Shady Ultima

I actually put quite a bit of work into mine. Players who were great but here for only a short time were not included. 1. Lidstrom - How can you not put this man here? Unquestionably the best defense man of all time to play for the Wings, the best D man in the past decade, arguably the best D man of all time as well as arguably the best player of the decade on ANY team. His multitude of Norris trophy wins, his Conn Smythe, 2 Stanley cups, and probably even more hardware to come as well give him EASILY the number one spot. 2. Yzerman - Although Yzerman was past his prime, and only played for about half the decade, it's pretty hard not put the put the captain here. He was no longer the player he was a few years earlier, but his run in the 2002 playoffs on one leg was simply inspirational, putting him above many players who may have played better over the course of the decade T3. Datsyuk - Currently the fifth* longest player on our team (he joined Detroit in the 01-02 season) and one of our greats up front, there really isn't any way to not put him in the top 5 at LEAST. Considered one of the top 5 in the NHL, he absolutely has been everything we needed, especially after the loss of many of our previous greats. Seeing this guy play is amazing. He has led the team in points for the past three years, and has been one of our best defensive forwards at the same time. With several Lady Byng and Selke trophies, he has controlled the ice on both sides. T3. Zetterberg - Where Datsyuk has dominated the regular season, Zetterberg has been our best player in the playoffs for the past 2/3 seasons. He is currently the Detroit playoff points leader of all time, and he is tied with Franzen for most playoff goals of all time. His defensive play managed to shut down some of the greatest offensive players in the game, including Crosby two years in a row. Conn Smythe in 2008 and his first Stanley cup, he's a workhorse we can put a lot of faith on, and in years to come will be one of the blocks we build the next-generation team around. 5. Shannahan - I am sure that several people will debate this, or be confused. During the 6 years he was here with us he was the leader in points in the 2000-01 and 01-02 seasons and won the King Clancy Award in 2002-03. His glory years were behind him, but he was still a force to be reckoned with here. I was disappointed when he left after the lockout, but he was right, he couldn't hang onto the past here any longer. In 2002 he was one of the several players to win both a Stanley cup AND a gold medal in the same year, after being selected to play for the Canadian Olympic team. 6. Hasek - Many people forget just how good Hasek had been with us. Even if he was not the goalie he was on Buffalo, he still had the gas in the tank to take us to a Cup his first year here. After the retirement and comeback fiasco between him, Joseph and Legace, he was again a solid goalie in the 07 and 08 seasons, bringing us back to the WCF for the first time since he left, and sitting when we won a second cup. Interestingly enough, he was the FIRST European goaltender to lead a team to a Stanley cup. His 6 shutouts en route to our 2002 Cup victory is the current record for a Detroit goaltender. 7. Federov - One of the most talented players to ever wear the Winged Wheel for quite some time, this guy had it all. He led the team in 02-03 in points, and was sound defensively. While he only played for the first 3 years of the decade before chasing after some Russian skirt out in Anaheim, he was one of the main pieces of our 2002 cup win. Despite leaving after being swept by Anaheim, he passed on much of his play to Datsyuk, who has taken all of his lessons and clearly improved upon them. 8. Osgood - We've been blessed to have two of the best goalies of the era play for our team. Osgood is almost as good as Hasek, but almost all his stats are slightly lower. He has been fantastic since returning after the lockout, but he had lost his focus by the time we let him go to acquire Hasek before the 01-02 season. He is still vastly underrated among the league, and a part of that is that he has never been the best regular season goalie. His strength is absolutely playoffs, where he goes from Osgood to Osgod. 9. Draper - I believe Draper's acquisition from the Jets one of the greatest moves of all time. We got one of the best defensive forwards of all time for a single dollar! Draper is the 5th player to ever play 1,000 games as a Red Wing, and he consistently shows he can still play. The ultimate face-off man, he has been a player for every modern Stanley cup victory. After winning the Selke in 2004, he was selected for Canada's Olympic team in the 2006 Turin games. 10. Franzen - I had not originally planned to put Franzen in the top 10, in fact, I had chosen Chelios instead. But after looking at what he has done in the 4 seasons he has been here, this man has deserved top 10. He currently holds 4 Detroit records, as well as one NHL record(see below). It was Yzerman who gave Franzen his famous nickname, and it has stuck ever since. Detroit Red Wings record for most game winning goals in one month, March 2008 (6). Detroit Red Wings record for most goals in a single playoff series (9). Detroit Red Wings record for consecutive playoff games with a goal (5, shared with Howe and Lindsay). Detroit Red Wings record for most goals in a single playoff year (13 - tied with Zetterberg). NHL record for most goals in a 4 game playoff series (9). Special mentions: Hull - One of the best goal scorers in history, he was great when he was here, helping us to the 2002 Cup. Legace - The best backup goalie of all time perhaps, he saved us for quite a few seasons, taking the reins as starter away from Osgood, Hasek AND Joseph at some time. During the regular season, he was absolutely fantastic, but he never could hold up during the post season. Holmstrom - What can you say? For a guy who's a poor skater, not very big, and has no real hands, he's scored a hell of a lot of goals for us. Over the course of his career he has racked up 424 points (as of last season), with all the skills of a goaltender... Chelios - The oldest player in skates was long past his prime by the time he arrived in Detroit, but he was here for long enough to ALMOST earn a spot in the top 10, considering that in 01-02 he had the best Plus/Minus in the league, considering he was already getting old by hockey standards. His conditioning routine has kept him playing far longer than the average player, and despite the drop off due to his loss of speed, he deserves the respect he has gained.

One more goal and Bert is tied for our team lead...

So he's going to Chicago? They love to over pay...

It won't matter come playoff time. While I respect Joel Quenneville, and believe he is a good coach, he has never beaten Detroit in the playoffs. Not on any of his teams. You'd think he would have gone to the Eastern conference by now...

They have a real coach now, not a celebrity who has no coaching skill (obviously)

I noticed that as well. I thought we lost to Chicago?

He was such a great player when he was in the OHL.

I apologize for my earlier post, I am pretty sick, so my head's not quite right. I somehow managed to forget both Franzen and Stuart. Janik has just simply impressed me in each game he's played, and I believe he has earned a spot on the Wings, even when everyone comes back, certainly ahead of Lebda/Meech. I also did not know about Savard signing that multi-year deal, but I was meaning him or a player who plays like him. We probably will not be picking up any new players in the offseason, as we already have an overload of them that are running out of time in GR Franzen - Dats - Homer Bert - Z - Cleary Leino - Fil - Miller Draper - Helm - Eaves Lids - Raffi Kronwall - Stuart E - Janik (I don't know what happens to Kindl)

This must be a joke. The BEST playoff goalie of the past two years would be picked up on waivers within seconds. That's absolutely terrifying. If that happens, and they pick up some decent D... they'll dominate... I DO believe though that we will be making a trade for a goal scorer come February, but it won't be Kovy. I could see it being a much lower paid, unexpected talent, or someone who is under rated consistently and great defensively (Savard?) I believe the lines for next year will be Scorer - Dats - Homer Bert - Z - Cleary Leino - Fil - Miller Drapes - Helm - Eaves Lids - Raffi E - Kronwall Janik - Kindl Our top two lines have a play maker, a good to decent scorer and a grinder. Our bottom two lines have players who play with heart (maybe not Leino, but reunited with Fil, he'll be a lot better) and speed. Our D corps will have a good Defensive D man paired with an Offensive D man to offset them. Ericsson needs to learn from our top D men if he's to get better defensively, and so does Kindl. And to be honest, the player that has surprised me the most of all of these is Janik. He was signed as basically a mentor for our GR kids... but has turned out to be one of our more solid D men.

Leino is proof that not ALL rookies can come into the NHL and be magic. Especially for an undrafted player, it has to be even more difficult. By the way, look at Stamkos last year, he was terrible... this year? Fantastic. If he doesn't get better by his 3rd year... good riddance.

Honestly, with a fully healthy line up, they got shut out 2 games in a row, around the same time we got shut out by St. Louis. And not by great teams either. They're looking like we have from time to time, making crappy, backup goalies look like Vezina candidates.

There are a LOT of inconsistent starters in the NHL. Hell, LUONGO is SOOO inconsistent. One night he shuts out the Sharks, the next he gets pulled against Carolina (exaggeration, but point made), and he's not the only one. Kipper, Nabby, Giggy, Lundqvist, all of them are inconsistent. All of them have had years, Jimmy has had months... Give the kid a break. I actually think there is only one truly consistently GREAT goalie, and that's Brodeur.

A manure truck on fire? I think it looks awesome. Backstrom should have his next mask look like that.

And Howard has a GREAT chance of making the Olympics this year. First we have to trade him to Carolina, then he has to get 4 straight shut outs...

We're decimated and still winning. We're going to be so good come playoffs.

I belieave! Must keep Bert, Miller and Eaves. They're all proving their worth this game!

JustinTv isn't working?

As I've been saying, Miller, Eaves and Helm would make a wicked line, and be a rebirth of the classic grind line of Draper, Maltby and Mac. They're all fast, they come as a scoring threat, and they're all defensively sound.

Oh, that would be beautiful as well. Canes should return to Hartford. I love how resistant Bettman is to move Phoenix anywhere, but had NO problem moving teams from markets where they were successful in the past, like Hartford, Winnipeg and QC.

I think they should be a little smarter with what teams are chosen. Boston vs. Philly is a pathetic match. They could have only 1, but have a Canadian team. There hasn't BEEN a Canadian team in the WC yet... kinda dumb that Canada's game has been kept out. Montreal/Boston would have been amazing.

Isn't E only like 23? That's right in what you claim is prime (btw, Prime tends to end around 33 from what I've seen) and it's his rookie season.

That's what they said about the '03 Ducks. That went really well too didn't it?

I almost would agree, except that McCarty was a pretty decent player, who was on our PP, and score the Stanley Cup Winner. Pretty sure that's a big impact on the club's success.

I'll take your word on that, but is 300k/year not decent money over there?

I would wish for Pavel to play like Pavel. He's being outshined by Holmstrom out there. And for Todd to come back so we can get our defense better.