Hank

You know, I wonder what it would take to land Vinny. Would TB even fathom dealing him if they got a wealth of prospects in return? Would you deal away Vinny for an offer that included Dats, Hudler (or Kronwall) and Howard?

Good. I'm tired of this guy acting like he's the queen of the ball. The NHL doesn't need him and his fragile bones. P.S. Does anyone else find it ironic that he filed a lawsuit regarding his racehorse that had to be put down because of a bad leg? I wish someone would do the same to him.

Can you believe that he was inches from becoming a Maple Leaf in 2003? TB wanted Kaberle, Steen, and a draft pick in return. I guess the deal was basically done but Toronto nixed the deal as they felt Steen was a very 'hot prospect'. First Gretzky in 88, now Vinny in '03. Leaf management should pull a Costanza and just do everything opposite to what they're used to. They'd win Cups for years.

And he's only 28 years old. He's just entering his prime years. I can't imagine an even better Vinny. And he's never injured either.

Drool!!!! I love Vinny. And because I have a bullet proof vest on right now, I can safely say that with the exception of Lidstrom, I'd give up any player on our roster for him. He's an incredible blend of size, strength, offensive wizardry and toughness. He can literally do it all - score, pass, check, defend and fight. Like Gordie said above me, he is better than every forward on our team.

Wow! Thanks guys! If we win, I'd like to rent the ice so you can all come down for a game of pick-up hockey.

Kingsville is about 1.5 hours southwest of London (and about 15 minutes West of Leamington where Darren McCarty grew up). The official population is 21,000 but that's kind of misleading. About 10 years ago we almalgamated with some small farming communites nearby to pump our population up. The actual town has about 6,000 people living in it. I love this little town and the arena really does bring the community closer together. We're going up against Huntsville which is a great hockey community itself. But like a lot of other northern towns they have the benefit of much colder weather so they can take the sport outdoors for months at a time. Our climate is very similar to Detroit's in that our average temp is above freezing throughout most of the winter. So we really depend on the arena to get kids and adults involved with the sport. Kingsville definitely isn't for everyone. It's a quiet small town with nothing really going on. But that's why I love it. It's safe, clean, has excellent schools and sporting facilities. Everything you need to raise a family. Again, thanks to you and anyone else that can lend a hand. P.S. Anchorman is in my top 5 comedies of all time and definitely in the top 10 movies of all time. I have watched it over 100 times and will continue to watch it until I die. Ron Burgendy is 'the balls'.

That's correct. And thanks for doing this! Every vote is appreciated. We're definitely the underdog in this contest. One thing I love about our little hamlet is that even though we live in a very mild tempered area, a lot of residence still try their best to build a backyard rink. I did this year for my 4-year old. And even though I've spent more time manacuring it and watching rain fall on it, it's still been well worth it. My son loves it and I have to peel him off of there when it's time to come in the house.

Yup. I'm actually surprised it's not here now. I've also heard talk that they might sell ad space on the nets. So you'll see a giant "Tide" log on the netting. Can't wait.

They still look better than the Minnesota Wild uniforms.

Hahaha! 20 years from now and probably. It's just like the premier soccer leagues out there. They have their team crest in the corner of the shirt with the main advertiser as their logo. This will be here before too long. Soon we'll have a group of breathing logos skating to 1-0 games.

Just playing devils advocate, but how many big, strong, mean players can play in a 'puck possession' system? The ones that can like Foote, Phaneuf or Jovo-cop aren't available. I like Stuart but he makes a tonne of mistakes. If people are frustrated with Lilja, just wait to watch Stuart on a regular basis. And he isn't as big and mean as some think he is. That's the biggest issue I have with our current style of play - it's very hard to get meaner and grittier. Especially within a Cap system. I'd give anything for a Harold Snepts who could skate. (I guess all teams would). This is why I miss Vlady so much.

I agree. I never want to see this in the NHL. Pretty soon the NHL will look and play exactly like all the European leagues. We already have all the traps and defensive systems they've been playing for decades and now the ice and uniforms will look like an ad company threw-up all over them. What's next? The stupid "Gold Helmet" they have in the SEL? Pretty soon team names will be sold out. It will no longer be the "Detroit Redwings". It'll be "Comerica Bank Presents the Detroit Redwings". I laugh how the PA is basically selling it's soul. They used to cry that the Owners were greedy - and they are. But they're basically the same now. The Pigs are walking, wearing clothes and living in the house. Animal Farm all over.

I'm not panicking at all. Every team needs to go through this and I'm glad the Wings are doing it right before the playoffs. They needed some adversity afterall. But I've realized two things that make my life as a Wings fan less stressful. 1. The Wings allow one bad goal every game. This comes from not having a premier goalie in the past 5 years. Hasek was great for us last spring, but it's hard to dispute that he'd have at least one brain fart a game. 2. The Wings like to pass 10,0000,000000,0000 times before they shoot. How many times have we seen a guy, with the puck in the crease, pass it off to someone who's further away and with a much worse angle. Yesterday was no different. The problem is we only have 2 players that have a shooters mentality - Sammy and Hudler. But Sammy can't hit the broad side of a barn and Huds gets 6 minutes of ice time a game on the 4th line. Zetts, despite having a wealth of goals this year, still likes to pass when he should shoot in certain situations. The Wings are still a great team, but if you come to accept the above two problems the team has had for the last 5 years, it'll make watching them a lot less stressful. Ce la vie.

I can only imagine what Jackman would cost us. At least a young dman and forward. I'm thinking Hudler and Ericson will be their asking price. And I really don't see St.Louis dealing with Detroit.

Here me out before everyone jumps down my throat. Depending on what happens in the playoffs, I think it's time the Wings took things in a different direction. First, go out and sign Luongo. After this, maybe it's time we started trading some of our surpluss of European players for some North American's. I know this is sacrilidge to some around here but perhaps giving up players like Filpulla and Hudler for some young, scrappy NA's would be better for our club. I'm not saying this deal could ever go through but dealing away guys like Filpulla and Hudler (or one of the two) for a guy like Lucic would be awesome. I love the way our team plays but it's obvious that you can win championships a lot easier with a good goalie, physical play and the trap. I'm tired of our team being the only playoff contender in the league without a true great goalie. Sign Luongo and go after some North American grit.

It was a whopping 15,000. Imagine being a kid that grew up dreaming of the day winning a Stanley Cup and then realizing nobody in your city cared? Long live expanding to cities that couldn't care less about hockey! I don't see MLB or the NFL expanding to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan or Nunavit!

Yup, I guess we'll agree to disagree. My mind is set that I believe, a majority of the time, a North American player will want the Cup more than a European. I know that's not the golden rule with each and every European or North American. But if I was a GM and I had a choice between two kids of equal skill, I'd take the North American each and every time.

The issue is that since our last cup we've added more Europeans and less North American's. And the changes you've suggested would make our team worse. Ledba's better than Murray, Drake's better than Ivanas' and Maltby does what Ruutu does only has better hands. Also, if you look back at previous posts I've made, before the 3 game skid, you'll see that I've been asking for more North American content since '03. The last two games (especially the TO game) is what got me started on going after a premier tender. The Wings are definitely grittier and I loved how they showed that last spring. But if the Wings have trouble dealing with a club that 'wrestle's on ice' again, I think it's something we need to mirror a bit more.

That's true. But we've seen before where the wings have taken a player and they've performed better for us. Murphy comes to mind. And Calder was great until he went in the toilet during the playoffs. I'm still wondering what happened there.

Believe it or not, I agree with you. I would hate an NHL without great players like Gaborik, Datsyuk or Ovechkin. The issue I have with the wings is that none of our top players are North American. Now that Cleary is out our top 8 forwards are European. On the back end, 3 or our top 4 dmen are European. That's where the balance needs to change (IMO). The Cup winning teams we had in 97,98 and 02 had a great variety of both. Stevie and Shanny were on the top lines. So was Mac and Lapointe in some variations. We had guys like Rouse and Macoun on our back end who could serve as 3rd to 6th dmen. If you replaced Lilja, Hudler and Filpulla with O'Donnell, Malone and Hartnell I think our team would be a lot harder to play against and a step closer to the Cup. PS: In my opinion, the NHL is suffering from the above reasons you mentioned. The NFL is a juggernaut for many reasons, but one of them is due to the fact that all the star positions are occupied by Americans. Lastly, you're right that a lot of Euro's leave their homes and more money to play in the NHL. But there are a few Europeans that left the NHL for those reasons too. I've never heard of one North American that chose the RSL or SEL because he could make more money over there (and don't believe for a second that the offers haven't been there). The only reason a North American kid goes overseas is because he isn't given an opportunity here. They'll choose less money and a shot at the Cup over money in Europe every time.

I'd take all three of those guys. And if we couldn't get Blake I'd do my best to get Steve Staios. But I have a feeling we'll end up with 2 guys - either Prospal or Lapointe and Blake.

I whole-heartedly agree. And because of that, some people here will tell us to sing our tune at the next KKK meeting. Heck, even Jagr, while with the Pens, said his team needed more North Americans to win a Cup. There's a healthy balance and I think our team teeters too much to Europe. 2-3 NA's who play prominent roles and we'd be set.

It also broke my heart when I found out he got divorced. I have no idea what happened between his wife and him and for all we know he told her to leave him to pursue a 'normal' life. But it just made me very sad for Vladdy, his wife and his daughter. P.S. On a selfish note, I miss hearing that clip from Rocky 4 when they would talk about Vladdy on 1130 WDFN; "Whatever he hits, he destroys!"

Ugh, I miss Vladdy. I loved that dude.