norrisnick

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Posts posted by norrisnick

  1. Posted · Report reply

    This is pretty much how I see it.

    If Hudler wants a raise - then let him walk; the $$$ can be used later on at the trade deadline to shore-up any loose ends...I'd rather give Leino/Cleary/Helm/whomever a shot at Hudler's pp ice time.

    Why? Because you'd like to see the PP fail?

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Hudler IS redundant.

    Since Hossa is gone, its pretty clear that Babcock will go back to the DZH line. Homer is a top six forward, while playing on a line with the Twins.

    Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom

    Cleary-Filppula-Franzen

    They won the cup with those lines...You'll notice one name missing from that top six and its Jiri Hudler.

    Even if you got "Crazy" with the lines, Holmstrom won't be playing on the bottom two lines, so you're looking at:

    Filppula-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

    Cleary-Zetterberg-Franzen

    That leaves a bottom six of Leino, Helm, Draper, Maltby, Abdelkader and another player.

    Franzen - 11 years

    Zetterberg - 10 years

    Datsyuk - 5 years

    Filppula - 4 years

    Cleary - 4 years

    Holmstrom - 1 year

    Can Hudler play the role of Holmstrom? Obviously not.

    Hudler is never going to get a chance of being a top six player on this team. The cap space saved by not signing Hudler gives us the ability to sign an all star player at the deadline for cheap. Or even better, two role players who are upcoming UFAs for a deep playoff run.

    The draft pick(s) more than makes up for Hudler's loss.

    Hudler was the 5th leading scorer on the Wings that spring. Top 6 or not, he produces.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Back in January I picked the first week of June as one of my vacation weeks (I work nights and would usually miss most of the 3rd and any OT). I lucked into that working out perfectly last year so I tried to match it up again. I was on pins and needles for a while when there was a chance the Final wouldn't start until the 5th. Then the second the schedule came out I requested Tuesday off so I wouldn't miss a potential game 6 (I work Sunday through Thursday so a Friday game is good anyway).

    With careful planning and a little bit of luck you don't have to miss a game!

  9. Posted · Report reply

    come on, Detroit has not seen a goaltending performance as powerful as this one over a finals run since Vernon did it in 97. Ozzy has been huge at key moments over the four rounds and as clutch as we as fans could ever ask for. Vernon won it then and the Wizard should take it in '09. Gotta love the fight from Z, of course we couldn't win without him, but every Red Wing played a role in these playoffs, and Osgood has proved himself as the best goalie that played in these playoffs, from any team. Everybody knows that goaltender is the most important position for a hockey club, just ask Babcock. Oz earned it, and we have this guy for another few years too! lovin it, he is finally gonna get his props!

    Funny you should mention Vernon's Conn Smythe from '97. Fedorov should have gotten that one.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    I still think it goes to Osgood. Let's not forget who the 1st star of the game was in 1 and 2. Z has been great in the finals, but Osgood stood on his head over and over and made huge in games 1 and 2. Then the shutout tonight. Plus he got us here. We'll see how the next game or two go, but I think it'd be hard to not give it to Osgood. Zetterberg hasn't looked like the player he was last year even in this series.

    Meaningless, IMO. Z wasn't a star in either game, and those two games are precisely what put Z ahead of Oz for me. Oz got to make 30 saves and only give up 1 goal, but Z didn't get any sort of fancy stat for what he did to Crosby. Zetterberg has gone head to head against the opposition's best from game 1 and has come out on top every single round. Defensively he's been better than he was last year and offensively he's only 3 points off of what he put up last year.

    21GP 11G 13A 24P +14

    22GP 13G 14A 27P +16

    The head to head battle with Crosby, who was tearing the playoffs apart to the tune of 14G 14A 28P +14 in 17 games, will be the tipping point. 2G 4A 6P +4 for Z vs 1G 2A 3P -2 for Sid.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Yes, the Conn Smythe isn't for the Final only, but the Final should hold the most weight. I had Oz ahead by a hair through 3 rounds, but Z has been beastly so far against Sid (not that he was a slouch in the first 3 rounds). Zetterberg gets my vote as the repeat Conn Smythe winner.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    So it wasn't so much Rockstrom that's responsible for Lidstrom but rather Meehan? A North American? Wow.

    I think you completely missed the point of that story. The Wings were doing anything and everything in their power to keep people from noticing Lidstrom. If they could they'd have pulled "these aren't the droids you're looking for" on them.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    While I anticipated you coming along to correct someone's post (what else do you do here?), I honestly didn't expect you to say something as dumb as THAT.

    The highest scoring LW in history can't crack the top 10. :lol:

    Riding shotgun with Wayne during your prime and subsequently putting up gaudy numbers doesn't automatically vault you to the top.

    Bobby Hull and Ted Lindsay are fairly unanimously hailed as the top 2 LWers ever. You've got guys like Frank Mahovlich, Dickie Moore, Bucyk in the O6 era that relatively were better players than Luc. Then you've got guys in the pre WW2 era (Joliat, Denneny, Toe Blake) that historians swear by. Contemporaries, I consider Shanahan a better LW than Luc. Guys like Goulet and Propp were every bit as good, just didn't play into their deep 30s to put up high career totals. People may scoff, but Luc was never better than Ovechkin is now. Arguably the same could be said of Kovalchuk/Heatley who already have higher relative goal/point finishes than Luc who never finished higher than 4th in goals or higher than 5th in points in any season.

    So yeah, maybe sneak him in towards the bottom of the top 10, but not close to being #1.

    EDIT - Ron Francis is the #3 Center in points. I'd love to see someone attempt to put him in the top 10 of all centers.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Eager, Burrish, Walker...

    Golfing very soon...

    Thornton, Bitz, Clarkson were effectif in playoff - I really don't see your point...

    That's fine.

    The funny part is I've lobbied for Artyukhin several times. I'd be hesitant to part with a 2nd without an extention, but I'd absolutely love to have him on the team.