eva unit zero

I thought Markov was physical before he ever played for Detroit, and I felt he probably could have earned 3m or more when he first signed with Detroit. Markov played above expectations with the Wings, and had one of his better years in recent memory. This would generally suggest a raise is far from a crazy request. Markov played further above expectations than, say, Schneider did...and Schneider's salary nearly doubled. Markov would have to get around 4.4 to match Schneider's percentage increase.

Fedorov was one of the better offensive players at his position in the league in his prime, and ALSO was one of the best DEFENSIVE players at his position. That's insane. You don't see that combination very much. Of course, the reason the Wings won so much during the 90s is that they had three players who fit that description in Yzerman, Fedorov, and Lidstrom.

Well of course people will bleed. It's not played by Cyborgs.

Lilja is only slightly behind offensively, and probably even defensively and physically. And Lilja costs A THIRD of what Sutton signed for.

I don't want a Janssen type player who is going to be on the roster for his fists only, who won't contribute in other ways, and who will only play 4 minutes a night. For one, I think it's a waste of money, for another, I don't think it serves as an effective deterrent, especially when compared to a guy who can put up a few points, play a grinding physical style, and contribute with a good 10-12 minutes. I am skeptical of how much of a deterrent fighting is at all, but I do know that players aren't deterred by a guy who won't be on the ice. Guys like Probert and Semenko served as deterrents because they were on the ice A LOT and at the SAME TIME as the guys they were protecting. I would have rather picked up Asham, who beat Janssen twice last year, but as I stated in the Asham thread, the fact that he played well yet had to take a pay cut left me wondering whether he had locker room issues, meaning Detroit wouldn't have been interested, and if not, whether he took a pay cut to stay in the New York area, thus meaning Detroit had no shot. Think back for a few years though. There was a time when the Wings had Basil McRae, who was of the same ilk as Janssen--fighter with no skills. McRae was, at least as far as I recall, far less popular in Detroit than Probert and Kocur. Stu Grimson suffered the same fate ten years later. Janssen likely would fall into that category--he'd be liked because he fought, but he wouldn't be the next McCarty. EDIT; As far as Lilja, the Moen thing resulted in the nickname 'Pain Train.' But the bashing for his play had already slowed almost to a halt by then.

Yeah, but he was very barbaric in his playing days. I much preferred the clutch goaltending of Jean-Claude Van Damme, who never gave up any Sudden Death overtime goals in his career.

Mikita achieved that when being a one team player was far more common because of the way free agency worked.

Only if his fighting were the only difference in his play, which is not the case. Lilja played solid defensive hockey for the last month and a half of the regular season and most of the playoffs, independent of whether or not he fought. It's one of the reasons his giveaway in OT to Selanne was so depressing--he had been playing so well and then made the type of obvious mistake he had been previously hated for, but was managing to avoid making.

Markov is better than Sutton. Sutton signed for about what Markov wants. As far as playing style..we have NOBODY who plays like Markov. Markov is a good skating, physical, defensively skilled defenseman. Who else fits that bill. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Chelios, Lilja, or Lebda? None of those guys puts all three of those attributes together the way Markov does. Markov is the best defenseman left on the market (and was when Sutton was still available) and would help this team. He is worth 3m to 3.5m, the question is whether Holland feels it is more important to use that space on Markov, or to save that space for a potential deadline acquisition.

You are forgetting that a major reason Lilja was disliked is because he was SUPPOSED to be tough and wasn't. Scrapping was a prime indicator of that changing.

Jagr isn't even the best European forward ever in the NHL. Fedorov and Forsberg both have been better than Jagr, and Kurri is arguable. Per 82 games played: Jagr: 43g-62a-105pt Fedorov: 34g-45a-79pt Forsberg: 29g-73a-102pt Kurri: 39g-52a-91pt Now, based just on scoring, Jagr certainly comes out ahead. But you have to factor in that Forsberg was always defensively competent, while Jagr has always been a liability of epic proportions. Fedorov doesn't have the same kind of offensive numbers, but the thing about Fedorov that has rarely been true of any offensive star is that as good as he was offensively, he was even better defensively. Kurri was another offensive star who was excellent defensively...Kurri actually played the last half of his career as a defensive specialist, something Jagr will never be capable of. I would say the top five Europeans in the NHL are as follows: 1) Lidstrom 2) Hasek 3) Fedorov 4) Forsberg 5) Jagr

The Atlanta Thrashers have signed defenseman Karel Pilar. What makes this interesting is that Pilar has a history of viral myopathy, a heart ailment that was thought to have cost him his career. Could this be a potential precedent that might lead to Jiri Fischer coming back and playing?

We'll compare the top 3F, 2D, and 1G to make it even positionally. Top-five Canadian-born players: F: Crosby, Thornton, Lecavalier D: Niedermayer, Pronger G: Brodeur Top-five Swedish-born players: F: Zetterberg, Alfredsson, Sundin D: Lidstrom, Ohlund G: Lundqvist Through the first two forwards and the first defenseman the Swedes are comparable or better than their Canadian counterpart. There is a minor dropoff at the third forward and second defenseman. This becomes far less pronounced if you remove the retiring Niedermayer from the list and replace him with Phaneuf. Based on per-capita, the Swedes should only have two players capable of cracking the Canadian lineup, yet they have three. What about Kane? How about Berard? How many highly touted Slovaks or Czechs have entered the league?

He said he would not move Nashville. He nevertheless used the Predators name and logo to collect season ticket and luxury box deposits. He refused to enter a binding agreement until the NHL approved the MOVE, something the league bylaws state cannot be done without a binding agreement. This was the SECOND time in a year Balsillie attempted to purchase a team with the sole intent of relocation. Balsillie will never own a team so long as he refuses to play by the rules. The owners run the league; the owners make the rules; the owners decide who gets to purchase a team if it gets to that stage (it never did with Nashville.) If you don't play by the owners' rules, you won't become one yourself.

Quincey has earned nothing. And unless he looks really impressive in camp, he'll probably be in Grand Rapids so that he gets more playing time. If Markov isn't signed or replaced, Meech will probably be the 7th guy because he is older than Quincey and Kindl and not as good, and Meech cannot be sent down without having to clear waivers. Also, Bowman's track record on developing defensemen is not great. Larry Robinson might be the only significant defenseman who developed under Bowman and turned out well. And Robinson won a Norris in his 4th year in the league, and would be a Norris candidate every year for the next ten.

The Wings' level of toughness had no bearing on the loss to Anaheim. The biggest single factor in determining that the Wings lost was the combination of injuries to Schneider and Kronwall. Both injuries had nothing to do with 'toughness' and more to do with freak luck.

It's not that the Wings refused to offer five years. It's that they offered it, Fedorov said 'I'm going through some personal issues, gimme some time to respond, and tey then dropped the fifth year. THAT was the slap in the face. Not the removal of the year in and of itself, but the timing and the refusal to put it back on the deal when it became obvious it was a deal-breaker. The fact that Fedorov too thesame amount of money as Holland offered (40m) over a longer term shows how important that fifth year was.

Nashville didn't have a fire sale though. The only player they traded away who was under contract was Vokoun. Vokoun was traded because he has health issues and was outplayed last year by Mason, who is younger and cheaper. Hartnell and Timonen were UFAs. Hartnell had previously said he wasn't coming back if Trotz did. He also got a contract from Philly that was about double what Nashville was silling to pay him. Timonen wanted to test the market, and likely would have gotten something similar to what he ended up with from Philly, if not more...and that is well beyond what Nashville was willing to pay him. Kariya signing elsewhere was a result of the Balsillie circus and the (failed) attempt to move the team to Hamilton. You can bet if Balsillie never tries to move the Preds, Kariya is probably still in Nashville. Likely for less, too. So ultimately, Nashville gave up Vokoun and got a boatload of picks back. They didn't lose much they wouldn't have lost ANYWAY, assuming Mason can handle the starter's role. Meaning they gained picks, including a couple firsts, for the difference between Vokoun and Pekka Rinne over about 20 games. Still not a fire sale.

Yzerman in 88-89 did something only Gretzky and Lemieux have ever done. He scored over 150 points when his highest scoring teammate was below 100. But that's not all; Yzerman is the only player to ever score more than 130 points and receive at least one first place Selke vote. This was ALSO done in 1988-89. One of the greatest offensive performances ever, by a guy who was also considered one of the best defensive forwards at the time? This is why I have called Yzerman's 88-89 season possibly the best single-season performance ever.

I didn't say I don't support Minnesota. I said that's probably why it was brought up. And for the record, I support Nashville because people say Nashville doesn't deserve a team because they don't support them via attendance, and these are the same people who said Winnipeg, Hartford and Quebec deserve teams and always had strong support. Nashville EASILY has the best attendance numbers of those four markets, yet it's the only one that DOESN'T deserve to be moved? Oh, I forgot...Nashville ws briefly the interest of a Canadian who wanted to move them to Canada...and since Canada should have at least 20 or 25 teams, Nashville isn't deserving of a team.

Like you all, I also just received said email. Fortunately, I am actually in a place where I can consider doing it. My dad said no thanks when his name came up in 2005...maybe he'll go in halvsies with me on a pair of seats, because with two small kids and working evenings attendance for 41 games is UNLIKELY at best. But it's definitely something I am checking the finances on...

3m for Sutton is way too much. Sutton is like a bigger, slower Markov...except that Markov is better at both ends of the ice. This could mean Markov will sign for less here (if the Isles were the other 'interested' team, it means lack of competition) or it could solidify his demands (a lesser player of the same style being signed for 3m means Markov is worth more, right?)

An awful attack of alliteration!

Probably because Minnesota has already lost a franchise due to incredible fan apathy, including a rink that was less than half full in the Cup finals.

Steve Yzerman ring a bell?