LeftWinger

honestly, I have never really posted that I want to see what Franzen does when he is healthy. I have always said, trade him, cut him, buy him out, retire, etc... I never really cared before if he was healthy or not, I always wanted him gone. BUT, knowing now what I do know about his injury may be due to his first one back in 2008, I am willing to let him sit out and get 100% and then if he comes back and plays like he did in 2008, or if he still stinks, then I will form my opinion of him... but, please, since you obviously posted just to try and tear me down, take the time and go back prior to the announcement that he may be having issues from his 2008 injury and show me where I said that if Franzen was healthy that I would love him here...if indeed his injury in 2008 is what has caused his decline over the years, then I was wrong and would welcome back a 100% healthy Franzen who can push for 30-40 goals and show up in the playoffs... but until recently I have said nothing but how much I hated him and how much the choice was wrong. I am not saying that I will not dislike him anymore, but I will at least wait to see if he gets 100%. If he keeps attempting pre-mature comebacks then he is not only hurting this team, but himself. He needs to become 100% healthy and get a 100% ok from the doctor before I want him back on this team. If he cannot get 100%. then he needs to retire or get bought out if we can get that determination before the buyout period ends...

This is assuming that Z may be out for the season. No way does Ott replace Z, but he would make for a good fit in the center position. Hopefully Z is cleared to play soon, but if he cannot contribute or worse yet, makes his injury worse, then please, PLEASE, take a seat Z and get healthy... Ott shouldn't really cost more than a draft pick, but considering we don't have many roster spots open, I think Andersson would be more than enough to acquire a pending UFA...Drew Miller may be attractive to them to maybe lure Ryan Miller back as well... As a matter of fact, when all players are healthy next season, we would need to make room for Ott if we kept him, so trading one of Andersson or Drew Miller makes sense. Glendening will be re-signed, but since he has exemptions he can start the season in GR with no chance of losing him...I also think Holland will let Alfie do what he wants. Come back or retire, Holland will do either. Package Kindl and Smith for a better top 4 d-man who may be a pending UFA or need a change of scenery then get a different backup goalie (although I strongly believe Jimmy is Osgood with a lessor team in front of him.) I know Holland isn't trading Howard, even though trying to sign Miller in the off season is the way to go. Keep Drew Miller, trade Andersson to BUF for Ott, trade Howard (I know, I know, NTC and Holland won't do it, but this is my suggestion) and sign Ryan Miller in the off-season along with a better back up...

World War 3 is right! Thankfully I will be at work for 16 hours that day and night and although I will be able to watch the game, I will have limited access to LGW.com, so at least it won't be me getting suspended from here that day!

Andersson does seem to be an odd man out, but he does kill penalties and to Babcock, that is priceless. According to my buddy (the one who skates with a Wings trainer) that is why Tootoo doesn't get played and got waived. He doesn't bring but a one dimensional element to the team. Andersson can pop in the occasional goal, but is pretty reliable defensively. That being said, I think Sheahan has outshined him in the small amount of time he has been here. With Weiss coming back and the emergence of Sheahan, Andersson has become expendable, but will Babs hang on to him?

Nah, Sweden was the best in the meaningless games...but those meaningless games have allowed both of our teams to get some extra practice in and rest up for the biggies! I wouldn't call them meaningless, because it would suck to have to play the extra game tomorrow. And that is something BOTH USA and Canadian fans will agree upon! Hey hillbilly, at least Miley is American! You could have accidently sang Beiber! (rimshot please) Ok, ok...

Z, and that is what I said early on, Canada's D scares me, and also stated that they better get there offense in gear if they want to beat the USA...but was told I don't about team Canada. Oh well... But I wouldn't be too proud of 6 goals against Austria...over half of your offensive output against Austria.. Sure we had a 7 goal outburst, but that was against Slovakia...a MUCH better opponent than Austria. But let's drink to a Friday matchup and when its over get back to all being Wings fans!

if USA women's hockey won 6-1 against Sweden then Canada should beat the Swiss by at least 9 goals,...if we are to believe the hype of Canadian hockey lore...I guess, because as American's we don't get what it means to be a Canadian hockey player or know anything about teams in Canada...why is Canada even playing RR games and semi finals? They should get an automatic bid to the Gold medal game and wait for a worthy opponent to meet them, and if said opponent isn't worthy enough, Canada should be given the Gold...heck, may as well have two Canadian teams in the Olympics and just let them play for the Gold...no one else is good enough or understands Canadian hockey... edit: *disclaimer* This post is what most Canadian fans seem to see when USA fans try talk about hockey and what most USA hockey fans see when Canadian fans try to tells us about Hockey... it is in no way my opinion... (not all the time anyway! )

trying to figure out what you mean...you say I don't know what kind of team Canada is then tell us all, please. Instead of just saying I don't know and leaving it at that...that would be no different than coming in and saying 'Those rankings are crap...' You add nothing to this conversation by just saying "you don't know anything about Team Canada..." but since you can't seem to explain it, I will just keep my same opinion then and not wonder if I am missing something...

Honestly, with Ott being a pending UFA, it may not cost a player at all, but I can see maybe Andersson at most when it comes to your suggestions. Pukkinen is way to good compared to Ott when it comes to his potential and Almqvist is also a top prospect and would garner a better return that just Ott. That being said, I would love Ott on this team for the playoff run and even re-signing him...

I've watched every game that Russia, Canada, Sweden and USA has played...Canada struggled against Norway early and late in that game and was nowhere near what was to expected of Team Canada v. Team Norway... but thanks for trying to discredit... Let me re-state the fan position. Canadian fans aren't the worst, but was just saying that during the Olympics they are worse than Av's fans... I am sure the same can be said of the USA fans on the opposite side of the coin too! manx...so what you are saying is I have no idea what kind of team Canada is because when a Canadian puts the sweater on they have more pride that a USA player? Please, instead of telling me I have no idea, enlighten me so I do have an idea what kind of player a Canadian player is compared to an American player...because other than where they were born, I don't see much of a difference between a team full of American's NHL players and a team full of Canadian NHL players... They are all part of the top 5% of hockey players in the world, so please enlighten us American's on what the difference is...

I have no idea what kind of team Canada is? It's the same kind of team as the USA is, a bunch of All Star NHL players...putting a Canadian sweater on Ryan Getzlaf doesn't make him any different of a player when he has a Ducks sweater on. Same can be said for Cam Fowler fort the USA. You gave up two goals all tourney thus far, true, but you barely beat Norway and Finland. We gave up 2 goals to Russia, arguably the 3rd best team in the Olympics. You gave up 2 goals total to Finland and Norway (snicker) all while scoring 11, 6 of which came against Austria (snicker snicker.) We only gave up 4 total and scored, ready? 15 all against NHL laden teams with NHL goaltenders... This is all meaningless, but it was one of your fellow Canadian fans who first posted that the reason Canada has struggled is that they have played higher ranked teams...which its obvious that that excuse has been blown out of the water. Team USA and Team Canada are basically the same team. So to say I don't know what kind of team Canada is, is just wrong on all aspects. Team USA just seems to be gelling better and that could be the factor that makes the difference this year.

Son of a Wing: I can see your point a bit, but something tells me that if the roles were reversed and Canada scored all those goals and played NHL talent teams as good as the USA did, then the USA struggled with offense and barely beat a Finnish team AND a Norwegian team. I think Canadian fans would be stating post after post how dominate the Canadian offense was so far in the tourney... Also, just how funny would you find it if the USA barely beat Norway? Fact is, Canada was given an easy ride so far and they made it bumpy. Bring on Friday is what I have to say. If USA is lucky enough to not get upset and make it there that is. It seems you guys are already waiting for us there, even though you haven't played the quarter final game yet...do you want the IIHF to just cancel it because it's pointless to play anyway? It's post like yours that makes me laugh with glee when Canada loses. No team is entitled to the Gold, not USA, not Russia and in no reality or alternate reality especially not Canada. If USA and Canada meet on Friday, your guys better play better than they did the first three games, or it won't even be a game...that is all we are saying. To put it simply, so far, the USA has played better than expected and Canada has played worse. Simple. Unless you are saying Canada just coasted through the prelims and now the real s*** comes becomes now it means something...bring it. Here is a guarantee, if USA beats Canada, the tears and excuses will fall for the next four years, if Canada beats USA the sense of entitlement will grow more than Bill Gates' bank account... I think back in the 90's a question was asked is there any fans worse than Av's fans....yep.

Cheers to that! But, in no possible scenario would I ever wish Canada a win...I compare that to routing against Colorado back in the day to lose every chance they get...especially if it were an upset! (that being said, I am sure there are plenty of Canadian fans who feel the same about the USA) Nothing wrong with either fan, that is just country pride! BTW, I find it very hard to root for the players on team USA because of who they are and what they mean to me in the NHL, but I so feel the need to root for the USA. That also being said, if you go back and look, I did pick Russia to beat the USA in the Gold Round.

I realize it sounded like I just compared him to Feds and Nash.... shame on me if I made it sound that way. I was just stating the situation was the same and compared it. If Boston wants him and if Anaheim wants him, it should cost Boston more because of the division aspect...

marcaractac - I don't think that anyone is saying that Canada has no chance against the USA, but to say Canada has played better teams in the prelims is in fact crap. No way Finland is better than Russia, Austria better than Slovenia or Norway better than Slovakia... The USA most definitely had the harder schedule and performed much better than Canada did against their opponents... that being said, Slovenia beating Slovakia and Canada struggling against Finland proves that anything can happen. Canada absolutely has a chance against USA, but what is being said is that you better sharpen up your game because the USA are **** and ass better than anyone you have face yet and it isn't going to be easy beating them...if I were you I would worry about getting past the Swiss and their lights out defense ad goaltending before you just assume you are playing the USA. That is if Swiss advances, if Latvia pulls an upset, then you should have a cakewalk right to the semi's where hopefully the USA will join you, but as good as we are, we aren't looking past our next round. Czechs' are great and the Slovaks will be looking to avenge the earlier 7-1 route... That being said, the Czech-Slovak game should be great! Talk about playing for country bragging rights! everyone hates a winner...only when that winner thinks they have entitlement and everyone else is not worthy of even playing the sport in the same rink as they... Finland was a wake up call, get your act together or you will not be leaving Sochi with as much as a Bronze... then the tears and excuses will flow!

is Flashy saying that American's were cheering for a Canada regulation win so we don't have to meet them in a medal round? Please.... I was rooting for a outright Canadian lose. I don't want the Canadians to win anything ever. I could care less if we have to play them or not, because nothing is better than watching the Canadian teams lose. I have already explained that the ONLY thing that scares me about the Canadians is their D. Their O is incohesive and their goalies are nowhere near as good as Quick/Miller... As it stands, if all "top" teams advance, it will be USA v. Canada to see who goes to Gold round or Bronze round. Nothing is guaranteed and the USA could possibly lose to a very talented CZE or a SLV team set on revenge. Canada is going to have fits with the Swiss if they aren't somehow upset by Latvia. But Flashy, to say the US is trying to avoid Canada is crap. I would love to eliminate them in whichever round we get to play them in, but like stated above, I want to see Canada lose all the time, against whoever, because it is great to see the crying that comes after and the whining... I hope to see them in the semi's, but they better get their O together because compared to the rest of their preliminary games, the USA is Omnipotent.... (not to be confused with omnipotent-hudler) and that, my friend Flashy, is the Juck ******* Pott...

I think he is saying that because those "other" teams rankings are such because of the "other" teams they played allowed them to have higher rankings. Those are actually "seeds" not rankings anyway. Lets break it down this way instead of using watered down seeding: Canada played Norway (3-1 win) Austria (6-0 win) and Finland (2-1 OT win.) Looking at those 3 team the only challenge should have been Finland, if you consider the amount of NHL talent on each of those team. As we can see, they almost lost to Finland and the only "non-challenge" was Austria. USA played Slovakia (7-1 win) Russia (3-2 win SO) and Slovenia (5-1 win.) Looking at those 3 teams, the only Non-Challenge should have been Slovenia (NHL talent-wise) yet they rolled through Slovakia pretty good, almost lost to a great Russian team and rolled through a Slovenian team that played out of their element considering the lack NHL talent on it. They upset the Slovakians who were well represented by the NHL. That all being said, USA had the tougher division NHL-talent-wise and outside of Russia (who should have given them fits anyway) pretty much rolled through the NHL talent. Canada had the easiest division of any of the top 4 teams (RUS, USA, SWE, CAN) and only rolled through 1 non-NHL talent team. They held their breaths against Norway and struggled mightily against Finland. Canada's defense scares me, but other than that, they don't pose a threat to the USA. Not that they have a team of non-talented players, on the contrary, but it's like the are having issues gelling at the moment. If they can get that problem taken care of, then they will be scary. Goalies are no contest, USA has, above and beyond, the better goalies. (as long as they don't have to play Howard.) So, to sum up the "rankings are crap" statement, considering the amount of non-nhl talent in Canada's division, they should have been 3-0 and outscored the other by 4 and 5 goals. USA had the hardest division and other than Russia (who we all expected to be a great team) pretty much had no problem winning and by large margins. Also, since there are only 12 teams in the tourney, I would say that could be another reason why he said those rankings are crap. I'd like to know which #2 ranked team Canada played though? Finland? No way were the ranked #2 out of the 12 teams...I give Finland a #5 and the other two #11 and #12. I give Russia at least #3 (at the start of the Tourney) and Slovakia is top 10 with Slovenia between #9/#10. Top four teams are by far: USA, CAN, RUS, SWE followed by FIN, SLV, CZE, SUI rounded out with SLO, NOR, LAT, AUS...SUI is actually has played better than a #7/#8 team and could cause some problems if they advance to play Canada on Wed. Hiller has a 0.00 GAA right now. They only allowed 1 goal by the top ranked Swede's. Their problem is scoring though. So Canada has played a #5, #11 and #12 ranked team, while USA has played a #3, #6 and #9...

I don't "know" that they are, I am just going by what pops up on here once in a while. Somewhere, someone said that it is rumored that they are interested. I am just going on that. If they aren't or if they do not want to overpay, then the Wings are no worse off... my point was, if Boston indeed wants him, why settle for underpayment? Tell them the asking price (Morrow or McQuaid or whomever) and if they do not want to pay it, oh well, their lose. after-all they are the ones asking for him, we aren't asking them to take him....if, of course, they are asking about him...

I agree on Franzen. I am one of, if not THE biggest Franzen haters here, but if his on ice problems are because of his head issues, and he takes the rest of the season off and over the summer becomes 100% again? I am all for seeing what a 100% healthy Franzen can do again. If he cannot come back 100% and we miss the buyout period, then he needs to retire. BTW, there is NO WAY you buy out Zetterberg. If he gets surgery or just stays off the ice until next season to get healthy again, you give him every chance to do so. If he cannot do it, then let him retire. No way you buy him out and risk him becoming healthy again only to sign in Pittsburgh or Boston or Tampa...

DickieDunn - That is my asking price for Quincey, especially an inter-divisional trade. Remember when Columbus wanted to rape Holland for Fedorov and again for Nash? Then accept way less from other teams outside their divisions? Well this is the same scenario...Holland doesn't HAVE to trade Quincey, Boston apparently WANTS him. Well if you want him, this is the price you will have to pay. If you "laugh" and think that is too expensive, then you don't get Quincey for your playoff run. This is one of the rare situations where Holland actually has the upper hand. Boston wants Quincey for their playoff run, they must pay. The only thing is I am not sure Holland has the brass balls enough to demand a higher price for Q. He may just accept a 4th round pick just because. But screw helping out an interdivisional rival if you aren't going to get well compensated for it... Quincey for Morrow or no trade...do I think Q is worth Morrow? Maybe. I am not a Q fan, but Morrow has yet to crack the NHL. He is a 1st round pick and a very good prospect. But he is already on his third team since he has been drafted and has yet to solidify himself as a top shelf enough prospect to not be one of those "unavailable" assets. For Pete's sake, Pitt traded him to Dallas for Brendan Morrow. If he is worth Brendan Morrow, he damn sure could be worth Quincey...especially if Boston is really serious about wanting Quincey.

Do we know if Hank is out for the season? If so, opens up a lot of Cap room for Weiss to come back and to acquire someone with a larger contract...whether it be a rental type player or even a signed player. Having Z's $6m+ cap hit available can help us out tremendously....of course I'd rather just have Z back, but for the better of his long term contract, if he has to have surgery, that is the smartest thing to do...

Slovenia, Swiss, Russia, Czech Republic Advance Sweden beats Slovenia, Russia beats Finland, Canada beats Swiss, USA beats Czech Russia beats Sweden to advance to the Gold Medal game USA beats Canada to advance to Gold medal game Sweden beats Canada for Bronze Russia beats USA for Gold ...of course I would love for the Swiss to upset Canada...Hiller is lights out!

I would trade just about anybody not named Datsyuk or Zetterberg for Ovechkin...

like I've said before, if Boston wants Q, I am asking for Joe Morrow in return. The B's may not do it, but that is my asking price. I still turn K over along with Almqvist for the best possible return. If I need to throw in our 1st to get it, I will...

take this for what its worth. Just talked to my buddy who plays drop in hockey with a Wings trainer and according to him, Kindl and Smith are being shopped... Don't know for what, but with Z going down our needs have become very apparent. With that being said, if Z is out for the season, it'll open up some cap space for a deadline rental...