SouthernWingsFan

NO! Relaxing is normal, I don't want to be normal! Seriously though, this time is definitely exciting, but it's absolutely nothing to get your hair in a rut over, especially when we know last year's version of the Wings exceeded expectations and almost went to the SCF. I don't see much of a drop-off with next year's roster even before free agency crazy signings settle down, so why get worked up? I barely miss any games and keep up with information on the Wings, but the playoffs is where it matters most, not the off-season.

We miss ya on the ice Yzerman, but we know you are doing bigger/better things now. May you continue to learn and strive in the high-end life of the sport and business! :beerbuddy:

I must stress again..... I don't care what the profession is, if you have an opportunity to go somewhere else or a different city to make more money or for a new challenge, you'd definitely at the very least consider it. I know we are fans of the Red Wings and our loyalty to them stretches far. PLAYERS ARE NOT FANS THOUGH. They aren't expected to be. Sometimes people want a change of scenery after playing somewhere for 4, 5 years. They want opportunities to challenge themselves, or to better their personal/financial situation or personal/financial situation for their families. Hell, people in run-of-the-mill jobs might want a change of scenery after 6-12 months. I seriously do not understand how people can get so upset that somebody might play for another team besides the Detroit Red Wings when you, I, or anybody else could switch a job in a matter of a year or two for more money. Loyalty is few and far between for a lot of people, whether it's in sports or the non-sports world anymore. It's very nice when you meet somebody who is loyal to his/her company, working for 5+ years or whatever else. But it's not the norm anymore in these times of work and career, and should be nothing to get seriously upset about, generally speaking.

It's not good, it's not bad, it's just the reality of having a career now. It doesn't matter if it is in sports or if it's your regular run-of-the mill blue-collar job. These guys are trying to make themselves happy doing the thing they love to do most for money, to support themselves, or their families. The team/crest on the front of the jersey isn't as important to a lot of guys, versus themselves or their kids or spouse. That's not necessarily a bad thing. People switch jobs/companies all the time outside of the sports world as well. This isn't like the mid-20th century where it's normal to stay with the same company for 15-20 years. If you stay at a current job for more than 3, 4 years, that's a long time these days. People are looking for the next great opportunity for themselves to improve their careers or make more money. And this might mean working in a different city, sports or other job. Times have changed.

St. Louis actually had around a .500 record last year, good for them given their recent seasons, and either tied/beat the Wings in their series last year. Nashville has lost some key guys obviously, but I don't think they'll drop off too far off the radar, could fight for a lower playoff seed. No world beaters in this division obviosuly, but it's not going to be as weak as you think.

I'd like to see the kiddies play a little bit more next season. With Hudler specifically, I don't think Babcock is out to get him really. Understand his brief stint where he didn't do much with the Wings in 2003 or 2004, he was only 19. So now he's just reaching his mid-20s. Still PLENTY OF TIME for him to establish himself. And I have little doubt Hudler has little trouble motivating himself, that's why Babcock continues to make him work, and work, and work. Hopefully he's proven to deserve some more ice time, and hopefully we'll see guys like Kopecky and Quincey get more PT, although we shouldn't expect them to get 2nd/1st line minutes night-in/night-out.

This Joe Schmoe person seems pretty cool, I want him on the Wings!

Whining about other whiners makes you a whiner. Me whining about you whining about other whiners makes me a whiner. Hence, we are all whiners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways, I don't get all that hyped over stuff like this during offseason, it's stupid. No point in getting heartburn until the actual season starts (mainly postseason ).

I'm panicking. I'm scared. /sarcasm

Whining about people whining makes you a whiner. Me whining about you whining about other people whining makes me a whiner. So we're all just one big happy family of whiners here!

Too early to accurately say this, but this past playoff series and Schneider's signning with the Ducks could be a start, but Schneider's getting into his latter years, I wouldn't expect him to play for the Ducks after 2, maybe 3 seasons, but that is just one stupid man's opinion. *shrugs*

That's not necessarily a bad thing given that the team came extremely close to advancing to the SCF.

Nah, my nephew's b'day party today, and I was having a bit too much fun in the foam pool.

Me and my nephew having fun in a giant pool of of foam.

It's bummish to an extent from reconstructive surgery, but it's not like it prevents me from doing normal/routine acitivites. I can jog and bike for long periods of time, but forget about sprinting. And after workouts it's not unusual for me to limp for a while. I might be able to play baseball/softball again provided I don't slide. I can't play basketball ever again like I did a good bit in college. If I played again and if I collided with somebody knee-to-knee, it's busted again and my ACL and MCL is probably torn again.

That's fine by me right now. While the team can definitely be improve by the signing of guy like Smyth or Kozlov or a couple of other big names out there (other members would know better than me), this team doesn't need a whole lot of retooling IMO. Worry about re-signing our own brass right now. Hopefully soon Holland can come to a mutual agreement with Hasek and Bertuzzi. I anticipiate trying to re-sign Schneider and/or Markov will take much more time. I don't think both of them can be back with the Wings, hopefully one though. That means there's a decent chance for Holland to re-sign 3 of the 4 more-known players from last season's roster. Not bad. If there's still enough cushion money to go after a guy like Smyth/Blake then, do it. Again though, this team was incredibly close to going to the SCF this past season. I don't think that hunger/determination is going to go away anytime soon, so not a whole lot needs to change.

Hell yeah! As for today, I did my part in being hip with the fit club. I ran on treadmill for an hour straight, no stopping, no cheating, no messing around. I ran 6.81 miles and killed 797 calories. A pace of about 8:55 a minute, which is good for me b/c I'm far from a runner/sprinter. Pretty much roughly every 10 minutes I'd flip b/w running at 6.5 MPH and 7.0 MPH. The last 2-3 minutes I surprisingly still had enough juice to crank it up b/w 8-9 MPH. This week I haven't been able to work out much as my work/personal schedule was extremely goofy, and I had issues with car repairs, and next week I'll be on vacation, so hopefully I'll still be able to keep up my exercising habits/pace before this week and possibly next.

What are you saying now?

No doubt about it. But Probert had a fairly signficiant impact by BOTH dropping the gloves when needed and chipping in with goals/assists every now and then. He wasn't one-dimensional who just played 2 out of 60 minuts agame. Well, what can you do? Sometimes the guys we don't like win it all. Happens in all sports. I'm not condoning what he did but all of our ranting and moaning about him winning the Cup still won't change anything.

When did this happen? You have a link/source? It's called being an agitator. It's annoying to play against. The reason he doesn't fight is because I think he suffered a major eye injury during his early playing days (read it from a fellow poster in here, not exactly sure of when), another bad hit in that eye, well you figure it out... Maltby is far from a joke. And what does this thread have to do with anyways?

Why not?

I want the players, I don't care if you are an enforcer or not, to stick up for each other. No, I don't want just an enforcer on the Wings that is just going to play 3-4 minutes a game and just drop the gloves once and only produce something on the statsheet once every 45 games. An enforcer cannot stop goofy plays from happening or big hits or goalies getting run into, he's not going to fully protect Datsyuk and Zetterberg and Lidstrom because he's not going to be out on the ice at key moments of the game. The Wings are fine in the toughness/physicality department as this playoff run showed. They could still use some more of the physical play, but they showed they can dish just as many hits out and they don't cower or anything like that.

Well, to let it all out, he's not my favorite player by any stretch of the imagination due to some recent incidents (that we have beaten to death in here and I don't want to debate), but the hatred of him in here by a lot of people is a bit over the top at times. Basically, I'm over the whole him getting suspended in the playoffs stuff and everything else. *shrugs*

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/6967938 Michigan State's 2007 preview from College Football News/Fox Sports.

If it was just between the two, while I wouldn't be totally against trying to bring Morozov on board, I'd prefer Kozlov. Sure, Kozlov was going on the downside a bit his last few years with the Red Wings, despite scoring 4 playoff goals in '01, and Holland would've been a fool not to trade him straight up for Hasek back then, but I think he's developed into a good leader in his time in Atlanta. Plus, he was called the "Quiet Assassin" for a reason in the 90s when the Wings made the playoffs. He quietly produced and scored goals when it mattered most then. And I'll admit it, part of the reason, but not all of it, is for nostalgia as well. The fan in me wouldn't mind seeing Kozlov back. You don't like it, too bad, get over it.