daniel1

Hopefully Burke is held accountable for the team's failures and is fired. That might shut the windbag up for a while at the very least. Maybe Edmonton will offer him a scouting job when he's let go lol.

Thanx so much for posting this and taking the time to put the link to the video on here as well. Those of us in Canada really miss out on these Detroit Fox Sports things as we cannot "legally" subscribe to that channel. While we can see the Fox coverage of Red Wings games via the Center Ice package sometimes, we miss out on all the pre and post game extras as well as features like this one. Anything else like this that you can provide links to or videos of is very much appreciated as this site is really our only access to Fox features and extras on the Wings. :beerbuddy:

Dale McCourt, Joe Murphy, Brian Lawton, Alexandre Daigle, and Patrick Stefan.... all "great" kids taken at the top of the draft that never lived up to expectations. There are no sure things in the world of nhl drafting. If Toronto rushes the prospect or fails to provide adequate support for him then having those high draft picks may not mean all that much. Kinda reminds me about a story involving some chickens and how you shouldn't count them before they hatch

That has sort of been Toronto's strategy over the past 20 seasons or so... and it hasn't gotten them very far during that time span so I'm not really sure it isn't time to rethink the "losing today=winning tomorrow" strategy. Then again if hockey geniuses like Harold Ballard and Cliff Fletcher think it's the best way to run a franchise then who am I to argue

What do you mean SECOND nhl team? I wasn't even aware they had 1...

Look - it's the new third jerseys for the Phoenix Hamsters. That has to be closest likeness to a hamster ever to appear on an NHL jersey, all it needs is a wheel to run around in and it would be complete.

Lebda sucked the big one all game, I thought he would be of more value due to his speed but he handles the puck like it was a hand grenade with the pin pulled out. He let Burrows right by him on that overtime goal and had some other miscues in the third period as well. He finished the game at -2 and should sit for a game or two while Babs gives Meech a shot at the 3rd pairing with Lillypads. I hate losing to the Canucks so I'm venting here but I would still sit Lebda for a while even if I wasn't still mad.

There's nothing sadder than a past-his-prime pro athlete who can't admit it's time for the curtain to close on a stellar career. I remember one very funny post game interview from HNIC several years ago when Brian Bellows was making a "comeback" from retirement. They aired a clip from earlier in Brian's career that clearly showed Brian to be bald as an eagle then cut back to the current interview where he's sporting a shiny new head of hair (piece). Even the announcer couldn't keep his eyes off Brian's new wig and Brian was obviously a little embarrassed about wearing a hairpiece for an interview right after he got off the ice. I couldn't help but wonder if he wore the darn thing under his helmet for the whole game? Must have been itchy scratchy by the second or third shift that's for sure. Shanny should pull the plug and say thanx for the memories; who does he think he is anyway? Chelios?? lol

From what I've seen so far in the first three games Hudler gets pushed off the puck easier than my Grandmother. I think he excels on the PP and limited 4th line duty.

I wouldn't want to remove Sammy but I like the idea of waving Maltby and replacing him with Helm. Sammy is versatile and gives us another point man on the PP, he's defensively responsible and generates a lot of shots which leads to rebounds and scoring opportunities. He also performed fairly well in last years playoffs and I think he's well worth his paltry salary too. Maltby is signed for next year too and there's no way I would want him taking up a roster spot this year AND next year when there appears to be so much more talent coming up that is younger/faster/cheaper and can contribute on the score board more often than Malts can at this stage in his career. I know he's been a Wing like "forever" but all good things come to an end. We have plenty of penalty killers (Cleary, Draper, Z, Dats, Franzen, Filpulla, Helm) to replace him as that is really the only thing he does well anymore. I would take Helm this year and waive Maltby.

Ah yes, the highly anticipated birth of the "Newfinland" line, lol.

Every year at the trade deadline Holland has to balance giving his team the best shot at winning the cup vs. not selling too much of the future so that we can't be competitive in subsequent years. I think it's most amazing that Holland managed to KEEP Dats, Z, Franzen, Filppula, Hudler and Kronwall when many, many, teams inquired about each of them at some point in their development and Holland resisted the urge to package them up around the time Yzerman and Shanahan were nearing the end of their tenure here. for one last "run" at the cup before Stevie was finished. He easily could have got several established vets near the end of their career at the trade deadline for a number of years if he had been willing to package up a Datsyuk with a Kronwall for example in a deal. My biggest compliment towards Mr. Holland is not so much for the trades he's made as it is for having the restraint and self control to NOT make the trades that would have seen us part with Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Filppula, Kronwall, Hudler, etc when we as fans still questioned their value and they as players hadn't proven themselves yet. If parting with Matthias is the worst Kenny has done while keeping all the aforementioned guys as well as being able to add Stuart and Hossa then I think it's rather unanimous that he's the best GM in the league. Let's keep those Cups coming our way Kenny!

Well not to rain on your parade, but what happens when Gonchar/Whitney come back? Then Shero is in the same boat as Burke is now. I doubt Pitts wants to give up much for Schneids either as the last time they tried that it came back to bite them in the arse. I seem to remember a wee bit of hard feelings when a certain player Pitts acquired in a costly trade decided to sign with Detroit so I doubt they would be willing to offer Burke much for Schneids and seeing as how St. Louis looks like they have to replace Johnson maybe they would be willing to offer more. I wouldn't be surprised to see nobody really want Schneids right now either though as he is expensive and nearly 40. I would assume lots of teams want to see what they have on their own team before they look to pull the trigger on a 5.6mil acquisition. I'd love to see Burke get his ass fired over this mess, lol.

Don't worry about it; it happens to me a thousand times a day... and that was just yesterday's total lol.

Hmm, I found some info on this on this site - http://proicehockey.about.com/od/learntheg..._salary_cap.htm It would appear that since Schneids was over 35 that in fact his salary WOULD be counted against the cap regardless if he's sent down, retires, or as NN said; "dies". It seems that the Ducks would evade $100,000 if it but not the rest. I can't vouch for how accurate this site is but it does provide some hope that uncle Burke can't dodge the bullet quite so easily after all. Here's hoping nobody deals with him and he's stuck with Schneids for the year. The 35-and-Older Clause: * When a player aged 35 or older signs a multi-year contract, his average salary is counted against the team's salary cap during every year of the contract, even if the player retires before the contract is up. * If the player is sent to the minor leagues, his cap hit is reduced by $100,000.

Ah the complexities of the cba; good thing the Wings have capologists cause if I was in charge of the math we'd be eternally screwed, lol. Well this must mean that if they send Schneids down that his salary will not count against their cap then? Anyone?.... Beuller?.... Beuller?....

Yep, seems to me you're correct about this one; unless he had signed a two-way contract there's not much the Quackers can do to get his salary off the books now except hope someone wants him. Unless Burke finds another "semi-retirement" loophole in the CBA Schneider has to be traded in order to shed his salary. Speaking of overpaid washed up salary cap drags; whatever happened to Kasparitis? Didn't someone pay him an ungodly salary to play in the minors for his last year or so? Did that count against the cap or was that in the pre-cap era?

That's Burke-o-logical. You just know that somewhere up in oil country Kevin Lowe is leering down at the flaming orange ball of cap misery in California that is the Burke-o-lantern while wheezing out the words "Excellent Smithers, excellent..."

I'm really not sure how much the Quackers have to shed in salary in order to sign Selanne. According to nhlnumbers.com they are only over by 1.3mil but according to nhlscap.com they are 3mil over. If indeed it is 3mil that they are over and Schnieds clears waivers and is then claimed on the way back up I think they are responsible for half his salary still. If that half counts against the cap then they are STILL over and can't sign Teemu which would force them to trade/waive someone else to get under by enough to add his 500k and be under the cap for the start of the season. I would love to see the rest of the NHL stick it to Burke and simply refuse to deal with him at all. This might give Toronto an indication of what's in store for them if they hire this meatball.

If they're 422G over and Selanne signs for 550G then they need to clear at least about 1mil off the books. Who do you think is going to help Burke out by taking a lower tier guy off his hands when everyone wants the roster spots to evaluate their own prospects at this time of year, not the Ducks Discards. About the only two guys with real trade value that aren't "untouchable" on the Ducks roster are Pahlsson and Beauchemin and if Burke gets rid of them so he can sign his sweetie Selanne then he's a bigger idiot than I previously thought. That Andy MacDonald trade had to be one of the worst ones in recent memory... Doug Weight?.... more like dead weight. Maybe Burke should phone up his buddy Lowe and ask him if Penner is available straight up for Getzlaf? (cause we all know he'll never get over it). That would be about the same rate of return he got for Andy Mac. If the league makes Giggy the Michelin Man deflate his bomb-proof equipment by a few inches and the Ducks don't get some help scoring goals from somebody (Bobby Ryan maybe?) they'll be hard pressed to even make the playoffs this year. So I guess I would say "yes", you're being a wee bit optimistic.

I just finished watching the Detroit vs Atlanta game at the Traverse City prospects tournament and I must say that the Wings should have won this one too as they outplayed Atlanta and were on the wrong end of a couple lucky bounces and a (no surprise) bad call by the ref as well. Larsson played quite well other than two gaffs. He let in a weak bouncer shot from just over the red line that took a rather crazy sideways/high hop and found the net as it bounced in front of him. In the shootout he let one squeak by him that he stopped, but didn't get all of it and it trickled over the line. Abdelkader actually won the game for us (if the refs had a clue or net cam/video replay). Abby made a strong drive to the net with the puck on his backhand and cut across the front and put the puck in. On the continuation of the play however as the Atlanta defenseman pushed Abby into the net it came off the post and the ref blew the whistle. The ref actually had to get the puck OUT of the net as it had cleary crossed the line, but of course with no net cam/replay to tell if it crossed before the net came off the ref signaled no goal and the game went into overtime. We get screwed by the refs even in the pre-pre season Individually the boys that stood out were Emmerton, Abdelkader, Ritola and Mursak. Abby played a very physical game but he made the odd mistake and could use some work on his lateral movement and acceleration. He does show a "big game" mentality though and saved his best for the third period when it was tied. Ritola showed some good finesse skills and his shootout move was pure Datsyukian, right down to putting the biscuit in the basket too. Emmerton impressed me with his quick release and accurate shot (he scored on a beauty half-slapper off a rush), he likes to carry the puck quite a bit and looked quite comfortable doing it too. Mursak looked very smooth, good passes and puck skills but I don't think he threw a check the whole game so it would be nice to see him get on the body a bit more. I wasn't very impressed with Kindl though; he turned it over quite a bit and didn't seem very comfortable out there. Based on his play that game I don't think he'll be challenging for a spot with the big club for at least a year or so which isn't a bad thing as we're pretty well set for this year and maybe even next year as well which will give him time to develop before he's counted on for big minutes in the show. On the whole I think there's a lot of reason for optimism from what I saw in the game. Take away that gawd-awful bouncer from center on Larsson and count Abby's power move goal and we win the game. I thought we carried the play for the most part too and outshot/outchanced Atlanta. The bronze medal game will be televised on the NHL network this week too and the baby Wings will be in it so if you're jonesing for hockey it's not bad for a start. The camera work and picture quality is of course below HNIC regular season games but it's better than some local feeds (*Nashville*) that I've seen. The highlight of the game for me might have been the extended interview of Ken Holland that occured in-game. His insights were really neat to listen to and while he didn't give away any secrets or say anything new it was still quite interesting.

I seriously wonder if other GM's are not having anything to do with Burke because he's such an ass. Maybe he doesn't want Shneids to go to a contender either.

Good blog, he seems like a very talented humble young man who's performance so far in the Tourney has been great. Hopefully he provides some behind the scenes info and views on our other prospects as well. McCollum's Blog

Maybe. But in the case of Kwame, I believe he is MUCH more corrupt than you or I; unless you happen to be a member of a mob family.

Cause he's never scored more than 15 goals in a season.