redwinger4747

Stop with the crap about the Hart going to the player "most valuable to his team," SERIOUSLY. Stop taking this literally! If you follow this, that means in the near future Crosby must be automatically disqualified every year in favor of Ovechkin because Ovechkin is more valuable to the Caps then Crosby is to the Pens. This is NOT how MVP awards work. It goes to the most valuable player TO HAVE ON A TEAM. I don't care what it says in the description.

Hahaha, good riddance Yashin. What did he expect? He was already going to be paid a lot from the Islanders, no way was he gunna get full market value on top of that. This is what happens when you're greedy, I hope no one signs him this summer.

YES! I thought I was the only one who noticed this. He bobs his head forward all the time! I thought I read somewhere that Datsyuk was married and had a kid. If not, just imagine it. Does Datsyuk remove his kids diaper by deking him out of it?

I think he knows. He capitalized the "V" in the title to draw attention to this misspelling I think.

Why is Sammy still on the point of our 2nd PP unit? Shouldn't Stuart be there instead?

Take the giveaways statistic with a grain of salt because the best players are the one who have the puck the most - and players who have the puck the most are likely to give it away every now and then; more than players who never have the puck. It is like in basketball, Michael Jordan is near the top of the list for most missed shots in a career - because he always had the ball and took tons of shots so he was bound to pile up a lot of misses. Takeaways is a much better statistic because it shows who is the best at going and getting the puck, only good players would get a lot of these.

I was bored so I decided to try to come up with the 10 most dynamic, dominant superstar forwards in the game. I realized this was too hard and expanded it to the top 17 superstars before I was satisfied. The criteria was how good the player is right now but also looking at the last couple years as further indication of the player's dominance. This means that a player having a bit of a down year but has shown very recently his ability to dominate will be included (Hossa). Also, it means a player who is having a very strong year but before now had not established himself as an unbelievable player will not be included (Getzlaf, Ribeiro). A degree of youth is required to leave out veterans having strong seasons but who could fall off very quickly next year (Sundin, Kovalev). So, here is my list of the 17 most outstanding forwards in the game today: Crosby Ovechkin Malkin Spezza Heatley Alfredsson Lecavalier St. Louis Hossa Kovalchuck Gaborik Jokinen Datsyuk Zetterberg Iginla Thorton E Staal Just missed the cut: Savard Nash Young players who could make the jump very soon: Stastny Kane Toews Getzlaf M Richards Kopitar Backstrom Unlikely to achieve annual superstardom: Ribeiro Perry Vanek Horcoff Obviously many other things can be said about other young forwards in the game, just my opinion of who is a superstar, who could be a superstar, and who probably wont be.

feel free to make lists of anywhere from the 10-20 top players. I only went with 17 because that is what happened to be the number of players I would put in the absolute top tier. You don't have to stick to 17.

no particular order, this is mostly based off of offensive production but is also who dominates the game when they are out there, not just someone who picks up a lot of points.

My best case: I have thought about this very problem. If it were me, sign Stuart for 2.5-3mil, sign Lilja for 1.1mil, trade Lebda for a 3rd if possible, keep Meech and Quincy. Send Ericsson to GR for another year. Bring back Chelios. Go with 8 D and 13 forwards Lidstrom Rafalski Kronwall Stuart Chelios Lilja Meech Quincey Bottom line: Let Lilja walk if wants more than 1.5mil or so. Try hard to get Stuart. Trade Lebda because we have to move someone and he has the most trade value b/c he has the most experience. Let Ericsson stay in GR b/c he can. Keep Meech because he looks good and Quincey because we can't send him to GR.

Check out the blown call of the Buffalo-Philly game. A minute into the 3rd, the teams are 4-on-4 when Roy jumps onto the ice as a 5th man, gets a breakaway pass and scores. If you slow down the highlights on TSN, you see they are 4-on-4, the camera starts in the Buffalo zone where the pass orginated, pans across the ice and you see 4 Buffalo players in the Buffalo zone. It then pans to Roy who receives the pass behind the Philly defense and goes in a breakaway and score. VERY CLEARLY too many men and they missed it. He just jumped on the ice behind the defense. At least we aren't the only ones getting bad calls. Check out the highlights on TSN.

According to Mlive, Ericcson will remain in the lineup with the return of Rafalski and Lebda or Meech will sit instead. I would sit Lebda and give Meech more time to show his worth. *Ericsson*

Lets be realistic, as much as I love Downey's toughness and fighting, he's pretty useless otherwise. I mean, we all know he's not here to score but he doesn't even generate offense occasionally. C'mon, 0 goals, 2 assists in 45 games. Meanwhile McCarty has come back strong in Grand Rapids, 5 goals, 5 assists in 13 games. McCarty has a habit of scoring big goals at big times in the playoffs, even if he'll only score a few total. I know McCarty is not as good as he was 10 years ago, but its a virtual guarantee that he will produce more than Downey and be comparably tough. Plus, as a bonus, he'll put more fans in JLA which will help our home ice advantage.

If we sign either Stuart or Lilja, we will have 8 defensemen for next year (9 if we sign both) with Meech and Quincey out of AHL years. From what I've seen of Meech, I would be glad to deal Lebda in the summer. We will have to deal someone or lose them for nothing. We likely will have to lose one of Meech, Lebda, or Quincey and of the 3, Lebda actually has the most trade value. I'd try to get a 3rd for him and go with Meech as #6 and Quincey as #7. If we sign both Stuart and Lilja, then Meech can be #7 and we could carry Quincey at #8 or move him too.

Dion Phaneuf

Who do you think the Wings should target this summer as a free agent? With making a run at Hossa pretty unrealistic, I like Vrbata or Huselius for some secondary scoring. I think either of them would be a good signing and could probably come around 3.5mil which we can afford. I wouldn't mind Kalinin on defense if we lose Lilja and Stuart. Other possibilities? Thoughts?

This summer, the Wings should try to do one thing: Trade for Olli Jokinen. He is unhappy in Florida and wants to be traded. Therefore, it won't take quite as much to pry him away. We need help on offense and there aren't any big free agents to like except Hossa who would be very difficult to sign. He is a perfect 2nd line center for us and at a good price at 5.25mil. I'd say Hudler, Meech, 1st, 3rd. Maybe Sammy too. Try hard to hold onto Filppula. I think it can be done. Datsyuk Zetterberg Holmstrom Filppula Jokinen Cleary Kopecky Franzen Sammy/Brunnstrom McCarty Draper Maltby

Who knows, maybe Florida will be really stupid, after all, didn't Boston give up Thorton for a bunch of crap?

Hahaha, I know you're right, its ridiculous. I just want some big center for our 2nd line. Its just wishful thinking, I know. Maybe wait 2 years then sign him as a free agent? He'll only be 30.

You are right, but he can't sign until his season in Sweden is over, which wont be for another month or so. So in other words, it is impossible for him to be eligible this year.

After he signs with us, why wouldn't they be able to? This really worries because it would be such a shame for us to give McCarty this comeback chance just to have him claimed by Edmonton or something. Plus, wouldn't we have to put him on re-entry waivers for half his salary when we call him up? Even more worrisome...

What abouk Olli Jokinen? Will he be traded? If so, he would be a PERFECT fit for the Wings. Assuming Hossa is not coming to Detroit, why not go after Jokinen? Has 59pts, (4 more than Hossa) and is signed for 2 years AFTER this one for 5.25mil. A big center, proven scorer, 28 yrs old. I'd give up Hudler, Meech, 1st and a 3rd. Think that would fly? Probably just wishful thinking...

Lets stop and assume we pick him up in the offseason. Here's the Wings in TWO years: (estimates) Z - 7 Hossa - 7 Dats - 6.7 Homer - 2.25 Draper - 1.583 Cleary - 2.5 Hudler - 1.5 Franzen - 1.5 Maltby - .9 Filppula - 2 Kopecky - .75 2 more forwards (maybe Sammy) - 1.5 total Lids - 7.45 Raf - 6 Kronner - 3 Cheli - .85 Lebda - .85 Ericson - .65 Kindl - .65 Ozzie - 1.417 Howard - .85 Grand Total = 56.05 Amazing, this is actually feasible if the cap goes to around 56 mil. Wow, this would rock but I wont be counting on it.

Vinny Prospal still makes the most sense to me. Not as expensive as Sundin, Hossa, but will be a good 2nd line scorer and could possibly be resigned for around 3 mil if he wanted to stay.

As it stands now, 15 wins for a playoff birth, 16 for the division, 20 for the conference, 20 for the presidents trophy. Keep in mind these numbers are calculated against the amount of points the other teams will have if they win every one of their remaining games. So these numbers will go down each time certain opponents lose.