daniel1

I wasn't rebutting anything, nor do I have no need of a rebuttal as there had been no discourse between you and I prior to my question. I was quite simply asking what a "petalstool" was. We don't have these in Canada that I am aware of. If however you are offended by the question, then I apologize profusely. Now, is there anyone else on the board who can tell me what a "petalstool" is?

WTF is a petalstool?

The way that 'kader has been playing in the AHL playoffs I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the Wings roster out of training camp next year. He currently leads the AHL in playoff scoring... and he's a rookie in the AHL this year. 2nd on the Grifs in PIM's this year 2nd on the team with 24 goals and 2nd on the team with 52pts in the regular season this year. He's got size, tenacity and some scoring potential. If he works on his skating this year I don't see how the Wings can keep him down there too much longer as he's just what this team needs. I would let Hossa go if it meant keeping all of Flip, Hudler and Sammy. 3 is better than 1 and I hate having all my eggs in one basket so to speak. That would give us way more depth to withstand injuries and more flexibility to address other needs that may arrise throughout the year. I just don't think having 4 guys on super long, super high deals is a good idea, even if they are Dats/Z/Mule/Hoss. It would be interesting to see what a young motivated 'kader would do on a line with Z and Mule next year.

I agree, and I fixed your comparison for you too... this is a Wings board after all!

I agree that the Ducks would be a hard fought second round series for us but I would rather face the Ducks in the 2nd round (which I believe we would win) rather than a confident, on-a-roll Sharks team that has made it to the Conference Finals. I think the Sharks are the only team with the depth to match up against us in a 7 game series and prevent us from a return to the Cup finals. I think we can beat any/all of the other Western teams, but I think the Sharks would be the toughest test for us given that Todd McLellan knows our system and personnel so well and the Sharks have 3 legitimate lines just like the Wings.

It tears me up inside but I'm actually cheering for the Ducks cause I want the Ducks to do our dirty work and take the Sharks out. Do you know how hard it is to cheer for Pronger and Perry The Prick? Maybe if the Sharks lose out in the first round they'll fire the coach, trade Thornton for a couple of no-names and quietly go back to being just another team with ugly uniforms next year.

Cheli will be back next year, but not with Detroit. My guess is he finishes in Chicago to give them the "depth and experience" they'll claim they need after losing in the 2nd round this year. I agree that Meech and Lebda don't seem to have much more potential than they've already shown us.

Teams that were supposed to do really well and s*** the bed - Dallas in the West and Ottawa in the East. Teams that were supposed to do ok and s*** the bed - Edmonton in the West and Tampa in the East. Flipside. Teams that were supposed to struggle but made the playoffs - St. Louis in the West and Carolina in the East. Teams that were supposed to make the playoffs and really excelled - Vancouver in the West and Washington in the East.

Maltby and Kopecky - if they need a "shakeup" then sit Draper and put in Maltby. Helm and Leino should both be in the lineup for the playoffs unless they are unwilling to compete, which from what we've seen won't be a problem for either one of them. Hopefully Maltby either retires or is bought out this year as Helm is superior to him in every aspect and needs his roster spot. With Hossa gone next year Leino can take his spot and then Kopecky and Abdelkader can compete for the last spot as we can resign everyone else with Hossa's 7+ mil to spread around. Give Franzen a 2mil raise and Hudler and Sammy a 1mil raise. The 3mil left over combinded with the 1mil cap raise will cover Z's new salary bump and still give us a little bit left over to play with.

If Franzen and Samuelsson both "go" with Weber I'll eat my shirt, socks, and the stuff that's been accumulating under my fridge for the last 12 years. Fine hockey players they are, but never confuse Sammy and Mule with someone who's going to be avenging previous lost fights for the Wings.

I'm more impressed with his +22 rating than anything a scale or tape measure might say about him. He leads the team in that regard by a very wide margin. It's even more noticeable when you consider that the Grifs leading scorer (Haydar) is -22 on the year and Abby is -1. Looks like there's more to Pare than just a good set of hands. Versatile guys like that are a better bet to contribute than one-way type players. It gives me some hope that at some point if they call him up he can play a 3rd/4th line role or PK in addition to what he can contribute offensively. Anyone who would knock a player based soley on his height/weight is a moron of the Bobby Clarke moronic level club. Players like Verbeek, Ciccarelli, Theoren Fleury, St. Louis, Cammalleri, Derek Roy and Savard, should have taught us that it's not the size of the dog in the fight but rather the size of the fight in the dog which will determine a player's performance and value. Or you can just be a complete dumbass neanderthal like Clarke and draft/sign everyone and anyone who walks through the door at 6'4"/220lbs. I'm a bigger guy myself but at least I'm smart enough to know there's lots of guys smaller in stature who are 10 times the hockey player I'll ever be. If you had to choose between Hal Gill and Nick Lidstrom on your blueline who would you want? Like f***en duh eh.

Ericsson and Quincey... oh wait a minute :flamingmad: Is there anyway that we can combine Cheli and Lebda in some sort of mad DNA re-combinator thingamadoodle? If we had Cheli's grit, determination and experience in the same package as Lebda's skating ability and youth we would have the perfect 6th defenseman. The "Chebda" would dominate the third pairing! On Meech - is he so unremarkable that he's very steady, or is he so bland and unnoticeable that he's below average? I dunno... I'm conflicted about him, not very often do I think "bad play by Meech there", but then again it's not very often that I think "good play by Meech there", or sometimes he goes the whole game without really ever making a play of any type at all. Babs seems to favour him on the PP over other guys so maybe he sees something in him that we don't and if I have to choose between my hockey sense and Babs' then I go with the NHL pro Stanley Cup winning coach's instincts over my beer league couch potato instincts every time. I would go with Ericsson and Cheli against slower/bigger teams and Ericsson and Lebda against faster/smaller teams this time around though if Lilly can't make it back Lol at myself for "wishing" Lilja would make it back into the lineup; you've come a long way Lilly-pads.

Interesting situation for the Wings; I wonder if there are any other NHL teams who have players on their farm team who the they know are BETTER than the ones on their NHL team but only because of the cap they're not on the team during the season? Helm and Leino are better than Maltby and Kopecky, Ericsson is better than Meech, but due to the cap they're on the farm team for most of the year. The trade deadline for the Wings will actually be when they playoffs start and we can sit Maltby, Kopecky and Meech and replace them with Helm, Leino and Ericsson full time. Even though E is up with us now if Lils came off the DL he would have to go down till playoffs started. I would like to see a Lils- Ericsson third pairing that would give us some size and reach in the playoffs.

Hi, is Ray there? Ray, Kenny Holland here... we've got a "situation" here in the D, can you come over and help us out? We promise that NOBODY will make you wear a hat if you don't want to, and our trainer is a very small man whom you would not get an argument from concerning any apparel choices. We don't mind if you skidoo/quad/jetski right up to the front doors of the Joe for practices as long as you can STOP THE PUCK.

Some have said Mule cannot create on his own, lol. Hossa at 6 or 7 vs. Mule at 3/4... I'll take the Mule please. Save the rest for a goalie and re-signing a few of our other forwards rather than letting Hudler/Sammy/Leino walk away.

At this point my beer league team could beat the Wings as long as Osgood is in net. This is the NHL for christ sake...

Pull Osgood, put in the shooter tutor. What does it matter if we lose by 1 or 2 at this point.

Osgood - last 3 shots = 3 goals. Enough is enough, I had really hoped he could turn it around before the playoffs but at this rate we'll slip to 5th in the conference if Babs keeps playing him.

No. Because he can't close his ******* five hole and let in ANOTHER weak-ass goal off a guy who's such a poor shooter he hadn't scored a goal in 35 games which could cost his team yet another loss. If he didn't play for the Wings and their "loyalty over death" policy he would have been shipped down/out at the trade deadline. If you're comfortable with Osgood in the playoffs after watching his play this season then your homerism blinders have completey obscured your objectivity. Would any other goalie who is last in the league in save % be considered for the starting goalie in the playoffs for any other team fighting for #1 in the league and a chance at repeating?

Well... Lids won the Norris, then took a pay CUT the following year. Find me another example of that please. Datsyuk at 6.7 is well below what he could get on the open market now. Crybaby, Malkin (next year) and Ovi all make more than he does and none of them play defense nearly half as good as Dats. Raffi - I agree with you on that one, if anything I think he should be a 4-5mi/yr guy, not 6, but whatever. Zetterberg's contract is well below what he would have commanded had he chose free agency. Whether or not he would have been able to get that length of term is debatable, but then that's the trade-off isn't it? If Z had been open to a bidding war I'm sure Edmonton or someone would have ponied up at least 8mil, but for how long I really don't know. My guess would have been around 5 to 6 years max. The Wings get at least a 2-3mil/yr cut on the salary cap but they also give him the "lifetime" contract. We'll see in about 10 years whether or not it was the right thing to do. You could add a few more to the list of players who have taken less recently to remain with the team. I'm sure that Sammy, Lilja and Stuart could have received more on the open market than what they signed for. Sammy, for all that we rag on him, puts up very good numbers for his meager salary by NHL standards.

Nickolai and his giraffe-like pencil-neck haunted my dreams for years...

I watched the Devils/Bruins game the other night, specifically to see Parise as I noticed he was 2nd in the league in goals and honestly I was expecting more. He doesn't seem the type to create for himself the way Datsyuk or Z would, maybe he just had an off game but I really didn't notice him too much until the Devils powerplay. He sure doesn't backcheck as hard as Dats or Z either. Seems like he's got a good shot and is pretty good around the net but I wouldn't label him as a superstar yet. Remember Gionta? He scored 48 goals in 2005 for the Devils but has never exceeded 25 since then. I'm not saying Parise will follow his path but from my admittedly small sample of what I saw of him I wouldn't put him in the same catagory as Ovie, Malkin, Dats, or Z.

Kevin Hatcher - more talented than Darian for sure, played mostly for the Caps. Wasn't as aggresive as Derian but had some size too. I forgot Darian is actually still in the league while on his long term IR with the Flyers, doubtful he'll ever play again though.

The fact you're a Leaf fan tells me alot about your perspective on hockey, but seriously how can you call Crosby a complete player? Does he have the size to outmuscle opponents? No. Is he defensively complete on a Selke level? No. Does he excel at penalty killing or shorthanded chances? No. Is he looked to for defending his teamates or providing a deterrent against other teams taking liberties with his team? No. Does he exude leadership skills or have the ability to command the respect of his own teamates or other players in the league? No. As far as being a complete multi-dimensional player he just doesn't bring enough attributes to the ice. He's talented offensively and a gifted puck handler/playmaker but other than that I wouldn't rank him highly in very many other categories or consider him "complete".

I would like to see a "player salary cap" rather than a team cap. The premise being that there would be a maximum that you could pay a player set at a much lower rate than it currently is. I would suggest 5 million. Honestly, is there anyone who should be earning more than 5 million dollars a year? This would prevent the bidding war that sometimes prevents small market teams from acquiring top level players. If all anyone could make was 5m/yr then maybe the smaller market teams wouldn't lose their top players to the lure of massive contracts (Vancouver's offer of 10/mil yr for Sundin) elsewhere. There wouldn't need to be a limit as to how many 5 million dollar players a team could have on it's roster because the player (if good enough) could likely get 5m/yr on any team so money would not be the deciding factor in his decision on where to sign. This would reward organizations that are well run, successful and offer a great chance at winning. In this type of scenario we probably would have no more than four 5/mil a year guys (Dats, Z, Lids, Hossa) and a few 3-4m/yr guys like Franzen, Cleary, Kronner, Flip, Huds) so the overall spending limit would likely decrease for each team, allowing for smaller market teams to sign whoever they can convince without the "can't afford them" barrier. Teams would have to make sure they have their house in order: owner who treats the players right, GM who builds a good team, coach who can actually coach and knows enough about the game to use the players effectively. Set the 5m/yr player cap now and raise/lower it based on the actual % that revenues grow/decline as to how much a maximum salary can be for that year. I bet the GM's would love this but try getting all those 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 mil a year players to take a pay cut, ha!