akustyk

I guess Mike Johnson (though, not for $2M), then optionally Commish. Sister Selanne for $4M isn't bad either. and Markov and Dom, please. Sopel for Markov can be considered

Hasek is better than most possible options, and he's not gonna cost us huge money. and looking at current FA prices any signing Holland could do, any other goalie who's not career backup would demand a long-term commitment and huge bucks. both factors are not what Wings need. but truth being said, I'd love to have a Grade A goalie in his 30's or even younger.

I'd skip him and go for Cloutier. optionally, scoop Theodore from Dives and sign him for 10yr/$100M/NTC ot something like that

not worried. I want Wings to go for either quality young goalie or give a chance to Howard. Dom's been good last season but not as good as to be irreplacable. and with age and health being factors I'm definitely not gonna loose a sleep if he's not signed. on the contrary - I'd definitely prefer Wings to go for some other goalie or try with Oz and Howard if no option can be found nothing against Hasek, but I'd rather go with a younger, healthier goalie

I'd disagree about Flames which were terribly flat on forward corps. but you've got the point with Sharks. the difference between Sharks series and Ducks series would be our shortage on D-men. but actually, Ducks were better team than Sharks. better chemistry and more young talent. plus their cooperation between defense and Giguere (who left alone is so-so, but with good D to cover the sides is terribly efficient). that would be a difference

Hasek 2007 is no Hasek 2002. he surrounded much worse goals than he once used to. I'd rather spend $5M on some top tier goalie than give >$2M to Dom. he ain't bad but not the top league anymore

we were killed by the lack of legit 6 defensemen. halfway through that series lack of Schneider and Kronwall started killing us and we fell short despite all the hustle and will to win it. could Wings have won that series? yes, but with no shortage on defense. were we outplaying the Ducks? of course, because we were shorter on pure talent, depth, physicality and in goal. outplaying was the only chance to steal games in this series. were we a better team than them? absolutely not. Wings were playing much better than they could, but against Ducks we really were no favorite. most certainly noy with shortage on defence. were Wings the less luckier team? I think so. couple of good breaks and we would be 3-1 and heading to elimination game. then again... if you have a 2-1 series, play against a team without it's top defenseman and are unable to capitalize on consecutive powerplays, with some 5-on-3's is there someone else to blame than you? and someone other to give credit than the other team who shows high spirit to survive such disadvantage. this is what distinguishes better from worse. period

won't happen now. their GM brought Theodore who was supposed to be the second coming of Jesus Christ... errr... Patty Wah, that is in 2-3 season when the finally awakes from his posh-dreams... that could happen

I don't know what planet you are living or where you've been last 3 months, but last I checked the Wings - Ducks series ended with us going golfing and them advancing to the finals to eventually win the prize. did we beat them 5-0? yes, we did. so? did it matter for the final outcome? unfortunately, no facts say they won it and we lost. sure, we could as well take this series if some factors played in our favor, but in the end it didn't go this way. they captured Stanley Cup and crashed the bank. we didn't. period

Marty is Devils and he stays there until the very end of the world. theoretically? I'd say Dives would scoop him. much to my disliking, obviously

how could I've meant Hull who was scoring zillion one-timer goals at the end of his career :/ and gave no s*** about doing anything else except talking... and talking... and talking... and talking... yes, Hull fits into the same category. I loved this guys when they bitched about Bettman having no clue what the game is about, but it shortly became boring. and with them doing nothing more than mouthing it quickly stole my whole liking to JR and Hull though, unlike Roenick, Hullie is at least able to say something reasonable on TV.

that would make Mason's 3M$ a steal

about f* time. bigmouth should've been golfing for 5 years now. he's been a great players once, but since he decided to chatter more than play hockey he's been am annoying pain in the ass

Raycroft isn't exactly a bargain for 2M$. and it's most certainly not a price Fergusson can ask for him in this situation. everybody knows Leafs situation and no GM will give Fergusson a free lunch I'd rather play Oz and bring Howard who needs to get the chance to finally play NHL minutes if he's supposed to be future starter.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=21...amp;hubName=nhl he's been a good goalie for them, but ditching proven Vokoun for draft picks and giving Mason, who's just fine, bold 3 M$? pretty strange if you ask me. huge money for a guy who has shown the ability but has yet to carry the team as legit No 1 goalie EDIT: http://nhlnumbers.com/nas.html - looks like Vokoun was making nearly 6M$ a year so ditching him wasn't necesarilly a bad idea if they look to cut costs

May has been solid for them in playoffs. not flashy but responsible and hardworking. kinda surpise because people expected him to rack penalty minutes but he really worked hard for this contract. and Burke is no idiot to sign him and acknowledge this. I'd risk saying, he's been this kind of surprise to Ducks, as the very Pain Train has been to us

hell freezes over on a day this happens. the very last symbol of hatred we once had towards the Dives and a once physical tough Red Wings. the last bastion of Wings honor. no, no, no. let the name Krupp be a remainder of what ex-Dives can do with Wings.

I'm with you on this. Mason has the skill and deserves a start as no. 1 goalie. but 3M$ with him not yet being proven to be able to carry the team through the season - that's a big difference. even more with a team that seems to be ditching just about every bigger salary

that's rather OK to expect defensive defensemen to not pile up points, IMHO they're having different role in the team

not to shabby. I've once scored 250 points with Joey Kocur in my NHL 99 (or 98, don't remember ). they make their team better every single season and still manage to play terrible and miss playoffs year after year...

TSN has Nylander to Washington. and if it is on TSN it is true

ummm... with Blackhawks? and you mean real NHL, not the Playstation game?

Jesus... are Hawks some "show them you're not totally washed up" organization? they pick just about every player who seems to be falling on a downward spiral, while shopping away guys able to flourish. what a joke for a franchise. they were, are and will continue to be losers as long as there's still the same owner. what a waste of 1st draft pick nice to have him in the same Division though. he'll make it easier for Wings to get those free 2 points every game we play against miserable Hawks

the article doesn't actually point to Schneider's age has become a problem. I'd rather say it points out that it will become a problem. which is true, because in 2 years Schneids will most likely be retiring, while Rafalski has still a couple of seasons to play. to restate the conclusion: we basically get a D-man to stay with us for longer, giving the team better core for following seasons. plus: Rafalski is likely to be there once Lidstrom retires, hence ensuring some continuity(sp) of our top D-men crop. Schneider would not grat this. one thing about Schneider: we were missing his long range shot on PP badly against Giguere. as well as his physical presence and skills. this could easily be called a major factor in Wings loss to the Ducks. definitely one of biggest reasons

you're just contradicting obvious implications of what you state. passion, hard checking and some dirty plays lead to boiling blood. and this is a straightforward recipe for dropped gloves and a series of good fights, not necesarilly sequentially (yes, I mean: paralelly!). a rivalry is when you hate your opponent and want to beat the hell out of him. not just on the scoreboard. you can loose a game or two, but if you make the other team suffer for it, and I mean it: to SUFFER, you are the moral winner and the other team feels bitter. which leads to a sad conclusion: as long as "powerplay is our enforcer" or other BS like that, Wings will not have a rivalry. maybe the Cup or two, maybe some other iron hardware, but not a good rivalry filled with some nice bloodbaths, some good bitching between players and zillions of fans cursing the other guys like crazy