egroen

Contracts in the NHL are guaranteed, but the team has to cover anything beyond what insurance covers (which is 7 years, I believe). So if Franzen suffered a career-ending injury next year, he would receive his salary for the remainder. The Wings would then be able to exceed the cap by an equal amount for those years he is on LTIR. If he retires, the salary comes off the books and he no longer receives it either.

No, not unless the salary goes into effect after the player turns 35.

Whether we agree with it or not, I think there are plenty of teams that would pay more than $5m for Franzen in free agency. I would love to see Holmstrom-type numbers but that is probably being way too optimistic. I'll be exctatic if it is in the 3 1/2m range or lower.

Could you imagine if it is closer to $3m? Cue the rest of the NHL bitching about Holland "cheating" Fact is, it's a loophole the NHL failed to address, and smart GMs are going to milk it... and none more so than Holland, god bless him.

Well, if Franzen is signed for less than $4m - there is still a decent chance Hossa can be signed (if Filppula is traded). Holland would not be going out so many years if he didn't think he had a chance at Hossa as well.

I'm just trying to figure what it could look like --- 7 6 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1 That's a ten year contract with a cap hit of $3.6m per year. Nice guess as well.

9 or 10 years??? That's a little scary. I just hope it helped really get that cap figure down then. Holland is really pushing the loopholes here, if this is the case - and I love it!

Your ignorance of the hockey world once again comes shining through. Here is an ESPN NHL Players' Poll from this year asking "Who is the Best Leader in the NHL?" http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?p...809playersurvey The players voted Iginla #1 w/ 22% and Lidstrom #2 w/ 17%. Huh... imagine that! Check out any fans' poll on who is the best captain in the NHL -- similar results w/ Lidstrom always in the top 3.

Ken Holland was a goalie, how smart can he possibly be?

I'm ready for the playoffs, so I really could care less how they play the remaining two games as long as everyone is healthy. I've seen enough good play out of everyone towards the end of the season that I think the Wings will be legitimate contenders.

Draper has a better scoring % with his teeth than he does with his stick.

Not that impressed either, considering Budaj made the save but a lucky bounce had it go into the net anyways.

Filppula had a good game, except when he was shooting the puck. Datsyuk needs options who can bury it, and that is not Flip... as we have witnessed countless times. Datsyuk does better with two of Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Hudler, Franzen or Hossa. I was disappointed at the loss, but it's no big deal in the scheme of thing - the team played well, just had some rotten breaks.

Well, those are the best odds of all the individual places to win the Cup. I do think they could have had an easier time against San Jose, with home ice, than they might have now if they meet.

Take heart! The Wings actually have the best record against the top 10 power-ranked teams in the NHL this year. They have had the problem of playing up to, or down to, the level of their competition, for a while now.

Filppula just ruined a sweet Youtube clip for Datsyuk there.

That replay made the Lidstrom goal really look like it deflected off Datsyuk's stick on its way to the goal.

And is anyone else more than a little annoyed only one of them is wearing a Wings' jersey (and two jerseys each of the Tigers and Pistons)?

I gotta admit, Ozzie's play of late is making me a bit more comfie about the playoffs.

For someone who claims a lot of history watching hockey, you sure are ignorant of a lot of hockey outside of the past few years with the Wings. Remember how unmotivated the 2003 team looked during the regular season and even in the playoffs? How was that for a skilled team? How about those Colorado teams? Did Pittsburgh in the early 90s have comparable skill? How about the Oilers and Islanders teams in the 80s? Montreal in the 70s or perhaps even Detroit in the 50s? Not even the greatest team ever assembled is going to win all 82 games in the NHL, and this year's Wings' team is not even close to that.... yet that seems to be what you are expecting out of Lidstrom (who is leading this team to a better year than Yzerman did in '03, '99 and '98 -- yet you seem to never berate Yzerman as a horrible captain, why is that?). Of course the team looks unmotivated at times! What team does not over a season, especially after winning a Cup? I'll go ahead and repeat this because it seems to not have made an impression at all with you. When Yzerman retired and Shanahan left, many predicted the end of the Wings winning ways. Lidstrom followed that up immediately by dragging an injured team on his back further into the playoffs than they had been since winning in '02. Lidstrom was averaging over 30 minutes a game (next closest were Zetterberg and Markov with 22 minutes), led the entire team in scoring averaging a point per game, in what was literally the single best post-season performance by a defenseman since Chris Chelios' legendary run with Chicago in 1992. How about that for a captain? And then he followed it up with a Stanley Cup, becoming not only the first european Conn Smythe winner ever, but now the first European captain to win a Cup ever. This year, despite a Stanley Cup hangover and the worst performing goalie in the league, he has captained this team to a comfortable 2nd place position for the playoffs. Lidstrom has done nothing but exceed expectations since becoming captain.

The big one is power play minutes -- Malkin, Ovechkin and Crosby all enjoy an extra 2 minutes of power play time per game than Datsyuk. At Datsyuk's production rate on the PP, that factors out to over 20 more points. But that is hypothetical. Ultimately, the voters have to decide how many "points" is a Selke-worthy forward worth? Is it 5 points? Which makes Datsyuk more valuable than Crosby. Is it 15 points? Which puts him ahead of both Malkin and Ovechkin. Unfortunately, that answer will probably be 0 points. In fact, Thornton scored less points than Datsyuk last year and was voted ahead of him not only for the Hart, but the All Star Team as well.

I have struggled with gaining weight over the years, but my wife has an even tougher time with it. We both have to literally force ourselves to eat sometimes, especially breakfast. What has helped are Ensures - especially the extra protein ones. There are times when you just do not feel like eating, and those pack in a lot of calories. Drinking a lot of water seems to help stimulate the appetite, as well as working out. Cutting caffeine is also important. I can not eat a lot at a single sitting, so I try and space out numerous smaller meals. At a little over 6'2 I have weighed as little as 150 lbs, but have managed around 175 - 180 lbs the past couple years with the goal to get up to around 185 (I have a large frame, so that is still pretty skinny). My wife, at 5'6 has slipped below 100 lbs at times, which was alarming.

Hasek is the best goaltender ever. Period. If presented with the option of acquiring Hasek, and the trade stipulated that Holland needed to kick Osgood in the balls and laugh at him while he was writhing in pain before waiving him, Holland would be a horrible GM to not deliver that kick.

Again, I would like you to point me to the last captain who led his team to a more successful 'hangover' season following a Stanley Cup win, then what Lidstrom has been able to do. I can safely say I am an adult now, and having someone yell and scream at me provides absolutely zero motivation (though it did work when I was a teenager and younger). I do look up to and follow leaders whom I respect, are successful, have a strong work ethic and strive to better not only themselves, but those around them as well. Lidstrom exemplifies that, and virtually everyone else who cares a lick of hockey recognizes him as one of the best captains in the league right now -- except for you, of course. As long as you keep posting this drivel, I find it very hard to take anything you say serious. Regarding Downey - it was unfortunate he was not able to suit up much this season. I think if Holland was not faced with the cap situation and of losing more players to waivers (like he did with Quincey) we would have seen him up more often. That said, Downey really has no place on the playoff squad.

I really hope the Wings never do that, but I'll admit I am pretty stubborn about maintaining things I consider a "tradition". For instance, I could do with a whole lot less Kid Rock and a whole lot more organ in between plays, but I'll admit I might be rather unique. My favorite sporting experience are bull fights in Spain. Just prior to the start of the event, they will literally take down all the sponsorship banners and advertisement signs from the walls of the arena, and the whole place and experience can easily take you back a hundred years when the focus was more on just the sport. Truly a unique event to take part in. Hockey events, without all the flashing lights, dancing girls, halftime shows and kitchy gimmicks are a lot more enjoyable to me over other North American sporting events for a similar reason.