LeftWinger

...if Signing Hossa and Franzen means losing Hudler, Kopecky, Sammy and possibly Filpulla via a trade then do it! I am not sure the compensation rules but if Hudler signs for $4 million somewhere I am sure the compensation would be worth it! Trade Filpulla for a mid level draft pick maybe 2nd or 3rd rounder, lose Chelios, Sammy, McCarty and Kopecky via UFA and then bring up Eriksson, Lieno, Helm and Abdelkader to replace them. And then resign Downey for the same money and give him the McCarty role... Chelios for Eriksson Sammy for Leino Kopecky for Helm Hudler for Abdelkader McCarty for Downey ...not sure if the numbers will work, but it all sounds good to me!!! Hossa Dats Homer Franzen Zetts Cleary Leino Abdelkader Helm Maltby Draper Meech Downey Rafi Lids Stuart Kronner Lilja Eriksson Lebda Osgood Conklin (re-signed) ...in a perfect world!

...yeah, whatever! Like we all wish Bob Probert and Tie Domi were actually great friends off the ice! At least they didn't head hunt or cheap shot each other like these f@gs do/did!

...picture #64, Good God Man! That Nose is HUGE!!!!

...Nope. The powers that be will just tell their puppets (the shows hosts) NOT to accept any questions regarding the Lidstrom and Datsyuk rulings. Besides Bettfart would just dance around the question like he did when he was interviewed in Detorit and the radio guy asked him why the Wings are not in the East. He just danced around, fa la la, and said some crap like, create rivalry, attendance and a bunch of garbage which pretty much meant if he moved the Wings to the East, the West would fall. Because the Wings are the only team keeping the West in this league...

...heck, The Wings gave McCarty to limited role, he played in the first 3 rounds and at least 1 Cup game to get his name on it. If you were to role the dice again, would Forsberg be worth $500,000 to play for the Wings? ...I say no. Bring up Helm, Lieno & Abdelkader and then use Helm. He shined bright in the playoffs last season, no reason why he couldn't do it again! Besides, McCarty pretty much came in a took Downey's playoff spot. Downey earned that spot and he deserved to play in the playoffs, thank heavens he played enough in the regular season to get his name on the Cup! Doesn't look like that is gonna happen again this year... ...Also, Forsberg "owes" it to the Aves fans to NEVER play for the Wings, even if it means passing on winning another Cup. Maybe he wouldn't be able to handle the boos if the Wings played Colorado again! Another reason to pass on him, he has a yellow streak down his back as long as the Mississippi! He has to know that We'd EVENTUALLY warm up to him, then he'd have the GREATEST fans in the world cheering him and then he'd wonder why he EVER thought Colorado fans were worth playing for... (you know Sundin is kicking himself in the ass for waiting so long to decide)

...as for the IQ of LGW, I would say who cares! The majority of Wings (or hockey in general) fans are Blue Collar, 40 hour work week, nose to the grindstone type person, not 10 year PhD, High Society Piston fans with manicures... ...16 games to euphoria, that's all the math we need to know!

...maybe if the NHL rid itself of Bettman, it could break into the top 3! I suppose the Wings had nothing to do with the ratings did they? Now next year they'll have Columbus play Minnesota or Phoenix play St. Louis in Fargo, ND. That'll beat the Rose Bowl!

"Hey Bettman, No Wonder Your Son Is ***!" "Hey Bettman, Stuff Your Ballot Boxes Up You Ass!" Plane Ticket To Montreal - $700.00 A Ticket To The All Star Game - $400.00 Knowing The Best Team In The NHL Will Be Well Rested For The Playoffs - Priceless!

...it just burns Dithers up that the most talented player in the NHL doesn't play in Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Chicago or somewhere south of Toledo. He plays in Detroit. He will ALWAYS play in Detroit and that player just happens to be from Russia (which Dithers should actually like since he has done his best to UN-North Americanize this sport.) ...it just chaps his ass that the best team resides in Detroit. I wonder how many times Mike Ilitch was asked if he would move his team to Hunstville or Greenbow Alabama? G.D. why can't the NHL just rid themselves of this vermin?!?!? First Octopi, now Lids & Dats, what's next? PLay with one arm behind your backs??!?!

...so let me get this right, Lids and Dats suspended, Kathy Lee Crosby not? What kid of garbage is that? Well, you can kiss another Norris, Selke and Lady BIng g'bye this season. Boy Mr. Dithers, er I mean Bettman must REALLY hate the Red Wings now! Watch out for cheapshots and heads looking the other way from here on out through the rest of the season!!! The NHL is totally going to cheat Detroit out of everything after they embarrassed them like this!!! ...Oh well! Next he'll be fining players who say no to large contracts to sign for less in Detroit. I can see it now, "Mr. Hossa, Phoenix offered you $10 million a year to play there but you signed in Detroit for $5 million, we're gonna have to suspend you for the life of the contract and fine you the $5 Million per season you turned down..." "Oh, and Red Wings you are suspended from ANY playoff appearances for the next 5 years, pending investigation into how you're always able to draft superstars in the 7th round! From now on you can ONLY draft out of the state of Utah."

...The new "JOE" is down to either "HotorNot.com" or "RateMyRack.com." Doesn't this day and age of sponsored naming just turn your stomach? ...lets get back to naming the Arena's and ball parks after people or just name them something cool like The Palace or The Igloo or Tiger Stadium. But please, PLEASE no Obama Center until he actually deserves it!!!! PLEASE!!!

...ya, cause one has so much to do with the other! ...can we win the Cup again this year?

...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!