Heroes of Hockeytown

Miller doin' work.

Hello, Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland...

Maybe each of my fingers is an undulating shrimp! It's a world of possibilities.

I was mostly kidding. However, I have watched enough football (and sport in general) in my day to know that obvious expectations and predictions are often incongruent with reality. And by that I mean that the Pack are clearly going 1-15.

Tsk tsk, such hubris! This is how a great team approaches dissolution. The bigger they are the harder they fall! Etc, etc.

They left a few points on the board with the dropped TD, and I thought they got conservative a drive too early, but it worked out. Pick six was also fluky. Stafford and CJ were awesome, can't wait to see more of those two tearing it up. Dream on, Lions fans.

Not always the measure of a man's effectiveness; he had four assists in as many games. He was very good, especially considering he was a banged up 40 year old.

I'm not sure if it's true anymore (if not then he's certainly still near the top), but since the lockout he leads the league in playoff goals and points. EDIT: After some more research I'm fairly confident that he's still number one in both categories. Hank is narrowly ahead of Danny Briere, with 94 points to Briere's 93. If Hank is anything, he's The Determinator. He'll win the game! That's what he does! That's ALL he does! You can't stop him!

It's that time again! Junior League World Series Team Taiwan Super Wonderful Happy Picture Hour! International Pool Championship Edition! Taiwan won 3-2 in 10 innings to advance to the JLWS Finals against Florida! Aren't you excited?! The pitcher; he went the distance until he hit the mandated 90 pitch limit. His replacement; this guy is all finesse and was dropping change-ups onto a bewildered Venezuela team all throughout extra innings. Also set up the game-winning run. The boss little man on the left is all heart, and with plenty of clutchness to spare. He started Taiwan's 10th inning hit parade that won the game.

I disagree with this, in fact there are cases where it appears to be extremely unequal, but I also think that it doesn't really matter. If you get all the lucky breaks and win, you still win; if all the bounces go against you and you lose, you still haven't accomplished what you wanted. But it also doesn't mean you can't be successful with that lineup. If two teams are evenly matched one will still lose. Although I also agree that the Wings were outplayed and got what they deserved especially in Games 1 and 2 last season. And in general didn't get enough scoring from their secondary guys while the Sharks did.

Don't know what Nashville was thinking here. They were never going to get anywhere near the number they wanted; $4.75M is a joke.

Well just by looking at a lot of guys stat sheets their best year was in 2006. Some guys that are relative nobodies like Jarret Stoll or Ales Kotalik never got close to the numbers they put up in that year. But other guys with good reputations like Eric Staal also scored way more than they ever did again. And then there are one year wonders like Brian Gionta. Funny though, that some guys that it seems obvious they would've benefited heavily from that year actually had big time down years, like Marty St Louis and Jarome Iginla.

That was a weird year for hockey. The new rules created all kinds of crazy performances that were never seen from again.

Not much else to say than what was said when Ozzie called it a day. These are the guys that helped make the Red Wings what they are today. Much respect to Draper, and happy trails.

Variance, chance, luck. Whatever you wanna call it, you have it when you win, you don't when you lose.

It is happiness with the birthday that I have for you.

To Be Determined. With the cap space left over he can make any move he wants at the trade deadline, assuming he's okay with dealing assets. Or with the Rafalski space added to what will probably be Lidstrom's space next offseason, he has a truly enormous amount of room to sign anyone and everyone as replacements. What he does next year will impact what I think about his moves (or lack thereof) this year.

"Decline" is relative. The Wings are in the enviable position of having an owner that is always willing to spend up to the cap, while many teams aren't so lucky. The success Holland and the scouting staff have had is also notable, but also more subject to deviation. Money doesn't always equal success, and you never know when you'll hit a patch of bad luck (Lidstrom retiring certainly qualifies), but until the rest of the league gets on Ilitch's level there will always be an unequal footing for the Wings to take advantage of.

As much as anyone ever was, Chris Osgood is The Consummate Red Wing. Anyone that can remember all the time he put in with this organization, through the highs and lows, especially winning Cups, and especially after being dumped and coming back undeterred and winning another, knows what this guy means to the Winged Wheel. Farewell and bon voyage, old buddy.

I don't know about that, but he's definitely going to be around longer.

And also Ryan Callahan. My memory is fuzzy, don't RFAs that have their arbitration awards accepted become UFA after their one/two year deals end?

And all he did was lead (or tie for the lead) in team playoff scoring for the next two seasons, and come through in the clutch in his third playoff season as a Wing. I will never let anyone believe that Robert Lang was anything but a positive force for the Red Wings during his time here. Welcome to sports man. Nothing guarantees anything.

The idea is he's supposed to retire before then. But if he hangs on for a little too long then signing a guy like Richards would just add to the problem. Having three guys on long contracts eating a bunch of cap space and using roster spots but not contributing up to their cap hits would be a huge drain on the team. He's lazy during the season but he still scored 30 goals. He was hurt in the playoffs so he couldn't continue his run of three straight years at or above PPG; I forgive him.

I can't say I know that much about White, but it doesn't seem like with his addition and Rafalski's absence that the Wings are a better team than last year. But, the critical difference, the Wings have tons and tons of cap space this year where they never normally do. They will be able to do whatever they want at the trade deadline. I have a feeling this team is still some months in the making...

Woooow that's a lot for ol' Ville.