akustyk

no effin way Kopecky gets $2M unless he shows he's second coming of Johan Franzenstein. and $5M for Mule will only come true if he repeats his achievements of 2007-08. which is not so likely to me. the bar is really high for him what relates to Hank and Hossa... if Holland keeps with "Lids is max" policy they'll get at most $7.5M which would be below their market worth. Hank may take the discount for some 7-8 yr contract but with Hossa it depends a lot on his feeling towards Wings at the end of the season. I could see him wanting to remain with Wings but it certainly will depend on the money. I don't think he'll accept a lower deal for the second time.

you can actually bet your money on this to happen

oh my... what a poop...

are we really surprised? this Winter guy is a lawyer. even worse - he's a player agent, which means his greediness reaches even higher level. maybe not that of Meehan but still one that for most people is simply disgusting. and being lawyer he also lacks imagination and understanding of the sole fact that a player may want to sack (financially) a season only to achieve something. for guys like Winter the NHL before end of 90's was worthless. fortunately, for us hockey fans and for passionate players this is not so. and there's more in our lives than just money. you know what, Mr. Winter. you'll get to milk your cow next year. meanwhile the cow's gonna ripe and increase his value. in the end you won't regret this

yeah, I have to admit I liked him when he stepped up for injured Schneider and Kronwal. Quincey was very solid. if not flashy he was at least dependable and made no mistakes. I don't recall seeing Quincey a lot this year and playoffs but if there is a remote possibility we can keep him as insurance - I'd definitely like to give him another shot. but if it's not possible with Wings (which is pretty likely) I'd like to see him play regular shifts in the NHL. he looks capable to get minutes to me - it's just unlucky he was signed by a team that knows no shortcuts when it comes to its defense Lebda is a different story. he's a definite keeper for me. was brutal at times last playoffs (to me he was our worst D-men) but he's been much improved this time. if he continues even at half of his improvement pace the $850k will be a steal. and no, I'm not using Finger for comparison as for Ericsson - it's too early to say. he looked ready and mature when he played with us this season but it's just too small sample to evaluate him properly. let him get some extra seasoning and have to fight for roster spot.

great to hear Lowe finally speaking his mind and saying what we all know. and because he is a Canadian team manager we may finally see TSN taming their man love to Burke and stop putting their noses into his brown hole. Lowe has valid points. Burke is a goddamn media primadonna who gets what he wants because he whines all the time. he is overrated and it's perfectly true that he left a disaster in Vancouver and will leave the same mess in Anaheim once he leaves (I certainly hope it's a team like Toronto or Philly).

different players. Bure had extremely quick legs but didn't use his skates as creative as Datsyuk does. on the other hand Bure had überstrong hands and was able to control blade even with the stick completety extended or kept close to the legs. both are insane to watch but thoroughly different.

LOL :D but truth being said it's been "Lang is lazy and he sucks " and the really must not be violated

$5M could be considered a bargain compared to other contracts flying around these days. he seems to be going in right direction and it's cool to see he took realistic salary to remain with the team. good signing

#79 for his YOB?

why am I seeing multimilion contracts signed by players about which I didn't even hear about? this is some insanity. GMs are throwing huge bucks for no name guys just because they have cap space and need to fill roster spots. it's insane...

I most certainly agree with the part about Crosby whining like a baby about unfavorable calls. but that's definitely not the reason why players bail from Penguins ship. if this really is about personal problems I'd rather point to Therrien. Michelle's whining and continuous blaming was really pain to watch and I can imagine veteran NHLers being disgusted with it. though, it's still not enough to justify leaving Pittsburgh. they're pros not kids who get intimidated by bad relationships

OK, thanks for claryfing. I haven't seen Hossa play fancy defense in this playoffs so I was just curious where does this opinion come from.

I'm not angry. I just get amazed year after year how people call some teams legit contenders just because they signed some big name players. only to later see the teams collapse and fall far from playoff spot. and Chicago in particular has excelled in this category for a number of years already - even more than infamous for this Maple Leafs. I'm really far from believing this year is going to be any different. I believe in teams built around core players by adding components. like Wings, Penguins, Predators or Ducks. not in teams which do big splash at free agency and then collapse in regular season. I might be wrong but there's plenty of historical precedents which justify such cautious approach. and most certainly against Hawks.

I guess I'm a little bit fazed by putting him in the same category as Dats and Hank. those two set different standards of what defensive play is for forwards.

how is Hossa "two-way" forward?

jesus... what are you talking about? Chicago has first to ice a team. not a bunch of signed stars but a team with developed chemistry and some clear identity. at this moment there's none and recent Blackhawks history shows that whomever they sign they still manage to sack the season and fall away from playoff spot. they play us hard every time and seem to be on top of their game against the Wings. good. with more talent now they will be tougher to beat and Wings may have to put more effort into some games. but it's a very long road before this will even be called a competition. and rivalry...? for chist's sake... you need two quality teams with colliding goals to have a rivalry. Hawks goal now is to rise from the league cellar. we want to repeat as cup champs. and that would be a major difference in my book let's leave it and come back to this subjects once Blackhawks start showing some good strides in right direction. signing players is just the beginning and is by far not the most important thing here

I saw this kid in Olympics (or WC) before he went to the NHL. he was the single most selfish guy on the ice who basically got glued to the puck and seemed unable to come up with the idea of passing the gum. no f* way. all the way until loosing it Huselius was skating on the rink and shooting, all by himself. and he didn't change that much from then on. no f* way I like such mistake in Winged Wheel. he'd destroy Wings teamwork ethic by a terrible example NO THANKS

I'd rather see us skipping old farts and bringing young players. we have enough leadership and enough playoff experience in our roster. it's better to build on youth for the sake of our future. of all those above listed players only Holik makes sense. Nolan and Peca... Jesus... don't even mention this...

Wings strength lies in chemistry, team work and dedication to team success, not in bold names in the roster. I see a number of teams being better than Wings purely talent-wise. most of them are no match to Wings playing their game. see e.g.: Penguins 2008, Sharks 2007.

Brendan Sergei Marty Lapointe depending on their price tag no Bertuzzi, no Avery and definitely no Williams

your deduction has been brilliant, Sherlock or something like that. we really, really all know whose was the lazy and he sucks label

Mrs Janney, please keep him away from doing this dumb move. he's old but he has brains which could help some cup contender. Philly is not a cup winning team. period.

looks like the Blues stand a fair chance of reaching playoffs this season. because they'll get 16 games against bunches of overpaid players who pretend to be teams... Blackhawks actually still have some core of players (though, they do excel in throwing huge bucks for suspect players) but BJ simply look like some fantasy team bought on free market. wonder how many of those players remain with the organization in July 2009...

together with jokes about Void Devereaux, Dandy and recently Lillypads who got fair share of bashing on this board