C-TownWing

As long as you love the game and someone will pay you to do it, why not? It amazes me how fans feel like great players "owe" them a retirement in their prime and with the same team they started or are most closely identified with, otherwise their "legacy is tarnished." Make them rip the jersey off your back, it's not like it's a career you can get back into 10 years from now. I liked Shanny even before he was a Wing, so count me among those who will be keeping an eye on Jersey and wishing him the best.

I'll add Andrew Raycroft to that mix. I was convinced he was the real deal after witnessing him shut us out his rookie year. Admittedly, it's a nice story, but I'm still rooting against Columbus, I can't stand anything about them.

Exactly...it seems like any halfway realistic "keep Hossa" scenario has us gutting a lot of the rest of the roster. If that's the choice we have, then no thanks. We were fine pre-Hossa, we'll be fine after Hossa.

I was very critical of Pens fans over the whole thing, and I vowed not to become a hypocrite, so I'm keeping my expectations low. It's nice to keep hearing that there's mutual interest in something long-term (and that both sides seem to think it's somehow possible--I fail to see how it is) but until pen is put to paper, he's a full-season rent-a-player that I expect to be elsewhere next season.

Funny you say that, I was just going to post something to the effect of: "To a large extent, Detroit's story is Cleveland's story as well, so even though my only real connection to Detroit is my being a Wings fan and the related frequent visits, that hit pretty close to home for me. Count me as among those who is pulling for you guys in a big way and defends the city whenever I hear it being slammed. Hell, I even find myself rooting for the Lions and Tigers when they're not playing the Browns and Indians." I think a lot of it is just irrational Ohioan hatred for all things Michigan. Either that or it's relief that Detroit jokes have replaced Cleveland jokes (therefore allowing Cleveland to have one city to rip on), at least for the time being. Me? I hate Ohio State (Penn State '02, and I root for UM over OSU) and I'm rational. But I do have faith in the grit of the people of the Great Lakes region to pull through to the other side of this.

I don't consider it close either. The blogger guy nutted up and admitted bias, so I guess I have to also, I'm a huge Cheli guy. I came of age as a hockey fan when Bourque and Cheli OWNED the first AS team and passed the Norris back and forth. Add in Lidstrom of course, and those are your three best all-around Ds of the last 25 years, IMO. I can't say that I remember Stevens ever being on that level, although he was obviously a great leader and a great player. I'd have no reservations about putting him in a group somewhere behind the top three along with Leetch, Pronger, Coffey, etc. Some of those comments are pretty hilarious...one said that Cheli only really contributed to his 1986 Cup--he was a Norris finalist in 2002 and led the league in +/-. Another said that the Blues would have three Cups and "probably where the Wings are now" if they had kept Stevens. Good one. Still another held the fact that Cheli never wore the C IN DETROIT against him. Ummm...hello? Steve Yzerman? Considering Cheli wore it in both Montreal and Chicago, he probably would have for the Wings if we didn't already have the best captain ever.

This. Every year, we go through this avalanche of people claiming not to care about the ASG, then complaining about it anyway. If you don't care, then don't care. If you do care, well, then I just feel sorry for you.

I'll stand up and admit that I thought we were overpaying him and to frustration with how he (well, his agent) handled the negotiation, at least until that playoff year when he shook the "playoff choker" label. Now? One of my favorite players of all time. There is absolutely nothing in the game of hockey that he doesn't do at the highest level, and with some of the sick goals and other things (not the least of which is the assist on the ENG tonight), he's showing he has the it factor of very few players I've ever seen. And he's hilarious.

Yeah, WTF. I like Canada and want to root for them when not playing the US, but BS like that makes me not want to. McCollum was outstanding last night, I don't care that he had a goals against of 3 (for the game). He bailed us out in the last couple minutes, and even before it was a one-goal game too.

1. Mike Komisarek--Blocked shots and hits, what's not to like? 2. Jason Pominville--Just a good, solid all-around player who plays for one of my favorite teams. 3. Daniel Carcillo--My guilty feeling pick. 4. Joe Sakic--I always liked the Nordiques back in the day. 5. Ryan Malone--He'd be a couple higher if he had re-signed with the Pens. Honorable mention: Ilya Kovalchuk--Pretty much carried my horrible fantasy team last year. Alex Ovechkin--Personality to match the skill level. Brenden Morrow--Is there anyone who tries harder? Tim Thomas--Dude gets royally pissed when he lets one by...and I needed a goalie. Also anyone who played for a minor league team in Cleveland at any point (St. Louis, Toskala, Nabakov, Kiprusoff to name a couple).

Not that I'm objective, but I honestly think we're one of the more exciting teams to watch, just because of our ridiculous skill and execution level, when it's on, hockey has never been more beautiful. I think if you appreciate actual hockey (in other words, not just big hits and fights or whatever), we're very exciting. I'd put the Pens, Caps, Oilers, Hawks and Sabres on my short list too. No Ducks. No Flyers. It's all just personal preference anyway though.

Does Minnesota constantly have to defend themselves from Massachusetts saying that they are the REAL "State of Hockey?" Maybe MA is the "Commonwealth of Hockey" and they co-exist that way, for all I know. I for one have never understood the ridiculous amount of scrutiny given to the "does Detroit deserve to be Hockeytown?" issue.

All due respect to Ciccarelli/Coffey, I think you have to be a part of at least one of the Cup teams to be considered "part of the dynasty." They were both on the 1995 conference champs and the great 1995-96 team obviously, but you need Cups to be a dynasty. The thing Datsyuk and Zetterberg have going for them is that they're quickly building up their trophy cases. Everything from the Stanley Cup, to Lady Byng, to Selke, to Conn Smythe, even to All-Star Game appearances helps their resumes greatly and gives them a HUGE advantage over most with similar or even slightly better stats. Proof of what I just said: What's the main argument against Ozzie being a HOFer? It's not the numbers, it's that he doesn't have a Vezina, hasn't been to that many ASGs, etc.

Maybe burying him on the 3rd line would drive his market value down and we could keep him past this year. Then again, he'd be royally POed at us and wouldn't stay. So split the difference and put him on the 2nd line

The Pens are my second-favorite, even pre-being good...it actually goes back to the 90s, when they were the parent club of the Cleveland Lumberjacks. Actually, my top ten is pretty easily stated: the Original 6, plus Pittsburgh, Philly, Buffalo and Edmonton. Other than 1. Wings and (distant) 2. Pens, I don't give that much thought to the order of 3-10, but Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo and Edmonton would probably be the next 4 in whatever order.

I'm 28, so I'll lead with that and say that I'm always a little uncomfortable rating guys I've only ever seen on grainy b&w highlight reels, but I'll honestly think he's the best I've ever seen, which would include guys like Kovalev, Bure, Hemsky...all of those guys are great though. What's great about Datsyuk is that he's so much stronger on his skates than you'd expect...I can't even count the number of times I've seen him successfully protect the puck with his body on the boards against a guy twice his size, then fire off a sick centering pass. He destroys the Euro "floater" stereotype too--I'm thinking of that goal from the 2007 playoffs where he singlehandedly went through three Flames. That was a pure effort play, plain and simple, he just wanted it more. Toss in the phone booth dangles and relentless backchecking/pickpocketing, and you have a pretty complete package, one I'm comfortable putting up against anyone.

MAYBE a VERY small part, if that. Simply put, the city itself has zero impact on the success/failure of the team. Unless you buy into the idea that Leafs fans are part of that franchise's ineptitude because they're loyal. I think that's a pile of crap personally, you can't blame fans for showing up. If we traded our franchise with Phoenix's, the Wings wouldn't start sucking because they're in a non-traditional market and the Coyotes still wouldn't be any good just because they're in a better hockey city. Tampa, Raleigh and Anaheim aren't considered serious "Hockeytown" contenders, even though they each have a Cup this decade, and Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Minnesota don't. Fan support/passion for the NHL (especially as relative to other teams in town), number of kids playing hockey, number of high-level players produced, having enough people care about the sport that the market can also support jr. teams, NCAA programs, minor league teams, etc. Those are all considerations to me, and Detroit/Michigan scores well on all counts--certainly in the top 3 in the USA with Minnesota and Boston (yes, Boston).

Right...and he spelled Steve Downie's name wrong right underneath it too!

This was the exact moment where I decided that if we won the Cup, I'd get an authentic Datsyuk with the patch. He's a great player in so many ways, then to top it off by beating down a pretty tough guy in Roberts, who's been in his share of scraps...wow... A couple other notes from that: 1. Next time we have an "ugliest player" thread, I'm voting for Tyler Kennedy. 2. If I was a fan of any other team, I'd hate Ozzie. Only a matter of time before he starts taking those Hasek-esque diving calls though.

I'll be honest, I don't mind the Blackhawks that much. I loved the Roenick/Cheli/Belfour/etc. team that made it to the final when I was a kid, and I'm not old enough to remember when Wings-Hawks was all that hardcore. Hell, Michel Goulet used to live across the street from my aunt and uncle and I played roller hockey with his kid once. Jocelyn Thibault won me a fantasy championship when he had his one good year in Chicago. My best friend was a Blackhawks fan too. So I'll admit it, I've generally rooted for them when they're not playing the Wings. That said, I'll gladly give it all up to have a bitchin' rivalry with them. They can obviously (and finally) hang on the ice, and it's nice to see some of the hate, which isn't just coming from their side now. WCII can be the launch point for a renewed rivalry, one that has much more staying power than Wings-Avs due to history and geography. I'm geeked, let's get at this thing already!

I'm not one to be bothered by this stuff, whether it's this, the Crosby/Pens lovefest during the finals, or people perpetuating the myth of the "old, soft Wings." If it's good for the NHL and sport of hockey (and a strong franchise in Chicago is), then it's fine with me. In case anyone hadn't noticed, we're winning the Stanley Cup one of every three years lately. I could give a crap what the media says. 1/1/09, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that we're in the game...and hopefully we win and I drop a ton of $$$ on WCII gear. Years from now, we'll remember the sweet outdoor game at maybe the most historic stadium in the US, we'll remember enjoying that we won (if we do), we won't remember every time Edzo pumped up Toews/Kane (which by definition MUST be a rip on Dats/Z)...

Nolan skyrocketed on my class-o-meter for letting Al Arbour coach that one game this past season to get to 1500. Pretty much entirely his idea too (source http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/19851257/). Here's hoping he doesn't have to wait another 9 years for an NHL job, whether it's assistant coach for us or something else.

As compared to 2002, where they did something similar--except it was with the Canes. And they put it in our video anyway. This was actually my favorite of the four, just edging out 1998 and the legendary "Hanta Yo" scene.

YES! Two for Little Ball of Hate (see my sig)! Sticking to the rules of the game (pre-1997) though, I'll be the first to throw out a vote for Reed Larson (unless I missed it). Probie, Primeau, Cheveldae and Gallant are all somewhere on my list though. Edit: Shawn Burr's worth the trouble to edit the post and give him a mention.

...but they're within driving distance of Knoxville and tailgating at Vols games! WTF? If cities actually include everything within 250 miles, I nominate Cleveland, home of 4 MLB teams (Indians, Tigers, Reds, Pirates), 5 NFL teams (Browns, Lions, Bengals, Steelers, Bills), 2 NBA teams (Cavs, Pistons), 4 NHL teams (Wings, Jackets, Penguins, Sabres), and 4 Big Ten universities (O$U, UM, MSU, PSU--ok, Penn State is 255 miles, sue me). Plus we have arena football and can mooch off Michigan for NASCAR. Pretty impressive for our size if you ask me. Seriously, the top four in my mind are Detroit, Boston, Chicago and Philly, in no particular order.