Rice

Wow, you'd think Florida could get better return than that for Jokinen.

Bruce Garrioch: Bad news for the Sharks and maybe the Wings too. They gave up a lot for Campbell and he wasn't all that impressive in the playoffs anyway. I'm putting my money on Stuart signing with San Jose. Before anyone says it, there is no way the Wings sign Campbell.

The bottom line is that there is a cap in place. If a certain few teams want to f*** themselves with dumb contracts, so be it. The cap will limit dumb overspending.

Weird, weird move for the Leafs to make. Why would a re-building team trade a third rounder for an aging grinder?

Redden has been pretty bad the past two seasons. He's going to get overpaid based on reputation but he hasn't been great since '05-06. Fedorov played defense quite a bit in Columbus.

Forsberg was considered the best player in the world at a time too. They could've kept Forsberg along with the five other players, two first round picks, $15,000,000, and likely would've had similar (if not more) success.

It'd take a lot more than that to get Jokinen. Plus, the Wings would have to clear some long-term space or they'd be in risk of losing Franzen or Zetterberg in favor of Jokinen. I'd probably take Jokinen over Franzen but not over Hank.

So today I went with a friend of mine to buy an octopus for the game at Superior Fish in Royal Oak. We were standing at the counter waiting for the octopus and a guy came up to me and asked, "So is this the first time you've done this?" I told him it was my first time and it turned out he was a writer from Sports Illustrated. We talked for about five minutes and he asked me some questions about the Wings and JLA. He gave me his card and asked for my name phone number, too. Then he asked when I'd be going to the game and told me he wants to meet up to talk some more before the game -- so my friends and I are meeting him at the Joe at around 7:30. Incredible luck. I hope we end up in his article.

Hey guys, I just remembered this thread so I thought I'd give you an update. You were right, redwings1914, the article is on the last page of the 6/2 SI. Unfortunately I got the shaft, but my friend did end up making it in. His name is Derek. Price lied about the octopus. I was the one who put the octopus in my pants. He carried his in in a bag.

No, I didn't.

Either that or he's a Blues or Coyotes fan.

What the f***? Yeah, the Bertuzzi and Schneider worked wonders for Anaheim. Both of them sucked for the most part and now they likely won't be able to afford Perry. Dumping Bryzgalov for literally nothing was a great move. Dumping young MacDonald for a washed up Doug Weight bodes well for the team's future too. Give me a break. Holland lost Lang, Bertuzzi, Calder, and Markov all in the same offseason. He didn't make a panic move. He signed Rafalski and picked Stuart up at the deadline for two picks. Oh yeah, then he won the President's Trophy and Stanley Cup. What is the deal with all of this Burke love?

Here's a pic from graduation (those hats are dumb): And prom:

I like Commodore a lot, but I don't know if he can move the puck well enough to fit in here. Lilja sucks but the guy can make a good outlet pass.

I'm pretty sure it's either the Ducks or retirement for Selanne.

I'm not against signing Sundin. I'm all for it, actually -- as long as he agrees to a one-year deal. If he wants more than that he can go elsewhere because Zetterberg and Franzen are the team's priorities long term. If he is willing to accept a one year deal, I have no idea why anyone wouldn't want him. This guy is Drake in terms of hunger for a Cup with ten times the skill. Franzen and Sundin on the second line?

They do make it in black. My friend has one, I'm having trouble finding it online though.

I threw this together today, posted it at HF too: Pretty amazing stuff. Edit: Made a couple corrections and added GF/GA differential and Point/Possible Point percentage.

Isn't that the banner raising? I really have no idea when that happens. Actually, maybe it's not the banner raising. Don't they do that the first game of the season?

Are you talking about the one with the logo on the front and the roster on the back? They have them all over the place here in Detroit. Look around online. Here's a red one. I've seen them in black, red, and white. The black and red ones are everywhere but I've only seen the white ones at one store and they didn't have my size. I'm gonna have to find one.

Re-signing their own FA's (Zetterberg, Franzen, Stuart, Filppula) should be (and will be) the Wings priority this off-season. Hank may sign soon but I expect Franzen to wait. I'm thinking Stuart is 50/50. His wife can't leave California or she will lose custody of her kids from another marriage. I know he's a great fit here but family comes first. Hopefully he and his wife can come to a some sort of balance and agree to stay with the Wings. I don't think Filppula will be a problem, but you never know with Kevin Lowe out there. A lot depends on what happens with Stuart. If he stays, Lilja is gone. It's pretty apparent Chelios wants to stick around so he'll probably be competing with the young guys for the 5/6 spot. I like Lebda and he exceeded my expectations in the Finals but he's redundant here. I can see him being moved in favor of younger defensemen that bring other elements (Quincey, Ericsson). Kindl's not NHL-ready yet. So, I think one of Lebda or Meech will be moved. After that, I think they'll look to add a hungry veteran up front. Sundin and Rolston come to mind, but only if they're willing to take one-year deals. Franzen and Zetterberg are going to eat that cap space in '09-10.

Talking about great calls, my friend had been calling Wings over Penguins since probably the middle of the season. He said Wings would win in five games, with the final game being 3-2 Wings. Too bad didn't come true.

I went to three places tonight looking for one and found it at the Dunham's on 15 and Orchard Lake. Very cool hat.

I think it's going to come down to the last game. Right now I'd say it's Zetterberg for Detroit and Crosby for Pittsburgh.

It's hard for me to see Zetterberg getting more than Lidstrom and significantly more than Datsyuk. I'd guess somewhere between $7 and $7.5 million.