kipwinger

You asked what GM would sign an old goalie that hadn't played in a year and I said "Steve Yzerman". It was my way of joking around about Yzerman signing a 40 year old Dwayne Roloson after he hadn't played much the year before. I realize that the two scenarios aren't exactly alike, but it was meant to be a joke none the less.

You're only making that totally reasonable statement because you don't like Thomas' politics. Admit it. Question: I wonder how many times over the last couple of years Brad Stuart felt worn out and wanted to spend more time with his family? I can only speculate how often he felt that way. But I can give the number of times he sat out on the final year of his contract because of it. Zero.

is it a coincidence that after he did that first, really douchey thing, he's done several others, and based on the totality of those things people have started giving him justifiable criticism? I think not Kip edit: It's hard to imagine why anybody would criticize a guy for skipping a team function because of a polarizing political view, the results of which drew undue negative media attention to the rest of the players and team officials. And then, instead of explaining himself and asking the media to back off the rest of the team, he walked out of several Q & A session and press conferences without making a statement, only to turn around and make MORE polarizing political statements on facebook. And then finally, to hint that he may or may not finish out the final year of a 5 million dollar contract with the team which considers him an integral part of their success. Most importantly, to do all of this within the same year. I'd hate to see what would happen if Kronwall, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or heaven forbid Franzen did all of those same things. People around here would be calling for heads. It's not about his politics, it's about his "me first" attitude.

Naw, that's what management says when they've heard the players terms and are trying to figure out how to counter with terms of their own. If they were close to signing a deal they'd say so. It's in their best interest for everyone to think that a deal is close to completion, if indeed it is.

Because Tim Thomas Inc. reserves the right to consider any contract signed by Tim Thomas Inc. null and void. Additionally, Tim Thomas Inc. never claimed to have strong bonds of affection for the city of Boston, teammates, or the employers for which Tim Thomas Inc. temporarily associated itself. Team play, hard work, and sacrifice have always been considered of secondary importance to Tim Thomas Inc. whose only true goal has been the promotion of Tim Thomas Inc. from relative obscurity to a household brand much the same as Coca Cola Inc. Further clarification concerning the decisions of Tim Thomas Inc. will be delivered via internal memo to the employees of Tim Thomas Inc., however the content of said memo should not be released to the public for any reason whatsoever. Tim Thomas Inc. and its licensed publicist will release a statement to the public tomorrow via facebook to help clarify some common misconceptions about the intent of Tim Thomas Inc. Further information can be obtained by visiting the website www.GIANTDOUCHEBAG.timthomas.org.

perhaps because people have been speculating that this might happen for weeks and have talked about it in ten other threads, most of which still exist. So rather than create another thread which does the exact same thing as the one you created last week you could just go to the one you created last week and say "this just in, Lidstrom retires, now we can get Suter, Parise, AND Matt Carle (or whoever you want)", and then continue with the discussion which was relevant in the first place. If Stuart decides to officially go someplace else and says so in the Free Press are you going to start another thread called Post-Stuart CapGeek Thread, or would this one suffice?

Steve Yzerman?

Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves here boys? I don't mind the Wings floating an offer to the kid, but most of us have never seen him play a game in our lives. Additionally, the kid has never played a game in our system. Additionally, we've already got one rookie that's going to be seeing regular minutes next season. Offer him a contract and see what he can do in camp and in GR, but don't go promising him your sisters and daughters quite yet.

media queen Tim Thomas may sit out next season. Boo Hoo. Next.

You're right. However, after reading the forum rules I realized that the impetus is on the thread creator to not make repeat threads, not on the members (who joined the board looking for discussion) to ignore the repeats. If enforcement was better in the first instance, then there would be less for people like me to gripe about in the second. Also: C'mon, you can't seriously tell me that you don't get tired of saying the same things in roughly five different threads. I mean, what you want the team to look like next year is in your sig and has been forever for Christ's sake. So there can't really be too much more to say about it can there?

size matter just as much as most other hockey attributes, and less than a couple others. Drafting or trading/signing based on size alone would be dumb. Doing the same thing on skill alone would be less dumb, but still dumb. Like all other things in life, there really isn't an exact equation.

or perhaps haiku: Lidstrom is gone now add Martin to new line thread lather. rinse. repeat.

As I'm growing tired of typing the same things everyday about the same topic (off season acquisitions) I think I'm going to start answering in keywords in order to save time. Cap, Money, 70 million?, Parise, tougher, grittier, Suter, free agent, Red Wings, Holland, core, older, retirement, Cup, soft, Euros, lazy, competitive, franchise, sniper.

agreed, if Nick is back there's is no ******* chance that pass gets through. None.

Having Nick Lidstrom as the captain of your hockey team is like walking into a rough bar with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

I was just trying to explain to my girlfriend why this is such a big deal to me and it was surprisingly hard to do. In the end, I tried to explain it thus: You know that feeling you get when there's something really super duper important to do and for whatever reason you're not the one responsible for it. Like you've got a big work project, or your car needs fixed, OR YOU DESPERATELY NEED SOMEONE TO STOP A 2 ON 1, etc. And then you get that warm feeling when you know that the person who really is responsible for it is ultra talented, dedicated, and trust worthy? Having Nick Lidstrom responsible for my favorite thing, gave me that warm feeling for 20 ******* years.

I thought the same thing when I heard that.

I really wish Kenny or Mr. I would have immediately announced the retirement of his jersey. My only gripe about this presser.

Yeah because obviously you know more than Nick about who's a leader in the locker room. If he mentioned Filppula, there's a reason for that. Don't be petty.

well considering the fourth line last year was Homer, Emmerton, Mursak, and the fourth line this year will be some combination of Helm, Miller, Eaves, Abby, Cleary, and Bert...I'd say we've automatically improved without making a single move. sidenote: I like Nystrom too. Real good hockey player with some grit and a pretty good shot.

The only person I want to see from that original list is Bryan Allen as a replacement for Stuart.

Maybe not. If LA just pounds the living s*** out of them, like they've done everyone else then perhaps the frustration will be worse actually. If the series is really close though, I'd have to agree with you.

Lidstrom had 12 fewer points in 9 fewer games and a better plus/minus than Ryan Suter, whom everyone seems to think deserves 7+ million dollars this year. If Suter is worth that then no way in hell is Lidstrom only worth 3-5 million.

Probably because if the thread contained 75 "none" answers it would be boring and there would be nothing to talk about...which is sort of the whole point of a discussion forum. But yes, you're technically right, none of our prospects are likely to be the next Steven Stamkos. Ho hum.

Wasn't the "Diamond Dozen" a short lived supergroup formed by David Bowie in the late seventies? I bet Snoop would know. It's his world after all.