dr_lobster

When Steve Yzerman was retiring, can you imagine how odd it would be if he'd announced he was playing with the idea of playing for the Dallas Stars, or another team? I'm not looking for a football discussion, but Brett Favre's drawn out his "am I retiring?" situation for months -- since the Super Bowl, really. The Packers' franchise player, the face of their organization and literal hero for most of the state's sports fans -- chooses to put all this strain on the team he's carried for years, on the fans and teammates that've supported him. The Packers are seemingly so unhappy with the situation (they don't want him to be their starter), that they're offering him more than $20 million as a "marketing" payment to retire, essentially a bribe or "go away" fee. When was the last time a Red Wing pulled that kind of stunt? Uwe Krupp? Brett Favre seems to think he's bigger than his team, and seeing his selfish, careless way he's treating his organization and fanbase only makes me grateful for the way players like Yzerman, Lidstrom...hell, Crosby, Ovechkin, Iginla, whoever, conduct themselves within our game. I know it's not a universal thing, but it's refreshing to have so many superstars that represent themselves well off the ice.

Just for contrast, here's Drew Sharp's take on Hossa. Aside from stating the obvious, it's a decent read. http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID.../807030351/1053

Hey, good for them. A more proven player, and can score and create plays equally well offensively. I welcome any and all interesting roster changes in our division.

Hey, it's one of the benefits of having a front office that treats its players well, and only seeks out players that buy into the "we're here to win together" mentality. Hossa signing with us isn't simply us winning the Cup, or Holland being a good GM, it's helped by our history as a franchise over the past decade-plus.

Take that, Penguins. First we beat you, then we take your FAs!

Let me take this opportunity to note how much I appreciate having European fans frequenting LGW -- cheers to our "board scouts!"

Whyyyy do you have an secondary actress that nobody cares about from a movie that's three weeks old on, but not two athletes from a well-loved sports franchise that just won a championship? Jay Leno's never been funny, but now I've got another reason to never, ever watch his show again. And likewise, Local 4 news showed a clip at the end of their show of Osgood and Lidstrom in the studio with the cup, talking -- meaning they had recorded a segment with them, but chose not to air it.

I'm most impressed by how he's just embraced his role and minutes -- looks confident along the boards and entering the zone on the PP, plays pretty hard defense from what I've seen. Good for him for not curling up and working to be visible out there.

Can I just note how nice it is that this is a difficult question to answer? Thanks, Red Wings.

Osgooooood. You're so, so consistent, and I love you.

Man, I dunno. Z/Dats seem like the safe bets, but it'd be too sweet to see Drake or Chelios get it, evoking Borque (different situation, obv.) a little bit.

Yes, but I specialize in arthropods. I skipped mollusk physics in college. Nevertheless, I retire to my lab!

Guys. ...Guys. Listen. Does anyone have a gun, or trebuchet-like device, that could shoot an octopus.

Yeah, I saw this a second ago. Say what you want about Pens fans, but skimming through those threads, they show a good sense of reality, humility, and appreciation for the game.