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At Yost, it's "THANK YOU!" with the occasional "You're Welcome" depending on the PA guy.

Sid Abel. I've always felt what Abel did was just a cut below that honor. I think he only received it due to the 'retirement kick' the Wings went on in the early 90s, when they re-retired Delvecchio's number 10, and that spurred off Abel, Lindsay, and Sawchuk's numbers being hung. It was 'wrong' to have Delvecchio without Lindsay, and 'wrong' to have Howe and Lindsay without Delvecchio. Realistically, Yzerman, Howe, Delvecchio, and Sawchuk are the only numbers I would have hung. Lindsay was greater than Delvecchio, but played many years in another city and didn't even come close to Delvecchio's continued performance as a Wing.

Prongs missed too much to win, but as I said he has cleary been Anaheim's best, which ruins any chance Nieds had.

Luongo.

This could seriously affect the Wings chances of retaining Schneider for under 4m...

Savard is one year older, and has twice hit 90 points in his career. He has a higher GPG, APG, and PPG. Datsyuk's career high in points is 87. Datsyuk's only advantage is plus-minus, which is skewed due to his career with Detroit while Savard has spent most of his time starring on bottom feeders. If Dats is using Savard's deal as a benchmark, he can't seriously expect more than 5.5m given how he compares to Savard.

Especially given that Eddie was only in his second season the ONE year Hasek was in Chitown, and that they're the same age.

I have been trying to figure out the formula used in those. One thing I have figured out is that it is a per-game rating. Meaning not playing a game doesn't hurt your rating, only playing badly or not playing MUCH. Hudler being so high among rookies given his limited ice time per game is nice to see, though. If Hudler played the same kind of time Malkin, etc. do, basically double what Hudler actually has played this season, and if you assume he would have put up numbers at the same rate, he'd have 30 goals and 44 points, and be a +28...which would likely put him 4th in TSN's rankings, due to what appears to be a huge bonus given to defensemen just for being defensemen.

Trade Samuelsson to Chicago for the first....

The only fight Fischer ever lost was to Shawn Thornton. He has beaten Iginla, Bertuzzi, Hartnell, and Barnaby, among others. Just FTR. EDIT: Kuznetsov had three fights, against Laraque, Low, and Odgers. The fact he didn't get destroyed by those guys is commendable.

Patrick Roy is more likely to be with the Wings next season than Theodore is. That said, if the Wings pick up any UFA goalie, it should be McLennan. Anyone else would either be out of the Wings' price range, or cost too much for what they bring.

Visnovsky is almost as good as Nick offensively, but nowhere near Nick defensively. He is far more similar to Schneider than he is to Lidstrom. And Schneider is RIDICULOUSLY underpaid relative to some others who produce as much or less offensively and are equal or worse defensively (Jovo, McCabe, Blake) And Visnovsky has only just recently reached into the top end of offensive defensemen--his current contract was signed when he was a depth defenseman who had just come off what was a career year for points-per-game, scoring 29 points in 58 games. He should be expecting a huge raise when his current deal ends, one which will make him far less of a bargain than Nick. Phaneuf likely will demand at the very least 3-4m on his next contractPhaneuf is on a rookie contract. He, like Crosby, CAN'T be factored into this discussion because no matter how good he is, his base salary is capped and bonuses will only allow him to get so far.. If he is a Norris finalist by then, look for 5-6m. Now, if you can find me someone whose contract is more of a bargain than Nick's, who received said contract AFTER acheiving a high level of play..THEN we'll talk.

Theodore is only a couple of seasons removed from a 33-win season and a .919 save percentage. A team in search of strong goaltending that has a few bucks open under the cap might be willing to make that gamble for that kind of money. If Theodore returns to his 03-04 form, 2-3m is a bargain. If he returns to his 01-02 form, it's the deal of the year. And if he stays as is, it's less than half of what Chicago paid Khabibulin.

Lidstrom is tied with two others as the third highest paid player in the NHL. If you polled all the GMs and Coaches who the top five players were, Lidstrom would likely come up on most, if not all, ballots. Jagr is the only other player that makes in Nick's range who even has a CHANCE at claiming that, and with guys like Iginla, Ovechkin, Thornton, Crosby, Hossa and others outperforming him as forwards, he wouldn't. Richards, Sundin, and Yashin don't even come close. Lidstrom won his fourth Norris last year, and agreed to the SAME SALARY HE WAS MAKING. By comparison, Chara just signed a deal worth 7.5m. Chara was a Norris finalist once in his career. Other guys haven't even done what Chara has and have sick deals. So, to recap: Chara=1 Norris finalist, 1 First-team=7.5m. Lidstrom=4 Norris wins, 7 Norris finalists, 7 First teams, 1 Conn Smythe.=7.6m Jovanovski=Nothing accomplished=7m McCabe=Nothing accomplished=7.15m And then you have: Pronger=1 Norris win, 1 Hart win, 3 Norris finalists, 1 First team=6.25m Niedermayer=1 Norris win, 2 Norris finalists, 2 First teams=6.75m Consider that Lidstrom has accomplished more than Niedermayer and Pronger COMBINED. Even should Pronger and Nirdermayer finish as First teamers this year and one of them win the Norris, Lidstrom still has more Norris trophies than Prongermayer (would be 4-3), has been a Norris finalist more often (would be 8-7), and more first team selections (would be 7-5). Pronger's Hart is offset by Lidstrom's Smythe. Lidstrom at 7.6m is a bargain. Iginla and Lecavalier are the only other players making 7m+ who play like they deserve it, and neither is as deserving of his paycheck as Lids is of his. Martin Brodeur is probably the highest paid player who is a better value for the dollar than Nick...and that's because Brodeur is VASTLY underpaid and will likely take home the Hart this summer.

Jagr turns the puck over 1.4 times per 20 minutes. Lang turns the puck over 1.6 times per 20 minutes. That's a difference, assuming 20 minutes per game, of one turnover every five games. Hardly noteworthy.

Theodore will likely be had for not less than 2-3m. While the Wings likely wouldn't spend more than 1m to get him, another team like the Blues, Panthers, Coyotes, or Lightning might pony up that kind of cash or more to get him, and hope he returns to form.

Lidstrom has been the best all season and should win. Niedermayer won't win it by the simple fact he hasn't been the best defenseman on his team. Pronger won't win because he missed a ton of time with injury and when healthy was making a case for the Norris but certainly wasn't as consistently as good as Nick has been all year. Lidstrom should win, with Pronger and Nieds well behind him and close to each other as the remaining finalists.

Odd that you left off: 1986-87 Wings: Kocur, Probert, McRae (Traded to Quebec midseason), Gallant, Norwood, Snepsts, Higgins, Burr, Chiasson, Ladouceur (Traded to Hartford midseason), Delorme (acquired from Quebec), Barr (acquired from Hartford)...and for a stretch before the Quebec trade, featured my favorite line of all-time...McRae/Probert/Kocur.

Back to backs are rare in the postseason. That said, if management didn't feel confident Ozzie could handle it if needed, he wouldn't be on the team. The last time we had a playoff-capable backup in the postseason was 2004--Osgood last year excluded due to injury, of course. Seriously, look at it...in 1999 the primary reason we ended up losing was that our All-Star goaltender was injured in the final game of the first round, and came back still hurting in Game 5 of round two to a team whose confidence had been surgically removed by the Avs. In 2003 Joseph played one of the worst rounds of his career, and was the only option we had in net. In 2004, Legace earned the start but didn't last a round, and Joseph led the team past Nashville and did everything possible against Calgary. In 2006, Legace again failed t odeliver, except this time the best available replacement was Jimmy Howard due to a freak injury sustained by Ozzie in practice. 2000 and 2001 are the only years goalie failure was not an issue...in 2000 the Wings were simply shut down by the Avs (averaged less than two goals per game) and in 2001 Yzerman and Shanahan were injured all series. The Wings scored only 2 goals average in games Shanahan missed, which were all losses-twice in OT. The Wings averaged 4.5 goals with Shanny in the lineup that series. Shanahan's offensive presence also reduced LA's offensive ability---Wings gave up 1.5 per game with Shanny, and 3 without. Yzerman's direct impact can't be measured as easily due to the limited time he did see when he played that series--but you can believe his absence was at least as important as Shanny's. This year's Wings are as built for the playoffs as we have seen in a long time. Probably more playoff-oriented than the 2002 team, though not as ridiculously good. the 1999 Wings were probably the last team that was as playoff-built as what we have this year.

Of the available goaltenders on the free agent market, the only one who is worth pursuing as a starter is Giguere. He should make around 6m this offseason, which is beyond what the Wings can realistically spend on a goaltender. None of the others is an upgrade over Osgood. The only one remaining who looks to have a contract that will be cheaper than Osgood's is Jamie McLennan, who is far from the worst goaltender available. If the Wings choose not to use Liv or Howard as backup, and Hasek does not return, McLennan is the only logical choice for signing a free agent goaltender.

Quoted wrong post...

You want to replace Schneider, who admittedly is not the best defensively, but is one of the league's top offensive defensemen, with Foote, who has failed miserably since leaving Colorado and is behind Anders Eriksson on the depth chart there? EDIT: Fixed quote

Lilja has held this position since his first week with the team. As for the hate-on with Lang... That is a Fedorov thing. Lang was brought in to fill the offensive void left by Fedorov, and while he did admirably, he didn't bring the explosive footspeed or the defensive ability Fedorov had. THAT is why Lang is disliked...because he's not Fedorov. How many other guys are having to live up to that standard? Nobody on the Wings.

Then you have doomed him to be the next Marcel Dionne.

Avery is playing second line minutes all season, and his offensive numbers are comparable to Jason Williams or Johan Franzen. Franzen is tons better defensively, and Williams was shipped out because he sucks. Avery would likely be competing for fourth line ice if he were still a Wing.