Hank

Yes it does. And not only that, but it needs a wider variety of goals other than the wash-rinse-repeat formula of, screen, deflection, rebound. You know gear is far too big if goalies like Giggy can make $6M on sound positioning alone. He has no skills other than that. There was a time when goalies were as exciting as the best scorers in the league. They had athleticism, flair and agility - all of which Giggy has none. Now it's about 'being big' and square to the shooter. I want smaller gear not only for more goals (which the NHL desperately needs) but also to see acrobatic goalies again. People that defend keeping the pads the way they are, are either goalies themselves, Giggy fans or insane. To say their fine is ridiculous and only proves that you can't think outside of your own personal agenda. And the final argument to shut anyone up about this is, if goalie legends such as Ken Dryden, Pat Roy and Marty Brodeur say they need to be reduced, then they should be. CASE CLOSED.

That's a good question. I know I hate basketball but I was astonished to find out that a lot of hockey fans do also. They comment about that all the time on XM204. My theory is this; because both are transition games they can be compared somewhat. So saying that, I think it has to do with the fact that one is super fast while the other is slow. In hockey, you see 5 to 6 goals on a night (if you're lucky) but in basketball you see both teams 'score' between 40-60 times. To me, basketball is simply boring. I can stomach any other sport (including bowling) over basketball. I know that everyone pokes fun at the 'new' NHL now how you can't touch anyone, but that's exagerating. But in the NBA, you literally can't touch anyone. And you have superstars such as Dwayne Wade getting wheeled off the ice from a separated shoulder. In hockey, if a player has a seperated shoulder it means they take a few more shifts before deciding if they need a night off. And in the playoffs, it means you're Joe Sakic and you help lead your team to the 2001 Stanley Cup finals.

The problem is, while the NHL is much stronger regionally, the NBA destroys the NHL nationally. The other issues is, unlike hockey, the NBA is actually better on TV than live. I've gone to live NBA games and they can be incredibly boring. And lastly, the NBA is very, very strong in the bigger markets like LA, Miami and NY. If the Rangers, Kings or Blackhawks started going deep into the playoffs each year, or won a Cup it would help greatly. The NBA survives only because of their great national TV deal. If they didn't have that, they'd be in worse shape than the NHL. But the NBA will always have a great TV deal because in the NBA you can have one dominant player and the player almost never disappoints. Guys like Lebron, Wade and Bryant will always produce because of how the game is played. But in the NHL, players like Vinny, Dats and Crosby can be shutout more of the time because of the suffocating turtle defenses and inflated goalies. It's death for companies like NBC or VS when they pimp a huge game featuring some of the games best stars and they don't do anything. In the NBA, the top players can get 40 minutes (or 85%) of time while in the NHL you'll only see the best player on each team out there for 30-35% of the game. The NHL needs to do something so that the better players are on the ice more and their talents can translate better on the ice and TV.

I get why people hate Foote, but it's not like we haven't had some 'a-hole' players on this team either. How many times have we seen Maltby lay a borderline, or outright, dirty hit on someone but never have to drop the gloves or pay the price? He doesn't do it as much these days but in the 90's he was loathed around the league while Wings fans adored him. He was basically Tootoo and Downie, but without fighting. And lots and lots of fans AND players HATED Vlad. He could be incredibly dirty at times and yet he was and still is one of the favourite players for most people on this site. Foote plays hard but I don't consider him 'dirty'. He plays the game as it was meant to be played. And like I said, I'd take him on our team in a heartbeat. In fact, for 1 season, the only dman I'd keep over him on our current squad would be Lidstrom. This man is a winner and a true warrier on the ice.

I really have a hard time believing this story. I've always had the impression that Foote is the ultimate hockey player. He'll go through walls for his team and teammates and does it with his mouth shut. I have a feeling that if anything was said it would be taken out of context. I just don't see him saying he'll be a bad captain and teammate. That's not in his DNA. EDIT: Just wanted to add that if the cap space was there, I'd add Foote to this club in a heartbeat. He is the closest thing to 'old time hockey' still left in the game and I don't believe there are too many players in the NHL that are more fierce or loyal to their hockey teams. He reminds me so much of Harold Snepts, only with better offensive skills. This guy screams 'winner'.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry over this. This guy has phenomenal skills but he's been so injury prone he's not even worth the trouble. He makes over $6M a year, but for the amount of games you get it's like you're paying him $12M. I'm sure Chicago can't wait to dump this anchor the first chance they get.

Ugh. I was hoping that Sammy would quit or win the lottery so we wouldn't have to watch him more teammates than net with that horrible shot of his.

I'd LOVE to have Rolston on this club.

I don't see us going after anyone that's over $3M. Holland would rather give that money to Cleary and sign our own RFA's. And he'll more than likely want to store some cash for next years deadline and to resign Zetts the year after.

Did I mention that Van Damme's Band also loves Stuart?

TSN is amazing. One of the guys said last night that he imagined he'd be fired if they lost last night.

LOL! I love your screen name! I haven't called anyone a 'dicksmack' since grade school! Great username!

Exactly. Whens the last time an allstar or top 6 forward was dealt that helped a team win the cup? Heck, most of the time the forwards are a complete non-factor in the playoffs.

Van Damme loves Ryan Miller:

The West is so competitive that any of the top 8 teams could win the Cup this year. If the Wings bow out in the 1st I won't be shocked just because of this fact. I will, however, be miffed if we get beat out because our goaltending lets in 1 soft goal a game or we're pushed to the parameter because we don't have enough grit to fight for loose pucks in the 'hard' areas of the crease.

I'm a little upset that we haven't been able to get that big scoring forward for nearly 12 months either. But saying that, I don't know if Holland tried and tried but other teams were being too difficult. Seeing what Atlanta got for Hossa I don't think we could have matched that. And the other 3 guys I wanted - Fedorov, Foote and Lapointe - are all Central division players and I didn't think their GM's would deal with a rival. The only free agent I would have loved to grab was Huet. I know many here are very happy with our goaltending but it's the one area I think we need more security for. Last year Hasek played great and helped us to the conference finals. But I think it's hard to argue that in almost every loss we suffered he let in at least 1 soft goal. I think Huet would help me sleep better at night. But I'm satisfied with our team going into the playoffs. Sure, I would have liked to get a little meaner up front but I don't think Holland had many dance partners to get that deal done. And look at it this way, it could be worse. We could have Kevin Lowe. This guy has basically ruined his team in a mere 18 months.

Exactly. ESPN only cares about things that ESPN broadcasts. It's why you suddenly see highlights from the MLS and AFL. They didn't give two craps and a monkey piss about either before they started carrying them.

I agree. However, I'm still a bit concerned about our depth up front. Who's to say that Cleary isn't still feeling affects from his injury? He might get shellshocked for all we know. And what about Hanks back? I'm sure he'll play through anything, but if he's not 100% that hurts us bigtime. Like sticknmove said, I'm more upset that he didn't get a top 6 forward before the season began, saved up $5M worth of Cap space and then did absolutely nothing to address it. I think Kenny's on the hotseat right now. The Joe is empty, the Wings haven't won in 6 years and we just 'saved' $5M for no reason at all. I hope the Wings can prove him right and many of us here, including me, wrong.

I agree. But I think there should be some concern with our scoring for the post season. Just like last year, we'll have to split up Hank and Dats on the road while at home we'll be praying for one of our 3rd and 4th liners to bang one in once in a while. And when you consider how much easier it is to learn a players tendancies when playing multiple games in a row, you can see how it's possible that our regular season offensive firepower can be tamed. We're no different than other teams in that if you shut down our top line, we can be stopped. But it would have been nice to add at least one top 6 forward to help shoulder the load when Hank and Dats are being shadowed all night. I don't think Filpulla is even close to being ready to anchor a #2 line in the playoffs. Hopefully Babcock keeps Dats and Zetts separated as much as possible to get them used to what's coming in 6 weeks.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

No, what we need is for the league to make the nets bigger so Sammy can hit it.

I hope Fedetenko. He'd mesh well I think.

Van Damme loves this move!

I think Kenny was playing too much grab-ass today!

I'll be shocked if Malkin is still a Penguin 3 years from now. He wants to be his own star and out of Crosby's shadow. Malkin to LA before he's 25.