haroldsnepsts

Most feared heavyweight for sure, but biggest hitter in the league?? I didn't see Boogaard a ton last season, but I wouldn't even call him top 10. He's huge, so when he does land hits they leave a mark. But he so often misses. Ah. I could see that. Honestly I wouldn't want any Wings player to take someone out with a knee on knee hit like that. I know I'm splitting hairs here, but I'd be much more okay with a crosshcheck to the teeth than that. It's not like a crosscheck to the face is nice, but you can mangle a guys knee and end his career with a knee on knee. Losing some chiclets is nasty, but probably not a career ender. There's just something extra cheap about kneeing.

Agreed. As long as this is Holland's lowest priority and he's content to pick up guys off the scrap heap in the off season, they are not going to be able to do all those things.

I must be becoming a grit slappy, because I got excited just to see he's 6'2" and 200 lbs. It's hard to know who's going to develop into an NHL caliber player, but it's nice not to have to wonder right out of the gate if their talent can overcome lack of size to compete at that level.

I sure don't think he can. To call him a marginal hockey player is giving him the benefit of the doubt. He was a -12 last season playing 6 minutes a game in 57 games. At his best he's reckless, at his worst he's dirty. Sure he's a giant who can beat the snot of the people, but he can't really play hockey. I'm all for getting someone who can fight, but this is overshooting the mark. Perry would never fight Boogaard. Neither would 90% of the league. Maybe Getzlaf would, but it would be a stupid move on his part. Getting Getzlaf off the ice for 5 minutes and Boogaard off the ice too is a win win. This knee on knee makes Laraque's look subtle.

Agreed. I mean, there's no denying he's a good defenseman. though I thought he was overrated in his last few seasons, particularly this past one, because of his smoooooth skating. I liked him in Jersey, but maybe partly because I didn't see him play a lot. As captain of the Ducks, he really did jerk his team around. Retirement is a tough decision, but he put them in an even tougher spot. then crap like the flying elbow doesn't help.

What does this question have to do with Scott Niedermayer?

Dino's stick incident and off ice incidents are what kept him out for so long, but the guy deserves to be in. They just had to let those memories fade a bit I guess, or hold him out as punishment or something.

Definitely. And that team had great size too. Shanny, Fedorov, Mac, Fetisov, Sandstrom, Dandenault, Pushor, Homer, Ward, Murphy, Eriksson, Kocur. All those guys were at least 6 feet tall and over 200 lbs.

It'd be nice if Holland would go out and get a guy who can play the game a bit and also drop the gloves, rather than pick up someone who gets minimal minutes and will only play 40 games a year. But that will cost some precious cap money and possibly personnel. It's better than nothing I guess, but it'd be great to have a player like that around for a few years rather than this token effort Holland makes in the off season to pick someone up off the scrap heap.

I wasn't implying somehow that the Wings would've beaten the Hawks or anything. I simply meant that the teams never even played one another in the playoffs, so how is it rubbing the Cup win in Detroit's face any more than any other team? Detroit wasn't the last Stanley Cup champion, they didn't meet the Hawks in the playoffs. Like I said, if it were San Jose or Philly, the could be seen as rubbing it in.

Hawks didn't even play the Wings this playoffs, so how is this rubbing it in our face? Playing Philly for the banner raising game would be rubbing it in a team's face.

Good point. That's addition by subtraction right there. The loss of Lillypads is the only one that gives me pause, depending on who fills his role and which Ericsson shows up this season.

I don't know much about Konopka, but I don't think you can call him one of the best faceoff men in the league. Yes he was 62%, but that was on a total of 462 faceoffs. Compared to Lecavalier taking 1449 and Stamkos taking 1004. He must be pretty good at faceoffs, but if he were a specialist, I'm guessing they'd have him out there taking more draws. All that being said, I'd love for the Wings to add some sandpaper.

I'm all for getting rid of the instigator, but I don't think it'll have a lot of impact on headshots. It probably requires an immediate call on the ice, but more importantly a league review to try and determine if it was just a mis-timed hit, or headhunting. Then a suspension based on that determination. The problem is that as long as Campbell is the one reviewing these hits, the suspensions will continue to be a total joke. Any new rule without getting rid of Campbell won't be very effective.

In short, I think this contract is in the ballpark for Bert. It's up to him to see if it works out to be a great deal or a mistake. He certainly has the potential to score goals, make plays, and knock guys around. I'd be okay with the penalties he takes if it was for being physical and not taking his hand off the stick and grabbing a guy.

Malts has been a warrior for the Wings, so it's hard to imagine him playing somewhere else. But honestly at this point what does he provide that makes it worth not signing either Miller or Eaves?

I think more than anything it's poor word choice by Khan in saying "contemplating" because that can imply a likelihood that it's going to happen. The actual quote from holland just doesn't say anything that outrageous: “One guy we have to make a decision on is Kirk Maltby,” Holland said. “I like Maltby. He’s been a warrior. I think he’s got some hockey left in him.” Maltby is a warrior and does have some hockey left in him. Just probably not in Detroit.

Not sure if you're kidding, but it's a 2-year deal. So that's the total for the whole contract, not each year. The cap hit is $1.9375 mill per year. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=5294853

Agreed. I wish he'd remember how f-ing big he is and start playing like it. 6'3" and 230 lbs, and Darren Helm hits harder than him. If he uses his size more and stops taking stupid offensive zone penalties while maintaining his current level of play otherwise, I'll be ecstatic with this deal.

Makes sense that Stevie took the Tampa deal. 5 years is a long time to wait around for the job he wants a crack at, assuming he was even next in line. Let him learn on the job there and take over for Holland in 5.

It's not so much that, as I realize the Hawks winning the Stanley Cup was the latest hockey related event. It's the tone that makes them sour grapes. Toews most undeserving Conn Smythe winner? did the Hawks get lucky? making fun of Chicago police, etc. And ssshhhh! don't jinx the lack of Crosby threads here.

I prefer to call him Fugly. Yes I'd take him, but not at 3 mill. But then Chicago has been throwing money around like they forgot there was a salary cap.

Ok, now the Hawks obsession is getting to be a bit much. (8 Hawks related threads on the first page). The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. The Wings did not. Everything's still going to be okay. Though that is freakin hilarious.

is number two that he skates like Bambi?

Exactly. For $7.9 Mill, I bet the Hawks were hoping for more than 3 goals out of him. Luckily they had enough talent to make up for it. I'm sure they were hoping he'd be top 5 on the team in points and goals in the playoffs. He was neither.