C-TownWing

I just watched the finals from the 1996 World Cup not too long ago. He was awesome in that and helped the US to maybe its biggest international win since 1980. Obviously a tremendous force at the back end of the great Stars teams of the 90s and into this decade. Shame that he didn't work out for us, but it happens. PS. His curly mullet thing from the 90s is easily on the "best hockey hair ever" short list.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about "cap hit" vs. "salary" when I said that. That's crazy enough that it just might work. Dude's 30. I don't know what someone else might be considering throwing at him 7/1 if we don't get it done, but 5 million is pretty freaking good for a 35-36 year old not named Nick Lidstrom. It doesn't seem like such a bad deal when you line it up like that--his actual salary is pretty close to market value for the first four years, and depending on when he goes into decline, maybe even above market value after that. Still, if Kenny gets him in at a $4 million cap hit, I'm building a shrine to him in my living room.

I could be mistaken, but I believe they were actually named after the arena ("The Igloo"). The alliteration didn't hurt either. One thing that's kind of been lost to history is the nickname with the cool story behind it, like the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Rangers. Now they're basically just picked by focus groups.

How about the team wins a few damn games before blaming the market? There's seriously about 5 NHL cities where people would show up regardless of whether the team wins. Just because Phoenix is in the other 25 doesn't mean it can't support a team. But good news. I like Balsillie, I like his passion for the game, I think Canada deserves another team (preferably in Winnipeg), but this was just the wrong way to do it.

There's absolutely no chance in hell that Hossa signs for $4 million. But if he did...wow

We'll be back. And we're going to win. Because we're the Detroit Red Wings, and that's what we do. That is all. Seriously, I'm ready to crank up next season right freaking now. I want to go out and get the GD Cup back.

Completely agree--they had a classic look and trashed it up with their two previous 3rds (one of which became a regular jersey). It's better now, but the original logo was still better. Still, I respect the throwback name and colors. I think the NHL in general has the best collection of names/logos/jerseys. The Original Six is ALL classic. The Blues and Flyers from the "next six" have also earned classic status. The Pens are ok but I like the original colors better. Some of the "newer" teams like the Oilers, Devils and Sharks also have nice looks with instant recognition. Really, there aren't that many that I don't like, but here's a few: * Blue Jackets. Horrible name, horrible logo (both original and current). Not much else to say. * Stars. Boring/generic as hell, and also negative points for thieving it from Minnesota, where it made sense with North in front of it. * Ducks. Still can't get over the origins of it, although at least "Mighty" is gone and the jerseys aren't a joke. * Avalanche. I don't really like singular nicknames, but I let the Wild and Lightning get away with with because their jerseys don't make me want to throw up. Other than that, they all range from tolerable to sweet, IMO.

Fair statement I guess, but I really can't picture myself caring that much whether the 3rd/4th line names being thrown around play through it or not, at least not to the extent I do with our stars. I don't think Kopecky getting hurt cost us the Cup. Besides, we're not talking about replacing Dats and Lids, we're talking about whether their injuries could've been prevented. There's possibly an argument for Lids, since maybe the threat of a beatdown deters the stick to the nuts. Maybe not though. Definitely not Dats though, since that happened in due course. More than anything, it cracks me up how you can set your watch by the "get Lappy and/or Neil" threads that pop up at every sign of trouble, whether it's losing game 7 of the SCF or losing consecutive games in December.

We won the Cup in 1994? Sweet. I'll have to print out a red "1994" and tape it to my SC banner like I did 2008. First of all, let's face it, if that crossbar shot's a couple inches south (or pick your favorite other close call) and we win in OT, this thread doesn't exist. There's never just one reason for things, but I'd like to humbly submit that we win the Cup in 2009 and not 2008 if the teams switched playoff schedules. This year, we basically played two seven-games sandwiched around a five-gamer (that was way tougher than it sounds with 3 OT games and lots of physicality) with practically no breaks in between. Last year, instead of a tough, seasoned Anaheim team in the 2nd round, we had a brutalized Colorado team and got a nice break in the middle of the playoffs. Which helps A LOT more than the break we got after the first round this year. Then we had a Dallas team that was largely spent from beating Anaheim and SJ instead of a Chicago team that sees us as the axis of evil and plays accordingly. Not to mention the fact that Gonchar (and Crosby in game 7) notwithstanding, the Pens were MUCH luckier (and that's what it is, Chris Neil wouldn't have prevented it) with injuries than we were. People always want to oversimplify these things and say "we're not playing hard enough" (I HATE that one) or "we don't have enough grit," when a lot more than that comes into play to determine why you win or lose. I'm not saying I'm unconditionally opposed to adding someone (for the right price), but I am saying that our team isn't fundamentally broken like a lot of you guys seem to think.

Nice work on that one. I've waffled on this issue more times than I care to admit, but right now, I'm sort of in the camp of "if you have a shot at a high-end player for a decent cap number, you take it and worry about the chemistry later." That said, anyone else concerned with 2010-11? I mean, fitting a decent team under the cap this year is all well and good, but what of those dire predictions of next year? Just taking a quick look, you re-sign Lids at a discount, Homer's off the books, same with Lilja and a few others that don't make enough to help that much (Maltby). Helm and Abs are both RFAs at that point too. Can you really save more than a couple million there, considering the need to fill the roster spots with capable bodies?

+1. Some of these posts make me ill. Although I'd take just 2 in the 3rd. OT would suck, but at least we'd have a chance that way.

Passed a Penguins fan on the way home from work today...car flags, magnets, very clearly on the way to the game. You guys take good care of him in the D.

If there's no OT, we'll have a Stanley Cup presentation just under 12 hours from now.

Just a heads up, you will anyway. See Versus 2008 Game 5 commercial and Center Ice commerical with Crosby scoring on us for reference. I have a hard time criticizing the frozen picture one though, I thought that was well done.

$4.5 million for a guy that generally only has value when you're trying to score a couple picks at the deadline? Lots of money being mismanaged here. 7 teams this decade and counting doesn't lie. I have to be honest though, the sign doesn't bother me that much. The bailout isn't for unemployed auto workers (although it should be), it's for the execs who mismanaged the situation for the last 35 years. The people largely responsible for this mess. They deserve ridicule. It's a little bit of a reach to take it any other way. Here's hoping the Wings get it done tonight for all the great people of Detroit and Michigan who need something positive right now.

Of course he has pre-planned answers...it's not like he hasn't already considered all of these questions in the capacity of his job, come up with an answer, dictated a press release about it and answered 78,000 nearly identical questions about everything. I sound rehearsed when I tell the same story to a few different people, because in a sense, I am. So I can't really blame him for that. The out of time thing is pretty ridiculous though...usually radio shows will warn a caller at the end to keep it brief. Didn't hear this one to know if that was done or not, but yeah, that does come off like ducking it, even if he wasn't.

Double post.

Yep. Pretty much. The sheer finality of this is overwhelming. One game, Cup or done. Let's do this thing boys!

Triple post. It's an omen. Or internet issues. One or the other.

Now that's good stuff. Not to divert this, I don't get how you can even make a judgment as to what's "sending a message" and what isn't. Because Malkin's a star player and not Riley Cote, he's not capable of sending a message? Aren't all physical confrontations meant to sent a message of some kind? The whole thing's pretty stupid, and I'd be fine with it if they killed that rule this offseason. Also, I know this won't be a popular opinion, but I respect Bettman for having a show where he faces questions like that, even if you don't agree with it. He doesn't HAVE to do that, and he generally does take on the tough questions. I swear he gets a "why aren't we on ESPN" every week.

I'd say they're peaking earlier, because player development is exponentially better in all sports. Players don't need 5 years in the pros to get up to speed anymore. Although we don't know if they'll retire earlier, which is the other end of that statement. Actually, I bet they play longer, since that's the general trend and training is also much more advanced, etc. The only thing that bothers me is when people say "Crosby's this good now, imagine what he'll be like in 5 years." I disagree, I think he (and the rest) are at their peak now. He'll probably have a LONGER peak that we're used to seeing, but not a HIGHER one than where he is now.

I want our boys to win, period. It's not like they engrave "Crosby was playing hurt" next to the names on the Cup. If it gives us a competitive advantage, I'm all for it. Basically, yeah, I hope he is hurt.

Thirded. Line of the day so far.

The late game on HNIC just became 50% more watchable.

Good post. I have to be honest, I don't really understand how there's ANY pressure on us at all really. Well, other than Hossa. It's not like this group has never won a Cup, and we shed the "playoff chokers" thing back in 2007. It's not like this is our last chance at it either, the core of the team is in place, and as we've seen, we have able replacements for anyone the cap might take away. The Pens, if they lose, for all the talk of things being different (and it HAS been a much tighter series, don't get me wrong) would have the same result as last year. And they would take the ultimate bitchslap from Hossa (on their side it affects the whole team, since he said they weren't good enough collectively). And although Crosby/Malkin are both very young, it's only a matter of time before they get the Peyton Manning/Michael Jordan (anyone else remember when he couldn't win the big one, back in the Bad Boys' heyday?) stigma until they win. It's not like you get to the SCF every year.