ElCapitan

I'm partially in agreement with this. Maybe bring 1 up at a time & really let them play at the nhl pace. It certainly takes time to adjust. A lot of lower tiered teams are forced to do this and that's why they often will find real young talent the the Wings rarely see. Young talent seems to show up out of no where all the time here in Colorado. BTW, Roger Crozier was the last Calder winner Detroit had (64-65 season).

This is exactly why Hudler had to go. He was constantly pushed around in the Nashville series & proved to be ineffective because of his size. The regular season is completely different. Even if the Wings don't get big the pieces together to make a cup run this year, I'll be happy if they become physically much tougher to play against. Bring back the aura they had in 97 & 98 please.

As I see it there are 2 factors that have lead to a tarnished image for free agents. 1. Fear. Teams used to fear playing the Wings. Not only was there talent on both ends of the ice but there were personnel that would punish you when they didn't have the puck. They would also fight when needed. I think this has been realized by evidence of the Tootoo signing, but I hope it doesn't stop there. Free agents are more attracted to a winning franchise that is feared. 2. Risk. Holland's fatal flaw is that he would rather go with a known commodity than take risks on either young players or signing a "risky" free agent. It was exciting to see Holland go after Hossa, but signing Hossa was not that risky of a proposition. It was also nice to see him go after the Minny Twins, but I'm glad we aren't saddled with 2 crippling contracts. This off season will force Holland out of his comfort zone & it remains to be seen if he'll pull it off. It will take risk to do whatever it takes, which is another element that will attract top tier UFA's. I'm no Kenny Kool-Aid drinker but I think he will still make some significant changes to the roster. It's not over yet.

Crym, Axe boy is an anti-Holland shill. He's new here & has 30 posts, most of which I've read are drumming up sentiment against Holland. Don't bother wasting your keystrokes.

If anything comes out of the new CBA, I hope it addresses this issue the most. These contracts are asinine.

"Adios Mofo." Rick Perry

No one knows jack right now. It's been amusing though. Everyone's put their Pop Tart in the toaster and are pissed that the toaster hasn't pop up yet.

I think that's what has to happen.

True, but that is a healthy contract for Schneider. He's smart to take the money & run with it.

That kind of contract definitely points to a Luongo trade.

Nice, clean looking theme Matt. The load speed is fabulous! Is there any way we can get the "Today's most popluar posts" (or something like that) back? That's where I always went to in the old them. Thanks again, Ken

That's just the way it is around here. The teeter totter is rarely level. However, I do generally agree with the OP, regardless if Wings pull this series off or not. I also agree that this team has staling for several years and very little seems to be done about it. The sentiment is that it's been painful to watch. A good balance of finesse/skill & size/grit is needed, like what the Wings had in 97 & 98.

Exactly. As a whole, the Denver fans start to get really pissy when their team sucks...especially if it's the Broncos. It can be quite humorous.

LOL...Thanks for preparing us for the reality of the trade deadline.

Maybe he can be the next Shanahan. I'd sure like to see a Shanahan 2.0 on the Wings. It's way too early to tell though.

That's exactly it. It really has nothing to do with Crosby as the media does this with everything making news out of the non-newsworthy. Leave Crosby alone. I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to get into a game and the Pens will be all too eager to let us know when he's ready to play.

Finally a replacement for Sean Avery!

Yup, my thoughts exactly.

Idealism --> Experience --> Wisdom --> Maturity (repeat as necessary)

It's really too bad so many threads end up being Hudler threads. Haven't we beaten this horse to death? Back to the topic, I'm excited that Holland has given Brunnstrom a try-out. At worst case, it creates more competition in camp and that's always a good thing.

Straw grasping. I'm looking at entire careers here. There is no one with any modicum of common sense that would choose a healthy Savard over Huds, even at Savard's age. Let's not even mention that he was producing over a point-per-game when he was 27 years old. I'll give you credit when Hudler has similar stats when he's 34 but right now you're trying to tell us all that a Ford Mustang GT performs the same as a Ferrari 599 GTB. I'm not a Hudler hater like many here, but I'm not on his payroll either. Hopefully he proves us wrong. My opinion is that his salary could be better spent elsewhere. I'm sure if it were possible for Holland, Hudler would be be wearing a different uniform at training camp. Unfortunately for the Wings, the rest of the NHL sees what most of this board has been pointing out to you all summer long. He must pay well.

Marc Savard? Really? A healthy Hudler (which he is) couldn't dream of putting up the numbers of a healthy, non-concussed Marc Savard...who wouldn't be on the 3rd line.

Unfortunately, that's all he has. Everything else is a liability.

Well at least we didn't sign Souray.