Packer487

I LOVE the Johnny Canuck one, but the green and blue one with the skate is kind of bad-ass. -Tim

That article didn't really have anything concrete, but it is looking pretty good that we'll be seeing Dom again next year. Thank God. -Tim

You know you're getting paid to not do any actual work today. Just make it yourself instead of being all lazy. BTW, email me your address so I can send you those NHL 93 PC disks. -Tim

Like I said, the owner of the place that my dad bought my Hasek jersey is a friend of Dom's and he told my dad "You have nothing to worry about....he's coming back." -Tim

Possibly. ::grumble:: Shouldn't have re-signed Maltby ::grumble:: Jed's just one of my all-time favorites. Pretty sure the Wings offered him a deal out of college but he thought he'd play quicker with the Rags. I'd love to see him end up here. Whether it'd make sense or not. We could definitely use someone that has the sack to go block shots out at the point though. Not nearly enough of that in the playoffs it didn't seem like. -Tim

I'd like to see them take a run at Jed Ortmeyer. He should come cheap and he's one of those guys that works his ass off every shift. I believe he led the league in blocked shots one year. Lord knows we could use some of that....he'd also help the checking line and the PK. For the extra scorer we need, I too would like to see Kozlov back. It might help Datsyuk to have a fellow Russian on his line and Kozzie has shown he can still get it done. His best, and 2 of his best 4 statistical seasons have come in the past 2 years and he was only a couple points away from making them his 2 best years overall. Playing with Hossa and Kovalchuk obviously helps, but we could put him with some high end guys as well. -Tim

Take it for what it's worth (second hand info) but I'll offer this tidbit up: I'm back in Michigan for the weekend and my parents gave me my birthday gifts. One of them was a Dominik Hasek jersey. The owner of the store where my dad bought it is apparently friends with Hasek, so my dad asked him what the scoop was. The guy told him, "You have nothing to worry about. He's coming back." Not saying the info is gospel, but I feel pretty good having heard that. -Tim

He definitely did better. He still needs to show up more often on the road. I can't complain about his performance this playoffs. He has to keep it up though. If he goes back and posts 4 points in 10 games next year and we're out in 2 rounds, it's all for naught. He's being paid like a superstar now. He needs to consistently play like it. This year was a nice stepping off point though. -Tim

You and me both sir! Of course, I've still got a Pistons playoff run to look forward to (not sure if you're into basketball) plus auto racing. I moved to Madison from Ann Arbor a couple months ago, so I'm close enough to probably hit up 3 Packers games this year. I'm pretty excited. I love football, but there really is nothing like April and May with the NBA and NHL playoffs going on. Game every night, most cases multiple games, and it's hard not to have a rooting interest in every damn one of them. I really like what I've read about Brandon Jackson, the running back out of Nebraska. He hasn't put on a jersey yet and I love the kid. He couldn't come to minicamp because the NFL made him go to this thing in LA where they do trading card photos and whatnot. He was really upset he couldn't be at minicamp, and he was excited Favre was coming because he "wanted to show Brett that there aren't going to be any problems with the running game this year". I guess Morency put on some muscle in the offseason too. If Blackmon stays healthy, I think we've got our nickle back. He would've been a first round pick if he stayed at corner his senior season. BC needed a WR so he moved for the betterment of the team, even though it cost him 3 rounds in the draft and some significant coin. The reports on him were glowing. -Tim

Let's have at it! I was a little annoyed with the lack of free agent signings this offseason, myself. But with the money some of those guys were going for, it's hard to blame TT for not jumping in. He used most of the excess cap space to lock up guys like Jenkins and Barnett, who are key parts as this team moves ahead. I'd much rather have him do that then throw money at players who won't actually help. The Vikings and Redskins are the offseason champions every year, but it never plays out on the field. When you've got the youngest team in the league, you can afford to stand pat sometimes and let the kids play. Moss was the one guy that I really feel they should've brought in. Especially with how wide open the NFC is, he could've put them over the top. I still think they're in position to have a very successful 2007 season. They should improve just based on guys getting healthy and getting more experience. -Tim

Chelios made $850,000 last year. I assume his contract would be similar next year. He's already taking a huge paycut (he's making less than Lilja for Crissakes). I rounded it up to a million because I didn't feel like doing that much math. Kronwall had done less than Hudler in his career and somehow managed to land a 5 year/$15 million extension heading into HIS restricted free agency. Doesn't mean I'd want to pay him that much...I was trying to be realistic, and after seeing what Kronwall got, Hudler might get more than you'd think. Either way, you're telling me I'm "on crack" because of less than a million dollars. We've got room for one big signing--but we'll have to depend on a lot of kids to make that signing. And if Hasek retires, we've still only got room for one big signing, but we don't have a goalie. -Tim

He was Jamaican Canadian. -Tim

This offseason might be an ugly one for us. As it is, the Wings have about $12 million in cap room with Hasek, Chelios, Markov, Schneider, Hudler, Calder, Lang, and Bertuzzi unaccounted for. The cap may go up, but I think we also owe Hasek a million dollar bonus, so I'm going to call that a wash for now, and if we end up with extra money, good. If we want to win next year, we better pray Hasek comes back. Even though he could command a nice raise, I'll give him the same kind of contract. Say $1 million. 3 defensemen to account for: Chelios signs for a million. That leaves $10 million for 2 defensemen and 4 forwards. Quincey comes up full-time, we let Markov go. That's $500,000. We'll deal with Schneider in a minute. Hudler is an RFA. If Kronwall can finagle himself a $3,000,000 per deal, Hudler should at least be able to get $1.5 million. That leaves $8 million for 1 defenseman and 3 forwards. Bertuzzi shouldn't be re-signed. It's nice to think about what he could be if he's healthy, but we have to give up another second rounder if we sign him, and that's enough for me to pass, even if he'd come at a big discount. Lang's obviously gone. Say McGrath and Kindl both come up. Now you've got $7 millionish for 2 forwards. Grigorenko comes up for roughly a million. $6 million for 1 forward. But you also have to keep in mind that in this scenario our defense corps is: Lidstrom, Kronwall, Chelios, Quincey, Lebda, Lilja, Kindl. That's not exactly an improvement. If we let Schneider go, we better be convinced that Kronwall is going to be better than he was this season, because he was pretty awful for wide portions. We've got room for one major acquisition. But that means we let Bertuzzi, Lang, Calder, Schneider, Markov all go. I gotta believe Schneider is still making at least $3 million if he comes back. He put up 52 points this year. I have a real hard time believing we could get him for a Chelios-like discount. So if you want him back instead of Kindl, you've got $4 million for a forward. And we still haven't improved the team. And I feel that some of these estimates might be low for salary. Hard to see how next year's team is going to be any better than this years. I'm really depressed tonight now that I've seen the numbers....and that assume Hasek comes back. If he doesn't, we're better off by maybe $300,000 except we don't have an elite goalie anymore. Someone cheer me up please. -Tim

Keep in mind we have to give up another second round pick if he re-signs with us. Even if it's at a substantial discount, I'd be tempted to pass based on what we've seen thusfar. Injuries seem like they've really taken their toll on the guy. -Tim

Put Lang out there. I'm serious. Might as well let him go 3 for 3.

Yeah. This is totally his fault. We should've been down 4-0 in the first period with this s*** ass effort tonight. Times like this that I really wish we could travel <3,000 miles for the entire playoffs like the teams in the East, instead of like...say....26,000. -Tim

Just gotta pot another one before the 8-10 minute mark and those jerseys might get a little tight for the home team. I guess ya never know... -Tim

Datsyuk doesn't suck, but he's not worth the money we're going to be paying him for the next SEVEN seasons. I fear that that one is going to look really bad. And even if we let Schneider, Lang and Bert go, I feel like they're not going to want to commit big money to a forward for more than a year (like anyone will take that) since they're going to have to give an extra $5 million to Zetterberg when his contract is up. I'm not one of those Bobby Clarke "Lindros Big. Big Good." people, but I would have a real hard time paying max money to someone who seems to be taken out of games as easily as Dats is, when the other team has last change or can get physical with him. Shanahan leaving was a killer. He'd look SO good in the slot right now..... -Tim

These Jacks Links commercials are the only thing making me smile right now. Messin' With Sasquatch is great! We need to tell Sasquatch that Olczyk insulted his momma. -Tim

That one was legit. The puck was out to Dom's left and the ref was right there. From the live shot it looked bad, but on the replay he was right to not blow that one dead. Not that he would have anyway. Too many power plays not capitalized on. I don't suppose Martin Lapointe is on the Ducks now.....we could use him there to come from 3-0 down in the third of a playoff game. -Tim

I'm so happy I discovered the American Le Mans Series this year. Now if only the car would last long enough for Herta to drive.... -Tim

Too many long series against too many good teams that are too far away from Detroit, MI. This is really disappointing if this is the way it ends. We've had 2 BS calls go against us that may have cost us two games, but they lost this series by not stepping on Anaheim's throat in Game 4 when they played without Pronger. Hard to win playoff games against good defensive teams when you can't score on the power play. C'mon guys....a two goal lead is the hardest to protect. Get one and it's a game again. -Tim

I want to have sex with JS Giguere. Signed, Ed Olczyk

Why get younger for the sake of getting younger? Hasek plays one more year, Howard gets another year in the AHL, we get a better chance to win it all next year. This really isn't good. 2-0 now.

Seriously. How does ANYONE not want Hasek back next year. He's the only reason we're not down 5-0 right now. The guy is absolutely amazing. -Tim