Richdg

Bingo! At worst Howie is top 10. Heck one could make a good argument that G is our deepest and strongest position right now. Great starter, good backup in Gus (even though he is currently hurt) and 2 good young guys in the minors on the way.

wasn't me. to the best of my knowledge I have never been to any other hockey teams forums. not my thing. I don't even go to other teams sites to talk trash. Not my style and honestly who cares about other teams? I don't. Now let's talk about when Z and Dat started. Together they played a combined..... 0 games in the minors. They came over and earned starting (3rd line) jobs right off of the bat, on a team that was loaded with talent. That is a big difference than now. Now wea re talking about guys in the 3rd, 4th 5th years in the minors, and team with depleted talent, and they can't win a job. It seems like very couple of years we get the company line about some young stud "that we are sure is going to be a star, hate to send down, hope he clears waivers" etc.... Then we lose them. How many become stars? Rittola? Nope. Kopescky? Nope. (Yes I am sure I misspelled their names, no offense meant, just to lazy and at work). 15-20 years ago we had lightening strike. Not once, not twice, but 3 times. Z, Dat, and Homer were far better than anyone thought they were going to be. Great job by our team. But back then, very few other teams were scouting europe as much as we where. Now everyone does. There just are not many hidden gems to be found. If those gems are found, everyone learns about them quickly.

The was one loaded statement. Yes they may be some of our better offensive prospects, but that speaks to our overall lack of top end talent. Nyquist and tatar are no where near as good at D, Z, and Fil. Never will be, but then again few were/are. But the problem is those 3 Dar and Z specificly are trending down and much closer to the end of their careers than the begining. The big problem is, we as of today have no replacements.

Wished i could have watched it. Kal/Woods made it sound like Howie was standing on his head making saves.

This depends on several things. 1. can we ever get 100% healthy? Not sure that happens. We have a lot of older guys and smaller guys. Add in some inury prone guys-has Colavaico every played a full healthy season? Just not sure it happens. 2. if by chance it does happen, some of it will depend on where we are as a team. If we are still fighting for the PO's you will see some moves to improve. If we are out you may see some salary dumps.

We have some good prospects, but they are still playing junior hockey. Sproul, Mckee, Quellet, etc...... They have some talent. Nyquist and tatar are really just fill. Now, you need some fillers in cap era. But stars? Nope.

Didn't see it, but listening on the radio, Kal/Woods had several good things to say about him today. E is 28 just gtting to the point where he is comfortable and experienced. For those that complain about his contraxct now, wait untill after next season when he is a UFA. can you say 5 million? At this rate and level of play, yup. get ready.

Great win today..... Ok maybe not a "great" win, but anytime you can steal a game when you are outplayed, it is a good day. We have to steal em when we can.

Here is my point about tatar nyquist etc.... Untill they play everyday with the RW, we don't knpw what they can be. Now my opinion is, there is nothing special about any of those guys. As of today, we have a bunch of 4th line checkers and at best 35 point guys. Guys that can score 15 goals per year. Is that horrible? No. But it that the type of talent we need now? No. We have been losing 70 point guys and not replacing them.If you take the entire GR roster and move them up to detroit, sprinkle in the 7 or 8 keepers on our team now, what do we have? a 30 win team.

Nope, you are wrong. I remember who you guys are talking about, but wasn't me. I have been a very loyal wings fan since 197.........something....... had a major party in HS when we drafted Yzerman, Kocur, and Probert in 83......

The Joe is boring at best. But the real reason to replace it is money. A new arena will increase revenues. It is that simple.

E has gtten better each year, and in the end that is all we can ask him to do. Yes many here may not like him, but Chelios loves the guy. Go back and rewatch his statements at Nicky's retirement thing. For whatever reason Dmen do seem to take longer to develop. While forwards seem to reach their peaks 25 or so, Dmen seem to do it in their late 20's. On the other hand they also seem to play at a higher level longer.

Opps, I confused myself...... LOL Iwas looking at Emmerton, Mursaak, and Abdelkader and mixed up the points. Emmerton scored 38 in his best season. Abdelkader scored 52. My bad.

You clearly have me confussed with someone else. I am not nor have ever been a Wild fan, nor has anyone ever accussed me of being one. The point I was making and stand by, AHL points mean nothing in regards to predicting NHL performence. This is true in every sport, it just isn't the same. I do have a question for those that believe these guys are so good. if they are, how come none of them, not one beat out guys like Miller, eaves, cleary, Emmerton, Mursak, etc....? They were all in shape-already played 30 games or so. yet not one was able to beat any of those guys out? Not one of the guys I mentioned is signed to a big money long term contract. Most are FA's restricted or free after the year. yet, none lost their jobs. If tatar, nyquist, andersson etc are so good, then shouldn't have at least one of them won a job from that group of very limited players?

Still to early. But how is it that the most successfull US NHL team, has so few US players........sad just sad.....

That would be Holland. he is the one that put this old, often hurt team together. This from a Holland fan and supporter. But this year is not one of his better efforts......

Great start! TBH I wouldn't be surprised if we beat the Blues tonight, then drop both over the weekend..... Just looks like one of those years.....

The idea that tatar, nyquist, andersson, abby, helm, emmerton, janorack (spelling) etc... are going to lead us to the SC is laughable. Worst part, the joke is on us......

First, you and I agree on rebuilding/retooling the RW's. It has to happen and should have started 2-3 years ago. But you also have to realistic. 1. Filppula is a UFA this year. he is not a corner piece ina trade for Ryan. There is no way the Ducks are going to trade away Ryan-3 more year on his contract for a UFA. Period. 2. If we resign Filppula-5 to 6 million, Howard 5-6 million and brunner 3+ million, we don't have the money left o sign a big name FA. 3. If we cut/buyout some guys-which I am for, it doesn't mean any UFA's will sign with us. See Sutar and parise last year. It has been 5 or 6 years since we landed a top FA-Hossa. 4. I like dekeyser and think he will sign with us. But he is not ready for the NHL. Not even close. Even Schultz-a much better player is in the minors, and he is with a worse team (maybe) than us. 5. As for trades, we don't have much to trade. Most of our prospects are to far away from the NHL to have real trade value. Most of the guys here and GR are not real prospects-4th line guys at best, really career AHLers.

Look out HOF, here comes tatar! right........ Just for reference, tatar's best season in GR was 58 points. Emmerton......52. Nothing to see here, please move along......

Howard is not the problem, which many have said. but and here is the million dollar question, who is elite and with what would we get them? we don't have much to trade. as for UFA's this off season, with what money? Fil, brunner, and Howard are all UFA's and should be resigned. That will take 15+ million to do. There goes our UFA budget, unless we decide to buy out some folks. The team is 18th in GFA and 24th in GAA. That sucks. Rebuilding/retooling is in order and should have been started 2-3 years ago. But it wasn't. So yes, it will get worse before it gets better.

Some things in your response. I only have 2 trades, the rest is mearly clearing out crap. Cleary and Miller are UFA's and gone 1 way or another after the season. mursak is a rfa and could be allowed to walk. Huskins is a UFA as well, but I would like to keep him. Fil, brunner, and Howard are all UFA's and should be resigned. So, like I said there are only 2 moves. It still comes back to the same problem. if we want to get something of value, you have to give up something of value. Kronwall has a full NTC, Z is our captain, and Datsyuk. That is really all we have of value. The rest would only get draft picks or career AHL guys. So what about FA? well, if we resign Howard, fil and brunner, there isn't much money left to do it. Not to mention, there are no sure things in FA. Just because we want and offer Getzelf, or Perry, or Horton, or Clarkston etc.... Doesn't mean they will sign. See Sutar and Parise last year. It has been 5 or 6 years now since our last big name FA signing-Hossa. yet you still have to post. Deep thoughts take time. You should try it sometime....lol

Been busy the last few days, I am sure some are glad. but i would like to finish up my thoughts here. As of today, with the players we have and assuming everyone is healthy, the best possible lineup I can come up with is: franzen-Z-sammy bert-dat-Fil Nyquist-Abby-brunner Sheahan-helm-22 Kronwall-E Smith-Q Lashoff-kindl Howard in the net. Keeping Emmerton, Miller, Huskins, and Gus as the backups. Everyone else can go. Now from here, I would do the following in order: 1. resign Howard-6 mill, Fil-5 mill, and brunner-3 mil. That pretty much uses up the full 64.3 million for next years cap. Leaving just enough to resign lashoff and Smith in the off season. 2. Get on the damn phone with Colorado. offer: Nyquist, McCollom, eaves, and our 1st in 2014 for Ryan O'Reilly. If they agree, YES!!!!!!! Then buy out Colavacio. 3. Once #2 is complete, now we talk to the NYR. Datsyuk and Almquist (spelling) for kreider, bickel, and sauer. Once those 3 things are done we are looking at the following lineup for 2013/2014: Franzen-Z-sammy Kreider-Fil-Bert Abby-O'reilly-brunner Sheahan-Helm-22 emmerton and Andersson Kronwall-E Smith-Bickel Lashoff-sauer Huskins Howard Gus That leaves us with a payroll of 60.3 million, and we have 4 million left over. We also still have Quincey on the roster. try to move him for a 2013 draft pick, 3rd round is just fine. If we wish to free up a few more dollars to spend and go after a big name UFA, buyout either sammy-3 million of franzen-4 million. That would give us about 7 million to spend on 1 big name UFA. Also you may have noticed we now have 2 RH Dmen to pair up with some of our guys. Great! We have a huge shortage of RH players in our organization. back to the O'Reilly deal for a couple of thoughts. 1. he will be our number 1 C in a few years. Right now he can play on the 3rd line with zero pressure, and we once again actually have 3 good scoring lines. As for the why a 2014 1st, simple. The 2013 draft is beleived to be as deep if not deeper than the 2003 draft. The 2014 draft is weaker. If we want another RH Dman, then we can move E in the off season. Then we would have 3 pairs of D, each with a LH and a RH shooter. I will throw out a draft later. but right now i want to get as many picks as possible for the 2013 draft. if we can get anything out of: Miller, Cleary, Colavacio, sammy, and franzen, do it. The first 4 you might be able to get a 6th/7th round pick from a playoff bound team. Do so. Quincey might get you a 3rd, and franzen could get a 2nd/3rd. Move their contracts/salaries, and take the picks. I would love to walk into the draft with 1 1st, 1 2nd, 3 3rds, 2 4th, 1 5th, 1 6th, and 2 or 3 7ths. Use the 6th's and 7th's to move up in the 3rd, 4th, and/or 5th round. Bingo!

Well that sucked. Losing to a bottom dweller and losing another player to injury. Hopefully Smith is back soon. We all wanted more Lashoff, but not for Smith... We just don't seem to bunch back quickly. To many old legs? Who knows... Ugly is all I can say............

This is a must win. We are playing well. Must keep it going. The second half is brutal, so picking up as many points as possible vs bottom feeders has to happen. I think we will be a little tired and slow tonight, but still have enough to win. 3-2 WINGS!!!!! Z keeps it rolling with 2 goals. Q gets some love as well.....