kipwinger

C'mon, we gave up next to nothing and got a regular second baseman who is miles and miles better than the Santiago, Rayburn, Worth trio at second. But I digress, we're supposed to be talking hockey here.

Last week The Hockey New's Lyle Richardson reported that Semin wanted two years and ten million dollars for his upcoming contract. I couldn't understand why nobody had jumped at that yet. He's now citing a report out of the Raleigh N.C. that suggests Semin is asking for 7 million dollars. He didn't report on the term. While I'm skeptical that sports writer out of N.C. knows anything about hockey, if this report is indeed true, then Alexander Semin can go f*** himself (as much as I'd love to see that shot on Datsyuk's wing). http://www.thehockey...d-in-Semin.html

Perhaps it should have been both, however, it's going to end up neither. Minus one or two minor changes, your 2012-2013 Red Wings look pretty much exactly like they do right now.

Who cares if another team in our division got weaker. How does that help us win a cup? As a matter of fact, it doesn't really help us with the division either considering the Blues are essentially the same team as last year and so are the Hawks. I don't understand why anyone thinks that Columbus getting worse (worse than dead last) is in any way beneficial for us.

I've gotta wonder whether this will give the Rangers a leg up in any possible Doan negotiations or take them out of the running, considering the Rangers are f****** stacked up front now.

Yeah for sure. I'm not mad. I was hoping for a defenseman with a Semin signing anyway, so my hopes are still alive. That or make a "hell of an offer" for Bobby and sign a journeyman on defense.

Bobby, on the other hand, is a possibility. If he moves somewhere other than here, I'll start getting irritated.

This is one that I'm not too angry about...considering I never ever thought we had a chance of landing him in the first place.

No thanks. Way too high a cap hit for what he brings. Talk about over paying.

I wonder if Howson finally got his asking price?

Here's the text from the ESPN rankings. Take it with a grain of salt, it's fairly obvious they've got their heads up their asses over at ESPN " 18. Detroit Red Wings (Previous Ranking: 6) With a win-now mentality, the Wings have spun off a few first-round picks lately to acquire roster players. Combine that with their strong finishes in the standings and they haven't had many huge scores from the draft lately. Potential? Yes. Sure hits? No. Now, following the graduation of Brendan Smith and Gustav Nyquist to the big club, they fall down our rankings a bit. However, by sticking to their philosophy of drafting high-skill players, they have a number of prospects with solid potential, just no imminent stars. Czech Forward Martin Frk (Halifax-QMJHL) was the most recent example, selected in the second round this year. He now joins a system with Tomas Jurco (Saint John-QMJHL), Calle Jarnkrok (SWE) and D-men Xavier Ouellet (Blainville-Boisbriand-QMJHL) and Ryan Sproul (Sault Ste. Marie-OHL). Goaltender Petr Mrazek (Ottawa-OHL) has really come into his own. Could there be a diamond in the rough among this group? Detroit has found them in the past. Sleeper Prospect: Mattias Backman, D, (SWE) (fifth round/2011) Some players are just smart enough to figure out a way to get to the NHL, and his character, to go along with his overall improvement in skating, gives him a real chance.

Oh boy, a guy that plays like Dallas Drake on a line with another guy (Tootoo) who's been compared to Dallas Drake. If only we could get a third guy to play with them, who is comparable to Dallas Drake, then we'd be a lock for the conference finals at least huh? God I love Dallas Drake, we were never the same before or after him.

Can't believe that Weber signed this. He really must only care about the pay day because locking yourself into a contract like this is a life sentence unless the team you sign with is really savvy. Neither the Preds nor the Flyers are really savvy.

Because if somebody did that to us with any of our good young talent we'd want their heads?

There's a lot of ways to make your team better without sending offer sheets to RFA's. I'm not impressed with Kenny's offseason, but I don't blame him for this.

God, I hope they match this and keep bidding it up. I want to see each team cripple themselves for a long long time. Also, Holmgren isn't making any friends with this move is he?

I understand the theory, but even his crash and bang style isn't all that impressive.

Hear that everybody, Carman thinks Fleischmann is better than Rick Nash! Yeah, that Rick Nash. Yes, first overall pick Rick Nash. Yes, olympic gold medalist Rick Nash. Yes, Rocket Richard Trophy winner Rick Nash. Didn't you hear, the guy's totally over rated now because he hasn't continued to be in the running for the Rocket Richard Trophy year after year in spite of his initial success, and in spite of the fact that he plays on one of the worst teams in the history of hockey. As a matter of fact, if Rick Nash was sooo good, then he'd single handedly carry that bunch of scrubs to the playoffs. Just like Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, and Ovechkin do. Those guys all obviously play with the same caliber of losers that Nash does.

That wasn't what I was saying at all.

Again, why is everybody so against Abby being the fourth line center, considering he's a much worse winger than Bert, Cleary, Sammy, Eaves, Miller, Nyquist, and maybe Brunner? Why do we need to shop for a fourth line center when we've got a better one than last year, and better wingers than Abby when he plays that position?

I must be a pessimist, but if those point totals (with that lineup) are even remotely accurate, I'll have to kiss someone's ass. God knows I hope for the best possible point production though.

I really don't see moving Franzen or Flip out for Nash, Ryan, or anybody else, until someone else is brought in. In my opinion the problem with our forward core is not that it's not skilled enough, but that it's not deep enough. Switching Nash for Flip or Franzen improves the skill level on that one wing, but doesn't improve our depth at all. We still wouldn't have 6 legitimate top six forwards...unless either Nyquist, Sammy, or Brunner produces WAY above what's expected of them.

Abby is a better NHL center than Sheahan or Andersson, and Miller and Eaves are better NHL wingers than Abby. Therefore, the line you mentioned, while ostensibly tough, is really less good than another you could put on the ice at any given time. Maybe put that line out when you're playing a bigger team or something.

I agree with you that it will be fun to see, but as it stands I'm not expecting a lot considering all those forwards can't play at the same time. And I've already mentioned what is reasonable to expect out of Red Wings' rookies. But like I said, it will definitely be interesting.

Well, if history is any indication or youngsters will probably respond like this: "Since the lockout, the average production by a Red Wings forward in his first two seasons has been four points in 21 games and 223 minutes of ice time. That list includes Filppula, Franzen, Hudler, Darren Helm, Ville Leino and 19 others. If you're looking for a best-case scenario, Franzen has turned in the best early production over that span with 12 goals and four assists in 80 games as a rookie in 2005-06". So here's hoping Brunner and Nyquist step WAY up. If not, then here's hoping that Smith, Sammy, and Tootoo were the pieces we needed to put a post season run together. Obviously, another acquisition or two changes that considerably.