lookalive07

I feel like he and his family probably walked out to the parking lot, got in a spaceship and flew home to whatever hockey god planet he came from.

Now that he's retired I feel like his accent has already gotten more Swedish.

I bet if they named Hudler captain he would wear a cape to practice.

Think this'll make it into the next "Peggy" commercial?
Peggy, OK, I need bail money
What's your name?
Kane, Patrick
Zee hockey player?
(Screenplay says sound of cell door clanking in background)
Yeah
Tell me, how you fall off barstool from the left side?

There's no need to remind me of how pointless this is. Free agents are going to be signed. Trades are going to be made. New prospects are going to be drafted. Top prospects are going to bust (it'd be surprising if even half the prospects I'm listing ever become regulars). Sleeper prospects are going to emerge. Star players might decline (or get hurt). Role players might breakout. Etc...etc...etc.
I know it's pointless. I don't care that it's pointless. I still have fun thinking about stuff like this. There are others on the board that do as well. If you don't, fine. Let us have our fun.
FORWARDS:
V. Filppula(33)---P. Datsyuk(38)---J. Franzen(37)
G. Nyquist(27)---H. Zetterberg(36)---T. Jurco(24)
T. Tatar(26)---C. Jarnkrok(25)---T. Pulkkinen(25)
R. Sheahan(25)---D. Helm(30)---J. Abdelkader(30)
C. Emmerton(28)
J. Andersson(28)
T. Holmstrom(44), T. Bertuzzi(42), D. Cleary(38), J. Hudler(33), D. Miller(33), P. Eaves(33), J. Mursak(29)
...If all these supposed "high-end talent level" prospects we've got pan out, it's going to be hard to not roll three scoring lines in the near future. Holmstrom's no longer going to be around. Bertuzzi's no longer going to be around. I'd be surprised if Hudler was resigned this off-season. Cleary's not aging well, I'd be surprised if he was still around. Miller, Eaves and Mursak could all stick, but there will be no shortage of competition. It's scary seeing Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen at 38, 37 and 36 years of age. It's scary seeing all that talent on the same roster. It's scary seeing such a physically unintimidating team.
DEFENSEMEN:
N. Kronwall(36)---I. White(32)
B. Smith(28)---K. Quincey(31)
J. Kindl(30)---J. Ericsson(33)
X. Oullet(23)
N. Lidstrom(47), B. Stuart(37), R. Sproul(24)
...Lidstrom 'should' be gone (lol?). Stuart's gone. I think it'd be surprising if Holland let White walk (without a fight) next off-season, so I've got him listed. I think it'd be surprising if Holland let Quincey walk (after giving up a 1st) this off-season, so I've got him listed. I think it'd be surprising if Kindl was still on the team, but I've still got him listed due to the lack of prospects (it'll be interesting to see if sleepers emerge here?). In general, this is a group that could use some outside additions.
GOALIES:
J. Howard(33)
P. Mrazek(25)
T. Conklin(41), J. MacDonald(37), T. McCollum(27)
...Not much to talk about here. Conklin's gone. MacDonald's probably gone. McCollum has some serious ground to make up on Mrazek. Excited about possibly having two plus goalies on the same team though.
SIGNIFICANCE?
...Well, in the next five years:
-1) Proven, reliable, elite talent is going to need to either emerge from within or be acquired from outside. Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen being in their late 30's in five years scares the hell out of me.
-2) Some depth is probably going to need to be added to the blue line.
-3) The goalie situation looks great, as things currently stand.
-4) Size and strength (at all positions) is going to need to be acquired from outside, as none of it appears to be on the way.

f*** YOU AND YOUR 18000 SEAT PLANS. LETS MAKE THE GAME SO EXPENSIVE NO ONE CAN GO! BOOOOOOOO!
I AM ******* PISSED!

Will the building come with tsa????

Good post Richdg. I wouldn't worry about all the neggs you get on the comments. Since I've been here, I have noticed many a Wing fan either incapable or unwilling to face the fact that it will soon be time to rebuild and that we aren't a dynasty anymore. Sadly, even when you give them the facts and throw the numbers in their faces, you still wont get them to be realistic about it. Of course we all want to see Detroit be a dominant force in the league and compete for cups year after year. But when you look at the facts and look at the numbers, it's not there and it's easy to see the decline. Thanks for the reality check.

Made this handy little spread sheet. it covers the 5 of our top 6 forwards that are signed for next season. has the names, ages, and 3 stats for each year from 2008 through 2012. Those stats are: GP=games played, PTS=points, and shts=shoots on goal. Black numbers are no change or improved, red numbers are declines.
Name----Age--------------------2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
--------------------------------GP PTS shts GP PTS shts GP PTS shts GP PTS shts GP PTS shts
Zetterberg--32-------------75 92 358 77 73 309 74 70 309 80 80 306 82 69 267
Datsyk----34---------------- 82 97 264 81 97 248 80 70 203 56 59 137 70 67 164
Franzen----33---------------72 38 199 71 59 246 27 21 91 76 55 248 77 56 211
Burtuzzi----37---------------68 40 121 66 44 127 82 44 216 81 45 138 71 38 118
Cleary---34------------------63 42 177 74 40 163 64 34 140 68 46 192 75 33 199
Now for some follow up. Of the 15 numbers for each player, dat has 9 reds. meaning he is declinging just about every year, in just about every catagory. it would be worse but his numbers this year are improved over 2011 when he was hurt. But his 2012 numbers are worse than his 2010 numbers. Second in red numbers is Z. he has 7 out of 15 in red. Cleary has 6 out 15 in red. Burt also has 6 out of 15 in red. franzen has declined the fewest times. Only 5 red numbers. The number that stands out to me the most, is dat's decline in shots. In 2008 he took 264 shots. Then followed by 248, 203, 137, and finally 164 this past year. Granted he played 12 fewer games, but he had 103 fewer shots! That is a 38% drop!
None of us want to se a bad RW team. We all want to win Cups every year. But we also have to face facts. The fact is we need to find our next pair of great forwards that can lead us for the next 10 years. We started this run with Yzerman and federov, then continued it with dat and Z. No where in our organization do we have 2 guys that are potential 80 point per year guys. This is Holland's big challenge. Do we trade? Sign FA's? move up in the draft somewhere?
My personnel opinion is they need to be C's. A wing by himself can't do it. A good sniper-like parise is, can't score if no one can get him the puck. One last thing. Please understand the difference between good and great. dat and Z are still good players. They are not great players anymore. They will continue to work hard, provide leadership, and score 60 to 75 points for a few more years. But they are not guys that can carry a team anymore. help carry yes, but we have to find the next pair to do the heavy lifting.
Chart was fixed, loaded poorly.....

What's the point of that hit? Sweden's winning easily. Latvia has no chances to advance further. No necessity to swing momentum here. I just don't get it.

Too bad NHL 36 didn't follow him around for this.

The other part of this is of course when do our guys become FA's? Holmstrom, Hudler, Stuart and nicky this year, only 1 will return, maybe. Next year datsyk, Howard, Cleary, and Filppula are UFA's. Howard will double his salary or more. do we spend the big money on a then 35 year old datsyk? Cleary will be gone and Filppula could go either way. Point is as has been the case, change is coming not matter if we like it or not. the question is, how do we manage the change and remain a Cup contender? Do we resign datsyk to another 4 or 5 year deal and commit 30 million more to him, or move him now while he has value? same with Filppula?

When I read posts like this, I am glad Ken Holland is in charge.

But the problem is, all of our core are old. They are all expensive. How many will still be playing in 5 years? You can't add new expensive star players will keeping/paying the old ones. Look at the following:
Z is 32. his point totals the last 5 years are: 92, 73, 70, 80, and 69.
Dat: 34 years points: 97, 97, 70, 59, 67
Franzen is 33 5 year points: 38, 59, 21, 55, 56 why a guy that has never scored 60 points in a season is considered a premier play is beyond me. he was 69th in scoring this year.
Bertuzzi is 37. 5 year points: 40, 44, 44, 45, 38
Cleary is 34. 5 year totals: 42, 40, 34, 46, 33
Lidstrom is 42 (we share that....LOL) 5 year totals: 70, 59, 49, 62, 34.
Kronwall is 31. 5 year totals: 35, 51, 22, 37, 36.
Now here is the point. All fo these guys are on a negitive slope. yes some improved in 2011, but with the ages involved that is more likely a 1 time thing than a trend. This group is not going to get better. Only worse. All are signed except Nicky of course. In this day and age we can't just cut them either.
No I do not exect Z and Dat to get traded. To much attached to them. But if we where going to, now is the time. Wait much longer and they will not have much value. Looking ahead a couple of years, a team that is lead by a 38 year old and 36 year old, at C is not going to go well.

I don't know, this one is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45jXVKj_CM
"So stiffen up here! Everybody! Help one another! But I'll tell ya! If you're not gonna be stiff, you're not gonna play!"
"...sooo...you want us to give each other handjobs, coach?"

I don't know, this one is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45jXVKj_CM
"So stiffen up here! Everybody! Help one another! But I'll tell ya! If you're not gonna be stiff, you're not gonna play!"
"...sooo...you want us to give each other handjobs, coach?"

Since LGW is likely to be pretty slow until the end of June, I figured I'd throw together a little idea I had for what I thought our WC jerseys could look like.
A couple pieces of history here and there (inverted logo, Detroit Cougars "D" on the shoulder), as well as a little deeper red trim for a vintage-ish look.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I have the PSD file, so I can edit it as much as I want, so suggestions are welcome and I'd be willing to attempt any other mock-ups anyone might like to see (within my abilities).

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys.
Maybe if my future after my Master's in Physics doesn't work out, I can try to get a job working to fix some of the horrendous excuses for jerseys worn by international clubs?

How about this one then?

Since LGW is likely to be pretty slow until the end of June, I figured I'd throw together a little idea I had for what I thought our WC jerseys could look like.
A couple pieces of history here and there (inverted logo, Detroit Cougars "D" on the shoulder), as well as a little deeper red trim for a vintage-ish look.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I have the PSD file, so I can edit it as much as I want, so suggestions are welcome and I'd be willing to attempt any other mock-ups anyone might like to see (within my abilities).