Dabura

And?

I think we tear it up in the East. I'm very excited.

We need to score more goals. He's a goal-scorer. But, with Alfreddson and Weiss coming aboard (which - in addition to Abdelkader getting what will probably be a full season on the top line - should make our top six more dynamic), and with Tatar looking like the perfect Brunner replacement (if not upgrade).........

Kronwall + Girardi = Cup

1. Damien the Devil. Destiny. 2. I'm guessing he knows nothing about New Jersey, and only a bit more about the Devils organization. RIP, Brun-Brun. We barely knew ye.

I see my light come shining From the West unto the East Any day now, any day now I shall be released They say every man needs protection...

The East is silly. I've lived my whole life here, I know. You know me. I "hate" our team lots. However, even I have to say: this move to the EC may be the best thing that has ever happened, and will ever happen, to the Detroit Red Wings. There's a not-entirely-out-of-the-realm-of-possibility chance that we tear this conference a new U-KNOW-WUT right from the get-go - and never look back.

Can't remember if I posted in this thread or not. I'm seeing a lot of silliness, and asking-for-cosmic-beatdowns//platters of crow. Abby can't do this, Abby can't do that. No way he ever does this, no way he ever does that. Seriously? I mean, I totally get the beef people have with him on the top line. But I also totally get Babs' reasoning. We don't really need him to turn into an elite player or anything. He just needs to create time and space and opportunities for Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and chip in with some timely goals of his own. And if it doesn't work? We have options. Not as many as I'd like (or, I guess I'm referring more to quality than to quantity), but...*glares at Holland*. Anyway, point is, OH NOES! ABBY'S CONTRACT SAYS HE HAS TO PLAY ON THE FIRST LINE! SO IF THIS EXPERIMENT FAILS MISERABLY, WELL, BABS' HANDS ARE TIED! NOOOOOEESSSSS!

Ummmmm...Weiss is a center. And Alfredsson is a RW. Right? So... Zetterberg/Abdelkader - Datsyuk - Abdelkader/Zetterberg Franzen - Weiss - Alfredsson Yes?

But he makes a good point.

For the record, we're much better than the Senators.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2013/07/07/sp-nhl-friedman-daniel-alfredsson-ottawa-senators-negotiations.html Also, Cleary would most definitely give up #11.

Who's the scout who said Gustavsson would be a solid backup?

The "official story" there is, I think, that The Powers That Be have been consciously manipulating him in the hopes that they might get him to play out of his mind.

Anyone who thinks our blue line is "fine" is asking for some kind of cosmic beat-down. Our D overachieved last season. I pity the fool who counts on that happening again. What if we lose two key pieces for an extended period of time? What if Quincey and/or Kindl suck? What if Ericsson relapses? What if DeKeyser struggles mightily? What if Smith legally changes his middle name to Adventure? If we want to make a legitimate run for the Cup this season, we'd be wise to add a high-end piece to our D corps. Dan Girardi FTW.

Bold Flavor.

Honestly, I'm really happy we got Weiss. I probably would've preferred Lecavalier, but, like whitey said, his durability is a very serious issue. Besides, he made it pretty clear what his real priorities are, and winnng isn't among them. Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Abdelkader Franzen - Weiss - Alfredsson I'm all about hating on Holland, but, really, that's damn sexy. As for Brunner...meh. I was upset that we lost him, but, you know what? If losing a Damien Brunner is a huge blow to our Stanley Cup chances, we're in a lot of trouble. Plus, with Brunner and Nyquist and Tatar, we'd be beating the soft, smallish Euro thing past the point of death. And, knowing Babcock, he'd have them all pllaying in the bottom-six. So we'd get our asses kicked by Boston and cry.

Weiss > Filppula Alfredsson > Cleary Tatar = Brunner Helm > No Helm

1. All of Ottawa now hates the Detroit Red Wings. 1.5. I've always liked the Sens, so *fingers crossed* for a bitter rivalry. 2. Hello, Eastern Conference!

True story.

Not happy that we lost this guy. We have a scoring problem, and he scored for us. meh

I lurve this post.

I'm somewhat surprised by all the negativity here. I mean, I loathe Holland's veteran fetish as much as the next guy, but there's a lot to like about this deal. Or, ok, maybe not a lot, but it's not like this makes absolutely no sense and will only rob a kid of a spot and Dear-God-will-someone-please-think-of-the-children etc. He's coming here to win a Cup. He's Dallas Drake Version 2.0. Plus, I've gotta think this means Cleary is gone.

I can live with this.

Agreed. Unrelated (sort of) thought: Alfredsson knows the Eastern Conference as well as anyone. That's a plus.