chaps80

It's only two weeks. Big deal. It's not a true competition between the world's best players if the world's best players aren't involved. You can't really tell a guy that he can't go play for his country if he wants to. It would make Olympic hockey boring again like when the Soviet Union was usually the sure winner every four years because Canada and the US had to send college and amateur players who for the most part couldn't compete with their "amateur" players. I understand the owners lose money and there's a risk of injury like Hasek in 2006 who was sidelined for the rest of the Senators season after being hurt in the Olympics and may well have cost them a Cup, but those are rare. Maybe the NHL should just keep the schedule going with the players left with their teams while the players chosen by their countries play in the Olympics if the owners feel so strongly about not having a break. Lol

Maybe Al Sobotka saves them and grills em up during the team BBQ's?

That's it? I thought mid-60's or so. Lol Was Bob Essensa there? Lol Hopefully Todd Bertuzzi was to rep Sudbury.

Fetisov must be OLD now. He played on the Soviet Olympic team in the 80's, and retired from hockey after the '98 Cup win. Those Soviet teams were always so dominant, but they had access to their country's very best for the Olympics because they were considered amateur players, while Canada and the US couldn't use their very best because they played in the NHL. Wasn't a fair playing field. Since the NHLers started to play in '98, It's been much different. 1998-Czech Republic 2002-Canada 2006-Sweden 2010-Canada 2014-Canada Russia has only medaled twice. Silver in '98, Bronze in '02.

Freddie Olausson in the back row! What a great depth pickup he was in '02. His OT goal in Game 3 of the Conference Final on a night when Roy was a brick wall always sticks out in my mind.

I think that's what it is. Apparently he was a very good student, and maybe focused a bit too much on his studies and not enough on training or hockey. He can skate well, but needs to bulk up big time. Now that the Wings can control his development and he's not distracted with school it'll work out better for both parties. From his past season it seems he still needs a lot of work. I dunno if he's ready for the AHL yet. He's 19, but looks 15. I can see him getting pushed around and maybe hurt. If he has an option to play junior for a season while working with the Wings training staff it'll be the best move. Even though he was a first round pick, I read that the Wings knew he would be a project, and if they could do what they needed to do, he could turn out as a solid second pairing guy. They signed him early to get him on the right track so he doesn't waste away in the minors like Smith did and stunt his development, which is good news for the rebuild situation.

Pretty much yeah. All those contracts are unmovable. What Holland SHOULD do for the XDraft is leave all those guys unprotected, except for Tatar. Force LV to take a big s***ty contract off his hands. That's at least one down for doing nothing, since they have to take one player from each team no matter what. The only two I see him keeping is DD and Nyquist, but he shouldn't. Best case they take DD, Howard, or Abby.

Exactly. There's been some talk in the press lately that Holland should think about asking Nielson if he would waive his NMC and accept a trade to a contender, or at least a playoff team. When Nielson signed in Detroit, I don't think he expected to be playing on a bottom feeder team, despite the team's regression the past few years. He's going to be 33, and this contract is likely his last before retirement. Surely he'd like to win a Cup sooner than later. If Holland can convince him to waive the clause and try to shop him, he might get some interest, but he'd likely need to retain salary at the least. Nielson would be very hard to trade with his overpaid contract, age, and the fact he's not a great player. He's good, but not great. He's a complimentary piece of a Cup winner, not a major piece, who makes too much money for too many years. Would be worth a shot though.

No, Jimmy has a modified NTC. Only control he has over being traded is limiting the list to ten teams of his choosing. I don't feel like finding sources, but I'm pretty sure he said he would waive that clause so he can be traded anywhere if he was asked to move on. Holland couldn't find a trade partner last summer, and may never find one. Contract, age, injuries, consistency, playoff performance make him a hard sell.

Just checked the box score. Sheehan scored?!?!? Hahaha man that was cuttin it close. 1 goal for an entire season. That's real s***ty. Lol I'm gonna have to watch this game later on tonight. Normally I wouldn't care about a DET/NJ game at the end of a season in which both are missing the playoffs, but this is the last game EVER at the Joe. Even though the place obv needs to be closed and demolished because it's an old smelly arena with outdated (or inadequate) facilities and structural design, it's sad to see it go. So many memories. Thank hell for photos and videos. 2-0!! Cool, but a win tonight could bump the Wings (77 points) from the top 5 draft (6 with LV) spots with Buffalo (78) and FloridA (79) both playing today too. Dallas isn't playing today, so they finish with 79 points. If DET wins and BUF loses, BUF takes over the 6th spot. If Florida loses and Detroit wins, there's a 3 way tie points wise for 7th spot. Guess the lowest the Wings can drop is 9th or so?

HAHAHAHA Amd damn man, Iggi can still throw them bombs pushin 40!

I'm not saying don't use open cap space. I'm saying if you make the move to free up that kind of cap, use it productively. Just because you have money in your pocket for Frans Nielson, doesn't mean you need to sign him. The teams issue was and still is defense. There may not have been any top D to be had last July 1, but why didn't he at least make an attempt to add a couple good D men instead of blowing the wad on three over 30 forwards like Nielson, Vanek, and Ott? If he feels the need to blow cap, blow it in the right direction.

He didn't trade him because he couldn't find a team that wanted his contract and the questions about his health and consistency. He was coming off a down season and had only played 5 of the teams 17 playoff games since 2014. The goalie market sucked too, with only a handful of teams seriously looking. Calgary was one of the teams looking for a starter, but they opted for Elliott, who had rock solid numbers in St.Louis and took them to the Conf Final yet only carried something like a $2.8 million cap hit and is UFA come July 1. At first it looked like that backfired, but he's playing pretty solid now. If they let him walk, Kenny should try to send Jimmy there. I think he'd fit in well. Fresh start with a team on the rise with some great players. He may still be a hard trade though, despite how well he's played when healthy this season.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/04/25/jimmy-howard-detroit-red-wings/83512050/ He basically kicked some tires, but in the end Howard's contract, injuries, and inconsistency plus a low demand for starting goalies kept him put. Calgary went with Elliott, Toronto went with Andersen, Carolina re-signed Ward.

I thought everyone knew that.

That or just let Mrazek f***in play. He had a bad season for the most part, but Blash didn't do him any favours either. Always too quick to turn to Howard or Coreau when he had struggles. Having him alternating games with Howard since he came back from injury was a head scratcher too, unless the team was trying to showcase Jimmy for a possible trade before the expansion draft. Simply having Howard around may bother him too. It shouldn't, but it might, just like it bothered Joseph having Hasek around. Some goalies simply play better and are more confident when they know they're the undisputed number one guy. You could say "Well this is the NHL, deal with it", but it's not an uncommon situation. I wonder had Howard been moved before this season like Holland tried to do, would Mrazek have played a lot better? It did seem when Jimmy was on IR we saw some of his best goaltending of the season.

Wow Matt Martin's comment that Tavares helped Nielson and Okposo cash in as UFAs really started something here. The Nielson signing was nothing but typical Holland blowing cap space signing a vet to an expensive long term deal just because he could instead of just leaving things as is. He just can't help himself. I swear he still thinks it's 2002. Nielson wasn't a big difference maker this season, and I doubt he will be for the rest of his contract, which ends when he's 38. With the team on a downswing and nearing rebuild status, it wasn't the time to make a move like that. A move like that should be off the table. Work with what you already have and don't add another long term deal to worry about. With Z, Larkin, AA, Helm, Sheahan, and Glendening the team had enough centers going forward.

They did play on the same line sometimes, and quite a bit together on the powerplay. I wonder when/if Tavares will want out of Long Island? He's been holding that franchise together since he was drafted and they've made the playoffs three times and have won one round, let a few solid roster players like Nielson, Okposo and Martin walk, and don't seem committed to surrounding him with some top players to try to make a cup run anytime soon. I think he's a UFA end of next season. Says he likes it there, but who knows.

Nielsen was an impulse signing when Holland couldn't sign Stamkos and he overpaid big time. I remember reading an interview with Matt Martin where he said John Tavares made guys like Nielsen and Okposo lots of money because he made them better players and inflated their stats just by being on the same line with him. The whole thing with Dats' contract trade was uneccesary, but it is what it is.

Amazing historic night. Best part was when Shanny clotheslined Roy. Hahaha

So with these wins and OT losses lately, the Wings keep getting further away from that top 5 pick. There are now 5 teams behind the Wings in points and 2 who are one point and two points ahead. COL-43 ARI-63 NJ-66 VAN-69 DAL-71 *DET-72 WIN-73 BUF-74 I get that they can't just lay down and die in front of opponents, but they've pretty much been doin that all season, so why start playing your best hockey of the season in your final 15 games with a top 5 pick on the line? This team is so screwed.

You said talking s*** about Kronwall not playing well because of his knees is akin to talking s*** about Yzerman not playing well because of his knee, so I'm not "putting words in your mouth". Those are both vastly different situations involving vastly different players. Not alike at all. Sp instead of telling the truth that Kronwall is finished and shouldn't play anymore because he's a defensive liability, I should be respectful for all his years of service and that he's still willing to play in his condition? Are you and Kenny related by any chance? Sure not replacing Lidstrom isn't the only reason Kronwall is broken and burnt out, but it sure didn't help. He had to play tons of minutes in a top pairing role when he really was a second pairing guy. Maybe at his very peak he was a top pair guy, but it was a bit of a stretch. Being forced into that role took a huge toll on him, and his career is almost done probabably 2-3 years before it should be. He should have been able to finish his current contract still being a capable lower pairing guy. 2 years left and he's played half the season this year. Gonna be a looong 2 years, unless he stays on LTIRetirement soon. One can hope.

Nope. It's not his fault that Holland let the team go to s***, but it doesn't really seem like he can motivate all the players to head out there flying, play a full 60, and do whatever's needed to win. Or whatever's needed to at least have a respectable showing.

Yeah he's trying, but for what he can do at this stage of his career, it's probably just best that he not play. He should still be able to contribute a lot more than he can, but he was overused and burnt out due to Holland's inability to find somewhat of a replacement for Lidstrom. So many goals have been scored due to his inability to get around the zone this season, not to mention the entire length of the ice. As for it being like slamming Yzerman, Kronwall isn't and never will be at his status level or his degree of importance to the Wings franchise for over two decades as a player. He's right next to Gordie Howe at the top of the list as the franchises greatest players. He had the right to go out on his own terms.

LOL Truth.