Feldmarschall

Tampa sells their asses off and are still losing money. It's rotten management, not lack of fan support. No need to move the team. New ownership has the pieces to make it a money-earning enterprise.

Rolston > Feds, at this point. Still, Minnesota should make the playoffs again, and thus they will not let him go. Assuming he has another season like his last one, they'd be stupid not to re-up him for another year, at least.

Entirely correct, but Sammy is not as positionally solid 5v5 and as fast two ways as Cleary has become, who in the playoffs put up points in all situations including three short-handed, and had a slightly better +/- in the regular season. Plus, the statistics are more flattering to Sammy than I think he deserves. The difference in regular season scoring is almost negligible, and just watching games, it seemed to me that Cleary was a better overall player most of the time. I think it'd be more sound to have the superior defensive player with the two Russians, given that Grigs will most probably make mistakes early in his North American career. Samuelsson is best left with second or third line even strength icetime but a nice share of power play time, particularly as a #4 blueline shooter behind Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Kronwall, or as a mid-slot/circle sniper if he plays up front. We've seen him do reasonably well in either spot. At any rate, given Babcock's willingness to toy with line combos and swap Cleary, Sammy, Franzen, and Flip around as needed, we'll most likely see both players used in a variety of roles if Zetterberg and Datsyuk are split up.

I'd rather see Cleary up top than Sammy. It all depends on whether or not he keeps up the pace he established in the playoffs. Dan Cleary in his top form is definitely a top-six forward on this team.

Sport Stop, I believe the place is called.

Wow, Veileux got a penalty after that? Now there's some antagonizing.

Smyth is a solid locker room presence and a much better two-way player than Homer, though it pains me to say it. They're both physically potent and both benefit from an excellent work ethic, but Smyth is more complete.

This may just be a marketing thing by his agent. The fact that it went public was probably their way of getting any interested NHL teams to up the ante.

This guy put up good points playing third-fiddle to Drury and Briere. With them gone, he's going to be their top offensive pivot, and the signs are there that he can and will put up solid numbers if he can stay healthy. This deal has the potential to work out as a bargain, but it'd have made a lot more sense for the Sabres to have locked him down for a shorter term to see if he can haul the extra weight. If last season proves to be a statistical anomaly, they're boned.

I have a bit of a problem with the whole thing in that I can't even name three players from either the Lions, Tigers, OR Pistons respective rosters. No kidding. I'd have to wiki it, particularly the Lions, for whom I cannot name a single player. The popularity of a crappy football team is actually pretty astonishing. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't figure anyone in Michigan really gave much of a damn about the Lions aside from occasionally making fun of them. I never hear anything about them at work, though football in general runs the day. Really, other sports hold no appeal for me whatsoever. I've sampled baseball, basketball, football, golf, NASCAR, MMA, and boxing. Simply put, nothing compares to hockey, so for me, the Wings have and always will matter the most.

Sweet!

Their GM is counting on Dennis Seidenberg to fill the hole Hutchinson left. Good luck with that.

If it isn't the Rags, it could very well end up being the Pens. Soooo many bandwagoners.

Columbus, Edmonton, Phoenix, NYI, Washington, and Chicago are all perennial contenders and I expect them to reside at the bottom for most of the season. L.A. and Philly should both do better given their offseason moves and other improvements via either prospect improvement or coaching. Florida I think should do rather well. They've got some solid young talent growing nicely, and they've added more secondary scoring so it's not just the Olli Jokinen show. Add a proven goaltender (Vokoun) and maybe a shutdown forward or two, and they've got a solid team.

I've got some CCM E60 skates that were originally retailing at $400 but I acquired at Perani's for $100. They've been the best skates I've ever had. Totally bulletproof, plenty of protection, and extremely comfortable. All of my other equipment has been budget-based, so I have no brand loyalty. I find whatever's cheap at Perani's and nab it. Nike gloves and helmet, and a whole variety of stuff for the remaining equipment. None of it has really let me down, and I play twice weekly. I've had generally positive experiences with a TPS shaft I purchased. It's gone through hell. I'm well into the double-digits for blades, and it's marked and scarred all over, but still totally straight and strong. It also came cheap because the factory sent it out with cosmetic issues, some surface glue or something.

Drop-in sucks. People hog icetime, or it's either over or understaffed with respect to players. Actual men's leagues are where it's at. Smaller teams, more consistency, reffing, real game environment. I've been in beer leagues since I stopped playing youth hockey, and I've had a lot of fun with it. Made some decent friends, too.

On the contrary. We play these guys eight times a year. We care about them quite a lot. Also, I like the commentary from guys like drsingle here, because he represents a good smart HOCKEY fan just as much as a Preds fan, and we should respect that.

I think it's time for scouts and fans alike to re-evaluate Kronwall's potential. It's not as a #2 or #3 guy. He's a solid #4 when healthy, and that means we should keep Markov. As it stands, we've got two solid all-around non-physical defensemen and then a large gap from Rafalski's talent down to Kronwall/Lebda/Lilja/Chelios. Markov helped fill that gap with smart defensive play and some physicality. I'm happy that we're still in the market for him. I think he's quietly useful and effective, and helps Lids bring out the best of his offensive game.

Regular party pooper.

Bring back Cheveldae!

It'd be nice, but they're probably in the same boat we are. How to replace the scoring? When Kovalev is on, he's one of the best in the NHL, always has been. Expect them to want a more considerable return than a pick.

Cleary nearly took his head off. Bert bodyslammed him. Either way, bad day for Dion. As for the forward thing... Yes, we've lost our whole second line. But it was a garbage second line anyway, because it failed to produce whenever our first line wasn't firing on all cylinders, and that's what a good second line should do. Either way, the money is short and we're faced with one real option; We have potential second-line scorers IN our organization right now, and we have to make sure they score accordingly. Cleary, Franzen, Hudler, and Filppula can and will pick up the slack lost with Lang, and then some. Be cool. Our guys may not have the big sexy names, but they're world-class hockey players and they will do their job.

They won't let Getzlaf go. Not unless at the expiry of a contract he asks for league max. He's young, big, and an extremely proficient hockey player.

If Lilja played to his full potential all the time, Brett Lebda would be the #7 guy. Since Lilja can't seem to put together a coherent season's worth of physical play, Lebda still wins the usefulness department.

Damn... Wish I was still out there.