betterREDthandead

If they think there's such a thing as losing with pride, let 'em. If they'd rather stand up for themselves in a regular season game (by squirting water at fans from the penalty box, maybe?) than win them even one single Cup, then they're hopeless.

If you're going to list top lines in the league, you gotta mention Gaborik and Demitra and whoever happens to be out there at the time (Walz, Nummelin, etc.) Those guys are doing some damage.

Sounds like a Ruby Tuesday's three-burgers-for-the-price-of-one promotion

The Dallas announcers kept using the word "sorcery" to describe the play of that line. Especially on the first goal. I'm usually not in favor of naming a line unless it's kept together season to season, but what the hell....Sorcery Line sounds good to me

This is the kind of game that gives me hope for the playoffs. Wings were getting absolutely stoned by Smith, the man could do no wrong tonight, and Zetterberg absolutely refused to let it happen. Nice.

Glad you think it's so easy to just trade away a player that doesn't do anything. Tell me, what would another GM want with a useless player that's too old? And if you think the board is talking about getting rid of the salary cap, you need a lesson in NHL 101. The cap is here to stay. The BoG will NOT be getting rid of it. Seriously man.

Oo oo oo! I got one! Let's see: Biggish (but not so big that there's other distractions): Check Younger population: Check Only one pro team: Check Loves college sports: Check So yup: Every criteria listed, Nashville fits. By the way, Kansas City is not a Southern city. I don't care what latitude line it sits on, Kansas City is not part of the South. It's a western or Midwestern city. When you think of Kansas City, you don't think country music, grits, and the Bible belt. Kansas City is an old ranching town, not a Southern city. KC actually has winters, because it's out on the edge of the Plains.

Sooner or later they're gonna have to get some experience, aren't they? If you don't let them start because they don't have any experience, then when do they ever play at all? Like it or not, the Wings are pinning their goaltender hopes on Howard. Liv will probably get a shot if Howard isn't cutting it, but Howard is the future. No, he shouldn't. Why bother developing a goalie if you're not gonna use him? This is the salary cap era. Every dollar spent on an overpaid free agent goalie is one less to spend on the rest of the team.

True But I sure wouldn't get too excited if I were a State fan. Still gotta play one in Crisler, after all. And that was an UGLY game. I turned it off when MSU went up by 8 or so. I could tolerate the ugliness as long as it was close. You know it's a pretty poor game when they're showing stats that say there's been more shot-clock violations than free-throw attempts. If that's the kind of game MSU brings in order to beat Michigan, even if they do make the tourney it'll be one-and-done.

As I've been saying for at least a month now.....it will soon be officially time to appoint the new Official LGW Objet de Drool. Doan's not leaving Phoenix. Nominations are now being taken.

Lamoriello doesn't own the Devils, he's the GM.

Sorry you don't think the Jets drawing fewer fans in Winnipeg than the Coyotes draw in Phoenix is attendance troubles.

Right. Move a team that's suffering from attendance troubles to a city that lost a team because of attendance troubles. That makes sense.

Philly's "not enamored" with Filppula, Grigorenko, and a 1st?? (if rumor is indeed true) They're crazy. Edit: and they also don't want Bobby Ryan? They're not that crazy. Makes me think that these offers are less than factual.

Wrong. The NHL wanted four new franchises. They put out a request for proposals. They got a certain number, rejected the ones that were poorly put together or didn't offer solid enough financing. They didn't "just put an NHL franchise in a city". They picked Nashville because they put together one of the four best deals. Since the city appears to be bending over both ways to help the Predators, I'd say the NHL made a good choice. Anyway...."completely backfired"? Three of four teams are doing just fine. Don't taint legitimate criticism of Bettman with this nonsense.

Well, Modano is pretty much the definition of a franchise player for the Stars. Definitely worth a jersey retirement. He's 36 now.....for Zetterberg to catch up to his point total by that same age, he'll need to average 97 points a season. I think I'd be thrilled if Zetterberg had a similar career path as Modano, and I think he will. It's just that even though Modano is the Stars' franchise, and has been since their Minnesota days, nobody would put him in a discussion of the very best of the best. He's one or two steps shy of that. Well, if you ask this question in 2015, then we might be able to call Zetterberg the soul of the franchise. Right now, it's an insult to Yzerman to put Zetterberg on the same pedestal. Zetterberg with three years experience is comparable to Yzerman with 18? I agree there reaches a point, but we're not there with Z yet.

Cause it's fun. I'm having fun, anyway. Which is why I'm gonna blast ahead much better than doing the work I'm supposed to be doing. Anyway, the Draper point just goes to show that at some point, those mythical locker room intangibles take a back seat to production. Obviously in my opinion, that covers just about anyone. Because, you mentioned Crosby, Ovechkin, and Zetterberg in the same sentence. I promise you, 10-15 years from now, nobody will do that. It's like saying Gretzky, Mario, Modano. Modano's a terrific player. He's not even in the conversation when it comes to the all-time greats. Crosby will be.

And I don't get what's so hard to understand about this: Crosby will be a legend and mentioned in the same breath as Gretzky and Howe. Zetterberg will not. The Panthers' top player is Olli Jokinen. He's an excellent player. You think they would give two s***s about locker room cohesion if for some stupid reason the Pens offered up Crosby? You think the Kings wouldn't trade Frolov in a heartbeat? Lemme ask this. Draper's been a part of the Wings' locker room as long as anyone. If anyone on that team is important to locker room cohesion and togetherness and stability and all that stuff, it's him. Would you trade Draper for Crosby? So do you.

I'm surprised the whisper of a trade with Montreal was mentioned and so far nobody's started drooling over Latendresse yet. Wasn't he the guy Holland should be shot and cremated for not drafting?

I do think the players understand that the NHL is a business. It's good to have loyalty to your players and all, but come on. The NBA and NHL have been looking for successors to Jordan and Gretzky for a decade now. The NBA is still looking. The NHL found theirs, and he wears #87. Henrik Zetterberg is an excellent player and might even be a Hall of Famer. Sidney Crosby is going to be a legend. If Crosby plays to age 38 like Gretzky did, he'll be second on the all-time scoring list. If Zetterberg plays til 38 he's got a decent chance of cracking the top 50. This isn't a comparison of Yzerman to Mario - Zetterberg will NEVER get anywhere near that much production. It's more like Mike Modano to Mario.

That kind of stuff would take a month, tops, to smooth out. Lots of players have been added and subtracted to the Wings and life went on. People talk about how you can't trade away Lidstrom or Z because of all the intangibles they bring. So Crosby's just a points robot? No "intangibles" from him either? Sure, the locker room would be different. It's not like the players would go into a deep depression and not speak to each other if there was a trade like that.

Why not? Like shadow said.....if Hasek finishes out the year, and it's a pretty good year, then why shouldn't he come back? Same for Osgood. It's not like Ozzie's getting old and his body is falling apart.

Since in 1986 we couldn't possibly have known the future and how Stevie and Mario would have turned out.......yes. Betcha Devellano would have too.

We don't deserve anything. If simply being a Wings fan isn't enough, with all the history and great moments in the past, quality teams in the present, and expectations of good things in the future, then we really are spoiled. And I'm not worried about this deadline being a flop. Last year there wasn't any talk this early, unless you count all our wishful thinking about Brendan Witt. Ooooooo goody. This year, rumors are flying.

Not til one of them becomes UFA.