Heroes of Hockeytown

Holland did explicitly say that he and Hank worked together to get a cap friendly number down, as the greatest Wings of the past have. Some reporter tried his best to make Hank uneasy by mentioning how the deal seems lucrative now, but down the road might be less so, but for one, seventy-two million dollars is still going be a ton of money in a decade, and Hank himself said he was happy with it even with potential uncertainty.

Look at it this way, $6M is definitely underpaid for a player of Hank's caliber heading into the prime of his career. But it will probably be overpaying for him at the twilight of his playing days; so it all balances out, but because of the way it averages against the cap, the Wings are getting (relatively) huge amounts of cap relief to the tune of $1M+ every year. This is extremely clever cap management by Kenny, I'm very impressed by this deal and how it works out so magnificently for all parties.

Wow, that's a friggin' steal. Holland is a genius and (the not once but future Captain) Zetterberg is the man in Detroit for life. $6M cap hit? Unbelievable. I get it that he's obviously signing for peace of mind as much as $$$ -- he'll never have to worry that he's not getting paid ever again. Love it, love it to death. Happy you're staying home, Hank.

As best I can tell, there's nothing in writing anywhere about this rule, apparently being more or less a "gentlemen's agreement" between the GMs and League. With that being said, I think it's Holland and the Red Wings' duty to politely blow them off and ice Nick and Pavel anyways. What are they gonna do about it?

That is pure invention.

I think it was Jimmy Johnson that offered the words of wisdom, "I'll stop trying to score when they do."

It's all semantics. Whether or not it violates the letter of the rule it obviously doesn't violate the spirit of the rule, which is what's important. Who cares about some dumb loophole.

Honestly, they ought to have sacked up and flown out to Montreal to chill for the weekend. But imposing a rule that makes ducking out on a exhibition game carry penalties against games during the season was a bad idea.

I am tired of seeing this point. To Datsyuk, much love, but tough nuggets. You signed before your breakout season, you don't get paid the extra $400-500,000 that Hank might get for signing after his Conn Smythe season. Thems the breaks.

I've never seen anyone able to dominate the game the way Fedorov used to, except for Mario, which is pretty damn good company to keep, and Mario isn't within a thousand miles of Fedorov defensively. Datsyuk is shiftier and has better moves, but Fedorov was way faster and had a harder shot, and more of a disposition to drive to the net and shoot. His ability to take over a game, like I said above, was nearly unparalleled. I realize there's no stat that measures "game-breaker" ability, but if there was Fedorov would be on the top. With all that said, Pavel is a close second. That electricity you feel when Pavel is taking the puck up ice is the same as Sergei's -- that inevitability that when he has the puck, something good is about to happen. Pavel's attitude and commitment throughout the season is unquestionably better, but I can't overlook Sergei's sheer domination of the whole ice surface when it really mattered.

:lol: Your mastery of the English language is unequaled.

The next time you see someone spend 30 seconds in a corner getting hacked, whacked, and chopped to death by the defense to try and get the ball back in football, basketball, or baseball, I'll yield to this argument.

Well, I had the misfortune of missing this one, and I was baffled seeing the boxscore this morning but equally (and pleasantly) surprised to not see threads calling for the dismantling of the team in light of their unheard of two game losing streak.

The Wings could only be so lucky to play this historic(maybe?) match up in the esteemed and venerable Jobing.com Arena. Yes, the very same Jobing.com Arena that houses the formidable Wayne Gretzky and some other hockey players. Yea verily, Jobing.com Arena. J-j-jobing.com Arena, yessiree.

No, I'd say that's quite the definition of an enforcer, playing few minutes. But I'll be perfectly honest with you, I completely forgot Mac was even on this team, it's been so long since we've seen or heard of him. When I read "enforcer" my mind saw "Downey," so you'll have to forgive me for that.

Sup dressing enforcers in the playoffs.

I know, he barely creates anything on the power play. What are we paying this guy for?!

The salary cap. The same cap which will have its importance expire just in time for the playoffs, much like enforcers. Downey would certainly make more impact than Kopecky at this point, but the cap makes it a non-issue. The Wings have managed to stay on top of the league without an enforcer, and something tells me they will continue to survive and carry on into the playoffs.

What a fanciful definition you've invented.

Yeah, you're onto something there, Doc. Goalies should never be fair game, but skaters have a right to the ice outside of the crease. If a goalie comes out to make a save and a player is in his way and they collide? So be it. By that same token, if a goalie comes out to make a save and someone obviously makes no attempt to avoid him and they collide... that's got to be a penalty. I'm pretty sure this is basically how it's supposed to be right now, in fact, but it's a frustratingly fine line, and the referees have to make judgments on stuff like this in a split second.

I'd love to see this guy put up with the intense physical regimen it takes to be any kind professional athlete and then come back and say it's for *******.

We should also deal Datsyuk/Hudler/Zetterberg/Lidstrom while their value is still high. That's just basic economics right there.

Yeah, you're right. If the two weren't so completely worthless and forgettable I'd have mentioned them. Once the trade deadline has passed the roster restrictions are lifted and once the playoffs start the salaries are paid and the cap is a non-issue, so whatever problems they're having now with bringing in guys and injury replacements from the minors, they won't when it matters. I think a lot of people use any criticism of a player to make sarcastic remarks about trading players, and there are always a few wackos proposing outlandish trades, but it's been much better here than in seasons past.

Uh, not to head you off at the pass here, but do we really? I'm going to disagree with you on that one. To further undermine you like a dick (sorry! ) I'd put it at about 0% that anyone on this roster is going to be traded. It's been a long time since the Wings moved someone on their active roster at the deadline (Chelios for Eriksson I think), and it's not about to start with the Cup winning roster.

That the Sharks won because they like to hit? As opposed to them using their speed to exploit the Wings poor positioning at the end and shaky goaltending. No, I think I was quite on the mark. Manhandled? Come off it. The Wings went toe to toe with them physically and on the scoreboard.