haroldsnepsts

I think it's funny so many people are getting bent out of shape over this. It looks like there's been virtually no change made to the jersey. Half the perceived differences could be just how it's positioned in the photo compared to the old ones. The only thing that really looks different is the color, which I hope is just poor picture quality.

I never thought Holland would sign Asham. Still, I would've rather had Asham at $700,000 than Drake at $550,000.

He did. But in Nick's case it's different because he's 37. So a 10 year contract has him playing until he's 47. Highly unlikely. Whereas DiPietro is 25 (and I still think it's a ridiculous contract). So if the Wings offer a 10 year contract to Nick at much lower pay for the last 5 years, I think the league would catch on that they were trying to pull a fast one and reduce the cap hit.

exactly. And it's not like he spent his whole career with the Red Wings either. I think he coached in Montreal for about as long, and won 5 Cups there. He was a huge part of Detroit's success, but I don't see it as some kind of insult if he chose to work somewhere else.

I'm not 100% on this, but I thought the NHLPA and the NHL both had to approve a player's contract. Which would prevent things like the Wings trying to sign him for an unrealistically long time like 10 years to try and reduce the cap hit. Because as you say, the odds of him playing more than a few years are pretty low. And the league won't let them sign for that long knowing he's almost certainly going to retire before then. Overall, I'm not too worried about it. I think Nick will play for a discount, but I'm betting it's not going to be nearly as big a discount as many here would want.

I'm not sure how big of a role Scotty is in day to day operations with the Wings, so it's hard to tell how big of a loss this would be. If they gave him the control he'd need, it would be cool to see Toronto turned into a respectable organization once again.

Realistically in a few years he's still going to be one of the best defenders in the league (he just won his 5th Norris trophy at 37 years old). I can't see the NHLPA approving a contract where he signs for $1.5 mill a year, even if Nick wanted to. Especially if the cap keeps going up. It obviously depends on the length that they signed him for, but a more realistic option would be that he signs a few mill under the league max. As I've said before. He's not only one of the best at his position, he's also a workhorse. He plays almost 30 minutes a game and 80+ games a season. All at the highest level. Though anything short of him signing for a mill a year, I'm sure there will be people here who will think he's greedy and should've given up the millions of dollars he's worth so the Wings could get other players. EDITED for typos and to reduce general crankiness of the post.

Replacing Niedermayer with Schneider I understand. Assuming he's retiring (which it sounded like at the time) that's a big hole in the blueline and Mathieu was available. But signing Bert for $4 million before you have Penner locked up is the part I don't get. Either Burke knows something about Penner the rest of the hockey world doesn't, or he was blinded by his man love for Bertuzzi. I hope Bertuzzi is a washout so I can laugh about how Burke screwed himself by raiding other team's UFA's. Along the same lines, I hope Penner lights it up in Edmonton.

like who? yeah, teams no longer carry giants like that. *cough* boogaard *cough* Sure some marginal guys have gone, but with the exception of the Red Wings, teams haven't gotten smaller. I'd bet that the league average is still at least 6'1 and 200+ lbs. From 2005, as in the "New NHL." So Weiss isn't terribly undersized, but he's still not what the Wings need. Especially for what they would have to give up since he's an RFA.

I've heard about these things called "libraries" or something to like that. Rumor has it they let you borrow books for a while, as long as you promise to give them back. And best of all it's free! Or you can buy 'em used online from Powells.com. You can get books pretty cheap there (and it's recycling too, but I know as a conservative you probably prefer to burn them after you've read them). Right now I'm reading "Terrorist" by Updike. Mainly because I'm a liberal so I love terrorists.

and he's making the claim about 10 minutes before the rest of the world finds out. His "inside source" was probably the poll on TSN.ca.

exactly. i can't see him matching, because he has other talented young players to sign in the next couple years.

It's pretty much a lose-lose for Burke, unless Penner becomes a washout in the next few seasons. Otherwise he loses a big talented young player, or he overpays to keep that player. i love it.

exactly. And as an RFA, he'd cost us picks too. Yes it is. In 2003 the average size in the NHL was 6'1" and 200 lbs. And I'm guessing it's only gotten bigger since then. Just to get a fuller picture of Weiss, he's been pretty injury prone in his brief NHL career. He seems like a good player, but not one we need, especially since he's an RFA. The Wings will have no problems making the playoffs. As Crymson pointed out, they're not really in need of an undersized center. They need a big scoring winger.

It's obviously a combination of a lot of factors, but I think team personality is definitely one of them. Over the last several years, the Red Wings organization didn't have to do much to reach out to fans because they were still coasting on the Cup wins and personality of guys like Mac, Shanny, and Stevie. This was a major turnover year for the Wings. I remember reading a Buccigross playoff prediction, and he said the Wings were talented but not that easy to root for because they have no personality. I was annoyed at first, but realized he was right. This playoffs they helped forge an identity, but they're still not a very distinct, identifiable team. It's not surprising that the Red Wings had to make a renewed effort to reach out to fans.

my only problem is because people keep posting his crap in this forum. there'll be some thread about a trade or a deal in the works, and inevitably in the post it will say "I know it's Eklund, but..." if people would keep it to the rumors forum where it belongs, I could care less because I'd never have to wade through his idiotic rumours. Its hard to believe the guy even watches hockey based on some of the things he posts. But if he can get suckers to read his site, and even pay for it, more power to him.

I'm all for being an agitator, as long as it's to your opponent and not your teammates.

In Avery's case, at least in the past, it absolutely worked against him. He's tenacious, gritty, can score, will drop the gloves. Unfortunately because of his personality he has also been a major distraction to the teams he's been on. He takes bad penalties. He whines. He's said some incredibly stupid things in the press. He's been fined for diving. As much as we make fun of Floppa around here, he's nowhere near the flopper Avery is. I'd love Avery if he could keep his trap shut a little more often and prove himself as more of a team guy. Seems like he's on that road in New York, I was just making the point that I'm not totally convinced he's turned it around.

Whatever this dude's real name is, he's just some idiot who knows less about hockey than most of the people on this site. Yet somehow people continue to listen to the garbage he spews...

They'd have to teach him how to skate with a puck on his stick first. My guess is he'll stick to running at everything not wearing a Pred's jersey (at the cost of defensive responsibility), with the occasional cheapshot and his old standby the mugging fight technique (having the gloves off and throwing at least three punches before your opponent even knows you want to fight him).

Honestly I'd probably rather have Drake at bargain basement prices than pay $1.9 million for Avery. I'm not completely sold on his transformation from the immature ass he used to be.

Still, having over half your team to either be re-signed or replaced is a pretty big deal in my opinion. That's a lot of turnover or re-signings all happening at once.

I don't think they're really in trouble until the 09/10 season when they have 14 UFAs. That should be an interesting year for Burke. http://www.nhlnumbers.com/ana.html

I remember that. I'm pretty sure Veileux got pissed and ended up taking a penalty.

I looked into it a little, and testing in baseball has gotten better but still sounds like a joke. They had no steriod policy up until 2002? and then had anonymous testing until 2004? Even now, the punishments aren't that severe. a 10 day suspension for a first time positive?! A cyclist gets a two-year ban for testing positive for doping. And to clarify Lance Armstrongs career pre-cancer, a decent analogy would be to compare it to running track. Pre-cancer he was the equivalent of a mile or two-mile runner. That was what his focus and objectives were, and he was among the best in the world at it. After cancer, he wanted to win the biggest cycling race in the world, the Tour de France, and essentially became the equivalent of a marathon runner who focuses only on the boston marathon. All year every year, every single step in training and competing is geared towards winning that one race. So it's not that he was a middle of the pack rider pre-cancer. There's different kinds of races, and Tour was not the one he really focused on. And the seven years that Lance was winning the Tour were among the cleanest the race has seen in years. there was a massive doping scandal the year before he won his first Tour. There was another one the year after he retired. And now there's been another one this year.