Heaton

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Posts posted by Heaton

  2. Posted · Report reply

    That's one big hiccup.

    Actually, I don't really want Stuart traded, but I love how that one poster always complains about people wanting to trade a guy with a no-trade clause. :D

    I do, however, wish that Stuart would act more like a 6'2 Western Canadian defenseman, and actually drop the damn gloves. We don't need a Chris Therien on our team.

    Agreed. We need a consistenly solid defensemen with good positioning that chips in offensively and makes players accountable with punishing hits which in turn causes players to play more cautiously coming over the blue line.

    Hopefully Stuart does that all season this year as we need him on the ice since Rafalski and Lidstrom won't be playing as much during the year.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I'm fine with keeping Stuart-- he's a valuable player. Just don't let him stall Ericsson's development. If Ericsson continues to play like a top 4 d-man you can bet Stuart will play on the 3rd pairing until a spot opens up, because the Wings' brass is very interested in Big E maintaining his level of development into a top pairing d-man. His development is far more valuable to this team long-term.

    Lidstrom - Rafalski

    Kronwall - Stuart

    Kindl - Ericsson

    With Lidstrom and Rafalski getting less ice time there will be more than enough for Ericsson.

    Even at 18 minutes a night he can play in all situations and continue developing. Lilja was playing ~16 minutes as a 3rd pairing guy with a ton of PK icetime. Reduce Lidstrom and Rafalski's icetime down another few to 22 minutes and keep the 2nd pairing around the same and Ericsson could get close to 20 every night.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Detroit 5-0 up in the 3rd with 10 minutes to go. Then there is every chance one of those guys will be out on the ice at the same time as Dats.

    Times like that, the powerplay doesnt work as en enforcer. (Not making this an enforcer debate, anyone but Heaton who replies to this I'll ignore)

    Anytime a super heavyweight goes after a skill guy is a very rare occurrence. You don't see Laraque or a Boogaard taking runs at undeserving players very often at all.

    Now if we're talking about Carcillo or Lappy or May or Hinote etc... then I think the point would make more sense.

    Regardless, Datsyuk doesn't get caught in positions to get hit by very many people so I'm not worried about any of the smart players on the Wings.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Ding ding ding!

    Pavel's no dummy. Ironically, also invited to the summer camp were, Georges Laraque, Eric Godard, Mitch Fritz, and Cam Janssen.

    Skacore, we did too get protection for Pavel! We signed Eaves, duhhhh....

    Tonight against Philly may be a rough day for the Wings, keep their heads up.

    Why would he worry about guys that will never be on the ice when he is?

  9. Posted · Report reply

    I agree with this, and that's why I think adding one more guy (Prospal) is so important. It'd give the third line a look of Leino-Helm-Homer/Cleary. While the line isn't the best offensive threat, it's still a decent one. I'm holding out for this Prospal thing big time. It'd put me at total ease until the season starts.

    They'll add another guy who can put up 40 pts. The question is whether the fans will like the name or not.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Are players not allowed to sign contracts unless they have a 100% clean bill of health after a physical? Or could it be possible that Chitown knew about the injury but wanted to sign him anyway. Even if he still is out the first half of the season, he's got 1..5 years left on his contract to make it worthwhile.

    I have no idea. All I know is that you have to pass a physical for a trade to go through and I imagine it's the same for a Free Agency signing though it could be different. If you're signing a guy to a 12 year deal you'd think they'd want him to pass a physical first. If he has a torn rotator cuff he ain't passing anything.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    If I may play devil's advocate for a second....

    I think Hossa was unfairly singled out by alot of people on here. On the other hand, that doesn't erase the fact that Hossa was one of the players did not step up when we needed him to. As far as the injury, I don't think there's enough evidence out there either way to say it had an effect.

    Agreed.

    Not sure who blamed the loss solely on Hossa but he's not without blame. Dude scored 40 goals in the regular season and only managed to score 6 in the playoffs. And those 6 were only in 3 games.

    If he was injured, that's unfortunate. But he was healthy enough to continue playing and healthy enough to escape any injury report in or after the playoffs. He also passed a physical.

    Wait until the full story comes out to start the gotcha's.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I disagree. To be considered a Power forward, you must either fight occasionally (on purpose) or at least be able to handle yourself. cleary, maybe. Franzen? Hell no. Nash and Cleary don't seek out rough stuff, but they doesn't cower away like a child either.

    Neither does Franzen as much as you want to believe otherwise. Franzen is always in the middle of it around the net, just because he doesn't get 5 minute majors once every few years like Nash doesn't mean he's 'cowering away like a child'.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    I think Nash is a PF. He's got everything, the skill, the points, the size, the attitude, the willingness and ability to fight when it's the right thing to do.

    Cue up the vid of Rick Nash engaging Jim Vensermeer, and then Johan Franzen and Jim Vandermeer. The difference in the player's attitudes should be clear.

    "I LOL'd"

    :) So did I.

    If Rick Nash is a powerforward, Dan Cleary and Johan Franzen are.

    In reality the players who are and should be considered powerforwards today don't really fight that much mainly because they're not as valuable being in the box for 5 or more minutes a night.

    Rick Nash has had 3 NHL fights in his career and was outhit by Franzen and Cleary by 20 and 30+ hits each respectfully (the NHL hit stat is subjective but it gives an indication)

    To me, a powerforward today is the type of player who can score goals, take hits, give hits and keep going while chargning the net and using their body to protect the puck. It's a lot broader than the days of Shanahan but definitions change through the years.

    The oldschool powerforwards meaning elite talent coupled with physical play and fights are reserved to few mainly Morrow and Iginla.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Sorry, but why? The guy played what, half a dozen games last season? Fact is the Wings wasted $1M in cap space last year on him and Downey (because of their age, their NHL salary still counts against the cap, despite being on a 2 way contract).

    If they want to give him a contract with the Griffins, fantastic. Let him teach the young 'uns the Wings way, and what NOT to do, but the guy is, sadly, not an NHL player any more :(

    Use the money to sign a guy who can fight AND still play in the NHL.

    Gee, we value loyalty more than ability to perform.

    I stand to be corrected, but I'm sure I remember reading that Downey still counted against the cap. Lord knows there were enough threads about the cap last September.

    No, because players over 35, even if on a 2-way contract still count against the cap (see Sytemfel above stating McCarty cost us $420k)

    Nope. Only 1 way deals for players over 35 count against the cap regardless. There's a reason why you pay two different salaries for a two-way deal. Even if it did count against the cap it would be a maximum of 75k which is a fraction of the lowest allowable salary in the NHL.

    Like the article says, McCarty would play in Grand Rapids next year. Not taking up a roster or cap space. I fail to see a downside.