kipwinger

when did this hit take place?

I was actually talking about that with a friend last night and we both thought the same thing. I'm not sure how that would play out, but it does seem plausible, and I must say that I want Lids to come back more then I want Homer to retire.

They aren't going to trade Cleary. The management loves him and he's the epitome of a team guy. No way management trades him because of one down year, largely the result of injury. I'd try to resign Hudler if I could get him at the same money or less, but barring injury he'd never play in the top six again. If not, oh well. I agree with you on the other points though.

Oh ok. For a second it sounded like he was being a huge dick or something. I agree with you though, I like him as well.

No, and no. ALL GM's have passed over players who have turned out to be really good in the NHL. Doesn't mean they are incompetent or should be fired. It means their job is really hard and nobody knows the future.

I didn't see the interview. What was said?

To tell the truth, yes, yes I would. Want to know why? Because at least the games we've played lately have actually happened. So I can say factual things about them and not have to speculate about who Kenny's going to sign, and for what money, and how they'd fit on the team. Which is all just made up gibberish, and it never pans out anyway. NOBODY on this board ever correctly guessed that the Wings would sign White, Commodore, or trade for Quincey. Not one person (including myself), for all the talking that took place. So all this speculation is just sort of like fantasy hockey...or masturbation.

Rumor has it that Mike Illitch is considering bringing in Stone Cold Steve Austin to give a motivational speech on how best to prepare this team for the rigors of a title run. I think we'll be just fine.

Of course they had SOME big boys, every team does. Our team does this year as well. Ladd and Buff are big, so are E, Franzen, Bert, Abby, Kindl, Stuart. Again, Boston and Anaheim were the only teams to win a cup since the lockout who would be considered "big" by NHL standards. The rest were average at most. And I'm not really trying to harp on you here, but anytime someone suggests that you need to be big to win the cup, I point out that Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Carolina did it without being big and they respond with "well all those teams were physical". That's not the same thing as big. Of course you can't win a grueling Stanley Cup playoff schedule without being physically tough, nobody would argue that, but I'll argue to the moon that you have to be big. Aside from a handful of players, four of the six winners since the lockout were not big.

He's got a LONG way to go, but I'm certainly impressed with his skill set and his poise. I think I'm most impressed with his skating.

Ugh...didn't the trade deadline just pass? Are we already going to start speculating on free agency now?

here's the last thing I"m going to say about the size thing. Since the lockout, Boston and Anaheim are the only big team that have won a cup. Neither us, Chicago, Pittsburgh, or Carolina were all that big. Big teams CAN win, obviously. And so CAN smaller teams. There's no recipe for building a cup winning team, and being big certainly isn't a prerequisite.

Oh, gotcha

Combined weight of current Wings roster excluding goalies, 4778 lbs. Combined weight of current Sharks roster excluding goalies, 4780 lbs.

Pretty sure it was Couture, Pavelski, and Setoguchi that killed the Wings in the playoffs the last two years. How big are they again?

Smith has 3 turnovers for goals in the last 5 games. During that time he has 2 assists. He is NOT playing better than either Ericsson or Kindl were. Maybe one day, but right now, he's a rookie and it shows.

Do these types of comments feel as silly coming out as they sound to those of us reading them. Holland doesn't know how to win? Babcock is a lap dog? Geesh...lighten up already, the team has a few little problems to fix in the off season when they don't have to over spend. All their other problems are injury related. Nuff said.

He's below Nyquist, Tatar, Andersson, Connor and probably Brunnstrom on the depth chart. It IS a stretch to think he'd ever be called up this season to play.

Well I don't really want to get carried away and suggest we remove half the team or anything, but I think a healthy Cleary and Adbelkader replacing Emmerton and Holmer on the fourth is a huge improvment, and Eaves or Nyquist on the other wing with Helm and Miller is an improvement. That's only replacing two, which is more manageable. I get as frustrated with inconsistent play as most people do, and would love to see the wings making a big splash in free agency, but being the minimalist I am, I'm just trying to think of way to improve the team with essentially our current roster. I agree with both statements. But I really don't see what either of those guys can do that Nyquist and Abdelkader couldn't do better, in the exact same positions. Basically I'd like to see this Bert-Dats-Franzen Flip-Z-Nyquist Miller-Helm-Eaves *Cleary-Abby-Mursak Connor *Depending on how the knee feels Cleary and Eaves are interchangeable. I for one think the knee will be fine, and next year Cleary bounces back 100% I think that's a huge improvement over the current team, and you don't have to go crazy in free agency to do it. Spend the money on Nick's replacement.

I honestly don't really have too much of a problem with Hudler, but I do think he's a fairly opportunistic scorer who gets a lot of goals based on Flip and Z's hard work. Given his speed and skill set, I don't see why Nyquist wouldn't be able to put up around 20 goals on a line with those two. But again, I don't hate Hudler or anything, he just is what he is.

Here's a hypothetical, just to see what you guys think. Imagine our team with Nyquist in for Hudler, and a bottom six of Miller-Helm-Eaves, and a healthy Cleary-Abdelkader-Mursak, with the same top line. How much better does that look than what we're fielding now? However, in the short term I think Nyquist should stay in for Cleary when Franzen is back, and have Abdelkader centering the fourth line when Helm is back...ugh.

Think winning might be easier if we didn't have to dig back from 2+ goals every night...christ!

I know they don't really have any options and so I can't blame them for doing it, but I for one don't like the idea of Nyquist and Datsyuk together. To me, their styles are too similar and they don't really compliment one another. Like I said, I know they don't have a choice, but I'm not expecting this pairing to mesh well.

Still think he's a top pair guy after his two boneheaded turnovers, in two games, leading to two goals? Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Helm, Abdelkader, and Smith are untouchable but not Filppula huh? I really hope that was an oversight.