Matt

Rudi is a GREAT pickup this late in the game. Fantastic, fantastic!

The last spot is still available!

I've started up the LetsGoWings.com Pucks & Pigskin Fantasy Football League again for this season on Yahoo! The invitations for last season's GMs have been sent -- if you're returning from last season and didn't get an e-mail (or it changed), please PM me here on the site and I'll get you set up. The draft (attendance is required) is set for Sunday, August 24th @ 3pm ET. It is a LIVE draft. I'm getting this notice up early to make sure everything is in order. League details: - 12-team H2H league - QB, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN Stat Categories: Passing Yards (25 yards per point) Passing Touchdowns (6) Interceptions (-2) Rushing Yards (10 yards per point) Rushing Touchdowns (6) Reception Yards (10 yards per point) Reception Touchdowns (6) Return Touchdowns (6) 2-Point Conversions (2) Fumbles Lost (-2) Offensive Fumble Return TD (6) Field Goals 0-19 Yards (3) Field Goals 20-29 Yards (3) Field Goals 30-39 Yards (3) Field Goals 40-49 Yards (3) Field Goals 50+ Yards (4) Point After Attempt Made (1) Sack (1) Interception (2) Fumble Recovery (2) Touchdown (6) Safety (2) Block Kick (2) Points Allowed 0 points (10) Points Allowed 1-6 points (7) Points Allowed 7-13 points (4) Points Allowed 14-20 points (1) Points Allowed 21-27 points (0) Points Allowed 28-34 points (-1) Points Allowed 35+ points (-4)

Still one spot left!

LetsGoWings.com will be hosting a free fantasy football league again this year, and you're invited! The live draft is this Sunday (8/24) at 3pm ET. The league is a 12-team H2H league, and there are currently six GM spots available. Further details here: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52630 Act fast!!

I've sent invites out to 3 people for the last spot. Hurry up and register that last spot!

I've sent out invitations to all three of you. Please double-check your spam folder so the invitation e-mail from Yahoo didn't get put there. (I sent invites to the e-mail addresses associated with your accounts here.) If all of the above accept their invites, I still have 1 spot left!

4 spots left! Hurry up and send me a PM with your e-mail address if you're interested!

While I don't discount the club's desire to get Drake a Cup, this situation is quite a bit different when you're classifying "motivation" to win a Stanley Cup. There were a lot of guys on the 2008 team that hadn't won a Cup yet, so they're motivated by their own means. How they play now that they have their own Cup ring is what I think he's getting at. Sources of motivation for players that have won it already. Guys like Lidstrom, Rafalski, Osgood, Draper, et al don't lack for motivation despite how many Cups they have won. I honestly don't think that finding "motivation" will be a problem for the likes of Zetterberg, Cleary, Franzen, Filppula, etc., however. The first couple of months (specifically November/December, after the "Hossa rush" wears off) will be key. I would expect these guys to ramp it up as February/March rolls around.

LetsGoWings.com will be hosting a free fantasy football league again this year, and you're invited! The live draft is this Sunday (8/24) at 3pm ET. The league is a 12-team H2H league, and there are currently six GM spots available. Further details here: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52630 Act fast!!

So what'd he do? Put a ring at the bottom of the Stanley Cup and have her take a drink out of it?

Mitchell.

Geez, after the Tigers came back last night and really showed some determination to win that game, it seemed like both clubs couldn't wait to give it away in the extra innings. Glad they came out of it, expecially after the B-12th they had. That Renteria trade has turned out to be brutal. I scream at the TV at every one of his at bats. He's worthless. ...And Farnsworth sounded like someone kicked his puppy when they interviewed him about the trade. He sounded thrilled...

The numbers there for the 2008-09 season are not completely accurate. Hossa's salary is off by $50,000 and to get an accurate stance on where the Wings stand NOW, with players that are required to be on the NHL roster (unless they're waived/traded/etc.) doesn't include Jonathan Ericsson against the cap. Not tooting my own horn here, but the Salary Chart here on the site (you can go directly to it by clicking on the link right here or by the "Salary Chart" menu item at the top of every page) gives you the most accurate assessment of the Wings' cap situation without speculating who will be on the final roster. Helm could be on it, Ericsson could be on it -- but we won't know that until October. Right now the Red Wings have $976,667 left under the $56.7-million upper ceiling, with 21 people set on the NHL roster. That leaves two spots open right now.

Good lord, guys, the wasn't enough to indicate that I wasn't serious and it was a joke? Would it take a disappearing pencil trick?

Like Game 5 of the 2007 WCF? (Couldn't resist.)

I'm not just saying "lets dump Lilja" for the sake of it -- I look at what he's likely to contribute, the minutes he'll play, cap cost, etc., and it makes the most sense to deal him at this point. Believe me, the Red Wings will "look at alternatives" -- that's what they do -- but I get the strong underlying feeling that they're going to camp to see how Lilja does with the kids and if he doesn't absolutely blow them away, he's gone. There's no point in trading him right now. Lilja's value will be at its highest near the end of the exhibition season when teams can assess what they have (or don't) or there's an injury to replace. Lilja's a package of NHL-size, veteran experience and solid shot-blocking and penalty killing, and for just $1.25M per season. He's a deal, and he'll be very easy to trade come October. I believe that was the case 100%. I think the Wings and Lilja had a deadline on what was happening with the Stuart negotiations. They passed it and had to get an insurance policy (Lilja) under contract. Apples and oranges at this point. Lilja has a half-decade of NHL experience under his belt, the kids either don't or had their contracts market-driven in relation to the time they signed them. ^ This. Prospective free agents should be more worried about what's gone on in Anaheim than Detroit shipping off a No. 6/7 defenseman.

He didn't name Lilja specifically, but in a radio interview recently he did mention that he had players that he could move to clear the blueline and he said they "make just over a million and below" (alluding to their attractiveness of affordability for an opposing team). Lilja's the only one that makes over $1-million that would be dealt.

I think you're blowing the whole scenario out of porportion. The Red Wings will do what is right from an organizational standpoint and from a player standpoint -- and that's dealing Lilja, IMO. If he was worried about getting dealt after he signed the contract he could've demanded a NTC, but he didn't. Situations change. Lineups change. Roles change. With Stuart locked up and the kids knocking on the door, Lilja's salary and role on the team makes him expendable. I'm sure he's starting to see the writing on the wall. Ultimately it'll come down to training camp and how the kids perform. If Lilja drastically out-plays them, then maybe one or two of the Meech/Quincey/Lebda triumverate gets traded. If he doesn't have that big of a gap -- which I'm expecting -- his role is reduced. He doesn't play, etc.. He does have his Stanley Cup ring, and he's got a few years left to play at least... Why spend the next two No. 7 or worse on a blueline as deep as this? Trading Lilja won't have any effect on the Red Wings' rep as a "classy" organization. It's a business. They're not trading him out of spite -- it's out of necessity and what would ultimately be best for both sides.

Thanks for the update, Tony!

Absolutely it is! FLWINGSFAN posted the relevant info for you -- Tony is the contact with the Panthers (and is "Panthers Rep" here on the forums).

Yeah, I remember that thread. Who was the genious that posted this? Sorry. I just wanted to pat myself on the back. /smug jackass off

If I remember correctly, doesn't failing to make the cap floor result in forfeiture of revenue sharing eligibility? Not sure how that'd apply to a larger overall market like LA (as opposed to Nashville not hitting the floor, for example) but I seem to recall that...

I don't. He put himself in this position by being wishy-washy as to whether or not he was even going to play this fall. Common sense dicates that most of the nice free-agency locales would be filled up a week into free agency. If he was *that* concerned with winning a Stanley Cup he would've realized that. The offers were there. He has no one to blame but himself if he's lamenting the lack of options right now.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the Salary Cap Chart & Contracts page here on LetsGoWings.com has been been given a facelift for the upcoming 2008-09 NHL season! There you'll see where the Red Wings' stand in relation to the salary cap now and throughout the season with regular updates that will track how much the Red Wings have in active working cap space as the season progresses. In addition to a cleaner, easier-to-read layout, the charts keep some of the same aspects that made it popular last year: the charts are completely sortable, be it by name, position, jersey number, cap number, daily hit, seasonal salary, etc. You can also view a quick contract information (such as date signed, bonus eligibility, etc.) by hovering your cursor over the player's name. Want to view their profile? Click on the name! Not yet featured on the page is the Active Salary Cap Summary, which will track how much the Red Wings have spent toward the cap as the season goes on, along with projections on how much space they'll have left at the trade deadline (based on the roster at the time of the update) and at the end of the regular season. Speaking of the Player Profiles mentioned above -- they're all completely updated for this season! New features this time around are individual Player News trackers, a Youtube Video feed to grab the latest videos related to a player, and sortable career regular season and playoff statistics! Profiles for some of the Red Wings' prospects currently under contract will be added shortly, so stay on the lookout for them -- and other updates coming to the site this summer!