Rice

Both of these are one year leagues. The first one is 12 teams, the second is 10. In the first league, PIM's are negative. I like this team a lot. If Sundin comes back, I'm stacked. I'd say goaltending is my weakness. Gigure is solid and DiPietro is good but on a horrible team. Don't ask me how I got both Luongo and Brodeur. I like the team a lot but my worry is I don't really have a top-flight forward. I guess thats okay though with the two best goalies. Any more thoughts?

Nope. There's more to it than that. Zetterberg has built an identity in Detroit as the future captain. Zetterberg is Holland's priority and it will stay that way unless something comes out of nowhere in the negotiation process. Another thing to consider: Zetterberg led the playoffs in scoring and won the Smythe while playing elite defense. This isn't to say Hossa's not good in the playoffs, but his only truly impressive playoff came while he was playing on Crosby's wing, who many consider to be the best pure playmaker in the world. If the Wings win again this year and Hossa wins the Conn Smythe, your argument will hold more water.

There are a few players, but Zetterberg is by far the best bargain of them all: - Alfredsson with a $4.41 million cap hit. - Brodeur at $5.2 million. - Selanne at $2.62 million. - St. Louis at $5.25 is a pretty good deal. - Finger at $3.5 million.

Iwo's the best. Love this:

Dan Wood: Interesting that it's for two years.

I don't want either here, but the difference is Chelios will likely be the #7 defenseman this season. Shanahan surely wouldn't be the 13th forward if he signed here.

...and in other news, Hell freezes over.

Man, that's really too bad.

Here's what Chris from Icethetics had to say:

Nice find. I just figured they'd be using the "candy cane" jerseys but I'm a big fan of the ones on that site. Haven't heard anything about this jersey anywhere else. Weird. I actually just e-mailed him to ask him about it.

No chance.

Sabres' are expected but classic. I like the Blues' too. Why do the Sabres' pants still have "Reebok" written on them? I thought they dropped that in favor of "RbK."

Leino is wearing 21 and Conklin is wearing 29.

Chill, fellas.

I'll take Hossa ten times out of ten. I love Franzen, but come on. There isn't much disparity between Hossa and Datsyuk or Zetterberg. Would you rather have Franzen or Datsyuk? Franzen or Zetterberg? Hossa, Datsyuk, and Zetterberg are all world-class players. Franzen is great but he's not on the other guys' level.

I'll say Hossa.

You're dreaming. Zetterberg's great and all but he's not going to take $4 million a year when he could get $8+ on the market.

Yup.

He signed Lilja because he wasn't sure if he could come to an agreement with Stuart. He said so himself.

A poster on HFBoards named gaborikowns spotted Hossa at Marian Gaborik's rink in Slovakia. I know I had been dying to see Hossa in Red Wings gear, so here's a picture for everyone that has been waiting: (Click picture to enlarge) Here's the link to the original thread. Looks damn good in red and white.

Hard hitting but they'd have the same problem as last year... no effective transition game. Yep. Kenny got it done this offseason and I think the majority of fans agree.

It has already been raised. The cap is set at $56.7 million -- up from $50.3 million last season.

1756 pages?

I don't think there's anyone better in the league right now but I don't think you can say he's the best of all time. It's too subjective. As for his playmaking ability, he has a long way to go before he's known as the best set-up man ever. Think Gretzky, Forsberg, Oates, etc. He's not even the best in the league right now. Crosby and Thornton are the best set-up guys in the NHL. Back-to-back 90 assist seasons are incredibly impressive. Better overall players? I don't think so, but those guys are better pure puck distributors. Let's see what Pavel can do with a pure finisher like Hossa on his wing though.

Hossa. Easily.