Nightfall

I don't see where people are thinking that they are going to be able to trade Hudler. Sure, they could put him in the minors and eat his contract, but I just don't see that happening either. Brad Richards will not come to Detroit. They can't pay him enough.

Yea, and the Wings were totally geeked about the prospect of playing San Jose, Nashville, or Chicago. I wouldn't say each of those teams were easy as much as Vancouver was just that good. When they lose Manny and can still put 4 lines that are dangerous on the ice, thats a testament to how good they are. You are right on one thing though. Winning the cup does take a variety of things to fall in place. You have to be healthy, be deep, have some luck, and have advantageous matchups. The Canucks have had all four of those things this postseason.

One good season is a start. The Wings could sign him and then he is an underachiever. The point is we won't know the long term ramifications, and comparing the two really is impossible to do. We are talking about one player who has had proven success versus another player who had one good season. I think Wisniewski is worth a signing at his age. He could very well be an excellent defenseman. I just worry that he is the later, and the Wings fans on this forum have little tolerance for the later.

The best team in the NHL wins the Stanley Cup. Vancouver has shown some huge resilience by getting by Chicago. IMHO, if they win the cup, its well deserved.

Look over the long term. Wisniewski had one good season. Rafalski has had many more than that. http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8470222 http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8467856 There is no comparison.

One thing is for sure, they aren't going to be able to replace Rafalski's point production from one other guy. Look at where this guy has fallen into place when it comes to scoring at the end of the year. For his contract length with the Wings, he hasn't fallen lower than 24th. Every other year it has been in the top 12 in scoring for a defenseman. Trust me, Holland is not jumping up and down right now. He may be able to find 2 defensemen for 3 million each that will provide good D, but that scoring touch from the blueline is also hard to find. I suppose its a give and take. You get 2 solid stay at home defensemen, and you get less goals scored on you. At the same time though, the Wings fans will just have to settle with winning games 3-2 instead of 5-4. I think those that are jumping for joy at Raffi leaving should look at the stats. When you have a defenseman that is ranked in the top 12 for 4 of the 5 seasons he played in Detroit, wouldn't you have an "oh crap" moment? Especially considering you aren't going to be able to replace that production? Maybe instead of replacing the points, you add in hard nosed defensemen. Then you win more low scoring games.

I agree 100%. People are excited about getting the money to spend. Its like giving a kid $12, and then taking him to the goodwill store to spend it. There isn't much out on the market right now, so you give the kid $60 more. The kid is giddy over the fact he has more money, but figures out that there isn't anything worth buying at the goodwill store right now. Now substitute goodwill store for free agent market. There isn't anything like Rafalski or Lidstrom on the market right now.

Keep in mind that Rafalski was 12th in the league in scoring and played only 63 games. Look at his place at the end of the season in total points over the last 5 seasons. 10-11 - 12th 09-10 - 21st 08-09 - 5th 07-08 - 7th 06-07 - 12th People can knock is defensive game, but he is a point producing machine. I see the same upswing from Brendan Smith as he has the same skillset just in a bigger body. On a sidenote, I am pretty disgusted with some of the comments here. The "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out" comments in specific. He helped bring a Stanley Cup to Detroit. He took a hometown discount to come play here. A little respect would be in order.

Lets be honest here. Rafalski is a elite defenseman in the NHL. If he does decide to retire, that puts the Wings with a BIG hole. It may also influence Lidstrom's decision as well because they will be losing a piece on defense. These things being said, it could have an upside, but I really don't see anyone on the free agent market that is as good or better. The crop of free agents hitting the market now are not as good as Rafalski. I know that Weber has been mentioned, but Nashville isn't going to let him go. The Wings are not going to sign him because of the loss of all the draft picks he will cost. Brendan Smith isn't ready for the NHL yet. I have seen him in Grand Rapids, and while he is a great defenseman, he needs some help on the defensive part of his game. I think he needs at least another full year in the AHL. If he does decide to retire, he is going to be missed by the Wings. I know I will never forget meeting him the year he signed with the Wings. I shook his hand at a meet and greet at Van Andel that season ticket holders got to attend. The Wings swung by and did a practice at Van Andel that day and really put on a good show for the fans. What a nice guy. At the same time though, he has accomplished a lot in his career. Three Stanley Cups and two Olympic silver medals are more than many will have ever accomplished.

Ok, so he reports to camp for the new season. Why didn't he report when he was acquired? Think about it. He was going to be paid the low salary for only about a 1/2 of a season. Now, he has to play a whole season for that paltry sum. He could have stepped in for the Islanders, had a few good games and proven himself, and then this coming season he could have gotten a $2 million dollar 1 year deal or something. I guess my point is, why change your mind and report now? I guess some mistakes you don't get done paying for. Maybe he realized his mistake but he realized it a month too late or something.

It really is hard to tell. You would think the Wings would reload through free agency if the draft picks don't work out.

Lets be honest here, when Yzerman, Federov, and Shanahan were playing, Dats was a rookie and Zetterberg was still in Sweeden. No one knew what their potential was back then. We can speculate that Tatar and Smith will be good, but we just don't know. The NHL can chew up and spit out elite players in the AHL. Heck, Dats was only a 35 point guy back in 2002 and only notched 6 points in the playoffs. No one knew he would be a superstar until later. I do agree with you though. I am less than impressed with the quality of guys in the AHL right now. I see some promise, but we have to see what the final product will be and we won't see that for a few years. Either that or we can go with the free agent market. Not like players like Rafalski were a bad pickup. There will always be players out there that will take a discount to compete for a cup.

I didn't think the sharks would get rolled by Chicago last year and look what happened. I would never say they are going to get rolled by Vancouver, but I don't think it will go 7 games either. Point is this, until your team can make it to the SCF, I really think you should step back and re-evaluate. The Sharks have a history of dying in the post season. I certainly hope they can get over the hump soon, because time is running out on your core of players. This Sharks/Wings series was epic, even from a fan on the losing side. This is why I love the playoffs, even after my team gets beat, I gotta keep watching. Sharks deserve all the credit for winning this series. I will be very interested to see if the Sharks can get the monkey off their back and make it to the finals. Time is not on their side if they don't make it.

I see the exact same things going on when I read ANY FAN BOARD of any NHL team. Even here, you have fans who were saying they will boycott the NHL if the Wings didn't win this series. Some fans just like to blow steam off. Others could be realistic. If there is anything I have learned though, is that fans on forums will typically be downers about their team but come back around. Point is that Sharks fans may be over the top and not have a great display of sportsmanship, but the Wings fans are no better as a whole. Thats something I wanted to see changed, but I have learned my lesson.

Another excellent series. I do have to agree with you, that series could have went either way. It still doesn't deaden the pain that the Sharks advanced over the Wings for the second year in a row. Still, it isn't like the Sharks didn't have their share of lumps. Maybe this is their year to make some noise instead of getting swept out of the playoffs like last season. Seems that every cup winning team has had to take their share of lumps just to make it to the promised land. Anyway, thanks for stopping by the forum as always. Classy and intelligent fans are always welcome here in my opinion. Good luck against Vancouver. The last two seasons have been tough on the Wings from an injury standpoint. The hockey gods really have to smile down on you in order to win the cup. If you have too many injuries or bounces go against you, then it could be a short run in the playoffs. As for early playoff exits, there are 22 other teams this season and last season who would have loved to gotten as far as the wings the last 2 years. As for the 3rd "early playoff exit", game 7 of the SCF is an early exit? Everything has to fall into place in order for a team to win the cup. Just wasn't the Wings year.

Look at the Canucks for instance. That is what they did. Bieksa and Salo go down and they have other depth players to step in. The issue is that they can't maintain that depth in the salary cap era.

In order to win the cup, you have to be healthy and have some luck fall on your side. Injuries happen, and they do happen to 29 other teams. The Wings are not out of the ordinary here. To expect to be fully healthy come playoff time every year is a pipe dream.

This will be old news Saturday. The next series will be starting then. Just avoid all those shows if you don't want to see it. Personally, I want to watch Around the horn and PTI tomorrow. I always like hearing the backstories, even though they are often full of s***.

Every mistake is magnified in a loss, especially a game 7 loss. Anyone can win a 1 game playoff, and thats what this was. I really don't put too much stock in mistakes because hockey is a game where a win or loss can come from them. If San Jose makes a couple mistakes, we could have blown them out tonight. I think we should concentrate less on "Player A f***ed up" and concentrate more on the positive. They came back from a 3-0 deficit to force game 7. Franzen and Dats were not 100%. They showed a ton of heart where other teams would have just rolled over and gave up. Howard had a coming out party in net. I think he is going to be even better next season. Give the wings a little credit.

Whatever happened to that guy?

I agree. Thanks for the excellent season. The only bummer is that I am going to have to wait almost 4 months until I see the Wings in Traverse City. Not being a baseball fan, the summer is always hard on me. Going to miss not seeing the Wings. At least we have about 2-3 weeks of Stanley Cup action to watch.

I know that the respect and admiration most people are giving him now will probably evaporate in 3 months. Still, I am a big supporter of the Wings and their goaltenders. Howard played solid in playoffs. I think they can make a strong run next season too.

Excellent post! Wings showed a lot of resilience. They just came up short. Gotta give them props for their hard work.

Mistakes happen. Anyone can win a 1 game playoff. In this game, the Sharks earned the game. The Wings didn't just give it to them.

I can justify any of the last 4 teams winning the Cup. Boston: Tim Thomas, MI native, deserves to lift that cup. That and I like Mark Recchi too. Tampa Bay: Duh! Yzerman is the GM! Vancouver: A Canadian team gets a cup. Maybe then Canada will stop bitching. San Jose: Niemi gets to cart the cup around for the second year in a row. Blackhawk fans would be a little irritated that the guy they didn't sign ends up lifting the cup.