LeftWinger

No, he is not a 1-2 guy, but if he is #4 paired up with Nick Lidstrom at #3, then he is gonna be super here. Stuart/Kronwall are your 1-2 guys, Lids (if he re-signs) is going to see less ice this year than he has in a long time. But a top 4 of Stuart/Kronwall - Lidstrom/Wisniewski is about as good as any team can ask for. Sure there are better pairs out there (Weber/Suter come to mind) but listing a top 4 that is better than that would be hard to find...

I could deal with most of your lineup, but Ericsson has been rumored to have turned down the latest offer which was supposed to be "More Than" $2M, so screw him, and I, for one, do not want to sacrifice Miller and his work ethic to keep Hudler on this team and also wouldn't want to give up Emmerton(unless he was traded.) You got Carter in a trade, but I disagree that it would require Fil, I think Hudler/prospect(Emmerton or Mursak)/pick(s) would get it, especially since Philly has to dump salary. In place of Ericsson and Salei, I chose Jovo and Montador, having Wiz and Montador would give Babcock TWO right handers on the point...

so instead of trading Hudler, you are gonna let Emmerton AND Mursak go to waivers? This is exactly what we DON'T want to happen if Jagr gets signed! Unless you are trading Hudler (or Filppula, which I am not in favor of) then DO NOT sign Jagr at the risk of throwing away Mursak and Emmerton! If you trade Hudler, you can have Jagr (who more than replaces Hudler and by a landslide (as long as he doesn't want too much)) plus have Emmerton AND Mursak on this team... (yes queue a line-up suggestion, sorry guys! ) Filppula - Datsyuk - Jagr Bertuzzi - Zetterberg - Franzen Eaves - Helm - Cleary Holmstrom - Abdelkader - Miller Mursak/Emmerton Stuart - Kronwall Lidstrom - Wisniewski Jovanovski - Montador Kindl Howard Legace (I know I know, but with all the names being thrown around as back up I figured I'd just slap his name in there because I know his Father in Law...any solid back-up will do though!) I still prefer a younger UFA like a Jussi Jokinen, but if Holland opts for Jagr, at a fair price, I can live with it...

We learned to NOT get your wrist sliced open by a hockey skate, sever some tendons and miss 3 months of the season or else "fans" everywhere will say you were a horrible signing and sucked... Jesus! Modano played 40 games and had 15 points, what does that prorate out to an 80 games season? 30 points, which is well worth $1M... We all knew he wasn't going to come here and score 50 goals. Hell Hudler played in 73 games and only had 37 points for $2.8M! I'd take Modano's 30 points (prorated) @ $1M again before I'd take Hudler's 37 points @ $2.8M... :puke:

Oh my, a grand total of -83 for stinky fish taco in this thread alone... As much as I am glad the Wings may not sign them, I am ever so grateful for the things they did for this team and city while they were part of this team! Thanks for the great times guys!

Pathetic. They riot over losing game 7 of a sporting event? Where are the riots and protests against their Government supporting a war on terror that is costing them their sons and daughters innocent lives and costing tons of money everyday? For this act of stupidity I seriously hope Vancouver NEVER gets a Stanley Cup. What were they thinking, if they riot and show how mad they are, that the NHL will say ok, lets play the game again and this time you can win...

I really love all the "love" for Wiz on here now. If this deal does come tho fruition and he signs long term, I will be very proud that I (amongst a few others) was one of the first ones to suggest singing him way back near the start of the new year! Of course I would have to fins my post from way back then to prove this, but I will just say it as fact. Not that I am gloating, but it would be sweet if FINALLY Holland signed somebody that I was hoping for, for a long time! Anyhow, Get It Done! edit: I first mentioned siging him on February 11th, 2011 in a thread called the Dreger Report. I also mention back in October that I wished the Wings would've drafted him in 2002 instead of.....hudler :puke:

Did Spuddy work with Hitch in Columbus? All though my dream assistants are Larionv, Fetisov, I know it's not going to happen, but Gallant and Hitchcock would be very nice as well...

AT ONE TIME Bernie Federko and Tony McKegney were all-stars...

Ok, gonna play the Devils Advocate here, and no I am not popping in the Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino classic, but I could see this happening here. Holland gave Modano a chance last year, unfortunately because of injury, that didn't work out. Holland loves aging vets and Jagr is still very good at what he does. Is he ready for the NHL? Not sure, but how he performed at the Worlds does show that he can still play. If Jagr came here for very little, he could be worth the gamble. He really wouldn't be taking anyone's spot, especially if Hudler gets traded. There would still be room to re-sign Miller/Eaves and room for Mursak and Emmerton. He may not be a top 6 forward anymore, but thrown on a line with Datsyuk or Zetterberg or both together and there have been many players who have done great (Cleary come to mind.) He wouldn't cost too much and then Holland can focuses on the D where it is VITAL that he not only replaces Rafalski, Salei and as it looks Ericsson, he needs to IMPROVE it substantially! If Lidstrom does indeed retire, then Holland just may need all of that extra cap space to "outbid" other teams for players that he wouldn't normally have to overpay, but he would have to get 2 or 3 defenders signed in order to improve the D. Sorry, just having Kindl, Smith, Janik and whoever else is on the farm come up would be dreadful! In my opinion Jagr would be worth the gamble....hell it cannot work out any worse than Modano did...can it?

I totally agree! Which is why I said spend most the money on making the D better, so we don't have as many third period farts...but I said IF Holland can get a goal scorer, then why not? If the D brings the GAA back up to the top 5, then adding a player that can score 30+ goals would be icing on the cake! Again, to the OP, I am not saying don't get better defensively, but after that, if we can add scoring, then do it!

spend the majority of the money on defense, BUT if Holland could find a player to put in 30-40, maybe 50 more goals and can score consistently (unlike Franzen) then why not add that dimension?

I really don't understand where this comes from, in 75 games last season he only had 38 PIM's... He has has ONE season where he had more than 100 PIM's that was 103 in Chicago...All others were 36, 39, 30, 56 and last season's 38 PIM's... In 329 career games he has 302 PIM's and 103 of those came in one 68 game season... I don't believe he takes stupid penalties at all... At least not to the point to where he can be labeled.

The coaches have to work well together, this is why I don't believe Chelios will be here, I seem to remember him and Babcock having a little feud going.... Barry Smith is currently head coach in Switzerland, wonder if he can be coaxed back?

I suddenly just now realized that the Bruins haven't won the Cup since 1972....wow 38 years! That has to be the longest drought for an American team.... Go Bruins!

Ok, and Bertuzzi didn't go out of his way? Nevermind, nobody can change your view of Pronger, much as noone can change mine of Hudler...

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with either of you, but here is a little snipit from the Saskatoon Blades history concerning some...ahem, hot prospects.... Cheveldae? Sheldon Kennedy? junior hockey's brightest prospect? Emerging star Kory Kocur? Yep, all three draft picks of the Wings, Kocur was a first rounder...sheesh! OF course these aren't the only "busts" that got drafted, but it goes to show you, even when that ARE projected to be stars, sometimes they don't turn out to be! Alexandre Daigle being a glaring example of that too!

Kenny, listen up, IF Lids retires, then throw the wallet at Weber! Make him an offer he cannot refuse and at the very least, when Nashville matches they got to break their bank in doing so! When the Wings win the Cup next year he can brag to Suter how awesome it is to play in Detroit! Even if they don't, he'll still brag! (then you never know! Weber and Suter together again!) :DREAM: Come on Lids one more year, if only to save us cap space over trying to poach Weber or outbid a team and overpay a lessor player....

Well, if we're talking about suggestive overtones: Canucks? A little racist isn't it? Blackhawks? Disrespecting the Native American are we? Red Wings? Really? Ewwwwwww!

Good Luck Maclean! So now, this off season gets even more interesting!

Ya, they'd never have someone like that on this team! ....oops..... My point is, everyone makes boneheaded plays that sometimes result in injuries (even though some of them are pre-meditated and not just a momentary brain fart.) If Pronger's contract wasn't so idiotic, I am sure Holland would love to have him on this team, as would most of the Red Wings nation! And look how much we took a liking to Chelios... I am sure when he said that he models his game after Chris Pronger, he didn't mean he likes to go around injuring players.

Make room for the *****! Bab- and Hitch- Sorry couldn't resist.... (edit: I see someone else (^^^up there^^^) has the same warped mind as me! ) also, if I had my choice, I'd choose to replace the Mac's with the OV's but I don't think that is gonna happen....

Let's Compare: 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens: Regular Season: 60-8-12 132 pts. 387 GF 171 GA Dryden / Larocque combined - 2.12 GAA 14 SO's Playoffs: 12-2 54 GF 22 GA - 1.55 GAA 4 SO's 2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings: Regular Season: 51-17-10-4 OL 116 pts. 251 GF 187 GA Hasek / Legace combined - 2.22 GAA 5 SO's Playoffs: 16-7 76 GF 46 GA - 1.88 GAA 6 SO's ....say what you will about those Canadiens, there were less teams in the League (18 for Canadiens 30 for Red Wings, which means less travel (especially to the West Coast)) PLUS they only had to play three rounds in the playoffs(resulting in the higher number of goals for/against for the Red Wings.) Even with the 9 more games played in the playoffs by Detroit, the GAA is only a smidge bit higher (MTL 1.55 DET 1.88.) BUT with that being said, the stats aren't that different and would LOVE to see these two teams play each other for the Stanley Cup! Me being bias (a little ) I would have to factor all the travel and longer playoff grind and give the nod to the Detroit Red Wings... Speaking of that, when you factor in all the travel and the larger amount of teams that played in the league, it really makes you appreciate the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and their 131 pts! Did you know that they started the season 5-5-1 and then went 57-8-6 the rest of the season? Now that was a team! Too bad they couldn't bring it all home!

The Wings traded for Hasek July 1st, 2001 but Chris Osgood wasn't traded, he was claimed off waivers by the Islanders and it wasn't until after training camp in September (not during the summer) I would say you forgot just a few details about that season (maybe a few too many barley pops on Lake Michigan!) But I enjoyed the story and the enthusiasm!

I guess Spuddy would be nice, it's probably going to be a pipedream that they would get Larionov.... Have we heard any other news on possible names for the already vacated spot?