kipwinger

Stats don't lie, goals per game was roughly the same or lower during Fedorov's prime years as they are now. Plus, Fedorov had ten 30+ goal seasons, two 100 pt. seasons, a Hart Trophy, and three Stanley Cups. He also won the Selke twice, and actually played defense for every team he was on. So it's not like the guy was Ovechkin during his career. I know none of that is as legitimate as an EA sports poll or an urban dictionary entry, but it's pretty impressive none the less. Which reminds me, did I ever tell you guys about how my students once voted "The Fast and the Furious" as the greatest movie EVER made? Anyway, to sum all this up: something, something...appeal to probability...something something...psychologist's fallacy...something, something...you can't see the forest for the trees.

Like I said, that part of it is a reasonably valid point.

You've got a fairly credible point with the goalie pads thing. However, Fedorov played just as defensively responsible as Datsyuk does, so your argument's logic holds true for him as well. Also, Fedorov played eight seasons with the Wings before winning a cup, it's not like he walked on to a Stanley cup contender and reaped the benefits (and the cups) that Mike Illitch paid for. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure Datsyuk joined a team full of Hall of Famers and reaped the benefits (and the cup) that Mike Illitch paid for did he not? Again, I love the guy, he's wicked good, but he's not better than Fedorov.

We must be thinking about two different Sergei Fedorovs because the one I'm thinking of had ten 30+ goal seasons, two 100+ point seasons, a Hart Trophy, and three Stanley Cups. Datsyuk is slicker, not better.

Our defense isn't as bad as people think. Kronwall-White is better than last year's Lidstrom-White. Ericsson took a big step forward last year and will be as good as Stuart was last year. Quincey will be better than last year, and a fifth, sixth, and seventh combination of Smith, Kindl, and (potentially) Colaiacovo is better than the Ericsson, Kindl, Commodore we started with last season. Granted our defense wasn't that awesome last season, it was still pretty good, and I think we've got as good or better this year. Controversial? Maybe. But I think it's going to surprise a lot of people.

Lidstrom is the best defenseman I've ever seen...by a country mile. Datsyuk isn't the best forward all around, but he is bar none the best stickhandler I've ever seen. All things considered I'd say that Sergei was the best all around forward I've ever seen, as I didn't really get a chance to see Stevie in his prime.

I think my biggest concern with the forward core is the lack of size up front, I really worry that we'll be held to the perimeter against good defenses. We obviously have some pretty good skill up there though so I'm sure we'll see some highlights throughout the season. I'm REALLY interested to see this Brunner kid though. If his shot is half as good as people say it is we might see a pretty dynamic top six this season.

I'd rank it right where it belongs...ahead of Minnesota's.

I agree that more could have been done to smooth the transition, but probably not too much this offseason. I would have liked to have seen Holland sign Bryan Allen, but short of that, most of the defensemen this offseason went way too high. The last two years were where the work probably ought to have been done.

I bet he has the same season he has every year, 25-29 goals, another 20-25 assists. Good, better than most on our team, but certainly not great. With regards to trading him: it would be stupid. As it stands we only have about 4 proven top six forwards, and then rest are old or unproven. We can't afford to lose another one without a top fligh winger coming back in the trade. And since nobody is going to trade a 25-30 goal scorer for Franzen (who is the same thing, only much older) I'm guessing he isn't going anywhere. And thank god for that, I'd like to see the Wings actually put one in the net from time to time rather than passing, and passing, and passing, and passing, and passing, and passing, and passing...

Our dumb move was giving Sammy a No Trade Clause. Other than that, I'm not too upset about the signings, or lack thereof, given how things have played out. ...maybe, I'd have liked to have seen if Semin would have signed a one year deal here for less than what he did in Carolina. Oh well, the NTC with Sammy was dumber.

google first row sports, vip box, and slip stream. I use all three.

let me ask you this, even if the price was nothing, would you be willing to spend half of our available cap space on Bouwmeester? And we'll say he puts up forty two points, which was close to his average in FL I think, and plays his typical 82 games and -5 rating?

I have to disagree with you there buddy, I'm not willing to take on that cap hit for JBO no matter what. There are guys with big salaries worth taking a chance on (Semin) and guys were you know exactly what you're going to get. Even if Bouwmeester turned into the same guy he was in Florida (doubtful) he still isn't worth that money. Peole thought Wiz and Erhoff's contracts were bad, but at least they've each scored 50 pts. in their careers, something JBO can't say. For his production to salary ratio you might as well just burn about two million dollars because you're certainly not going to get any use out of it if you're spending on that bum. Note: Last season 44 defensemen scored more points than JBO, of those 43 had a better plus minus (only Mark Streit's was worse). Furthermore, only Brian Campbell, Chara, and Drew Doughty had a higher cap hit. That means 41 defensemen in the league scored more, cost less, and played better defense than JBO. Why would anyone want this guy for this money? Or, another way to look at it is that you're getting (at best) the 44th best defenseman in the league and paying him as if he's top five in the league (top four actually). Really bad idea.

I can't find it anywhere else.

Depends on what the deal looks like, but I certainly wouldn't mind having him on a contract roughly the same as what White got paid last year. Though ideally I'd like a bigger, stronger, stay at home guy, I do know that Colaiacovo usually plays real tough against us, and when you hear a guy's name a bunch against the Wings its usually a pretty good sign that he can play the game.

Yeah, I misspoke on my earlier post. I don't want a third pair stay at home guy, but rather a top four. Again, this is why I was interested in that Ellerby rumor. I think we need a replacement for Stuart and our defense looks pretty good. A big, strong, defensive minded defenseman.

Obviously we all do, but adding another smallish puck moving defenseman, on a team full of smallish puck moving defensemen, doesn't really help our chances that much. Del Zotto is good, but not what we need. Let Kronwall take Lidstrom's spot, let White, Quincey, Smith (by committee) take Kronwall's spot, and go get someone to do Brad Stuart's dirty work. That's the best bet for our defense in my opinion. Plus, replacing a stay at home top six guy will be MUCH cheaper than chasing someone like Del Zotto.

Honestly, I don't see them trading for a high profile d-man at this point. I think they'll try to get a decent sized stay at home type to replace Stuart and go with that. That's why I was interested in this Ellerby rumor, it seems more likely then sending an offer sheet or trading away one of the relatively few trade assets (Flip, Franzen) that we've actually got.

haha, no thank you.

Articles I've read suggest that they've just got a lot of defensemen and may be willing to move him if the price is right. I don't think that they were actively shopping him.

Nothing important, just a little speculation for fun. Between Nyquist and Brunner who will have the better season and why? My take: Brunner is a supposed to be a shoot first guy who should, if he adjusts well to the NHL, have prime opportunities on a line with quality centers like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or maybe even Helm. Nyquist has the better all around game, but given that he needs to carry the puck to be really effective, I'm guessing he'll produce less than Brunner. On a top six with guys like Flip, D, and Z Nyquist is probably not going to be carrying the puck nearly as often as he'll need to in order to maximize the effectiveness of his skill set.

I think he was referring to Brunner's tendency to tip toe around in the middle of the ice while skating. Toe dragging and cutting back and what not. His skating ability is not to be questioned, but his decision making needs to change if he doesn't want to get killed in our league.

Based on this interview with Lucic it sounds like its not uncommon to have a fight after a legit goal, or a legit hit, or just because you feel like your guys are a little sluggish. Anyway, tons of reason to fight which don't involve retaliation for something dirty.

He'll definitely have to stop cutting into the middle of the ice like he seems to do, play a little more north-south hockey, but I don't really think he'll have too much trouble adapting. With his speed, skating ability, and wrister he'll have all the chances he wants, even without his nifty toe drags.