eva unit zero

Yes. [/font] An enforcer doesn't prevent anything unless he's a guy who actually plays. A league minimum, big guy at the end of the bench who makes the league minimum and plays 4 minutes would not serve as the deterrent you want, and would only hurt the team.

Elgin>Canada.

Calder was playing in the playoffs with a broken hand and was ineffective. He only stayed in the lineup as long as he did because of how well he played after he came over from Philly in the regular season. He did seem a bit lost out there, but a lot of his problem was the injury.

His contract is officially two-way, but he has a clause that allows him to return to Russia if he's not on the big club after I believe three weeks.

Because it is the pick that allows me the best chance of moving up to a high spot... [/font] Anaheim Sucks Mighty in 6.

Ozzie posted Conn Smythe caliber stats including those goals. Just FTR.

[/font] Dom during his Vezina years was still susceptible to a good sniper who waited, but it was more than that. He looked great this year, but part of that was the Wings' D, and I'll tell you why: Hasek, even at his age, can be damn near unbeatable if shooters can't exploit his unorthodox style. If left alone for an extended time with a top scorer like Selanne, I would rather a goalie who played sound positional hockey like Osgood. That situation is a huge weakness for the less-spry and slightly slower Hasek of 2007 as compared to the Hasek of 2002 or the Hasek of 1998. However, because the Wings' defensive style this time around suits him very well--which I assume has to be an intentional coaching choice, that situation doesn't happen enough for it to be a concern. A typical hybrid goaltender (Osgood or Brodeur, for reference) would be more consistently reliable in a one-on-one situation like that than Hasek would be, but obviously would be more prone to other more traditional exploits such as lateral passes to create holes. Obviously skill level plays a part, but as far as style, Hasek's style gives him advantages in a lot of areas while sacrificing in this one. All in all, the only thing that matters is stopping the pucks. I don't care if you wear skates on your hands and gloves on your feet if you stop 98% of the shots you face doing it.

Ultimately, if the final plan after retirement is to move back to the Czech Republic, it would be unfair of his wife to force him out before he's good and ready. I would be perfectly happy with Ozzie as the starter next year, but at the price Dom would come at you would have to be stupid not to want him if you have a goaltending position open. As for the kids, if it was so damn important to her that they speak good Czech...why doesn't she speak it to them all the time at home?

The most deserving story is: "As a young boy on the third satellite of Alpha Centauri, eva unit zero gained knowledge through the mindlink of a man known as Gordon Howe. He played for the great Detroit Red Wings. Thusly, eva unit zero traveled at lightspeed to see this Gordon Howe. Alas, lightspeed was too slow, and Gordon Howe had retired. eva unit zero had almost decided to return to his home world and rejoin the link, but first he wanted to see these legendary Red Wings. On that day, he saw a man, who was a mere 18 Earth-orbits old at the time, the youngest of any man in the playing collective, who was far superior to most who had spent years doing the same. eva unit zero decided that he could not return and instead must see the entire career of this man, for he was no ordinary man. They even called him an Yzer-man, whatever that meant."

So, be honest. You think that Chris Osgood couldn't have won the Cup in 1997, when his top four defensemen would have included Vladimir Konstantinov instead of Anders Eriksson? [/font] Or how about 2002, when Dominik Hasek had the two best defensemen in the world at the time? Osgood=Only Wings netminder to win the Cup while Lidstrom was the only Norris contender on the team. I am soooo sick of the 'well, Ozzie didn't really win the Cup like Vernie and Hasek did' s*** given that his squad was easily the worst team of the three

Already signed: Datsyuk 6,700,000 Zetterberg 2,650,000 Holmstrom 2,250,000 Draper 2,128,000 Samuelsson 1,200,000 Franzen 942,000 Maltby 883,000 Grigorenko 858,800 Filppula 733,000 Cleary 663,000 Kopecky 450,000 11 Forwards 19,457,800 [/font] Lidstrom 7,600,000 Kronwall 3,000,000 Lilja 1,000,000 Lebda 650,000 4 Defensemen 12,250,000 Osgood 800,000 1 Goaltender 800,000 That totals to 32,507,800 under the expected 48m cap, leaving 15,492,200 to spend on two forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender. Start with the likely returnees. Jiri Hudler 750,000 Mathieu Schneider 3,500,000 Danny Markov 2.75m Chris Chelios 900k That knocks out 7.9m, bringing us down to 1F and 1G needed and 7.5922 to do it with. Add one more guys who might be coming back, or a replacement who would make a similar amount: Todd Bertuzzi/Physical top-six winger <4.25m That cuts our cap space down to 3.3422m, and fills out our roster to 13 forwards, 7 defensemen, and one goaltender. Now note; The only players missing from this year's team would be Calder, who was a no-show in the playoffs, Lang, who was invisible except for occasional bright spots until the last three games, and potentially Bertuzzi, if he were replaced by a Hartnell or Smyth (yes, Smyth would cost more than the allotted 4.25). Bertuzzi himself was a nonfactor in the first two rounds just like Lang. Schneider's absence was sorely obvious in the third round, and he would be returning. The only question here is what to do about goaltending, and the answer is ultimately this: 1) Does Hasek want to return? If Yes, the answer is to sign him. Howard needs another year in Grand Rapids. If No, then the answer is to explore who is available on the market as a goaltender. There is likely no goaltender that will cost less than 3.5m available that would be an upgrade over Osgood. So, explore backup situations. Howard's best situation is in Grand Rapids starting. Is Liv ready to back up? If not, should Howard? If the answer is still no, then the Wings have to find themselves an affordable backup capable of playing as many as 25 or 30 games during the regular season should they need to. Ultimately though, If Hasek reitres, I think it will be either Liv or Howard who is in the backup spot. Ozzie was not a huge step down from Hasek during the regular season, and the Oz has always thrived on getting consistent starts. He might just surprise everyone if given a shot.

No. [/font] Due to his unique style, Hasek is a pretty bad choice to mentor a young technique goalie like Jimmy Howard. Ozzie has built his career on solid positional play and sound technique, so he is the much more rational choice for a partner to mentor Howard for long term gain. While Hasek certainly would have things to offer Jimmy, he would not be able to offer as much advice regarding how to play certain shooters 'oh, to stop Selanne, I just drop on my back, let the stick fall, and sort of slinky around' works for Hasek, but Howard probably would have trouble implementing that one. Washington and New Jersey only. If Hasek retires, there is a very good chance that Detroit is added to that list, as Giguere is the only FA goaltender who would be an upgrade at the position, and the resulting salary crunch would hurt the team elsewhere more than it would help in net.

I would evaluate this playoff year as such: [/font] The Wings made it to the conference finals. Calder was invisible in the postseason. Bertuzzi was invisible until the conference finals. Lang, one of three key UFAs, was invisible until late in the conference finals. Schneider, one of three key UFAs, was injured at the end of the second round. And the long one: Hasek, one of three key UFAs, started the playoffs great but got progressively worse. He outplayed Kiprusoff by a noticable margin, Kipper performed the best against Detroit of any goalie we faced. He outplayed Nabokov by a slim margin. Nabokov was the next best performer against Detroit of goalies the Wings faced. He was outperformed by Giguere. Giguere performed the worst vs Detroit of the three goalies faced. Also something I noticed; Hasek seemed to wear out at the end of the run. Those last two road games were easily his worst performances of the postseason. Not even statistically--just in terms of playing badly. Making bad decisions at bad times, and being out of position at the wrong time. Nothing else even came close. I'll post more later when I get a chance.

Was a massive failure when it came to attendance. The highest average attendance the Jets ever got over a season--about 13,700--would have been just behind 27th-place Washington for raw numbers this season. The 88.4 percent would have finished just behind 21st place Nashville, who everyone here seems to be clamoring to move because of their terrible attendance. Being in Canada does NOT entitle you to have an NHL team in your hometown. Sorry. Quebec I agree with. The Nordiques, unlike the Whalers, Jets, or North Stars, actually filled their arena quite well, and the arena was of decent size (nearly 17k) The problem was that unlike most clubs, the Nordiques had minimal corporate support due to the presence of the Canadiens. In an odd sort of irony, had the Nords stayed one more year and won the Cup in 96, they would likely still be around in Quebec, except for the fact that they would never have won the Cup, because they would not have been able to acquire Roy. KC is a football town. So is Pittsburgh. Are you foolish enough to think hockey is the top dog in a majority of shared markets in the US? [/font] Atlanta--Michael Vick owns Ilya Kovalchuk as far as popularity. Boston--Bruins are 4th place in Beantown. Buffalo--Bills are more popular even though they will forever suck balls. Chicago--Bears>Bulls>Cubs>White Sox>Bill Wirtz' Spare Change Denver--Broncos, Rockies, Nuggets are all more popular than the Av-nots. Dallas--Mavs and Rangers are more popular than the Stars, and the Stars constantly sell out. Noticing a pattern yet? Detroit--Wings are kings right now, but ticket prices and good Tigers and Pistons teams could quickly alter that. Miami--Panthers are an afterthought when compared to the Dolphins, Marlins, or Heat. LA/Anaheim--Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers, Angels, Kings, and Ducks? Hockey is barely on the radar WITHOUT a football team here. Minneapolis/St.Paul--Wild are more popular than Twins, Vikings, or T-Wolves right now, but that's more a result of the Canadian-esque feeling of entitlement about the Stars, resulting in a ridiculous lack of attendance and a moving franchise. New York/New Jersey--Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Giants, Jets, and the Rangers (because they own MSG) get the press and the money, and then if there's anything left, the Devils and Isles get some scraps. Philadelphia--Flyers are the least popular team in Philly even though they have had just as much recent success as the others. Phoenix--Coyotes are less popular than the Suns or Cards--but still bigger draws in the desert than they were in Winnipeg. Pittsburgh--Penguins have been seriously considering moving for a long time due to lack of financial support. That will never happen to the Steelers or Pirates. St. Louis--Rams wereinstantly more popular. Winning it all in 2000 cemented that. Cards just won it all too. Blues are really just dragging San Looah down. Tampa Bay--Bolts won a Cup and still the next season the worthless Bucs were far more interesting. Not even contending to repeat didn't do much to help, either. Washington--The Caps used to have a monopoly on disinterest in the nation's capital. Well, it looks like they still do, because the Nationals actually appear to have some fan interest. Detroit and Minnesota are the only US cities where hockey can claim status as top dog in a shared market, and even then it's a debate. But at the same time, five of the markets I mentioned averaged a sellout this season, and five more were 95% or higher. That's ten of 20 teams. The numbers do seem to indicate it is pretty hit or miss; the other ten can be found in the bottom twelve teams--Nashville and Columbus are the only solo markets that low--as far as percentage of capacity. However--the failuers can be explained: St. Louis, Chicago, and Boston--Decades of failure and mismanagement, combined with limited promise but ultimately no real chance of ever reaching the goal. Detroit Lions anyone? New Jersey and NY Islanders--Despite scattered success, these teams suffer from the same big brother syndrome that killed the Nordiques. And here, it's three teams basically in a city instead of two teams in a province. The Rangers hog the spotlight and get the majority of new and casual fans, and the Isles and Devils get bloodline fans and diehards only. Florida and Phoenix--Victims of the 'win now' mentality due to a non-traditional market, attempts to buy a top team failed, attempts to insert new pieces failed, and these teams are now in rebuilding mode and could potentially be very dangerous teams in a few seasons if managed well. Washington--A team that seriously needs to be moved. DC has NEVER supported this team, no matter how good or bad they were. When the Caps go to the Cup finals, and a reporter can go around town and find FIVE people in sports bars, BARTENDERS INCLUDED, on a game day who actually know who Peter Bondra is, there is a PROBLEM. Atlanta--Years of futility as an expansion team have given the fans no reason to go. They are at the same point Tampa and Ottawa were in the late 1990s, with major opportunities to build lasting fan base. Should be significantly higher attendance-wise next year if they do well. Los Angeles--There are two NHL teams in LA, and Two NBA teams. Of Note: neighboring Anaheim is among the ten I mentioned that are above 95% capacity, yet LA actually posted a higher average attendance figure. No other Original 12 team has to give equal market share to a Cup contender.

Wouldn't Holland or Ilitch be Marcus Aurelius?

McCarty being brought up in these discussions always makes me cringe. But a point about Osgood.... He has 336 wins, 252 of which were in a Wings jersey. 252 would have been good enough for top ten all-time in 1993. As it stands Osgood is 17th All-Time in Wins, is approaching the top 20 in shutouts. Osgood stands an excellent chance of making it to 400 wins and top ten all-time, something Dominik Hasek appears unlikely to accomplish. Osgood likely won't end up with his number in the rafters. But he stands a very good chance of being enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and has always been well above average.

Beauchemin? Above SCHNEIDER??? Are you Nuckin Futs? Isn't Jackman Anaheim's 7th D? Huskins and Dipenta have played every game of the series, while Jackman has had to work out to stay in game shape and only played the game Pronger missed...hardly suggests hes the better defenseman.

"Those guys get to have a hockey team and be around the game, but they are assholes because rather than lose tons of money they make what they see as a small sacrifice so that they can continue to have a hockey team and be around the game" Just wow.

Minneapolis and its hockey history of having lost an NHL club to disinterest? Despite popular legend that has been re-hashed in this thread, Detroit never suffered anywhere near the less than 50% attendance numbers the North Stars saw in the 80s and 90s. Detroit has been top five in the NHL in attendance for over twenty years, and has had better than 90% capacity every year for 20 years and averaged basically a sold out house for most of that period.

Schneider is one of the top offensive defensemen i nthe legue and likely will be top ten or twelve in Norris voting this year. Kronwall is 3rd on the Wings' depth chart. Samuelsson is somewhere between the 10th and 14th best forward on the team. Unless the Wings are just ridiculously stacked up front, you are either seriously undervaluing Schneider or overvaluing Samuelsson. Because replacing a second-tier Norris contender with a depth forward is not an EVEN SWAP. For the record, these teams' defenseman (those who have seen ice this series or those who are injured) can be ranked as such: 1. Lidstrom 2. Pronger 3. Niedermayer 4. Schneider (injured, has not played) 5. Kronwall (injured, has not played) 6. Markov 7. Chelios 8. Beauchemin 9. O'Donnell 10. Lebda 11. Lilja 12. Dipenta 13. Quincey 14. Huskins 15. Jackman

If Fischer had never gone down, our defense and depth chart would look like this: Lidstrom Fischer Schneider Kronwall Chelios Lebda That would be downright scary.

Jovo is worth about 10% of his salary when healthy. He's crap.

The inconsistency in whistles is the only question I had regarding the third goal. The first goal was pretty obviously in right away. I was noticing all night that the whistle seemed to be going the moment Dom touched the puck, and that was the only inconsistency I found with the tying goal--had the whistle gone when it was going on most of his saves, he only falls into the net after the whistle, and Wings win 3-2.