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Detroit's current magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 8 points, so long as they get at least 7 wins in their remaining 8 games. For reference, Detroit can still drop down to 10th or 11th in the conference if they lose the rest of their games. They can also potentially still win the division. On April 2nd we should have a definitive picture of where the Wings will fall (1-4, 5-8, 9-15) in the Western Conference standings.

Kopecky was actually healthy during the Olympics, and played extremely well. Don't know how many here saw the Slovakia games, but Kopecky was one of their best players. Miller has definitely filled the defensive role the Wings wanted from Kopy, but not the physical or offensive roles. Kopy was supposed to be a 25-30 goal power forward with defensive skill, but unfortunately he kept getting random injuries that hampered his development. Franzen, the "fourth line grinder" came out of nowhere to fill "Kopy's offensive job" and then some, so I guess it's prospect replacement by committee?

Hudler, playing top-six minutes at even strength with top-six linemates, would likely produce a higher points-per-minute rate at even strength. If you simply project out what Hudler did (29 points in an average 10:37) to an average 15:00, his even strength production jumps to 43 points. That 43-28 ratio is comparable to what most of the league's top scorers, guys who are scoring better than a PPG, have been producing at. This is why I find it amusing that people think Filppula is comparable to Hudler offensively. Filppula is getting Hudler's PP minutes and playing most of his ES time in the top six, yet he's on pace to score, if hes lucky, about what Hudler did last season. Probably saying Flip will peak at 55 is a little low, maybe 60-65 is more accurate. But regardless...Hudler in the NHL given the same kind of chance Filppula is getting WILL be a PPG player with 90-100 point potential, if not more. That's not a maybe. Now, with my mention of Hudler I didn't intend to drag this off topic, simply to show that Filppula's production compared to Datsyuk's was not "Look it's so close, Flip will be a 90-point player and a Hart and Selke candidate but rather to show that while he is developing well, he's probably NOT going to be a superstar, but rather simply a very good two-way forward and strong second line center (possibly first, if the team doesn't have a higher-end center) relied upon by whatever team he plays for to provide secondary playmaking skill and to buffer the PK unit along with the defensive specialists. Hudler, OTOH, will either develop into a top-scoring center with average or slightly above average defensive skills, or he will be one of if not THE the league's top scoring wingers, with teams hesitating to pay him what his numbers would suggest simply because of his size. Both have strong careers ahead of them in different roles, and it's quite possible that both will remain with Detroit their entire careers. But Filppula's offense won't match what Hudler produces.

Filppula has been getting near 20 minutes per game with Zetterberg plus PP time. Hudler got 12-13 minutes per game and rarely played with Zetterberg. Furthermore, How many ES goals did Hudler score? How many goals did Hudler score that he had to rely on his teammates to setup? How many times did he get an assist because he passed the puck to a teammate who then made a great play? Hudler's offense came primarily through his own ability. He scored because of his own talent on most occasions. When he got assists, it was usually because he made a great play that allowed a teammate to score unhindered. Filppula is a very good defensive forward, but He's not Hudler in the OFFENSIVE end.

First off, I know most people here are younger and are used to the Campbell/Wales setup. But if you look at history, from 1967 (the beginning of the 'modern era', aka divisions, to 1997, the NHL spent more time in the East/West format. From 1967 until now, it isn't even close. So here's another proposal that would make travel more equal on teams, in general, while still trying to maintain rivalries as much as possible: West: Anaheim, Colorado, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, Vancouver North: Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Edmonton, Minnesota, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto East: Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh South: Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, Nashville, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Washington To further equalize travel, the North and South would be considered one conference, while the East and West would be considered another. Perhaps "Coastal" and "Central" or something might be appropriate, but I'm sure there are better names out there. There are two potential openings for expansion teams, preferably in the West and South, but Columbus could be moved to the South if necessary for an East team which is more suited to that division, or Minnesota could be moved West for a North team more suited to the North. Top two teams in each division would make the playoffs, with division winners guaranteed a home seed. Playoffs would be seeded 1-16 based on overall league results, meaning one entire division could theoretically make it as far as the second round of the playoffs. As for scheduling: 4 games vs all conference opponents 2 games vs all non-conference opponents Total 86 games. Remove 2-3 preseason games, perhaps extend schedule by 2-3 days as well. Perhaps not perfect, but better than a lot of suggestions that kill rivalries.

Can we get a mod to just close the 93 "Filppula is the next Datsyuk or Zetterberg!!" threads that we have? Filppula is NOT GOING TO BE A SUPERSTAR PLAYER IN THE NHL. Filppula's offensive production and awareness is not "following a similar path" to Datsyuk. Filppula last season, beginning the year at 24, playing second-line and third-line center depending on the night, usually with offensively skilled linemates, scored 40 points in 80 games. Datsyuk in 2002-03, beginning the year at 24, playing as the third-line center, scored 51 points in 64 games. The next year, Datsyuk scored 68 points in 75 games. Filppula currently has 34 points in 46 games, which would project to 55 points over 75 games. In the meantime, just as a point of reference, Jiri Hudler in 2008-09, beginning the year at 24, scored 57 points in 82 games playing on either the third or fourth line all year, usually with unskilled linemates. Slava Kozlov scored 45 points in 75 games when he was 24. Ray Whitney scored 2 points in 12 games when he was 24, missing 70 with injury, but had already scored 106 in 160 the previous three seasons, and would continue on for his career as a reliable 65-70 point scorer. Filppula has shown he can produce offensively in a secondary role, but he won't ever be any more than that. Sorry to pop your bubble. Flip will peak at 45-55 points and probably produce that kind of level for a few years during his prime, but he simply doesn't have the talent or the potential to be the kind of offensive force Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa, Hudler are. Hudler, OTOH, could be a consistent PPG player if/when he returns. He's got all the offensive ability, he's got offensive IQ better than all but a few players in the world, and all he needs, a bit more speed, a bit more ice time, and maybe a linemate who is better than Kirk Maltby.

Booth needs to learn to keep his head up when he has the puck, or he'll be retired because of concussions by the age of 28.

The idea that a majority of voters here think Datsyuk is going to win, and a large number think he is a lockc, is absolutely sickening. Datsyuk is a very good defensive forward, one of the ten or twenty best in the league, but despite his two Selkes, I don't think he has ever even been the best defensive forward on his team, let alone in the league. Kesler is the guy who should win it, but there are many other guys whose names could be mentioned as well. I'm not going to bother with bringing up this guy or that because that stuff just starts arguments, but my point is that while Datsyuk might be a candidate, the only reason he ever won the Selke is because he played excellent defense, was a very good offensive forward, and more importantly played flashy, high profile defense. Zetterberg deserved it more than Dats both of the past two seasons, but because Z didn't put up as many points and isn't as flashy, he didn't get the recognition. And even then, there are guys who were probably just as good as Z defensively. But this year and last, to say Dats is more deserving than Z is to ignore one simple fact: with all of the defensively skilled lines the Wings have, Z is ALWAYS put against the opposition's top offensive line, and he is always on the top offensive forward. Z vs Crosby in the finals, remember? When you are putting up a poll about "Is this guy a lock to win the Selke? Will he win it?" you should probably use your team's top shutdown forward rather than a guy who is simply one of the league's better defensive forwards and a candidate because he's a great two-way forward. It's like the reason Doug Gilmour won it in 1993. He wasn't better defensively that year than Fedorov, Carbonneau, Brind'Amour, Francis, Linden, Tikkanen, Kurri, or any of the other top end defensive forwards in the league at the time. He simply scored 127 points, one of only three times he broke the century mark, and based on the 83 games he played that season, 47.4 more points than his career average (he retired as a 2nd/3rd liner still scoring at basically .5 PPG) and 6.7 goals more than his career average, plus 40.7 assists more than his career average. Kesler was a contender for the Selke last season, so his defensive capabilities are already known and considered among the elite defensive forwards. Now he has added strong offensive performance to that. Datsyuk, meanwhile, has performed well below his normal offensive output. Voters will think "his overall performance is below par" while they look at Kesler and think "He has greatly improved." and so, there goes any chances of Datsyuk beating Kesler. Offense shouldn't factor in the voting, but it does. Either highly skilled offensive players are recognized as top players and then their defense is recognized after their team starts relying on them as much as any defensive specialist (Yzerman, Gilmour, Francis, Sakic, Modano, Brind'Amour) or the player is a recognized defensive specialist who has an offensive improvement, gaining them a higher profile and consideration for the award (Lehtinen, Draper, Peca, Madden, Conroy) but only rarely is the player a bonafide top defensive forward who is receiving consideration solely for his defensive abilities. Multiple Selke winner Guy Carbonneau was one such forward.

Personally, I think the whole "flying goal" thing about Orr is a joke. Yes it was a great goal...but the only reason it is such a highlight and considered one of the greatest goals of all-time is the fact that he jumped after shooting the puck. He didn't swat the puck in while airborne. He shot the puck into the net, then went airborne. Big ******* deal.

The overhead shot where Yzerman strips Gretzky at center ice, followed by the angle that is right over Casey's shoulder pointed at Yzerman's blade when he releases the shot is about as dramatic as you can get. Absolutely perfect. Messier is given waay too much credit for the 94 Cup IMHO. How about BRIAN LEETCH or MIKE RICHTER or ADAM GRAVES? All three of them were more important in that Cup win than Messier. Oooh, Messier said they'd win one game. Richter and Leetch were the guys who actually went out and WON the game. And they were they guys who actually went out and won the Cup.

The Wings currently have 8 defensemen on the roster. You can argue all you want about who is better between Ericsson, Meech, and Lebda; but Meech and Ericsson have shown the ability to be a solid defenseman. Lebda has been a borderline 3rd pair defenseman his whole career, and he's 28 now. His best seasons were when he played with Chelios before Chelly broke down, and that has clearly shown to be a matter of his partner making him look good. Lebda will never be a top-four defenseman in the NHL, while Ericsson has the ability to be a top-pairing defenseman, and Meech a solid second-pairing defenseman and power-play specialist. Currently, whichever of the three plays with Lilja on the third pair does not affect the Wings' chances of winning terribly much. Waiving Lebda allows them to bring up a true forward such as Ritola, McGrath, or Oulahen (Abdelkader is slightly too expensive) so that they A) have a spare forward and B) can rest guys if necessary. Maybe I'm just thinking in terms of wanting the team to win now and in the future.

You do realize that was a legal goal as the rule was in 99? You know why? The puck was already in the crease. Hull swatted a rebound of his own shot at Hasek. The rebound was headed out of the crease. As Hull spun to his forehand, his skate left the crease. During this time, a Buffalo player skated across trying to gather the puck, but failed. His skated kept the puck in the crease, knocking it off Hasek as this happened. As Hull completed his turn, his left skate entered the crease. The puck, still in the crease, was in perfect shooting position for Hull, who banged it home. The rule was that if a player entered the crease BEFORE THE PUCK that the goal was illegal. That did not happen in this case. Also, if a player is in possession of the puck, his skate may enter the crease before the puck does. No other player ever gained possession after Hull's shot, meaning Hull could legally enter the crease and shoot the puck from outside, and the goal would still have been legal. Legal goal under two different sections of the rule. Sorry.

The Wings have had nine defensemen dress for them this season. Lebda is the worst of them. Why he hasn't been waived is a complete mystery. Assuming Lidstrom returns, the Wings' top seven and will likely go from the current list of: Lidstrom/Kronwall/Rafalski/Stuart/Ericsson/Lilja/Meech to next year's list of: Lidstrom/Kronwall/Rafalski/Stuart/Ericsson/Lilja/Kindl or: Lidstrom/Kronwall/Rafalski/Stuart/Ericsson/Kindl/Meech This is pretty much a given if Nick comes back. It basically comes down to Meech vs Lilja, whether management likes the idea of rotating Ericsson/Kindl/Lilja into the lineup, and how the forward group allows for the difference in contracts. My bet is on Meech, given Lilja's UFA status and most teams' need for a defensive stalwart, plus Lilja's recent concussion issues might make him choose retirement.

I have a problem with some of this; What makes an OT win equal to a SO win and not a regulation win? The complaint about the shootout is that the game is won by individual skills. OT wins are won just as much through normal hockey as regulation wins are. So the system I have proposed since shootouts were first suggested to end tied games is: Regulation/OT win: 3 points Shootout win: 2 points Shootout loss: 1 point Regulation loss: 0 points This way, if a team wins simply through playing hockey, they get 3 points, and if they loss that way, nothing. If the game is tied after 65 minutes, then each team deserves a point, and the shootout determines who gets the third point. Another option, if shootouts remain, is to simply remove points altogether, and go by straight W/L record. A third option is to remove shootouts and bring back ties.

Let's take a look here...the top shootout shooters dressed tonight were, just based on my opinion: Datsyuk Zetterberg Williams Franzen Lidstrom Cleary Bertuzzi Rafalski Eaves Filppula Kronwall Miller Holmstrom Helm Ericsson Draper Stuart Lilja Now, that's just my opinion...but Flip is in the bottom half of that list. He's behind two defensemen and seven forwards. Why the hell was he out there? The guy can pass. Who is he passing to on the shootout, Mike? Maybe Babcock is confused and forgot that it was Hudler who was really good at shootouts, not Filppula.

You are mistaken. Igor Grigorenko, when he was drafted, was the Ovechkin of that time. He was a rocket skater who delivered bone-crunching hits, he was a skilled playmaker and a had a ridiculously powerful and accurate shot. Everything that was said about Ovechkin going into his draft year was said about Grigs; except Grigs was not considered a defensive liability. The accident he had completely shattered his leg and ruined his career, and the fat embolism he developed in his left lung is a condition from which 90% of patients die. He went from being an agile skater with blazing speed to a mediocre skater at best. Even after the amazing affort he put into getting back on the ice; which it is truly amazing that he ever even made it back onto the ice; his skating ability was so damaged that his ability to perform overall was greatly diminished. He was still capable of performing at the pro level, but his attitude had greatly changed after seeing this. He was no longer the passionate player he once was; rather he had become complacent as he knew his chances of playing regularly, if at all, for Detroit were very unlikely. So he returned to Russia after playing a few games for Grand Rapids. In the recently completed KHL season, Grigorenko posted scoring numbers that would put him as quite capable of playing in the NHL if his skating is up to par; he scored at a very similar pace to Jaromir Jagr, and better than notable top-six NHL players such as Richard Zednik, Sergei Fedorov, Ville Peltonen, Alex Korolyuk, Viktor Kozlov, and more. That would suggest that Grigorenko certainly still has the ability to perform in the NHL given the right conditions, which would mainly be his skating.

Could sure use a "weird little dude" right about now.

Breaking it down: Hudler is better at seeing the ice, better at avoiding opposing players when carrying the puck, creating offense from nothing, making plays, passing-he's a better playmaker than any current Wing except Datsyuk, finishing scoring opportunities created by either himself or others. Hudler is better at creating offense without offensively skilled linemates to work with, more able to play all three forward positions without a drop in performance. Filppula is a better skater, is bigger and stronger, stronger in traffic and better in the corners, better defensively, better at faceoffs. Hudler is a top-six offensive forward; with his offensive skills he could play wing on most NHL teams' first lines. Filppula is a top-six two-way forward, and would be a legit second line center on many teams, or could play first or second line wing for many as well. I would say, as far as 'who's better' though, they are very close in ability. I would give a slight edge to Hudler, but if you were looking at one team trading Filppula to Hudler, it's a fair trade where you have to look at the needs of the team to determine which team is getting the better end of the deal. I would have loved to see Franzen/Filppula/Hudler or Franzen/Hudler/Holmstrom. Those would have been great lines.

I notice that a lot of people are using "What if" potential to make out their rosters, where a player who was excelling, already a very good player. who was showing amazing potential to become a superstar in the NHL is making the All-Wings team. With that in mind, while still using the "Wings career only" requirement and assuming all "potential" stars or current players being ranked on current and future career will or would have remained with the team, I submit the following: G.Howe Yzerman Lindsay Fedorov Delvecchio Abel Grigorenko Zetterberg Datsyuk Redmond Shanahan S.Howe Aurie Konstantinov Lidstrom Kelly Fischer Goodfellow Stewart Pronovost Sawchuk Osgood If you take out guys who haven't yet truly earned the "All-Time" honor, meaning Grigorenko, Redmond, Fischer, and Konstantinov, then the replacements might be Marcel Dionne, Bill Quackenbush, and Flash Hollett. Also, I have to take an exception with some teams' defensive rosters. Some posters have Slava Fetisov on their teams. While Slava was a great player, he was not better for Detroit offensively or defensively as Steve Chiasson was, nor did he play even half as many games. Chiasson was Detroit's top defenseman for years and was one of the better defensive defenseman in the league much of that time while providing strong offensive play.

Big difference? Hudler was playing with guys like Draper and Maltby. Give Filppula those linemates, and see what it does to his PPG. And btw, Hudler scored more at even strength than on the power play. He also scored more at even strength than Teemu Selanne, who had the same number of power play points. Hudler and Selanne played comparable total time on ice in each situation. Does this make Hudler a comparable player to Teemu Selanne in offensive capability? His offensive numbers in all situations were very similar in 2008-09. The simple facts are, Hudler was always a threat to score, and produced a ton of offense for the Wings in 08-09. Filppula has been OK offensively, but has never been as much of an offensive powerhouse for the Wings, in terms of creating offense on his own out of nothing, playmaking ability, or simply finishing skills. Stats can be manipulated to show whatever you want, but Filppula is not as good offensively as Hudler, and has not been. If Hudler were given the top-six scoring role he deserved, he'd be a 70 or 80 point player. Add 40% to his ES production in 08-09 to give him 1st/2nd line type ES time, and he gets another 11 points. That's a 68 point winger-assuming his point production isn't increased further by better players. Certainly worth $2.875m.

Sergei Kolosov. I've always liked the kid, but he's never had the potential to be more than a #4 punishing defensive specialist. Not that that's a bad thing...but it's not "going big" either.

1) Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson, and Kindl are signed and will be up. 2) Lidstrom will probably be returning. 3) The Wings will not be sticking Kindl or Ericsson in a 7th defenseman slot. So here's what we have: The top four defensemen (Nick/Nik/Raffi/Stu) are pretty obvious. Combine that with Ericsson and Kindl and you have your likely top six. Lilja is a solid defensive defenseman, but I think simply the fact that he'd be a defenseman who would, at best, be rotating in on the third pair while making better than $1m leads me to believe that he's probably not coming back. RFA Meech will be the #7 guy, for a cap hit of less than $600k. He's cheap, versatile, developing well defensively and offensively, and very quick. If Kindl had another year in Grand Rapids, Lilja would be back. But he doesn't. Basically, Kindl's lack of waiver options pushes Lilja out of Detroit.

I've always thought divisional all-stars would be cool. With the current 6-division setup, it would require a three-round tournament. So figure it works like this: Division teams are ranked 1-6 based on out-of-division winning percentages from all five teams' records combined. Teams 1 and 2 get byes into round two. Team 3 plays team 6, and 4 plays 5. Teams are reseeded in Round 2. Rounds 1 and 2 follow the following rules: Rosters have 9 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 2 goalies. Teams play two 20 minute periods (with goalie swap each period if there are no injuries), followed by a standard OT and shootout if necessary. Once teams reach round 3, they may name an additional 3 forwards, 1 defensemen, and 1 goalie. Teams play a standard 3 20 minute periods (with goalie swap each period if there are no injuries), followed by a standard OT and shootout if necessary. The All-Star break would proceed as follows: Last game before break is on Tuesday. Skills competition is on Thursday evening. Round 1 is Friday evening. Round 2 is Saturday evening. Round 3 is Sunday evening. Obviously, some adjustments could be made to this format, but this could work out as far as the 'tournament' idea.

Datsyuk vs Zetterberg? Hard to say "Datsyuk has a decent chance and Z has no chance" when they have very similar careers, Dats barely beating out Z for the Selke twice and in very close contests, with Z scoring a Conn Smythe and both players having very close career points-per-game numbers. Z is probably more likely, given the fact he is likely to be the team's next captain.

Brodeur is the only player who could justifiably be placed ahead of Lidstrom on that list. Pronger's position is a huge joke; he shouldn't be ahead of Niedermayer, Gonchar, or Selanne at the very least.