LeftWinger

Ok, icesurfer, that is great research, but do ya think maybe you could have put it all in one post? Just want to say, I remember back a few days before UFA season began, I mentioned three names that I (personally, not because I know the game, or can be a GM) would like to see here (if only because I like their style of play.) Alex Tanguay Stefan Yelle Travis Moen (once in a while I added a name or two to the pot as well, ie. Orr, Axelsson, Fiddler, etc..) ...boy did I get flamed by more than a few members! I think one guy told me to keep playing NHL 09! I laughed because the last EA Sports NHL game I played was NHL 95! Anyhow, not everyone has warmed up to Tanguay yet (probably because he would cost too much) but more and more I am seeing Moen and Yelle mentioned. Is it maybe because everyone else you guys wanted has gone somewhere else? Or is it because these two guys fit the mold of someone that could really fill a need on this club (defensive, penalty killer, shutdown guy)? I don't know if Holland will sign any of those guys, but until they are signed somewhere else, I will continue to beat the drum of Moen and Yelle (sounds like someone getting whooped on! Moen and Yelle ) Even if he doesn't, I am all for bringing up Abby fulltime and Oulahen as well... Youth Gone Wild!

Bertuzzi can't skate fast enough to play on one of the top 2 lines in Detroit... ...am I the only one on here that hate's seeing and reading the word Gritty when describing a hockey player. Can't we change it to hard working two way player? I know thats a lot to type rather than type one word, but man Gritty is just so.... YECH! How about we use Abrasive instead, means the same but at least it's different... I hope Bertuzzi is not signed, there is a reason Anaheim (other than salary dump) got rid of him and Calgary isn't re-signing him, besides he isn't going to pay for $1.5M or less... We're gonna have to look more towards a Grier, Moen, Nichol...

Although Lidstrom WILL NOT be making $3.5M IF[/] he re-signs next year, BUT it is not far fetched to see him sign a deal worth $5.0m and $5.5m. I would say Maltby, Lebda & Lilja will most likely NOT be back. Holmstrom is a maybe, yeah he had an off year, but he was injured a lot during the regular season. He had a horible playoffs, but has always been known to have better playoffs than regular season, so, barring more injuries, I will wait to see his playoff performance this year before I write him off as to not re-signing. (with a significant pay decrease tho.) Abby & Helm, RFA's.... Well, the performance Helm has put on in the last two playoffs, he will get the biggest raise of all the RFA's, probably between $1.25 and $1.5M. Abby is aleady close to a million than Helm, but has not had as much success as Helm (two very huge goals tho!) so unless Abby plays more than half the season in Detroit, I don't expect his raise to be as much, maybe he will reach the $1m, but not much more... Either way, there is still a significant amount of cap space left next summer, so yeah, it will a very, very busy summer for Kenny & the Gang! ALthough, there are plenty of kids in GRR waiting to get up here. Lets see the trade-offs if the guys we've mentioned actually leave (assuming Lids retires as well.) Maltby - Abby (full time) Lebda - Kindl Holmstrom - Ryno Lilja - Kolosov Lidstrom - UFA? Not quite sure which D-Men are ready after Kindl & Kolosov, so I would imagine that Holland may be shopping for a UFA Defensman UNLESS we make a trade for someoen like Jack Johnson (fingers crossed) this season...

I read the same thing, Drake Marcus was saying that he is out of options so he has to make the club or be waived. He said he is good enough to be on the 4ht liine with Draper and Maltby because he is an excellent penalty killer and often plays as a shutdown guy. If Abby is herer for sure, then with the final roster spot my guess would be if Ryan seriously impressess in training camp he will get that last spot, whether Hudler is here or not. I for one am totally excited to see these kids coming up, especially (not being racist, but biased for sure) the North Americans. Abby, Helm & if Oulahen makes the team. I am excited for Leino and Ericsson as well, but its been awhile since we've had a North American prospect make the club and become an important cog in our machine! (I know Cleary is Canadian, but I mean someone we drafted and watched develope.) And that is why we will be fresh for the Cup run this year, we may not come in the #2 or #1 seed, but who cares really? If we were healthy last year it wouldn't have gone past 5 games anyway... Bring on the kids! Youth Gone Wild!

The only I want elimiated early is Pitts. We have to win the Cup this year, not oly because we need to rebound from the disappointment of last season, but this COULD be Lidstroms final year... ...and why would you wish for an early round exit? For Rest? C'Mon! These guys are pros, plus we are going to have three Rookies and an outsider who is either desperate for the Cup or just new blood who brings another tangible to this club (Travis Moen ) This team will be Hungrier next season, they will have MORE fresh legs than last season. The only question is, as always, how will Osgood play? Well, he played good enough to win the Conn Smythe last year and would've won it if the WIngs could have repeated. I have a feeling he will do fine, but I am concerned with Howard... Other than that, the Wings should be one of the favorites again, to make it out of the west and seriously challenge for the Stanely Cup. #12 comes next!

Free Agent.... This is particularly the best part of his entire analysis. Especially the bolded part. Ya, Detroit realizes how important those first rounders were to be sucessful alright. Lets see one of them landed us Hasek, two landed Chelios not quite sure about the other three, not too worried about looking it up because (this tool is obviously a Leafs fan) just how many times have the Leafs been to the Finals since 1994 compared to who has been there the most? Who has the most Presidents trophies since 1994? Who has the most 100 point seasons since 1994? Who has been to the Conference Finals the most since 1994? Who has been in the playoffs more since 1994? Not mentioning that they have been to the playoffs 19 straight years? Oh, I forgot one little question, who has won more Stanley Cups than ANYONE else in the NHL since 1994? anyone? Does anyone know the answer? Yeah, Detroit realizes just how much those first round draft picks are to be sucessful, whether we use them to draft someone, Kronwall/Fischer, or to aquire someone, Chelios/Hasek, I think the Red Wings, if they had it to do all over again, they would do the exact same thing.... Toronto 1994-2009: ZERO Cups, ZERO FINALS APPEARANCES (BTW- Since 1967 those numbers are STILL Zero!) Detroit 1994-2009: FOUR CUPS, SIX FINALS APPEARANCES...

Can you say the pot calling the kettle black?

I have been saying this about Hudler forever (and getting flamed up and down) that YES he is worth $3.5M but NOT HERE with out limited cap space! If we had $5.5m in cap and only three players to sign, sure then he woul get it here, but we don't and he won't... I know the possiblities of what Hudler can become, but unfortunately the cap will never let us see hwat he becomes UNLESS HE PLAYS FOR $2M OR LESS! Which, since he turned down the $2.5M offer, he obviously won't do, so he wants money over staying with a team that wins consistantly. Good on him, and goodbye! Leino was picked up because of his potential to score, just in case we lost the likes of Hudler. We have a lot of youngins in GRR and still overseas that are also being groomed to be 2nd line scorers and 4th line grinders, we may initially miss HUdler's points, but in two or three years we won't even rememebr we had him...

Yeah, and it starts by the biggest office blunder in NHL history possibly resulting in your fresh young RFA's becoming UFA's! PLUS he's signed Hossa/Kopecky to a combo of $6.5million dollars and jeopardizing the re-siging of your RFA's to be next season and the folowing. That is his plan... ...and that is why they are imploding from the inside, NOT becuase of Hossa, but because of Hossa, , get it? Hossa is not the cancer, but the fact that Talon signed him to a 12 year contract makes him one... Now, regarding Yzerman, if ANYONE is going to get offers outside of the organization it will be Jim Nill. IF Scotty Bowman has anything to say about it, it WILL be Jim Nill. No matter what you guys think, Scotty and Yzerman were like oil and water. Yzerman was never a favorite of Scotty's. Oh sure, in the public eye everything was peachy, but behind the scenes Scotty really didn't like him. For pete;s sake Scotty had him traded in 1994 to Ottawa for Alexi Yashin until Marian Ilitch stepped in and said NO WAY. Fedorov was Scotty's boy, he took over in 1994 when Yzerman went down with the neck injury and Fedorov had his CAREER year that year winning BOTH the Selke and Hart, and when they lost to San Jose in the first round, Scotty questioned Yzerman's leadership and desire to win. He had the trade ready to go, Yashin and Fedorov had great chemistry together and Scotty wanted that duo. But when he was vetoed by Ilitch, he then took Yzerman to the side and told him to change his game and re-evaluate his desire or he will treat him so bad that Yzerman will ask to be traded! (ok, so maybe not that exact way, but that is when Yzerman's game changed to a more defensive style of play, so I am assuming Scotty did have a meeting with Steve about how he better change or he'll never win a Cup in Detroit.) Anyow, the point being I don't think Bowman would recommend hiring Yzerman in Chicago, besides like someone said, Nill is the next one to get a GM job, look how long he's been the Asst. GM. Holland isn't retiring anytime soon and Nill is ready now to become the man, somewhere. Yzerman's natural progression is in line with the timeframe of Holland's retirement. I could see Nill being hired by a team liek Chicago who needs a GM to make that one move that puts them over (ala Holland trading for Shanny) OR to completelyh rebuild a team (Phoenix, Florida) ie. Jimmy Devellano... Expect Nill to be a GM somewhere else and Yzerman promoted to asst. GM taking over for Holland when he retires. BTW - The way former payers say how Scotty treats his players (no matter if your're Yzerman or Aaron Ward) I wouldn't doubt that my story is that far from the truth! Just ask Dino or Coffey or Ward themselves! I hear Kozlov was took the blunt of the blame for a lot of things as well...

are we talking just NHL here? Because:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283634 Whoops, didn't see the other thread, sorry.....

Therer are a lot of Hudler sightings in those line combos too! As was Sammy, and Hossa & Joe UFA. People like to put line combos together and include the player that they would love to see Holland sign. We can always do this: Cleary - Zetterberg - Datsyuk Franzen - Filppula - Holmstrom ??? - Helm - ???? Maltby - Draper - ????? ?????? (Meech) Ok, that's better, those are all our signed forwards, man those lines look great!

Hopefully NOT Jack Johnson, because the Kings are improving a little bit, so now Maybe Stuart would want to go back "Home" and waive his NTC and get US Jack Johnson!

along with the Flames and Sharks! AMEN! (Hopefully it's not us elimnating them though, I'd like to be 100% for the Finals this time...)

Yeah, because that is why players come to Detroit, for the Money... I think our entire team may be grosly underpaid compared to what they can get open market, they come here to win, sometimes they leave for more money (Hossa, Lapointe-less, Sammy) or for more icetime (Fedorov) or they just can't hang with the big boys anymore (Kopecky.) I don't remember calling you about anyone, especially Hossa, but ya, you offense got a little better, Hossa will probably get a few more points than Havlat did. Your concerns over Huet are warrented, and oh yeah, you Still have Seive Campbell (oh I am sorry I got him confused with Liev Campbell although if the shoe fits, make scrambled eggs!) and lost Matt Walker... You're right though, in 10-11 months we will see who is going to the SCF's. And we will see if the Snap, Krackle actually Pops tomorrow morning too!

Well, Dandy is like a more experienced Meech, but if did he come back he couldn't have #11, he'd have to turn it around like Hos.... oh, oops! Hmmm, Bertuzzi, I don't know... Hungry for a Cup, of course, what Candian boy isn't? Gritty, ok, I'll give him that, tough, not anymore, he is afraid to punch anyone anymore. He's one of thse guys that doesn't look good in the Winged Wheel, sorta like Hatcher and Krupp, they just look funny... Uwe Krapp shouldn't even been allowed to touch that Cup after the garbage he pulled that year!

That is why I would only offer Moen $1.25 or $1.5. If he gets more somewhere else good on him! Same reason Hudler shouldve jumped at Hollands (alleged) $2.5M offer. Now He will go to arbitration, WIN, get a $3.0M award and get released because Holland cannot pay him $3.0M

Hmmmm, how long have you been a Hawks fan? For life? So you knew about a little Icon you had prior to the 199 trade deadlie right? If no, his name was Chris Chelios, he wore #7, he was your Captain, he has all kinds of records (or did) for the Hawks, he was born in Chicago, his parents still live there (btw, real classy to boo them too.) Yeah, I would say Chicago treated him as an Icon as well. Probably more than they'll ever treat Kane (unless he stays around 9 or so years, then he might hit Chelios status.) As far as "emerging Threats" Hmmmmmm, first you say we cannot pay him enough to get him here, now you say LMAO to Phoenix and Florida, and insinuate that he would go o St. Louis because they are an emerging threat. Make up your mind, is he going to get paid or win? If he's all about the Cash, he'll go ANYWHERE to get paid, even Phoenix if they paying. If he wants to win, he will consider his best options and compile a list to give to his agent with about 5 or 6 teams he'd go to. ANd like most, if not ALL players "lists" Detroit will be on there. If you doubt, just go back a look at Dany Heatly's little list to for an appetizer.... Thanks for playing....

I read that masturbation makes you go blind... Dude, get with the verbage! he is not going to say to a Hawks friendly newspaper (who are mostly always anti-Detroit anything) "Oh when I played in my pajamas I just loved rooting for the Red Wings! I hated the Hawks they stunk when I was 16..." I can guarantee, if a Detroit news paper interviewed him, he would say how he enjed his time here and rspected the City and the hospitality his"Hockey Family" showed him and the times he spent down at the Joe you now he went to watch a game or 10) He throughly enjoyed himself and loved wtching the likes of Steve Yzerman and Nick Lidstrom play... He only "Hates" the Wings now because that is the cool thing to do in Chicago, if you don't hate detroit, then get out! And when you come back, we'll Boo You!

may be a bad idea considering they'd prolly be getting the 28th, 29th or 30th in each round! Awww, poor little Hawks fan still upset tht Chelios had more suces here in the D? Awww, no way Kane would ever go play with the big bad Wings! I would just hate them if the took Kane from us, and we would boo him! Yeah, we'd boo him! that would teach him a lesson! He would never go pay there cause no matter how many cups he'd win, we'd boo him! and little kaner is so sensative, he would go sit on the bench and feel shame, and ask uncle Gary if he can go back and play with the good boys, he tired of wnning and being boo'd. We'll boo him! That'll get him! Even if we trade him away, we'll boo him! Nobody can chnage his diaper but us, we're hawks fans and we haven't won since 1961! He's ours and we'll boo him and yell at him and and and boo him! I am glad you CAN imagine him rolling in the dough with us, but realistically, we could not afford to pay another forward $6-$7 million (or more) per season, we're about depth, we're not about losing the likes of Datsyuk or Zetterberg for your litte Kaney Waney, you can lose him to Phoenix or Florida or St. Louis...

true, but you know as well as we all do, that is everyones first excuse. The Wings? They're old! They won't be able to lift the Cup with their canes and walkers! Ironic that the Wings are now getting younger each day (and still getting over 100 points and challenging for the Cup) as all the Young teams are getting older! Plus I just love making fun of little Neddy Neiderpuken... that saucy, naught little devil... bad neddy....bad...

For the Love of Pete, give the Hudler talk a rest! At least Hudler opted for arbitration rahter than sign the very lucritive $2.5M contract... And only a fool would think Hudler is going to be a 2nd line scorer here when MoEn could easily be on the third line before Hudler makes the 2nd. They are in the same stratosphere, what MoEn lacks in scoring he makes up in grit and defense and hitting and winning battles in the corners and in front of the net, NONE of which Hudler can do... Yea, everyone is talking grit, the Wings made it to the finals back to back and lost to skill squad, only because the likes of Anaheim tore them up, Chicago physically punished them and by time they got to Gill and Orpik, they got thrown around like they were ragdolls. All with their grit and checking and winning battles in the corners AND in front of the net. Yeah, Wings are tough, but not tough enough to handles three out of four hard hitting pounding the rock, check fest! Hudler is of NO help in series' like those, and he proved it... And please do trust Holland, tht is what he gets paid for, and when Hudler gets awarded a $3.0m salary, I trust and you can trust Holland will bid him a fond farewell!

It's hard to imagine that he played with anyone in the minors that even remotely compares to playing with the likes of Filppula, Franzen, Zetterberg and Dastyuk, Lidtsrom & Rafalski for an entire 82 game season...

But he's Old Now? Uh, Lidstrom is still the greatest. The centerpiece of our franchise? So what are Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Franzen/Rafalski/Kronwall? Lazy Susan's to Nick centerpiece? Dude is Lidstrom is "Old Now" Scottie Neiderpu$$y is ancient, at least he plays that way compared to Nick. (and what about Selanne? 39 just like Nick, is he "Old Now?" Probably not.) Neither Selanka or Neiderpunka$$ could hold Lidstroms toilet paper, they'd be priviledged to drink Nicks bath water. I think 6 out the last 8 Norris Trophies have proven who the best Defensman is modern times is. No, it's not Pronger ( oh wait you guys hate that cheapshot artist now, funny how that works, do yo ustill subscribe to his theory of genetics or do you finally admit the hit on Holmstrom was dirty?) anyway, it's not Neiderpupin, it's not Bos***man either. Nick Lidstrom sets the standard in the NHL of a true two way defensman. The way he plays, so smooth and effortless he could play until he is 50. I can think of 29 other teams that right now would give Lidstrom top dollar AND their left nuts to have him on thier team (and if you can't add, that includes your team as well.) Now, go back home and just watgch your little Neddy Neiderpiper play again for another year. He'll take cheapshots and elboews and liberties on everyone and pick on smaller European forwards and you guys will just love him to death, yes you will, MMm MMM Mmmmm MMMMUH! Pinch his little cheeks, look at him, he's so naughty, he's a naughty little boy, he's dirty, you dirty little Neiderhosen you... Naughty... Dude, spare us with the Old Wings we avergage 30.15 and you 28.03. Wow two years and some change! And if I factored in Abdelkader and Oulehan, it would lower even more, so the Old Wings are no more. Seasoned Veterens, I will agree. Besides I can bet my house that Lidstrom has NEVER, EVER thrown a cheap elbow like Neideeymeijer does, in his career, and probably never will... Go Home,

How do we know for sure Michael jackson is dead? How do we know for sure we went to the moon? How do we know that Slim Jims are made of real meat? We don't. Bottom line is none of us "know" anything when it comes down to it, if we did, we'd be in Ken Holland's place, and not even he knows whats gonna happen. How do we know the sun will rise tomorrow? What I do know is despite our bickering back and forth I respect the hell out of you for your love of this team and your favorite players, I apologize for the "relieving your stress" comment (although it probably did sound fun :LOL) but serious I don't purposely try to offend anyone on here, but sometimes (a lot of times) it happens. You can ask a whole bunch of people on here how I was just a couple of seasons ago when I had a lot of personal problems, I was probably 1000 times worse then anything you've read from me...Yikes! But again I will say, for the sake of Hudler fans, I hope he does the right thing for him, whether that is staying here cheap, or getting his payday, he will always have fans. Just not me (and just so you know it's not just Hudler, I have never liked McCarty or LaPointe either. And even though I am a friend of Manny Legace's father-in-law, BLEH!)