gcom007

Not true. 46 points in 57 games. 15 goals. McCarty scored 11 points and 5 goals in 19 games. Don't count on Leino to put up big numbers in his first year on the big club. He'll likely be a good player, but it's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to make up for the guys we lost. http://stats.theahl.com/stats/player.php?id=2480 http://griffinshockey.com/news/stats/

We would've won by a landslide if we didn't have so many injuries. I have no doubt of this. I'm not bitter, I'm just saying. The idea that adding guys didn't help by saying we didn't win doesn't really hold up because we went a lot farther than we probably should have considering the shape we were in.

He was good, but fantastic? Really? What on earth did he do that was so fantastic. I've got all the games recorded on the DVR. In HD even. I can see them pretty well. I saw Flip play descent hockey but fantastic hockey? Flip seems to bring out a lot of superlatives around here...but seriously, a guy who scored 3 goals in the playoffs deserves "fantastic?" And don't even get me started on his assists... And the difference between Flip and Datsyuk is that Dats can spark greatness from nothing. Flip absolutely does not have that ability. Your point was practically a contradiction. Get him the right linemates and things will happen followed by comparing him to Dats who makes others around him better? When Dats isn't injured like he was this last post-season, it doesn't matter who he's with, he plays great and makes others play great. That's why he was nominated for the Hart trophy this year. He's one of the greatest players in the game. Don't insult his reputation by suggesting that a guy like Flip is even close to the kind of player Datsyuk is. The idea is nothing short of ridiculous in every way.

I'm one of the few that's never been that impressed with the guy, nor was I impressed by his playoff performance. I'm not knocking assists, but if you really break it down and watch this guy play, it's obvious that he's not the greatest play-maker in the world and that takes some shine off the stats in my book. On top of that, half the Wings team was injured and we had a bunch of Grand Rapids kids playing. I would hope Flip would look like one of the better players especially considering he's got one of the heavier cap hits. And like your friends said, he didn't score, nor does he ever score with any sort of consistency. I would go so far as to say he probably never will either. He just doesn't have the shot of the ability to really create and finish plays. He's a solid 3rd line center and good for 40-50 points (hopefully...) but people dreaming about him being one of our best players and a future Datsyuk/Zetterberg are going to wake up to a bittersweet reality in a few years when his contract is up and he's still basically the same player he was this last season. The Flip signing is the one deal Holland made that I really don't like from the last few years. If it was done for between $2-2.5 million, I would've been a little happier about it but $3 million for this guy especially at this point is a joke. He just doesn't have the skills. He never would've gotten that deal if not for the RFA issues and teams overpaying. Personally, I would've let him walk. They might end up letting Hudler walk for this reason and he's got more of an offensive upside which isn't so bad seeing as goals win games. Barring a complete paradigm shift in this guys mental game and a physical manifestation of skill that he at this point does not have, my bet is that Holland starts regretting this deal by mid-season and he becomes trade bait if we've got more serious holes to fill heading into the playoffs. Management is talking him up now because they want to get his confidence up out of hopes that he might find a way to become a consistent player, but the fire that makes guys great doesn't come out of nowhere. You've got it or you don't. Franzen, despite a few years of less than stellar stats, always had that fire. That's why Yzerman nicknamed him the Mule right off the bat in his first camp. It's why I said this guy would be a force long before he was. He's got skill and he works his ass off. It would've happened sooner most likely if he hadn't been the victim of the cheap-shots he took in years past. That kind of stuff hangs in your head a bit. But when he got a chance after some time has passed, he took over and became one of the more potent scorers in the league. He's got the fire. Flip's had chances and has no excuses really but the bottom line is he just doesn't have the skill or the fire. As Holland is sobered up by the cap this summer and watches another average regular season start from Flip, look for him to get dealt at the deadline if we can make a big improvement. You don't get paid $3 million on the Wings to score a handful of goals and a few more assists for under 40 points. It won't fly for long in this era. And no matter what anyone says about his performance in the playoffs, we didn't win. It wasn't enough to take us over the top or lend credence to the idea of him being a major player to carry the team as far as they were. Only one guy on the team brought it every night and really stood out and that was Osgood. Flip was better than some, but considering the health of the squad at the time and his salary, it's not much to write home about. 3 goals? 3 goals? 3 goals? A snake-bit Hossa managed 6 and we crucified him and people want to talk up a guy who scored 3 goals? Ludicrous.

Ha, umm, nice....I guess...? Bottom line, the guys a hell of a goalie and I have little doubt that people around here will find a way to turn on him for awhile next season too. Can't wait!

Countless stupid mental mistakes. They weren't pressing in the offensive end too much. They just made a million stupid plays in our end. With all the time in the world, how many times did Kronwall make a pass across center? How many times did we simply give up the puck right in front of the net in our end? That was the thing that blew my mind. It wasn't like we were getting caught on long odd-man rushes, we were just making countless stupid, fundamental mistakes.

I would buy all the arguments about the difference between the winning '08 team and the losing '09 team if half our team including top core guys weren't injured throughout the playoffs and we hadn't made it to GAME 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals despite it. You guys are making a lot of convenient arguments about the defense especially considering in the playoffs we were pretty solid. Reality is, we still just lost a lot of goals and I don't buy the whole "we'll be better defensively without the Hossa crutch." I think that's silly especially if you consider the nature of our defensive issues. I'm not saying we'll be horrible. That remains to be seen. But I am saying that the majority of the statements that have been made about the team last season compared to the season before and the defensive aspects are fuzzy at best.

The thing about Holmstrom that concerns me is that he tends to start strong after a summer of rest and by the end of the regular season, he's pretty beat up. It just seems like he's looked more and more tired and ineffective the last couple years, especially this last one. Given the type of game he plays, he takes a lot more abuse than most guys on the team (hell, in the league...) that's bound to wear a guy down faster during the season and also is likely to shorten the overall career as well. I just don't know how much gas Holmstrom has left in his tank...it seems pretty low to me. I'm not hating on the guy, I'm simply noting that there's a lot more wear and tear involved in Holmstrom's game and at some point you've got to wonder when it's become too much.

It'll be great to have all these kids in the lineup and I'm excited, but they're still kids. There are going to be growing pains and I've got to say, I fear coming on here when they start struggling. LGW loves guys until they have them and then the second they screw up, they're lazy and they suck. Oh well...such is life I guess. I'm excited storms or not. Lots of upsides to this new group.

True story. It'd be a bit more logical to rip on the guy if he was making $4 million, but when you think about all he did for a little over a million bucks and compare it to what most million dollar players in the league will do for a team, you start to understand why Sammy was a really underrated part of this team.

This is going to hurt this team more than people want to believe. Count on it. Sammy at $1.3 or whatever he was making was a steal.

I've just gotta say, I hate seeing this guy go. He handled himself with utmost professionalism all the way through and played great for us more often than not. He handled Osgood getting the starting nod after outplaying him without a hint of drama as well. He'll be missed for certain but it's good to see him getting a nice payday which he deserves and he's going to a Blues club that had the best regular season finish of any team in the league. He'll obviously see some descent action too considering they're not likely to pay a guy $1.3 million to play 10 games a year. I wish him the best.

Hossa may not be a big improvement in sheer points, but he's a better goal scorer than Havlat which will only serve to help a team that isn't as strong defensively and in goal. But... The big thing about signing Hossa over Havlat and adding John Madden is that those two guys will lead the way in getting the already potent forwards thinking 2-way hockey. Hossa's a bonafide superstar that's far superior to Havlat in the defensive zone and will be a great example for the young guys who already know how to score but aren't so strong on D. He'll get them hustling and thinking 2-way hockey. He's a more vocal guy than Havlat as well. And Madden? He won a Selke in 2001 and has been runner-up in Selke voting 3 times since, including 2008 to Datsyuk. He's great on the PK as well. Signing Madden is a classic Scotty Bowman move in bringing in a veteran with a lot of Cup experience who can still add a lot to the team and lead the team in thinking 2-way hockey. You can't think about the addition of Hossa and Madden just by the numbers. You miss the bigger picture. Adding these 2 guys signals that the Hawks want to get their forwards playing smarter, 2-way hockey. And that's no surprise considering they've got Bowman in the decision-making mix. As said, the Hawks forwards are plenty good at scoring but they've got to get back and play hard in their end too. You couldn't have signed two better guys to lead the charge than a superstar like Hossa who hustles his ass off every shift while still putting up 90-100 point seasons and Madden who is a Selke/Cup-winning veteran workhorse. There were great signings. And Tallons said he's not done and is going to be strengthening the D over the next few days, throughout the summer through trades (they have plenty of young offensive depth that they can afford to trade to strengthen D) and look for them to make a Bowman/Holland-esque splash at the deadline by trading for a guy like Brad Stuart who's not a huge name but a solid guy who will help solidify the D. And of course, Huet. He's certainly the biggest question mark. With the way this team will score, he doesn't have to be great, but it would sure help if he could be halfway-descent. If the defensive pairings improve and the team-D improves, that will help a lot. But time will tell. It's most certainly the biggest question mark, but again, I don't think it's going to be as bad as some think and if the overall defensive situation improves, it'll greatly minimize the issue. And lastly, I'm not scared of Chicago. I think we'll be able to compete with them (and the other teams improving in the West) and it'll make for a far more exciting regular season and some great playoff match-ups. We're capable of coming out on top still, but don't for a second think Chicago isn't capable either. They're an average move or two away from being contenders next year if you ask me. I'm really excited for next season to start. All the more so now. As much as I hate losing guys like Hossa, Conklin and Samuellson, I'm excited for the competition that's sure to come this season. Don't forget how bored we all get when we win relatively easy games every night...

to the bolded...

The reason I could see Hossa being moved ahead of someone like Campbell is quite simple: money. Hossa's going to be far easier to deal at his cap hit than Campbell will be. But, time will tell. I really have a lot more faith that they'll find a way to get this all fixed up in the next couple of years. I don't think it'll be pretty in terms of transitions season to season, but I think they'll get through it far better than some are speculating.

This situation was bound to happen. Right from the start, Heatley jumped into a hole and started digging away and it's just getting deeper and deeper. What a mess. I don't know whether to feel bad for Ottawa or wonder what they could've possibly done to make players hate playing their so much. If you watch Lost, you'll get this analogy...it's like Ottawa is the hatch from Season 2 that brings out the worst in the people in it. Or maybe there's some black hole in Ottawa that sucks all the positivity away... Heaven knows. What a mess.

If there's one person I trust more than Holland to put a team together, it's most certainly Scotty Bowman. He may not be the GM, but if anyone thinks he's in Chicago merely collecting dust, they're kidding themselves. I think his influence is pretty obvious when looking at who they signed, and that said, I don't doubt that they know what they're doing. I don't know what will happen and what direction they'll go in next year, but I've got a lot of faith in their management to figure it out so long as Bowman is involved on some level. Holland may win and deserve the best GM awards, but Bowman's still got the best hockey brain and that brain is currently employed by the Chicago Blackhawks.

I think adding Hossa and Madden indicates that Chicago is trying to get their forwards who already know how to score goals to think about both ends of the ice. They brought in a PK-specialist who's won a Selke and is freqently in the running and a superstar that is defensively responsible. That's going to change the dynamic of this teams offensive lines for the better without a doubt. They're forwards are going to be more well-rounded. So I say yes, it's worth it and I think the majority of commentators agree. Most have been saying it's hard to fault Chicago's moves today if you're just considering next year. After that, well, time will tell... If they strengthen up their D through trade, that will just make them all the tougher. If they have stronger defensive pairings and a more defensively responsible offensive group, Huet won't have to be great for this team to win a lot of games. Scoring goals will not be an issue for the this squad. While I don't like it longrun and I'm not sure it can win a Cup, much like the Wings were this year, even if you can't help but give up 3-4 goals more often than not, if you score 4-5 goals, you're still going to win. And I don't think it will be that bad for them either. And who knows, Huet could come out and earn at least some of his contract money especially if given a bit more help in the defensive zone. So sure, there are question marks, but if you look at the league, most teams have question marks. Like it or not, even the Detroit Red Wings have some question marks this year.

You disagree with what and why? And I don't know about Hossa and a NTC. If anything, I hope he does. That would make it more likely that he could be traded to Detroit as he'd have a hand in determing where he goes whereas if he doesn't, the Hawks likely wouldn't trade him to a division rival if they needed to move him.

Madden's older (36) but he's a solid guy still and he'll help influence this team to play two-way hockey and bring a lot of veteran, Cup-winning experience. He won the Selke in '01 and has come up 2nd in voting 3 times since, including in 2008. This is exactly the kind of guy you would expect a team that employs Scotty Bowman to sign. Think about how often the Wings brought in guys like this that people balked at. Especially considering Chicago's youth, Madden was a great pickup.

Everyone and their mother can see that this is going to get interesting after this season. First thing they said on TSN when reviewing this. Great, great deal for 1 year and ultimately a great price for Hossa, but where does this leave them after next year? In a lot of trouble. But as some here and some writers have said, Hossa at a $5.2 million cap hit won't be hard to move if it comes to that. Hell, if they wanted to move Hossa, I'm sure the Wings would take him off their hands if they were willing to trade within the division. Our biggest cap issues exist heading into this year. We'll be in a lot better shape every year after this one. While it's silly to take the idea too far, somehow, I wouldn't be shocked if it wound up happening. Bottom line again though, they're going to have a lot of big decisions to make next year. They're shooting for a Cup this year, no doubt. John Madden was a solid signing as well. And to those saying adding Hossa is a wash because they lost Havlat, don't kid yourselves. Havlat's frequent injuries are no longer a concern for the Hawks and generally speaking, Hossa's a much better goal scorer and two-way player plus he's got more strength and size than Havlat. Madden (former Selke winner) and Hossa will help tremendously in leading that team to play better team defense. So don't kid yourselves into thinking Hossa's not a major upgrade just because you're still bitter he didn't have the playoffs we would've liked to see from him. Expect the Hawks to also tighten up the defense as time goes on by trade as they have plenty of good offensive prospects they can afford to lose to tighten up the D. If Huet simply finds a way to play descent, they're likely to have a very successful year. Again, don't forget who's got a hand in steering this ship. Scotty Bowman's all over the Hossa and Madden deals; two-way guys. They've got plenty of firepower and moving forward they're going to be more defensively responsible as well. I don't know if they'll have enough to win it all this year as their are still plenty of question marks, but you've got to be silly to not include them among the discussion of Western elite teams at this point...even with Huet.

Chicago made it to the Western Finals this year and the Caps were as close to the Stanley Cup Finals as Pittsburgh in the Eastern Semis. The teams that went on both are taking hits this offseason while the Caps pick up a solid guy in Mike Knuble and the Hawks lock in Hossa longterm. I still think Detroit and Pittsburgh will be in the final 4 fray or a Conference semi's that will yield the Cup Final representative. But... From a distance, and certainly it's a longshot from this far out, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Hawks and Caps battle for the Cup next year. My money is on Ovie and the Caps though...not because I'm bitter about Hossa or share any of the absurd hatred some here have for him. I just think next year might be the Caps year. Flame away...

At this point it'd be silly to make a rash move unless it made all the sense in the world and fell at Hollands feet. There will be better deals to be had for guys that can round the team out as the summer goes on and if worse comes to worse, at the deadline. Furthermore, there might even be some interesting trade possibilities as teams who are up against the cap from all the recent signings stop to check up on the balance sheets. The only guys I expected Holland to be interesting in signing were Hossa, Sammy and Hudler. I didn't expect any more and I still don't at this point.

Sorry. I don't play video games though. How much you want to bet that I've been more accurate in discussing and predicting things over the years than 99% of the people here? I'm no slappy. I've been around the game all my life. I don't ride hype trains and I call it how I see it. You might have said the same thing to me all season when I defended Osgood and said quote me on it in June. I was also one of the only people early on thinking the Finals would go to 7 games and be a tossup while most of the board was calling it for the Wings in 4 or 5. I'm not so confident in this to say "quote me on it in June" but I'm certainly more confident in it being more logical than many are suggesting.

I don't know about San Jose. I feel like every year they fail they just become more likely to fail again out of habit. Due to their talent, you've gotta say maybe, but I can't do it with a straight face. And in regards to Hossa, I would put money on him having a huge playoffs next year similar to his outing with Pittsburgh in 2008. He's going to have a lot to prove and with guys as talented as Hossa (and Datsyuk for another example), if you give them a chance on a descent team, they'll prove it to you. If he plays like he did in 2008 for the Hawks next year, Chicago's going to be a tough team to play in the playoffs. All the more so if they address defensive issues over the summer and at the deadline. Don't think they're finished yet. They know they're a contender after this last year and adding Hossa only fuels that fire. Plus they've got Bowman in the organization. They're not done, and they'll keep getting stronger.