HankthaTank

They have been around him eh? Well damn, I don't want him being any type of assistant after this award-winning reporting. Hell, trade him.

Correct also. As I said we are all lucky to witness these 2 players and the type of player Pav is just once in a liftetime type player. Again, Pav makes you do this while Hank just does the little things nowadays. Look for the Hank and Pav best 20 goals a member made way back. Hank's deteriorating back is pretty prevalent with how he used to be. Even still Hank does a lot of things most of the playoff only Wings fans wouldn't see. Both great players. Both great at both ends and both provide that extra element to the Wings that most teams don't have 1 led alone 2 players that can do what they do.

Yeah, according to mlive it looks like Drapes will sit out with Mule going back with Hank and Bert. Double post to the mlive article that germanwing posted. My bad Was nice to see Flipper and Hank together for a game though.

Train wreck of an organization.

In spirit of St. Patty's I have been partaking in some Harp. It is made by Guiness and quite good. Finishes real clean and one of my favorites.

Never been an enforcer or a goalie but damn it! I love to ***** about those things too

AMEN! He really does mesh with every single possible line. Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary engage!

Franzen-Datsyuk-Hudler Cleary-Zetterberg-Bertuzzi Hmmmmm? Interesting. Must really want to see if this can get Mule going again or something. I do like Clears and Hank together. Might allow the Todder to float a little more than usual though with 2 hard working guys on his line. I think HDC has to stay together but whatever works. WIN!

Joe Thornton: You are a douchenozzle That is all. EDIT: Had to add the nozzle for dramatic effect.

Yeah, I am not going to get in a flame war and attempt to say Hank is head and shoulders above but what was the point of the 'on the stat sheet' addition?? Hank has been one of the best playoff performers in the league in the last 5 years and well when does hockey matter most to this and any organization?? Sidestepping the playoff stats for any kind of gain in your argument is kind of funny imo. It is an unmistakably important aspect to this. Either way, I don't care, I love both players and both are a joy to watch. We are all lucky.

And that is where it all lies right there. Career defining moment for Jimmy Howard in this playoffs potentially. We shall see how this pressure is dealt with and I am hoping I am really really wrong about my condescending opinions I have had of him at certain points this year.

Correct. It is really not as cut and dry with Datsyuk being just amazingly better than Z. Pav is amazing and just does things that make you go but Hank has and continues to do things just not as "pretty" as maybe Pav can do.

As it has been said.... getting this deal in before the playoffs is all for the best. If he is brilliant it's another magical signing by Kenny and if he doesn't, it is still a minimal cap hit and with some retiring or being released by the Wings in the near future we could still have around 10 mill to work with and a probably cap increase. WIN-WIN.

I know what you thought I meant but... He did in fact take us as far as we went last year. Got burnt out come playoffs time.

See what kind of crap cap situation this puts them in for next year. Doesn't matter, it took an awful lot just for them to get him and he has been quite good so far but to be honest, what's to say he won't flame out and Jimmy will be just as brilliant in the coming months? Goalie is as unpredictable of a position in all of sports. You just never know what you are going to get.

Definitely. I love the breweries around here. Definitely an underrated part of Michigan. The craft selections and tastes are second to none.

These threads are nothing but 'Groundhog Day'. Same old same old. 55 minutes of that game was dominant. I do love a solid 60 minutes and hated the way it ended but ffs it doesn't change the W or something. Let's all take a deep breath fans.

Near future Assistant will be Pav obviously and Kronner. Not too many other candidates for it imo. Mule could be a fill-in but even then I'd say give it to Flip. This is actually a good discussion, real surprised at the backlash this received.

Niemi LATELY = Howie almost all of last year, stealing games. How quickly everyone just forgets. Right now Niemi is the better goalie but an awful lot of goalies have stood on their head this year with better defenses in front of them. If the question you are posing is who do I want in net for us AT THE PRICE we got him for? Jimmy Howard please.

$$$ job Matt. Loving the Howie background in lieu of the recent signing. Here is to a great March!!!!

Stan Bowman is proud.

Stop nailing the OP for the idea of the best 2-way forward in the entire world to be the Captain. All that said, we know that Hank is the next Captain of the best sports franchise in the universe. Someone go ahead and "attack" my username we all know the truth. No more telling of a picture than the one of Stevie, Kenny, and Hank in 1 picture. I think they already decided a few years back especially in the Cup run year of '08. But hey, I am a double threat guy with user name and avatar! OH NOOZZZZZZ

Yeah, wrong Swedish defenseman I digress. Get it done tonight boys!

With Rafalski and Kronner aging, bringing in a talented player such as Bogosian would limit their ice time considerably and be great to pass the torch on if you will, once Raf and sadly soon, Lids retires.

Back to my original point, Bogo would get like 23+ minutes a night probably if we had him. More use than Ericsson (not saying you said otherwise) by far so thanks for posting that.