Hank

You're calling me 12 after insulting me for no reason? Talk about hypocrisy at it's best. And to say that Cheli wasn't or isn't dirty is laughable. There's a reason why he was hated so deeply by fans the world over. Say what you want about Claude, but he has 4 Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe trophy to boot. The man could play and was a winner on the biggest stage. It's apparent from your post that you can't see past your Wings-colored glasses. If you could, you would recognize that the guy was a major contributor to almost every Cup he won. I'll await another immature post from you including childish insults. It seems to be a common theme with you. I find it quite ironic that you call someone like Claude a coward and classless and yet you feel very comfortable throwing insults at someone who never attacked you from behind the safe confines of your computer screen. Are you sure YOU'RE not Claude Lemiuex? Somewhere a kettle is calling a Pot black.

LOL! I know what you're saying. But as an NHL fan and a fan of hockey, I have to give props where it's due and call out hypocrisy when I see it. To the LGW community, did we forget how much Chris Chelios was hated in this town? The same guy that would challenge Steve Yzerman to fights (and Stevie did fight C.C. at least once) but then cower when guys like Probie, Kocur or Gallant called him to task? And now who's loved in Detroit? It's the same with Lemieux. In his prime, I'd take him any day of the week. Hell, I'd drop Kopecky right now for Claude. Is he an a'hole? YUP! Has he turtled in the past? YUP! But is he a winner? YUP! Will he drop the gloves? YUP! Does he know what it takes to win? HELL YES! If this guy was a Wing he'd be loved. Just like Malbty is/was loved. And that's a Maltby that ran and hid anytime someone wanted to fight him. How is that any different than turtling?

Here's a fight from a few years back where C.L. dropped the gloves with Derian Hatcher: Hatcher gets the best of him, but Claude at least dropped the mitts. You can find Lemiuex fights across Youtube and most of them he loses, but at least he's fighting. There's even one where he goes Darren Kimble from the Nordiques. For those that don't remember him, he was one of the toughest guys in the league. He fought Probie, Coxe, etc. For Claude to drop his gloves with a guy like that takes courage. And it's something you would never see from any of the current Wings we have right now. Can anyone here see Maltby, Homer or Sammy dropping the gloves with Chris Neil? Never in a million years. I doubt Maltby or Sammy would drop the gloves with Crosby. As a matter of fact, Sid requested that Sammy go him in their last game but Sammy didn't want any part of it. If Sammy was smart he would have fought him to get him off the ice for the next 5 minutes. But Sammy knows he'd get his ass handed to him so he didn't oblige. Lemieux knows he's probably going to lose most of his fights but he does it anyway. You have to give him credit for that at least.

It's hard to argue this. And while Lemieux has turtled on more than one occasion he's also chucked knuckles with some very tough customers and come out on the winning side. In his 2nd bout with McCarty after the 'incident' he got the best of Mac. The guy knows how to fight. But you have to remember that his worth is at pestering. Most of the time there's a reason why he does what he does. I love my Wings but at least C.L. WILL drop the gloves now and then. Maltby, in his prime, was one of the biggest a'hole pests around but wouldn't drop his gloves if there were 150lb of steal in either of them.

Nice lines. But I think it's nearly certain that Leino is going to be a top-6 forward next year.

If Hudler wants that much, and Franzen and Hossa resign, then Holland will truly have to be a Wizard to keep Hudles. The Cap is projected to decrease by $9M in two summers. I don't see how it's financially possible to fit all of them in. We also have to remember that Leino is going to be an RFA as well. He'll be cheaper than Hudler and potentially a better producer. I simply don't see it being possible that we can keep everyone. If anything, while I'll be sad to see #26 go, if he does get signed by another team, at least we'll get some decent picks depending on what salary he commands - which could be between teh $2-3M range: http://www.nhl.com/news/freelist07.html OFFER COMPENSATION $773,442 or below None Over $773,442 to $1,171,882 3rd round choice Over $1,171,882 to $2,343,765 2nd round choice Over $2,343,765 to $3,515,647 1st and 3rd round choice Over $3,515,647 to $4,687,530 1st, 2nd and 3rd-round choice Over $4,687,530 to $5,859,412 Two 1st-round choices, one 2nd and one 3rd Over $5,859,412 Four 1st-round choices The Wings could potentially get a 1st and 3rd for Hudler. Depending on the team that grabs him, that could potentially be a top 10 or 15 pick. Not too shabby considering we'd lose him anyway.

Sometimes I really hate TSN. They're such homers for the Eastern Conference it's not even funny. The Oilers spanked them the other night and TSN runs the headline "Oilers relentless in pounding of road weary Canadiens". It was only the SECOND game of a 6 game road trip? What the hell? Are they that tired from just flying outside the Eastern time zone? Those Eastern teams are babies. Philadelphia had a long western road trip a month ago and by the time they hit San Jose, they were griping and whining about all the travel. Last year, New Jersey's players spent a total of 6 days away from their homes during the whole season. That's a joke. I bet if you put any team from the West into the East for a season they would finish in the top 4 easy. Even teams like LA, St.Louis would kill most teams over there. In the West, every team is a playoff team. In the East you have punching bags like the Islanders, Leafs, Thrashers, Lightning and Senators. Can you imagine if those 5 teams were in the West? They'd have 10 wins between all of them after 82 games. And teams like the Oilers, Coyotes, Predators or even the Blue Jackets would have over 100 points from feasting on those bums. If the East wins the Cup this year it will be only because the West is so strong, the team that emerges from that conference is too beaten up and road weary to take out the Eastern champ.

Man that was hilarious! "Whoever's been giving 100% raise your hand" "Put your hand down Kovy" Hahahaha!

Yup. Bill Clement put it perfectly when he said "The Stars are in the East but the Teams are in the West".

Yeah, I've grown used to how pro-Leafs they are. But I couldn't help but laugh over that 'road weary' excuse. It was only their 2nd game on the road for crying out loud. If it was their 6th game I can sort of see it. But they got spanked plain and simple. And speaking of the Habs, it looks like Carey Price's playoff collapse was no fluke. This kid goes down far too early and teams are shooting high exposing his weak glove hand. It's a good think Bob Gainey dealt Christobal Huet for a 2nd rounder last year. Struggling Price + Uninterested Kovalev = 1st round exit for Montreal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...e=lebrun_pierre If the Wings can resign this guy for $6M per year, they'll probably let Franzen walk. With Leino improving, I think the Wings would love to stick with Hudler, Leino and Hossa over that same combo except with Franzen.

Me too. He's still one of my favorite Wings from the 90's.

This was a great game. I'm glad I tuned in to watch it. I agree. If Brodeur can get healthy the Devils will be a force to reckon with. Especially with how Parise's been playing. That kids dy-no-mite!

I agree that it might curb it somewhat, but again, then why don't goons play more in the playoffs? Malbty has always been a prick and he's never changed. Chances are, if you're a clean player you'll always be clean. But in every game I've watched where a pest is present, that pest will always play his game regardless. Steve Ott is a great example of that. All 185lbs of him. But I disagree with the intimidation factor. Borje Salming said when he came in the league Europeans could be easily intimidated. It had a lot to do with the fact that everyone was expected to stand up for themselves and fight. But he said that it's completely different now. He said there are very few players (let alone Europeans) who get intimidated in the least. The skilled players know they aren't expected to fight so that's a big relief off their shoulders. Even George Laraque has said that any true toughguy that picks on a non-fighter is asking for it, and that's why you never see it. Players like Semin, Savard, Hudler or MacDonald have no fear out there because they no longer have to live up to an unfair standard. When's the last time you saw any hockey game where anyone was scared to grab a puck? In the 80's you would see countless times certain players refusing to go into corners. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone turn tail and run from a loose puck in the corner or against the boards.

LOL! Link please???

I love Eric Cole, but he's a UFA after this season I believe. And I think we can get a lot more for Filppula. But they can have Sammy.

If I can play devils advocate though, severe football injuries are sustained through legal means on the field. It's completely in the rules to tackle and hit players in certain situations. To give a fair comparison, it would be like saying that in football sometimes you have to pile-drive players after thew whistle if they hit your QB or WR too hard. And then after someone breaks their neck, you say "Well, pile-driving has been in the NFL since 1920, so it's hard to get rid of it. And players like it because it protects your best players and sends messages. Besides, the fans love it". Look at what happened in the NBA with 'The Punch' incident. Kermit Washington nearly, and literally speaking, killed Rudy Tomjanovich. At that time, fighting in the NBA was not uncommon. In fact, it took place quite a bit. After that incident the league realized how dangerous it was and how it was keeping down the sport. So they started handing out much stiffer fines and suspensions for fighting. Now look at it. It's much cleaner. And don't tell me it's easier to take an elbow from a 295 lb power forward than a slash and not want to punch someone in the face. The fact is, fighting only serves to entertain. It doesn't prevent a lot of the shenanigans that take place on the ice. Ulf Samuelsson, Mikael Samuelson, Claude Lemieux, Esa Tikannen, Sean Avery, Steve Ott, etc, etc, etc. all play on the edge and play dirty. And yet despite taking some beatings or engaging in fights they didn't or haven't changed their game. Not one bit. I'm not against fighting in the NHL. I enjoy a good tilt between guys who are genuinly angry with each other. But I'm tired of people thinking that it really does act as a deterrent. It doesn't. And what I'm really, really sick of, is fights that break out from a clean hit. Dany Markov had to fight twice in 2007 for a clean shoulder-to-chest hit on Stoll. Why? If anything, someone could make the argument that fighting is making the game less physical, because nobody wants to be jumped after laying a completely and legal hit. So in essence, many of us are fighting to keep an illegal aspect of the game alive, while driving out a physical play that is actually allowed in the rule books. That doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, fighting will probably always be in the NHL to some capacity, I just hope it stays for the right reasons. But I whole-heartedly agree that fighting has no place in amateur sports. Not even major junior. Those kids should worry about playing hockey and not about getting jumped by some meathead in front of his fans, friends or parents.

That's an unfair statement. I suggested those two areas because of how huge the College Hockey followings are. It's a much better theory than just slapping a team in an area based on population. I know that the North Dakota area is smaller in population but doesn't Green Bay only have 90,000 residence. If the fan base is rabid it will work. Houston is a very interesting thought. I think that would work. And I think a Vegas team could do wonders to getting the NHL on the map as far as bringing in new fans.

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip137064#clip137064 It's interesting that he believes if you wear a visor, you shouldn't be allowed to fight. I agree with this 100%. It's a danger to the opponent and for many guys in the league, they use it as a shield to protect themselves. I've seen Cory Perry push his down to protect more of his face. If you start a fight with a visor, then you should get a severe penalty and fine. Thoughts?

Can't say I'm surprised. Glen Sather has easily been the worst GM in the Eastern Conference in the last 10 or so years. Look at his drafts. Look at the deals he's made. He threw a boatload of money at Gomez, Drury and Redden while none of them are even close to being as good as their contracts dictate. Recently, there are rumors that Sather might go after Schneider as the team is desperately in need of a puck-moving PP QB. That's what Redden was supposed to be. But anyone with one good eye could have told you that Redden is shot. Now they'll bring back Avery when they could have had Shanahan for less. You tell me who's more effective nowadays. Avery will continue to be a distraction and the BlueShirts will still struggle to make it out of the 1st round.

I'd love to have this kid on the Wings. I just love the way he plays. Saying that, Holland will never trade anyone that he was able to secure with a home-town discount. And Cleary took one. The minute Holland takes advantage of that by dealing away one of these players, the whole sytsem could crumble. Fewer and fewer players would be willing to take a discount to stay a Wing. But a guy like Filppula could be dealt. I think he got a lot more than he deserved. But if we get JayBo, Holland will want to lock him up, and that means we could say goodbye to Hossa. But as much as I like Hossa, I'd take that tradeoff. EDIT: I should have added that if the Wings were in the hunt to get JayBo, chances are they'd have to deal the Panthers Filppula and a guy like Ericsson or Kindl. Not sure if the Wings would do that.

Good points Coolio. The arena they have is what is stopping the NHL from ever returning. They only have 40 luxery boxes when 100 is needed to sustain proper corporate support. Winnipeg is actually growing leaps and bounds because of the low cost of living. There are a lot big businesses moving their headquarters there to reduce the costs that are absorbed in bigger markets like Vancouver or Toronto. However, I still don't think it's a big enough town economically to support an NHL team. The people there are awesome. But when I was living there, I really did get the sense that hockey wasn't even their true #1 passion in regards to sports. While attending college, most of the guys on the hockey team were from Ontario, BC and Saskatchewan. I think we had one, maybe two guys from Manitoba. Basketball and Vollyball are huge in high school and University. And even football is really taking off in that area. Hockey seems to be lagging behind. Is that because they lost the Jets? Maybe. But I don't find that a suitable excuse since Saskatchewan is hockey crazy and they don't have a pro team. If anything, Saskatoon or Regina would be better suited for an NHL club. They have lots of oil money and those towns are really starting to grow. I'll always love Winnipeg, but from my experiences out there, people really didn't seem to care all that much for the Jets. Most games, I could walk up and buy tickets along the glass minutes before the game. I did that at least twice while I lived out there. And the tickets were a whopping $32CDN each.

I don't know. I'm a very proud Canadian, but I lived in Winnipeg for half a year and went to many Jets games. In every instance, the place was half-empty and the fans sat on their hands. There were times where you could hear what the players were yelling on the ice like they were right beside you. I'd rather see the team move to a hockey market that hasn't had an opportunity yet. Places like Wisconsin, Maine or even North Dakota. In North Dakota, you would get the Winnipeg faithful as well as the abundance of fans that exist across both the Dakota's.

This is sort of related, but here's a 30 minute, uncut interview G.B. had with a CBC TV personality: http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=1024154659 He touches on Phoenix and how they're here to stay. It's so obvious when he's speaking the truth and when he's trying to put lipstick on a pig. I think this team is in serious danger of being bankrupted in the offseason. I agree that you have to help franchises that can be successful. But Phoenix seems to be a bad hockey market no matter how you slice it.

I agree. Although I think we might be able to afford all 3 (Huds, Hossa and Franzen) if they all took a discounted deal and Filp was dealt. Trading Filp wouldn't hurt this team at all. He's going to be a good forward, but he'll always be behind Dats and Zetts and he's not as effective at LW. And Helm is better as a 3rd line centre Plus, he'd bring a good return back. Get a scoring winger for him or some draft picks.