akustyk

rivalry needs bad blood and subsequent wars for the cup. as for now it's the Ducks who have beaten Wings asses 2 times in a row during a relatively short span. and no real payback from the Wings (yet). this would also need more jerks running headless into oposing players in both teams. Pronger alone is not enough and is not that skill-less a*hole as Claude "The Turtle" or more recently Tootoo. if however Wings add some bulk and do kick Ducks out off playoffs next season - there is some chance for a rivalry. slim one, though. too little competition, too little bad blood

you didn't mean to actually put those two together, did you? Quincey will not cover for Lilly's mistakes. plus, I guess he was paired with grandpa in playoffs and they both seemed to be doing fine. why not keeping Chelli/Quincey for at least some time, and put Lilly with Nick (Sr.)

am I supposed to recall exact games, periods, minutes and opposing players? not gonna do that. I just recall bad impressions Lebda made with some bad plays in dangerous situations. which didn't result from his lack of skill or whatever, but of pressumably lack of focus, maybe too much fatigue, maybe just lack of some smartness. that's what I'm saying. I'm pretty aware he's not entirely developed and he may become a solid D-man soon. and yes, I'm aware it was his 1st full year. but in comparison with Lebda, Quincey came out and played more solid D, and even if he was less flashy, he was definitely more reliable in his own end which is crucial in playoffs. that's why I'm willing to give my nod to Quincey. I'm for a defensive D-men, who are first about not yielding scoring chances and only then about creating something with the puck though, in regular season the later is not of this importance and playing Lebda who is ready for NHL now, might also be a better option. if this helps him develop into a steady blueliner for April - I'm all for that

dito. and to add to this: this dirtbag is making 6M$. just as Rafalski now. wonder what Holland bashers would like to say about this

good point with Lilja. I'd probably have him alternate with Kindl and/or Quincey, depending on what kind of team we face. as for Lebda - it seems to me he was most physically manhandled and made most stupid plays without being properly pressured, of all Wings defenseman. even Lilja, though not overly spectacular, was more "safe" in his own end. yes, I remember that last goal, but other than that it was Lebda who seemed to be creating most rushes of the Ducks.

if Kindl is ready then I see no reason to shop for yet another D-man. keep it something like Nick, Kindl Rafalski, Kronwall Chelli, Quincey and have Lebda as 7th D-man. he doesn't "per-se" deserve a roster spot after horrible playoffs, but is a guy who can still mature and become reliable and be less mistake-prone, so he's worth keeping

I hope Markov stays with Wings, but...

yeah... because it was the team who let a softie when the tight game was at stake and it was all about goalie to not f* guys up front and let up a single goal who steals all momentum. sorry, being a big Legace fan, I'm gonna put some blame on him. not just him, but those stupid goals in waning moments did eventually cost us that series. we had fared badly because of uninspired play and lack of heart, but ultimately the Wings had a chance to beat Oilers. but it was Legace who dug the ultimate hole

my thoughts exactly. too many new faces, too little core to keep it all together they have astonishing talent now, but whether this is enough to put them in playoff picture depends on how their coaches handle the situation and to what extent those players are team guys able to see beyond own interest. my guess is we'll see it around December. they've shown some good teamwork and heart later this season which makes me think this team is capable of returning to the top, albeit not a serious playoff contender for the reasons stated above.

OK, this frees up a lot of money, but at the same time they got rid of so many core players, that this is gonna be a completely different team next season. and I'm definitely not convinced this is gonna be a playoff picture team. they do have young core which is intact, but at the same time, they'll need to fetch some talent and make it develop chemistry pretty quick into the season. too much shakeup with this team for my taste. maybe they'll survive the revolution, but I could also see them reaching dead bottom and going for 1st draft pick.

Sykora is a bummer. but Sydor is a guy to have. mixed feelings. Sydor will add experience to their blue line. but Sykora... when did he play 2 consecutive seasons with one team recently? anyone? you do the math

Blues will be in playoff picture next season and I'm actually expecting them to be competitive when it comes to April. Murray is a smart guy and they built some good core of youngsters. a miracle can happen and they actually may advance past second round in some 3-4 years not a great signing but a solid one. Kariya is an improvement over Tkachuk and I think will also do good to rise attendance figures. this guy has skills, right?

smart move by Kenny. with the cap expecting to be rising even further we get a top 2 D-man for not even 1/8 and in following seasons probably even 1/9 of our cap space. I like Rafalski. he doesn't have the experience and nastiness of Schneider but is young, playoff proven and reliable. we get him for fine bucks on a long term deal which will allow Holland to build the team further having two top-tier defensemen signed. very good deal, IMHO. I wouldn't cheer a 12M$/2yr or even 18M$/3yr deal but those 5 years are a good basis to develop the team. around 2010 Wings will have a grown-together core of young players and will be basically poised to win the cup. and unlike many "developed" teams who were poised (like Preds, Sabres or Sharks) we actually are a winning team and can have a great run for the Cup. kudos to Kenny. he once again proves he is a smart player under salary cap realms

seems like nobody's suprised, isn't it?

I guess they wanted to have the site up fast and decided not to jump too much ahead BTW: hamnation.com would really sound... weird

if I recall correctly it was: "Mark, I knew your mother and she would not be proud of you". though, I know this only 3rd hand, didn't see on TV

hey, does this thread count? BTW: if you need a script for image verification (I mean the usual: type the letters on the image) and the spambots that plague LGW are not overly sophisticated - I'd have a script for ya. would need slight makeover to dump challenge strings to SQL rather than physicall files, but that's 5 minutes of work

don't think so. Philly is Philly and if you'd like me to believe they took a player known for being bastard to turn him into an angel.... you aren't serious, are you? if anything, they can do it the other way - turn an angel into mean ***** yes, I agree he'll get from most Wings fans sight and I too think he will be a decent goal scorer in Philly. but I don't buy the thing about him becoming Lady Byng nominee honestly EDIT: I guess we basically talk about the same, and it's just the perspective which changes the tune. can't see a single coach able to stand a chance against Crawford. even Sutter isn't this league. Ruff's league maybe, IMHO as for Ruff - the guy put Petersen & co. against Heatley/Spezza in that game when Neil cheapshotted Briere or whomever. and that was well after the initial incident happened. the guy is tough ass and one to hold grudges for long time. an extremely dangerous coach to be cocky against EDIT: as for coaches... the very Randy Carlyle is another type of killer coach. a bit different because he isn't making fireworks with his tough players (except for Pronger) but a guy who knows how to "play" toughness and dirty works tactically and make use of brutal plays. not an old school guy, but one who silently utilizes tough actions to get the edge. and a very cool man on the surface so you won't notice that he's cooking some s*** to your team

hey... that's what the remaining single 1% was for, right? actually, I'm with you on that. under a less gooning coach Hartnell could become more dependable player and with his package of physicality and scoring touch he could be a great addition to Wings. the thing many people don't get is, if players do s*** like running other goalie or smashing oposing players headfirst into the boards on regular basis - it's not just their own creatiity. coaches hold a lot of responsibility for such stuff. guys like Ruff, Crawford or Trotz are all big part of what s*** their players do on the ice. anyone remember Crawford laughing after Moore incident?

Fixed let me do my correction: and that's only because Preds didn't advance past Round 1. otherwise there would be another team on this list. but you sure bet it'll grow longer once Hartnell starts playing his game in Philly

exactly. but other than this moment he had a solid game. and he had another good game against Ducks at the end of regular season. and if I recall correctly he even fought some Duck then (Moen? Greene(sp)?) what I basically wanted to say, is that after many games when Lillypads was scape goat for LGW and the guy to bash, he's shown some solid play and a physicall presence we wanted from him. for me, this was some kind of indication what he might eventually be capable of. though, his playoff work surprised me big time anyway

yes and no. yes, because we were absolutely no match to their physical play. no, because we were able to stick to our gameplan without bringing out too much hustle and with them running like crazy and really going for a win. we ultimately got our asses handed because of some horrible giveaways, but that was only in 3rd period. in 1st and 2nd we're OK against their tough play. I mean: we got a severe beating, but still tried to do something our way oh... and BTW: that game was a good glimpse of what Lilja is in this team for. while not a punisher, he was there as a major Wings physicall presence and looked fine in this role. he did still surprise me in playoffs later, but Philly game was a demo version of valuable Lilja.

a big mistake on this, actually. I guess you didn't even see the game and what happened. if I recall correctly Yzerman got his misconducts for yapping at refs, and this basically were very bad calls. these was by no means panalties for any type of physical play. and even, there's a long distance from physical play to things Hartnell does. Yzerman did nothing resembling what we're talking about here I'm fine with counterarguments, but let us stick to reasonable examples

I know, and am most certainly aware that this particular year GM's will be looking a bit more for Canadians. but truth being said... not many Euros with high ratings. there were usually more if I recall correctly.

a quick question to ppl who follow draft reports: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=11063 is this year's Euro pool that weak, or is it just TSN that fails to see beyond NA (and Canadian in particular) players? I mean... there's maybe 2 Russians in Top 30, some Dane, Swede and a Czech. Jesus Christ, is it it? I honestly can't see that huge advantage of NA players. is this some racism or what ?