SouthernWingsFan

Sharon Jones - You Better Think Twice

I don't see Malkin going anywhere anytime soon. He and Crosby are the future of the Penguins frachise as long as they keep producing, which should continue to happen. I honestly think Eklund does a lot of the following below when he makes his predictions and rumors. He's the dude on the right.

Right now I agree with Jwo. Nashville was slowly starting to turn into something I think, and I'm not ready to dismiss any kind of rivalry that might appear. Yeah, Nashville is fire-selling right now and they could get moved, but we still don't know if that move will happen, and we don't know what kind of season they will have yet if they can somehow overcome these big deals or not yet. Calgary and Anaheim have some chances to get into rivalry mode as well.

Do I wish that Hasek would sign for less than $2M or $2.5M, if that’s what it’s looking like? Without much question. Is there still risks with his famous groin issues, even though it wasn’t really a factor last season (and the few games he missed weren’t groin related) at his age? Of course, and that will always be in the back of my mind. Bertuzzi is just as much of an injury risk with his back though, and nobody is griping much that he might make around $2M, assuming he re-signs. Hasek was a steal of a deal last year staying healthy given all that he has accomplished in the past and what he was able to do the past 2 seasons, esp. last season barely missing any time. It will be the same thing with Bertuzzi being a steal if he is able to stay healthy more often than not and show some glimpses of playing up to his potential during his Vancouver days, assuming he signs with the Wings around the $2M amount like we are reading. I know the Red Wings are our team, we are all huge fans and such. And I know we’ve read current/past NHL players enjoy how much they play with the Wings. But this isn’t just a hobby to these guys though, like it is to us. They do this for a living, they do it to support themselves, they do it to support their families. Sometimes that means having to play for more money, and sometimes those situations are better suited for players outside of Detroit and the Red Wings organization. It’s not just about playing for the Red Wings to many of these guys, as much as we'd like it to jutst be about playing for the team/symbol on the front of your jersey. That’s neither bad nor good, sometimes guys just want to play elsewhere or for more money for their best opportunity to support themselves and their family, just like in any other job or career (even though not specifically in Hasek's case right now in terms of location). To think that him or Hasek isn't due or deserves somewhat of a pay raise, that’s just silly. I know I’m thankful for whatever and every pay raise or bonus I get at my job.

I'm not a pirate, but that doesn't stop me from posting in this thread a lot making an idiot of myself. Come to think of it, very little in life stops me from making an idiot of myself.

19 pages of pure crap now after your response.

Groovy on Hasek and Bertuzzi, seems fair for both of them, I highly doubt if they asked for anything less, that could have made Schneider maybe lower his demands or make it easier for him to say (I'm assuming he's signging somewhere else at this point). Can't fault Schneider, he's just trying to look for the best deal possible for himself given the scenarios and what's out there. If the Wings can re-sign him, great, but I think he just priced himself out of the Wings' options. Focus on trying to re-sign Markov then if that's the cse. Probably not going to find anybody significantly better than Osgood either, and at a discounted priced as well, as Osgood can probably still start for many teams in this league. Detroit's goaltending situation is golden right now this year. A starter who has pretty much done it all, from winning hardware as the best goaltender multiple times, winning a Cup, winning a gold medal, and still proving that he can play at a very high level, and be one of the better players at this high level, this late in his career. And they have a guy who's mentally tough as nails, has helped win a Cup for his team as well, and knows how to play in the big games. Both Hasek and Osgood are steals for the Wings in terms of salary. They both want to play in Detroit, and only in Detroit, and I think it's a good assumption to think that they could probably be making more money if they played on another team right now. The Red Wings could be in a lot, lot worse of a situation right now in the crease area.

No, he isn't screwing the team over. No, it isn't. Let's not get carried away here.

How does he want to "bleed the team dry"? By asking to make $1M a year, $1.5M a year, when he probably could realistically be making $3M - $4M a year? We should be thankful he's probably going to be playing for the Wings at a discount (again). Good grief, we're still going to be bringing up "the incident" again? It's done and over with. He made a mistake in the heat of the moment. He's said his apologies, I'm pretty sure he meant them, what else do you want the man to do? You can't hold it against him forever. Now let's drop "the incident" as it's not worth talking about anymore.

If you are talking about late-season and playoff Lilja, then yes, Markov is fairly easy to replace by a current Wing if Lilja doesn't go in the tank again. But if not him, then who would replace Markov's snarl, besides Lilja and Chelios? Surely not Quincey and Meech? Who is there to be had in free agency that fits Markov's mold? Why is Bertuzzi a jerk? That's pretty extreme I think. Maybe lower the standards a bit as well, I have no doubt that coming off an injured back is difficult. I blew my ACL/MCL out and had surgery a little over three years ago on it, and I am still afraid to run fast or sprint on it, and I'm definitely not a professional athlete. He's not to be given a free pass, but cut him some slack a little bit. Where else are the Wings going to currently find a caliber top-5 - top-7 goalie in the NHL today at the kind of salary Hasek is going to make this upcoming season, even with a raise? I understand Hasek isn't the goalie he once was in Buffalo, but he is still damned good at 40+ years old as these past two years in Ottawa and Detroit showed. And even with Hasek's "raise", he's going to be a steal in salary. Howard doesn't look to be ready yet. While the Wings could certainly do a lot, lot worse than starting Chris Osgood, I again ask who are they going to find that top caliber goalie like Hasek, and at such a low salary? The Wings are golden with their goalie situation right now, a starter who still knows how to win, and win often, and a veteran backup who can probably still start for a lot of teams in the league, and who has and can still win big games when needed. Agree, but I'm getting the vibe in here that it's an all-or-nothing off-season in terms of success or failure on whether Schneider gets signed or not. I'd love to see him back, but all is not lost if he's gone. Make no mistake, the Wings still aren't the most "physcial" team out there, but this playoff run showed they can dish out just as much, and will not quit and back away. They don't need much tweaking. Go to hell? That's kind of dramatic, don't you think? Chelios has already signed for a little above the minimum, and Hasek's not signing for the minimum, but I'd find it hard to believe that he would even come close to holding the Wings hostage with salary demands.

I want Todd Bertuzzi to be the first one since the guy pictured below, to take off his skate and stab somebody. Seriously, I have no idea how hard it is to recover from what kind of back injury he had, I wouldn't be surprised if he's still not 100% yet to the upcoming season, so I wouldn't expect him to produce as much as he did during his Vancouver years. If he comes back to the Wings, I don't expect him to be "the guy", just try to play 2nd line minutes, charge to the net as much as possible, stand up to everybody else, and try to show us some of what you did consistently in Vancouver.

No thanks to Carter. He plays more of a soft game and a questionable attitude, IMO. Friesen, I'm neutral on initially. I just don't know his game well enough to think if he would make a significant difference/not with the Wings to be worth signing. Nolan, I'd open up to if he wasn't counted on being one of the main guys given his age, etc. 2nd/3rd line minutes.

The only hockey I ever played was on a late summer vacation in Breckenridge just skating around on the ice warming up, along with another few times doing that at an ice rink where I went to college in Fort Worth, TX. I wish I would've made myself try to get some skating lessons when I was in college there to eventually start playing. I can skate without making an idiot of myself, but I can't really skate backwards or fancy or anything like that. I then blew my ACL and MCL out playing basketball not too long before I graduated a few years ago, and haven't even tried to ice skate or roller blade since then. Kinda afraid on what it might do to my knee now.

*Cough* 2005-06 Manny Legace (although I do like the guy) *Cough*

Unless there is a body double or evil twin of Brodeur or Luongo, then the goalie isn't a one-two punch. It's a one punch and that's it.

Cory Cross *shrugs*

Horrified? Don't be so dramatic. Dominik Hasek has proven at 40+ years old with Ottawa and Detroit that he is still an extremely capable starting goalie and is better than a lot of other options. Largely because the other goalie on the Wings is Hasek. If Hasek retired and Jimmy Howard were the other option, I'd start Osgood more often than not. No, that is just your strong opinion.

I certainly wouldn't be against this scenario, yes I think Lapointe is more physical than Samuelsson, but I don't think Samuelsson is afraid to throw the body when it is necessary, even though I don't think it's the main part of his game. In terms of scoring production, given where these two are at the current points in their careers, I don't think one for the other would make too significant of a difference. I think Samuelsson is a good 3rd line guy, maybe 2nd liner, for support. Don't expect him to be the leader in production, but he'll chip in his due every now and then.

How would the Wings get all those players and remain under the salary cap while keep most of their current core?

Yeah, those GAA's are really terrible there. *shrugs*

Maybe we need to keep or expectations in check sometimes then. It's called being a big fan of an athlete. Is it annoying sometimes, yes, but it's called defending your favorite athlete. Wandering from the crease is a part of his game, yes it's a pain sometimes, but he's not going to change his style anytime soon, not for me or anybody else, and especially not because you might want him to. His style is what won him 6 Vezinas, a Cup, and a gold medal. If being around the league leaders in GAA for a few years straight when you are over 40, and posting a GAA of what, around 1.6/1.7, is being a shell of your former self, I'd like to see what Mutant Ninja Hasek is capable of pulling off at this age. Hasek isn't the goalie he once was during the Buffalo years but he is far from a shell of his former self.

For who, who would bite on that trade? Bah, nevermind I'm too slow on the typing, just saw your response. And Bryzgalov (sp?) is not going to be a Wing anytime soon. It's all but settled that the Wings will be going with Hasek/Osgood, and the Wings could do a lot, lot worse than that.

Night in/night out? That's debatable. But if it's a 1, 2 game deal where Osgood might have to come in on emergency duty, I'd put Hasek/Osgood up against any NHL goalie tandem in a heartbeat, Osgood knows what it is like in big-time games, he's been on both the winning and losing end of them, much more experience than a rookie/2nd year goalie that's backup in the NHL in all likelihood.

Hasek was good/great a good bit in the playoffs. How is Raycroft better than Osgood? Is that fact or just strong opinion? Give us some insight on why.

Osgood played a major role in helping turn around the New York Islanders to get to the playoffs for the first time in a while when he was there for two years, and he helped the Blues maintain their consistency in making the playoffs before the Blues started to tank a few seasons ago. And he did it AS A STARTER. If Osgood wasn't fighting injury in the Edmonton series, we would've eventually seen him over Legace I think. Can Osgood "carry" a team as a starter in the NHL? I don't know, but "carry" in that sense is such a strong label, i.e. Hasek days when he was back in Buffalo when Buffalo didn't have much offense. Is he capable of sitill being a starter. Yes. I will never, ever understand the bad bias towards Osgood in here by many members. EDIT: spelling at end of post