clutchngrab

I would NOT part with Kronner ( nor will wing's management). He will be the #1 D-man in a couple years.

Well, I guess if the price is right. I just don't see him scoring as much on the 3rd or 4th line. Dropping the gloves occassionally would be a refreshing change. As far as Maltby goes, at 1.55, I suspect this is his last year

Because the calendar says 2007 not 1997. Same with Lapointe as far as I am concerned. While I have nothing against Lapointe, I don't see him on the top 2 lines and he brings nothing that Franzen doesn't already bring. The ex-wing I like is Mike Knuble and maybe he can be obtained from the train-wreck called the flyers

The trick is to find a team in fire-sale mode like the Caps were when Holland got Lang. I don't remember the exact terms for that deal, but it was one of Holland's better moves as I think there wasn't much given up. It seems that Williams, Lilja, Sammy, Hudler or Kopecky are the only tradeable commodities that we could trade without seriously changing team chemistry. Everyone else is either too established or has too much of an upside to deal - and even Hudler is arguable. My picks would be Williams and/or Lilja. Both are overpaid and underperforming.

Lang is a floater A floater is a turd therefore Lang is a turd Sorry, it doesn't matter how many points he gets he is forever destined to be a turd. Basic logic at work here.

"How to make everyone at ease" - Scotty Bowman "How to make millions without really Trying" - Alexei Yashin "Zen and the Art of Humility" - Jeremy Roenick "The Art of Successful Negotiation" - Bob Goodenow

"My Life as a Figure Skater" by Paul Kariya "The Porcelain Gene: The story of Lindros family concussions" By Brent and Eric Lindros. Special introduction by Pat Lafontaine.

Every team is made up differently with different strengths and weaknesses. The successful teams in the NHL figure out how to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. This is where the coach comes in so give Trotz his props for getting his guys to play to their strengths: Speed (witness breakaways and back-checking) and a team commitment to D looking to counter-attack with speed. They block a ton of shots and play a strong North, South game. Though they don't play the trap, I lump these guys on the "dark side" with the Minnesota's, New Jerseys and Calgary's of the NHL. Basically the approach to "dark side" hockey is: "goalie safe our ass" plus we will trap (or use whatever defensive system in vogue) until we get the counterattack opportunity and capatilize. This strategy has worked well in recent years against the wings. Why is that? We all know the wings are a puck posession "skill" team that relies on a mobile D and a bit of a lateral East-West game. They generally are loathe to dump and chase. In years past, this strategy has worked well because the Wings could literally out-skill everyone and make it work - despite never having a primo goalie. (We can argue about Hasek later). Now the skill level is more even across the NHL board... Plus some of our skilled guys are getting old. Babcock's challenge is to get the team to play like he did with Anaheim without giving up our advantage in puck posession. Tough Challenge - especially without a top notch goaltender.