eva unit zero

Fedorov was always in the conversation from 1994 to 2003. He holds the league's record for most consecutive 20+ point playoff seasons, and won the Selke twice in three years (1994, 1996) and finished top four in voting every year from 1992 through 1996, and finished 7th in 1997. Speaking of the Selke, a minor threadjack speaking to how good Detroit is defensively...bonus points to anyone who can name the which two of the Wings' "regular" 12 forwards did not receive at least one fifth-place Selke vote for 2007-08.

Anaheim is currently $2m over the cap. They also need to resign Drew Miller and Teemu Selanne, which will ultimately cost them another $2-3m in cap hit. We'll call it $5m over the cap. Trading Schneider makes sense...however; Due to age and reputation, Schneider has significantly less trade value and outperformed one of his teammates from last season. The smart trade would not be to trade Schneider, who comes off the books at the end of the season, but rather to offer Chris Pronger as the 'missing piece' on the Pittsburgh defense and say that because of cap concerns you'll 'only' want Ryan Whitney, and to waive Todd Marchant and let him go wherever. That clears up the necessary cap space while retaining a strong roster. Because ultimately, the math works like this: Mathieu Schneider+Ryan Whitney+Bobby Ryan>Chris Pronger+Steve Montador+Todd Marchant.

81 was my number in football. Nice to finally see confirmation that one of my favorite hockey players is wearing it for my favorite team...

We likely would have won more Cups. But we probably would not have Chelios or Stuart; our defense would look probably something like this: Nicklas Lidstrom/Jiri Fischer Niklas Kronwall/Vladimir Konstantinov Anders Eriksson/Brett Lebda That unit is just SICK. And 100% home-grown.

Fischer was an elite prospect coming out of juniors, and was DOMINANT at times in the 2002 playoff run. Ericsson is miles behind Fischer developmentally; Fischer is only four years older. Ericsson is 24 right now. Fischer was already a key contributor to a Cup championship team at 22. Furthermore...during Fischer's last season, he had been the Wings' best defenseman from the start of the season until the night he collapsed. That is noteworthy as far as his level of play given that Nicklas Lidstrom ended up winning the Norris. Fischer was 25 at the time, and probably the second best defenseman on the team overall; by now he might have become the best. Ericsson might be top six in the organization at 24. Might. He probably won't be as good at 28 as Fischer was at 25.

Leaving out guys who did manage to hoist it, my all 'wish they would have' team from the 1990-1996 rosters. G - Tim Cheveldae D - Steve Chiasson D - Mark Howe F - Shawn Burr F - John Ogrodnick F - Gerard Gallant

I said he was the third most likely to have his number hung from the rafters at this point. That does not say he actually should.

Lapointe was an unrestricted free agent via Group 6 because he was a ten-year veteran making less than the league average. Aside from his contract year, which he had played receiving sweet feeds from Fedorov, he was a reliable 15-goal grinder. and Boston offered him a deal worth about twice what he was worth. He wanted to stay, and offered the Wings the opportunity to counter-offer because at his age he would normally have been an RFA and he wanted to stay. Holland basically told him the Wings couldn't pay him anywhere near that amount, and Lapointe took the money. It had nothing to do with Lapointe thinking he deserved that kind of coin; rather it was Boston's owner feuding with Mike Ilitch and taking who he thought was a budding star. Fedorov, most people don't know the story. Most people say 'Greedy Russian left for more money' which is WRONG. Fedorov left because he had verbally agreed to a five-year deal worth 50m; which was the first offer made by the Wings; and when he showed up to sign the fifth year was gone. It was never put back on the table by the Wings. Fedorov probably would have signed a five year deal worth 35m had it been offered to him. The problem was that the Wings originally offered a five-year deal Fedorov accepted, and then he was never given the opportunity to sign a contract with a fifth year until Bryan Murray called him. Admittedly, he did not leave on the best terms, but he is right now more likely to have his number retired than Datsyuk or Zetterberg are. Ten years from now, that may or may not be true. Kozlov was traded for Hasek in the summer of 2001. He did not sign away as a UFA. All of these players WANTED to stay.

Interestingly, I haven't seen that stupid ad show up once since I made that comment.

Because Naslund, an offense-only player who contributed 55 points in 82 games is better than Fedorov, a player who is at this point a defensive and faceoff specialist whose offensive output, per-game, projected to 49 points last season. Yeah, I'll buy that. Fedorov>Naslund.

Hmm, when I was compiling that list I looked up Goodfellow (to confirm number) and could have sworn mention was made of him being an American. Can't get 'em all right I suppose.

I don't think there is any question. ZDHLR is by far more talented. The Russian Five included the top forward and defenseman in the world, as well as three other very good players who have very good chemistry with them. The current 'power' unit includes three of the top ten forwards, and two of the top five defensemen. Beyond that, it includes the best defenseman, two players who could be argued as the best forward, and another top-five defenseman. No player on the Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Hossa/Lidstrom/Rafalski unit is outside the top five in the world at his position. All of the players on the unit are very good at both ends of the ice. That's SICK. Last time I can remember something like this in terms of talent compared to other players was if Detroit had iced a Shanahan/Yzerman/Fedorov/Lidstrom/Konstantinov unit during the 1997 season. And even that unit is probably not as good, due to the fact that Shanahan was no better than average defensively.

NM.

Draper is feistier...I would say Fedorov is better physically. not the same thing. It's close. But I would go with Fedorov. Slightly. ALMOST as good doesn't disagree with this. 56% is almost as good as 58%, no? I'd rather spend $4m on Fedorov than $2.5m on Draper. FTR, Fedorov scored 41 points in 68 games last year. That projects to 49 points on a full season, which is well above .5 PPG. He also played quite a few games entirely on the blueline the past two seasons in Columbus. Which HURTS his overall offensive totals.

I'd give up Howard for a second rounder instead of matching that contract if it were real. He won't be worth that within four seasons, and he'll be UFA after it.

If Homer deserves to have his jersey retired for being the one of best at screening the goalie at a particular point in league history... Other players who should be considered who were among the best in the league at something as a Wing: Probert (enforcer), Kocur (enforcer), Draper (faceoffs), Cheveldae (glove hand), Macoun (playoff beard), Harold Snepsts and Wendel Clark (mustache), Lang (eating contests), Krupp (dogsledding) When I said 'among the best in the league' that meant 'among forwards, defensemen, or goalies' and not at a specific skill. That's why you don't see guys like Russ Courtnall and Al Iafrate getting their jerseys retired. Both were phenomenal skaters with huge shots, and although they had elite-level top-end games, they usually didn't play at that level.

Fedorov is almost as good as Draper on faceoffs. He's as good or better defensively and on the PK. He's bigger, stronger, and more physical. He has more offensive skills and knowledge, by a WIDE margin. Fedorov can play any position in any situation, Draper can play center or occasionally wing and can do it at even strength or shorthanded. Over 82 games, based on production last season, Fedorov would have out-produced Draper by about 30 points. This includes many games where Fedorov spent the entire game playing defense. By comparison, many on LGW feel Johan Franzen and Val Filppula are worth between $2.5m to $3.5m. Neither brings close to the offense Fedorov does OR the defense he does, or for that matter the defense or speed he does. Yet he is overpaid at $4m?

IIRC, RFA compensation is based on total contract value and not yearly value. So, were this offer real...Holland would be a fool to match. Howard is not within five years of being a $2.5m goaltender, and such an offer sheet unmatched would yield the Red Wings four first round picks, possible more. Imagine the Red Wings having FOUR top-ten picks in upcoming seasons? I'd trade Howard for that in a god damn heartbeat.

Fedorov is worth closer to $4m than Kris Draper is to $2.5m or Rob Blake is to $5m...who is overspending?

To have your jersey retired as a Wing, it is generally accepted that there are a few considerations that must be met. 1) You must have, as a Red Wing, been considered among the top players in the world at your position, and therefore have been a key player for the team for at least a few years. Awards, trophies, and All-Star selections help with this consideration. Based on that criterion, the following players are 'eligible' for consideration: #2 "Black" Jack Stewart #3 Marcel Pronovost #4 Red Kelly #5 Nicklas Lidstrom #5 Ebbie Goodfellow #6 Larry Aurie #7 Norm Ullman #8 Syd Howe #13 Pavel Datsyuk #14 Brendan Shanahan #16 Vladimir Konstantinov #30 Chris Osgood #40 Henrik Zetterberg #91 Sergei Fedorov However, this list is pared down a bit when you consider the next criterion: 2) You must have started with Detroit and spent the majority of your career with the Wings Thereby removed from the list are Shanahan and Syd Howe. Yet more players are removed when you further with the next criterion: 3) You must be a Hall of Famer. HHOF eligible players removed from the list include Larry Aurie and Vladimir Konstantinov. Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov are active players and considered HHOF locks. Chris Osgood, Henrik Zetterberg, and Pavel Datsyuk are active players with a strong likelihood of ending their career at HHOF level. Finally, there is the fourth, and most subjective consideration. 4) The player and organization must have a positive relationship, and there usually must be an 'afterglow' or 'nostalgia' feel regarding the player; players who leave on bad terms and/or aren't remembered fondly are less likely to receive the honor. Typically a long, successful career ending in Detroit is the best way to foster this feeling. Leaving town after one's prime tends to have a small negative effect, and leaving at the top of your game and/or while the team is having considerable success tends to have a significant negative effect. Sometimes the 'nostalgia' of a player's success can outweigh a negative departure, depending on how well the player performed and how much time has passed. So the five most likely players to have their jersey hung in the future, in order: 1) #5 Nicklas Lidstrom 2) #30 Chris Osgood* 3) #91 Sergei Fedorov 4) #40 Henrik Zetterberg* 5) #13 Pavel Datsyuk* *- Pending HHOF induction likelihood Other players who could potentially have banners hung, but will likely never see another player wear their number: #5 Ebbie Goodfellow #6 Larry Aurie #7 Norm Ullman #16 Vladimir Konstantinov

I meant goaltending coaches outside of the pro ranks. If you ask goaltenders who came into the league in the 80s and early 90s, the way it worked was you just did what you could to stop the puck. If you were good enough naturally to get a shot in the NHL, your NHL team's goalie coach (if they had one) would work with you and improve your game. Now, goaltending coaches are common in junior leagues and youth teams, making for a much more talented crop of goaltenders consistently.

Goaltending coaches didn't exist until the mid 1990s. Goaltenders outside of the truly gifted were generally pretty terrible before that.

There are many more high end players now due to players coming from more than Canada. There are only five more 'major pro' teams than there were in Orr's era, and that was when only Canadians played. Also, nowadays teams play much better defensive systems and goaltenders especially are better. Orr was a great offensive defenseman, but there were many defensemen who were consstently better defensively in his era. Lidstrom is the best of his era at both ends of the ice. That's phenomenally impressive.

Only if you are willing to point out that Bobby Orr was just playing the same game played by Cyclone Taylor and Flash Hollett, but doing it with Phil Esposito on his team during the most diluted defensive point in league history.

The top handful of defensemen in NHL history include guys like Orr, Bourque, Shore, Robinson, Lidstrom, Savard, Potvin, Chelios, Niedermayer, Park, Harvey, and others. My statement about the 70s had more to do with the fact that during Orr's best years, there were 25 major professional hockey teams coming from a talent pool which had just a few years prior been supplying only six teams. By Lidstrom's prime, due to improved American programs and access to Europeans, the available pool of NHL-level talent had effectively doubled. So instead of 150 NHL-caliber defensemen available for 25 NHL-level teams, we have 300 NHL-caliber defensemen for 30 NHL-level teams. If we assume the talent to be distributed evenly from the best to worst of the group, then that means your average #6 in the NHL today would have been a top-four defenseman in the 70s and 80s. Considering how far Lidstrom stands out from the group now, it's not so far fetched to suggest he might overall be a better player than Orr. Not more dominant; as dominance is relative to your peers and therefore an equal player with better peers will not appear as dominant, and a better player with considerably better peers may appear less dominant, but he might actually be a better player.