YoungGuns1340

Yeah, because people have been saying hes going to retire in the middle of a contract. I think hell sign a one year contract after this one and be done with the NHL.

That goal he scored against Nashville a few years back was priceless, but nobody can stand here straight faced and say that Robert Lang brought a lot magic to this team in his last year.

Miller perenially gets minimal help from his defense. Buffalo is an offense first team and has been for all of Millers tenure. Buffalos run and gun lineup of forwards the past few years has been the deepest and most productive, but their defense was mediocre at best. Any time Campbell is your #1, youre in trouble. As for Miller stealing games, you apparently never watched Miller in a playoff game, because thats where he really earns his paycheck. He is a heart and soul guy that has top-notch confidence, has proved he can play with the big guys, steal big games (two playoffs in a row, now), AND hes not even in his prime yet. When Buffalo was pissing around earlier in the playoff season, Miller was the guy that kept them in the race. Also, Chelios is not even close to a "top 10-15" defenseman in the NHL. Hes MAYBE a top "10-15" PK specialist in the league, and thats about it. I love the guy, but you are overrating him, and underselling Rafalski. Rafalski has more defensive awareness than the majority of players in the NHL and, outside of the elite defenseman (Lidstrom, Niedermayer, and Pronger), he is probably the most defensively reliable Dman who can still put up 50+ points a season. He will be a great mainstay for Detroit. Not to mention, with Babcock behind the bench, the defense by committee attitude will still be in place. Finally, what does signing Miller have to do with trading Howard? Howard is 3rd string this year, and AT BEST will be splitting games in 08/09. Its very far-fetched to say that Howard will go from being an inconsistent AHLER to being Detroits #1 guy in just two seasons. Also, Detroit is not automatically going to go with "Meech, Quincey, and Kindl." Why dont you read my post. But since you brought that up, where do you get off knowing how young guys like them are going to be playing in 2 years (likewise with Miller)? These are players who still havent reached their potential, and will likely only build on their strong outings. Just in case, heres what our roster *might* look like in 09/10. I adjusted the cap modestly to 4M+ (about 54.3) Grigorenko(1.5)-Datsyuk(6.7)-Homer(2.25) Filppula(2.5)-Zetterberg(7)-UFA(4) Abdelkader/Ryno/Mursak(.5)-Franzen(1.7)-Cleary(2) Maltby(.88)-Draper(1.2)-Kopecky/depth UFA (.65) Ellis/depth forward (.5) Rafalski(6)-UFA(4) Kronwall(3)-Lebda(.65) Quincey(.65)-UFA(.85)/Kindl(.75) Miller (6) Howard(.85) Total=53.5

Jesus, Fiddler looks like a troll. They should just rename the team and plaster Fiddlers face on those jerseys. They are an improvement though, but still too busy for me. I like simple jerseys..

I was just in Uruguay about a month a go, and a guy that I met down there - never even been to the United States, never even seen a hockey game at any level - he knew who the Red Wings were and was able to describe their logo perfectly to me. It was the only team he knew. Why are people making such a huge deal of this. They arent talking about which team in the history of the sport is "Americas team." In this sense "Americas Team"="Americas Favorite National League/Assoc. Team." That team is the Red Wings, and the only teams who are probably even close are the Rags and the Bruins. This isnt about the Olympics. This is about the 4 major NL/As One of the things you arent mentioning is that the majority of people who are bangwaggoners ARENT real hockey fans. Same goes with every sport. People who arent real fans of a sport dont want to go through the trouble of finding a team, figuring out who their players are, knowing how they play the game, etc. They want to be able to be a "fan" with minimal involvement. Thats why people like the Red Wings - they win, therefore they are talked about a lot. Their success brings coverage and fame. And people can get acquainted with the Red Wings a lot easier than they can with, say, the Atlanta Thrashers, whom nobody talks about. On top of that, people want to watch a team who they know will win. Who wants to root for a team thats going to lose in a sport they only half care about? Bottom line, those people who are bandwaggoners want to watch said team purely for entertainment purposes, and watching a team kick the crap out of the opponent rather than getting their asses beaten is simply more fun.

What?? So just because you dont think the Golden Jet was as good as Yzerman, you didnt realize hockey went on during the 50s and 60s?? Please. Stuff your face with that condescending attitude and shut the hell up. First of all, Lidstrom is a better Dman than Coffey, and Lidstrom would never be ranked ahead of Yzerman. Coffey may have had over 1500 points, but he didnt do that while shutting down forwards night in and night out. If he had done that, he wouldve been more impressive, but Coffey was far from an all around player, let alone an all around defenseman. As for Messier, you can talk all you want about Cups. Anybody wouldve won a cup on the teams that Messier played with, and he only ever won a cup on teams comparable to the Red Wings teams that won cups twice. As for leadership, that could be argued til you are blue in the face, but I dont know how a guy WHO DEMANDS THAT ANOTHER TEAM UNRETIRE A JERSEY NUMBER JUST SO HE COULD WEAR IT or BLEW THE RANGERS OFF FOR A BIGGER CONTRACT FROM THE CANUCKS is a better leader than Stevie. There are only 4 guys that are definitively ahead of Yzmerman - Howe, Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux. Anyone else you could make a case for, but only if you are aware of just how good a defensive forward Yzerman was. He probably had the best high-end balance of dominating both ends of the ice. However, as noted with Coffey, defensive prowess never gets as much attention as offensive prowess does. Which is too bad, because they are equally important. And one more thing that drives me crazy is that Its so typical of people to talk about how much better things were "back in the day", when in fact, they were in most cases just different. Hockey was completely different back in the day. A kid like Crosby recieves criticism because he cant dominate both ends of the ice. Back in the day, it wasnt a "flaw" if you werent defensively concious. Nowadays, goal scorers have to incorporate that into their game. You wanna talk about Shore and Harvey, yet they were dealing with forwards who didnt work out with TR Goodman in the summer, but instead worked in the factory or at the car wash in the off-season. Defenseman and goaltenders alike 20 years ago didnt have to deal with the innovative skill and moves that Russians brought over in the post-cold war era. You wanna bring up cups? How many guys won cups when only 6, 12, 14 teams were vying for it instead of 30? How many players won trophies when they only had to compete with guys from 21 teams instead of 30? The majority of retired hockey players will tell you that its tougher to score, tougher to win, players are stronger, more skilled, the game is better coached, etc, then it was even 25 years ago. Its bulls*** to claim players are ahead on "the list" because they dominated in X era all in the name of objectivity.

Yup. Roy, Pominville, and Stafford will all cost a pretty penny, but even moreso since Buffalo ownership likes to have a self-imposed salary cap usually a good 5M below the actual cap, if not more. Not to mention Buffalos "we dont negotiate contracts during the season" policy. Even with all that, its Millers confession that playing for the Red Wings would be a dream for him is what makes me think its a serious possibility. That and, if Nick Lidstrom retires, Wings management knows their defense takes a huge hit that cant be replaced. But getting an elite goaltender could help fix that. I dont think anyone would think much of a Red Wings team going into 09/10 with Howard as a starter, or some other stop gap, and no Nick Lidstrom, should he retire.

Its good to hear that the Wings might have been forward thinking in signing Drake in order to mentor Kopecky. That could really help Kopecky focus on his physical game. I like the sound of that.

It makes more sense that he WILL than that he wont, actually, given when he becomes a free agent. Nick Lidstrom will not be playing in the NHL until hes a Grandaddy like Chelios. Its very likely that he could retire after this season, or after the 08/09 season. If he plays for the 09/10 season, hell be 40, and thats very doubtful for a Dman that has won all kinds of accolades, is a family man, and has talked a lot throughout his career about moving back to Sweden, which he loves. Lidstrom leaving the Wings will at least clear up 5M in cash, if not 6M, which is around the type of cash that Miller would command. Not to mention, at that point Detroit will likely have at least 3 young, inexpensive Dmen who will also compensate for the cash for Miller (Lebda, Quincey, and Kindl) As for goaltending, Howard likely wont even see any susbtantial NHL time until 08/09, and at that point, he wont have solidified his career as a starter. Basically, unless Howard gets a good 30 games this year and proves to be an absolute phenom NOW, or Lidstrom decides to play til hes 40, the Wings will have both the SPACE and the MONEY to sign Miller. Not to mention, if Miller IS signed to a long term contract with the Wings when he becomes a UFA (5 years?) AND Howard proves to be a real solid goaltender, then Detroit has a stacked goaltending position, and a huge trade asset in Howard.

Haha, I was just going to post this. Ryan Miller has made it public and reiterated it many times that its his dream to play for the Detroit Red Wings. Hes made several comments in the press over the years that talk about how Detroit would be his #1 choice as a UFA. EDIT: And for those of you who dont know, Ryan Miller was born in Michigan and played college hockey at MSU

Out of the guys listed, Markov WOULD make the biggest impact on your average hockey team. I know most people on this board have it for Andy Sutton, but hes overrated because of his physical flash.

I would agree with all these assessments EXCEPT Kronwall =/= Beauchemin. Beauchemin is a much better player. Then again, having both Pronger and Niedermayer to play with is going to make anybody look good, but Beauchemin was a player on Anaheim before Pronger arrived. Kronwall will have to have a break out year to be as good as Beauchemin. And still, Kunitz, Penner, and Perry are a lot better than anything else the wings have to offer on the forward lines. I hate to be Frank, but this is as moronic a comment as it gets, in a moronic post. A 40 goal player in the Defense first Western Conference is NOT an easy player to play against. And you dont even have to look at his 90 points to know that. Being small doesnt automatically mean hes easy to play against. He is an awesome skater with amazing speed, deft hands, and creative skill. Selanne >>>> Bertuzzi and there isnt even question.

You mean hes better than Lebda skating with a sprained ankle? By Lebda AND the coaching staffs assessment, Brett came in a good 2-3 weeks earlier than he wouldve in the regular season. Lebdas game is almost entirely hes skating, so it makes a big difference when hes playing the gimp. As for Quincey, I think he could be a solid #4. Does anybody remember how Babs admitted that he told Kronwall to take it easy with the hitting and physicality so Kronner could focus more on the puck as a young player just coming into the NHL? I would bet anybody that Babs and co. said the same thing to Quincey - especially since he basically started his NHL career in the playoffs. They probably told him to forget the hitting and physicality and just stick to the basics. I have no doubt that hell only get more physical as this season wears on, should he be a regular, and definitely when he does become a regular. I think Quincey could easily be a gritty #4 good for 20 pts a season once he gets a few NHL seasons under his belt.

Those two points are contradictory. Its more likely that Hamiltons crowds are less than stellar because they are "way close to Toronto" Also, why would a bunch of (likely) Maple Leafs fans want to support future Montreal players? I bet if the Bulldogs were actually the Leafs AHL affiliate, theyd be doing a lot better. I know if the Grand Rapids Griffins were the affiliate for the Preds, the majority wouldnt give two s***s about em.

Does anybody ever visit other hockey forums around the internet?? Because Holland is widely regarded as one of the best GMs in the biz.

Peter Forsberg apparently is feeling really good after his surgery. The Avs might be interested also, though, and they have a good chunk of money (6-7M?) left under the cap as well. As for Forsberg, what do you mean he might fit in here? Hed be the 8th of 8 Swedes. Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Forsberg? Zetterberg-Forsberg-Sammy/Holmstrom? If Kronwall breaks out this year and we had Forsberg, our "swedish 5" just may finally rival the russian 5.. Zetterberg-Forsberg-Holmstrom Lidstrom-Kronwall

Schaefer is a much better player than Donovan. I think people are still sitting on 2004 when Donovan and the Flames wiped the ice with the Wings asses. He hasnt been that player since. Having said that, Donovan is still a gritty, hardworking player that anyone would love to have on their team, but 10 times out of 10, youd rather have Schaefer. If it werent for the purpose of re-signing the likes of Heatley, Spezza, Emery, and Fisher, most Sens fans I can guarantee you would be pissed about this deal.

Im guessing that Lang playing with Havlat will produce a lot of offsides calls, too. Havlat is about 86 times faster than Lang. At least itll be entertaining either way.

Amen. Rutherford and the Canes only exist so Karmanos can f*** around with Illitch. Too bad nobody cares.. At any rate, nobody should be surprised this happened. It was either send down Kaspar or trade Cullen. These have been rumors for a while now. Back to the drawing board...

Hindsight is 20/20. Markov became the new Lilja. Or the new Schneider. Either way you look at it, playing alongside Lidstrom makes you look a lot better. Markov wasnt a sure bet last season.

Exactly. Coaches spend all their time trying to find guys that have chemistry with one another. Babs should spend his time seeing what the leftovers can do on their own 2nd line.

Yeah, but apparently everyone thinks that Zetterberg and Datsyuk can suddenly make anyone from Franzen to Hudler a bona fide top sixer. The days of Zetterberg being able to carry Sammy and Homer, while Datsyuk plays with a guy like Shanahan are over. It makes SO much sense to split up the two guys that have the best chemistry together in the league (who arent twin brothers).

I dont think Sopel would make it awfully unbalanced. A little, yes, but its a preemptive strike against the looming injuries of Kronwall. Sopel wouldnt be playing on offensive role on the WIngs either, and he is a pretty gritty guy with good puck possession skills. He would fit very well into the system. I wouldnt call him an offensive defenseman, but I wouldnt call him an offensive Dman either. I like that he falls a little in between so that we have our asses covered should we be down and out 2 good offensive Dmen when we need them most.

It doesnt count against the cap. Basically the same thing if you keep a guy on long-term IR. I really pisses the f*** out of me that GMs can get away with s*** like that. If you sign a guy, you should have to pay for me if hes healthy enough to play.

Speed can make a defenseman 10 times better defensively purely because they have the speed to get back. Lebda also has some smarts. As for him being an "offensive" Dman, I think people are getting "offensive" confused with "puck-moving" I think you might be wrong. I dont think Lilja is suddenly going to convert into an enforcer or anything, but I think he will go for it more next season than he used to. Im pretty sure after Lilja's sudden inclination to be physical, that Babs and co made it clear to him that he needs to use his size and strength a little bit more if he wants to keep his spot with the club. Liljas seen some of his best years here in Detroit and he could be fighting for a contract this season - literally.