CloudConnected

Well, seeing as how stacked the Wings were in 01-02, they weren't in any rush to bring him over. They had Datsyuk and Zetterberg higher up on the prospect list than him, so why not let him develop in a highly competetive league without Illitch having to pay his salary on top of the Hall of Fame salary we had that year? I bet they wanted to bring him over in '03-04, or have him over right after that, but he had the car accident after the 02-03 season. They didn't even know if he'd live, let alone play again. You can't totally fault the Wings by not rushing him into the league, especially when we didn't have open roster spots in those seasons. If the accident would have never happened then he would be in his second or third year, guaranteed. I mean, I'm with you. We've been hearing about this kid for 5 or 6 years now, so I'm a little burnt out by potential and just want him over here too. But he's still just 23, so he's got a long career ahead of him. I think the Wings count on him landing a spot out of camp next year.

We haven't seen anything out of Kronwall because he doesn't have the opportunity to rush the puck when he's paired with Schneider. He's the guy who hangs back in the pair, and lets Schneider go up the ice and take chances. When Kronwall becomes our #2 powerplay guy and hooks up with a partner like Markov or maybe even Quincey next year, he'll be able to show what he can do. That said, his play lately hasn't been great at all. He's been awful at times. But hanging the bust tag on him at this point is way too soon. He's oozes talent, he's just got to put it together.

I got to meet a few Wings when at random places I've worked. A few years back I worked at Dick's sporting goods in Novi. Lidstrom, Larionov and Krupp used to come in there all of the time. Sold shoes to Lidstrom about once or twice a year, super nice guy. He'd talk about whatever you'd ask him, but i tried not to obsess about hockey too much. A little bit before that I worked at a watch store at Fairlane Mall, and Draper and McCarty came once. Just looked around for a few minutes, shook my hand and took off. Again, nice guys. Unrelated to the Wings, I met Carlos Guillen at Bass Pro Shop. He was wearing a pink Mickey Mouse shirt. Strange...

Sports Inferno has 3 interviews lined up: Babcock at 3pm Holland at 5pm Bertuzzi at 5:30pm That's AM1270 on your radio dial.

TSN just posted that Nieminen was involved in the trade, as well as Barriball and a first. Again, that's too much for the Wings to try and match or beat. Our farm system isn't that deep. I don't mind that Kenny didn't overbid at all. We need youth and size, and those guys get drafted in the first round.

I saw Nieminen was invloved in the trade too. But so far Strickland is the only one reporting that. He may have jumped the gun, but seeing as how Tkachuk fetched them as much as he did it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see Ville involved in the deal too.

Really, San Jose did give up quite a bit. The prospect leads the gophers in scoring as a freshman, a first rounder, and a roster player. For the Wings that roughly equates to Franzen, Abdelkader and a first. Would you do that?

I know a lot of people on these boards feel the same way about Kenny. I'm just worried about Kenny doing something else just for the sake of doing it. We shall see though.

Think JFJ's panicking a little bit? That's a lot to give up for a grinder. I think Bell actually has some upside.

You can't give up a prospect and a pick for Mayers. JD will own the league if he gets what he's asking for on all of these trades. For Mayers, it's pick or prospect, not both. That said, I would love to see him in the Winged Wheel. He does embody what we need. We just can't be held hostage to get him.

The Big Show just talked to the Wings, and Bertuzzi is not a Wing at this moment.

Fleischman is the same player we have in overabundance in our system. Smallish forward who has some skill. He's not gonna be Hank or Pavel part 2, so really it's not a huge loss giving him up.

I read in the Free Press yesterday that he was starting both games. Wants to get some back to back nights in during the stretch run.

Malone could use a change of scenery. That said, he's not scoring and he's been playing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi. If you can't score regularly there, then I don't know where you're going to score. I also think that Pittsburgh wants more of a tough guy too. They could use the defense help, but I don't know if they'll want Schneider seeing as how they already have a very similar player in Gonchar. Ryan Whitney is also a pretty good powerplay guy, he'll only get better. So I don't really know how much they need a Schneider-type player. I think they need more of a Norstrom, Adam Foote type guy.

When I got to watch them the other day, I saw Semin playing the point on the PP. That might have a little something to do with it. The Caps don't really have a great quarterback on the roster, and Ovechkin isn't gonna play there. But yeah, Ovechkin is still great. He's just going through a funk. He'll get out of it soon enough. When the Caps amass enough talent to roll three lines capable of scoring Alex will be even more dangerous.

Yeah, the Sandstrom analogy is pretty short sighted. I think a lot of people only think he played one year, when he was with the Wings. He was actually a pretty solid playoff performer, but his last couple of seasons saw him fall off a bit. And Guerin has been nowhere near the disappointment that Dats has been. You're grasping here buddy. I really don't know what you're talking about. If you think I was saying Guerin over Tkachuk because he has a cup, then you read me wrongly. I was just sticking up for both of them in terms of playoffs. I think everyone expects Yzerman-like playoff numbers from every potential Wings player, which is kind of ridiculous.

Ummm...Guerin has a Cup. And he has had some good postseasons. Not every time around, but he had 4 goals in 5 games last year after a bad regular season. On top of that, in his prime he was playing with the Oilers, who were a fringe playoff team for years. Tkachuk really hasn't been terrible. 53 in 81 aren't awful postseason numbers. And he is a rough winger, which is really what we need. He creates room, plays angry, and will stick up for the guys. He still has his hands too. The Wings aren't a speed team, we're a possession team, and I think that will benefit Keith a lot if he comes here. He won't have to chase all of the time, and he'll have teammates that can get him the puck in scoring areas. Remember, he scored 50 on a few occasions, and he still gets 30 regularly when healthy. He'd be a good pickup.

Sundin plays with a flat stick. He's had a great backhand for years now, and the flat stick gives you added control on the backhand. And as someone stated before it's good for passing too.

Again, I don't really understand the Lilja in front of Williams logic here. Different positions. But anyways... Sammy's not really an agitator. He and Maltby are different players. Totally. As far as Sammy goes, he only has 3 less goals than Lang in 21 less games. He's at least 20 goal scorer if he's healthy. Not saying that's great, but he's got more in him than anyone playing under him. Any upgrade will have to come from the outside, not from our system this year. Kopecky can finish a check and skate. I like him. Hope he can bounce back from his injury. I want to see some kids come in too. Ericsson, Quincey, and Kindl on the back end could be up in the next two years. Grigorenko will be over next year, I'd say he makes the big club. And the OHL kids seem to be on fire. If one of them has a great camp than it wouldn't be far-fetched to see one of them stick. But we don't really have much down there to help us out this year. EDIT: check out www.redwingscentral.com if you want to read a little more about our farm system

I'm with you, man. I tend to drift towards things that aren't as popular. Hockey, Metal music...as long as it's good with me I don't really care. But I would rather see a little popularity with hockey so the league stays in good shape and they get a little more coverage on Sportscenter for once.

I'll give you that they looked good together. But they're not really what we need. They'll do fine in a game here or there, but over a playoff series they'll be a nonfactor. Lilja is a defenseman. None of those guys are. So that's out of the picture. Sammy can find the back of the net more than those guys. Sammy's not the most impressive guy, but he has more skill and production for a team that lacks scoring wingers. So you can't replace him with those guys. Maltby, while slowing down quite a bit, is still more useful as a pker and pest than those three combined. They had a couple of good minutes in the one game they played, but it just doesn't work.

None of those guys are what I would really call prospects. Langfeld's just hanging around. As soon as we have a different option he's out of here. And he's older. Not a prospect. Ellis looks like an AHLer or a Blue Jacket, not a Red Wing. He won't be in our system in the next few years. Hussey is.....meh. Just meh.

That was after one of the best Cup finals series in years. After that came the neutral zone trap, and then more expansion. The game slowed down, then the talent got more watered down. Hopefully we are starting to rebound in the next few years. I say we bring the rough stuff back and we'll get more of those fringe fans back with it.

The trade deadline is yet another way to create parity in the league. Just like the worst teams getting the first draft pick, the lesser teams in the league can get rid of their aging, expiring commodities and get young players and draft picks to build their team toward the future. It's not a bad thing. Plus, the teams getting these playoff rentals know what they're getting into. Carolina knew they weren't going to keep Weight, but he did his job. They won the Cup and he was a key player in that run. Carolina addressed a need they had last year, and knew it was a gamble, but it payed off. And if I were a Hurricane last year, I'd be happy that I had Weight in the locker room because he's a great player and he'll help me get my ring. Team's know what they're getting into, if they have a shot at signing the guy they trade for, and what they have to give up to get those players. That's why Holland's inactivity can be a good thing in some years, because he can weigh the positives and the negatives in his personnel moves. That said, Kenny has to make a couple of deals this year. And we may only see these guys for a couple months. But if they get us to the Cup again then it was all worth it.

Who wrote that? Larry Brooks? If it was him, I wouldn't worry. He's almost as bad as Eklund.