FedorovFan5

Anyone trashing Abdelkader is being ridiculous. Is he going to be a great player? No. I don't care who's line he's on. Is he a solid player for us and very valuable member of this team? Absolutely! First, he hits more than almost the rest of the team combined. Without Abby, we have very little physical presence. He's also a willing fighter. For being a grit type player, he's a pretty good skater with good speed. He can definitely help on the offensive side of the things, where i think he will continue to improve. However, he's not a sniper and never will be. He's just doesn't have the hands or touch. I think he's being wasted with Datsyuk b/c Pavel needs a guy he can drop it to who can fire it......a guy like Shanahan or Hull. Maybe with Weiss we'll see more of Datsyuk and Zetterberg together. I'd like to see what Abby can do with Helm.

I like Cleary but it's time to make a change. This team struggled mightily at times last year and Cleary's play has been declining for 2 years straight now. He's doesn't have the wheels/endurance to play the type of offense this team wants to play. I can't count the number of times i saw the Wings break out last year with Cleary not able to join the rush, or how many times Cleary hit the blue line and just dumped in b/c he didn't have the speed to beat defenders or the size/strength to overpower them. His best play came in front of the net on power plays, but he wasn't great at it (not like Holmstrom) and not worth the contract being mentioned. Great grit player, great locker room guy, etc but not a $2.5M player in a salary cap era.

Fedorov was the biggest reason i became a Red Wings fan. I really didn't know much about Hockey growing up in PA....we didn't have hockey in our schools and there was only 1 rink with an hour of me that i knew about.....and i didn't quite understand the rules much. But when i started watching it on TV as a teenager and saw this team of incredible skaters cycling around and controlling the puck, i thought it was pretty cool. At the center of that was Fedorov....this amazing, fast skater who glided around the rink like no other. Add to that Stevie Y, The Joe and Hockeytown and i was sold on being a Wings fan. Been hooked ever since. Fedorov was the best in his era. It's unfortunate that he left b/c his career and legacy suffered tremendously.

I disagree....he's still a gritty player who is a good 4th line guy with some skill and willing fighter. You can't think that Tootoo at 5'9 190 something is going to be the only enforcer on the team this year with Stuart gone and Bertuzzi not as much a tough guy since he sucker punched Moore. We need to get back to the days when we had a grind line who was willing to mix it up, guys of old like McCarty and Maltby. Tootoo fought 5 times last year, Abby 6. Plus, Abby is a pretty good skater. I think him with Helm and Tootoo would make a fun line to watch. As for Quincey, i'll reserve judgement. He hasn't been here that long so he owes the organization nothing. And he's only doing what a majority of the people on this forum would do.....negotiate the best contract he can for him and his family. He knows we struck out with Suter and need a young defenseman.....and we have the money, so from a business side it's smart on his part. I hope he pans out b/c he does have a nice skillset.