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I love how Bobby Hull has more hair now, than back when he played. I like the Blackhawks team, but man, their fans really annoy me. (Interestingly, no mention of Scotty Bowman)

Hopefully we see Ericsson during that time.

... except injuries

Starting in '97 Fedorov was producing 60-some points each year (except '03 when he had 82). '04 in Anaheim was right on line with that with 65 points. In the 4 years before Shanahan came to Detroit he was producing at 1.16 pts/gm and .89 pts/gm his first 4 years in Detroit. Before coming to Detroit Lang was averaging close to a point per game for a few years and had .75 pts/gm during his stay in Detroit. My point is there is not "zero" evidence to back this up -- players in Detroit often have less ice time (Detroit usually rolls 4 lines) and greater defensive duties than they might have elsewhere.

Seems slow, but nice design. I hope they ramp up their stats section... the stats they keep do not even compare to others like MLB.com

Shanahan's production took a nose dive when he came to Detroit. Lang's as well, and he produced at a greater clip when he went to Chicago... so did Williams. Hull, Whitney, Robitaille - same thing. Even Devereaux produced more outside of Detroit. On other teams they get more playing time and do not have as great of defensive duties as is required in Detroit. Since Datsyuk last year when was the last time the Wings had a top 5 scorer despite having some of the best talent in the NHL every year?

I agree... since the Wings started winning Cups again in the 90s, their style of play has not been condusive to high individual numbers. The points Dats and Zets put up last year were the highest by a pair of Wings in well over a decade. It pisses me off to no end when others attribute their high points being mainly due to them being on the Wings. I strongly feel they would score a lot more on a lot of other teams... where they would not have as much of a defensive responsibility.

Holland once said to the press that "Zetterberg will be a captain in Detroit". Something pretty dreadful would have to happen for him to ever be traded or lost to free agency. Heck, Niklas Lidstrom introduced him once as "The next Steve Yzerman" before he had ever played a game in the NHL. Zetterberg is being groomed, and has been for some time (Bowman made sure his locker was right next to Yzerman's).

Is Sundin's 113 points in '93 the highest for a Swede? Tough to do nowadays, and impossible if he continues to have back problems.

I love Sammy at $1 million... absolutely love him. It will be interesting how contract talks with him go. You have to think he enjoys being on the team, but how much of a discount will that warrant? I think he could sign as a free agent for over $3 million - he is good defensively, is a cup winning veteran, can play the point and is competent even on a second line, with even 1st line fill-in duties. Above all, the guy produces, year-in-and-year-out and he steps it up in the playoffs. I think it will be very tough to retain him, given the amount of demand I think would be out there for him.

The Wings only had Stuart for a quarter of the season and then not even all the playoffs... and they did fine on the PK without him. They will do fine without Lilja. I have no problem seeing Chelios continue to log a lot of PK time.

Reminds me of Bowman and his remarks about Holmstrom... From reading pre-season game recaps it sounds like Hudler's defensive game has really made strides. I'm excited to see what he can do with some serious minutes and great linemates. Just sucks this is a contract year!

Babcock whispering "See you soon!" to Hossa at the handshake sounds like pure BS to me. Though I do not doubt they were working him for a while.

It's called "Over the Salary Cap"... and Lilja alone gets the Wings below it. I still think they would trade one other player just for a little more wiggle room, but I strongly believe Lilja is to be traded -- it just makes so much logical sense. The fact Quincey is not getting much playtime, and is not impressing, leads me to believe his future here is in a lot of doubt. My bet is they try and put him through waivers and play him in GR if he passes... there is probably a pretty good chance he will clear them, but if he does not, it will probably not be the biggest loss in the world.

You missed the last part.... I'd actually say that is a clear sign they are shopping him, and boosting his value a bit through the press. And as for "Who will replace Lilja on the PK?" -- Stuart will. Lidstrom, Kronwall and Stuart will see regular PK duty... Chelios of course when he is playing and Rafalski is definitely capable of playing on the PK. If Quincey or Ericsson make the team, they will see time and Lebda is fine on the second unit as well. I am unsure about Meech. Also look at TOI, which may or may not be an indication as well. Last game Lilja had 16:42, lowest of the 6, with his competition Meech getting 19:09 (4th most). Ericsson was between them. Game before, Meech led all D with 24:09 (and had the lone Wings goal) when Q got 2nd lowest TOI with 16:04.

One thing all this has convinced me of though -- Burke really did think Selanne and Neidermayer were done. There was no conspiracy. Those guys coming back has just become a nightmare and may ultimately set that team back 5 years. Especially if they end up losing Ryan over it. Not that I ever bought into it before, but the conspiracy theory was a handy way to dislike Burke even more. Watching him bumble through all this is way more entertaining.

Wings fans are not bad at all, in that regard... though we can be extremely cocky and elitist. I was in San Jose last month and ended up telling a bunch of Shark fans why the Red Wings were such a better run organization and how they were lucky to get McClellen from us. They actually agreed with me and bought me drinks...

If you remember back to what was being given up for some of those trade deadline deals, Holland came off smelling like roses despite Bertuzzi not panning out that well... and the Wings got further into the playoffs than the other teams who made big-time acquisitions.

Rent a car at the airport and drive to Dearborn as some of the above-mentioned posts say -- take shuttle to and back from the Joe -- have fun in Dearborn (maybe Cheli's or the Post? I am not over there too often). Oh wait, you say you are a Rangers fan... ? In that case, fly into Detroit, take a cab, but tell them you want to "walk" to the Joe, and have the cab drop you off in the 7 mile area.... right around Brightmoore and Del Ray for a nice leisurely walk. Be sure and dress to impress!

At least Holland did not have to buy Bertuzzi out and have him figure into the cap for the next couple years. If Holland gets C for that trade, Burke gets an E- for the signing. The Calgary signing of Bertuzzi may end up getting a B. Bertuzzi seemed like a good risk at the time, and he was "ok" in the playoffs. Matthias was not much to speak of and might still not be. Pretty low risk, high reward scenario that Holland is fond of and I hope he continues to be.

I would consider Dearborn as well -- Cheli's Chilli Bar has a shuttle to the games, which are fun to be on, even if you are rooting for an opposing team. There are a few other locations in Dearborn that have shuttles, and Dearborn could be fun for you after the game. That's my advice -- Find a bar/restaurant that has free shuttles to the game and simply find a nearby hotel.

Sammy does turn the puck over, usually as a result from him making his one patented deke move and then he seems to look totally lost after that if it does not work out as planned. But it is usually in the offensive zone where he pulls this and he knows better than to attempt it in our own zone or even neutral ice and is pretty good about bringing it up or making the pass without getting fancy. Most of the time he turns it over simply by taking a long shot... but that is what Babcock seems to want him to do. He seemed much better about taking it to the net in the playoffs; hopefully we see more of that.

Sammy is a great deal at $1.2M... his contract is up at the end of the season and he could be a salary cap loss, or he could be exactly what Holland needs. I could see Sammy not ask for a huge raise, or much of one at all, even though he could ask for close to $3M as a free agent from some other teams. How much of a raise will Hudler seek? Franzen? Unless Hossa is completely out of the question, those guys are more of a salary cap concern than Samuelsson, IMO. As for the OP -- I have no clue. I just hope pre-season helps to make it an easy/easier decision.

In '02 Lidstrom won the Norris with Chelios a hair behind him.

Most Ducks fans I have read were in favor of losing Marchant without question... I do not think he is our version of Draper. Of course Marchant alone is not enough... man, they are in a mess. He would have to be waived however... another albatross of a salary.