LeftWinger

...bottom line is Nick isn't stupid. Plus he leads by example, as did his captain before him. in 2001-02 when both Yzerman and Shanahan took paycuts un order to sign Robitaille and Hull, why wouldn't he play for less here KNOWING full well that Holland is going to get him the surrounding talent to give him the best chance at winning more cups? Next season will bring loads of UFA's to the surface, but I really don't see Holland siging anyone huge unless he can get Zetterberg signed, in which he has TWO more season on his current contract, so he won't be a UFA until 2008-09 and I cannpt see Holland blowing lots of cash next off season either, he will need to keep a ton of it for Zetterberg in 09. He cannot even try to resign him until he is in the last year of his contract so he can't even work on that until the 2008 off-season starts... ....but it is nice to see Lidstrom is taking a page out of Yzerman's book and allowing Holland to chance to bring in more of a supporting cast. Maybe, the likes of Zetterberg will take notice and give Holland a discount in order to get a few top 10 UFA's in 2009 in order to make ourt future even brighter...

...or form one of our fans! ...I love Schneider we need him! I hate Schneider that greedy bsatard! ...Fedorov is the best center to ever play the game! I hate that guy Fedorov and he's too washed up to re-sign with Detroit, we don't need him! ...Dallas Drake is washed up, he is useless! What? He signed for only $550,000? I love Drake! He is going to be a huge hitter and he'll back up his words and probably help out on the scoring a bit! I've always loved him!

...I've always supported Fedorov. I have never booed him or cursed his name for leaving. He is good enough to come back to Detroit and step into the #2 center position with Flips and Grigs on his wing. The only issue I have is will Babcock be able to stand him? Will he use him correctly? I hear rumors that they didn't get along well in Anaheim. Oh well, in the end this is Ilitches team and if he says get Feds, then get him. I'd just assume that Babcock lose his job and Larionov become head coach, but that is a whole other thread/subject...

...same could have been said about Yzerman, Shanahan, Lidstrom, Fedorov, Larionov, etc... after 1997 when all their contracts eventually came up... ...I would say Teemu is probably considerig retirement, but, if a couple of teams came calling, I am sure he would play another year. I cannot see him going to the eastern conf. so I'd have to say that the list of teams is pretty short. If not Anaheim, then I would say Detroit would be on the top of that VERY short list. After Detroit, maybe.... I cannot think of another team that is close to winning the cup as Detroit and Anaheim. He wouldn't go to Colorado after his failure there, maybe San Jose...

...just like he was going to offer Penner a crap contract until someone else pulled the rug out from his feet. And you're right, there wil be lots of players available at the deadline, not just Fedorov, but a ton of younger forwards all of whom become UFA's next season... ...it'd be funny to sign Selanne and actually take a player from him and actually upgrade while he loses. The way I see it, if we could get Selanne or Forsberg on cheap incentive contracts, they'd be worth a gamble, for 1 year...

...don't be fooled, Burke signed our two guys to spite Ken Holland. Burke, while all the time whining about other GM's medeling and dirty doings, he is the biggest back stabber and under shoveling idiot. He is the Jeff Gordon & Jimmy Johnson of the NHL, if you cause the wreck, it's just hard racing, if someone wrecks you, they are idiots... ...Bottom line is, sure he signed Bertuzzi for $4MM but look he lost a huge future asset in Penner (if he doesn't match.) Bertuzzi will probably play very little this season, and Schneider, without Lidstrom's support, will not be as good. Sure, Scheid's is still a top 10 defenseman in the league, but playing with Pronger is not the same as playing with Lidstrom. Too much will be placed on the shoulders of Schneider and he will fall short of the fans expectations, ala Sergei Fedorov... ...that is fine, they actually made some latteral moves and we kinda upgraded with Rafalski. I can't imagine Drake doing much worse than Bertuzzi last season also. So if they get Bertuzzi & Schneider but lose Neidermayer & Penner, pretty much they didn't make their club any better. We never really had Bertuzzi and we had a small upgrade (although I really liked Mathieu) in Rafalski, I would say Burkes plan to make his biggest threat in the West weaker, failed...

...we all hated Chelios as well...

...but he does deserve it and he will see it happen. It's already set in stone..

...gotta disagree with ya! ...Holmstrom was putting in goals like hotcakes and winning Cups way before Z & D were ever thinking about the NHL. Holmstrom has been and always will be the best at what he does. Smyth is good, he is grtty, but when he has 3 Stanley Cups to put on his shelf, he doesn't compare to Holmstrom. He may score more goals than Homer in the regular season, but Holmstrom becomes a whole different factor. Smyth is close, but for the money, Holmstrom is far superior!

...so, you are a really huge fan of Kronwall then! ...Fedorov, 10 years ago, was great. Fedorov, today, is still better than half our team... ...get over your problem with Fedorov choosing to leave, you would do the same in his situation and it had nothing to do with the organization. He was banging Hollywood co-eds for pete's sake. He was given $48MM to come to So. Cal. play a game for a couple of hours and then rub elbows with Hollywood the rest of the evening. Grow up and realize this is a business and when he comes back and helps us to another Cup, you'll be cheering when his #91 goes up next to #19...

...nobody who is a hockey fan or knows the game resents Fedorov for leaving. He had an opportunity and he took it. He already won numerous trophies and 3 Stanley Cups. He was givin an opportunity to ake TONS of cash, live in the limelight that is So. Cal. (for pete's sake, he dated Tara Reid for a while!) He was a partier, he wanted to live a little. What would you do? Make $10MM a year and spend the night in Detroit or Los Angeles? Cripe, he still lives here in the off-season, he hasn't turned his back on Michigan, he just went a played for fun for a while. After-all isn't it all about making money? He'll be 38 in December and will be looking to try to win one more Cup and then retire by 40 (unless he has a little bit of Larionov in him.) He did us a favor by leaving, now he will come back for about $2-3MM a year and help us out on the O and D... ...this will happen, trust me! When it does, Dats and Zetts will be on the #1 line together and Sergei will be the #2 center. Say what you will about Flips and Huds :puke: Fedorov will step into the #2 center or even a wing on the #1 line. Feds - Dats - Zetts would be DEADLY!!!! ...in all honesty, if they could sign Forsberg as a UFA and then get Fedorov at the deadline this team will be heads and tails better than the team that went to the WCF's last season. Zetts - Dats - Holmstrom Fillpula - Feds - Forsberg Sammy - Drake - Franzen Cleary - Draper - Maltby (Kopecky) Lids - Kronner Chelios - Rafalski Lebda - Lilja (Kindl, Quincey, Ference) Hasek Osgood (Howard) ...that looks fine to me! ...BTW when Feds does come back #91 WILL be lifted to the rafters along with #5 and that is it, no others are deserving, yet...

...I don't think he is worth it, but he has to be offended that his own GM says he isn't worth what someone else says he is. Sure, when he signs the deal, Zets will be guaranteed $7MM for sure, and yeah, that is going to ruin the market, but hey, they are doing it to themselves, it's not the players this time, it's the owners greed. Soon the cap will either be voted out or they will have an emergency vote to raise the cap twice as much as it is supposed to go up each year. Somewhere, they owners are going to shoot themselves in the foot for all of this... ...but to hae your own GM say that you aren't worth what someone is offering you, then I'd be a little upset...

...you guys are crazy, I would choose Fedorov, but there is potential for BOTH of them being here. So why be upset about it? They'd be rentals for some veteren scoring in the playoffs. If you just rent them for a few months, then what is the harm? ...get used to the idea of Fedorov though, he will be here come deadline and re-sign for a couple of cheap years to end his career in the city he belongs. It has be written, it will be done, trust me on this, this is guranteed...

Brian Burke - "Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player..." ...so what does Penner think of this comment by his GM? I would be offended by this, so Burke says that the offer tendered in grossly inflated, so Penner isn't worth much to Burke then... ...even if they match the offer, I'd be demanding a trade...

...Maltby & Lilja for what? Gary Bettman's underwear? ...dude, Maltby will not lose his roster spot, he's done too much for this organization. Sure, he isn't as effective as he once was, bue neither is Draper & Chelios, but they will always be offered a roster spot as long as they want to play for less and less each year, until they retire. Besides, who would replace Maltby? Hudler? :puke: I'd rather have a 50 year old Maltby than Hudler :puke: sorry, I do that everytime I mention his name...

...you can count Hudler out too, he sux!

but, alas, Fedorov will be back!

...oh yeah, what's the least worn? #9 maybe? #6?

...I would take him, I am not sure about second line minutes, but if you split Zetts & Dats up and second line could be Peca - Zetts - Grigs... ...dunno, I would still like top see Forsberg or Selanne CHEAP for some second line minutes and Hall for 3rd line crashing. But, hey, we'll see. I think we lack something with this current roster. I would say, sign Hall for the 3rd line and obtain Fedorov at the deadline for some third line scoring... ...what about Mike Johnson out of MTL?

...I could see him going into some kind of coaching position in Sweden or maybe running a league ala Fetisov, but if he is gonna stay in Detroit, he'll probably play until he's 45 and then get into the Wings organization in some capacity...

...if he is going to stay in Detroit, he may as well play and make money. Sure, after years and years of $7MM plus per season, he shouldn't have money woes, even if he hung them up today. Even once he gets 40 he probably won't be commanding the top salary and if he wants to still play, I am sure he won't play anywhere else but here, so if you are gonna stay in the States, then why not play a game and make some cash. I don't foresee him EVER again making less than $4MM per season, so even at 45 years old, if he can maintain at least a Chelios type playing ability (which he probably will at 55! LOL!) he should stick around and be Captain for awhile...

...the only argument I have is, in my opinion, NO WAY does Messier rank above Yzerman... Not a chance... :rotflmao: :puke: ...problem is, if Yzerman played with gretzky half his career, he'd be #3 or #4 in scoring behind Gretz, Howe & Lemieux... ...Messier was a beneficiary of great teams in the 80's compared to Yzerman's teams in the 80's... ...and to say that Messier was a better captain? LOL! Look at the teams he captained, all teams with great line-ups, well except the time he spent in Vancouver and well, his GREAT captain skills didn't prove too good there... By FAR Yzerman was a better Captain and player than Messier! ...you're just stupid...

...I knew I forgot someone!!!!!! ARGH!!!! Heck put him on the 2nd line, screw sammy! LOL!!! ...well, my friend, since most of his salary will already be paid by the trade deadline, I would say that he would maybe cost us about $2MM or less to employ for the rest of the season. Of course you sound like you know all about the game, so you probably already knew that. ..Then he is a UFA after 2008 so he will resign here for a couple of years at a very minimal salary and retire here, and his #91 will be raised... ...he doesn't have to, he needs to stay healthy and when he becomes a Wing again, he'll be a third line center so he won't be expected to save to team, but add the extra scoring that we lacked (power play) in the Anaheim series...

...this could actually be a tampering issue. Bettman has no business telling Liepold who to sell to. Bettman just doesn't want one of "HIS" teams to move to Canada. This should piss Canadians off even more! Lets not fire Bettman, lets hang him!

...your deadline aquistion is going to be Fedorov. I wouldn't mind adding Selanne at this point for some added scoring. That wold definately give us 3 above average scoring lines and then this years version of the grind line (Drake probably with Draper and Maltby.) Fillpula Dats Holmstrom Selanne Zetts Sammy Franzen Hudler(Fedorov @ deadline) Grigs Maltby Draper Drake (Kopecky)