FlashyG

I don't know where people keep getting the idea that Holland and Babcock don't get along. Every time the topic is raised to either one of them the re-iterate how well they get along. Babs has stuck around for 9 years here, with Holland in charge for every single one and he's never complained about him. I also think its pretty crazy to think any GM makes roster decisions or moves without first discussing it with the coach and the rest of his staff. He's already said he will keep coaching the Wings year to year and if not them, he'll go to U of M. I'm also not sure where everyone is getting the idea that Franzen is regressing or that he's not as effective now as he was in the past. He put up .76 points per game this year, which is slightly above his career average. He will end up regressing before the end of his contract but so far there aren't any signs that is imminent. The idea of buying him out is ridiculous, the only reason to do it would be to acquire someone better and given the look of this years FA market, its not all that unlikely that Franzen would be the best forward available.

If you're unhappy with the product then stop buying it. No team is going to change its direction because a small group of fans wants them too.

I don't think its an accident that his contract ends at the exact same time as Babcock's

Dekeyser isn't eligible to play for Grand Rapids because he's played too many NHL games. I may be wrong but I think the rule you're referencing is for sending players down to the AHL from an NHL team. As far as I know Mantha is completely eligible to join the Griffins just as Ouellet and Sproul did last season. He seems to think he's eligible based on this quote.

Props to Aflac for the design inspiration on the scoreboard. Mine doesn't look quite as good as his, but copies never do. Hopefully we get the Wings from Game 1 for this one, and hopefully we get a Nyquist Explosion. He's due for one.

The Second Coming of the Swede.

I wouldn't put myself in either camp, but if you're keeping score based on my GDT's its 3 to 1 in favor of Marvel. (Iron Man, Avengers, The Hulk)

Absolutely. Here it is on its own

It might not crush their confidence but it might crush our chances of getting past round 1

As someone who watched a lot of Griffins games and who thinks the world of Sproul I think Marchenko is the best defenceman in our system whose not on the Wings right now. If Sproul hits his potential I think he's the best of the 3 but right now I'd rank them Marchenko, Ouellet, Sproul.

UFA Out or retired - Cleary, Samuelsson, Bertuzzi, Quincey, UFA's retained - Alfredsson (if he plays again) and Legwand. RFA's not tendered - Nicastro, Fournier, Emmerton, Coetzee, Parkes RFA's Tendered - Dekeyser, Sheahan, Almquist, Nestrasil, Callahan, Ferraro (tendered but put on waivers in the hopes he clears) Final Compliance buyout - Tootoo Jurco starts season in Grand Rapids, nobody is added via free agency, although a trade is a possibility if we decide to move some center depth. At least this year we're cluttered with useful players instead of guys that are of no use to us at all.

It wouldn't help you on the drive down, but when I go to games in Detroit I usually stay in Windsor. Its a very cheap and fast shuttle bus you get at the greyhound station that drops you right at the arena and any of the bars in Windsor will have every game available through the various Canadian networks. Coming from Edmonton though you'll be coming from the opposite direction and staying in Windsor probably isn't as beneficial for you.

follow the instructions in the image, click on the icon in the image, then paste the url in the window that pops up.

Not sure what picture you're talking about but if you post it I can probably add the jersey

I was hoping for game 3 or game 4, with three taken #4 it is.

Cabbie or Datsyuk? Both are pretty hard to dislike

Seeing this video makes me happy that I helped another member here use his auto voting script to rig that competition in Datsyuk's favor. We were voting 20 times every 5 seconds.

I wouldn't have minded Ryan if it wouldn't have cost us Nyquist + to get him. I think Nyquist is the better player straight up although that's debatable considering the lack of sample size and the likely unsustainable scoring rate for Gus. Ottawa fans are already regretting the trade so maybe we were right to get out of the Ryan sweepstakes.

Bowman had to win 62 games in a season to get one. I absolutely hate how that award is given out. Its basically the coach of the most improved team award. He's had at least some players who didn't get along with him. Filppula apparently didn't get along with him at all, which is why he didn't entertain the idea of coming back this year. Commodore believes Babcock tried to end his hockey career and hates him with a passion and there were even rumors a while ago that Zetterberg didn't get along with him. Then again there's a saying about coaches like Babcock and Bowman. 364 days a year you hate his guts but on the 365th day you get your ring.

Not to take anything away from Babcock who has been a fantastic coach but I don't think his win total is more impressive than Bowmans. He definitely did it with less talent than Scotty, and in 5 fewer games (same amount of time though 9 years) but he had the advantage of the shootout. Bowman's NHL had ties to contend with for all his tenure as Wings coach. Using his win % over his time here he'd have another 52 wins with shootouts. Either way though I think Babcock passes even that number next season or the one after that and I wouldn't be opposed to extending him for another couple years. Something I didn't think I'd be saying last season.

Scotty Bowman didn't teach Holland or anyone else for that matter a thing about being a GM. He is the greatest coach in the history of the sport but as a GM he was definitely nothing special. You're also misinformed about how much Yzerman changed in Tampa. Murray their director of Amateur Scouting who runs their entire scouting system and their drafts was already in place before Yzerman ever arrived, as was most of the rest of the scouting team in Tampa, including their European scouts and their QMJHL scout who were responsible for scouting Palat, Gudas, Kucherov, Vasilievski and Drouin. Hedman was also scouted by their European scout, and was actually drafted before Yzerman got to Tampa. I completely understand the sentimental reason to want him back...he was my favorite player, but he's not better than the GM we already have. Yzerman has made some great moves in Tampa, hiring Cooper to coach first their AHL team and now the big club was a great one, as was the St. Louis trade and getting Bishop. Still though his team isn't even doing as well as it was when he first took over. He's not going to turn the team into the 2002 Red Wings again, the salary cap has made that impossible. No GM is going to be able to duplicate that kind of team as long as it exists. Their prospect pool is deep, but so is ours and Holland and company have stocked ours without getting a blue chip player in the top 3 like Drouin. I do agree on Chiarelli though, if we were to replace Holland he's the only guy I think could come close to filling his shoes.

You can't have it both ways, if you're going to give Yzerman the credit for his draft choices then you have to give credit to Holland the credit for the Wings. Conversely, If you're going to give all the draft credit to Hakan Andersson then the credit for the Lightnings impressive prospect pool should go to their scouting staff. As far as Team Canada is concerned, Steve was the executive director, but he was only one of MANY people making the decisions regarding the roster. Included in the group choosing the team was Bob Nicholson, Brad Pascall, Doug Armstrong, Peter Chiarelli, Ken Holland, and Kevin Lowe. Yzerman has become a very good GM and definitely deserves a ton of respect for what he's done with the Lightning, but Ken Holland is a surefire first ballot Hall of Fame GM, who is the man who taught Yzerman most of what he knows about running a franchise.

If the wings reported their injuries the way the Pens do those numbers would be very similar. Unless we put someone on IR we report them as healthy scratches so they don't count towards our man games lost. Either way I don't think either coach has much of a chance at the award, its either Roy's or Coopers