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A friend of mine in the late 90's got a wrong number call from Steve Yzerman -- "Hi, this is Steve Yzerman, is so-and-so there?" "I'm sorry, you have the wrong number." Yes, it was that exciting.

Just to get you up to speed: Grigorenko was in a near fatal car accident. Might have affected his game a tad bit, turns out

Nope -- the Player's Union would never allow it.

All true -- the Rangers had a better team than us going into the season and I am still shaking my head over LA this year. Holland has managed some low-risk, high-reward deadline acquisitions the past couple years and they have turned out rather mediocore (not quite busts) -- I honestly want more of the same, and do not want him to blow his wad for someone that in all reality, could just as easily turn out equally mediocore.

How good is this for the locker room? Selanne has publicly stated he still loves playing, he just hates practicing and the grind of the season. Ok! Just sit it out then! If you are like 90% of that team, working your ass off all season and this prima donna strolls through the door and is pretty much handed the savior title... I dunno, there just seems like there is a lot to go wrong with their whole situation.

I really liked that quote. Holland has made it sound a little more ominous in his quotes.

Anaheim is still having a lot of trouble with secondary scoring -- another loss to the Kings last night. With Selanne coming back, I think they have played their final card. Holland still has a couple up his sleeve, me thinks.

I would literally kidnap Mayers and drive him to Holland in the trunk of my car if it would help

I agree, if the Wings try to play the Duck's game. Otherwise, I think the Ducks are in trouble. You take way too many penalties, your penalty kill is terribly inconsistent and you have next to no secondary scoring. Selanne will certainly help, but it is no guarantee he will be 100%. I think the Wings lost the series because their power play was not able to capitalize (a few key PP guys out, as well), not because the Ducks wore them down.

My, you're a prickly pear. The Red Wings power play has been suffering lately, and I think they can do better. With a team like Anaheim, we did a decent job of capitalizing on their mistakes, but I think they were lucky we did not capitalize on more of them. I think this team is capable of doing much better on the power play. My argument is that the Red Wings need to play their game, not the Ducks' game. I see a lot of out-of-position Ducks out there because they go for the big hit to "send a message". The Wings message should be "Run at us all day, but we will make you pay for it on the score board." *NOT* "We'll go toe-to-toe with you all night." They did a decent job of that last night. It doesn't matter if it is a broken stick, a 5-3 or Giguere going temporarily blind - the Ducks are a team that make a lot of mistakes. That the Wings won at Anaheim, in a back-to-back game, and without their top forward is a great thing. EDIT: And I never said we "handed the Ducks their asses" either. Ducks' fans also seem to take for granted Selanne coming back, and while I think it is a given he will, I do not think it is guaranteed he will play in the same ballpark as he did last year. Their secondary scoring will still be an issue. We do not need a complete facelift in players or philosophy to beat this team if we run into them in the playoffs.

Him losing his speed has really done him in as I think a lot of his game relied on it. I don't know if he can get it back.

I'm not asking for Konstantinov... I just want someone who is responsible defensively, can log good minutes and is not going to get run over, or knocked off the puck like some of our smaller defenseman are. Markov fits that bill nicely and we would not have to trade a damn thing for him. If getting him out of russia is difficult, by all means make the effort. I would much rather have him than lose a single draft pick for a Blake or Foote.

I love the irony though... the largest team in the league and with the most penalties and fighting majors for the past two years takes on the smallest team in the league with the least fighting majors and the crowd is whining the whole night about the Red Wings getting away with bloody murder. You could hear them over the TV.

Well I would love to see Downey go at Pronger as well -- that 5 minute trade-off sure would be nice

So the Ducks sent their message: We will hurt you. But the wings merely need to send back the message: We will score on you. Anaheim playing so aggressively actually hurt them in last night's game. In fact, they are lucky the Wings' power play has been suffering lately, or the Wings would have won by a higher margin. The Ducks had a lot of hooking/holding type penalties because they go for the big hit and are then out of position. If the power play gets back to where it can be, we are going to punish them even more for playing so aggressively. The Wings need to play their game - not the Duck's game. Capitalize on the Duck's frequent mistakes. I am all for us adding some toughness at the deadline, but I am not feeling this sense of impending doom some of you seem to have -- should we not start looking and playing more like Anaheim.

The Free Press has a few quotes from him -- just a swollen eye impairing vision. Sounds like nothing too serious.

I was impressed by him last night -- Very glad we can count on him for depth in the playoffs and definitely want to see him develop more in the future.

Seems like it would be a pretty awful career move. Imagine having to answer to a committee instead of one owner in Illitch?

Satire - which that obviously was (especially of a public figure) - is quite safe. Anyways - I want Forsberg and Dany Markov. Best case scenario - they fill the exact holes we need and help us win the Cup Worst case scenario - Illitch loses some money No roster players, prospects or draft picks lost.

Out clauses are not necessary between the NHL and Russia - there is no agreement so the players can really come and go as they choose. With 5 million under the cap, I want to trade *nothing* for a rental player and simply sign Forsberg and Markov. We can afford it, they could both potentially help this team a lot and at worst -- it's Illitch's pocket book, nothing else.

Pavel Datsyuk Nick Lidstrom Henrik Zetterberg Tomas Holmstrom Jiri Hudler Chris Osgood Dan Cleary Nik Kronwall Chris Chelios Chris Draper Val Filppula Dom Hasek Brian Rafalski Kirk Maltby Tom Kopecky Aaron Downey Johan Franzen Brett Lebda Andreas Lilja Dallas Drake Matt Ellis Mike Samuelson Derek Meech Mark Hartigan

I think they were really reaching for just something to critique him on.

Nice article, though I think the perception he does not raise his play from regular season to the playoffs is false. Yes, it's tough to measure the increase of a 98% effective player in season to a 99% effective player in the playoffs, but I do think it is a bit noticeable. From clutch goals to clutch open goal saves, Lidstrom does play on higher level in the playoffs.

Fedorov is such an enigma to me. I don't know... sometimes I think he doesn't even care if he ever plays for a Stanley Cup again. It amazes me he has not played in a single playoff game since leaving the Red Wings.

I would love having Fedorov back... but I am leery of trading a roster player with a good future (like Hudler) and a draft pick for him before the trade deadline. If it could be done for someone like Meech/Ellis and a draft pick - sure. Honestly, I would just love to see the Wings go for a FA signing of Fedorov next year.