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If Hudler was a UFA I would literally be hoping Holland would sign him before Franzen or Hossa.

Ugh... Rafalski has been an upgrade to Schneider in every possible way, I hope there is no truth to this rumor. Schneider is about the last thing this team needs. Give me another Lilja-type, if anything at all.

Osgood was never this bad, though. This is easily his worst season ever.

I think it would be very frustrating for Gretzky as a coach -- the guy has the highest "hockey IQ" of anyone who has ever played the game. He just knew where to be and saw plays unravel ahead of time like a chess grandmaster. That has to be rough coaching people who can't do that and can't see what he sees for the life of them - you certainly can't teach it. I'd back Gretzky :hockeysmile:

Osgood is capable of picking it up and being solid in the playoffs, at least we know that -- but I have no idea how to get him there; sit him more or play him more? I just hope the coaching staff figures it out soon. There is no denying he is largely at fault for a lot of these goals against.

I hear Bettman will be at the game... I am going Bettman hunting, I'll look in all the little holes imps like him usually hide in.

I love the idea for a "cap discount" to sign your free agents you drafted. There is also talk of exceeding the cap for one franchise player on a team. Somehow Holland has managed to keep the Wings near the top, but for the vast majority of NHL teams, when they get there, their team is more than likey to blow up within a season or two, and they will find themselves near the bottom. That sucks, and is horrible for keeping a fan base.

I'd give a 2nd and Kopecky for Neil -- though that is probably overpaying; I just think he would be a great addition.

I have about 40 gb that I am more ashamed than proud of -- but I refuse to delete anything, even if it is from my sister-in-law's tweener years (N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc...) -- although none of it has made it onto my iPod. TPBM will buy flowers at the last minute on Valentine's Day.

Leino is sort of a Datsyuk-light in that he is able to slow down the pace of the game when he has the puck, which for a good playmaker, can open up a lot of plays. What a strange goal he had -- Washington played that horribly, but I think he had a lot to do with that. I think his two-way play can get there, as they already have him on the #1 PK unit in GR.

And suprisingly the team kept on winning throughout that...

I barely remember Ron Duguay playing for the Red Wings, but I fondly remember seeing him play in a game against the K-Wings. Man, that guy's hair was awesome.

I'm fine with losing one of Hossa or Franzen. I'm fine with trading Filppula if it helps keep Franzen/Hossa and Hudler. Samuelsson can stay or go. Kopecky better be gone. One of Meech or Lebda should be traded, to make room for Ericsson. I would prefer to keep Meech as he is more versatile and cheaper, but the other one will be gone soon, as well, to make room for Kindl, hopefully. I just hope we can get a return for them and not lose them to waivers like Quincey. I would like to see Chelios return as a #7 defenseman at league minimum. I'd like to see Lilja stick around. Even if Draper retires, we are stuck with his salary on the books for the next two years (same with Osgood). I wouldn't lose much sleep if some crazy team made an offer for Maltby. Kronwall should still be considered untouchable at this point, despite his horrendous play.

Adam Oates (who went undrafted and was signed by Devallano) and Paul MacLean (current assistant coach) were traded from Detroit to St. Louis for Bernie Federko and Tom McKegney in 1989. Within a year Federko had retired and McKegney had been traded away again - one of the worst trades in NHL history.

Heh... brainfart. Slapshot of course.

Dave Hanson (of Slapshot fame) played 11 games for the Wings in '79. Doug Harvey was actually a Wing for 2 games (we should retire his jersey) in '67. Glenn Hall (pioneer of the butterfly style and top 5 goalie of all-time) was brought up by the Wings, back-stopped a few games in '52 and got his name on the Cup. The next year he won the Calder as a Wing and was soon traded to Chicago with Ted Lindsay. Won a Cup with Chicago (over the Wings in the Finals).

This is correct. And it is correct that the salary each year can never be higher that 20% of that year's salary cap. Though if the cap goes down, you will actually exceed that 20%, which is allowed. Tiny clarification on the "sign by 35" rule -- it is actually if you are 35 by June 30, of the year in which the contract goes into effect.

Did the ref get shot in Chicago or something? There has to be some recourse for Chicago on this one... this is beyond wrong.

"What's up now, Babcock!!!???"

Some of the "coincidences" were pretty funny, but the writer does not tie them in together. It should all fit together at the end like an elaborate jig-saw puzzle. I did like the wheel of the winged-wheel as the "all seeing eye" of the illuminati. That was clever.

Canada is one of the few countries in the world that actually has an official national sport, and the only to have two.

Hopefully Kopecky (or Maltby) will sit so we can see both Leino and Abdelkader. I'm ok with with Abdelkader over Downie - we need to see what this kid can do (and he can drop the gloves, too). Helm has been injured and is on the mend... which is why I assume he has not been called up.

The color red enrages them.

Contracts can be insured for up to 7 years, anything after that comes out of the teams' own pockets. Players on LTIR still count against the cap, but the club is allowed to exceed the cap by that same amount.

That was only during the original buy-out period, where for example, after buying out Hatcher and McCarty, the Wings were not able to re-sign them for a period of one year. You can now re-sign someone you bought out.