LeftWinger

Yeah, for some reason, the city of Detroit isn't that marketable. Could it be our criminal (ex)mayor? COuld it be our corrupt City Councel? Maybe it's our great public school system. Or maybe it's the people who actually live in the city. The same ones who kill each other in the streets and could give two craps about themselves let alone their neighbors! I know every major city has it's "hood" but that is all Detroit is. A hood. There are SOME nice places, ALOT of good people, but much like the Lions organization, it is a direct reflection of who is in charge. Why car, if your leaders (owners) don't? It is my belief that the State needs to step in and take control of the City and all municipalities. They need to spend money on demolishing every last abandoned and burnt down house/building instead of some of the garbage they are wasting OUR money on! Sorry for the rant... That being said, could you imagine the TV time this team would get if they were in a Bettman city? Everything exactly the same, except where they are based. What if this team were in New York or Los Angeles or Phoenix? First of all we'd be stuck with garbage like the Coyotes or Kings, but the Phonix Red Wings would be plastered all over the NHL Network! -edit: I'll take 4 or 5 more Cups in the next 10-11 years if it means I have to watch the Pens and Ducks and every other team on commercials NOT raising the Cup.

THe thing is, The Wings aren't sending any type of message except, you mess with us and we will fight back. I think if Columbus believes they can intimidate us by physical play after the whistle they just need to go back as early as last (game, really) years playoff run. Nashville, Colorado, Dallas & Pittsburgh were ALL supposed to be grittier and tougher than us, and they ALL tried these antics after the whistle. FYI: IT DOESN'T WORK AGAINST DETROIT!!!! The only problem is someone possibly getting hurt because of it. The refs need to start calling EVERYTHING in front of the net that happens AFTER the whistle. Even if it's us. That is the only way to get this to stop. BEFORE someone gets seriously injured.

I hate to agree with the columnist but Osgood IS our weakest link. That being said, Osgood is playing great, so if he is our weakest link, what does that say about how the rest of the team is playing? On a team where Osgood is your weakest link, I would totally being shatting my pants when I see the rest of the team! That is probably what he meant, On a team of greatness, Osgood is the least great. But still great none-the-less, just not as great as the rest of the team. And that is the hometown spin on that article.

Did you purposely use that line of wording? That is the post of the night!

Before the playoffs J. Willy bought the team robes. After game 2's performance or should say embarrassment (to themselves) the Columbus media are donating these: They'll need this extra help to even squeak out A win, let alone come back to beat the Wings in the series.

That is pretty cool, that maybe better than Maggie! BUTm I don't think I want to wait until 2012 to win it again after 2009! Are you sure yo don't have another younger brother graduated college next year in 2010?

isn't a Blue Jacket in reference to the Civil War? Someone has to make something to do with that! Here's the theme: Detroit Red Wings defeating a union soldier or "Blue Jacket", making up for what the Confederates couldn't do! Thats the winner right there!

Boy all this excitment over this announcement. How come wen I mentioned that trading Filpulla, letting Hudler and Sammy go,along with possibly trading Lebda all for draft picks, you all laughed at me, called me names (ok maybe not that) but pretty much said I was crazy for letting Hudler go, and trading Filppula. Ahem! NOW that is what more than likely is gonna happen and everyone here agrees with it! Hmmmmmmm..... With the way Detroit drafts players, we can EASILY replace Hudler and Filppula in the coming years. Sammy is solid, but VERY replaceable as is Lebda & Chelios. Let me say this again: Trade Filppula for a 2nd and 3rd round pick. Let Hudler test the market, more than likely getting somewhere between 3.5 and 4 million, netting us a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick Trade Lebda for a 3rd or 4th round pick. Sammy, Chelios, McCarty (:puke:) all walk, thanks for the memories guys! Conklin either resigns at the same pay and we trade or waive Howard OR Conklin walks and we bring up Howard. So, we lose above players, but GAIN a 1st, TWO 2nds, TWO 3rds (maybe 3) and a 4th round pick to go WITH our own picks. We get Ericsson, Helm, Abdelkader, Howard and Leino. PLUS we get to keep the TWO highest goal scorers on our team in Franzen and Hossa FOREVER! ANd also, not by choice, but if Lilja is done, then his salary will come off and we'll probably see Kindl or someone else up here too.

isnt there a separate thread for this already? How did game day turn into Franzen and Hossa AGAIN!?!!?! Quickly, I like Franzen but if he wanted to have to best available chance(s) to win Cups within those 11 years, he should've have signed a contract that had a cap hit more like $2.9M. This pretty much screws us for Hossa, unless he takes a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE discount to stay here OR he signs somewhere for 1 year OR takes another 1 year deal at that same discount, then comes back when Lidstroms contract is off the books. Of course if Lids wants to stay he MUST take a HUGE discont as well. Franzen just tied the hands if Holland and Holland allowed it to happen. ANYWAY, but to the ORIGINAL TOPIC. I know the game doesn't mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things, but in thie case of an OBVIOUS, BLATENT and totally manufactered penalty, the referee should have some kind of ramafication to suffer. There ought to be fines and suspensions handed down by the league for obvious f**ck ups like yesterdays. Not that it would change the outcome of the game the day after, but it would make the refs be more accountable and, like Mickey said, make the mistake of missing a close call instead of calling a penalty that was never even there. That ref totally spit in the face of the NHL and gave it a black eye. Even Byfleuen(sp) said, it may have not been a penalty, which pretty much means, if that were called on his team, they would be screaming as well! ALthough I really wanted to hear Babcocks thoughts on the "penalty" I give him credit for avoiding sure fines from the NHL if he did answer questions about it. Sure would've like to be a fly on the wall in his office though! I wonder if there is some kind of procedure to file a grievance or something against an obvious screw job like that. Not that it would change the call or give us the 1 point we were most certainly going get (at least) yesterday. Maybe do not allow him to ref any playoff games. Also, with all the veteran refs retiring this and next season, I certainly hope this is not the amateur garbage we are going to have to deal with from these new refs!

Just as a few of us said a long time ago! Bye Bye Filppulla, Hudler & Sammy for sure! Hello HOSSA long term! Hudler with get at least the same somewhere so HELLO 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick! Trade Flip for a 2nd and 3rd and lets go!

Tell us something we don't know!

Here we go! Lets start the debate! Nah! Just kidding! Bottom Line, Sign Hossa, Franzen & Leino. Bye Bye Filppula, Hudler & Sammy!

Very nice! But, do you see him playing 6 more season here AND winning 27 games per? That would be great! But honestly, I think 5th or 6th is not out of the question within his current contract, and if he is anywhere near sniffing Sawchuk, he will re-sign to get there. Either way, he desereves his number retired and consideration for the Hall.

Well, considering that the three years he was gone he won, 32, 21 & 31 games respectively each season, probably right about where is at right now.

All he needs is 3 more season with 21 or so wins to catch Cujo (as long as Cujo retires after this season) but he will definately get to Sawchuk for 5th all time! Gee, soon to be 9th ALL TIME! ALL TIME! ALL TIME! Gonna get at least 25 more wins the next two years, that is good for 6th for sure and that is if he doesn't win anymore this season. No, he doesn't deserve seriou Hall consideration and he DEFINATELY doesn't deserve his number retired! speaking of which, I didn't know that only 4 players have played 1000 games in a WIngs uniform! Three of them are alrady in the rafters, so I do believe that gives serious consideration to Draper's number going up! #30 & #33 will go! #91 is losing steam...

How rude! Of you that is! How do you frealing ask him for his autograph when he is on a personal phone call? That is wha is wrong with sports fans now-a-days. There is a time and place to ask for autographs, when they are on personal phone calls, out to dinner with family or obviously doing something that cannot be interrupted, you should NEVER ask for their autograph! Use you head, there is an ediquitte. Anyhow, I have had WAY too many interactions to list, but I will list a couple. I worked as a skycap for "THE" airline here in Detroit from 1991 to 1995, met MANY, MANY players, NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA, College, you name it. If they had a game in the area, more than likely they flew us. Talked to Marc Potvin when he was a Wing (Adirondack) and he was so taken aback that I even recognized him that he bought me lunch. That was cool! I had a long conversation with John Brophy, when he was a scout for the Wings. We had just traded for Coffey and he was telling me that I would enjoy watching him play (with the puck) but watch him without it, he is (and turned out to be) a huge defensive liabilty. He said he just floats around when he doesn't have the puck. Had lunch with Joe Murphy and Jeremy Roenick at Little Caesars the day after the Blackhawks played us one time. Same with Kirk Muller when he was with Montreal. Had a nice conversation with Brett Hull and Adam Oates when they both played for the Blues. Rich Sutter (Head Coach) was with them, but didnt say too much. Back when Probie couldn't travel to Canada, I was driving one of those annoying electric carts and noticed him and his (then) girlfriend looking at the departure monitor. I knew he was flying to meet the team in San Jose and pulled up and offered him ride from the security chek point to the old "C" gates ( a very long walk.) His girlfriend said no thanks, but PRobie hopped on and said "Go ahead, walk! I'm riding!" I also drove Mike Sillinger one time as he was being sent back down to Adirondack (it was the trade deadline) and we talked about the different deals that went on that day. I have had many quick encounters with many players and coaches, but my all time favorite was this one time, when Bryan Murray was both head coach/GM. The Wings were on a 10 or so game winning streak, and as he was walking through security people were saying hi to him from all angles. I said to him, it sure is hard to remain anonymous now-a-days isn't it? He kinda laughed and said yes! As we both walked away from the check point, he asked me what I did for the airline and after I explained that, he told me that he was going to the GM's meetings and was going to miss tonights game. He was going to leave it to the assisstants tonight. I told him I was going to the game (back then it was still affordable to go! LOL!) he told me to make sure they did a good job! Jokingly I said OK! Well, they lost. So, life goes on! Here I am three days later sitting in the area right before the old revolving doors that used to lead to baggage claim and guess who walks around the corner? You guessed it! Well, not expecting anything, he walks over to me and says, "Hey! I thought you were going to make sure they did a good job!" I couldn't do anything but laugh and told him that I threw some line combos at them, but the refused to listen to me! He laughed an said he was going to have a talk with them that night about it! Then he went on his way! I was so surprised that he approached me that day, and that he remembered our conversation. That was cool! That was way better than just asking for an autograph and moving on! These are public people that also have private lives. Since that day, I always tried to have some sort of friendly exchange with someone famous that I may meet, not just ask for an autograph and thats it. They appreciate it, trust me. One time Isiah Thomas was at the airport I was talking to him for about 30 minute and he actually asked me why haven't I asked for his autograph yet, and I said that I figured he was here on private matters and I shouldn't be asking during those matters. He looked at me and said "Wow! I like that!" Shook my hand and boarded his plane. Very Cool! The whole time I was a skycap I only ever asked for 2 autographs, Bob Probert and Rowdy Roddy Piper! But I have had probably hundreds of conversations and friendly exchanges with many! I kinda miss that job, but had to move on!

no, really? Of course they'd have to trade him, but I was generalizing when I said lose those players. In my opinion they wouldn't "lose" at all by losing those players, they would gain. Franzen, Hossa, Helm, Leino are better than Franzen, Hudler, Filppula, Sammy. Sorry. Everyone has an opinion and sometime they stink, but this is mine. You have yours. Maybe both of ours stink.

you know what is more annoying than Avery and his instigating antics? Ovechkin and his childish goal celebrations!!

Read the article bub. It is not just US saying lids for $4M and sign both Hossa and Franzen. If there are agens talking about it, then odds are there are rumblings going around the "agent pool." Lidstrom is the ultimate team player, sure he could demand his current salary, but he could also demand top league pay somewhere else. Lids knows his play has declined, he knows he will need the supporting cast to win again (if he re-signs) and he will take a paycut. It may not be as deep as $4M, but he probably won't make more than $6M. And, yes, losing Filpulla, Hudler and Sammy is WELL worth keeping Hossa and Franzen.

awesome! I was hoping it would be a little closer to $3M cap hit, maybe when its said and done, it will. Say goodbye to Hudler, Filppula and Sammy for sure. But I still think its worth it. Helm and Leino need to be in Detroit next season! This current team just may win the Cup this year, but next season willbe awesome! We'll have probably no less than 4 Griffins up here permanently ALL hungry to prove something! Gonna be a whole new attitude next season!

Booo to the officials for using the replay to give him a penalty! What now? Are we going be using the scoreboard and replays for ALL non-calls!?!?! Hey lets give the coachs a red towel and they can throw it on the ice when they want a review! The reviews are for the league! I am sure Avery would've gotten a fine or something after THE NHL reviewed the play, NOT while the refs are watching the scoreboard!!! Those penalty minutes should be subtracted from his total!!! Hey, we ALL loved Bob Probert and his not-so-innoent hits and runs at goalies (Reindeau and Bester come to mind) and this is no different, except that he played it way too innocent while skating up behind him, looking around the rink in the air like, "Wow, I've never seen something this big before!" Other than that, good on him!!

that is great, and maybe he will sign for a cap hit of $5M, that would be even better! I guess we will see what he thinks is "a fair contract." I don't think Holland will try and undercut him, but maybe see what he is looking for as "less to stay." It could very well be $5M instead of $6M. If he doesn't sign soon, then it ain't happening until after the playoffs, so, he'll either wanna to stay and try for a 2nd Cup (three for us) OR not win the Cup and decide that what Holland is offering isn't fair enough. This is a card game, neither guy wants to show his poker face. Holland wants Hossa long term, Hossa wants to be here until he retires. Holland is hoping to win the Cup and have Hossa be a intrical part of it, but still want to be here for less. Hossa wants to win the Cup, and just like last season, be a big scoring factor, perhaps even the Conn Smythe winner and hope that the "far less" to stay is a little more than what it would be if he pooted out in the playoffs, which would benefit Holland. Game on, lets git er dun! Go Wings! In the end, nobody knows what either Hossa or Franzen are thinking, so it's easy for us to say if they want to win, take less! I think Franzen should take $2.5 and Hossa $5, but that probably won't happen! also, when talking about having Osgood and Howard with no cap space, you have to remember how many contracts are expirig AFTER next season. If Lids decides to stay it will be for much less, he will probably be in the $4M range. Holmstrom and Maltby also will be expired, I can imagine if they don't retire they will also be taking paycuts. So we win this year, hold on tight with Ozzie/Howard next year. Then score a netminder the next, if Howard isn't the one. You have to look long term, not next week.

they'll coast the rest of the way. SJC is up 6 points, Bruins up 3 points. The Wings are perfectly happy with the 2nd seed, so, ya, they'll coast the rest of the way, falter a bit in the first round, then come back strong and hopefully go all the way! (just like every season!)

This is entirely possible! First thing, why would they trade Stuart, when he already took a huge discount to stay here? He could have gotten $5M EASILY from somehwere else. He is making very little money and is worth every penny of it! End of Story. We've talked about this plenty before, you have to trade Filppula for sure, that frees up $3M, that gives the Wings a little over $12M in cap space. Hossa cap hit is $6M, Franzen's is $3M. You lose Chelio's salary, trade Lebda for a pick (lose his salary,) lose Sammy's salary, lose Hudler's salary (plus get a 1st 2nd and 3rd after he signs for $4M somewhere.) That will give you plenty of money to bring up Ericsson, re-sign Leino, bring up Helm & Abdelkader and Howard 's salary is a wash of Conklin's. If you don't think a player exchange of Flip, Huds, Sammy, Chelios, Lebda & Conklin for (re-siging long term) Hossa & Franzen and Leino, Helm, Abdelkader, Ericsson & Howard, you are crazy! In this cap world, the kids are going to have to be here soon (or risk losing them like Quincey) so if you do or dont win all the marbles this season, you may as well do it next year. Bring the kids up with a core of Dats, Zetts, Homer, Cleary, Hossa & Franzen up front? Oh MY! Even without Flip and Huds, those are still two VERY lethal lines! Follow those up with Abdelkader/Helm/Leino and then Maltby/Draper/Kopecky? You pretty much don't lose a step! Zetts/Dats/Homer Hossa/Franz/Cleary Leino/Helm/Abdelkader Kopecky/Draper/Maltby Downey (or some other surprise in training camp) Lids/Rafi Kron/Stu Ericsson/Meech Lilja (if healthy!) Osgood/Howard It all fits, its all fine. Lest you forget the 1st, 2nd & 3rd pick for Hudler, the 3rd for Filppula and the late rounder for Lebda! Then make Chelios your NEW defensive coach and call it a day! heck, if you don''t quite fell Abdelkader is ready (he still has GRR options) sign Weight for $500,000 or so (although he'd probably want $1M) and those two salaries would wash (although Abby makes more than $500,000 so that would even provide you with a few extra dollars.)

it is supposed to be about DEFENSE but it has never been. If it was ALWAYS about defense then Orr wouldn't have never won it, ever and Vladdy would have won it in 1997, instead of Brian Screetch.