norrisnick

That's not entirely accurate. No one in the NHL with equal or less icetime than Hudler put up more goals or points. There were more than a few people with greater icetime that had a better scoring rate.

Combined maybe.

Homer - Pavel - Stein - Top line for Team A at TC Hoodlum - Z - Sammy - Top line for Team B at TC Drapes - Fil - Cleary - Top line for Team C at TC Malts - Kop - Drake - 2nd line for Team C at TC Igor - 2nd liner for Team A at TC To note the D pairings involving those guys in the running Lids - Sopel - Top pairing for Team A Lebda - Ericsson - 2nd pairing for Team A Cullimore - Rafalski - Top pairing Team B Quince - Lilly - 2nd pairing Team B Kronor - Ference - Top pairing Team C Cheli - Meechie - 2nd pairing Team C Honestly the only realistic pairs I see here are Lids - Sopel if Sopel beats out enough guys or Meech - Cheli if Derek beats out Lebda.

How does anyone know anything before it happens? You look at all the variable factors. Try and reason towards a likely outcome. You write that outcome on a slip of paper along with 10 other random outcomes. You then toss the 11 outcomes in front of a fan and the one that flies furthest is the one that will hold true. 1. Hudler quite possibly has the best shot/release on the team. 2. Hudler has put up HUGE point totals everywhere he's ever played. 3. Apart from Z and Pavel we don't have anyone that is remotely as offensively skilled as Hudler. They may be bigger, stronger, faster, better defensively, all that, BUT they are not better offensively than Hudler. 4. He's being slated for an offensive role from the get go. No screwing around on the 4th line in alternating games. Had been in the spot Willy was from the beginning of the season last year he'd have scored 30 goals last season. He's that good. As for the poster that mentioned defensive matchup, remember what Barry Trotz said after Jiri burned him in back to back games? It was something along the lines of "when you draw up your defensive assignments when facing Detroit, a guy like Hudler is not at the top of the list". League wide he's still an unknown entity (and for Wing fans apparently) and even if his line draws the attention, will the focus be on Z or on Jiri? And if the focus is on Jiri, that simply frees up Z. Win win. So yeah, top 3 in goals top 5 in points. I"m confident. On another board a sucker bet against my thinking that Hudler would outscore Filppula. Our usernames are on the line for that one...

With Pavel and Z split up, I don't think Homer will be back in the 30-goal range this season. Pavel has only been in the upper-20s the last couple seasons. On a line with Z, or Pavel, Hudler has a very good shot at 30+ goals. He got 15 with crap minutes spending most of the season on a crap line. Playing with the type of talent he's slated to be playing with his scoring rate will increase exponentially even if he doesn't quite get 15min/gm. As for top 5 in points that's Z, Pavel, Nick, possibly Rafalski, and then Hudler is right there in the mix with Holmstrom and whoever else will score for us this season. And if people still have an issue with my optimism for Hudler's production feel free to turn it over as a display of pessimism for the rest of the team. I'd feel bad taking your money. It will so I'm not gonna worry too much about the what ifs.

Arriving in style...

Top 3 in goals. Top 5 in points. Book it.

The Scotts in New Jersey were both lefties, and Rafalski was paired with Stevens from the moment he arrived.

Is that Drake front and center in the first picture or why don't I recognize him?

Because Kindl, Quincey, and Ericsson are only competing for one of the top 6 spots. Cullimore and Sopel would also be in the running for that coveted 7th spot in the stands.

Does... not... compute....

Kindl, Ericsson, or Quincey. Kenny's of the mind that they are not in competition for the 7th spot. They're in the competition for one of the active roster spots. And Nik going down opens up a lot of minutes. butchered that edit....

Two training camp tryouts in a row we can bust out... THE GREATEST HOCKEY FIGHT OF ALL TIME!!!!!

Mark Howe. Rogie Vachon. A few of the Soviets.

They want to breed 7' stick figure tennis players?

Mirko was overhyped following the OWGP win. He's dangerous, but it doesn't seem his heart is in it anymore. If he's not aggressive he's not going to win as he can't do anything but strike. One problem with needing to keep Rampage winning and that's the Chute Boxe boys coming over (though I guess Silva left CB...). Wanderlei and Shogun own him. They completely dismantled him with their Muay Thay clinch work. Where's Fedor?!?

He's French and won Cups. So the Habs gave him more than double what we were prepared to give him. I think they gave him close to $2M/yr, and there was no way we could absorb that when we had to cut our payroll in half. Lilly, Lebda, and Chelios combined made less than Dandy I think.

The high point of Dandy's Red Wing tenure.

He'll be top 3 in goals and top 5 in points for the Wings. May as well give him the minutes to do so. The kid has at worst the 3rd best offensive skill set on the team. Use it.

Honestly, at this point the "lack of grit" the Wings have is purely a style issue. I'd put it on par with asking why the Wings jersey didn't get those fancy retro laces on the collar.

stfu nub!! kthxbai...

Not at all. Though I have only had 3-4 hours of sleep...

If you squint hard enough Theo starts to look like Hull. Sorta.

Not just so Nick could have the C. But so Stevie could play for the team of his dreams (Napean kid and all). Not to mention that Daigle was a superstar. That it is. I am. I'm having doubts about some people, and am certain about others.

That would be awfully presumptuous on your part. I would never assume the general populace on the boards are up to date on a semi-obscure prospect's vitals. Out of sight out of mind for many around here.