Dabura

Has this been confirmed? If it's true, the Kings can go f*** themselves. That's just outrageous. Like Agalloch said above, Kenny might as well get off the Blake train altogether and go for someone who would actually be worth breaking the bank for, e.g. Hossa, Sundin. Then again, Atlanta and Toronto -- hell, any team with high-profile trade bait -- could use Blake's asking price as justification for charging ungodly amounts for their stars. Thanks, L.A. Thanks a lot.

Ha, exactly what I was going to say.

No Forsberg. Please, God, no Forsberg.

Secretly, I just like his boyish good looks.

Vernon ftw.

Kronwall is the very definition of injury-prone; he's prone to injury, as his track record shows. It's frustrating -- he's been shaping up, but this is looking very much like a career-long curse.

Getzlaf singlehandedly raped our d-zone on more than one occasion last season. Point being, these Ducks are not a favorable matchup for these Wings. I'd feel a lot more confident with the likes of Blake/Foote and Sundin/Hossa in our ranks.

edit - double

And these aren't even postseason injuries. I have no confidence he could make it through a deep run.

Thornton =/= Zetterberg Thronton's situation =/= Zetterberg's situation Bruins =/=Wings

The Wings are built on a loyal, familial dynamic. Hank is the future of the Wings, and is already one of the top players in the league, period. Hank has said he doesn't want to go anywhere else. Do the math.

KH: Hank, your back spasms are getting kinda annoying, so we're gonna shop you around. HZ: Mmkay.

I think it's an exaggeration to say the NHL was always being "bombarded with negatives." If anything, it was apathy, not malice, that "hurt" hockey on ESPN. And it's not like you can really blame the network; before the lockout, NHL hockey was really boring -- even for loyal hockey fans, I'd say. And it still kind of is, albeit less so. Personally, I'd be in favor of a fresh start. That is, an overhaul of the on-ice product and a new contract with ESPN to reflect a "new league."

Bulls***. He's a professional athlete with a responsibility to his team. He knows what he's doing, and it's something you simply don't do when you are, like he is, a professional athlete with a responsibility to your team.

IMO, being lost on ESPN is better than being a fixture on Versus. True, the NHL was always sort of "the bastard child" on ESPN -- and that would never change. But regardless of this, games were still being televised on what is the leading sports network and probably one of the five most popular & ubiquitous channels on television. No offense to Versus, but it simply can't provide that kind of exposure. And, as Chelly more or less explained, that's one of the fundamental building blocks the league needs right now if it's going to have any chance of strengthening its flimsy stateside foothold.

Zetterberg won't be traded. Zetterberg won't be traded. Zetterberg won't be traded.

Ducks, Wings -- take your pick. One of these two teams will make it to the SCF.

Meanwhile, you can learn the difference between "due" and "do."

The Ducks never fail to make me sick.

Our offensive pool is short on big bodies and goal-scorers -- hell, our roster is short on those! Hossa will most likely be too expensive, but the Wings do genuinely need that kind of package. We're pretty deep on defense, though. As for Howard...I haven't been following his progress closely, but I'm guessing Kenny will give him at least one season as the starter before freaking. Ozzie's re-emergence provides some unexpected flexibility there.

Hossa is known for being extremely difficult to get off the puck. But mostly I prefer him because of his age; he's only now heading into his prime. Lucky is the team that locks him up long-term.

Hossa is preferable, no question.

He may have the raw skills, but he'll more than likely need time to adjust to the NHL and to the Wings' system before spending time in the top-6 -- especially if we pick up someone like Hossa.

Fourth-line duty, methinks.

Neither would I, personally. I suppose my scenario is a little too steep, but considering the Leafs have been talking about repairing their image and rebuilding their team, I've got to think they know they'll look like morons if they let Sundin go for a reasonable price. Unreasonable is what they'll be looking for, imo.