Hank

This would solely depend on what Grigs does, but I would suspect this is what our top 2 lines would look like: Homer-Zetts-Sammy Filpulla-Dats-Grigs Homer, Sammy, Flip, Grigs and Hudler will probably be our top 5 wingers. But expect Babcock to juggle in Franzen and Cleary in there as well from time to time.

Seeing as Zetterberg will be centering our 2nd line, I'm not worried at all. Kenny Holland and Ken Daniels have both been on XM Home Ice 204 the last week and both have said that Zetts and Dats will be playing centre for the majority of the season. I think Hudler, Flip and even Grigs will round out the wingers on the top 2 lines. We'll be fine.

That's what I don't get. People forget that he's still a teenager and HATES losing. Of course he's going to pipe off once ina while. What kills me is that guys like Don Cherry sound off about how whiney Crosby is and yet he never, ever says "boo" about Darcy Tucker or Bryan McCabe. Those two are the BIGGEST babies and mouth peices in the entire league. I've seen both of them nearly decaptiate someone with a highstick and the way they shout, whine and plead to the refs, you would believe they weren't even in the building at the time of the infraction. And if anyone's actually watched some of his games, the kid is constantly mauled and hacked out there. Most guys get touched (see Tucker and McCabe) and they scream bloody murder. Sid usually keeps his composure and is easily the most mature teenager I've ever seen when it comes to handling the enormous pressure put on him since he was barely 13 years old. Not only is he expected to be one of the best players on the ice at all times, but he was also been asked to save his franchise and the entire NHL. And all of this has come before he can even legally take one sip of beer in the US. Sids awesome! We should be enjoying his career. Because we're all going to blink and suddenly he's going to be taking that final skate around the ice like Wayne did 8 years ago. And then all of us will be saying "when are we going to see the next Crosby".

I like the idea. But I'd rather have the Calder Cup champion face off against the Euro champ for the Victoria Cup. I wonder if someday the Stanley Cup champ will face the CHL champ. The only problem with that is the NHL has a far more grueling schedule than the European teams and the road to the Cup is a lot harder as well. Plus, I'm sure owners like Illitch would love to see Nick Lidstrom or Zetterberg risk a career ending injury for a worthless series. But if the NHL owners were guarenteed lots of $$$ anything is possible.

Bingo. And everyone knows McCabe=Garbage.

I wish they'd change their colour scheme too. Black is so 90's. A little black isn't bad but teams like TB, NJ and SJ need to change things up with new colours. Philly, Chicago and Boston can keep black in there because they're more traditional teams and colours. But I'd like to see some clubs take advantage of the slew of colours available. I've never understood why nobody's tried to emulate the University of Michigan colour scheme. Their uni's look great!

Very well said. Despite the stats, Rafalski, I believe, is not only better defensively than Souray but also offensively. Souray's whole offensive aresenal depends on the one-timer on the PP. Rafalski can add offense and defense ES and can kill penalties too. He's not as physically imposing, but I guarentee you if you asked the better offensive players in the league who'd they rather face in a 1-on-1 situation, a great majority of them would say Souray. Rafalski doesn't rule with his physical stature, but he's much better defensively. And, he's officially cheaper too. Defensively, Souray would be our 5th-7th dman with top PP time. Rafalski will be our #2 dman and a top PP guy.

This is one of the very few times I've agreed with Ek. ESPN only pimp stuff that they promote or show. I guarentee you that Crosby wins if ESPN still has NHL hockey.

Touche! That and giving them all white uniforms would have cured insomniacs all over Newark.

I know. I have nothing against Jeter. I think he's an amazing ball player. But this was for "Who's Now". What has Jeter done in the past 2 seasons? Crosby's only been the youngest player to ever win the Art and Hart trophies and singlehandedly save the Pens from moving to Puerto Rico.

Spezza's still smiling.

It's official: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=213429&hubname=nhl Just when I thought the Devils couldn't get more boring...

Sid got destroyed - approx. 66%-34%.

Souray is a powerplay specialist - that's all. He's brutal ES and absolutely morbid in his own end. We have Rafalski, Kronwall and Lidstrom to be our PP guys. No need for an overpaid, underskilled dman. Not only that, but if you look at Souray's stats he's only had 2 good seasons - both of them contract years. Rafalski is a B+ defenseman while Souray is a C-. Souray will help you win games but players like Rafalski will help you win Cups.

That was the knock against Howard before this years AHL playoffs. But it sure sounded like he stood on his head for the Griffins during the postseason. I think he'll be ready as a backup next season and hopefully a starter in 2 years.

Bye-Bye. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Yes it is. He'll probably get a contract somewhere, but it will be for the league minimum and I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the minors quite a bit this season. He's simply a non-factor on the ice more than he isn't.

The difference is that Hasek has done something in his career, Yashin has not. I'm not opposed to him coming but I don't think it's in our budget or team makeup to add a player like him.

I don't want to burst anyones bubble but Russian newspapers are worse than the National Enquirer. They routinely make up quotes or go out of their way to misquote people. This could be true, or it could be the biggest peice of fiction ever written. My main problem is that I highly doubt Yashin will sign for anything less than $4M, which doesn't seem to be in Detroits budget if it's NOT concerning a true power forward winger. Yashin is big, but he plays small and has had issues his whole career with taking too many nights off and being defensively liable. That's not exactly what this team needs.

I know a lot of people are bummed about our lack of movement or who we chose to pick up. But I'm really looking forward to this season. Here's why: - Zetts establishing himself as one of the top 10 players in the league (has potential for a 100 point season). - Seeing what Grigs is made of. Is he a bust or a 25 goal scoring rookie. - Hudler's continued rise in the ranks. I really think this kid is a 30 goal scorer if given the right minutes and linemates. - More smashmouth type hockey. After this years playoffs, I think a lot of the Wings realise they can be just as physical, or more so than a lot of the teams in the West. I look forward to watching guys like Franzen, Drake, Cleary, Malts and Drapes running guys through boards. - What Rafalski is going to do for our PP. I think this guy is going to make Holland look like a genius. He's a very smart player. - Watching Howard on a few occasions in the bigs. I hope he shows the he's ready for the '08 season. - Picking up that coveted power forward at the deadline. - A renewed rivalry with the Blues. - Watching someone physically pummel the DJ for playing "What's Going On?" or "Open Up Your Eyes" for the 100,000th time.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I think this is a great signing. He's a great character guy that can play all 3 forward positions. He's fast, checks hard, blocks shots and will do whatever's asked of him. His offensive skills have eroded and he obviously won't be counted on to score a lot of goals, but I see no reason that he couldn't have a resurgance similar to Dan Cleary. Good pickup.

LOL! I've always been the exact opposite. I was good at sprints but terrible at long distance running. I still am. I've been trying to get better and in fact I just started training for the October Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon. I'll probably die so please say a few nice words about my passing. I've always been a super skinny guy so my goal has always been to put on more weight through weight training. I started exercising when I was 18. I was 6'1" and weighed a whopping 160lbs. Erkel looked like Arnold compared to me. But for the next 2 years I would do pushups and situps every single night. By the time I was 20 I weighed 175 and felt I had good definition with some muscle mass. But then I got tired of doing that and decided to weight train with my brother and his free weights. At first I had no idea what I was doing. For over a year, our workout routine consisted of 10 sets of bench, followed by 4 sets of 21's for bi's. We did this routine twice a week. Eventually I realised that his regimine was no good for other body parts. I picked up a few magazines and started incorporating excercises for tri's and shoulders. I slowly gained weight but I was still retarded when it came to what exercises were best, what routine I should follow and the like. But eventually I joined a gym and this is where I really started to learn about splits, diet, time off, rest periods, cycling routines, etc. Now I'm 33 years old, 6'1" and weigh 215. I'm still too skinny for my liking but I've been learning more and more about proper diet, calorie consumption and changing routines more often. My goal would be to weigh 225 at 5-6% body fat. I think I'm around 8-9% right now, but I'd like to add some mass and reduce a little of the fat I have below the belly button. What's really helped lately is that I got a new job where they have a full service gym on the premises. I used to have to wake up at 5:00 am to go to the gym but now I can go at my lunch time. It's been a Godsend.

Regarding Grigorenko, it sounds like his game is far more suited to the North American style. I have a good feeling about this kid. I remember when Dallas Drake first made this club. He was raw but full of energy, grit, heart and had good hands. I'm hoping that Grig's brings the same things to the table.

I'm not sure if Filp will make the top 2 lines but those are the lines that I think we'll be starting with. It's just like last year. I have to admit, that while I'm a huge Wings fan, I found it hard to watch them in the first month last year. I found myself tuning into a lot of Sabres and Pens games. Before Babs put Zetterberg back with Datsyuk, the Wings looked a lot like the Devils. I sure hope that some of the young guys show a knack for scoring so Babs lets them skate a little more. But I think you're correct with the assumption that a big, physical winger won't be coming until the deadline.

Not only that, but at least last year we had Lang to centre our 2nd line. I know he's 'lazy and he sucks' but he was a vet and he did have the ability to carry a line on his own. If Babs puts Z and Dats together we'll be left with Filppula to centre our 2nd line. I really like Val but I don't think he's ready for it yet. Maybe in his 3rd year, but not now. If you put Zetts and Dats at centre (like you said - their natural positions), we'll have better depth. And lets be honest, we won a lot of games last year because of Hasek, our defensive depth and a weak division. The Division will be stronger but we''ll still rely on all 3 to make the playoffs. By then, Holland will have picked up a couple of forwards to help our march in April.