egroen

Trading just to trade at this point. Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, Andy Woz, and Craig Adams -- Yee-Haa!

I pretty much want Bouwmeester or nothing. And I doubt the Wings swing Bouwmeester.

Guerin really made a difference at the deadline for San Jose a couple years ago... and I hear his game has really improved since then!

Nah to Roberts - Wings could have had him for nothing if they wanted to.

Load up Penguins! That team is going nowhere this year and I wouldn't mind seeing them trade away some more of their future

Blues would rape an inter-division rival for Tkachuk. Though Detroit was rumored to be on his "acceptable" list.

Word was a 2nd rounder, but the Wings 2nd rounder is essentialy a 3rd. Holland stated last night he was not going for Neil. Detroit would not need to clear cap space.

He included Ericsson in with Helm and Leino as "the best playerS" he has ever sent down.

I am just fine with the Wings doing nothing - the only thing I would really be excited about is some crazy trade for Bouwmeester.

He better be higher on the defensive depth chart than Meech for the playoffs - possibly higher than Lebda and Chelios. Big body good!

Waiver Pickups: Gerber to Toronto Reitz to Toronto Adams to Pittsburgh Brendan Morrisson to Dallas. Roberts and Satan cleared!

I'm just glad the teams that have owned the Wings this year will not be in the playoffs -- Colorado, Toronto. I suppose that is a good thing.

Holland allowed himself to be quoted on the air last night by Ken Daniels that "No, he is not in talks with Murray about Neil. At all."

I was real impressed with Ericsson last night - kept it simple, but was not afraid to get involved in the offensive end. Not a single blunder while he was out there. I keep hoping, hoping, hoping we may have another Fischer in him.

Anyone else not looking forward to a possible first round series against Columbus?

I was big on Kopecky when he was in GR, liked him last year where he seemed to play with more of a chip on his shoulder and defended him in the first couple months of this year. But I fell pretty solidly off that bandwagon midway through season where he proved to be almost entirely useless for long stretches at a time. I wondered if it was still his knee, and maybe it was, but I'll need more than a handful of good games to hop back on. At this point, I still could care less if he is on or off next year's team.

I think that article is interesting for Waddel's perspective as well. Interesting that the Wings were that serious going after Hossa at the deadline (Montreal, Detroit followed by Pittsburgh were the front-runners). I wonder what Holland had on the table, considering Atlanta wanted roster players. Filppula? Hudler? Ericsson?

Dallas is obviously too classy to have someone like Avery on their team.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2009/02/27/...eentry_waivers/ Price tag is $1.9m for 3 years.

It's actually a ridiculous question. Only a moron would give up Selke winning defensive play for a couple of fights.

Gordie Howe played in an era when the top forwards played over 25 minutes a game. Shifts were upwards of 2 minutes at a time -- that is how the game was played back then. Obviously it is different today. I can assure you Gordie Howe was not forcing Jack Adams into giving him more minutes. Adams would have shipped Howe out of there faster than hell if Howe started dictating his playing time. Fedorov demanded to be played more in Detroit and Bowman didn't allow it. Bowman used to also force Lidstrom to sit a game or two at the end of the regular season. Who was right? Chelios ******* every moment he can about getting more minutes and PP time - what sort of a coach just hands that over? I am sure just about every player in the league wishes he had more playing time -- it's a coach's job to regulate that and do what is best for the team. In the past year I have seen Datsyuk absolutely level Ryan Malone, Zdeno Chara and Doug Murray -- Is that not "tough"? I have not seen him chased out of any scrums at all, in fact I see him involved in them - so I am not sure why you are maligning Datsyuk as some sort of pansy. I love that we are seeing a lot more physical play from him, but I would give it up in an instant if it sacrificed his defensive play. Gretzky had the highest on-ice IQ I have ever seen. Larionov had that and Datsyuk has it today. That intelligence is worth giving up a few fights for. I think Datsyuk would get more recognition today from the players in the league than he has in the past, but I doubt he would win it. The fact is, close to 80% of the league is North American, and they are going to vote on a style akin to an Iginla or Ovechkin before they would vote on a style like Datsyuk's.

Would you give up Datsyuk's Selke votes for 3 fights (implication - give up his two-way game)? Because that is what you have with Iginla and Lecavalier -- go ahead and count up their Selke votes. Those guys do not play defense like Datsyuk. When Datsyuk is having an off night in the scoring department - he is still out there in a checking role and killing penalties -- on a much more consistent basis than Iginla is out there fighting.

Micah, If you think the president's trophy is worth playing our top forwards a ton of minutes for, fine... I bet we could probably get it. I'd argue that teams like Pittsburgh, Washington and Calgary do not have quite the offensive depth the Wings have, and compounded with the fact they need to ensure they even make the playoffs - it is worth it to them to play their top forwards more minutes. Joe Thornton plays less than 20 minutes a game for San Jose this regular season. Marc Savard plays less than 20 minutes a game for Boston this regular season. Pavel Datsyuk plays less than 20 minutes a game for Detroit this regular season. What do these three teams have in common? That does not mean their coaches are deathly afraid they can't handle the minutes -- I think it is closer to the truth that their coaches feel confident in their playoff berths & offensive depth and want to give their top forwards every advantage they can for when the playoff come around. They have that luxury... not fear. Is that good coaching? Or is it a sign those players can't handle it? Again, you tell me.

And you were throwing random thoughts out - though you made an excellent point that Brind'Amour could be considered a better "all-around" forward than Ovechkin. I simply stated I did not think he was a "better" forward. But that is completey different than Iginla and Datsyuk - as Datsyuk puts up just as many points, in much less minutes AND plays Selke-level defense on top of it. But you are going sit here and tell me Iginla's 3 fights this year is the icing on the cake? I'd say he is better than Iginla, much better than Lecavalier and currently on a level with Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin. In my opinion, a two-way forward is more valuable than an extra ten points or so (and easily more valuable than a couple fights in a year), especially on this Red Wings team, so I think Datsyuk is the more valuable forward - especialy at their given price tags. Fedorov for a couple years was considered the best player in the world. Datsyuk is between Fedorov and.... ? I agree, for what it is worth, Datsuk has not had a better season than Fedorov's 1993 season - not even close. But Forsberg never had a season as good as Fedorov's best, either. How about Mario Lemiuex, Hasek, Gretzky, Lindros and Bourque? The top player of the 90s is not exactly clear-cut. Early 90s - Fedorov. Later part of the decade was Forsberg. Forsberg was a good two-way player as well. Because you think fighting is more important than actually playing defense, right?

And you tell me if that quote is the same as: "You silly thing, is was you who first claimed that keeping Datsyuk's reg season playing time down was because if we didn't, he might not be playoff ready, not me." Babcock has the luxury that he does not have to play his star players monster minutes in order to simply make the playoffs, and it should also ensure they have plenty to give once the playoffs start. Having that luxury is not the same as Babcock fretting away in fear our forwards will turn into the SCFs version of Malkin if he doesn't conserve them. Can you grasp the difference?