haroldsnepsts

How is points per minute a truly accurate stat, particularly when dealing with a player not seeing much ice time? By that measure Hudler should be the star of the team and making more than Dats and Z combined. If you read my original post, you'll see I specified I was talking about last season. Potential doesn't mean jack. It's what they did on the ice. Why do you think Babcock gave Lang those minutes and not Flip? because Lang makes more money? No. Because he was a skilled veteran who gave the team a better chance to win. As I've said a million times now, it was time for Lang to go. I agree that Lang is on the decline. And I think Flip has a lot of potential, but let's be realistic. Last season Lang was the better player. And I hope that Holland picks up someone to improve that second line.

If you're looking for a singular scapegoat, you could just as easily go with Dats for the bad interference penalty at the end of the third period (that led to the tying goal).

Nevermind. misread your post. thought you said Lang was brought here to be a physical checking presence.

Yup. Lang. Or were you saying that a kid who scored 10 goals and 7 assists is better than Lang who scored 19 goals and 33 assists and was +12, just because he looked like he was working harder? Flip has a lot of potential and can hopefully help fill the second line role, but if we're talking about last season here, Lang was better.

That's my point. The only time Eklund is right is when he posts a signing an hour or less before it's on a legit site. That's very different from talking about a potential signing or trade days in advance and then having it happen. Eklund can beat out TSN because he doesn't have to verify sources or vet his facts before he posts them. EDIT: And I understand they're only rumors that he's posting. But for the trade rumors he posts to have any value, shouldn't they occasionally be right?

once again? when else has he been right on a prediction made more than an hour before it's on TSN?

I highly doubt we would've gotten Nieminen for as cheap. Drake hits as hard, and he will actually drop the gloves. Age isn't really an issue because this isn't a long term signing. We've already got Maltby, we don't need another agitator who won't back up 99% of his actions. Besides, Matlby is tame compared to the garbage that Vile pulls.

Is that amount confirmed? If so, I definitely like this signing. The Wings got nastier to play against, and for cheap. Hopefully Drake can keep his elbows down this season and stay healthy.

I'm a little closer to Bowman's opinion of him in my assessment. I like his work ethic and the way he throws his weight around, but as you mentioned, the guy makes some incredibly stupid decisions. What's the status of his wrist injury?

I think it's funny how after his hit on Lebda he's a dirtbag and one of the dirtiest players in the league. Now that the Wings sign him, he's a great gritty addition to the team. Typical bi-polar behavior here at LGW. It'll be nice to have some more toughness out there, but this hardly addresses the Wings biggest problem, which is their second line scoring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-vo1OVYcyY there used to be a good clip of Yzerman and Cheli getting into it too (when Cheli was still a Hawk), but I couldn't find it anymore.

You're right. Abdelkader isn't what the Wings need right now. Which is fine because he's not playing for the Wings yet. Most teams don't draft for their immediate needs, because other than a handful of players, most picks won't be in the NHL for at least a couple seasons. It's not like Holland drafted a small skill center. Assuming it's two or three seasons before he's in the lineup full time with the Wings, that's when Draper will be 39 and Maltby 37. And Maltby's already on the decline. It's not like Abdelkader has turned out to be a washout in the NHL while Statsny and Latendresse are studs. They're further ahead in development. The jury is still out on the the Wings choice.

I will definitely be disappointed if Holland let Lang go (which I think was the right move) only to replace him with Yashin.

In retrospect, ouch. There's cases like that virtually every year in the draft because developing hockey players are such a crapshoot. I remember people here wanting Latendresse, but I don't think anyone really thought Stastny would do this well this fast (hence his being drafted 44th overall).

boy are you a high roller! I know. It seems like Jersey has always had a hard time getting fans to the games, no matter how good they are. And as much fun as it is to bash Nashville's attendance, there's two other markets there with pretty good teams who drew less fans. True. Though I think Minnesota's game is at least as dull, but they manage great attendance.

I was looking for some info on him and found the clip of his game winner with 18.9 secs left. http://www.detroithockey.net/multimedia/981.php And a hard working goal in the CCHA championship game. http://www.detroithockey.net/multimedia/813.php And wasn't Abdelkader the one people here were complaining about, because they thought the Wings should've taken someone else instead of him??

Jeez. Look at the attendance for the Islanders and New Jersey. You'd think they had garbage teams last season.

I agree that Shanny is not the same physical guy he was 10 years ago, but he will drop them on occasion (like when Brashear elbowed Jagr). And that's still more than anyone else on the current Wings roster except maybe Lilja. Lilja is the most likely on the team to drop the gloves and go after somebody. Think about that. Maybe Shanny would be inspired by how all the Wings played this past postseason and start throwing his weight around again. And I am definitely starting to grasp at straws because the 2nd line is not looking terribly impressive. The Wings need size and they need scoring. Like I said, on paper he's what the team needs. That being said, I don't know how I'd feel about him coming back. But I think it's all academic anyway. As for Yashin, lets's see. Good size, uses it and his reach to be hard to knock off the puck, questionable work ethic, defensively not great. He's a perfect fit to center the second line. It'd be just like old times, other than Lang actually did produce in the playoffs. I guess there's the off chance Yashin could get his act together in Detroit, but I don't see him getting along with Babcock. He could sit on the bench right next to Hudler.

Exactly. Lebda's not exactly a top two defenseman but his speed helps break the trap and create odd man rushes. This past season I saw the Wings running several set plays from their own end using Lebda and Kronwall to beat the trap.

Honestly on paper Shanny is a lot of what the Wings need. He's old but big, will drop the gloves from time to time and throw his weight around (though not nearly as much as he used to), and is a great sniper. I never thought I'd want to take a step backward and bring Shanny back to the Wings, but looking at the current lineup, they could use him. I wonder if Holland is even looking at him. No matter though. I can't see him ever coming back.

Wait a second. People pay money to read Eklund's crap???

e1 = Such a stupid rumor Eklund himself doesn't even believe it e2 = rumor where his dog is the source e3 = something he pulled out of his ass e4 = Eklund's nephew made this trade on his Playstation and it sounded interesting e5 = tiny chance it might be true, but probably not. Basically the only time Eklund is ever right is when he talks about someone signing an hour or less before it's on legit sites like TSN. 99.999% of his rumors are not true. 75% are friggin idiotic if you know anything about hockey. People claim he's broken some stories, but I've not seen it happen once, other than like I mentioned, when it's just before it hits legit sites like TSN where they can't really afford to be wrong all of the time like Eklund and have to actually check facts and verify sources. If you're bored sometime, you can scan back through this forum and see just how many Eklund rumors have actually come true.

So shouldn't this be in the B.S. forum?

I hear you. But the reality is if they got together, Drapes is about the only one who's still playing close to his old self.

I'm all for adding toughness, but Darren McCarty is no longer the same player he was during the Cup years in Detroit.