Feldmarschall

Hudler and Grigs will most likely not make the top six right out of camp. Hudler because Babcock doesn't like giving him a lot of even strength icetime, and Grigs because he's got a lot of work to do adapting to the NA game and won't perform at his best just yet. Rather, you'll see our top wingers most likely consist of Flip, Franzen, Homer, Cleary, Sammy, and whomever else isn't in Babcock's doghouse at the time. While there are no big-name offensive threats there, Homer, Cleary and Sammy all put up fine points last year, and I expect Flip and Hudler to crank up a few more as well, given additional icetime. I don't think our offensive situation is particularly bad right now, but it could certainly stand for improvement.

Kudos to Buffalo for at least having the smarts and balls to build an organization like that in the first place. It very nearly worked out for them in a big way. Too bad they couldn't keep it together.

Pretty solid AHL numbers, he should do OK down there.

I don't think Buffalo CAN match that, can they? Not without drastically hurting their ability to continue restock talent lost with Drury and Briere. Edmonton certainly has not made any new friends today.

He'd have to sign with Detroit first. Only then would Anaheim take him.

Berkhoel's NHL stats may be misleading. He might just suck, but keep in mind that he earned those games during Atlanta's revolving door goaltending f***up during which they used some crazy number of goaltenders. I think the final number was five or six. Shields, Dunham, Berkhoel, Lehtonen and Garnett? I figure he came in unprepared and prematurely. He couldn't be expected to perform well.

Wow, I'm guilty of not having kept up with our minors situation. I have to second the question, why is Koopmans done? Looking into it, I suppose it has to be injury related. Was it the groin? Berkhoel would presumably pair up well with Howard and perhaps this Pelletier kid we're picking up can sit in the ECHL and develop, so it does indeed seem more likely.

Berkhoel is a minor league goaltender roughly analogous to what Joey MacD was for us. Brad Ference is a borderline defenseman that hasn't had a consistent NHL job since 03-04, with Phoenix. He does have exactly 250 NHL games under his belt. He's a mean low-skill stay-at-home defenseman. Seems pretty unlikely that we've picked up Berkhoel. I can't see a solid reason for it, given the presence of Howard et al in the system. Ference is slightly more likely as a banging #7 guy, but that would imply that the #6 spot is now Lilja's permanently, because we'd most likely be done acquiring defensemen. This would leave a significant gap between our #2 guy in Rafalski and everyone else on the roster. We'd have two really solid defenseman followed by a gaggle of low-end guys rounded out with a 45 year old and an underachieving Swede that can't stay healthy. Needless to say, I'm hoping this is false.

That report is very old. Having watched Zubrus on and off for a couple of seasons, I'm usually impressed by his foot speed and work ethic.

Hamrlik was gone hours ago, friend. Link I'm rooting for Zubrus as our forward, and somebody big and mean on the back end.

Expect Kenny to at least consider the option, if we can't get Bert, to provide additional scoring on the power play. Otherwise I wouldn't necessarily count on it. Flip should do a fine job on the #2 unit given some decent wingers, and I believe the organization has made it clear, that is their plan.

I believe Zubrus can pull more than $2mil, he had a hell of a season.

Touche.

Personally, no issues. But I bet if you asked Babs, he'd have Hudler on the fourth line.

My parents put skates and gear on me at age four, and I always kept with it. I played youth, then house leagues in Waterford and the Flint area until age fifteen or so. My high school didn't have a team, so it was my only option. I got disenfranchised with the entire thing and stopped playing, which I still consider the biggest mistake I've ever made. I never took hockey very seriously. At seventeen I graduated and went out to Ferris. Living across the street from the arena was just too much, so I geared up and started skating drop-in and adult leagues. Ultimately I was on the ice four times a week. Since I returned home, I've been playing one or two nights a week in beer leagues, where I get to be the young fast guy on the team. I miss full-contact stuff, but hockey is hockey and I will play until I am physically unable to continue. I just wish I was as dedicated as a kid as I am now.

Very true. Maybe it was guilt over how he shafted us that made their GM want to take Williams off the Wings roster.

Damn, man. The day that guy's worth a second-round pick... Yikes.

Holland is on record as having said that he will continue to re-sign Chelios to one-year deals until Cheli retires or Ken is fired. He apparently wasn't kidding.

I don't see this great deal of potential people usually talk about with respect to Kronwall. Even Lilja's sorry giveaway-prone ass managed to outplay him defensively in the regular season, and he tends to become completely invisible offensively as well. Were it not for the blocked shots, constant injuries, and occasional big hits, I'd forget he was even out there. The contract is looking like a mistake so far, and a trade would be nice if this trend continues next year. Nobody will want him, though. I'd love to be wrong, of course, but maybe after all these excellent scouting and contract decisions from the front office, the Wings were due for a mistake. Either way, it's a moot point. Kronwall will be here for a while, for better or worse. We can only hope for the former.

Hey hey, I caught it!

His name is Mikael Samuelsson. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You're completely correct, a sniper to offset all of our setup guys would be excellent. Here's hoping we get one with some of the Lang money.

Probably the best misspelling I've ever seen.

He is an excellent goaltender, but as others have pointed out, he has some severe drawbacks. His lateral mobility is below average, and he actually tends to leave a ton of rebounds, in my opinion. Kudos to the Ducks D for cutting passing lanes and clearing rebounds quickly. If they were a bit smaller, a bit slower, a bit less capable, Giguere might not fit at all with that team.

Now children, control yourselves.

Whatever the quote may be, that is DEFINITELY a pain train party.