norrisnick

That's one thing the latter of the two viewpoint people don't pick up. They see his stats and assume he's an offensive defenseman that's merely decent in his own end. Defense has always been at the forefront of his game. He NEVER takes risks for the sake of offense. He always makes the safe play first which makes it doubly astounding that he's the highest scoring defenseman since he's been in the league.

Fischer made the jump at 19. Kindl can make that jump at 20. Kid is a workhorse routinely playing 30+ minutes a night. Nick - Nik Markov - Kindl Cheli - Lebda Lilly/Quincey/Ericsson

There are two types of views about Lidstrom that I've noticed on different forums. A. the people that even though aren't Wing fans have seen him enough to know just how special he is and has been. B. the people that haven't seen enough games to truly appreciate his shift in shift out, game in game out, year in year out subtle brilliance. He's not flashy. He's not in many highlight reels. He doesn't do anything to stand out. He doesn't fly up and down the ice like Niedermayer which can be appreciated by looking at a couple shifts and being able to say "wow, that guy is something special." The same goes for Pronger and his physical presence and more in-your-face style. Zubov is a lot like Lidstrom, a step or two below, and he's been greatly underrated/underappreciated because of that. Glad to see him pick up a Norris finalist ahead of more noticable guys like Pronger, Chara, and Redden last year.

You have no balls! YOU have no balls!! I haven't clicked the link yet, but does the feed go long enough to the part where JD says something along the lines of he'd fight anyone on either team but he wouldn't fight Joey?

Getting really old to you? You'll always be a step behind the people that feel his annual spring no-show is getting a tad bit old...

Had something gone terribly wrong we could be talking about McCarty and Lemieux in these exact same terms...

Stevie what now? He had a hard time getting the rest of the team to show up, but he himself was always there. 6 points in 4 games 3 in 3 18 in 16 4 in 3 10 in 6 6 in 7 8 in 11 7 in 7 4 in 3 12 in 15 20 in 18 98 points in 93 games. Then came the 1st Cup

Darryl Bootland - 0 hits Jiri Hudler - 3 hits

Some guy (quite literally) over at RWC photoshopped a pic of Hoodlum with the red lid. Doesn't look too bad...

Likely the references to LA and PST...

1/10th of that. Boots does not have a one-way deal. He's making AHLer money, because that's what he is.

They drafted one just this past summer. Daniel Larsson. He was an over-ager (I think he's 21?) who put up some ridiculous stats at the WJCs a couple years ago (sub 1.00 GAA and .950+ SV% I believe). He had a great start in the SEL this year, butI think he's cooled down a bit, but still solid. 2.53 GAA .911 SV% and 3 shutouts in 23 games (not sure of his record).

Oh the delicious irony...

No we don't. Hudler is one of the most skilled guys in the entire Red Wings organization. The only guys I'd put firmly ahead of him are Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Yes, he's small. Yes, he's not fleet of foot. But his hockey sense, vision, patience, and puck skills are up near the very top of the chart. Give him time, steady linemates that fit with him, and watch out.

You're confusing aggression with grit. If you can take a hit, go into traffic areas, dig a puck out of the corner, etc... you aren't soft. Quite a few of our guys can do that. What we dont' have is very many aggressive players that will intentionally seek out contact and all that, but there are two sides to the grit issue. Those that can take a hit are grittier than guys that can dish one out, but not take it.

You don't get a minus while on the PK. He's -31 because he's one of the better defensive forwards on an abysmally bad team, which means he's out there against the opposing top lines while the blueline spearheaded by Hatcher and a goaltending tandem of Esche and Niittymaki were abused on a nightly basis.

It'll be Fil. Franzen with Bob and Calder on the 2nd. 99% certain one of the Griffs will play with Kris and Kirk. That leaves Hudler with the other two Griffs.

I'm thinking!

He can't be that much worse than Hasek. That and cancers really only affect unstable locker rooms. At worst he might make Lang even moodier, but since Bob is mired in probably the worst slump of his career I doubt it'll make much of a difference. Everyone else is fairly well adjusted in that room and between Nick, Cheli, Drapes, etc... I doubt they'll let a bad apple spoil the bunch. Hell, maybe being in an environment like Detroit will inspire him. The organization carries itself a tad bit differently than the ones he saw in his latter Pittsburgh years, Washington, and now New York. If it wouldn't be as expensive as it would have to be, I'd trade for Jagr in a heartbeat. Our scoring woes would disappear. Oh well, we don't have the assets anyway...

Has there ever been a player that won a major trophy in the final year of his contract and then proceeded to take a paycut? I'm actually curious about that now...

Berard is worse defensively than most forwards. I'd gladly keep Lilly if it means not having Berard running amok on the ice wearing the Winged Wheel.

They could make $5.5M worth of Lang and Willy obsolete...

And apart from his tenure and the Wings going to the playoffs, any one of those things can change. My main point is that having a NTC does not mean he cannot and will not get traded. Players with NTCs get traded all the time for varying reasons. Situations and feelings change. If Kenny wanted to trade Draper, he would get traded.

So they had reasons to waive their NTCs. Why couldn't Draper have reasons? Then why are you replying to me?

Then say that. Not "NTC!!!!!!!"