BlueMonk

I ordered it the night they won the Cup, so I better get it the instant it comes out. I can't wait!

Fighting was still up last season, compared with the season before. It may be down compared to 20 years ago, but it's not out yet.

This quote was taken from the Colorado game earlier this season when Lidstrom got cheap shotted by Laperriere and Downey came after Lappy: "It's great to see," Zetterberg said. "I think all of us got a little extra energy when he did that and it was a great fight. It changed the momentum back to our side. It doesn't happen that often, but now we've had four fights this year (Drake has the other three). It's good, it belongs in the game. The fans like it and we like it, too."

Not one Red Wings player lives in the city of Detroit, so it's not even relevant.

He could have made that point without taking a shot at Detroit. Ask the players who live in Birmingham and West Bloomfield what their quality of life is. Lowe and Burke deserve each other. Can you imagine Ken Holland making comments like that?

Just in the past few years: The Pronger trade, the Ryan Smythe negotiations, the Penner signing, the Souray signing, etc. The "who wants to live in Detroit?" comment is annoying, too.

Lowe is garbage.

Matt Cooke is my least favorite NHL player. I'm just sayin'.

Yeah, Kevin Lowe is terrible. I can't believe this guy is an NHL general manager.

The bitterness from Pittsburgh only adds to my enjoyment.

Don't need to. Scorers score and bangers bang. Just don't load up too much on any one type and it all works out fine.

All excellent points. You want players like Hudler, Kronwall and Datsyuk out there laying huge hits like they did last year? Then have someone who can back them up. Teams are going to be gunning for them during the regular season. It's not like the playoffs, where a dumb retaliation penalty is huge; during the 82 game grind, teams will have nights when they've stopped caring about the score and just want their pound of flesh. The Wings will have a lot of talent the other team's goons can set their sights on. If the Wings can get Downey (Mac can't fill this role anymore, IMO) to take a two-way contract, I'll be really happy and shut up about this. But they need either Downey or someone else to do this job. I'm talking playing 35 games a year, just a few minutes of ice time per game. The rivalry games against the Western Conference, especially other teams in the Central, will get physical at times. I'm constantly amazed by how much this part of the game is neglected. People forget so easily. Everyone is pissed when some goon is facewashing Z or taking a run at Lids during the season, but after a successful playoff run, all anyone is looking at is skill again. BALANCE.

It is absolutely essential, but for the first time in years, I think they're going to actually make sure it happens. The last two seasons were eye openers for the front office. They've learned their lesson, I think.

Holy cripes! Great signing! To get this and the Stuart deal done is amazing. What an offseason it's been so far.

How does this decision get easier, not harder? He's a year older, so if he was contemplating retirement after the 2007 season, I would think he'd be leaning even more toward retirement after 2008, right? Last year, he needed half a season to make up his mind. This year, he's still not sure right away, but he makes the exact same decision, only 8 months earlier? I know there was more pressure on him from the team to make up his mind, but something about the way he's gone about this bothers me. Maybe it shouldn't, but it does.

Very well said, Harold. Incredibly, dazzlingly obvious, and it shouldn't need to even be explained, but it usually does, especially around here, and you summed it up perfectly. The important thing is, the team now fully understands this as well, after being the only organization out of 30 in the NHL who didn't for the past 5 seasons or so. BALANCE. That's how you do it. Scorers score and bangers bang. Ken Dryden, baby.

It's a ridiculous piece. I can't believe some people here are defending it. Of course luck is a factor. But anything resembling objective writing would at least acknowledge that half the roster of this Stanley Cup team was acquired via the draft. The team's success is a part of it, too. Having a good team with lots of depth means being able to give the young players time to develop; the Wings never need to rush anyone along. But seriously, if the other scouts around the league want to believe there's no method at all to the Wings' madness, that's fine with me. It means they won't try to emulate any of it. It reminds me of the book Moneyball, with Billy Beane talking about how there were obvious methods for evaluating players that any team could use, but the old school resistance to the new school of thought was so strong that other teams rejected them.

Hey, Mack_Attack, congrats on getting Schenn! Hell of a move by the Leafs, I think.

Bettman gets boos. Jay Feaster's congratulations on the Wings winning the Stanley Cup draws cheers. Nicely done, Ottawa!

Damn straight! I wish Mac well whatever happens, but Downey fulfilled his role with the team very well and I'd love to see him back. It's not like they have to dress him every game. As the 2007-8 season proved, you can have part-time role players like Downey on the roster who aren't necessarily super gifted but bring other important qualities to a championship team.

The report I heard at the time was that the source heard it from Franzen himself. Regardless, this was pretty serious and I'm glad it turned out okay for Mule.

Hossa is an absolute must for the Pens if they want to be a contender for the Cup again next year, IMO.

Took my daughter and had an unbelievable time! She got Filppula's autograph and we got close-up looks at Flip, Draper, Ozzie and Hudler. Hudler was hilarious! Who knew he was such a ham? And Downey was great, dancing and even doing a striptease near the end. When Zetterberg's car came through near Jefferson, the crowd bum-rushed past the mounties and traffic cops and just took up residence along the boulevard. It was inspired. Tremendous time, really glad we got to go. GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!

CBC has "decided not to renew" other deals before, including HNIC itself. But a national uproar has led to them reverse their decision. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens here.

Punctuated by "GO PENS!" shouts, no doubt. Kidding! I kid.