amato

agree with everyone who is saying Z then Smith (assuming smith ends up being as great as we think he will).

"distruction, layoffs Empty arenas like the leafs in the playoffs" Haha silly video, thanks.

I think Howard will be considered elite and up for the Vezina at the end of the year. He finally has a solid back up and will shine through the regular season and carry the wings deep in the playoffs. Monster was by far our best signing this off season.

Yea, I played the demo quite a bit.. It definitely took some getting used to but i like it overall. Also, I was already good at poke checking in NHL games hah so that's great for me. Altho I will admit they did make poke checking work too easily. I'm just glad they made the goalies better so you actually have to aim your shots to score.. To me, that makes it more fun. Overall, I'd say at first it was disappointing and realistic skating was a challenge. but, once I got used to it, i enjoy the game and I'd say they did a good job.

Nice info graphic. Thanks for that. I'm probably about to pick up 13 later today.. Anyone on Xbox live, add me if you want.... Gamer tag: GetOnMyLevelll NHL is the game I play most, hands down. Just include "LGW" or something in your request

8 bathrooms?! Haha

saw this today.... Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Red Wings Patrick Eaves hasn’t played since suffering a concussion last November. His headaches are ‘fewer and further between’, but he still hasn’t been cleared by team doctors. Eaves said, “that the bad part is behind me now. This is part of the progress, skating with other guys and trying to get used to that. The speed is, obviously, not what it is at training camp. I’m just happy to be out there with the guys.” I'll be so stoked when this guy is back. I've always been a fan of helm and eaves. especially on the PK.

ahh gotcha. yea, that makes sense. also read that... "If he loses, he goes to the Islanders happy,"...."If he wins, he would go back to Anaheim." (per Sheehy to NY post) I know he's said before that he's not questioning the trade for personal reasons but more to follow the rules but if he would "go to the islanders happily" or just go back to anaheim... why would he question it? It's just kind of weird to me that he would make a big deal about it if he was supposedly happier going to where he'd be if he didn't question it at all. although I suppose this could just be his agent saying that so he doesn't bash his new team, that he'll likely end up on.. i don't know. just found that interesting.

"the motorcity monster" haha stoked to see this guy between the pipes in red and white!

I'm sure he'd help out in d town.. But I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the ducks made sure the trade was okay with the league before executing it.

Mule will only get traded if we manage to sign doan/someone offers us something we can't refuse. Both very unlikely.. I bet mule ends up having a great season here this year.

Just saw this on twitter.. NHL's proposed salery caps. @DarrenDreger: Proposed Salary Caps: all projected and fixed: 2012/13 - $58M 2013/14 -$60M. 2014/15-$62M. 2015/16-$64.2M. 2016/17 - $67.6M 2017/18 - $71.1M The salary cap dropping that much would be ridiculous.

Sorry if this was talked about elsewhere (please delete if it was) but I just found this interesting.... Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Red Wings Valtteri Filppula (28) had a breakthrough season last year. He had 66 points and was integral on both the power play and penalty kill. His age and talent make him a “prime-rate trade asset.” The Wings would have to consider that Pavel Datsyuk, who is 34, has only 2 years left on his deal and they don’t know if he’ll stay or head back to Russia. Filppula will cash in on his next contract, he’s in the last year of a 5 year, $15 million deal. Obviously, we all know filpula is big trade bait/up for a decent raise. Personally I hope we keep him, he's a great asset to this team.. But the part I found interesting was the idea that Datsyuk, with only two years left on his contract at age 34, would leave for Russia after those two years are up. I for one completely disagree with that notion and am pretty surprised st james would even mention it as a possibility. I see Datsyuk playing here til he's around 40.... Thoughts?

All he really needs to do is push Kindl to play at the next level. Give him a little competition for that 6th spot

Konstantinov.

Maybe they could do some sort of commissioner/vice-commissioner type of thing..? Have someone who knows the law/business/politics/whatever be commish then have a very knowledgable former player as vice-commish.. Idk, just an idea.

Unfortunately it's not the insiderr.. It's freep. http://www.freep.com/article/20120821/SPORTS05/308210093/Valtteri-Filppula-s-versatility-has-Red-Wings-wondering-Keep-him-or-trade-him- Last part of that article. And after thinkin about it, I could see him waiting until the years catch up with him then going to Russia for sure. But I just don't think they'll catch up to him in a matter of 2 years. It'll probly be more like 4 or 5 IMO.

Really? I never knew that.. I could see him playing for a year there once he's done here I guess but not so much at 36. I feel like he could continue to dominate in the NHL for years to come.. 36 just sounds too young for a guy of his caliber to leave the NHL. just my opinion though.. Edit: Forgot to click quote ha

I'd agree with the idea that nyq Is a better guess because we've seen him play. Brunner is a big question mark until we see how he adjusts. But I'd say it'll ultimately be which line each of them are on that determines who puts up more points.

Great deal for the flyers. He's only getting better.. 4 mill a season for wayne is gunna feel like a steal in a few years.

Maybe a healthy eaves? I like him on forward but I figure if he's one of our best PKers, he might be a decent shut down guy..

I've been calling kubina since the wings missed out on suter.. I think he'd be a decent fit for the bottom pairing. If we enter the season with something like this, I'd be fine with that.. Kronner-white Quincey-smith Ericsson-kubina Then, I see us waiting til the deadline to trade for a solid top 4 d man.

Get a twitter, quick!

They'd likely want too much but I would love to have kesler here.. He's the only player on the nucks I actually like. They'd probly want at least something like Filp along with helm/nyq/smith and a 1st.. Especially to go to another same conference contender. I could see us trying to sign him if he his UFA come 2016 tho..

I agree with a lot being said here. Smith for the calder, nyq and Brunner have a great season.. each getting 20+ goals and 40+ points. Pavel and hank have "bounce back" seasons. They weren't too bad but with more depth I think they step up big time. Nyq and Brunner are the biggest question marks there so we'll see but.. Most importantly, with finally having a good backup, I think jimmy has a career year and is up for the vezina.