ahkmed

Welcome back!

Guys,
I am as pissed off as most Red Wings fans today out of our lack of ability to sign (any) big name free agents, and even more pissed off that our only substantial move was re-signing Kyle Quincey to a contract that pays him as much money as Jonathan Ericsson, more money than Johan Franzen and only 0.5 Million less than Nick Kronwall makes (still a top 10 defenceman in the league).
But as much as we can complain about Quincey, and predict that next season will be a complete disaster - I am seeing more and more tank for McDavid posts - I ask myself when did Matt Niskanen become worthy of a 7 year contract? Isn't Dan Boyle 37 years old coming off a 36 point season on a great team where he was a -8? Why did the world end when we didn't sign these two? Lets just try to use some perspective before we completely turn our backs...
Last season, in a 16 team conference - we finished 1 point behind 6th place PHI and 3 points behind 5th place NYR (who eventually played in the Stanley Cup Final) while having an historically bad (by our standards) record of 5-9 in the shootout. More importantly, we also had our top 3 forwards (when measured by salary) D, Z and Weiss miss 37, 37, and 56 games respectively. I hate to make excuses, but of the 6 teams in our conference that had more points than us last year, not a single one of them could relate to our injury situation (in terms of man games lost to star players). For ex. the top 6 scorers on the Boston Bruins all played in atleast 78 games, and 5 of them played in 80 or more - please don't tell me this would not have helped us or improved our position in the standings.
If we look ahead to next season - what do we have to be optimistic about? Well, we haven't really gotten worse since last year... No we haven't signed any big names either, but we still haven't lost anyone yet. (Alfie remains to be seen). Can you say the same about...
#1 BOSTON - Subtractions: Thornton, Iginla, Meszaros, Moore. Additions: None.
#2 PITTSBURGH - Subtractions: Jokinen, Vitale, Orpik, Glass, Engelland, Niskanen, Conner. Additions: Comeau, Ehrhoff.
#3 TAMPA BAY - Subtractions: Lindback, Aulie, Desjardins. Additions: Nabokov, Boyle, Blunden, Stralman.
#4 MONTREAL - Subtractions: Briere, Gorges, Vanek, Gionta, Blunden, Dubnyk. Additions: Parenteau, Gilbert, Malholtra.
#5 NEW YORK - Subtractions: Pouliot, Stralman, Richards, Boyle, Bickel. Additions: Hunwick, Glass, Kostka, D. Boyle.
#6 PHILADELPHIA - Subtractions: None. Additions: Jones.
The point here is that outside of Tampa Bay, the 5/6 teams that had more points than we did last season have not improved either - and to take it a step further, I certainly feel that Boston, Pittsburgh, Montreal, and the NYR have all regressed. In terms of teams within striking distance who have also improved, NJ and WSH certainly stand alone.
When you consider the possibility of a healthy team, the emergence and continued development of our younger players, the cap room and prospect pool we have to acquire pieces (which Holland MUST use at this point) and the lack of improved teams conference wide + number of teams in our division who have taken a step back (BOS, MTL, TOR, OTT,) I don't think the sky is falling as fast as it seems.

Hampus Melen must still be injured or still playing in Sweden so I'm glad we gave a tryout to Hampus Gustafsson to fullfill our organizational need for more Hampus.

I disagree.

I for one wanna watch my team actually play hockey, so yeah, no tank

I've generally been quiet and tried to avoid any sensational posts...but damn...Quincey again, with a raise? I would have been happier signing no one. Was Jim Nill the real brains of this operation?

No offense, but did you watch Quincey at all this past season? The guy is a void. He makes his partner worse. And the GM just paid him 4.25 million.

I was fine with standing pat - I wanted Boyle, but we missed out. When every one was saying, "Niskanen or bust", I was promoting several less popular options. Heck, even though they didn't get Niskanen, Boyle, Stralman, etc. Holland essentially told Gilbert to go sign with Montreal. The next best alternative is an exhaustive list of options, and somewhere near the bottom is "re-sign Quincey". It's an awful move.

He really jacked this one up.

The Wings aren't in a position to need a small piece. Adding Boyle and Penner or another lower level free agent forward won't make them that much better. Moulson or Vanek plus a higher level D wound't get them over the hump either. At this point, regardless of where Zetterberg and Datsyuk are in their careers, the only two good options are either using the youth to trade for 2 top flight players, better than the guys in free agency, or letting the young guys develop. That includes Kindl and Lashoff staying, starting the year witha rookie on the 3rd pair, and giving Smith an extended shot at a top 4 role, and using Nyquist, Tatar, Sheahan, and Jurco a scoring line players along with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Weiss, and one other guy to fill out the top 3 lines. Then roll out a checking line of Miller-Helm-Abdelkader, or use Helm or Abdelkader on the 3rd line and plug Glendening or Andersson into the 4th line.

I think we shouldn't vote at all if it comes down to two Wings.

I'll be rooting for the Rangers 110% (sorry, haroldsnepsts), but I won't be devastated if the Kings win it. I certainly won't be shocked. (Who's actually picking NY to win this? Aside from their fans and people who don't watch Western Conference hockey.)
I'm expecting Kopitar to have a really huge series. With all due respect to the Blueshirts, they don't have a Toews or a Kane. The weight has been lifted, the shackles loosed.
What a matchup tho. Best goalie in the world in Lundqvist (IMHO), best defenseman in the world in Doughty (IMHO), Carter and St. Louis trading end-to-end chances back and forth with blinding speed, both teams are defense-first but can really open things up if necessary...this should be good. Realgud.

this was the greatest thing the pens have ever done... haha
"#askneal if you owned a bar, how cheap would your shots be?"

This voting contest really comes down to like 5-6 really committed fans spamming bots. So if Tatar wins, the five of you should pat yourself on the back for carrying him to victory!

Bertuzzi-Glendening-Callahan..just a fantasy, I know, but that would be a Troll line

Bertuzzi-Glendening-Callahan..just a fantasy, I know, but that would be a Troll line

Bertuzzi with a great performance in the third period..playing his pest style, blocking shots on the PK & getting two important goals as the Storm win 5-2 over the Oil Kings

Peace out Emu Salami

Can we please have a moment of silence for teemu .... goodnight sweet prince

I'll say the Kings pull off another upset and take down the Ducks in 7. Anaheim has goaltending issues and it seems as though Quick is back in his groove after a rough first two games of the playoffs.

We'll just take Tippett or someone like that, already on contract. Apparently according to Pittsburgh and Toronto meida you can do that.
Coach has one year left in his deal? s*** bro no prahblem, he'll just rip that s*** up for an opprotunity to coach the Leafs or Penguins.

You're bored, aren't you

He was standing and it was not his fault, someone moved the bench while they were standing on it and he and a trainer fell down..he said he didn`t feel a thing because he was in full gear, but he felt sorry for the trainer who had no protection

I would rather see Holland sign Samuelson to a 10 year extension than have Phaneuf on this team.

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

It's all moot, though. Whether he was our best prospect or just one of our better prospects, the point is that the return for Calle Jarnkrok and a second-round pick was a few games from David Legwand (unless he re-signs. Though, even then....) The only way that doesn't hurt right now is if we rationalize it. "He was gonna go back to Sweden anyway." "He's not that good anyway." "We have too many centers anyway." "We need to get bigger anyway."
meh

just a nitpick