LeftWinger

...I doubt it, Boston would have something to say about that. But MAN! Could imagine a Division with Detroit, Toronto, Boston & Montreal in it? Sure, Buffalo or Ottawa wold have to move, probably Buffalo to establish an interstate Rivalry with the Isles... ...could you imagine the Hockey Nirvana fans would be in with the rivalies going on in that division? Oh, dandy, what a barnburner! Get it done Bettman! Move Columbus to Victoria (re-establish the Cougars) and then move Philly into the Southeast (heck if the Caps are there, so can the Flyers) and move Buffalo in to the Atlantic...

...how about a good ole' 1-0 victory? The Wings blister 50 shots and the Yotes' send off 45! Star #1 Conklin, #2 Bryz and #3 Derek Meech after the game winning sudden death shootout goal... ...now that is Drama!

..I hate all the clever songs. Lets just play some music and entertainment that will get the fans rocking! While we are at it how about we change the "Horn" to a Siren? If the Joe would make more of a production out of the night, more people will come back to a game, even if they lose. How about smoke and strobes and darkness and LOUD music, not Motown and Ray Charles or some stupid Van Morrison song. GET LOUD, let them know the WINGS just scored! If you are at Cobo for th Autoshow, I want you to know that the Wings scored! ...How about after the pregame warmup and right before the teams come out of the rooms when only the starting line up can be on the ice, turn out the lights lower the Otcopus and illuminate the Arena with black lights to make the Ice and the Octopus glow, all while playing some Inndustrial Rock tune from Sister Machine Gun or Minisrty with smoke machines filling the air and strobes flashing throughout? I could even get into "The Game" by Motorhead. Get the people up! We don't want to hear Aretha or the Vandells... The Van Bondies maybe! Marylin Manson, yes. Ray Charles, hit the road...

...this brings up the question, which teams can the NHL do without? I would say at least 4 if not 6 franchises should either fold up or move elsewhere... ...Move Phoenix back to Winnipeg, they deserve it and MAN would that arena be sold out FOREVER! Minnesota and Atlanta, for the life of me I cannot understand WHY a city cannot support a team, they lose it, so lets give them ANOTHER one! ...Columbus? Adios... Which teams need to hang em up and which ones need to move? And no, not KC and not Vegas. They could not support a team. We need more teams in Canada (and I am American.) Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec, Halifax or maybe with all the talk about moving a team to Seattle, how about Victoria?

....Well first of all, Osgood was NOT traded, he was waived and the Isles claimed him off waivers... ...his performane had NOTHING to do with him being waived, he was waived because they just traded for Hasek and Osgood was still making over $3 million per season all while Legace was around $1 million. There is no justification to having your back-up ride the pine for $3 million dollars. It made more $en$e to pay Manny to ride the bench... ...So, to sum it up, Osgood WAIVED not TRADED due to HUGE CONTRACT not PERFORMANCE. Do we have ANY real Wings fans on this forum? The kind that see things for what they are and get mad when play is bad, get angry at certain players for crappy plays and the kind that don't walk around with the rose colored glassess on? No offense, and you weren't only one in this thread to say he was TRADED, I cannot believe it. That goes along with some people saying we signed Hasek as a UFA in 2001...

...the Joe's music and overall fan interaction absolutely sucks! The arena atmosphere is supposed to get the fans pumped and excited, no wonder we have the quietest fans in the league. Talk crap about being spoiled all you want, if the season ticket holders are bored of watching hockey, give up your seats! Let someone down there who might enjoy themself! And speaking of getting the crowd into it, who is this moron that took over for Bud Lynch? I thought Bud was horrible, but this guy sounds like he is reading an essay on why flys like to eat sh!t. Karen Newman needs to go, that's it, it's over Karen, give it up. Having the best team in the NHL desreves the best arena and atmosphere in the NHL. Wake up Mike, your fans are bored, your attendance in dismal. If you want people to have a good time and fill the seats, entertain them! Don't play Ray Charles or ANY motown crap! It's 2009, get up with the times! I went to a game in November and was totally bored off my ass! I also had to listen to opposing team fans make fun of how quiet the Arena is, and I couldn't do anything but agree with them. Oh look, the Wings are losing, lets play something from 1957, that'll keep the crowd into it! Lets let Walter Cronkite tell us who scored the goal, hey why don't we get Ben Stein to do our PA Announcements? ...The guy above said it best, he's been to every game this year and nothing has changed. That can be said for the past 15 years... ...Red Wings = Great. Joe Louis = BOOOOOOORRRRRING!!!!

...tough call. Draper and Maltby have been over the years a great penalty kill duo. Drapes is still pretty valuablr t this team, but the prospect of a Abdelkader-Helm-Downey line would ROCK! ...There is no reason why Downey is not up here (unless it's Cap space.) It is time to let go of the past and have Maltby and Draper say goodbye, but, until their contracts are up, they won't be going anywhere. And even then, they'll probably get one of those "loyalty" contracts that Holland loves to hand out...

....oh man, this pains me to say, but I have been shown the light. After last nights performance by Osgood, I have changed my Hall of Fame vote to no. Sure there were a couple he had no chance on, but you gotta stop something! I know, I know, it was just one game, but it was probably the biggest game of the season thus far and Osgood doesn't make the saves when needed to. Sure you cannot blame break-away's on a goalie, but you gotta make a big save now and then to give yor team a chance. Wings scored 5 goals, WAY more than enough to win. Osgood a good goalie, but not playing up to his benchmark set last year. If they need to go with Conklin. He has proven to be the better goalie thus far...

...lets just say, I hope he did deny rejecting this offer (if it even was an offer) because if he rejects something like that, then adieu! I understand, though he may not want to get tied down to a 10 year deal, when in fact come 5-8 years down the road, he may be making crap comapred to others around the league, so yeah, 10 years is a long time, BUT if they offer something like 7 per season for 5 years he better sign it. He REALLY doesn't deserve more than Datsyuk, but I understand that he would like somewhere between Nick and Pav. But maybe he wants to full house, then see ya! Fanzen is too important to this team to give Zetterberg ALL the money and let Franzen, Hossa, Hudler & Kopecky go! I would hope that Hank sees that his contract (in that scenario) would really hurt this team. Sure we have some youngins down in GRR waiting to come up, but like someone said in a different thread, you cannot go to the youths all at once! ...if Zetterberg knows what is best for his success (he will not have as much elsewhere) he'll take it easy on the cap, so we can get Franzen signed. I guess if we losr Hudler and Kopecky that would be better than losing Franzen as well, but in my opinion if Zetterberg wants to be greedy, then it is makes more business sense to sign Franzen, Hudler, Kopecky and see who is ready in GRR to be the #2 centerman... ...Zetterberg no more than $7,000,000...

...ya, ya another Osgood thread! LOL! ...he hs stated that if he could set a personal goal for himself, passing Sawchuk for #1 all-time Wings winningest goalie would be something he would like... ...in order to do that he needs 74 more victories to pass Sawchuk, bot only as #1 on the Wings, but he'd be 5th on the ALL TIME list. That is an average of just under 24 wins a season for the life of his contract (going back to the start of this season.) He has 14 wins now, so he is well on his way to getting 24 or more this season. If he can get to #5 ALL TIME, also, CuJo is only a few wins ahead of Sawchuk, so if Ozzie can get passed Cujo as well, and into the #4 spot, does that FINALLY give him enough credit to get into the Hall of Fame and ALSO getting his #30 up in the rafters? ...my opinion is, he already has enough credentials to do both, but I don't vote, so my opinion means nothing. I think he can get passed Sawchuk, and with him mentioning that this is something he'd like to do, you know the organization will do everything in their power to make sure that is done (like playing him about 45-55 per season for the rest of his contract, giving him a great chance to acheive that goal (no pun intented.)

...ok for all you with the "Anyone can look good behind that team" excuses, I give you two words: Tim Cheveldae. Chevy and Ozzie played together during the 1993-1994 campaign. Lets compare: Chris Osgood - 2.86 GAA 23-8-5 0.895 sv.% Tim Cheveldae - 3.47 GAA 16-9-1 0.875 sv.% ...ya, ya, I know, Chevy ended up sucking, but if the Wings can make ANYONE a star, why did Chevy lose his job to a rookie? Even after Chevy was traded to Winnipeg for Essensa, Osgood was the better of the two. He Took jobs that year from Chevy, Ing, Essensa AND Vincent (I Took A Dive) Riendeau. Three of those were starters in the NHL, but the mighty Red Wings couldn't do anything for their careers, so why are they so responsible for Ozzies? ..even in 1995, he had better numbers than Mike Vernon, as well as 1995-1996 and 96-97. So, with Vernon being the GREAT goalie that he was, how come he didn't have better numbers than Osgood all those years? Osgood was the better goalie throughout the seasons, and he proved just how good he was in 1998. Can you tell me, with a straight face, Essensa, Cheveldae or Riendeau would have won that Cup in 1998? ...not...

...also to add to what the prior guy said about Osgood being a product of great defenses that played in front of him. Two words for you, Marty Brodeur. How much was HE a product of often the #1 defense in the NHL throughout the 90's and early 2000's? If he played for St. Louis, does he even come close to getting the #1 spot all time? If Osgood is only good because of the Wings, maybe Brodeur is only good beause of the Devils, and Roy because of the Avs... ...Ozzie deserves the Hall with the career he has had up till now. Finishing his contract and becoming #5 ALL TIME, doesn't just make it a lock, it breaks the key off in that lock! His number will be raised as well.... #5 and #30 to the rafters... (91 too, but that's a WHOLE-nother subect )

...I guess you'd have to ask yourself, would you trade Hudler, Filpulla, Kopecky, Chelios & Sammy for Hossa, Leino, Helm, Eriksson and Abdelkader? Hossa would still have to sign for FAR less than what he is worth!

Uh.... This statement baffles me. How many Hall of Fame goalies have LESS than 3 Cups to their name? How many will NOT finish in the Top 5 ALL TIME in WINS? ...some folks just refuse to give OZzsie his credit. Will Hasek get in? How many Cups does he have? How many did he win personally? He WILL end up with LESS wins than Ozzie. If the Wings DON'T go to Ozzie last year, they DON'T win the Cup... again....

...very nice read, but Detroit is doomed as long as City Council is allowed to run this place. Mayor Archer had great ideas, he was well on his way to turning Detroit into a place to be visited, then everytime someting came to vote, City Council said no. Blame them for this cities current state, blame Kwame for his personal failures, but that is how he was raised, but blame CIty Council for this crap! Detroit needs a City Council AND a Mayor, that hasn't been tainted by the Colman Young Administration. While they're at it, how about a Cheif of Police was HASN'T work under the outgoing CHeif of Police? Once after another, different person, same agenda. Same s***, different day. Matt Millen and Martin Mayhew. Northwest or Delta. Make the Unions take paycuts and the CEOS get millions in bonuses and Golden Parachutes... ...Detroit CAN be a Star, lets hope that the Movie Industry makes a BIG splash here. We need another industry. Autos being destroyed by the Government and Airlines and being destroyed by greedy CEOS... Where do we go? Go Wings, that's for sure!

...they should play "That's The Way I Like It" by KC and the Sunshine Band. If you replace the word "That's" with "Dats" when you sing it. Actually, it kinda sounds like he is singing "Dats" if you listen to it. "Dats the way, uh huh, uh huh I like it! Uh huh, uh huh!"

...we were just talking about this at work today. The ONLY way the Wings sign all three is if Zetterberg signs for $6,000,000, Franzen for $3,000,000 and Hossa would have to take $4,000,000. The Wings only have about $15,000,000 available under the cap next season, a little more if it goes up a bit. But even this scenario would see Hudler, Kopecky, Chelios (gone anyhow,) McCarty (gone too,) & Howard gone. They'd have to get Conklin to sign or less as well. (I don't think they are even looking at giving Howard and chance, he may as wel be packaged for some picks this trade deadline.) ...ok, in a perfect world, that would allow the Wings to retain all three, BUT, it'll never happen! Why? Well, Zetterberg will probably get AT LEAST Datsyuk's $6.7. Franzen will get at least $4 million because of Filpulla making $3MM. Hossa would be absolutely insane to sign here for $4MM when he is goning to get league maximum anywhere else. I believe the Wings are too high og Hudler to let him go (or trade him) and they love Sammy too much to NOT offer him a contract... ...one can hope, but I believe they are going to concentrate on Zetterberg and Franzen and whatever is left over, split up between Sammy, Hudler and Kopecky... ...with Filpulla makig $3MM, how much is it gonna take to retain Hudler? He'll rate at least has much as Filpulla, ya think? ...of course if they trade Hudler and Flip and let Sammy go, they MIGHT be able to retain Hossa (as long as he takes a discount (again.)) ...sucks to be Holland come July!

...LOL! I guess if hitting ROCK BOTTOM is making it to the conferece finals every year then, shoot, I'll take that! (of course throw a Cup or two in there once in a while!) ...funny these National writers who try their damndest to knock the Wings (and every other Detroit team BTW) every chance they get. I wonder how many times Mike Ilitch and Bill Davidson have been asked to relocate their teams to a bigger TV market? If the NHL had MIke Ilitch and Crew in New York or LA, Bettman would have to change his underwear every other hour from having "enjoyment accidents!" Gary, put the Wings in the East and then you'll be in business!

...no panic, just concern. Last year we had February, lets hope that last years February is this years October, November and so far December! Face it, they aren't playing too much worse than last year. I saw a stat the other day stating that they are giving up just about the same shots on goal this season as last, but guess what? Goaltending not as hot as it was last season. I am a big Osgood supporter, but he is just not playing as good as last season, maybe last year was a Cinderella year for him, whatever the case, you cannot expect to win with a goaltender giving up nearly 4 goals a game (unless you score 5, which the Wings have had to do to get to where they are.) Conklin is just another Osgood. I am not wishing Dom was back, but he had a hell-u-va regular season last year as well... ...that is the bottom line,team playing well, goaltending suffering. Can't afford to trade for a goalie, so we are stuck with Osgood/Conklin for the entire year, but if they falter in the playoffs, look for a trade over the summer, possibly Tomas Vokoun (sp)...

...I think more so, that the deceiving "Bad" record the Wings have is that dreaded third period. Nearly all of the wins the Wings have, they have blown a 2 or 3 goal lead in the third and had to hold on or win it in OT or Shootout. Of course coming out on top is always good and a win is a win, but lets hope it's gets out of their system before April. Better to have troubles now, than to flop on your face in the playoffs. Look at last February, if that would have happened in October or December of that year a lot of us would have been calling for their heads, or someone's head! Lets hope this little "third period" funk is this years February and things kick in soon! Besides, what's the "Good" part of the "Bad" record? They've won more of those games than they've lost! It could be MUCH worse!

...I'm just laughing at your name, dude! That is obvious because of the Stanley Cup he brought to St. Louis, eh? Manny is a goat! He's the teet on a goat! Get real! Who is #14 ALL TIME? Manny?

...lol! I guess you're lucky I grasp the concept of Sarcasm! But, I do not mention it in evey post. I guess all be damned who like more things than hockey! I am sure you've never mention anything else on here BUT hockey!?!? LOL! Anyhow, NASCAR is over and one of the *** crybabies won! You don't have to read it from me until February! ...btw, last I checked, that wasn't violating a forum rule, mentioning another sport, or for you non-fans, another Hobby... ...anyhow, does anyone from California even qualify as a hockey fan? Oh, wait, the California Bandwagoners, that's right, I've heard of them...

...Always been a Hossa fan, but now that he is a Wing, even more. Sadly, unless he takes a very minimal payday, he will not be around. And sadly for Franzen, if Hossa does take that minimal salary, HE won't be around. You have the SO-CALLED cap to thank for that! Here you have marginal players singing around the league for 5 million dollars, so if he sniffs 30 goals, he could easily get more than that elsewhere. Would ALL three sign on for a discount? I could see Zetterberg and Franzen doing so, but unless they win the Cup, Hossa is the tricky one. Here's to hoping we re-sign all three, but reality says... ...all depends on what Franzen and Hossa are looking for. Franzen for Filpulla money and Hossa for less than Zetterberg...

...I cannot explain how pissed I was last night! I went to the game with the wife and kids and besides the fact that I was literally surrounded by Pens fans I also feel like I wasted $300!!!! I cannot believe the Wings gave up two 2 goal and one 3 goal lead!! This is not the first time this has happened. Ok, so they got the 5 on 3 goal and the 5 on 4 goal that made it 5-4, but very soon after we scored again to make it 6-4. That should have been over! The pens fans in my section (and they were all over) were about ready to leave, they were calling for them to change their goalie and among other things. The entire game they were complaining that it looked like the pens weren't playing hard, plenty of them were amazed on how Datsyuk was outplaying Crosby. Of course they got the last laugh when Staal stole the puck from Datsyuk in OT. Even as they were leaving (I think we were the only Wings fans in that section (at least it seemed like it)) they were commenting on how the game sucked for them except the outcome... ...Wings in serious trouble. 5 or 6 games this year have gone this way, except with Detroit holding on to win or winning in a shootout. The third period has been horrendous for the Wings, does anyone have the goals for and against in the 3rd period stats? All I could do was shake my head in disgust. What is it? Is it our Defense? Do we miss Chelios? I cannot explain it! Is it Osgood? He definately isn't playing as good this year as he started out last year. When a game is 7 to 6, neither goalie played good, but man, it just looked like the Wings lost interest and Osgood was, well, the old Osgood again. All in all, very disappointing loss, it would have hurt less if this was the first time it happened so far this young season, but it isn't, with the only excpetion being they have come out on the winning side for the most of them. Somethings wrong and Babcock better fix it or they will not make it to the finals again. FORTUNATELY the season is early and they can get this out of their system now, better than hitting a wall like this in April...

Franzen would be the one missed, the rest can go now...