norrisnick

It was the other way around. Fedorov was drafted as a defensive center as that is the role he played in Russia with Bure and Mogilny as his wingers. He stayed back and acted as the defensive conscience for that line. The level of offense he was capable of was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

Just making sure here. Carry on...

Shanny doesn't touch the other 3 in level of importance.

It's not the crystal ball you're missing, unless of course your crystal ball acts as a bong as well.

Then give the tough jobs to Pavel and unleash Z. It's not as if Z can't take the bull by the horns and lead offensively as well. The point remains that Z is given the match-up duty. If Pavel were better, he'd get them. Babcock isn't the type of coach that makes the decision based on their offensive merits. His top stopper gets the assignment. Not the guy left over after picking a scorer. They voted for the guy they (wrongly) voted for the year before as Z was option #1 in '07-'08 and he most certainly wasn't leading a sub-standard PK or defensive team then. It has nothing to do with types and everything to do with voting our #2 as the league's #1. Would Raf be a good choice for the Norris? Absolutely not. He's not our #1.

#91 should go up. There are a handful of numbers for the dynasty of the 50s. The modern era of greatness should be similarly honored, and the 3 most pivotal and defining players of the '97, '98, '02 Cup wins are Yzerman (already up), Lidstrom (will be up), and Fedorov, and no one else comes close. There is a group of posters that say, "if there is any debate, there is no debate" but the reason there is any debate is because a sizeable chunk of the fanbase is acting like a bunch of jilted girlfriends that ritualistically torch every shred of evidence of the ex. Fedorov left, but he was helped out the door. Kenny deserves every bit as much scorn as Fedorov. He orchestrated the only contract negotiation I've ever seen where the offers from the team kept shrinking. And when people point to the 5 year $50M offer, you have to take into account that A. Fedorov was going through a messy divorce and thus wanted to postpone any negotiations because B. he was also in the process of firing his agent whom he blamed for part of his relationship troubles. Signing a contract while going through legal steps like that is a bad move. Sergei never saw a 5 year offer after that, until he signed the one from Anaheim.

The Selke finalist sure did a dandy job against Nash last round, didn't he? There's a reason Zetterberg gets the tough assignments. And it's not because Datsyuk is the better defensive forward.

You're a blowhard that flings about judgements of intellect (hockey related or otherwise) at the drop of a hat. Expect to get blasted for any idiocies you may post. Regardless of how benign you thought they may have been. I'd rather have a package of quality players and bluechippers than Sid. Same had someone proposed Lindros 17 years ago (remember the Wings were rumored to be involved and names like Fedorov, Lidstrom, etc... would have come up). If believing that is stupid, then I don't want to be smart. And you've got some of the thinnest skin on these boards. You can dish it out, but you sure pitch a fit if ANYONE dares toss some back your way. And the point remains that hockey writers may have been quick to blame the young Russian for playoff failures, but he was without fail our best guy up front.

Close, but not quite. Even if we could magically acquire Sid without losing any assets, I'd still rather have what we could get for him in a trade. Much like I'd rather have the package the Nords got rather than Lindros.

Out of curiosity, who got the better end of the Lindros trade?

Leading the league in scoring is largely pointless. Did you know the Art Ross winner has only won the cup once in the last 17 years?

Just because you're parroting the stupid opinions of others doesn't make you any less culpable for the stupidity of said opinions.

Speaking of school systems... anyone who tagged Fedorov as a playoff no show at any point during his Red Wing tenure, early or otherwise, is a hell of a lot less S-M-R-T smart than you're making out the guys who'd pass on Crosby. That sentence alone is just mind-boggling as if Datsyuk is an afterthought in regards to playoff no-shows early in careers whereas Fedorov stands out as a shining example of checking out come April. Just doesn't make any sense. I doubt you could have come up with a worse name to stick in there.

What problem? And "on the team" is stretching it a bit the further along you get with that trio.

Only long enough to come up with the best trade package to get rid of him. Great player, I just don't like anything about him. I'd rather have his value in trade assets than see him skate around with pubes glued to his face. So flip him to LA for Kopitar and Doughty/Johnson. Or to SJ for Vlasic and Setoguchi. Or to Atlanta for Kovalchuk and Bogosian. Or to Chicago for Kane and Keith. Etc...

You wouldn't know it by the way you guys get all in a lather about it.

Doesn't sound much like a scouting report to me. His mobility and ability to handle the puck and move the puck has always been a trademark of his. A couple years ago Nill said that E reminded him of a 2nd pairing version of Jay Bouwmeester, but a bit bigger. Bouwmeester is just about anything but oafish.

That's because you looked at his vitals and never once read any scouting report about him. He's a bigger Kronwall minus the riverboat gambling in the hits department.

If you're just trading one, it would have to be Rafalski. Sam and Hudler are making peanuts and their replacements need contracts too. Particularly Leino who likely will make as much as Hudler is making now.

OR.... Hudler and Hossa are trying to get Havlat to take a one year sweetheart deal with the Wings. He's UFA as well.

Jiri's arms aren't long enough to pull something like that off. This one by Hossa on a breakaway is likely the ballsiest move I've seen. He doesn't do anything. He skates and fakes a move but just lets it continue to slide into the net.

The Wings have scored 284 goals. They have 6 "goals" awarded to the team for winning shootouts for the sake of the standings, but they aren't goals scored during the course of play.

Raw totals are tracked. Lidstrom has been on the ice for 135 goals for and 85 goals against. Take PP goals out of the equation and it's 82 goals for and 49 goals against. Nick's raw numbers for his 6 Norris seasons. +147/-106 in '01 +129/-94 in '02 +161/-100 in '03 +161/-93 in '06 +143/-85 in '07 +140/-75 in '08 The elite D of the league are always out for a lot of goals for and a lot of goals against.

In and of itself? You're right it doesn't. But, Kronwall has been a complete and total trainwreck defensively this season. Especially when paired with Stuart. He's going to finish the season leading the team in goals against. No player but Lidstrom has done that since the '94-'95 season when Paul Coffey did so. And Lidstrom has always led the Wings because he plays the most minutes against the toughest opposition. Kronwall doesn't. Part of that is visible with his home/road +/- ratings. At home when Babcock can get him out there against favorable matchups, Nik is +13. On the road when the opposition can dictate matchups, Nik is -9.

Goal 1 was Osgood's fault. Goal 2 wasn't. He was to the left for the initial shot and before he could move right E slid into him. He had no chance to get square.