C-TownWing

Love Cheli, hate completely pointless press conferences. Although the East preference is kind of strange, since everyone sort of assumed he'd be a Hawk or a King. I vote for Montreal and coming full circle I guess.

I wouldn't completely rule something like this out...I remember an interview he did with the Hockey News a couple years ago, where he said that he wanted to play until 50 but acknowledged that it might not be in the NHL. Plus, he might want to be somewhat close to MSU during hockey season. We'll see I guess.

+1...that area is freaking crazy as it is. Now throw in another major sports venue with 41 dates, plus CCHAs and whatever else. Yikes. I can't imagine a better place to watch a hockey game than the Joe. The problem is the other stuff you do there, like trying to go to the bathroom or get pizza during intermission without missing any of the game. Or getting out of there within an hour of the game ending. Couldn't care less about the way the building looks or any of that stuff. The idea of a new place is kind of exciting to me...if you look around the league, most of the arenas that people say are the best (Nationwide and XCel being two) are the ones that were designed for hockey (no NBA tenant) and that's what we'd be getting. I'm pretty much torn on it, which means I'll probably just see what happens and be happy either way.

So Bowman, Larionov, Yzerman, Hull, Robitaille now, with Lidstrom, Chelios, Shanahan, Fedorov, Hasek to follow. Hell, don't forget that rookie Datsyuk either, he's putting together a HOF career so far. Yeah, that team was okay I guess.

It'd be hard to find one, that's for sure. Certainly there hasn't been where the picks were this obvious (apologies to Ed Belfour) that I can remember. Glad that the inevitable has finally happened and we can now officially call him Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman. Truly one of the best ever in every respect. And obviously two other guys who won't be remembered primarily as Wings, but who did win a Cup with us. Awesome HOF year as far as I'm concerned.

This thread is epic fail. And I didn't even need to read it to know this.

Sad day for me, but I knew it was coming obviously. Actually, it was a pleasant surprise (to me, I know it wasn't a popular move with most of you) that he was around this year. I think he still has it in him to play 3rd pair on a team with less back there than what we have, but all the best to him whatever he decides to do, and hopefully he finds his way back to the organization whenever he's done playing. He's always been a favorite of mine, and he's been a great contributor to our team for the last 10 years--even when he wasn't playing these last couple years, guys would always mention him as one of the main leaders in the room. It's a little weird how all the superstars from when I first got into hockey in the early 90s are all gone or close to it. Cheli, Roenick, Modano, a handful of others...I feel old now.

I didn't add it all up, but I get about 40 million from just Dats, Hoss, Lids, Crosby and Ovie, and that doesn't count some guys with decent 08-09 cap hits like Rafalski, Pronger, etc. No way that fits under the cap. One thing I do like here is the goalie tandem. I'd go with Backstrom in the regular season, then Ozzie in the playoffs! Ozzie/Mason is cheaper, but Mason's not a sure thing as of yet, see Raycroft, Andrew...I'd rather take guys with a track record of more than a season.

Generally speaking, it annoys the crap out of me the way people play the effort card. If we're not doing well, it's always because we're not trying hard enough. If we are, it's because we finally decided to try. It's a ridiculous oversimplification that completely writes off luck, injuries, strategy, the other team on the ice and a bunch of other stuff. The OP though was very balanced and made good points both ways. My best guess is that it's just our composure and always staying on an even keel. We never get down on ourselves, but the flip side is that we never appear to be "up" either, which might be perceived as lack of effort. When I'm judging effort, I try to look for the "effort plays." Puck battles, taking hits, blocking shots, etc. and I felt like we were excellent in most of these areas throughout the playoffs. Maybe except for shot blocking.

Something like that I watch a LOT of hockey, and I always have to root for someone when I watch. It makes it easier to have certain teams you root for consistently. It's not like I'd ever root for the Oilers in any situation where their winning hurts the Wings in any way whatsoever. It just makes that mid-January Oilers-Coyotes game on HNIC easier to watch.

Good on one hand because Canadian teams deserve it and really don't stand much of a chance without doing a second game, since they're murder on US ratings. Bad on the other because they're beginning the inevitable watering down of a special event.

Oilers - This one actually goes back to 1997 when they beat Dallas on the Todd Marchant goal. My brother used to be a Stars fan, and I ended up going hardcore for the upset just to piss him off. It stuck ever since then. Sabres - Just because of proximity. Wings, Pens, Jackets and Sabres are the teams within a three-hour drive of me. Wings are already my favorite, I can't like the Pens or Jackets, so the Sabres are left. I also root for the rest of the Original Six just as a general rule, but nobody in particular stands out all that much there.

I forgot to include the Sedins on the "players you irrationally hate" thread we had a while back. They can't help being creepy twins, but their insistence on identical EVERYTHING bothers me. You're supposed to eventually get sick of mom dressing you in the exact same clothes, they never did. They're both excellent players, but I sort of agree with the guy above, I just don't see them as franchise centerpieces. And since you have to lay out for both of them, they would have to be for that kind of money. But hey, have at it Burkie. No offense to the OP, of course. (All of that said, I wish the Sutters made more of an effort to be a package deal back in the day, that could've been fun.)

I'll probably end up watching, but only to see if they break out the "Lindstrom" jersey again this year because our chances aren't really all that good with most of these. I'll be absolutely shocked if we end up with anything more than the Selke/Byng, and even there, "give it to someone else" sentiment might win out, who knows. It's unfortunate, but with Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby around, Datsyuk might end up being this generation's Yzerman, doomed to finish 2nd and 3rd to Gretzky and Lemieux for major awards. I still say he's the best all-around forward in the game though.

How about Thomas/Miller/Conklin, DiPietro watches on TV like the rest of us? IMO, at this point, he hasn't really earned a spot on the team.

How dare you look at potential trades from the other team's perspective

Absolutely...he should have just bought the Pens/Preds/Yotes and said that he has every intention of making things work in the current location. Barely anyone would think twice if a year later, he said "sorry, but I'm losing a crapload of money here, we've explored alternatives, but I need to relocate," since that happens 1-2 times per decade. You take the hit to make the play. If not for Balsillie's shortsightedness, the Preds would already be in Hamilton (and the Sabres would be in KC, but that's a different discussion). He's basically painted himself into a corner where everyone knows his intentions--he's hovering like a vulture, looking for a dying franchise to scoop up and take to Hamilton. He's pissed off the league to the point that even if he does succeed eventually, it won't be without making a few lawyers rich.

The Sharks have won 40+ games every season except one since 2000-01, with one trip past the 2nd round to show for it. The 1991-96 Wings seem like a playoff dynamo in comparison. Good point though--the Sharks are a great team and will put it together one of these years in the playoffs...right? Right?

It must be contract time for Lids if the "back to Sweden" thing is being floated. Keeping these guys around is what makes us such a desirable place to play for just about everyone out there. We know this and won't trade them. Gotta take the bad with the good. But it's not even that bad--IMO Draper still has value, Maltby barely registers against the cap and we probably only have one more year of Homer. Even if he plays longer, there's no doubt he's taking a huge cut, he looks broken down to me.

This. It's kind of amazing how little stink ended up on the guy from the Dan Snyder thing. Even if it was a good idea, there's just no way with the cap. His contract's through 2013. Kenny's a miracle worker, but there's really not a hell of a lot you can do with that. Hossa at 6 or less >>> Heatley at 7.5

Surprised that one didn't sell out. That graph is exactly what you'd expect with a fan base as spoiled as us: "let me know when it's close to the playoffs." Not that they're mailing it in (see below), but there's a definite pattern there. Obligatory pointing out of the fact that our smallest crowd of the year would sell out the Igloo with 1000+ out of luck. And a few other arenas too, if I'm not mistaken.

Easy hero. I know you're just responding, but it's clear that nobody takes that guy seriously. I'll be honest, I never really thought about it until Hockey News brought up the idea during the finals. It's entirely possible...we'll both be considered favorites going into next year. The only question is how the Pens handle the hangover. The idea of taking it back from them sounds great, but really, I could give a crap who we play if we win the thing. Although an Original Six final (Bruins being the most likely opponent obviously) would own.

Agree with everyone else, it's probably a 90s replica. In the mid-90s the CCM replicas had the CCM logo and a small team logo glued to the back hem. I think before that they just screened on a red, white and blue CCM, which was really cheap and usually peeled off quickly. If it's not either of those, I'm guessing it dates to around 1997-2000, after they stopped putting the team logo on. Agree with OsGOD, I think the puck logo first came along when they started putting the CCM (and Koho) above the name on the neck and was retired when Reebok took over.

FTW:

Exactly. This isn't really about whether Phoenix is a viable hockey market. The team is still probably going to be moved at some point, it just might take a couple years longer. It's about whether a prospective owner can take control of a team without following the NHL's rules for such things. I'm glad the NHL won. Balsillie is going to have a lot of trouble getting a team thanks to his repeated douchebaggery (don't forget the Hamilton ticket deposit fiasco too). Which is unfortunate because he's loaded, passionate and may ultimately be good for the game. Why couldn't he just buy a team, THEN try to move them like everyone else who has done so? Ironically, it's more accepted to move a team if you lie about your intentions up front.