haroldsnepsts

He owns a home there and his family is there. More money. Stanley Cup contender. So you've got cash, living with your family, and still a great team with a very good chance at winning the Cup. Is that so hard to understand? There's the best answer. (below)

It's unrealistic to think he'd take the contract he had last year. He was a big risk to sign as the number one. After a healthy year and good performance, he's less of a risk. The thing is, I still don't think there's many teams that would be terribly interested in Dom, and the Wings don't seem to have any other realistic plans for goaltending. Neither one has any other great options. So what's the friggin holdup? I'd be happy with Dom signing for under $2 mill, then incentives based on health & playoffs.

It is a little surprising he still hasn't signed. How far apart could they possibly be?? Dom played great for us last season, but hopefully he also remembers that if Kenny hadn't picked up the phone, he probably wouldn't have been playing in the NHL last year.

Agreed. I haven't gotten to see Rafalski play much as of late, but think he's overall a better defenseman than Mathieu. So for half a mill more and 5 years younger, this is still a decent deal, which only gets better and better as the contract goes on. (Whereas Schneider at 5.5 for 2 years would only get worse).

examples please.

I'm a little surprised at the length of the contract, but that seems to be what all the players want this season. I would definitely call this an upgrade over Schneider. younger, more solid defensively, same offensive production, and a hometown boy to boot.

Assuming this means Niedermayer is retiring, the Ducks just overpaid for a downgrade in their defense. (Matheiu will make just $1.25 mill less than Niedermayer and $1 mill less than Pronger) And the Wings didn't overpay to keep Schneider here. All in all I'm pretty happy about it. Time for some younger guys to fill the defense corps.

Not so much clever as true. Yes, that's exactly what I was saying, Wings fans shouldn't cheer when their team scores a goal. As I said, the guy's family is in L.A., he got more money, and he's got a great chance at winning the Cup next season. All pretty damn good reasons for leaving. Heaven forbid anyone dare to leave the classiest, best team in the NHL. It's outright insult to Steve Yzerman, Gordie Howe, all ten Stanley Cups, and hockey in general... Booing pronger because he tried to put his elbow through the back of Holmstrom's head I'm all in favor, but booing someone just because they left the Wings is childish. jilted girlfriend is really the most appropriate analogy I can think of.

Because the Wings are like The Firm. No one ever leaves. At least until the fans turn on you and decide you suck, then they can't ship you out of town fast enough.

Ummm, because it's a game? Because Schneider probably has other considerations in his life other than upsetting a bunch of fans who act like jilted girlfriends any time a player signs with another team? Mathieu signed for more money than he would've gotten with Detroit on a team with a great chance to win the Stanley Cup. That bastard! What could he possibly have been thinking?! EDIT: And as someone mentioned, his family is in L.A. So let's see, more money, great chance at winning the Cup, close to your family... what a dick.

Has Teemu said he's coming back next year? I figured he was the most likely Duck to retire.

Wondering how long it will take until the Schneider bashing really kicks in...

It's gotta mean Niedermayer is hanging em up. Otherwise they've got 19 million tied up with Pronger, Scott, and Giguere, and then 5.5 on Matheiu. 24.5 mill on 4 guys?

Wow. I wouldn't have guessed him going to the Ducks. Sounds like Niedermayer is retiring.

exactly. I hope Holland has a backup plan, because if Dom doesn't sign, the Wings put themselves in a terrible position.

Dude I hope you're kidding.

It was his 7th year in the postseason.

I'm honestly a little surprised we haven't signed Hasek. I figured Schneider would test free agency, and Bert wants a longer term contract than Holland wants to offer at the moment. But I really thought he'd have a deal worked out with Dom by now.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. what distortion of reality? First of all, those weren't my pics, I was merely referring to the post that used them. and the whole point is that they've grown over the years, so I'm not sure what your point is. Players are faster and stronger, but what does that have to do with oversize goalie equipment? The point was that goalie equipment has gotten ridiculously large over the years. Those pictures sure seem to show an example of that. And if you read my post, which I'm not sure you did, you'd see I said you were right that goalies are much better than they used to be? They saw the problem and corrected it? What was the problem they corrected? I seriously don't understand your post, but thanks for telling me I'm in denial. explain yourself better and i'd gladly continue this discussion. And my post had nothing to do with Giguere specifically. It's a widespread problem. Hell even Dom's pads are huge when you consider how scrawny he actually is. who dramatically shrank the equipment? The current NHL rulebook still allows for a catching glove that has a perimeter of 48 inches. 4 friggiin feet around! They could definitely reduce the size of the glove, without risking any safety to the goaltender, including the ridiculously wide wrist protection. They shrank the leg pads by what, an inch? Again, I don't understand your point. No one is arguing that goaltending is an important skill. What the hell does that have to do with pad size? Reducing the pad size will only reveal the truly great goaltenders among the average goalies with giant pads.

You're absolutely right that goaltenders are much more skilled than used to be. But the size of their pads has grown along with their talent. Improved technology made the pads lighter and more resistant to absorbing water, so goalies could wear larger equipment without having to lift all those extra pounds. Those picture of Roy are a great representation of the change.

I agree with that. But best pure defender of all time? no.

I don't think there's any question of him entering it either. I'm just not sure he should've gotten in on his first go round considering the other candidates. The only statement you made above that I take issue with is best pure defender of all time. Even as a defensive defenseman, if that were true he would've picked up a Norris somewhere in his 20 year career. (I think he was runner up a couple times)

If you look around at goalie equipment stores and online, you'll see a lot of phrases like "oversized" and "extra wide" in the description. The equipment companies are following the lead of what most goalies want - the biggest legal equipment they can get away with. stopping a bullet and stopping a puck are two different purposes, but I do agree that the technology exists to protect a goalie with equipment that is much closer in size to the older style. And attempts to justify the larger pads with how much harder shots are today is a load of crap. Al Iafrate, Al MacInnis, and several other players had cannons of shots, and I don't seem to remember them killing anybody. Actually the only injuries I can think of from their shots involve equipment like masks and skates, and in one case a catching glove. Those tiny 1980s style chest protectors somehow managed to keep goalies from dying as a result of a MacInnis slapshot, and the technology has gotten so much better. The bottom line is they can make chest and arm protection smaller and still keep goalies safe.

They have a long way to go with reducing goalie pads before they need to do something as drastic as increasing the nets.

he was.