Nightfall

Crosby also scored over 200 points in 121 games. Apples and oranges comparison. Wow, you really do have a reading comprehension problem. I said that they should sign up, you agree. I said that he is a prospect, you agree. I said that he should be in Grand Rapids, you agree. I guess that means we are both pro hockey scouts and coaches to mention the obvious.

Picking him up for nothing IS a good thing. No one is debating that. I think the debate here is... Is he NHL ready right now? The answer to that is a resounding no.

You have to hand it to New Jersey. They weathered the storm and came out on top. Game 5 on Saturday.

Very entertaining game. Kings have had more quality chances though. I agree. Maybe Olczyk is a closet Devils fan.

What Kipwinger said is true. Schultz played hockey in the NCAA, and in a pretty weak league at that. Sure, he wanted to get an education, and I don't fault him for that. People still shouldn't look at those point totals and get a hard on over them. He is a prospect at this stage, and nothing more.

I have really enjoyed the playoffs this year. Obviously, I am bummed about the Wings getting knocked out, but I have watched as many games as possible. Going to tune into the game tonight for sure. The ratings as a whole are dictated by the popularity of the teams. This happens in every sport. New Jersey doesn't have a huge following. The LA Kings are slightly better, but they haven't been relevant for years. I am not surprised at all by these ratings numbers. Last year, you had Boston fans driving up the ratings. The year before that Hawks, then the Pens, and the Wings. All strong hockey markets. The strong hockey markets are the ones that drive viewership. The die hard hockey fans (like me) will tune in regardless.

I agree 100%. If the Wings can get him, they should sign him. He isn't a Ryan Suter though. I also would say that Kindl has proven himself in the NHL more than Schultz. If anything, if the Wings sign him, he will play in the AHL for a season. Just for reference sake... Brendan Smith netted 12, 23, and 52 points in 95 games in his 3 years at Wisconsin. Justin Schultz netted 22, 47, and 44 points in 121 games in his 3 years at Wisconsin. What do these point totals tell us? He was good in college. Maybe a little better than Brendan Smith was. NHL caliber though? That remains to be seen. Put him in the AHL and see how he does.

The article on DownGoesBrown said it the best. April 11, 2010 - Lidstrom ends the 2009-2010 season with 49 points and a +23 rating, finishes fourth in Norris voting, and is named to the NHL's second all-star team. Or, as it will later be unanimously remembered, the worst season of his career. I believe he was in his prime every season he played.

Call it karma. Call it luck. You can say they have the momentum. You can also say they got hot at the right time. I think that everything just worked out for them this year. I don't know if they are setup for a championship next season or not, because I thought Boston was loaded to repeat. That didn't work out for them. There hasn't been a back to back champion in the NHL since the Wings did it in 97 and 98. With the parity in the NHL, I think we will be lucky to see that happen again in our lifetimes.

I agree. Broduer may have a right to be a little pissy, but its hard to win games when your team doesn't score a single goal.

Just further proof that it doesn't matter if its a #1 seed or an #8 seed. In the new NHL, parity is everything. This will be the first time in Stanley Cup history that a #6, #7, or #8 seeded team has won the Cup. I wouldn't doubt that we will see it again in the next 5-10 years with the parity in the league.

Devils fans are whining about the reffing on that first goal the Kings scored. Brodeur had it covered from the way it looked and yet the refs let the Kings jam away at Brodeur. Guess the refs can't make anyone happy.

I agree. I think screwing the Bruins out of $5 million in cap space is unprofessional of him. They should fix that in the new CBA. Why should a player's salary count towards the cap if he decides to take the season off or not honor his contract? If a player is placed on injured reserve or if a player decides to step away the game, then their salary shouldn't count towards the cap.

ESPN Link From the article: But even if the Bruins suspend Thomas, the cap hit still would count against the team for next season. I think its crappy too. Especially since he is sitting out due to family reasons, which could mean his wife or one of his kids have cancer or something.

Same goes for scheduling the Winter Classic and NHL Preseason/Regular Season games for that matter. The CBA is everything at this stage.

I think the thing that sounds crappy is that his entire salary still counts towards the cap of the Bruins. I don't mind that he wants to sit out for the season, but he should at least retire or void his contract in some way. That way, the team can compete without taking the $5 hit to the cap. Just my .02 cents.

Ken Holland Interview This is a great interview with Ken Holland as he discusses Nick's retirement. He mentioned that Nick had a hairline fracture when he went down with injury. I like what he says when he outlines his plans for free agency and such.

Its sad that players like Kris Draper and Maltby, who didn't have any issues with acting like a public idiot, get no press while an asshat like Kane gets drunk and he gets on the front page. I guess idiocy sells. At least Lidstrom is widely known as one of the most respected players.

No kidding. Nick could have played until he was 50 if he wanted and he would have been an average NHL defenseman. He just didn't want to play average hockey though, and you have to commend him for that.

Here is an article from ESPN Insider I thought was interesting. ---- There was a stretch of games late in the Detroit Red Wings' season that Nicklas Lidstrom sat out because of an injured foot. He missed a good majority of March, not surprisingly a month in which the Red Wings struggled to string together wins. One scout watching Detroit play during that time turned to the guy sitting next to him and made an observation many of us were thinking. "This is a different hockey club without Lidstrom," he said. And now, we find out how different. As reported by colleague Pierre LeBrun, Lidstrom will announce his retirement on Thursday morning during a news conference in Detroit, immediately starting the clock on his entry to the Hall of Fame. He'll go down as the best defenseman of his generation and one of the best of all time. He's not a player you replace in one offseason. "He's the heartbeat, the backbone of their hockey club," said an NHL scout. "He's Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders. He's Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens. You don't replace those guys. There's been many, many great defensemen over the years and he's one. You don't replace these guys." They'll have to try. The Red Wings were shaky without Lidstrom this season and not that much better when he was playing hurt during the playoffs, as evidenced by their five-game exit at the hands of the Nashville Predators. The advantage the Wings have now is time. As you would expect from a class act like Lidstrom, he has given Detroit plenty of notice to move to Plan B. And it's something Ken Holland and his management staff have been working toward for years. It may be painful, but it's not like Detroit is being blindsided. And one former Wing sees a strong group of young defensemen who will try to step up to fill the hole. "Sitting from outside now and looking in when we assess other organizations and their depth, they have some excellent young players not in the NHL coming forward, Brendan Smith and whatnot coming in," former Lidstrom teammate and current Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman told ESPN.com at Thursday's GM meetings. "They're going to be a strong organization. It's going to take time to rebuild your defense when you lose a player of that caliber, if they do lose him. But I still analyze their organization like we do everybody else and there's good players coming up from within." When I spoke with Holland in early September about the possibility of replacing Lidstrom, he was very realistic about the process. "Nick Lidstrom is one of the three, four or five best defensemen to play the game in the 90-year history of the National Hockey League," he said at the time. "We're not replacing Nick Lidstrom. I don't know if there's a Nick Lidstrom in the league." Holland pointed out that the Red Wings had been stockpiling young defensemen through the draft, including the talented Smith, to help ease the transition. Smith will play in Detroit next season. Acquiring Kyle Quincey at the trade deadline was another move that was made with one eye on today and another on the future. [+] Enlarge Ryan SuterJohn Russell/Getty ImagesThe Red Wings will likely press hard to sign free agent Ryan Suter. In September, Holland also reminded me that money won't be an issue in rebuilding the blue line. "We've got cap space," he said. "We're obviously going to be involved more actively in the unrestricted free agent market than we have been the last couple years." Which brings us to Ryan Suter. Suter was already on the Red Wings' radar, but now he becomes a must-sign for Detroit if he opts not to stay with Nashville. With Lidstrom's retirement along with the likely departure of Brad Stuart to a team closer to his home in California, Detroit is flush with cap space. According to CapGeek.com, the Red Wings have over $20 million in cap space, which is more than enough to sign Suter and New Jersey Devils wing, and impending free agent, Zach Parise. Suter isn't Lidstrom but ... "I think he's the closest," said one NHL scout. "Suter can do it all. He's in the prime of his career, or just reaching the prime of his career. The need in Detroit becomes very strong." It also makes Detroit an interesting option for Justin Schultz, the talented University of Wisconsin defenseman who still hasn't signed with the Ducks. Chances are he won't, which means he'll hit the market as a free agent who will draw as much interest as anyone this offseason. The competition for him will be intense, but Schultz may be intrigued by the possibility of being part of the next wave of young defensemen in Detroit. If Holland can put together a defense for next season that includes Suter, Niklas Kronwall, Ian White, Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl, Smith, Quincey and Schultz, the Wings are in great shape. But unlike when they watched Yzerman step away, there isn't an heir apparent ready to take Lidstrom's mantle as the Red Wings' lead blueliner. "It was a little bit different when I retired," Yzerman said. "You had Pav [Pavel Datsyuk] and Hank [Henrik Zetterberg] -- two center men just hitting their prime. I think it's fair to say and it's by no means a criticism, but they don't have Pav or Hank on the blue line ready to step in. It's still a good group of defensemen. And they're smart and resourceful, they'll have a good defense next year.'' Either way, it's going to be a team effort to replace Lidstrom, even if part of that team is someone as talented as Suter. "No doubt. The pressure of somebody trying to take on those minutes -- they have to disperse those minutes amongst the group and include the guys they add via trades or free agency," said an NHL source. "You can't sign one guy and replace Nick Lidstrom. That poor guy has no chance. No chance."

I agree with this. Its sad to see someone of his caliber and heart go, but at the same time, he showed dedication and a hard work ethic for his entire career with the Wings. Congrats Nick! We will miss you thats for sure.

NJD/LAK: 4-2

I think you will find that Parise will get a $7 million dollar offer or two. Suter may well get a $6 million dollar offer. Hell, when Rafalski signed here for $5 million per season, he was offered $6 million to play for the devils. I do agree with you that neither player is worth more than $7 million. I can also say that Holland won't offer either player $7 million. He will probably go $6 million at the most for Parise and around $5.5 million for Suter. If they want to play here, they will take a discount and play here. Otherwise, they can go to the bank of (insert team name here) like Khabibulin did.

I think the negs are more for your attitude on the situation. At least that is the impression I got from your post. I don't think anyone here is thinking Holland is going to screw the team this summer. Yet, you seem to be taking the negative nancy approach. Give Holland time to make the team before you pass judgement on him.

He looked like he was ready to cry when he was getting applause from the fans. Maybe he sees his time in Phoenix is over or something.