kipwinger

Maybe they'll blame it on Mike Keenan, the Babcock of the KHL.

I stand corrected on the "uncoachable" comments. Dreger made them, and while they may or may not be true, I've relied on Dreger's analysis in the past and would be a hypocrite if I ran you down for doing it now. As far as Nyquist vs. Hall. Hall is, and will continue to be the better player. The fact that they momentarily have similar point totals doesn't really mean too much. I like Nyquist fine, and I see no reason to run him down, but he's simply not the better player.

That's the point, they could afford them (because the government was giving them money). Once the government could no longer subsidize the league, teams had to rely on their profit margins, and they couldn't. But it would be noted that the teams who signed NHL talent to big contracts are NOT the ones that are folding. CSKA Moscow (Radulov) and SKA St. Petersburg (Kovalchuk) are pretty healthy franchises. It's the small market, periphery, teams that can't pay the bills. And no matter what contracts they've got on the books, those teams were going to sink because they don't make enough money to cover costs.

I agree with a couple of your points. Largely that Mantha is untouchable, and the previously mentioned trade packages are overkill. But I disagree with a couple of things. 1) When has Hall every been considered "uncoachable" and who made the claim? I've never heard that. As far as I knew, he was the only one of their young kids who didn't have an attitude problem. I've heard that about Yakupov, RNH, and Eberle (to a lesser extent), but not Hall. 2) Just because other people were offering too much, doesn't mean that you aren't offering too little. Taylor Hall is a very good player. You'd certainly have to give up a bigger piece than Helm as the cornerstone of any deal. Probably Nyquist + Smith + middling prospect would get it done. Helm as a center piece in that trade would get you laughed off the phone.

Can't wait for the inevitable, self righteous, and long winded interview Mike Commodore gives on this latest development lol.

Pretty sure the collapsing Russian economy resulting from Putin's disasterous foreign policy blunders has more to do with it than their penchant to overpay. Particularly considering the league was subsidized by the government (currently dealing with sanctions and declining foreign investment). Or it was bad contracts. Either way.

In 2009-2010 Alexander Semin had 84 points. Prior to that, his previous efforts were all as good (or better) than Hall's. A number of other players have touched 80-90 pts once or twice and then completely fallen off. Actually, that happens more often than a guy consistently performing at an elite level for a whole career. Plus, having two 50 pt. guys (theoretically) is better than having one 100 pt. guy. It's a lot harder to shutdown two guys. I wouldn't trade Tatar+Mantha+Smith+1st for almost anybody in the league. The only exceptions are guys who will absolutely NEVER get traded.

Apparently the Wings are a garbage organization because they don't drop the gloves anytime someone on their team gets cross checked. Something which regularly happens about 50 times a game. I hope the Wings are ready because if some folks have their way, their knuckles are going to be powder by the end of the week.

Are you suggesting that we aren't a true contender because one time Henrik Zetterberg got cross checked? Lol.

Nobody would get that. Think of all the high profile players that get traded, and NONE of them went for a package of a teams best young scorer and two top prospects. None of Spezza, Kesler, Ryan, Seguin, Nash, Gaborik, Iginla, Carter, etc. etc. etc. moved for a package like that. None. So why would anybody think that's what it would take to get Hall? Because he's so much better? He isn't. Everybody always thinks that to get a good player the Wings would have to give the world. But the very fact that a guy is being traded means his value is diminished. The only guys that would require Nyquist, Mantha, Mrazek TOO START are truly elite guys (Toews, Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos). And those guys don't get traded.

I thought Riley's brother was a young, proven, stud?

Simple. To irritate people who REALLY like Smith. It's my way of having fun at your expense lol.

"What I don't like is Howie stood on his head and leaves the rink feeling like he didn't win," Babcock said. "They don't have a home run derby at the end of a tied ballgame. It doesn't make any sense." Boo hoo. Isn't this the same guy who always talks about not making excuses, and only worrying about things you can control? This whole organization is on a crusade against the shootout. And the funny part is, the more the GM and coach ***** about it and fight against it, the worse we do. If you guys recall, we used to be fairly decent in the shootout.

The Tyler Seguin trade is the closest possible comparable to a Hall trade (considering their ages, career stats, draft pedigree, etc.). Seguin, along with Peverly and Ryan Button were traded for Loui Eriksson, The Good Smith, Matt Fraser, and Joe Morrow. So Boston got a 20+ goal (70 pt.) winger, an up and coming roster player, a bottom sixer, and a pretty good prospect for a Seguin, a journeyman defenseman, and a third rate prospect. As such, I'd say if you wanted Hall you'd be looking at giving up Nyquist, Jurco/Sheahan, plus a middling prospect. They wouldn't need Pulkkinen too, and they wouldn't need a pick. If that's the asking price I say "no thanks". Hall is a REALLY good winger, but I wouldn't want to lose the center depth (Sheahan) since we're thin on the ground. I'd do that package for Seguin, but not Hall.

I'd seriously give Jurco and Weiss (when healthy) a try. Can't be worse right?

Yikes.

Zetterberg's got to be injured. He's never been a great skater, but he is slooooooooooooooooooooooow right now.

JIMMMAH!!!!!

Seriously. Bobrovsky. Traded. For picks. And replaced by Bryzgalov. Lol.

Nice backcheck by Tatar on that. At least he works hard after the giveaway.

Anybody remember that time Paul Holmgren traded Bobrovsky for a second and fourth round pick so that he could land Bryzgalov? Worst part? That's the third or fourth worst trade of Holmgren's tenure as GM.

Maybe so, but that hardly suggests a league wide conspiracy in favor of the Columbus Blue Jackets (lol). Also, considering we get more powerplays that we give, does every other team in the league have a solid argument for suggesting the league has a pro-Detroit bias? Of course not. That would be silly.

Lets just say there is a league wide bias to help those teams win, which is absurd, but lets just say there is. They still lose, a lot, all the time. If there's a league conspiracy to help those teams, it is literally the least effective conspiracy of ALL TIME. I cannot think of a plot which has achieved its goals less often than the one you're suggesting exists right now. We currently lead the league in powerplay opportunities. There, Is. No. Bias, Against, The. Red. Wings.

These pairs make the most sense to me on a given night. You could always flip flop Green with Smith (situationally) in order to protect Green's minutes if you needed to.

Oh, I get it. You like sports, and you like fighting, and you like entertainment. You like sports entertainment. Gotcha.