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Next year's Wings roster: Ovechkin/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Franzen/Zetterberg/Hudler Frolov/Filppula/Afinogenov Helm/Abdelkader/Eaves Miller Lidstrom/Ericsson Kronwall/Stuart Meech/Johnson Janik Howard Osgood Whaddya think?

The next generation of top-end defensemen will include Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, Joni Pitkanen, Drew Doughty, Ian White, Tyler Myers, Jack Johnson. Don't know that any will be All-Time greats, but they're the guys in the league right now who are mid-20s or younger that I expect to be among the league's best consistently in the future. There are probably others I could have listed, and probably guys yet to enter the league who will match that group. Best part? I'd take them all over Green for PK duty right now, let alone in their primes.

Well, Gary Bettman probably would step down as owner, if he were owner to begin with. FACT: Coyotes have been no more of a failure than the Jets were with regard to attendance, playoff success, regular season success, or finances.

Hudler would be better than St. Louis with Marty's speed.

Redirecting the puck with your skate is legal if you are placing your skate in the puck's path and the puck strike's your skate and changes direction. It is also legal if the puck is redirected off of your skate when you are in motion without regards to the puck, such as stopping or turning towards the puck carrier, it is only illegal when it is CLEARLY a distinct kicking motion - intentionally giving the puck the momentum and direction to go into the net - just so you all are clear on the rule.

There are no goalies in the league better than Osgood who would cost the Wings as much or less than Osgood. Goalies who: 1) Have lower cap hits than Osgood 2) Have deals for next season 3) Would potentially be upgrades in skill Are: Tuukka Rask, Bos $1.25m Steve Mason, Clb $905k Semyon Varlamov, Wsh $822k Rask is the only goalie there who is not on an entry level deal. He signed a two year deal with Boston coming off his entry level deal, and signed it expecting to back up Tim Thomas, the reigning Vezina winner. None of these goalies would be acquirable without giving up significant assets. The chances of Howard being a required piece of the deal is likely, meaning to acquire any of them as backup would mean they are backing up Osgood. There are no UFA goalies who would be upgrades, so what exactly do you suggest?

Hudler has muscle, and he is willing and feisty enough to go into the corners and crash the net. People say he's a soft Euro because he's small and isn't overpowering, and doesn't lay big hits. Seriously, watch some film. See how often you can find Hudler digging in the corners, screening the goalie, or crashing the net. He does it more than most players with his level of skill, despite his size disadvantage. Hudler is not a power forward, but he's one of the most skilled playmakers in the world, and has a very good shot. Take him for the ability he does have, instead of discarding him because he's not what the superstar power forward you wish he was.

Props to Lappy for blocking shots anywhere on his body. Still needs to learn to wear a visor or get his glove up there though; can't leave your face open like that. I know; I've had to replace my cage twice from blocking shots.

Hudler has more skill than Verbeek did, just less opportunity. If he had Verbeek's physical game and muscle (Beeker had a bit more weight on him) then Huds would be putting up some sick numbers. Probably over a point per game and definitely All-Star worthy.

I should count the number of individual posters so far in this thread, so I know how many hypocrites have posted here so far. "Aucoin doesn't have the right to talk about Lidstrom" etc. How many times do you guys bring up the "You probably have never played hockey" or "You can't talk about that because you don't know what being a professional athlete is like" Pretty much everyone on these boards agrees that Lidstrom has been declining and has lost a step. Now it's a huge scandal because Aucoin, who in his prime was consistently one of the ten or fifteen best defensemen in the league himself, says that Nick isn't the player he once was? Hypocrites.

Yes, it's awarded to the best all-around defenseman. No, Lidstrom has not been as good this year as he was three or five years ago. That doesn't mean he's not one of the three best defensemen in the league. Duncan Keith deserves the Norris. He deserved to be a first teamer last year and he deserves the Norris this year. Drew Doughty deserves to be nominated as well. But Mike Green being nominated is a joke. An absolute joke. Even just looking at offensive performance, his offensive performance was worse than last season despite the fact the other four members of the top unit were more productive offensively. The support cast of the Capitals was also better offensively, leading to a team that scored more goals than any team in fifteen years. A 50-goal increase by his team, and despite that his offensive performance was worse even as a key offensive cog on that team. Lidstrom started the season poorly (mainly offensively, and that's why it was widely noticed). But he was playing as well as any defenseman in the league by mid November and from that point on. Unfortunately when a guy like Lidstrom is playing well, there are no "Lidstrom is doing really well, doesn't feel he is in a slump he has to break out of" articles that people who don't watch the Wings read. Green is a good offensive defenseman. But seriously, I find it hard to say he's that much better, if better at all, than Brian Rafalski. Lidstrom over Green ten out of ten, Kronwall over Green ten out of ten. Swap Rafalski for Green and see what happens. A speedy defenseman with a hard, accurate shot? Rafalski would probably put up better numbers than Green does, given the fact Green is not as slick a playmaker and Rafalski would be even more deadly if feeding Ovechkin and Semin on the PP. Keith, Lidstrom, Doughty, Weber, Boyle would have probably been my ballot. Others in consideration would have been Kronwall, Pronger, Kaberle, Pitkanen, Ehrhoff, Chara, and perhaps Streit and Bouwmeester.

And you know an even more effective #6 defenseman? Chris Pronger. John Erskine's cap hit is what, double Lilja's? I'd love to see a Wings defense with Lidstrom, Kronwall, Keith, Doughty, Chara, Johnson, and Edler, with a forward setup of Dats, Z, Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Getzlaf, Iginla, Toews, Kesler, H.Sedin, D.Sedin, and Parise with goaltending of Ryan Miller and Chris Osgood. Imagine: Ovechkin/Datsyuk (A)/Kovalchuk Malkin/Crosby/Iginla D.Sedin/H.Sedin/Getzlaf Kesler/Zetterberg (A)/Toews Parise Lidstrom ©/Kronwall Chara/Keith Doughty/Johnson Edler Miller Osgood

Ericsson has played fine. What stuns me is people suggesting replacing him with Lebda. Meech, Janik, Kindl, even Tollefson are better choices than ******* Lebda to come in for Ericsson if we're swapping out a d-man.

If Howard gives up another soft, badly timed goal, and Babcock goes to Ozzie, then Wings in 6. If Howie gives up another softie at a bad time and stays in, Phoenix in 6. If Howie holds tight and plays well, Wings in 6.

Tell ya what, go through a life threatening car accident where both of your legs are basically shattered, heal up to the point where you can actually play hockey again (after being given a 10% chance of LIVING) and see how well conditioned you are two or three years later compared to just before the accident.

Let's take a look at forwards who have played so far in the playoffs, and who are better at some of the most important skills in hockey: Skating: Datsyuk, Franzen, Zetterberg, Filppula, Helm, Miller, Cleary, Abdelkader, Draper, Eaves, Williams Shooting: Datsyuk, Franzen, Zetterberg Playmaking: Datsyuk Puckhandling: Datsyuk, Zetterberg Defense: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Filppula, Helm, Miller, Cleary, Abdelkader, Draper, Eaves Despite how he compares to the team, Hudler is still above average in Skating and Defense, and as you would expect in the other three he ranks among the better players in the league. Physicality is the only skill he really lacks, and that is simply a size issue. He is a feisty player, he simply doesn't have the size to be an Iginla or a Shanahan plowing through opposing defenses. If he possessed a 6-4, 230lb frame, he'd be the best player in the world.

187 minutes, 5 goals, 56 shots, 1 shutout. Those are the numbers that would take Howard from where he stands right now to where Osgood finished his first playoff series, having replaced Bob Essensa halfway through the third period in Game Two against San Jose.

Most of the rosters being posted have Hudler on the first or second line. To post lines from my roster earlier: Cleary/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Franzen/Zetterberg/Hudler Miller/Filppula/Abdelkader Draper/Helm/Eaves Ritola Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Ericsson Kindl/Stuart Meech Howard Osgood So spend more than $1m on a guy who will probably play 20-30 games? Intelligent use of the cap. Trading for Kaberle makes sense; the question is, what do we give up? They might take a 1st pick plus a prospect or two like McGrath or Oulahen. But at that point, you don't have the money or space to ALSO sign Corvo/Kubina. The 5/6/7 will be Ericsson/Kindl and one of Meech or Lilja. The only two questions are whether Lids returns, and whether Meech or Lilja is back. It's even possible that the Wings decide that, if Lids retires, to go with Kronwall/Rafalski/Stuart/Lilja/Ericsson/Kindl/Meech as the defensive corps.

Henrik Zetterberg, the best forward in the NHL. Period.

Good job by Z... bad rebound by Bryzgalov.

He was trying to get to the puck while Aucoin fought with Miller.

I don't blame every goal on Howard. I said Howard has a tendency to give up bad rebounds, and make bad decisions with the puck. I have been saying this since he first became a Red Wing. It doesn't mean every goal he gives up is his fault, or a bad goal. But those problems have reared their head tonight. Take another look at the replay, and you'll notice my point regarding these particular issues on these particular goals. It's no different than Osgood having a shaky fivehole. Each goalie has their pros and cons, and they have their good nights and bad nights. Sometimes even they have good periods and bad periods. A goalie could be terrible for a period, and be the best he's ever been the next period. And despite being a Wings fan, I do my best to try to remain unbiased with regards to player abilities in terms of overall skills and particular skill sets.

Anyone still wish we drafted Guillame Latendresse?

One of the main skills of a good goalie is being able to either a) control your rebounds or b) absorb the puck. That said, you should always direct your rebounds towards the corners if you have to give them up on shots from the middle. You should direct your rebounds towards the end boards if you are taking a shot from the side. This is based on the meaning that if you drew a line from the goal post to the dot and then to the boards on that side, on each side, the area between those lines is the "middle" area and the area below it is the "side" area. Beyond that, a goalie has to know when he can drop the puck if he is holding it and when to just freeze it. Howard has a tendency to drop the puck with opposing players around, or to kick rebounds into the slot right to opposing players. He has had a great year, but this series has shown that he still needs to improve in some basic areas.

I am surprised at the general consensus that Sutton's hit was clean when most members here disagreed with my assessment of Mike Richards' hit on David Booth as clean for the exact same reasons as are being stated here. Richards led with his shoulder, and hit Booth only because Booth basically skated headfirst into the hit. Same as Leopold/Sutton.