Heroes of Hockeytown

Defensemen made a killing today. Consider this: Nick Lidstrom makes only $1.2M more than Paul Martin, and Dan Hamhuis makes $750K more than Brad Stuart.

I don't at all, because leadership is not lacking at any level of the Wings' organization. With that said, I think he's still got some gas left in the tank and would easily improve the third line from being potentially centered by Abdelkader. Modano might be old but he is still a better offensive player. If the team decides to reconfigure itself and not use three scoring lines however, he would immediately become a waste. I would flat reject anything but a one year deal, and Drake has the right idea that a training camp invite is the way to go. If one of the kids knocks 'em dead he should get the spot ahead of old man Mike. If he's not agreeable to that than it's no big loss -- his presence or absence wouldn't make or break the Wings' season.

No, many arenas balance an NBA and NHL team. The Staples Center in LA is actually home to two NBA franchises in addition to the Kings.

And signed who? Maybe one of those free agent disasters I mentioned? If he puts in another season of play similar to 08 or 09, then yes. He wasn't that great last season but bear in mind neither was any Red Wing. If I'm going to cut Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom some slack because of injuries then Rafalski is getting the benefit of the doubt too. It was a lousy point then, because Rafalski was definitely a reason Detroit won that year.

Maybe, but the bottom line is he's not talented enough to crack Detroit's top 4, so if he wants an expanded role it will be with another team. Nothing wrong with that though, I wish him godspeed if he chooses to depart, which seems likely at this point.

You could say the same thing about most defensemen in comparison to Lidstrom, really. I know Rafalski is not a defensive stalwart but he still gives the Wings one of the best #1 defensive pairings in the NHL. What teams do you think can ice a better pairing than Lidstrom-Rafalski? Chicago (Keith-Seabrook) and Philadelphia (Pronger-Timmonen) I would certainly give you. After that, maybe Nashville (Weber-Suter)? LA possibly is upcoming with Doughty but I don't think he has a strong enough partner yet to be considered for one of the best pairings in the league. And compared to a lot of other free agent acquisitions intended to be a top pairing Dman, Rafalski is a wonder. See: Jay Bouwmeester, Brian Campbell, Wade Redden, Bryan McCabe, Sheldon Souray, Ed Jovanovski, Lubomir Visnovsky. I think your memory is a bit hazy then. Schneider was criticized for basically everything that Rafalski is now: being turnover prone and generally weak defensively. But Schneider is also older and more injury prone.

Jimmy is primarily the guy that has got to get better and could be a bigger difference maker if he does, but overall they were okay in the playoffs. A bounce here or there (or 5-on-3, or broken stick...) and things might be different. That's how it goes; win some, lose some. There's no need to blow up the team just because they couldn't manage to reach the Cup Finals for a third consecutive year. Those are unrealistic expectations no matter how you look at it.

I agree with this. If Flip can play as well as he did near the end of the season and in the playoffs all year; if Kronwall and Cleary can bounce back from some injuries; if Ericsson can pull his head out of his ass; if Jimmy avoids a sophomore slump (that's a big one); and everyone else that we know is great (Hank, Pav, Mule, Nick, etc) plays up to their ability, then the Wings will be one of the top teams in the league and legit Cup contenders again.

He had actually already won the Cup with Carolina before winning again in Chicago. If it impacted his hunger at all it would be difficult to define, because he contributed nearly the same scoring (little), hitting (decent), and shot blocking (none at all) in both playoff runs.

Printing this out now so we have a hard copy just in case.

Yes, that moved worked out very well for them.

The Islanders are still paying Alexei Yashin $2.2M/yr to not play for them.

It would be alright, but there are a few problems with it that I can see. He's making too much money to be tucked away on a third line, so that would kind of force the Wings' hand into playing Hank and Pav together (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but he has still always been the top center on his team and he wouldn't be in Detroit. He has done good work with less than optimal linemates, but I wonder how his production might change when his ice time (especially PP time) takes a hit. The Wings also continue to have an abundance of playmakers and a lack of finishers; I'd much rather have a goal-scoring winger than another playmaking center.

He's talking about .

Wow, I'm surprised that they finally gave Dino his due. Better late than never.

I realize now that it is hard for my brain to comprehend a schedule if it isn't laid out in a neat wallpaper calender format.

You probably thought that because he has won the Selke twice in his career and been a nominee a couple other times. The last couple years have been terribly unkind to Brind'Amour.

Flip looks ridiculous with those big shoulder pads and tiny neck. I'm afraid he might suffocate.

I don't know what his specific role was in LA (nor what criteria you use to decide what "counts" or not), but he was and obviously still is a top 4 defenseman that has had a tremendous impact on the team so it's all good from where I'm sitting.

Todd Bertuzzi (didn't work out that great), Brad Stuart (worked out pretty well).

Flip and Hudler are both good offensive players in different ways. Jiri has better vision, and in fact is a tremendous playmaker that I think is second to only Datsyuk on the team. He didn't win any genetic lottery which is why he does his best work on the power play where size and speed aren't an issue. He is much more decisive with the puck and a better shooter than Flip. Flip is a very good skater and that's why he is successful at even strength where he can do work in transition. This year's playoffs are a good example of that -- please recall him winning a footrace to the puck from Bert's aerial alley-oop to beat Bryz on a breakaway in Game 2, or how he used his speed to beat Keith Yandle to the outside and get off a shot in Game 7 that Bert collected the rebound on and scored. These are plays Hudler could never hope to make. Both are top six material but have happened to play on a deep team that has always had better options at their positions.

I don't know why owners buy teams if they aren't willing to spend money on them. Do they expect fans to buy tickets when they trade away good players from their playoff team and leave tons of cap space unused? Would be really tough to be a fan on a team that isn't even trying to win.

Unless he intends to make league minimum, I'm doubting a Poni sighting in Detroit.

Maybe, but then they wouldn't be getting paid that for long. Eaves in particular probably could notch 20 goals with Pav or Hank, but I think the line's scoring as a whole would suffer without a net-front type player. And then the only way to make that work would be to have like Homer and Eaves as its wingers, which is far from optimal.

The good thing about Cleary is he's extremely versatile. He can play on the top line, bottom line, PP, PK, against the opposition's top players, in the last minute of a close game. You mention Plekanec blueadams, but he's one of the top players available (just short of Kovalchuk and Marleau) in a very shallow free agent pool. Some team will overpay for him. And actually I don't know that there are many 70 point guys out there making around $4M after they go through free agency anyways.