eva unit zero

Let's look at the current personnel we have, and the two lines that are clicking. Line 1: Leino/Zetterberg/Cleary Line 2: ????/Datsyuk/???? Line 3: ????/????/???? Line 4: Helm/Draper/Eaves So the remaining healthy forwards we have right now for those last five spots are are who, Bertuzzi, Holmstrom, Abdelkader, Maltby, May, and Miller. Bertuzzi and Holmstrom on a line together was never a good idea, and clearly isn't working. Bertuzzi can't shoot for s*** right now and he's trying too much to be a playmaker, while Homer is on fire. So put Bertuzzi on the third line and leave Homer with Dats. Abs is the only center left in the group. May is the guy I would leave out, which means that it's just a matter of arranging Miller, Abs, and Maltby. Maltby should be on the third line because the only thing he could possibly offer the second line offensively is already covered very well. Maltby can't center a line, so it's basically Miller or Abs for the second line winger and third line center positions. Abdelkader is the natural center, so we start with him centering Bertuzzi and Maltby and see how that goes while Miller, who has a solid defensive game, good speed, and a decent shot could do well on the Dats line. This leaves us with: Leino/Zetterberg/Cleary Miller/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Bertuzzi/Abdelkader/Maltby Helm/Draper/Eaves

The title of this thread is incorrect. It should say "Babcock not happy with second line" Datsyuk's line isn't the top line. It hasn't been the top line since day one of the season, and still isn't. Zetterberg's line plays more minutes most nights and Z has outperformed Datsyuk considerably in most aspects. Just saying. Yeah, I know, Z started slow, with only a consistent point per game pace through his first 11 games. He dipped for a bit, scoring two over the next four, and since then has scored 11 in 6. Datsyuk has scored 18 points in that same period, with points coming in bunches. Either he gets a few or he gets nothing is the story of his season so far.

Yes, I have said the technology is there many times. I simply said that GPS uses satellite transmission, which would be ridiculous trying to detect whether a puck had crossed a line. We're not trying to tell whether the puck has left the arena and taken the People Mover and is now rocking a few piercings and some eyeliner at City Club. We just want to know one thing: did it cross the line?

GPS is a satellite transmission. Of course it's not that precise. This is not a matter of some giant scanner knowing where the puck is all over the ice. It's a matter of a few chips or emitters inside a puck being detected by sensors within four feet of the puck. Say there are sensors inside the goal posts and crossbar which create a sort of field the puck would have to pass through to enter the goal. The FoxTrax puck system wouldn't work for this because it was based on similar technology to GPS; it was an imprecise location based on an in-arena satellite. Another advantage to my system? The nets could be set up so that when knocked off, the gate is deactivated but the clock is still stopped. Now we just need someone to design the actual programming and get the technology working together.

Shanahan will not and should not get his number retired in Detroit. He was a Red Wing for what, nine seasons? He had some good years in Detroit, but he did not start his career as a Red Wing, in fact he was already in his prime by the time he came to the Wings. A hired gun, if you will. He stayed for some Cup wins, and played well in those seasons but later on, when he had declined as a player, he left Detroit. He gave the reason "Because I'm part of the past" but it also happened to be a fact that the Rangers were offering a considerably higher salary than Detroit was to a player who has been a money-chaser in the past. All of the players currently retired began their careers as Red Wings and were strong influences on the team, very good players for the team for a long time, and exemplified the team's character on and off the ice. Lidstrom and Osgood are the only realistic choices who have yet to receive the honor. Dats and Z certainly could reach that status. As for those arguing that Ozzie shouldn't get it, why? I've heard things like "Maybe two more Cups" or "There are 20 goalies in the league that could challenge him for his starting job" and my question to all of those is as follows: Did those 20 goalies spend many years backstopping the Wings, always giving the Wings a chance to win regardless of how the team played, putting up per-game postseason statistics comparable to Patrick Roy? How many Cups does a goalie have to win to earn jersey retirement? Sawchuk won a bunch of Cups, but he has four teammates retired alongside him. Ozzie constantly gets hit with the "his team was great" argument. If Ozzie's team was so wonderful, and Sawchuk had four teammates who were great enough to deserve this extremely rare and illustrious honor....then doesn't it follow that Sawchuk's teams were pretty ******* awesome? Osgood has never missed the playoffs or posted a losing record in the regular season, not even when he played for terrible Islanders and Blues teams. He is about to crack the 400-win plateau and will soon be the Wings' all-time wins leader. People keep saying Osgood is a scrub, or has always been terrible, or stuff like that. Well if that's true, then why has he been able to post these numbers? It's not luck, and he doesn't play enough games to be able to accumulate these win numbers simply by playing a lot like some goalies, so the remaining answer as to how it happens is skill.

Waiving Huet or sending him to the minors won't change the opinion of players around the league with regards to Chicago. They already did that to Khabibulin, so if that is something that will push players away then that player is not signing in Chicago without a NMC. They save that $4.76m on the buyout by taking Campbell's hit down to just the $2.38m buyout fee. $5.5m for Keith plus $750k for another defenseman, minus the $4.76m buyout fee is $1.49m, which is just over what Keith makes now. So take away Keith's current salary from the $1.49 and it's about $10k, give or take. You forgot that giving Keith the raise to $5.5m only uses up enough open cap space to get him there from $1.475m, not a whole $5.5m. Brent Sopel. His cap hit is $2.333m and he's their #6 defenseman. He gets paid like he's a #3/4 defenseman and has never been anything other than a #6/7 defenseman in the NHL. He can be replaced, improved upon even, for $500k. Easiest move the Hawks can make to clear cap space. Want $1.833 in free cap space? Replace Brent Sopel with any NHL caliber defenseman who is willing to sign a league-minimum deal. Andy Delmore is a good example. Doug Janik too. Both are improvements over Sopel. I did it earlier, but let's take another look, this time starting off removing Sopel and Huet from the roster and adding Crawford to replace Huet. This puts then in a position with seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender. Toews, Kane, Ladd, Keith, Hjalmarsson, and Niemi are the notable unsigned players. That's six forwards, four defensemen, and one goaltender the Hawks need to sign with $21.415m in open space. Ladd should command likely a $2m deal as an FA; he has not done as well as Hudler and we saw what Hudler received in arbitration. Let's say Toews and Kane receive an average of $5m each. That takes care of three forward spots. Keith gets, say, another $5m. Now we're looking at $17m pulled out of that $21,415m. This drops us to $4.415m available to sign 3 forwards, 3 defenseman, and 1 goaltender. Well, that doesn't add up. Niemi will cost probably around $1.5m, and Hjalmarsson about the same. This leaves us with 3 open forward spots and 2 on defense, and only $1.415m to fill them. If you figure those five guys as $500k minimum wagers, that's 2.5m, and we're over the cap by about $1.1m now. Well, now we have an issue. We need to drop a player who makes at least $1.6m to fill the roster. This is where the decision comes in. Who do you keep, Dustin Byfuglien or Andrew Ladd? The Hawks can probably get something for Byfuglien even though his contract is bloated. Ladd probably brings better return as he's a better player and will likely get a cheaper contract. Byfuglien is the right choice to deal IMHO. This provides some extra cap space so that the Hawks perhaps don't HAVE to sign minimum wagers for their depth slots. So following this plan we would be looking at Toews, Hossa, Kane, Sharp, Bolland, Versteeg, Ladd, Kopecky, Brouwer up front, Keith, Seabrook, Campbell, Hjalmarsson, Barker on the blueline, and Niemi and Crawford in net, plus whichever four forwards and two defensemen the Hawks spend the remaining $4.4m on. Hawks' core would be intact outside of losing a couple good role players and an aging netminder.

Solution to all of this; technology. Place sensors inside the puck. Attach sensors to the back of the goal posts and crossbar to form a 'gate' at the back edge of the goal line. If all of the sensors inside the puck pass through this gate, therefore meaning the entire puck has crossed the line, then we have a goal. The goal light and siren are automatically set off, and the clock is stopped. As for the referee, the whistle is replaced with a handheld buzzer device. It could attach to the index and ring finger in the same way even. The referee or linesman, when he chooses to stop play, presses a button on this device with his thumb. Almost instant between intent and action. The 'buzzer' would cause the clock to stop, as well as emit a whistling sound to indicate the play was dead. The 'buzzer' could also perhaps deactivate the 'gate' or at very least, there would be a way to tell whether the buzzer or gate had been activated first. The physical technology to implement this idea exists; the programming is what would need to be created. Unfortunately, while I am an excellent innovator with regard to what could or should happen, I am not terribly skilled as a programmer.

Let ME clear some things up. They can waive Campbell. They just can't send him to the minors without his consent if he clears. They can also, by extension, terminate his SPC by the same process I mentioned before. Unlikely to happen with Campbell though. Bad for player morale? If waiving Huet means they won't trade off two or three other guys, it's not bad for player morale. And in case you haven't been paying attention, Nikolai Khabibulin spent the first several weeks of last season in the minors, and not because of cap concerns. Buying Campbell out would probably not happen. Keith currently makes $1.475m. If you assume Campbell's $7,142,875 is bought out, he would still hit the cap for $2,380,958 for six years. The Hawks would save $4,761,917 on Campbell for the next six seasons, so if you sign Keith to a $5.5m contract that means you have another ~$750k for signing Campbell's replacement. But the Hawks only have three top-four defensemen right now, even though five defensemen make that kind of money. Barker is growing into his contract, Sopel is a waste, and Hjalmarsson should be a true top-four defenseman by the end of next season. By that point we might see the Hawks try and make some kind of move with Campbell, but there will also be fewer long-term cap concerns at that point. Byfuglien is possibly the biggest waste of cap space on the roster. He won't be moved not only because nobody would taek that contract, but because he showed over a week and a half span of strong play that he could, in some alternate universe, become a second line power forward. Barker is overpaid, but not really by that much. He's solid offensively and developing into a decent top-four defenseman. The Hawks are better off holding onto him and dropping Huet and at least one of Byfuglien or Sopel to clear cap space. The last two can easily be replaced with much cheaper players. If smart, the Hawks drop a couple very overpaid players, possibly a good role player or two (Madden?) and keep all of their core players.

Cristobal Huet has a bloated contract. This is well-known. But there is a simple, easy solution to this problem. Remember how Lou Lamoirello signed Brendan Shanahan to a $1m deal, after training camp placed him on waivers, and then shortly afterwards Shanny became a free agent? That, in the CBA, works like this. You place a player on unconditional waivers. If no team picks him up, you can then terminate his SPC, or Standard Player Contract. If Chicago's front office has any sense, they will do this with Huet. If they don't do this, they will at very least try and trade him, and when that fails send him to the minors to get his cap hit off the roster. So, going without Huet's cap hit for the 2010-11 season, Chicago has the following players currently signed for next year out of those who have played at least one game this season: F: Hossa, Sharp, Bolland, Versteeg, Byfuglien, Kopecky, Brouwer D: Campbell, Seabrook, Barker, Sopel G: none That totals up to 11 players for just shy of $37m. The Hawks would have about $19.9m in cap space to sign or promote 6 forwards, 3 defensemen, and two goalies. Let's throw Corey Crawford into the mix. Now the Hawks have a goaltender on the roster and still have $19.1m to spend on 6 forwards, 3 defensemen, and a goalie. If you give Toews, Kane, and Keith a total of $15m, then the Hawks are looking at $4.1m to sign 4 forwards, 2 defensemen, and a goalie. Now, other than Niklas Hjalmarsson, they would only need bottom six forwards and a seventh defenseman, plus a goalie. That goalie would probably be Antti Niemi, who has been outplaying Huet this season so far. While Hjalmarsson has shown high potential he hasn't really been much more than a #4 defenseman on his better days, and his offense really hasn't been there. But both he and Niemi would cost somewhere between $1m and $2m. So let's look at this. Assume Hjalmarsson and Niemi total out to $3m, so we're now $1.1 under the cap and needing 4 forwards and 1 defenseman. If these are all $500k guys, they add up to $2.5m, so we need to have that much open space. This brings us to Brent Sopel. He is a career third-pairing defenseman with a cap hit of $2.333m. Chicago drops him, either via trade or waivers, and frees up that much space. Now we're talking $3.4m available space for 4-2-0. Fills out the roster with $500k guys and leaves cap space. No, there's not a ton of depth unless you get some bargains. But with contracts like Byfuglien and Campbell at the top, what do you really expect?

Did anyone here see the Free Press article on Dominic Raiola on Sunday? It mentioned the fact that he had been the center for 12 different QBs, which got me to thinking...which QBs have been the best in that period? And you know what happened, which is not far off of my expectations? Charlie Batch was right at the top. Only Jon Kitna posted comparable stats to Batch over any significant playing time, and Kitna had an offensive system that was actually designed to work with him and not another quarterback. Stafford certainly has the ability to be a top notch quarterback, and Culpepper is putting up fairly similar numbers to Batch except for his overly high interception marks, so if the team can get the offensive line in order it's possible the offense could actually score. So, in other words... don't expect much offense for a year or two.

Jonas Hiller is two years older than Jimmy Howard. Do you really think Anaheim risks trading a proven guy like Giguere who has won the Smythe and recently won a Cup to Detroit for Howard, who has proven nothing? And if so, who else does Detroit have to send? Filppula and Kronwall? Rafalski plus a pick or two? And all of this for a very expensive guy who would be, at best, competing for the starting goalie job on a team that should be more concerned with its defensive unit than its goaltending.

This is because Yzerman was so good offensively that it overshadowed his defensive abilities. Yzerman was very good defensively even in his early career. That's why he was playing on the top penalty killing unit many years in the mid/late 80s and early 90s. Crosby and Malkin don't see any PK time; now is the equivalent of the end of the 80s for those two, when Yzerman performed an offensive feat only Gretzky had ever accomplished, and also received a first-place Selke vote the same year. The accomplishment? Scoring 130+ points for his team without having any teammate score 90+ and without having any defenseman score 60+ points. Mario Lemieux didn't even do that one.

Datsyuk has had his share of injuries as well. Datsyuk has missed 48 regular season games in his career, Zetterberg has missed 40. If you take away Datsyuk's rookie year, Dats has missed 36 to Z's 40. That's basically even. And Dats has played 8 fewer playoff games than Zetterberg excluding the 2002 playoffs, which were Dats' rookie year and the year before Z joined the club. So Datsyuk has actually missed more games than Zetterberg due to injury. Which would suggest that Zetterberg is not more beat up than Datsyuk, especially considering the age advantage.

Well, to update my selections... Let's look at the roster, assuming everyone is healthy. Leino/Zetterberg/Cleary Franzen/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Bertuzzi/Filppula/Williams Helm/Draper/Eaves Miller Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Ericsson/Lilja Meech Osgood Howard First of all, I expect Lebda to be traded or waived when Lilja returns, so that solves one of my 'replacement' slots. So what I would do is remove Bertuzzi and Williams, and add Fedorov, Hossa, and Hudler. The lines would be as follows: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Franzen/Hudler/Hossa Filppula/Fedorov/Cleary Helm/Draper/Leino Miller May Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Ericsson/Lilja Meech Osgood Howard

Yeah, Anaheim will give up the much younger, much cheaper goalie with huge potential that is currently their starter to a conference rival like Detroit instead of getting rid of the much older, much more expensive backup who is on a downturn in his career. Yep, I see that happening.

It's an accent thing...his nickname is actually Beer, as he's from Newfoundland, which was once a colony of Irish settlers, and he himself is of Irish descent.

The C to Datsyuk after Z retires? Datsyuk is two years older than Z and Z is in better physical shape for the long-term. If anything, not only will Z retire after Dats, but Z will play a career three or four years longer than Dats. The next Wings captain after Z, if in the system right now, is probably Abdelkader. But that all depends on when Z retires. If Z retires at the end of his contract, it will be 2021; Abby would be 34 at that point, and the C would more than likely go to a younger player who is one of the team's better players and an on-ice leader.

Here's one schedule system I have thought of. First, take away two preseason games. Second, each season randomly place teams into five 'groups' of six teams. Teams will play six games (3H, 3A) against each division opponent -24 total. Teams will play two games (1H, 1A) against all other opponents - 50 total. Teams will play two additional games (1H, 1A) against each team in their 'group' - 10 total. Such a system would also allow for rivalry scheduling, such as "Detroit and Toronto are always placed in the same group" and things like that.

I think the best possible forward lines the Wings could make would be: Zetterberg/Zetterberg/Zetterberg Zetterberg/Zetterberg/Zetterberg Zetterberg/Zetterberg/Zetterberg Zetterberg/Zetterberg/Zetterberg But seriously, I would like to see this when everyone gets healthy: Franzen/Zetterberg/Cleary Holmstrom/Datsyuk/Williams Bertuzzi/Filppula/Leino Draper/Helm/Eaves

Cleary is more of an on-ice leader for the Wings than Filppula is, so he is more likely to get that A. Neither Cleary nor Filppula will never be the captain of the Wings. Flip's 25, Zetterberg is 29, Cleary is 30, and Datsyuk is 31. Filppula is not one of the team's leaders right now. Z and Dats are. Barring SERIOUS injuries or stupid trades, Filppula doesn't even have a chance at the C until he is in his mid to late 30s. At that point, if he's even still a Wing, he would likely be passed over for a younger player who is serving as the team's on-ice leader at that time. Perhaps a Jonathan Ericsson, Justin Abdelkader, or Darren Helm might be that guy, or perhaps someone yet to be drafted. But the fact is, Zetterberg will be the captain once Lidstrom retires, and will be so until the end of his career.

Henrik Zetterberg. That is all.

Well, Let's look at it this way. If those two players retire at the end of their contracts: Lidstrom will retire after this season. Draper will retire after next season. So next season, it would be: C: Zetterberg A: Datsyuk A: Draper And for 2011-12 and 2012-13 at least, it would probably be: C: Zetterberg A: Datsyuk A: Cleary (remember, he is younger than Datsyuk) After that, there is too much speculation about what players would be developed into, what players would be on or off the team, etc.

I may have. I may not have. But either way, I'm not a goaltender. I also am not playing for the Wings after having several years of training and development within the organization. I am not an elite hockey player by any means, but if there is one thing I do absolutely excel at it is positional play, and by extension defensive play. Regardless, I don't see how whether I would have made that mistake affects the fact that Howard shouldn't have, and that it's something he needs to learn from and improve upon if he wants to stick around.

He was too far out, though. It's the same thing as a forward not being in a shooting position in the offensive zone. A goalie should be out and challenging, but he shouldn't be TOO far out. Just like a forward should always be in a shooting position ready to receive the puck and immediately put it on net.

Howard wasn't at the top though, he was halfway out of his crease on the goal. Had he been in his crease properly, he could have stopped it.