LeftWinger

maybe, but problem is, if Jimmy plays 20 years, this guy will never get a chance in Detroit, so he will become someone else's elite goaltender...

Yes....find a different sport to watch. They will change this game so much in your lifetime that by time you have been a fan for 30+ years, it will be like watching a total different sport. To hell with Bettman and the greedy owners....frk parity, frk expansion, frk Hudler and frk Cindy Lee Crysby...oh and a big FRK Franzen!

Over 1000 games in a Wings jersey...played his entire career here in Detroit...huge, HUGE piece to the puzzle in the playoffs each year. How many players have played their entire career in one city for over 1000 games? Not many.....Howe, Yzerman, Lidstrom, Delcvecchio....Draper has but he played for Winnipeg before....So Homer is one of 5 players to play their entire 1000+ game careers in Detroit...3 of those 5 have their number's retired, soon to have Lids join them...I am sure #96 will not go to the rafters, but something has to be said of Holmstrom's RARE stat...you cannot ignore the 1000+ games for one team his entire career.

...and I just lost all respect for Ryan Miller... Decertify the Union and return to the good old days of owners actually "owning" players.... Everyone out there who thinks the Union is the bad seed here please go watch the movie "Net Worth." The owners are no different than the CEO's of this world...If Hostess hads't taught you anything then nothing will...liqiudate the company and STILL award CEO's and Top managment MILLIONS of dollars in bonuses...They sure were hurting for money, eh?

Claude Lemieux anyone? He answered the call allright....the turtle call. Nice to see Zetterberg sticking up for his teammate....too funny...too bad he doesn't do that here...

Mad much brah? Anyhow, sure would've like to have Suter, but we will be fine with Kronner stepping up to a leadership role and getting 60-70 points, Smith is gonna become a stud and be better than Suter in the long run and there always getting ahold of Dekeyser (whom a ton of GM's want) and then in a few years Mike McKee. This is going to be one of the toughest defense's to play against in about 4-5 years and Suter will still be looking for a Cup and help on D because after him the talent fall way down to our #6/#7 depth... Poor Ryan...

Not to mention if Brunner scores 25-30 goals they will need to re-sign him too! They can sign Dekeyser and either trade Kindl or let him go RFA... agreed on the other points, they really cannot let White go after losing Rafalski, Lidstrom and Stuart...not unless the somehow acquire a stud via the fire sale.... Trade Emmy and Mursak....they have Miller and a soon to be returning Eaves...I'd also let Cleary go or trade him at the deadline (his NTC expired last deadline.) There are too many folks waiting to come up and they are running out of options to play in Rapids... (sure wish Holland would have offer a contract to Welsh...Carolina is damn lucky to have him!)

Lost too much depth? We lost Lidstrom (who is unreplacable) and Stuart... Replaced with Quincey, Smith and Colaiacovo... those three more than replace Staurt...again, you cannot replace Lidstrom, nort even with Suter... up front we lost Hudler, Holmstrom and will probably lose two of Miller/Eaves/Mursak/Emmerton...replaced with Tootoo, Sammy, Brunner a full time Nyquist and long term Helm and Abby...GRR has nice depth to fill injuries... We lost the revolving door of a back up to Howard and gained a legit #2 in the Monster. I give Holland an A for trying to land all the top talent in the UFA market, all in all, I give the off season a B+ considering that with the exception of Lidstrom, everyone that was signed was an upgrade to the folks we lost.... The only thing I would change is I would have shopped around Franzine, but who knows, maybe he did that too! Lidstrom = Unreplacable Quincey/Smith better than Stuart Colaiacovo better than Commie and Kindl still #7 Sammy better than Hudler Nyquist better than Holmstrom Tootoo better than any "tough" guy since Downey Helm and Abby here long term....and happy to be! Gustavsson better than Conklin/MacDonald combined. not to even mention the awesome draft Holland had! He went big and skilled and tough, everything we have been bitching at him to do for years! Get this CBA taken care of, sign Dekeyser after his senior year is up, trade Emmy/Mursak/Kindl for some picks and lets get this thing rolling! If the season goes kaput, then so be it, but this team is still deeper than it was last season...and better with the exception of Lids...

Alot of us agree that they did very well this offseason despite missing out on the TOP free agents... I really wanted Suter and was neither here nor there with Parise....but oh well... Holland tired and made it pubically known that he tried for all the "top" targeted guys...Suter, Parise, Shultz...which in years past he either didn't try or didn't make it known that he tried...he would just say "we kicked the tires and liked what we had..." Well I said it before and I will say it again, he kicked the s*** out of those tires this year, I give him an A for trying... The guys he did get address thier needs, the guys they already had will play a huge role this season and for pete's sake we finally have no Hudler on this team!!!! Besides there is always the post lockout fire sale that may go on too...you never know who Franzen is gonna get us when that starts!

Franzen is somewhere sitting in his lazy chair...trying to figure out why he cannot stay interested in playing his PS3 for a whole game...

of course he regrets it...lockout or not, he wasn't signing with the Wild until his family convinced him to. He regrets it now and when he is about to retire 13 years from now with ZERO Stanley Cups he will really regret not signing with a real contender (not just Detroit, but a handfull of others that wanted him too...)

Brooklyn Maulers Brooklyn Brawlers Brooklyn Saloogi's Brooklyn Goombahs Brooklyn Fugazies Brooklyn Stoolpigeons Brooklyn Shems

So weird.....

Marion Hossa.....oh wait......

blueadams where are you? Geesh, its been a long time since I contributed some lines.... I get tired on the NON shuffling when its needed....example, Cleary is a THIRD line player and needs to stay there! Franzen needs to put up 80-90 points on the top line or get demoted... I am still hoping once the CBA is settled there are going to be some teams that need to dump some salary and hope that Franzen is outta here! Still have the issue with too many forwards too! So unless a trade is made, there will be a ton of line shuffling! He no longer plays goalie?

That's cool..... This just in.....Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are wooed by KHL team, but entire family unwilling to move to Russia...ubilical cord wont reach that far so they decide to sit it out close to family...

Really? Anti-Union much? Lets see, it's the players that are responsible for the revenue that the team and NHL make. People pay their $80 to sit in the nose bleeding corners to just get a glimpse of Pavel Datsyuk or Alex Ovechkin and those players are expected to let the owners not only have the majority of the revenue PLUS accepet paycuts or they should be fired? I would argue the opposite, if the OWNERS cant deal with 43% of the BILLIONS that come directly because of the players that play and bring the fans in, then let them sell the team to someone who can. This is typical of any and all CEO's and Owners of teams...They are ALL making millions and millions and some even billions ( Mike Illitch IS a billionaire you know) and all they want is more more more. Never acknowledging that it is the EMPLOYEE that generates the profits. Same can be said of the NHL as can be said of, lets say, Ford Motor Company. The problem is greed. I am pissed at both sides for not coming to a comprimise, but this is typical Owner anti-union actions. Example: before the IAM was forced out of Delta Airlines, everything was blamed on the labor cost. They cannot do this or that becuase of labor costs....now, no union, same problems exist, but all of a sudden it's because of oil prices, less people traveling...The problem is not the union or labor contracts or collective bargaining, its CEO's and Owners refusal to have a good relationship with the unions. Owners want to be able to do what they want, when they want, no matter who, what or where it affects people and families. Sure the NHL players make waaaaay more money than your typical laborer, but they are the elite of elite hockey players in the world, they should be paid as such and they should reap the benefits of their talents by having at least an equal share of the revenue they create. 50/50 should be the agreement, but the Owners want the majority and the PA wants the majority...50/50, share the wealth equally... they owners need to open their eyes and realize that they make more profits with Pavel Datsyuk and Hank Zetterberg playing rather than Walt the Postman and Joe the Plummer playing...who would you rather pay to see? Now you know why Lidstrom retired when he did...the writing was on the wall and he didn't want any part of corporate greed again...

Nah, you aint old yet! Think back to Ray Lane on WKBD 50 and then PASS Sports.... I would watch KHL hockey on ESPN and boy would this ever grind Gary's nards? Gary is the worst thing to EVER happen to the NHL....no wonder the NBA got rid of him!

Well, not that I would wish any injury on anyone, but this is justification for me banging my head off the wall everytime he was in the Wing Wheel! That being said....get well.

No Penalty No MANDATORY Suspension...Malkin gets suspended, Wings go up 3-0 in series...can't have the better team win now can we? Yes I am still bitter...Thanks Uncle Gary, not only did you hand Pit the Cup, but you have once AGAIN caused a work stoppage in the NHL...

point is, lets say the "real" players are never asked back and then the "replacement" players would be the "Real" Detroit Red Wings....I'd still root for the Red Wings... It could happen, but I would almost guarantee the "NEW" players would NOT be part of any Union...

Lest we forget two of Windsor's favorite son's, Bob Probert and Tie Domi... no longer in the NHL, but NHL'ers none the less!

Ya, and don't forget the whole Ohio State thing....He may have claimed to be a Av's fan but I can bet you my life savings he celebrated them and probably went to both the 97 and 98 Stanley Cup parades...

Three stoppages under one President....ugh....lest we forget when the Refs were replaced once too! Maybe Bettman should become a Abassador over in the Middle East....ok, not really, just kidding there, but he has to go!

You think the likes of Phoenix is bleeding cash now? Lock the players out again...we'll be back down to 24 teams in the NHL. Bettman = Worst thing to happen to professional sports.