Minnesota Buffalo @ Carolina Tampa Bay @ Florida Nashville @ St Louis Atlanta @ Philadelphia Phoenix @ Dallas San Jose @ Edmonton Colorado @ Anaheim

Glad my post wasn't under appreciated - you got it, one last pun for you big guy

I think somethign to keep in mind is that Zuccarello Aasen wouldnt step right into the line up. He would spend some time in GR. By the time he potentially played for the Wings Draper and Maltby would for sure be gone and Holmstrom could also potentially be gone. Even if Hudler were to come back by then Abdelkader would be in the line up and ideally we could add another big body up front to compliment the skill players. If we rounded out our skill with big bodies like Bertuzzi (even though he doesnt always use his size), Franzen, Abdelkader and an extra add on then suddenly our forwards don't seen terribly small. All I'm saying is that in my mind skill and hockey sense out weighs size in today's NHL. That being said I think you fill out your roster with energy and toughness around your skill.

The OctopusKid gets it. He hit the nail on the head

That's actually pretty funny. In all honesty, I wouldn't sell that line short - and yes, pun intended. Teams would undoubtedly underestimate that line - again, pun intended. They'd have a ton of skill and could fly under the radar - again, pun clearly intended. Who knows, could be fun to see one day.

You know it will happen just with the PP points he will get. The PP units will be something like: Franzen - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Filppula - Zetterberg - Hudler or Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Franzen - Filppula - Hudler That alone means he's getting quality time with quality players. He's got a deadly shot and next year with Kindl joining the big club we wont be having Williams on the point on the powerplay so whoever is on the point on the PP won't necessarily be quarterbacking as much in the traditional sense of the word which means on that second unit the two shooters (either Zetterberg and Hudler or Franzen and Hudler) will get more shooting opportunities. I strongly belive if he comes back next season he posts 60-65pts for sure.

It's true - all you really lose out on signings like these (if they don't work out) are the prospect roster spots and the money. Take a look at what Brian Burke has been doing signing kids out of College (and some other GMs of course). Burke signed Dustin Penner out of college and before his nasty contract with Edmonton he was a great piece fo the cup winning team in Anaheim. Also, look at Bozak in Toronto. This kid looks like he could definitely develop into a top six guy in this league and he came out of college too. Those are just the recent signees. Point is, these are low risk signings with high reward potential. If you can get a guy like Zuccarello Aasen then I say you grab him - plus, it'll most likely be on an entry level contract (I think).

As crazy as it sounds I could actually see Holmstrom playing for 3 more years just because of the heart and determination the guy has. Now, that being said, no way does he sign a 3 year contract. That's just bad business. Holland knows, and Holmstrom knows, the way to go is to sign one year deals here on out even if it means we don't get the benefit of any sort of a marginally reduced cap hit. As the years go by Holmstroms role would obviously decrease but the guy would still be able to serve a purpose. The guy still has unbelieveavle puck retrieval skills and can screen and deflect like no one else in the game. His powerplay ability is unmatched. So long as his body holds up he'll have a roster spot on this team. That factor alone is enough to support one year deals I would think.