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Yes, the second line is more physical. Yes, the second line has scored more than the first so far. But part of that has been the Wings playing against teams with weak defense after their top pairing, which has generally been matched against DZH. Swap the defensive matchups and I wonder what the results are.

The problem is that neither Volchenov nor Rolston can be placed on LTIR without missing a minimum or either 10 games or 24 days. If Rolston were out for that long, the Devils could call Henrique back up and have ten forwards, plus with the signing of Mair they would be at 11. Look for Taormina to go back down and Henrique back up after Volchenkov is back.

Love it. But honestly, if you were Mike Ribiero, you'd be out at the bar drinking yourself into oblivion every night too.

I'm sure I'm being counted as one of the "haters" because I've always "incorrectly" thought Hudler outperformed Filppula. It would be great if Flip scored 60+ points, and I don't know about other "Flip haters" but I've always thought that under the right conditions he would be a 60-65 point center in his prime, give or take a little. Those conditions are that he would get top-six ice time, which has gotten that for the past three seasons, and played on the power play - he started as a regular member there last year, with a decent amount of time in 2008-09. He's 26 now, so he should start producing those kind of numbers soon if he doesn't do it this year.

As far as the last two years, I have ranked the top two defensemen Lidstrom-Keith and then Keith-Lidstrom. I would put Lidstrom as the best over the two years. As far as this season? Keith and Doughty certainly come in as the Norris favorites, but Lidstrom should be considered in the top three at the very least, and the only defenseman I would consider putting ahead of him on a top-50 list would be Keith. The others who are on this list ahead of Nick are good, but not at Nick's level. And ranking Nick one spot ahead of Mike Green is like saying that Alexei Zhamnov was Sergei Fedorov's equal.

Fixed. Admittedly, a goal's a goal, but that was the most effortless two-goal game I've ever seen. Two goals on zero shots.

The Flip line is good. Probably a decent first line on an average team. But it's nowhere near DZH. If you actually think Flip's line might be better this year than DZH, then the DZH line will be having a BAD season.

Sharp plays about 5 more minutes at ES than Hudler, and about 1-2 more than Flip. Sharp is a decent defensive player, while Flip and Bolland are notably better and Hudler is above average. If Hudler played in Sharp's spot and with his minutes, he'd be an 80 point player. Flip and Bolland are two of the league's better two-way players. Sharp is not far behind, but he's fourth out of the group.

I said all three are better players than Sharp. I didn't say any of the four were top 50. Learn to read jackass. Thank you and enjoy your day.

Marleau should never have been stripped of the C, IMHO. And he definitely deserves it over Thornton.

1994-95. Bettman tried to lock in some form of "cost certainty" due to the rising salaries, but there was a degree of infighting between the owners as to what kind of control and how it should be implemented, which resulted in a lost half of a season for virtually nothing the owners wanted. In 2004-05, the owners saw more of what Bettman had seen coming, and were far more united and successful.

Look at it this way. 50 players, 6 positions. That means basically 8 each C, LW, RW, (or 25 F) G, and 16-17 D, if you divide evenly. The TSN list has Seabrook as the 10th best defenseman in the league, and the last on the list at #48. IMHO, Seabrook is in maybe the 18-22 range for defensemen. Sharp is the bigger deal though. There are ten defensemen and only FIVE goaltenders mentioned, and he is the last player listed. This makes him the #35 forward in the NHL. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Patrick Sharp? Get real. Dave Bolland, Jiri Hudler, or Val Filppula all would have been better picks.

Kane in the top 15 players, and Seabrook and Sharp even mentioned? What Blackhawk homer made this list?

I win.

You said Holland thought Quincey wouldn't be a good NHL defenseman. Holland didn't have the choice of keeping everyone. Granted, I was arguing even back then to keep Quincey over Lebda, and I'm still angry over that, but I think it ends up like this: The Wings had nine significant defensemen who would have had to clear waivers. The top four, Lilja as a PK specialist makes five. Chelios for PK, leadership, depth, grit, whatever. This makes six, and leaves you the trio of Lebda, Meech, and Quincey. Lebda had the advantage of being a returning Wing, rather than someone trying to win a spot. Meech outplayed Quincey in camp and this only followed up what had happened previously in Grand Rapids and short stints in Detroit. So Holland and Babcock ended up deciding that Quincey would be the guy who missed the cut.

If I have 10 good defensemen, but I only get to keep 8, does that mean I only think those 8 are good?

Miller is 26. Ritola is 23. Miller is a better offensive player than Ritola, and was at age 23 as well. Miller is light years ahead of Ritola on defense. Ritola does have skill, but he has spent five years in the Wings' organization and has been repeatedly passed up on the depth chart by new prospects. Choosing Miller over Ritola is the correct decision.

Will be odd for Ritola... he skated with Yzerman at training camp in 2005.

Would they keep Malts up over Meech? It's just as easy to call either up from Grand Rapids if they clear and are later needed, but Meech is far more likely to get claimed than Malt-O-Meal.

Trash talk. Huge edge to Maltby.

I wouldn't have minded a USHL team in my hometown, but I suppose they wouldn't really fare well given the competition they'd face for attendance with the high schools and the University and all.

Dale Tallon deserves to have his name on the Cup and deserves a ring. He, not Stan Bowman, built that team. Bowman did practically nothing but sit and watch the games.

This isn't exactly accurate. Teams are just as likely if not moreso to carry 13 forwards and 8 defenseman rather than 14 forwards and 7 defensemen. So basically what's being determined at camp is whether Kindl is to be kept or traded, and whether the Wings will carry 14-7 or 13-8, and who that will be. But as you said, this is far less than most teams have to figure out during training camp.

Huh? Where do you get the description of Helm as a playmaking puckfeeder?

Part of this is that usually the 50+ goal scorers happen one of two ways; when a guy is the central focus of his team's offense, or he is a skilled shooter playing with a great passer. If you take the top goal scorers in the league, a lot of guys could be 50 goal scorers if they were put in a more favorable spot. Just think about Cheechoo and how much playing with Thornton affected his performance. Or Hull with Oates. As for "true shut down centers" think about it this way; Zetterberg v. Crosby in the 2008 Finals. Remember how Z shut down Crosby? Do you think there are 15 centers who are capable of shutting down top offensive players like Crosby the way Z did? Absolutely not. Elite defense is just as high-end as elite offense.