solarion

Yeah. I'm still hoping #5s jersey will be "un-retired", given back to its rightful owner, and the last 6 seasons will be declared a mistake. Man could the Wings use a Nicklas Lidström in his prime about now.

Guessing Mantha winds up playing on his off wing in that case, which isn't ideal, but on paper that sounds like a dangerous line. We'll likely see that combination sooner rather than later if Z retires.

Ah, so +/- determines which player is "better" then? Good to know. Guess people will be surprised to hear that Larry Robinson is the greatest hockey player to ever lace up skates. Clearly since Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau had career +/- stats higher than Steve Yzerman, then they were surely better hockey players. BTW, both Jonathan Toews and Joe Thorton have career +/- higher than Yzerman. Better? +/- is an interesting statistic, but it's more of a team stat than an individual thing. It's affected by any number of variables. Position, offensive/defensive zone stars, linemates, opposition lines, etc all skew the result. To say nothing of the fact that Fedorov played some dman during his career and +/- tends to favor dmen.

lol If Kenny gives Edler Stoney cash, Imma join him in griping about...well everything.

Would love to see him cross that 1k pt mark, but if he's hurting that badly then he should call it a career. Clearly he loves hockey, but there are more important things in life, he's still a young man with a lot of years ahead. Plus the guy has garnered all the accolades/hardware already, there's nothing left for him to prove...this team isn't going to be a contender with or without #40.

What's with the stoney hate? Stone is all of 26 years old and in his 4th full season, you talk like he's late thirties and his career is winding down. lol ...and yeah, while Stone's highest goal/season stands currently at 26 he played only 58 games last season due to an injury and he was on a pace for 28 at the time. Dude is as a rock steady 20-25 goal scorer, a brilliant playmaker, and Stone is...ummm...rock solid defensively. Oh and btw Stone had an all time high in assists last year(42) despite only playing 58 games. Career, Stone is a .811 ppg hockey player(Larkin is @ .579). Stone got paid because he earned it...you just think all hockey players are overpaid.

Mantha has an interesting skill set where he's big, but like mule is capable of playing a finesse game. Now that he's bulked up though and taking boxing lessons, I'd like to see him channel more Brendan Shanahan and less Johan Franzen or Tomas Holmstrom. Perhaps when Rasmussen sticks with the team it'll free up Mantha to be used as more of a power forward/sniper role, where I think he's ideally suited.

A sniper is precisely what Anthony Mantha is. It'll be interesting to see if he develops into more of a Franzen or a Shanahan type of player, but he definitely has the accuracy to be in the conversation with those guys.

Always found it fascinating to note how different players would earn their puppy chow. Yzerman and Shanny shots would often end up just under the crossbar...ya know in that few inch gap a goalie can't cover. lol Hull and his freakish .5 slapper/snapshot that would blow by goalies before they could cross the net...and then guys like Feds that used a combination of speed and skill to put points on the board, often in sneaky fashion. Not just Fedorov either, all of the Russian five seemed particularly adept at sneakiness. They just seemed to think the game better than most of the guys on the ice...particularly Larionov. Loved watching that guy play. Definitely lucky to have seen such an amazing collection of skilled players year after year. Pre-cap, the Detroit Red Wings often resembled an all-star team.

...don't forget Karlsson. Dude will probably never amount to anything with those non-l33t skillz. Who'd want that bum on their hockey team anyway?!? BESIDES ME...MAKE IT HAPPEN KENNY!!!

Feds was pretty sneaky with his shot selection that's for sure. He'd leverage his superior skating ability into a higher percentage shot by using defenders as screens and/or disguising his release with his own body...really first rate at that kind of stuff. I suspect also that Fedorov scored more of his goals from further out than Yzerman did as well, though I don't necessarily think of him as having elite accuracy like Shanahan did. If you went back and watched tape of Yzerman, Shanahan, and Fedorov scoring goals you'd likely notice that Yzerman and Shanahan would rack up goals from somewhat nearer the goal on average and that their shots would beat goalies by being perfectly placed. Sergei's shot on the other hand would often go right by goalies without being tracked, due to his sneaky release.

From the article Dabura posted up there ^^^

lol Kinda one of those "I respect your opinion...even though it's WRONG" things.

Good AAV and term, though I wish the term were longer, glad Larkin's contract is a done deal. I suspect this contract will be a bargain going forward.