kliq

That sucks! And a day after the trade deadline!

I don't think he sounds disappointed or anything, it sounds like he JUST found out. Plus, he doesnt want to sound happy about leaving Dallas. You dont want to piss off the fans of the old team.

You keep referencing his age, but I don't see how this is relevant considering he is about to be a UFA. How good is going to be next year or 2 years from now is meaningless. All that matters is how well will he perform in the next 3 months. His injury history is a bit concerning, but this was low risk so I don't see what the big deal is. You cant get something for nothing.

Agreed.....and don't forget, he didn't even play last year after like game 2.or 3 because of injury. He's our guy this year.

The guys now a days are just so much bigger and stronger, its scary what they are capable of. Here is a perfect example of how ugly it can get. If his helmet wasn't on and he hit head first, that could have been really really bad.

I think the key may be taking it out of the minor league/junior level. The reason why NHLers don't want it removed is because they grew up watching it, they grew up in it, but they have not felt the aftermath of it yet. If it was taken out at the minor league levels, when those players got to the NHL they wouldn't think anything of it. Its coming, it will probably take a death, or the NHL losing a giant lawsuit to do so though.

Did I say anything about turning hockey into soccer? Did I say anything about eliminating hitting? Did I say anything about increasing the net size? You are just taking my argument to the extreme in an attempt to dismiss what I am saying. We are on the same page Frank with protection of our star players, but your philosophy on how to do this (an eye for an eye) does not work. It leads to more injuries and more guys getting hurt. There is a reason why so many players are suing the NHL right now,(I'm sure many of which that were fighters). To protect our star players (all players for that matter, I don't believe the lower end guys don't matter) we need to eliminate cheap shots from the game. To say that fines/suspensions are not going to happen is silly. Things are moving in this direction, it wont happen over night, but with all the lawsuits and all the new research coming out on head trauma, it's headed in this direction.

No it is true Frank. Using one example that may or not be true (I have not seen this quote) does not dismiss my point. Most of these guys are not scared to fight. I'm not denying that having an enforcer wont help in certain situations, but as a whole it is an oldschool out of date stupid philosophy that needs to change. The only way to get rid of it is to have harsher consequences, these guys are not scared of fighting, they would be scared of losing 25% of their salary.

You make it sound like guys are either "Good 'ol fighters, trying to protect their teammates and do whats right, the nicest guys in the bus" or "rats". That's just not the way it is. Like "The Greek" said, if a guy who takes cheapshots can also fight, whats to stop him from doing it, fighting another fighter isn't going to deter him, that's what he does! Thats what he likes doing! Having a mentality of "you punch Zetterberg, ill punch Seguin, you punch Seguin, ill punch Datsyuk, you punch Datsyuk.........etc. etc. etc. does not solve anything, all it does is create a giant circle of injuries/cheapshots and embarrassment to the sport. The only way to take this bull out of the game is harsher penalties (ie. heavy suspensions/fines).

You're right. Stopping this stuff is easy, harsher penalties will end this in a heartbeat. For example, if punching a player in the head was a 20 game suspension, I guarantee nobody would be doing that anymore. When its a 1 game suspension in an 82 game season, and a $10,000 fine when the guy makes 5mil, it means nothing.

Someone being out with a concussion shouldn't be "OK" with anyone. Just because a player isn't what he once was, doesn't mean his health doesn't matter. I hate this kind of crap. Outside of combat sports, only in hockey can punching a person in the head just be considered a minor thing. It's not as bad, but it reminds me of when Gary Roberts randomly punched Franzen in the head in either 08 or 09. That kind of thing can haunt a player, just look at Franzen now.

I would be pretty surprised if we face anyone other then Montreal or Tampa Bay. I don't see us winning the division, but I also dont see us falling to the wild card. I would prefer Tampa Bay. Last year I predicted TB to fold in the first round and they were swept by the latter. I just dont see TB making a deep run. Montreal on the other hand scares me, especially after seeing what they did last year. Had Price not got hurt, they very well could have been in the finals. They appear to be build very similar to us, but with a better goalie (nothing against Howard).

The media in TO is definitely brutal, they definitely make it harder on the team. I remember when Reimer was talking about how is wife was getting hateful tweets from fans. Just horrible. Are you seriously criticizing people in Montreal for speaking french? Do you think that french Canadian players shouldn't play in Detroit because they have to speak English? Have you ever been to Montreal? You can get by speaking English.

Even though I think he gets WAY too much heat, I totally get Franzen. I'm not screaming to get rid of him, but if he left I wouldn't be upset. I think Weiss is playing fine, though he isnt playing at the level of his cap hit. Unless we get something great back in return, I see no reason to get rid of Smith. I think the kid has a ton of upside Andersson I really dont care, wouldn't mind replacing him with some youth. Kindl I would agree as well, and I think he will be traded at the deadline as a salary dump. Quincey also takes too much heat. He and DD have been great this year. I see no reason to get rid of him unless it was a good return.

Trading for Neil would be a waste of an asset as I doubt Babcock would play him. The guy is 35 now, is he even good anymore? I haven't watched him play in years.

I don't think this is fair to say, there are always people who are going to complain and challenge any jersey being retired not named Yzerman or Lidstrom. I'm sure there was a time when people were against Lindsey or Abel or Delvecchio's jersey being retired saying that the standard was Gordie Howe. I'm also sure that in 60 years from now people will be saying "this guy is good, but he's no legend like Datsyuk". As time goes on, perception changes. The problem with making a decision on Zetterberg, is the guy is only 34. Wait 4-6 more years, and when the guy retires I'm sure people will change their tune. Its not diminishing legends at all. To be the best of your generation 50 years ago is just as impressive as being the best of your generation today. The fact of the matter is that athletes ARE bigger, stronger, and faster then they used to be. Sure there may be an outlier back in the 50's, but if you tool average speed o the top 30 players back then, and then 30 players today, it wouldnt even be close. The only thing that brings the legends down a peg when comparing them to current players is that they were not playing against the best in the world, but rather the best of North America, though that's not their fault.

Well of course, anything of this nature is speculation.

Pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Sure there were those who had temper tantrums in the summer when we signed Cleary/Qunicey who made it seem like this team was doomed. But the direction to most was pretty clear.

Just read an article on ESPN http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/12337757/nhl-play-their-entire-nhl-careers-just-one-team regarding players paying their entire careers with a team. Funny considering the timing with this thread, here is what it says about Datsyuk: "Either way, his number will be retired by the Wings and he will go into the Hall of Fame. If there is a lock for this one guy/one team thing, it's Datsyuk. Teammates Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg are also very strong candidates."

Typically the Jack Adams award is given to the coach who's team most exceeds expectations. Scotty's team did exactly what everyone thought they would do. I don't believe there is a big conspiracy preventing a Wings coach from winning.

The guy seemed a little out of control, but this didn't seem like anything even close to "crazy". I find it funny that during the fight there are cheerleaders dancing.

I also talked about this earlier in this thread, its hard to compare era's. Lindsay played in a much easier era to dominate considering it was pretty much a North American league. Datsyuk is playing against the best of the best. To put this in perspective, imagine how good a guy like Ryan Getzlaf would appear today if guys like Ovie, Malkin, Datsyuk etc. were not even in the league.

I see your point, but I disagree. If you had 30 more teams in the NHL, its not as if the goalies for those teams would be better then the one's currently starting. The 30 goalies starting in the NHL for the most part (at least the upper tier) are the best 30 goalies in the world. The ones not starting may crack the top 30, but I doubt any current backups or AHL goalies are better then guys like Price, Rinne etc. Both awards mean you need to be the best player in the league at your position (I guess the Hart is a tad harder because goalies can win, but it rarely happens). If anything, it is harder for a goalie because with so few spots its easier to lose your spot. At least with players you can bounce around lines. Its not easier to win multiple Vezina's then Harts, that's just wrong. Since 1980 21 times the Hart trophy has been won by a multi time winner, 17 times the vezina has been won by a multi time winner. See below. Hart Gretzky - 9 Lemieux - 3 Messier - 2 Hasek - 2 Ovie - 3 Crosby - 2 Vezina Roy - 3 Hasek - 6 Brodeur - 4 Belfour - 2 Thomas - 2 Completely Agree! A trophy should NOT be the deciding factor to wheather or no someone should have their jersey retired.

For the record, my point is only for Datsyuk, not Zetterberg. I agree with pretty much everything you are saying, BUT I think Datsyuk IS at the same level of guys like Lindsey, Delvecchio, Abel. I dont believe putting #13 up there is lowering any bar.

Datsyuk's accomplishments as a Wing: (to date) - 13 Years as a Wing - 4 All Star Games - 2 Stanley Cups - 4 Lady Byng's - 3 Selke's - 1 Plus/Minus award - Highest Points total 97 (in 07/08 & 08/09) (Both years 4th in the league) - 6th most points as a Wing all time with 846 Points - The best forward on our team from 2004-Present (11 years!) - Not to mention quite possibly the most gifted player of all time when it comes to the things he can do with the puck Really?