therock48880

I can't include Domi in my list. 1. Probert 2. Kocur 3. Schultz 4. McSorley 5. Semenko Numbers 2-5 are in no particular order.

1. getzlaf 2. ryan miller 3. daniel alfredsson 4. anyone that is matched up against crosby I forgot about Doughty. I also wish Weber was a Wing.

I'd prefer Luongo and the Sedins, personally. The ice in Phoenix will be brutal in a couple weeks and for a puck possession team like Detroit, that could spell doom. Give me Luongo and a good sheet of ice.

After living through the Hasek/Cujo, Hasek/Osgood debates, I certainly hope this doesn't evolve into a goalie flame war. Having said that, I think I agree with Babcock. In 08, Hasek and Osgood were awesome, no doubt, but what Howard has done this year is amazing. I've always thought that a goalie's save percentage was the most telling stat of how good they are. Howard's save percentage is incredible and most of the year he played with a team that was severely depleted by injuries. Plus, I wonder if Babcock isn't doing some psycological work to try to make Howard feel even more confident before the playoffs start.

Great point that gets overlooked. Plus, the cap is supposed to be going down a couple million next year.

The rumor on the Blackhawk boards is that they are shopping Sharp right now.

Neither one of them put up very good stats last year. Madden had something like 7 goals, but i think he was a -8 on a pretty good New Jersey team. Pahlsson had 7 goals and a -17 while playing the majority of the season on a Ducks team that played quite poorly for a good portion of the year. I guess it's just a matter of preference. I'd rather have a 32 year old Pahlsson in the playoffs than a 36 year old Madden. I agree with you about Havlat and Hossa. If Havlat stays healthy in the playoffs, he'd be a bigger asset than Hossa. So, why are so many people automatically putting the Hawks in the Finals? I don't get it. Yes, they are young and talented, but I would argue that they aren't as good as they were last year. And then next summer, they will lose Keith to the Wings.................. (i wish)

FYI, I've got a Masters Degree in reading and I'm working on finishing my Masters in writing also. I believe I can comprehend reading quite well. I've been teaching English for 15 years and according to the meap and the mme (tests given to students) I seem to do it quite well. Maybe that still makes me "ignorant" as you say. For example, in this post you say Hossa "Should" re-sign. I guess with my poor reading comprehension skills what you REALLY meant by that was "I NEVER want him back." Makes perfect sense. Quote by Snazzy: "I don't think we need to make any big changes. Hossa should resign with us for cheap. I think Hudler should go so we can get more weight on the team." "If you can land a player of Hossa's caliber for 4 - 5 million, you do it! " On topic: Chicago will love Hossa during the regular season, just like most of us did here on lgw. For those who don't remember, there were a number of threads about keeping Hossa and even some that said Hossa should be kept over Franzen. He will put up very good numbers as always. It will be interesting to see what happens in the playoffs when his time and space are taken away again. I find it odd that he had one very successful playoff run and a bunch of bad ones. I don't agree with snazzy often and find his posts to be inflammatory, but he's right in the sense that Chicago hasn't really improved themselves much, if at all. Hossa>Havlat Khabibulin>Huet Pahlsson>Madden I just don't see how so many people are automatically putting these guys in the Finals. Personally, I worry about the Ducks and the Sharks (I know they are chokers, but it seems like eventually they'd break through) more than the Hawks.

You seem to have selective memory. I seem to remember you posing a number of different salary structures that Holland should propose to Hossa in order to keep him. Ah yes, here are a couple of examples but I don't have the time to look for any more. "Holland can make 6 million work for 8 years and extend his contract to 12 years. This way the last 4 years will be nickles that brings the cap hit down. 7.5mil, 7.5mil, 7.5mil, 7.5mil, 7.0mil, 6.5mil, 6.0mil, 4.5mil, 3.5mil, 2.5mil, 1mil, 1mil = 62 million / 5.15 cap hit ^Just an example. You can work the numbers any way you want, but the last 2 years will be the drop off point." http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.ph...59606&st=20 "9, 7, 6, 5, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1, 1 = $40m over 10 years Or sign him 12 years at a 3.5 cap hit." http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.ph...59606&st=60 You posted these in another thread. It doesn't sound like you're opposed to Hossa signing with the Wings here. For some reason, people are acting like jilted high schoolers with the Hossa situation. We knew going in that it was probably going to be a one year marriage. People need to get over it, he's gone.

Sounds like Hudler's Russia contract is over. Mlive makes it sound like it's up the arbitrator and then the wings will either keep or him or trade his rights. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/20...i_huders_s.html

I read it too. He said he'd be willing to play for 30,000 per month, or something crazy like that. http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/08/li...ng_q_and_a.html I was wrong on the number, he says he'd play for 4,500 per month.

This doesn't explain HOW he is going to sign them all. How do you think he's going to do it when the cap is supposed to go DOWN next year? 1 Brian Campbell D $7,142,875 2 Cristobal Huet G $5,625,000 3 Hossa R $5,200,000 4 SHARP, PATRICK R $3,900,000 5 SEABROOK, BRENT D $3,500,000 6 BOLLAND, DAVE C $3,375,000 7 Barker $3,083,000 8 Buff R $3,000,000 9 Sopel $2,333,000 10 Kopecky R $1,200,000 11 TOEWS, JONATHAN C $5,000,000 12 KANE, PATRICK R $5,000,000 13 KEITH, DUNCAN D $5,000,000 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Total $53,358,875 09-10 Cap $56,800,000 10-11 Cap $55,000,000 Explain how he's going to get 9 players to fill out the rosters for under 2 million total. The 10-11 cap is obviously hypothetical and is based on an article that I read that said the cap would go down about 2 million next year. http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=574756

If Lidstrom retires after next season, I hope Holland throws a RFA contract at Keith. I'm sure he won't, but that would help shore up the D for a long time.

Gaborik: 7.5 cap hit Hossa: 5.2 cap hit I realize Hossa's term is longer but that's a ridiculous amount of money to spend on an injury prone player that, when healthy, performs similarly to Hossa.

I hope he's gone. They could use the cap space and he's too one-dimensional.

Tsn is saying that three teams have offers out for Chris Neil. Detroit is not one of them. Toronto is, though. Burke is trying to build an Eastern Conference good squad.

Actually, they are. With Campbell and Hossa locked up and the fact that the salary cap is going to drop next year, they are going to have a very difficult time keeping both of them.

Plus, the cap is supposed to go down next year. The Wings will be ok, but I'm not sure what Chicago is thinking, long-term.

This will offend some Hudler lovers, but I'm entitled to my opinion. 2.5 million for a guy that can only play 13 minutes a game due to his defensive deficincies is too much. Add in the fact that he does not have much speed, is very small, and is a power play specialist and it becomes clear that he should not get a huge raise. Especially when you add in the fact that Leino will be playing on the Wings anyways. If he stays, fine, as long as it's not at a huge raise, and if he goes, fine, Holland could use the cap space.

So we don't lose key defensemen to season-ending concussions because he felt like he needed to stand up to someone. (btw, ever wonder what would have happened in the SCF if Lilja had been there? He was, arguably, their top penalty killer and top shot blocker. The Wings were BRUTAL on the Pk in that series) So we don't lose a regular member of our fourth line and penalty killer to a season-ending broken orbital bone because he felt like the other team was taking liberties with his team. So we don't have one of your superstar forwards (I'm referring to the Hossa fight, I don't think the Zetterberg fight could have been avoided) fighting against a guy from the other team because he was sick of them taking liberties against his team. So, at the end of a game, we don't see the opponent jumping Rafalski and beating his face in. So we don't see an opponent goading Datsyuk into dropping the gloves at the end of a game. See a pattern here? Whether people like it or not, there WILL be fights in hockey games. Who do you want fighting for the Wings? A guy whose job is to fight, or Zetterberg, or Datsyuk, or Rafalski, or Lilja, etc...

Great post Opie. I'm noticing that the ones who don't want Hossa back are the ones that fought fiercely throughout the year to try to convince everyone else how great Hudler is. I guess that might be a coincidence but ironically, if Hossa signs, there is a zero percent chance that Hudler returns. Having said that, I could go either way on this one. If he signs, great, if he doesn't, good luck and thanks. As long as Holland doesn't pull a Shero and wait too long on Hossa's decision, I'll be happy.

I think you guys are both right. It's impossible to deny that there were nights (several of them) in which the Wings seemed very flat. To me, that's a lack of motivation. Even in the playoffs there were numerous games in which the Wings didn't begin playing until the third period.

So, he scored 40 goals, averaged just under a point per game, back-checked well and played a "strong two-way game" all while "not fitting in?" Well, if he doesn't re-sign, I certainly hope they can find someone else to not fit in. I usually agree with you younguns, but not this time. Ray Whitney DIDN'T fit in. Hossa fit in very well.

Because Holland said he'd trade Hossa's rights and the new team would have 48 hours to work out a contract with him. Matheson's article said Hossa's rights would be traded by Monday unless progress was being made. If there was no progress being made, Holland would have traded his rights to someone by now. Either that or Holland is fielding various offers for Hossa's negotiating rights.

I don't know. I'm of the belief that Hossa carried them for sections of the regular season when the wings were battling the Stanley Cup hangover. If the whole team was motivated (as I expect them to be) and you throw a motivated Hossa on top of that................. It probably won't matter anyways. We're at Holland's self-imposed deadline for Hossa to make his decision. If we don't hear anything before too long, maybe that means he's staying.