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Hudler has gotten regular playing time starting with the Chicago game Feb 27th. Since then, he has posted the following stats: 8GP, 7g-3a-10pt, +9, 4 PIM, 19 shots, 36.8 sh%, 16:33 TOI/G. He has been named first star in each of the past two games, which had 'playoff-like intensity and competetiveness' and in which he posted these numbers: 2GP, 3g-1a-4pt, +5, 4 PIM, 5 shots, 60.0 sh%, 18:00 TOI/G. Someone tell me he should get anything other than solid minutes during the playoffs.

These lines likely won't happen unless Maltby is injured, but it's what I would do: 1st line together: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Hudler/Lang/Calder Bertuzzi/Filppula/Samuelsson Cleary/Draper/Franzen 1st line apart: Samuelsson/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Bertuzzi/Datsyuk/Filppula Hudler/Lang/Calder Cleary/Draper/Franzen

After the trade deadline the only roster limit is the cap.

Ray Bourque was a first or second team all-star in each and every one of his first 17 seasons in the NHL, and would finish having received one of those honors 19 times in 22 seasons. Just for reference.

I didn't say Michigan should have been in OVER MSU. But how does Winthrop (RPI 70) beat Michigan for the 11th seed in the Midwest? How does Gonzaga (RPI 61) beat Michigan for the 10th seed in the West? How does George Washington (RPI 71) beat Michigan for the 11th seed in the East? How does Stanford (RPI 63) beat Michigan for 11th seed in the South? Michigan had a comparable record to all of those teams, often better. It had a better RPI. Why do those teams make the tourney, yet Michigan is not even on the list of 30-some other 'considered' teams? People talk about Syracuse getting snubbed. Syracuse had a similar RPI to Michigan, and a similar record. How is Syracuse a 'huge snub' while Michigan, a comparable team, doesn't even get considered?

You don't have to be blindingly fast to be a good skater. Hudler is not blindlingly fast, but he is agile and has good balance. Also...Jagr is generally considered one of the league's better skaters, and he is not terribly fast either. Not saying Hudler is Jagr, but skating ability is not the same as speed.

It would make sense if Oswald was in net for the Wings....he IS an octopus.

From hockeysfuture: "Hudler is a dazzling puckhandler who has a phenomenal offensive arsenal. He is a good skater with great foot speed which he uses to avoid opponents in the corners effectively." Hmm...

Like the 'Cleary stopped scoring because Lang sucks' rather than 'Lang's back gave out having to carry Cleary for months' thing.

You do realize Kronwall only just in the past couple weeks played his 100th game in the NHL? This is a defenseman who has bee the BEST defenseman at international tournaments stocked with NHL players. Give him some time to adapt to the NHL game and get a couple healthy seasons before comparing him to one of the best defensemen EVER to play the game. He's already pretty good and still very young and inexperienced.

Wasn't this board mostly against the drafting of Kindl when it happened?

Except that Kronwall plays much better defensively, and throws massive hits. This is just plain not true. Lebda is a decent 3rd pairing guy, but he's not as good as Kronwall. Getting Hannan or Hamrlik means replacing two top four defensemen--Schneider (3.3) and Markov (2.5)--with one top four defenseman and one guy making the league minimum. Now, if you want to see Lilja, Chelios, or Lebda in the top four that may be good for you. Personally I think Lilja belongs in the 7th spot, and Lebda is not nearly good enough to justify being a top four defenseman. Chelios realistically shouldn't be either, though he has played well enough in limited time this year it would be unreasonable to expect him to play top four minutes. Unless you think Kindl is going to step right into the top four and we won't miss a beat. Which will NOT happen. Keeping Schneider and signing a second, defensive, pysical guy (be it keeping Markov or going with Sarich) is a far better option because yes, Schneider is not the best defensive player...but he has a ton of skill and plays physical, and he's not as bad defensively as Souray, Gonchar, McCabe, Jovanovski, or many other guys who make more than he does.

Seeing MSU get a 9 seed while Michigan goes to the NIT is infuriating given the fact they had comparable seasons. Seriously...if MSU is worth a 9 seed, Michigan should be good for a freaking 15th or 16th seed as the yahd nearly identical records conference and overall, and were even head to head..

He's too old to fit as a prospect under their criteria. Stefan Liv suffered the same exclusion a couple years back, and if Grigorenko ends up playing in Grand Rapids next season, he will disappear from the list due to age as well.

Hudler is a good skater, and is far from slow. No, he doesn't have the top gear of a guy like Kariya or Selanne. Guess what? Neither does Datsyuk. Dats has done ok for himself. Dats was also smaller than Hudler when he first joing the Wings.

Hannan and Sarich are both good defensive defensemen who can hit. Guess what? So is Danny Markov, who is going to be markedly cheaper and already knows the system. Hamrlik is what you wouldget if you took away 10% of Schneider's offensive ability and increased his defensive ability by an equal proportion. He would likely cost more than Schneider, but would at most be a lateral move. Plus, we already HAVE Schneider's replacement. Kronwall. No point in replacing himwith a guy who will cost more when his home grown replacement is very close to ready.

There's no harm in playing Kindl a year or two in the AHL. Jiri Fischer made the club as a teenager, and was shuttled up and down the next few years because he was too good to keep off the club, but still needed to get the development time in the AHL. Play Kindl a year in the AHL, bring back Schneider and Markov. Give Kronwall more ice time next season, play him with Lidstrom and Markov with Schneider. Kindl can come in in 08-09 or maybe even 09-10. He could definitely benefit from a couple years of seasoning in the AHL as the top dog.

Does that mean she's gonna make evil clones of Hank?

Here's the simple reason why: Lidstrom is probably the only guy even as a serious contender this year for the trophy he won last year. Brind'Amour and Datsyuk probably have the best chance after that, and neither is currently the best pick for that trophy.

Second rounders have a longer average career than first rounders, just FTR.

April 9th.

Jiri Fischer gave the puck away less per game than Nick Lidstrom or Chris Chelios last season, and everyone wants both of those guys back largely on defensive ability...so I don't think 'he gives the puck away like Fischer did' is a BAD thing. Schneider had a better ratio than Chelios last season, and is about the same this season, come to think of it. Schneider also has a better ratio than Nick this year.

This is worse than the McSorley incident. McSorley's slash wasn't nearly as forceful, and made contact with the helmet only. That said, Bertuzzi, even though he didn't use his stick, was still worse. Simon and McSorley were 'heat of the moment' actions, while Bertuzzi's was a premeditated assault. That alone makes Bertuzzi's actions worse.

Calder is not a bone crusher, sure. But he is gritty, and uses his size and strength to do things players like Williams don't/can't do. Such as carry the puck right to the front of the net. Physical means a guy wh odoesn't shy from contact, is gritty, and can dish it out. Calder is all of those things. No, he's not going to lead the league in hits or put someone through the boards. But he' not going to avoid the opportunity to lay a hit as standard procedure either. Another example of why physical is not the same as 'hitter': I bet you consider Bootland physical, and Hudler not. Yet in tonight's game, Hudler outhit Bootland 3-0, and had the check of the game. Chew on that for a while.

Plus what Nashville gave up for Forsberg would basically translate to Kindl, Hudler, and picks. That compares to Matthias and picks for Bertuzzi...which is a much safer deal. No high end prospects, and the only chance we give up a first is if Bertuzzi does well, is healthy, and the Wings go deep. Very low risk in that if he can't contribute, we aren't out anything, and still swapped Williams for Calder to bring in a gritty, scoring winger.