gcom007

Or following on screen instructions... "Select the players you wish to trade. Hit the 'X' button to complete trade."

Good for Conks pocketbook. Most likely will be good for Conklin's career. Good for Wings pocketbook. Most likely bad for Wings in every other way. I am with the masses not impressed with Howard. I hope he can prove me wrong, but I don't have much hope. The fact that this guy hasn't been able to come in and compete for a backup role even last year was telling to me. It just seems like they kept lowering expectations season after season and still he never lived up them. Even so, the bottom line is that this deal is about money. Conklin's going to get more as he deserves more and the Wings can't afford to pay a backup goalie as much as they're paying their starter. Not to mention the fact that their starter is probably the most underpaid guy in the league at this point. Everybody better start praying for Osgood's health and groin now. Osgood was my number 1 through thick and thin last year despite the outcry of the masses, but if it didn't pan out, I wasn't super worried as Conklin's hardly the worst option. I do not have that same comfort with Howard. I hope he proves me wrong, but eh, he's had a lot of time to get things going and it just seems like he's never really had the heart in him to rise to the top level...even as a backup.

I sure hope Lilja's ok. He's turned into a far more solid and critical part of our defense than anyone ever really thought he would.

I wouldn't think less of him at all if he did so and neither should you. This is no small decision and the fact that it's gone on this long shows that it's a very difficult one for Hossa. Also, the longer it goes on, the more I think there may be a chance he signs especially considering he may not get as much as Winter may envision from other teams, not to mention the fact that the other teams are not going to be as strong as the Wings organization. And bear in mind, he doesn't have to decide July 1st either. We landed him last year on the 2nd... Last night I was leaning towards him being gone. Tonight, I'm not sure by any means he's staying, but I think there's a better chance than I thought through the weekend. Hell, maybe Winter's holding out to see what happens with our UFA's and RFA's. If Huds and Sammy get deals we're not prepared to match and that's over early, Holland might lean towards throwing a few more bucks towards Hossa to secure our offensive output. Losing either the pair of Sammy and Hudler or Hossa alone is going to be a huge blow, but to lose all three? That's rough. Much rougher than many people here have thought.

I really hope they find a way to sign Hossa, but if it's not going to happen, I'm a little perturbed about us not dealing the rights to at least get something for him. Not sure what to make of the lack of news.

Not to mention major injuries to many key Wings players...

If he hasn't been shipped, that means he hasn't said no which means he's still thinking. Chill. They've been saying Monday is the cutoff since the idea came up a few days ago.

So should we get rid of Dasyuk too? And how many points did Hossa have in the playoffs in 2008?

But Zetterberg GOT $73 million...furthermore, Hossa's arguably a better offensive player (4 seasons 80 points and above, 2 at 90 points or above and 1 100 pointer compared to Z's 2 80+ point seasons and 1 90+ point season) and he's no slouch on defense either to say the least. I think it's fair to say that overall Z's a better all-around player, but not by much. They're both real-deal superstars and at that point, there's not too much seperating guys in quality. So one gets a $73 million deal and is praised for signing it and the other is selfish for not signing a deal with likely over $20 million less for a similar length of time? To me, that's as illogical as all your Osgood bashing all season, if not worse. At least you had a crummy regular season to fuel that fire. With this, you've got blatant, simple numbers and you still can't do the math. Ridiculous.

That's not what I said or inferred. But even so, as I said when making the same point elsewhere, we're not going to be able to come even close to matching the offense we're potentially set to lose with kids or any random FA's we maybe (big maybe...) pick up.

Fickle people who's understanding of hockey doesn't extend past numbers on a score sheet or emotional bias are the one's doing the bashing.

I don't think Samuellson's been offered anything yet. They're waiting to sort out this Hossa madness. It's certainly a possibility that they all could leave. Say goodbye to over 80 goals scored...but no big deal, just 80 goals. All these guys suck, right? Isn't that what half the people on LGW say?

Ummmm, Samuelsson's a free agent in 3 days.

Hudler's an RFA but bottom line, other teams will offer any of our guys more than we will. Some might offer far more than we will. There's only so much they're going to bend for lesser guys when they're not even bending much for Hossa.

If we lose Samuellson and Hudler to free agency simply because they can get more money elsewhere no matter how the Hossa thing shakes down, we're in trouble offensively if we don't manage to resign Hossa. Between the three of them, that's over 80 goals you can shave off our total from last year. Our kids will help, but it's unrealistic to expect them to put up even close to 80 goals of help.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090628/SPOR...rian+Hossa+deal Red Wings GM Ken Holland tries to work on Marian Hossa deal BY GEORGE SIPPLE FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER June 28, 2009 Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said he sat and talked with Ritch Winter, the agent for Marian Hossa, in the lower bowl of the Bell Centre stands in Montreal on Saturday and remains hopeful the two sides can work out a long-term contract. "We've got a limited amount of cap space to play with or determine how we're going to spend it," Holland said. "Obviously for us to bring Marian back, we're going to have to let people go. "I've sat with Ritch here and told him to what cap level we're prepared to go. The only way we can make it work is to offer a long-term deal. I would say to you they were hoping to do better. At the same time, they understand the challenges we've got and understand that probably in order to be where they want to be we can't get there." To sign Hossa, the Wings likely need to have a cap number of about $4 million per season. Anything more and they'd have to get rid of more players.

In terms of Z, actually, you're closer to right. I was thinking '06/'07 as he wasn't exactly dominant compared to other years, but he wasn't exactly bad. 6 G, 8 A in 18 games. Hossa this year again was 6 G, 9 A in 23 games. But do people forget that the guy scored 26 points for the Pens a little over a year ago as their best player? That's 1 less than Z's numbers in a Conn Smythe season. And please, Flip had 1 more point than Hossa. He also had 3 less goals. Even when Hossa's snakebit he still managed to score twice as many goals as Flip. Again, you know, goals, those things that win games... And I don't know what games you were watching, maybe you're not sure either. "probably because he was willing to (do...) the dirty work" If anything, Hossa was just doing too much work. He was pressing too much and working the plays too hard especially as time went on. Hossa was still very important to our success in our own end and for being snakepit, his numbers aren't as awful as people make them out to be. 15 points isn't exactly disappearing. And again, if Hossa's unreliable in the playoffs, so is Datsyuk.

One thing to keep in mind with all this is that thus far, Holland's dealing with Winter. Besides the fact that it's Winter, he's an agent. All agents are going to push for the most money and play games and dangle things to the media. GM's do the same thing in a different way. Like it's been said numerous times, if Hossa wants to be a Wing, he knows what he has to do. It's certainly asking a lot when you consider a $2 million discount over 10 years is really more like $20 million (in a sense, I know there are other factors, I'm just saying, it's not as cut and dry as $2 million). But... Who was the guy who walked away from big-money long-term deals to take less money for 1 year from the Wings? Marian Hossa. Who cut his agent off, got on the line and finalized the deal himself in order to cut to the chase and make it happen? Marian Hossa. Who wanted to be a Wing before being traded to the Pens and even nogotiated a possible extension with Holland should a deal go through? Marian Hossa. And who has said time and time again that they want to sign a long-term deal with the Wings and will take less money to do so? Marian Hossa. Now, sure, that doesn't mean it'll happen, but I still think this one's far from finished. Winter's going to push all he can, but at the end of the day, Marian can sign what he wants to sign and will. He proved that last year in stunning fashion. Is Holland wise to not be optimistic? Absolutely. It's still asking a lot from the guy and it'd be rather arrogant to say the least if he was cocky about getting a deal done worth 2/3 or less what Hossa could get on the open market. Holland is smart enough to know that whether we sign him or not, he owes the situation a certain dose of humility. Hossa already gave up a lot to come and play for us this year and he'd be giving up far more than the vast majority of players at any level would if he signs the deal. Either way it goes at this point, the only reasonable attitude is one of humility and one of thanks. Either way it goes, Hossa will have sacrificed a lot to be a Wing. So I'm not reading too far into anything yet. I still think it could easily go either way. We'll know soon enough though...

Which he deserves when it really comes down to it. I'm not saying we should give everything away to resign him at all. My point is there are a lot of foolish people who seem so happy about the likelihood of him leaving, while neglecting the fact that anyone who might replace him is most likely going to be a major step down. Just another example of fans taking things for granted. That's all.

And do any of you really think we can replace Sammy for $1.2 million or whatever it is he's paid? Do you have any idea how little that gets you these days? Heaven help anyone who does replace him from the outside....if you think Sammy's bad for the money, you've really got a swift kick from reality coming straight for your head.

I like Downey and all as some face in an interview and when he's in a fight, but come on, on his best days, Downey is not the guy who's going to be the key to this teams success. Sure, he adds grit, but he also hurts us in many other ways. If they want a guy who can stand up for guys, they need a guy who can at least play the game as well too and that costs some money. Maybe they decide to go in that direction and spend it, but again, Downey is not the answer. I wish he was for his sake and because I like the guy, but it is what it is.

Sometimes it makes sense to say that, sometimes secondary assists especially are quite misleading. At the end of the day, GOALS win games. There are very few people in the league capable of scoring more GOALS than Hossa. If we play at all like we did last year as a team and he's not around, believe me, his presence will be sorely missed by the biggest of Hossa haters here.

He was a Playoff guy in '08. Datsyuk's had his off years. Z's had his off years. They're still superstars. These are the guys with the most potential to do damage and score GOALS. Hossa still scored twice as many GOALS (those things that go on the scoreboard and win games) than Flip in the playoffs. Meanwhile, it was considered Flips best outing and Hossa's worst. Hmmmmm, think about that for a second...then consider Flips secondary assists. Then consider how many points Flip would have if not centering Hossa. And Prima Donna? Goodness. Your analysis of this whole situation is nothing short of absurd. It'd be easy to go on and on but it's not worth it. Quite simply, you're just wrong.

I said this numerous times throughout the season in referring to the importance of Hossa. I don't think people really stop to take time to think about what last season would've looked like without those 40 extra goals. Reality: with our D playing the way it was and with Osgood's issues, we would've lost a LOT more games if you take Hossa's points away, but most importantly his 40 GOALS. Especially when considering other variables like momentum and the drama associated with losing especially after a long Cup run, it could've set the stage for a fairly disastrous regular season. Flip and Huds? Maybe Huds, but he's inconsistent thus far in his career. Hossa scored more goals than Flip scored points. And how many assists (majority of Flips points) came off of Hossa goals? He may have been snakebit in the playoffs, but he still scored twice as many goals as Flip. Secondary assists may go on the score sheet, but you don't win games without GOALS!!!

Actually, according to studies conducted by haters, he's right roughly 2.3% of the time over the course of a 12 month cycle. And if you don't think he has some serious issues, you should read some of the readily available info on him. It's fairly common knowledge that the guy is a loon who built a world out of lies. He's been caught plaugerizing. He's been caught back-dating posts to make it look like he reported things earlier than he did. He's made up usernames on websites to defend himself with lies upon lies upon lies. (Super fun: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hock...be_flyguy31_or/ ) He threatens people with (BS) lawsuits and (BS) criminal investigation thanks to help from his other (BS) "sources" in the justice system. And he's actually making money because there are still people stupid enough to believe him. google and google image search: eklund dwayne http://www.greyeyeglances.com/photos/press_photos/DWAYNE.jpg Dwayne Keith Klessel aka Eklund: burnout lounge musician, wannabe hockey legend, total liar