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Foote is not that good anymore. Plus, the key you guys are all forgetting: For a physical defenseman to succeed in Detroit's system, he must possess two things: Skating/positional play and puck skills. The last four really physical defensemen the Wings have had? Danny Markov, Jiri Fischer, Chris Chelios, and Niklas Kronwall. Besides Chelios, who is always in proper position, the others are good skaters, and all four have solid puck skills. Other physical defensemen who have been less than successful on Detroit's blue line recently: Derian Hatcher, Uwe Krupp, Ulf Samuelsson, Maxim Kuznetsov All of those guys are missing one or both of the categories I outlined above. Both Foote and Blake are closer to the second category than the first.

Based on play this season, Cujo would have a good chance to start on: Atlanta, Calgary, Carolina, Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Washington

I don't think that was the point.

The NHL rejected ESPN's offer because ESPN offered a contract that involved zero money. The only money the NHL would have seen was a cut of advertising revenue after ESPN expenses were paid. You know, a worse deal than the NBC deal Bettman gets flak for taking?

Daneyko had also played 21 years with the Devils. He was never a great player, but he was a reliable stay at homer and he stayed with the same team for over 20 years. It's like Mike Richter; he was retired because he was a good player with the same team his entire career, and someone fans identified with. Richter was never a great goalie, but he was the face of the club.

I would rather have Danny Markov than Blake. That's before considering how much we'd have to give up to get Blake. There is no reason we should be interested in Blake; his physical game is not what it used to be, he is TERRIBLE defensively, and he would be the fourth best offensive defenseman on the team. The only use for Blake is taking Samuelsson off the point on the PP..and Sammy might be better defensively in that slot than Blake anyway.

I'll put out a scenario... Nicole has the opportunity to date one of two guys. We'll call them Ed and Vince. Ed is the most popular guy around, has lots of money, and hangs out with lots of friends. He'll often pick up their tab. Vince is not as popular, but is a nice guy and will always be available for anything Nicole needs. However, there are a couple other factors. Ed often says demeaning things about Nicole in front of her friends and associates. Vince is usually supportive and praises her intelligence and beauty. Ed ask Nicole to pay for his drinks, while Vince buys her drinks. Who should Nicole date?

The Leafs should follow the following steps: Trade Pavel Kubina, Mats Sundin, Bryan McCabe, Darcy Tucker, and Andrew Raycroft to Western Conference teams for prospects or picks. Ideally the Sundin trade would also yield a young top-six forward plus prospects and picks. Retain their RFAs for next season. This would give them a roster going forward of: F: Jason Blake, Alex Ponikarovsky, Nik Antropov, Mark Bell, Alex Steen, Chad Kilger, Matt Stajan, Kyle Wellwood, Jiri Tlusty, Boyd Devereaux, Young top sixer (a la Hudler/Filppula) D: Tomas Kaberle, Hal Gill, Carlo Coliacovo, Ian White, Anton Stralman, Staffan Kronwall G: Vesa Toskala, Justin Pogge This leaves two forwards and a defenseman that need to be acquired, with a cap hit of only about 30m. Assuming Sundin returns for around 5m, that means the Leafs would have about 15m with which to add a forward and a defenseman. If these are smart acqusitions, and guys that are likely to help the team long-term, the Leafs could be in a solid rebuilding mode while still maintaining the potential for current success. They absolutely should not spend to the cap in this scenario unless the guys they are getting WARRANT that kind of money. I would project the free agent signings as no more than 4m or 5m each for someone under 33 that is WORTH that kind of money.

Ok, how about this. People are already saying Cam Ward has a pretty good shot at the Hall of Fame. At the same point in his career (after about 2.5 seasons) Osgood had a record of 76-19-10-0 with 7 shutouts and a GAA of 2.43 and a save percentage of .906. Ward's record is 61-42-0-11 with 5 shutouts and a GAA of 3.05(!) and a save percentage of .895. Osgood's career numbers, with the exception of winning percentage, are better now than they were then. Osgood's worst single season stats are better than Ward's CAREER numbers. Yet Osgood is brushed off as a product, and Ward is touted as a future Hall of Famer? Makes NO sense.

Even though Datsyuk and Lidstrom combine for 14m, which is about 4m more per year than Ovechkin makes?

Is it just me, or did this bowl season prove that the SEC and Big Ten are much closer in terms of speed and talent than the media loves to suggest? Three games between the #1, 3,and 4 ranked SEC teams vs the #1, 3, and 4 ranked Big Ten teams and all three games were close, despite the fact that two of those games were played within 50 miles of the SEC team's home stadium. This is why I don't understand the Big Ten's resistance to a playoff; If teams from other conferences could be forced to play postseason games in Big Ten stadiums, people might think very differently about what conferences are the best.

Of the four, it has to be Franzen. He's not a top six forward, he has been disappointing physically, and his defense doesn't make him stand out from the rest of our forwards. However, I think you are projecting those players' salaries too high. The combined cost for the four of them should not exceed 8m in their next contracts.

'The obvious' being that Richter happened to be in net for the Rangers in 94, and for the US in 96? So Richter having been a goalie that played well for a very good team is a positive, when for Osgood it's a negative? Osgood has been a more consistently good netminder over his career than Richter was. Case in point: the 1994-95 season. That Rangers team was the best defensive team Richter ever played for, yet he posted some of his worst stats that year. This is even more jarring when you consider that 93-94, 95-96, and 96-97 were statistically Richter's best seasons. People often bring up the 94 Cup run, and the 96 World Cup as evidence that Richter is some sort of great playoff netminder. He's not; he's the American Bill Ranford. Osgood was consistently a better playoff goaltender than Richter, but doesn't get credit for it because of where he plays. Think about it; Osgood is often slammed by Wings fans for not winning in the 2000 playoffs. Osgood posted a .924 save percentage and a 1.97 GAA that postseason; better single season playoff stats than Richter ever put up. Ozzie's career playoff numbers are better too. The fact that Ozzie played for Detroit has hurt his reputation unfairly; Osgood posted great numbers playing almost exclusively on good teams. The same formula has made Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur 'the greatest goalie ever' as their careers wind down. Those two are not bumped from discussion for having great teams. Honestly, I think Osgood's lack of respect has more to do with the fact he shared the net than the fact he played for great teams. It gives people the idea that 'anyone could have done it' because other top goalies often carried more of the workload. Never mind that Osgood has posted remarkable wins totals even for a guy playing 65 games a season. Osgood has averaged 27 wins in 47 decisions in the 12.57 seasons he's been in the NHL. By comparison, Ed Belfour, considered a 'lock' for the HHOF, won on average 29 of his 56 decisions. And that's really what hockey is about; winning. Osgood has won more consistently than just about any of his peers, and this has NOT been limited to his time in Detroit. He should be in the Hall.

Just no. Mike Richter was NEVER an elite goaltender. Chris Osgood was one of the best goalies in the league in the mid 90s and should have won the 1996 Vezina trophy. Richter was a good goalie at his best. Ozzie was a great goalie in his prime, and is the league's best netminder this season; a position Richter NEVER held.

Except that Tim Thomas faces 33 shots per game, and Ozzie faces 24.6 spg. If you switched Ozzie and Thomas in terms of minutes played and shots faced, their GAAs would switch as they have identical save percentages. If Thomas faced Hasek's 21.1 shots per game, his GAA would be about 1.43. The same is true if Osgood faced Hasek's 21.1 shots.

Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog shared the All-Star Game net multiple times while playing together for the Oilers.

Who it should be, accounting for every team being represented: Goal: Rick Dipietro, NY Islanders Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers Defense: Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh Wade Redden, Ottawa Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Jaroslav Spacek, Buffalo Forward: Jason Spezza, Ottawa Dany Heatley, Ottawa Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Mats Sundin, Toronto Mike Richards, Philadelphia Martin St.Louis, Tampa Bay Ray Whitney, Carolina Olli Jokinen, Florida EDIT: Formatting.

Here's my All-Star selections. Players in italics are guys I would have selected had there not been a requirement to select players from every team; their replacement is noted in parentheses. WESTERN CONFERENCE: Goal: Chris Osgood, Detroit Pascal Leclaire, Columbus Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Brian Rafalski, Detroit Sergei Zubov, Dallas Chris Pronger, Anaheim Niklas Kronwall, Detroit (Marek Zidlicky, Nashville) Forward: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Jarome Iginila, Calgary Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Joe Thornton, San Jose (Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles) Paul Stastny, Colorado Mike Ribiero, Dallas (Radim Vrbata, Phoenix) Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Patrick Kane, Chicago Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Henrik Sedin, Vancouver (Brad Boyes, St.Louis) Kristian Huselius, Calgary (Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton) EASTERN CONFERENCE: Goal: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Tim Thomas, Boston (Rick Dipietro, NY Islanders) Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers Defense: Andrei Markov, Montreal Zdeno Chara, Boston Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh Wade Redden, Ottawa Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Jaroslav Spacek, Buffalo Forward: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Jason Spezza, Ottawa Dany Heatley, Ottawa Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Mats Sundin, Toronto Mike Richards, Philadelphia Martin St.Louis, Tampa Bay Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh (Ray Whitney, Carolina) Olli Jokinen, Florida So even though the West is a significantly stronger conference than the East at this time, the Western All-Star team is still dominated by a handful of top teams while the East shows much more parity in who has top players.

Mark Messier and Milan Hejduk both started on home ice in years they were not even close to the vote leaders. They will choose the starter after naming the reserve goalies and the replacement for Luongo; these will likely include both Leclaire and Ozzie. And why the hell does everyone think Kiprusoff is going? Hasek has been awful much of this season, but deserves to go over Kipper.

Chris Osgood: Date Opp Min W L OTL GA GAA SO Shots SV SV% Oct. 10 CGY 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 21 19 .905 (+0.41) Oct. 14 LA 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 28 27 .964 (+1.57) Oct. 18 SJ 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 25 23 .920 (+0.45) Oct. 26 SJ 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 11 10 .909 (+1.42) Oct. 28 VAN 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 29 27 .931 (+0.48) Oct. 30 EDM 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 16 15 .938 (+1.50) Nov. 1 CGY 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 27 26 .963 (+1.57) Nov. 7 NAS 65 1 0 0 2 1.85 0 30 28 .933 (+0.64) Nov. 11 CHI 60 0 1 0 3 3.05 0 27 24 .889 (-0.68) Nov. 13 STL 24 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 4 4 1.000 (+2.67) Nov. 18 CBJ 65 1 0 0 4 3.69 0 40 36 .900 (-1.29) Nov. 21 STL 60 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 12 12 1.000 (+2.67) Nov. 24 CBJ 65 0 0 1 2 1.85 0 28 26 .929 (+0.63) Nov. 27 CGY 60 1 0 0 3 3.02 0 22 19 .864 (-0.72) Nov. 29 TBY 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 23 21 .913 (+0.43) Dec. 1 PHX 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 26 24 .923 (+0.46) Dec. 10 NAS 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 31 30 .968 (+1.58) Dec. 15 FLA 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 35 33 .943 (+0.51) Dec. 20 STL 59 0 1 0 3 3.06 0 24 21 .875 (-0.73) Dec. 26 STL 60 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 20 20 1.000 (+2.67) Dec. 29 PHX 60 1 0 0 2 2.00 0 34 32 .941 (+0.51) Jan. 2 DAL 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 24 23 .958 (+1.55) Jan. 6 CHI 60 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 20 19 .950 (+1.53) Total breakdown: 10 'great' games 9 'good' games 3 'bad' games 1 'awful' game Those numbers look even better when you consider he posted a .900 on 40 shots in his only 'awful' game.

Yes, it does judge all goals with equal weight. But you have to remember; all goaltenders have flukey goals get past them that they cannot prevent. Ultimately it evens out; if one goaltender is seeing more odd bounces end up behind him than most other guys, it's probably due to something that goaltender is doing. As for the game in question, If he gave up 3 goals it ended up in the 'below average' category. Also, Vezina voters don't usually go back and look at the quality of goals scored against the contenders; therefore we can safely assume that goaltenders are held responsible for such situations just as much as any other goal.

I've adjusted your list based on a simple mathematical formula; Multiply save percentage by 8/3; this is the ratio that yields a 'zero' for a GAA of 2.40 with a save percentage of .900, or effectively a goaltender who faces 24 shots per game and allows a goal for every 25 minutes played. This scale can be judged as follows: More than 1.0 points in the negative=awful Between -1.0 and 0=bad Between 0 and +1.0=good Better than +1.0=great I've colored the game log to represent this new scale. Hasek comes out with: 7 'great' games 7 'good' games 5 'bad' games 3 'awful' games The most encouraging thing in this regard is the fact that six of Hasek's seven 'great' games and three of his seven 'good' games have come in the past 11 games.

Players who definitely won't be traded: F: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Hudler, Filppula, Cleary, Draper, Maltby, Drake, Downey D: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Chelios G: Hasek, Osgood This leaves us to look at players who might be traded, and what we would need to replace them: F: Samuelsson, Kopecky, Ellis, Franzen D: Lilja, Lebda, Meech Samuelsson can be replaced by a shutdown defensive forward or a top-six scoring forward. Franzen and Kopecky can be replaced by a big, physical forward who is defensively aware and has offensive upside. Ellis can be replaced by a defensive energy-line type forward. Lilja can be replaced by a physical stay-at-home defenseman. Lebda and Meech can be replaced by a reliable two-way defenseman. The problem being... It's unlikely the Wings will be acquiring a player capable of replacing all of the ones they'd be trading away. Some of the players on the list (Ellis, Lilja, Lebda, Meech) can also be replaced by players currently in Grand Rapids. This will likely have to be done if the Wings trade off roster players to acquire roster players. More likely is that we see defensive depth added at the cost of a low-level prospect or pick.

Brind'Amour's first Selke came in what was an offensive renaissance for him; he had been scoring less and playing in a more defensive role the previous couple of years, then suddenly he was back scoring near a point per game. I don't agree that he should have won the trophy either year-he's a good two-way player but he has never been a shutdown defensive forward-but his case is similar to many others with the improved offense. The problem with offense being tied to the Selke recently stems from Doug Gilmour and Sergei Fedorov. Gilmour won it while scoring 127 points and finishing as a Hart finalist in 1992-93. Fedorov won the award the next year when he scored 56 goals and 120 points, and also picked up the Hart trophy. Since then people have viewed it as much more of a 'Best two-way forward' award. John Madden's Selke win in 2001 was the only instance of a player who scored less than .5 points per game; he scored 38 points in 80 games, and set what is still a career high with 23 goals. Before the early 90s, it often went to a defensive stopper who while he may have scored more than .5 points per game, it often was not a fluke season. Rick Meagher won with 25 points in 76 games in 1989, in what was statistically his worst offensive season to date. Dirk Graham won in 1991 with 45 points, a number he had surpassed many times-but did not win in 1989, when he scored a career-high 78 points. Guy Carbonneau won three Selkes and scored 40 points eight times; only once did he do both. Bob Gainey scored 40 points three times, but only once did that happen in his four Selke seasons. So while there is a history of the award being given to a defensively sound player who also chips in offensively, it is a much more recent trend that has seen it often go to an offensive player who also plays defense. I can think of about five instances in the past ten years where the winner did not deserve the trophy. This includes the 2001 and 2004 seasons, when Kirk Maltby should have won the trophy.