YoungGuns1340

I want to see Hudler and Flip get on the board tonight, although Im going to go against the grain here and say that Sammy pots one tonight, if not two. Hank will light it up too, per usual.

1.8M in Russia after tax is about 3M US before tax. Yeah, he was money hungry.

Drapes is a hard worker, has never had too many problems with injuries and at 36 years old, is still one of if not the fastest player on thea team. Hard work and determination dont fade with age, and if his skating does, hell still be an above average skater. I dont mind the term, and I dont mind the price. And no, spending 1.58M on Draper will not come back to bite Kenny in the ass.

About 1.6 for Drapes. Not bad.

Yeah. Lidstrom has made a ton of mistakes this year. And not only by his standards. Regardless of how many minutes he plays, hes shown this season more than any other season that hes lost a step. If he can pick that up its another story, but he has been making PLENTY of turnovers in his own end, has gotten beaten on the outside quite often, and was suspected of an injury less than 10 games into the season. Is he still a top Dman? Of course. But that didnt stop a top 2 center in Joe Thornton from not breaking the bank on his salary. And thats coming from a guy whos in the midst of his prime. Sidney Crosby didnt get league max, yet people are still throwing around numbers for Lidstrom that are right up there with the best player in the league who will play out his contract over likely 100pt season after 100pt season.

All I have to say, is this is going to cost us some games.

Ozzie has shown he can play like a starter. This doesnt bother me at all - especially if we get to see Jimmy play - as long as Dom doesnt make this a weekly thing.

Alright Hank..or Datsyuk. We need that Insurance. Or Draper for that matter..

Yeah. My point was when Hank and Mats were tied, Hank had played 1 fewer game.

eh..yeah but Sundin got his 17 points over 10 games

29 to 11 according to NHL.com 26 saves for Luongo though.

Hank with an assist, eh? 18 points. They keep on coming..

Im not taking anything away from him. But youd be crazy not to think Rafalskis offensive production will be in part to Niklas Lidstrom as much as it to the Wings system...in conjunction with Rafalski natural offensive talent of course.

Raffy with 10 points in 10 games. Oh, the power of...playing with Niklas Lidstrom.

I dont really know who the hot Dmen are right now..I know Campbells having a good season offensively...but it would be interesting to see if Lidstrom and Rafalski could both be nominated for the Norris a la Cheli and Lids in..was it 02? Its too early to tell, but with Nieds and Boyle out..who knows.

I wanna see Z get some points!!

I dont know why people are so adamant that Sundin is never going to leave. Sure, hes said time and time again that he wants to stay and wants to retire a Leaf, but he knows time is ticking. Hes competitive as hell and Im sure the state of the Leafs organization is weighing heavily on his mind. It was weird to see Forsberg leave the Avs and for Smyth to leave the Oilers, but it still happened. If I were Sundin, and I wanted to win a cup with the Leafs, youre damn right Id make that public. Why? Beause Id want to show the organization that its a give and take. Im committing my talent/skill/leadership to you, so you return the favor by improving the team. The Leafs organization has not done that. But theres only so much time before Sundin becomes human and decides enoughs enough. Im not saying Sundin is going to leave the team, but im sure hell start weighing the pros and cons as to whether or not a deadline trade would help him to win a cup, and also send a message to Leafs ownership that current management drove him out of town, and that hed willingly come back were it to be fixed.

Um, Flip sees 16 minutes a game, and Hudler sees 13 minutes. Im not saying we should see them at a ppg pace, but Flip has yet to record a point and Hudler is only on pace for 18 points. Kopecky only plays 8 minutes and, IMO, that should be his cieling. Thats already about 6 more minutes than the guy has shown hes worthy of. At any rate, I expect both Flip and Hudler to pick it up at some point, and one of the two I can still see getting around 20-20-40. But to increase their time when they waste a lot of it is a bad idea. You cant be giving Flip and Hudler 18 minutes a game if they cant produce, because that time will come from the top line. And theyre the ones that are keeping us in the running at this point.

I dont understand why people care so much about the noise. If you have an arena filled with a ton of teens/younger kids, bandwaggoners, etc, youll have a lot of noise. If youve got an arena filled with people who have just gotten off of work, are elderly, or are there to intently watch the game and actually care about a win versus a loss, they arent going to be as inclined to cheer. So fricking what? When I go to a game, I watch the game intently. Sure I join in on the fun when there are breaks, or Ill do my part if the wave is going around, but for the most part when the game is on, Im watching it. Whenever I go to Wings games, what I notice is that there a ton of people there who are discussing whats going on in the game. IMO, in the United States (this doesnt really apply in Canada), when youve got a loud arena, its because youve got a lot of bandwagon fans/people who are just there for the entertainment and the ambience. Ive always taken the Wings fans lack of vocality - mainly after the Wings success was no longer a novelty - as a sign of the intellect of the crowd.

I have no clue how the Canucks are doing of late. I heard some comments that Luongo is off to a slow start, but who knows when he can turn it on. I still smell a win though.

Hey Mack is that a joke in your signature or is that an actual quote??

Haha Kovalchuk owned right there. That was nice to see.

Are you blind as a ******* bat? Did you not see where I said "IM NOT SAYING HE SHOULD PLAY 4M"?? And theres no way Lidstrom gets 8 or 8.5M. And as of now, I hate to break it to people, but Zetterberg has been the guy keeping us in these games. Lidstrom has made a ton of mistakes in his own end so far this year. No way Lidstrom gets Crosby money. No friggin way.

Any of Nashville's UFAs are an option until they know their future is safe. If Legwand keeps on pace for 65ish points, Nashvilles gonna have to compete with clubs that might offer him up to 5M in free agency, Im not sure theyd even be willing to give him 4, depending on their financial situation. Im guessing it depends on who their RFAs are. Theyll need to give out some money to stay above the cap floor, but they might give that money to the likes of Suter, Weber, Radulov, etc. Who knows, but its defnitely not out of the question.

Im going to hold out that Nashville wont mind trading with Detroit, and we can get in on either getting Legwand or Dumont for the 2nd line. If Montreals out, Ryder is another option. Im warming up to the idea of Feds too. And...way for Colorado to address their needs in goal and defense. I guess they think if they just pile on the offense, theyll be ok.