norrisnick

I don't think Kenny and the boys care much what a bunch of meatheads at hockeyfights think.

Amon Amarth is so freaking catchy... Someone needs to make a windmilling smiley. This one just won't do...

Because at his age the things we're asking of the stay-at-home 3rd pairing/PK specialist Cheli can't do anymore.

Shanny spent close to 10 years in Detroit and they gave his number to Meech. 39 won't be held back from anyone. That said, I think Franzen should stick with 93. Better number for a forward.

We've got defensively sound players coming out of our ears. Defense can be taught. Offense and hands/touch not so much.

People on other boards have better memories than me. Mad Mike Milbury made Tommy Salo cry during an arbitration hearing.

GMs have been known to tear players apart during the hearings. I can't for the life of me remember who, but I believe there was a player that actually broke down and cried once. It can get very messy. Back when Dollar Bill Wirtz was alive no player that ever took him to arbitration stayed with the team. They were all traded away.

It's all relative. Right now Fil's play is somewhere between Draper and Cleary. Very defensively sound, but his offense isn't quite where you like it to be for your 2nd line center. Draper is on a 3 year deal around $1.5M and Cleary on a 5 year deal at $2.8M. All good players, but not stars. We've got guys like Zetterberg and Hossa to think of over the course of this year. If Fil's contract gets out of whack with relation to what he actually provides, that's bad. And flies in the face of everything Kenny is building here. Lidstrom did not set a team wide cap at $7.45M so Kenny can toss silly money Filppula's way (silly being $3M/yr and up).

I still don't buy that argument. You're trying to tell me some meathead is going to be afraid of Downey or whoever? Horses***. Back in the day Bob ******* Probert actually on the ICE didn't deter that McGuire kid from fighing Yzerman. Enforcers don't deter s***. They can only react, and by that time it's not like they can change anything anyway. Guys like Tootoo and Avery couldn't care less whether some goon wants to fight them for being asshats. If they aren't asshats they don't get paid. That's a hell of a lot more convincing than getting punched in the head a couple times.

UFA contracts can't be taken into account.

Fil makes more mistakes than Hudler. Val has all the physical tools you could hope for, but his decision making with the puck and touch is lagging well behind Hudler. Hudler lost control of his stick in the 3rd OT. s*** happens. That call towards the end of game 6 was beyond s***ty. The Pens got a freeby or three late in every single game they were trailing. Fil is very raw. Hudler has more polish.

I'm not talking about a banger than can score, but a banger that can at the very least skate and defend. Mac was a defensive nightmare in the playoffs. The most notable being where he iced it twice on the same shift, Babcock even took a time out, and they still got scored on because they had been out there for 2 and a half minutes. Find a guy that can get to and win puck battles, make and receive a pass, be able to cover his man defensively and I don't care if he never scores a point. Though if you're a good enough skater and puck mover to be able to play in our defensive system, you're going to score whether you like it or not. I've been very up front with my stance on fighters. They have to be able to take a meaningful amount of icetime without embarassing themselves or they're more trouble than they're worth.

Then find a player with balance.

An offer sheet is nothing but a contract offer from another team. Filppula is not compelled to sign it. Kenny has made multiple offers to Filppula and obviously he hasn't signed one yet. There is no difference between the two apart from the Wings' rights to match or decline and receive compensation should Fil sign with another team instead of ours. Vancouver could offer $5M/yr for 10 years and Fil has no obligations to sign. He could say no and then sign for $2.5M for 5 years with the Wings. Brian Gionta turned down several offer sheets a while back when Lou was in cap hell.

Victor Hedman. 17yo. Mobile. Good with the puck. Already bigger than Pronger. Oh and Swedish which helps Hakan, Nill, and Kenny's "Pursuit of Vikings". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPRt6Tt6RyM

Nick will be the 4th 100pt Wing and ****** away the Hart from the whipper-snapper forwards.

Marian wears the #81 internationally. No reason he wouldn't take the same here.

Only the dumb ones. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens need to look out. We're gunning for them.

He usually wears #81 internationally.

Kopecky is friends with Hossa and a very big reason, Marian wanted to come here. He gets a sweetheart deal and a permanent spot in our bottom 6. .

There is no way Fil becomes anything close to Hossa. No way.

Did it look like it bothered him during the playoffs? Hossa is a workhorse. I'd put his general durability just a hair behind Lidstrom.

Read the articles, man. It was Kop's sales pitch that helped us land his good buddy Marian. He's a lifer now. Can take Kirk's spot.

It wouldn't be much of a stretch at all to say the Wings now have the top 3 two-way forwards in the league. Alfredsson would be right there too.

Nick isn't about to retire. He'll likely take less, but we've got a legitimate shot at a legitimate dynasty here. There is no team even remotely close to being as well put together as the Wings are now. He's gonna ride this baby out.