norrisnick

He hated it, but he played it very well. His hatred for the position did not impact his performance. What made him great at defense is he was Sergei Fedorov out on the ice for an extra 5 minutes per game. He played D as he played forward. Great skating, great puck movement, completely responsible. Again, everything NIedermayer does/did, Fedorov did just as well but he had better hands and a better shot. He played rover all over the ice but his skating allowed him to rove and not get caught.

I agree completely he'll be acquired by any team as a forward. BUT the fact that he can play solid defense from the blueline is an added bonus. His versatility is very attractive for a GM trying to build a winner. Say we traded for Fedorov (were it his last contract year) as opposed to Bertuzzi last spring. Bertuzzi wasn't doing anything up front worth mentioning and he couldn't do anything to help cover the loss of Schneider and Kronwall. Fedorov could have. That's Sergei's value.

Do you consider Scott Niedermayer a great defenseman? The way Fedorov plays center and the way Niedermayer plays defense is nearly identical with the difference that at the faceoff Scott lines up closer to his own net and Sergei takes the draw. Fedorov has better defensive awareness than 90% of the blueliners in the league. That is not something that goes away with age or declining physical ability (it's the same reason Chelios is still effective now). Jimmy Devellano has stated at many different occasions that had Fedorov played defense full time he'd have won himself a Norris or two. And I fully agree. Niedermayer has won one and finished 2nd twice. Fedorov in his prime was everything Niedermayer is/was and more. I know a lot of people hate him, and some love him, but the extreme viewpoints being taken are just idiotic. He's not the Fedorov of '94 (no one in the league is) but he's also not Kris ******* Draper.

Because he can play high level defense in a pinch. Did you forget who was injured in the playoffs? Our #2 and #3 defensemen. Schneider was our #2 and just signed with the Cup Champs for nearly $6M/yr. I'd rather have Fedorov on the blueline than Schneider as Sergei does everything Schneider can do PLUS he's good at defense. Toss in the fact that he's a natural center and can play the wing and you've got yourself the most versatile player in the league. Even if he's a shell of his former self he's still a damn good player because at his peak he was arguably (and for my money) the most complete hockey player ever.

Has 'Stein had a crack at playing with Z yet? Those two and the Caps' Backstrom were a great two-way line for Tre Kronor in the '06 WHC.

Cujo wasn't as good as Kipper is now. Sorry. Sure he played "out of his ass" vs Calgary, but he played LIKE ass vs Anaheim. He had decent numbers, but ugly goals abound in that series. Yes, the rest of the team checked out early as well, but you can't claim Cujo played well vs the Ducks formerly known as Mighty. Addressing scoring and not having the goaltending just leaves us in a mess as well ('06). I fully agree Kipper is not the man for the job (unless his lifelong dream was to play for the Wings and he'll sign for $3M?yr), but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be an imrprovement. He would be. I've been leading the we need more scoring charge for a while now. But I also won't disregard that goaltending is vital and won't absolve them of any and all responsibilty for our playoff exits.

He's had nagging injury problems (wrist, and abdominal things) that have taken a bit of his jump and shot away, but he's always been a force defensively for the BJs. Plus it doesn't help that he's been saddled with Zherdev and Nash a lot. If they get the puck they aren't giving it back. Completely goes against how Fedorov works since he's no longer in his waving hair end to end heyday. Hitchcock put him on the blueline in a pinch towards the end of last season and he didn't miss a beat and was their best defenseman down the stretch. And very likely the best defenseman they've ever had. People can't seem to see anything but a lazy floater because he doesn't put up big numbers anymore when considering his talents, but he's like an anti-Lang. His defensive prowess and hard work has NEVER gone away. He was a like a bizarro-cherry picker. Not going all out offensively every shift, but he'd never give up on his defensive assignment. Strange really.

Just because Gary and Bill said it, doesn't make it true. Pete is a guy that routinely averaged well below a single minute of PK time/game. If he were that good defensively he'd be used on the kill. As far as two-way play goes he's not even in the same ballpark as Fedorov or Yzerman. Oh, and Nick is a better two-way player than Forsberg. Remember defensemen can be two-way as well.

Playoff Fedorov is anything but lazy and unmotivated. Not to mention he's still elite defensively even if his offensive numbers haven't been there. Fedorov is a perfect ace in the hole for a deadline acquisition as he can play ANY role apart from goaltender. scoring line, checking line, blue line, PP, PK, etc...

Granted there's a ton of coveting abound on this website, but you can't deny that Kipper is "greener" than what we'll have next season. Unless Jimmy takes 2-3 BIG steps as opposed to one solid one in his development. He'll be too expensive, but that's a different problem than assuming he's greener when he isn't. Because he is.

Over Cleary, Franzen, Samuelsson, etc...? You betcha. Provided of course he can keep up (which I think he can). It's not like we have any better options (which is why the idea of signing Peca is not very wise).

Had he not shattered his leg he was on pace to be better than either Pavel or Z. Even now Nill believes everything but his skating has come back to him and he feels that if he can adapt to the speed of the NHL he'd be a good fit for Datsyuk (they've been linemates before). He's physically mature (5'10" 215lb). He's played against men for many years now. All there is left to see is if his skating is good enough. His scoring in the RSL is comparable to numbers Datsyuk put up during the lockout. And Igor had considerably less help.

Absolutely not. Maybe if we didn't have Draper, Franzen, Cleary, Maltby, Drake, etc... but seeing as we do there is absolutely zero need for another grinder. We need goals. We need skill. I think a lot of people are still operating on the assumption that we have all skill and no sandpaper, but as of right now it's almost the exact opposite (up front anyway). We've got Z and Pavel as true high-end skill guys. Then we've got a few kids that likely could be, but aren't yet. Then we've got a bunch of 2nd/3rd line tweeners (closer to 3rd liners but playing with Z and Pavel allow them to survive on a scoring line). We're in dire need of a top 6 scorer. Peca is not that guy, never has been and never will be.

Tool - 'Wings for Marie' pts 1 & 2

Temple of the Dog. Pearl Jam wasn't yet formed when that album was recorded (Vedder was in Seattle auditioning for Pearl Jam at the time). Temple of the Dog came out late in '90 then in '91 Soundgarden's popularity boomed (Badmotorfinger) and Pearl Jam (Ten) exploded onto the scene in the wake of Nevermind. After which the recording company realized they had a Soundgarden/Pearl Jam supergroup album lying around so they re-released it and publicized it as such.

Fedorov was making $4.3M in '96-'97. Considering the Carolina offersheet averaged out to $6.3M/yr I highly doubt he was offered $11M/yr at any point in those negotiations. Also remember that $12M of that offersheet was a bonus that he was HIGHLY unlikely to earn with Carolina. Had the Wings not matched he'd have made his old $4.3M/yr. There's a reason his agent made some comment afterwards that hinted the whole offersheet business was done purely to end the stalemate and that they didn't expect to be playing for the Hurricanes.

Mindless Self Indulgence "Bring the Pain" Pearl Jam "Black" Ozzy "Mr. Crowley"

They're both beyond merely sinking at this point. Mac was bought out a couple seasons ago by a legit contender. Drake was bought out a couple weeks ago by a bottom feeder. They're broken down 4th line pluggers. A role in this cap situation that would best be filled by kids that might develop into something instead of by guys playing on fumes with no hope of improving only trying to hang on.

I have a question, were you one of the people that wanted to sign Ryan Smyth? If so, did you know that Yashin has outhit Smyth over the last two seasons 78 to 60? And Yashin played in 6 fewer games in the process, 140 to 146. Kinda funny, huh?

Why not just shut the board down til the season starts? Or better yet, Matt can fire it up for one 24 hour period after the Wings' season ends so we can go over everyone's statsheet. We wouldn't want anyone to "argue" about anything all season long without knowing what the end outcome will be, right?

LOL No. He reversed position and promptly submitted Randleman with a picture perfect kimura. http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/searc...s-kevin-randlem

Man, I wish Fedor were a bit more active (I realize he's had hand troubles the last few years, but still!). Though it's still fun to hop on dailymotion and watch some of his fights. it's great fun to watch with Japanese commentary and hear them just freak out when Fujita nearly KOed him. Or when Randleman dropped him on his head. Good times! For the full effect.

Sure, I'll give you Malone but I can't recall many (any?) other players that would have a hope in hell of even achieving half a point per game. We've got checking line or lower players coming out of our ass and a hole up top but it doesn't seem like anyone realizes this. We don't have 500 goal scorers on every single line anymore. Z and Pavel are our only truly legitimate proven top 6 forwards. Anyone can only really get by on a scoring line because of their help which is why we need a proven scorer for next season but all anyone can come up with is a host of Ashams, Halls, and Drakes. I realize we can't afford Hossa. I ranted about that the other day in the trade Hudler thread where someone suggested the fantasy of landing Marian with him and a pick. And Marian hasn't had a Conn worthy playoffs yet, but there are VERY few wingers I'd take before him. He's a beast in every sense of the word.

You are aware there are forward lines above the checking and 4th, yes?

Great, so Drake is a guy that gave up on the team he wore the C for. Very compelling argument... You can not make an argument that Ville was run out of the league for not manning up to his actions and make some claim that Drake is any better. The only difference between their style of physicality (apart from Ville being quicker and bigger) is that Nieminen grins like a madman when he does it. So unless you're going to argue that Drake hasn't been running people, taking VERY questionable hits, and so forth why is it that he hasn't been forced to man up? Why hasn't he been backing up his physical play? Either he tucks tail and runs like Ville, or he's not as physical anymore. You pick. Because Ville will scrum and facewash with the best of 'em. He just doesn't throw down. Neither does Dallas of late.