LeftWinger

...Jimmy Howard very well could have the Best Player Available at that point and beyond in 2003. Look through the draft at all the players drafted AFTER Howard. The only one that has a name I know of is Lee Stepniak and that is because he plays for the Blues, if he played of New Jersery or Carolina, I probably would've never heard of him! Although you have a good arguement, the Best Player Available is still the most viaable option, especially since the Wings future is so bright, they really have no HUGE holes to fill! If they snag a Brian Rolston or a Ryan Malone come July 1, they will not need any significant upgrades in a long time! ...the players waiting to come up are tremendous! All positions are taken care of! So best player available seems like the most viable option...

...or he could be the next Eric Lindros, too much weight on his shoulders. As long as he stays away from Rod Brind'Amour's wife! LOL! (inside joke)

Fixed it for you! ...he was tied with Zetterberg, who, by the way, NHL.COM lists AHEAD of Crosby in the stats section... ...I guess you win the Cup, you win the Conn Smythe you get the tied break! LOL! ...so, officially, per the NHL, Crosby was #2 BEHIND Zetterberg...

...even though I don't agree with this statement as much as I used to, I can relate with where you're coming from... ...wouldn't it be nice to score (no pun intended) a player like a Dustin Penner or a Ryan Getzlaf. Somebody with a huge body and a scoring touch. One day we might be able to, but that'll probably mean we didn't make the playoffs the year before and that is not something I want to think about!!!!!! ...speaking of Penner, I cannot seem to find a draft spot for him, was he drafted or signed as a by Anaheim? ...another side not, Nashville drafted both Ryan Suter and Shea Weber in the same draft year! Great scouting there! (of course both went BEFORE the Wings first pick that year, which was near the end of the 2nd round, they took Howard.) ...ok, back to the original topic! ...Unless it's somebody talented and huge enough to make the team this season and have an impact, I think it'll be more of the same for Holland. Hey, can't question him right about now can ya?

...ya, I'm pretty much done slamming Holland and his Scouts. Hard to believe, eh? I will still cringe everytime he says we need to get bigger and grittier, but something tells me he won't say that this year! LOL! ...whomever gets draft by the Wings, we all know it's gonna be a 3-5 year process before the weed out the busts and bring up the best! Of course, if they happen to find another Datryuk or Zetterberg, I wouldn't mind seeing a Calder Trophy in Detroit next year! Even though the NHL writers will probably slight us again! (READ: Yzerman, Fedorov, Zetterberg) Yeah, I'm bitter about all three! Oh, well, I think we all know who had the more stellar careers (even though Barasso and Belfour won cups, just not as many!)

...just a question. If somehow the Wings ended up with the first overall pick (via whatever, this is just a what if?) do you think they would draft Stamkos, do they actually need a superstar (projected) like that considering they have 3 or 4 already? What kind of paydirt (offers) would come via a trade for Stamkos? Wow! ...seen a mock draft today showing the Wings taking a kid named Erik Karlsson, a 5'11" 165 lb. (kind scrawny) Defensman from Sweden, what are your thougts on that pick?

...tell your friend that Golf is a HOBBY and a ****** hobby at that! The ONLY reason Tiger Woods' wife has anything to do with golf, is just that, she's his wife! And just because he has a SEMI-hot (porn *****) wife doesn't mean golf has better female fans! s***, the only reason she's his wife is because he's loaded, guarantee he's broke, she's gone... ....suck it Tiger... ...oh when will justice prevail?

...congrats to Igor! Now, can someone offer him the Associate Coaching job here in Detroit already?

...0, Nill, Nada, ZERO, ZILCH, NOT ONE Stanley Cup Championship, and not ONE Finals appearance AFTER the learning experience he was given in 1997... ...he got better alright, better aquainted with NOT winning. All I am saying is just because Crsoby and Malkin pretty much led the league during the regular season, doesn't mean tey are gonna improve leaps and ounds more than Hudler and Filpulla. Biggest differnce is Hudler and Filpulla don't really need to improve, they already have what Crosby or Malkin may NEVER get, and Stanley Cup. And both Hudler and Filpulla were huge parts of the Championship, they weren't along for the ride... ...the guys post that stated that Crosby and Malkin were going to improve more than Hudler and Filpulla is an argument that holds no water. There is no guarantee that Crosby and Malkin will improve more than our guys, based on what? The fact that they lost? That's no guarntee that they will learn anything, JUST LIKE Eric Lindros learned nothing from his embarrassing no-show in the finals... ...57 points in 53 games, whoop-dee-doo! Where was he in 1997 when his players needed him? He was being man-handled by Lidstrom/Murphy and Konstantinov... ...where was Malkin in 2008 when his team needed him? 1 goal, 2 assts.

...here is what the Pens fans are ALL missing. In order to learn from losing and grow as a unit, you are not suppossed to get rid of important cogs in the machinery. Sure, Crosby will mature more, Malkin will too. Fluery looked average at times and NEEDS to improve, he priobably will as well. Throw all the money you want at Hossa, he's gonna put in his points again as well (maybe, he's usually a playoff no-show, but as most players are in contracts years, as was he.) Here lies the problem, Ryan Malone. The Pens are taking away 9 goals and 7 assists along with probably being the closet thing to a power forward you had. Whether or not he showed up in the finals (heck, most of your team not named Hossa or Crosby, didn't show up) He was still a very important part to your regular season success and your playoff success. You learn to lose as a group. You gain the experience together, you grow together. By just keeping your team the same and GIVING AWAY players, you are headed for a letdown. When the Wings lost in 95 and 96, they traded away two players who really didn't do too much in the playoffs (Primeau especially) in order to BETTER their team. They didn't trade away one of their leading scorers in the playoffs. Maybe I am wrong, but I think Pitt is gonna miss Ryan Malone more than they think. Just ask Burke about NOT re-signing Penner... ...and oh, about the YOUNG Pens get leaps and bounds better than our YOUNG Wings. Next year, Datsyuk and Zetterberg will be much better as well. Our defense gets younger and bigger with Ericcson comng in, and if they lose McCarty or Downey or Kopecky and gain Rolston? How much better did the Wings get? You arguement holds no water when you say the likes Crosby and Malkin will improve more than Hudler and Filpulla. Crosby and Malkin already lead theleague in scoring, how much improvement do they need? Hudler and Filpulla have no where to go but up! Face it, some players just weren't cut out to be playoff players, just ask Eric Lindros...

...and I suppose the 3 that McCarty is holding up means that he will: 1. be bought out of his contract 2. go on a drunkin drug binge and 3. be bankrupt by 2006... ...please, you'll have a better time figuring out who was really behind 9/11...

I'll give you 41 plus 1 reasons why Detroit will not sign Cujo and why he won't come back for his last shot at the Cup. ...he''ll have to play at least 41 games in the regular season (which he won't if Howard is play 20, whats that leave our REAL #1, 21 games to play, no... ...or he'd have to play at least 1 game in the finals or the above to get his name on the Cup, and unless there is a total FUBAR SNAFU by Osgood this coming season, Cujo wouldn't see either of those, so it would be pointless for him to sign here for one last try at the Cup, because he wouldn't be the starter...

...and Darren McCarty's not? I'd sign Chelios to my team before I'd let McCarty play for free... ...McCarty is the one who would be taking up the roster spot, plenty more forwards ready to make the jump than D-men. Darren Helm deserves a spot on this roster, and starting spot. Make Kopecky and Downey the 13th forwards to fill in for injuries, etc... ...great value, for knowledge alone. He will only play half the season (if that) prolly and he would lend years and years of knowledge to the likes of Meech and Ericcson and whoever else comes in to play some minutes...

...and they both should HAVE to wear SWEATERS like the old timers. Forget this RBK crap or even the old CCM/NIKE ones, I'm talking real knitted sweaters! Now that would be throwback!

...well, first it would have to be a day near my wife's due date (July 22,) then we'd schedule the c-section on the day I'd have it, then take it to the hospital, and after the baby was born, he would take his first bath in it, then I'd have the child baptised in it on the same day. That would be cool, of course the baby's name would have to be changed from Jacen to Stanley! LOL!!! (no it'll stay Jacen, but maybe his middle name would be Stanley or Niklas LOL!!!!) ...after knowing about my day (the baby cleaning after birth) you may not want to eat anyting out of it! LOL!

...here's an idea... ...a little crude, but you get the gist of it...

...well if they decide to go with a vintage throwback, why not go with a Detroit Falcons or Cougars sweater? Still not as cool as the Winged Wheel, but if they want throwback it's better than the striped crap...

...just a comment on your sig pic. SWEET! If those guys are up next year that is a total of 9 Swedes on an 18 skater roster! I do believe that would be a record and an NHL high! If they sign Sundin or Naslund... WHEW! Team Sweden for sure! ...ok, back to the regularly sceduled topic... ...just my naivity, but who is the Swede next to Holmstrom?

...some perfect choices. Anyhow, who's available? Who would want to step down/up to be an Associate? Oh well, here are my choices (in no particular order) Igor Larionov Gerard Spuddy Gallant Chris Chelios Larry Murphy ...yeah, I know, call me bias... ...do you think Quinneville would come here to be an associate? (did he get hired yet?) ...Someone mentioned Gretz (prolly as a joke) that would be cool, but isn't he part owner of the Yotes?

...funny, how many people on here didn't want Osgood back in Detroit? Or starting the playoffs? Now everyone loves him. Just goes to show, we as fans, really, know nothing...

...now who steps in to replace him? Murphy? McCarty? Larionov? Marc Crawford? Spuddy?

...he was refering to Sundin. If you read close, he mentions Sundin after he says he would mind seeing Fedorov...

...let the record show, I was not the first one to mention Fedorov... ...I think they should take a crack at Rolston. Not only does he have local ties, but he also has Devils ties in Rafalski. You know, if asked, Rafalski would call Rolston up and just paint a Picasso about how niceit is playing in Detroit... ...Drop McCarty, re-sign Stuart, sign Rolston, call it an off-season. If Stuart wants more money, let him go and let Ericcson come up to the party. Brian Rolston definately should be the UFA priority... ...and then there's always Fedorov, which probably sounds more like something Holland would do, considering he wanted him at the deadline PLUS he won't cost anything near what he was making last contract... ...either way, the Wings look good going into the next season...

#5, #30,#91. Period. In that order... ...maybe if they play a significant amount of time here, #40 & #13... ...No #33, no #25, no #18, no #14, NO #39, no #24, no #96 and No to #8... Hell NO to all of those...

...well, well... ...if you're talking about a team being loyal to someone who has been loyal to them and is in need of help, then why don't they offer me a contract? I need lots of financial help, I've been loyal to them since the late 70's... ...McCarty has earned nothing for this team. It's like what have you done for me lately? McCarty of the 90's has earned lots, McCarty from last year was one more give-away away from me throwing a shoe through the televsion. Aaron Downey has earned his place on this team. The ONLY reason the Wings offered him a contract is because they never wanted to get rid of him in the first place, but yet when it came down to it, he WAS expendable. Darren should be happy with the Cup that Downey helped him get. Just how many people did McCarty beat down prtectinghis teammates? NONE, as a matter of fact he got beat down himself. Downey barely lost ay of his fights all year, he desevered to play in the playoffs more than Darrenm and you see when push came to shove, Darren was riding the press box as well, so yeah, I would say that the Wings REALLY needed him to win the Cup. He is only getting his name on the Cup becuase he happened to play in the Finals when Franzen was hurt, and played s***ty too! If Franzen were to stay healthy then Darren wouldn't even be considered for the Cup... ...I think Darren Helm outplayed McCarty for his roster spot, and obviuously so did Babcock. McCarty should retire, Downey should be signed and he can be the 13th or 14th forward. If either of these guys are signed, where are they gonna play anyhow? They still have a healthy Kopecky coming back... ...Downey over McCarty and Meech over Quincey...