norrisnick

That was Holmstrom. I'm pretty sure Z has been #40 from the start. He was the infamous "best player outside of the NHL" before he came over so his sticking with the big club was a bit more certain. That and his first game he was on a line with Fedorov and Shanahan.

Enforcers don't protect anything. If they did, they'd be called protectors instead of enforcers. All they can do is react. There is no prevention involved.

You're going to have to clear a few things up about that second part. If you're counting McCarty as that enforcer in '02 why not in '03 or '04?

I want to say Maltby was the other guy. I know Hudler got a vote.

He could have won any of the three while he was here and should have won in '97.

Watch this. I wouldn't trade Fedorov's tenure with the Wings for any other player that was active at the time. Not a single other player would have been a better fit or contributed more towards the overall success of the Wings while he was here.

So did Hartigan, Meech, and Ellis but they don't seem to have a fan club...

And there'll be at least 2-3 guys that don't care for every one of yours that do. A couple punches in the helmet is a very small price to pay for cheapshotting the opposition.

Which might explain why he isn't an NHLer anymore. On the other hand he plowed through Cujo with Mac on the ice...

Name one player that is inclined to dish out dirty checks that would give two s***s whether or not Mac or Downey or any other enforcer were on the bench? Fun story time. A game between the Kings and Sens in '05-'06. Sens had McGrattan, Neil, Chara, etc... all dressed. Sean Avery punched Dominik Hasek in the mask after Dom stoned him cold. Sure Avery was clinging to McGrattan's ankles his next shift, but do you honestly think he cared at all? I sure as hell don't. Hell in '07 Brad May ended Kim Johnsson's playoffs (he was the Wild's #1 defenseman that year) with a suckerpunch and the Wild had Boogaard dressed. There's no one scarier than Boogaard, yet May was undeterred. Odd...

Oh and as a frame of reference. We won 70 games this year regular season/playoffs combined.

'77 Habs are going down this year. 68 wins would be a good way to do it.

Ericsson will play in Detroit. He'll get Filppula'd into the lineup by Babcock. Fil was supposed to be in GR in '06-'07 but that didn't happen. He broke his finger late in camp and that delayed things, but he was up for good partway through October.

Unless Miller is willing to play for $2M/yr I want no part of him.

NHL.com's stats. Hits would be under the RTSS category.

And? In the playoffs hitting goes up and fighting disappears.

Adding even half of Fedorov's defensive awarenes/ability would make AO legendary. That shouldn't be idly dismissed.

Kopecky had 111 hits. Asham had 87 hits. 3rd line hack was Asham's peak. And he'll never reach that again. Kop might.

Make your case.

Marc-Andre and Patrice aren't brothers.

Gillies didn't have to fight a lot. When he did fight he was devastating. Larry Robinson and Gordie Howe were the same way. Unrealistic? Sure, but no less unrealistic than pretending that Aaron Asham would make any meaningful impact whatsoever.

Bulls***. A. What GM floats potential RFA offersheets to a STH get together? B. Saying the Wings have 24 hours to match (when the deal hasn't even broken the news wires yet which would happen within minutes of going through the League offices) is another red flag. The Wings would have a week. C. Who in their right mind floats a $2.5M/yr offer to a goalie that has 8 career games and isn't even a lock to be our backup? This rumor stinks of a buddy trying to con you. Thread on the meet from the BJ section of HF including quick notes from fans in attendance. No mention of Jimmy. http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=531940

Lebda needs liberties taken on him. And the one time Hudler got rocked Lilly "fought" Phaneuf. If the Wings find a Clark Gillies I won't complain. Until then I'm not going to clamor for the Downey, Asham, Godards of the league like some feel the need to.

All I'll say is let teams try. Even if Mac and Syndrome go unsigned. It won't get teams very far.

Did the members of said teams do nothing but toss out cries of "gutless *******!!" to teams believed to be less willing and/or able to manage a linebrawl? If yes, then yes.