daniel1

Robert Lang to Phoenix: contingent on him passing a physical on the doughnut tray.

$... and oh yea, then there's $, but seriously, most players go there for the $. Did you REALLY think there were other reasons???

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, I had Jeff Finger in my ear. So who's going to center him? He had Marc Savard most of the year in Boston, do the Leaf Blowers have anyone capable of setting him up? I don't get it - are you that starved for attention? You're obviously "Leaf-obsessed", but yet you choose to troll around on a Red Wings board, spouting off about how great the Leafs are, how great Burke is, how great the Leafs moves are (regardless of their blatent stupidity for years now) and then criticize others when they disagree with your "Leafs Rule" attitude. Do you really think we're all closet leafs fans that secretly hope the Leafs win? Take a look at the title at the top of the page - Let's Go WINGS", not Leafs you tool. Most of us that come here to read about the Wings hope that the Leafs bus goes off a cliff in northern Ontario.

Stupid Burke. Mortgage what little future Toronto was building to acquire a flaky locker room cancer who had his first (and probably only) decent season in the league. And WHO will be his centerman in "T'ranna" this year???? Sure as s*** won't be Marc Savard lol. This will be seen as a dumb move in a couple seasons and then it will be all Kessel's fault; when the blame should fall to Burke as the Leafs have to watch legit first liners snapped up by the Bruins for years to come at draft day with their picks.

... and in the cab... badda bing!

Um, like where exactly? Other than the beer leagues I don't think anyone will be beating down the door to sign him for an actual salary. If the KHL is willing to pay him anything over 200,000$ that's more than he'll make over here even if he happened by some miracle to catch on with an ECHL or IHL team. There wouldn't be many AHL teams looking to bring him in either as he's certainly no "prospect" at this stage of his career and bringing him in to mentor younger players wouldn't necessarily be a smart move either unless they're looking for advice on how to orchestrate an intervention lol. His days of being an enforcer on a team are over as he would get his ass handed to him by any of the legit enforcers on any AHL team, all of whom will be bigger, stronger and younger than Mac at this point. If the KHL wants to bring him in for name recognition value then by all means Mac should go for it. Hopefully he views it as an opportunity to travel and make some connections rather than a season long vodka road trip.

Well sure your line beats my line... you've got 3 guys on defense on your line!

Shanahan - Yzerman - Fedorov Lidstrom - Konstantinov They did play together, hence this is my all time "real" best line rather than a line that has players from different eras on it. As much as it would have been fun to see a Howe - Yzerman - Redmond line or something like that it's tough to compare players of different eras due to the style of the game and the players they played against.

Ah yes the Eddie the Eagle Soars as High As His Checkbook fiasco... how could us Manitoban's every forget the shame...

You mean... "as long as he didn't pick up two hookers as he was escorted out of the bar and have his girlfriend dump him the morning after he also punched a cabbie in the face over 20 cents and got indicted on the same night as he jumped a guy in the street from behind and broke his neck right before he wedged a pound of cocaine up his ass which spilled out on the metro po po when he was searched which led to him try to escape on a dog sled while crying "my back, my back!" only to stop during the attempted escape to help a player from the other team pick up his stick while he was jumping into a fancy-shmancy frilly-things store to smuggle a 200$ bathing suit out around his nuts and THEN drunk-dialed Kenny Holland to ask old Tick Tock why he has a thing for his "sloppy seconds" cause he spent last year romancing Mrs. Holland in the press box"... it's all good.

I tried that Google translate but it must be malfunctioning as it said Hudler was caught cheating on his girlfriend with Norrisnick and Eva Unit Zero.... I knew they had large man-crushes on the little fella and all, but that's taking hero worship a little too far!

I'm sure Jiri saw the contracts that guys like Z and Franzen got and said "hey, where's my long-term, multi-million dollar contract offer Kenny?". What he fails to grasp is that the Wings don't generally offer those kinds of deals to one-dimensional players who appear to lack heart, commitment and loyalty to the team. Hank and Mule are complete players, they can play defense and PK with the best in the league as well as chip in offensively. I don't remember seeing Jiri out for the PK too darned often during his time here in Detroit. Players like Cleary and Draper that lack Hudlers offensive talents made themselves more valuable to the team by becoming multi-faceted and showing heart and loyalty. Drapes and Cleary and others like Mule and Z are willing to sacrifice their body, forecheck, backcheck, and basically do whatever it takes to win. I never saw that level of commitment from Jiri; he could have paid more attention to the defensive side of the game, but maybe that would have been saddling himself with the "grand piano" which might have interfered with trying to pad his goal and assist totals. When the game was on line and the Wings really needed a goal, I never saw Jiri elevate his game or give that 110% effort the way you can SEE guys like Z and Helm do, especially in the playoffs. Darren Helm showed more heart and determination in the few games he's played with us than Jiri did in all the years he played here. I think there's a place in the NHL for the Hudlers, the Nedveds, the floaters who just don't see the value in backchecking or team defense, but that place isn't on the first line in Detroit while Babcock is coaching. Maybe Jiri should have asked Babs or Yzerman what he needed to do in order to elevate his game to the status of "first line player" rather than file for arbitration or run off to the KHL. I liked Hudler while he was here but I certainly wasn't brainwashed into thinking he was more important to the team than guys like Z, Mule or Cleary just because his "points per ice time" stat was good. It doesn't really help the team win if you score a goal but then lose your check or refuse to backcheck which leads to two goals by the other team. There is much more to a players value than just goals and assists divided by ice time; I never saw anything in Jiri that would make me want to offer him a super high, super long contract and obviously neither did Kenny Holland. Good luck in the KHL Jiri and maybe all these delusional morons and their calculators will follow you over there and compute your goal and assist totals down to the last second over there as well.

Not necessarily. If Lils comes back off the IR around Xmas or even later then his salary for this year would be pro-rated against the cap, meaning the actual number that would count against the cap would be half or less of his 1.25. At that time we simply trade/release/waive one of either Meech or Lebda and were fine with the cap. It might make the most sense to have Lils rest and get healthy until then anyways so we can evaluate Meech and Lebs while giving lots of ice time to Ericsson too, then we get a nice PK shot in the arm when/if Lils does return.

How true, Keenan probably mandated that all his players get at least 5PIM per night or there would be bag skating immediately after the game. He may be the one person that might be able to convince me to cheer for another team if he were to ever join the Wings. Keenan recently "won" a poll of NHL players for the coach they would least like to play for so at least I'm not alone in my opinion of him as a pure douchebag.

Oh give it a rest already! If you don't like Bert or don't like what he did then get off your high and mighty horse and either find another team to cheer for or just don't watch when Bert's on the ice. You can cover your eyes and sing till his shift is over whilst pretending that Bert is not a Red Wing. Just about everyone in the known universe is very tired of hearing about this. It happened - get over it.

Sure, why not? If Bert comes cheap then it's a one-year gamble for very little cabbage. Worst case scenario is that he gets injured and we plug Abby into more games. Bert does add some size on the forecheck, a definite net-presence, and a bit of snarl into an otherwise very snarl-less group of forwards. I think he'd do well (assuming healthy) in a third line role and occasional 2nd PP unit. If Homer or Mule goes down we have another big body with good hands to stand in front of the net. I think Bert can manage 20+ goals if he can stay healthy and play enough defense to get a regular shift. I'll be more than happy to see him take someone out if they cheap shot Pav or Z. I hear Bert has big man-crushes for talented, good-looking Swedes so let's put his locker next to Hank's. As for roster room Eaves can play with GR if we're out of spots. Helm, Leino, Williams and Bert replace Hossa, Sammy, Hudler and Kopecky - - - that's an overall improvement in my book especially after seeing what Hossa "didn't" do in the playoffs. We can't carry eight D so either Lils is out for the season or we trade one Lebda or Meech. This will free up some cap room and give us some good competition at training camp too.

With all the negativity over Hossa and Sammy leaving and Hudler's defection to Russia I can't help but think that there's about 28 other NHL clubs that would love to have our problems. We have LOTS of reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season: 1st - If Datsyuk and Lidstrom were 100% healthy in the Cup Finals last year we would be looking for our 3rd consecutive Stanley this coming year. No doubt about it, with Dats and Lids at full strength we win in 6 again last year - this is not homer bias, just common sense. 2nd - We are fretting over who's going to play on the 3rd and 4th line! Kenny and Mike will choose the best options available and put together a team capable of another deep run and barring injury should challenge for the Cup again. 3rd - We have the best two-way defensman in the World. 4th - We have the best two-way forward in the World (and probably the 2nd best too). 5th - Our D is just sick. Add a full year of big E and it's gets even better, with or without Lilja, we have the best 6 D in the NHL. 6th - Our top forwards are all committed, dedicated, locked up Wings for a good while. Dats, Z, Mule, Flip, and Cleary are a top 5 that not too many other teams can match up with. 7th - We have some young guns ready to step up and fill the shoes of our dearly departed. Leino and Helm are VERY good players and will be able to ease the impact of losing 3 regulars next year. They could even challenge for the Calder next year along with Big Rig. Not many teams can plug in 3 guys who are capable of making as big an impact in one season as these three can. 8th - We have organizational depth in GR at both forward, D and especially goal. We have 3 top goaltending prospects that should make the transition to the post-Ozzie period a lot easier. Between Howard, Larrson and McCollum, one of them will be a top starter for us in the near future. 9th - We have one of the best, if not the best, coaches in the NHL, and he's not going anywhere for a long time. The players respect him and he's taken us to the Cup final two years in a row. 10th - We have a management, scouting, and ownership group that will do whatever it takes to win. They have the resources, experience and intelligence to keep us in Cup contention for a long, long time. Feel free to add any reasons that I may have overlooked. I'm looking forward to the coming year and can't wait for the puck to drop!

Whoever signed him is an idiot. That might be the worst contract in the NHL right now. I don't think even the Rangers are stupid enough to take f***in Finger and his overpaid contract.

Would love to see a third line of Helm, Leino and Grier. Put Grier's 225lbs in front of the net, have Helmer chase down every lose puck and Leino can make the plays and dangle a bit too. Z-Dats-Homer Mule-Flip-Cleary Leino-Helm-Grier One of the kids-Draper-Abby Maltby (spare)

Crap.

So were Max Kuznetsov and Jesse Wallin... I'll pass on Johnson thanx.

As much as I despise the little whiner, I would like to see the Gretzky handed out to the player with the most assists each year. Even if Wayne had never scored a single goal in the NHL he would STILL be the NHL all time points leader - that should be recognized and so should the player with the most assists each year. Yzerman Award - for dignity, class and courage that is displayed by a player throughout their CAREER. Not a one-year and done award, but rather a "lifetime" type achievement award given out to a veteran player who has epitomized leadership with class for his team over a significant amount of time. The Chelios Award - given to the oldest player in the league each year. Ok, so maybe I'm reaching with this one, but wouldn't it be cool? It could come with a box of Grecian "Just For Men" formula and a new cane. The Alexandre Daigle award - for the most over-hyped, underperforming player each year. Where are you now Joe Murphy, Pavel Brendl and Jimmy Mann? Who says all awards have to be coveted? Bobby Orr Award - highest scoring defenseman in the league each year. Keep the Norris the way it is - for best defenseman overall. The Kenny Holland - the GM who has the done the best job of building his team within the suffocating confines of the salary cap each year. Mike Illitch - owner who has showed the most dedication and loyalty to his team and players over the course of several years. Not an "each year" award, but rather one given out to reward an owner who has stuck with and stuck beside his players, GM, and coach throughout the years and is committed to and willing to do whatever is required to putting a winning team on the ice EVERY year. If it was an "every year" award, Mike Illitch would have amassed several "Mike Iliitch" awards by now, and that would just be freaky - "hey everyone, come take a look at my Mike Illitch awards I presented to myself on my mantle beside my first ever pizza box."

Is he signed to play goal? Or goon on the right wing with Briere and Carter? ** Note to Philly equipment guy - Ray likes to pick out his own headwear before, during, and after the games. ** Note to Senators - Ray Ray is a comin' across the red and both blue lines to start throwing knuckles at whoever is on the ice in a Sens jersey at the first game in Ottawa. ** Note to Andrew Peters - watch your back *****.