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Theo Fleury is 5'6

I love these free agent signings - absolutely win win for the Red Wings. Do not give anything up, so there is next to no risk at all. Take Leino - he didn't work, but the Wings gave up nothing for him and ended up gaining a draft pick for him. Sign this guy up! Hudler, Tatar and Aasen -- The Hobbit Line!

Lidstrom's effect always blows me away. From the article: That is crazy. Basically, whomever plays on the PK with Lidstrom is automatically a part of the best penalty killing unit in the league.

And if Hossa wanted to play so badly for us, he would have come down to $3m. I agree with you, and I don't think anyone is accusing him of being a martyr here, but it is ultimately a job. Hudler even said it was about the money in his interviews (which was refreshingly honest) and that he could play closer to home, in a still decent league, and that he was young and could still come back and contribute. That it happened to be a pretty good deal for the Wings was a happy side effect, but one I do think he (and Holland) was cognizant of.

It is real, and not just an "excuse", though I agree it is not as much of an excuse as it used to be -- considering how much better conditioned players are nowadays and how far along sports medicine has come. The Islanders in the early 80s are a classic case of deep playoff runs and injuries taking a huge toll over repeated deep playoff runs. Players play through injuries they normally might sit out from regularly in the playoffs... which can often make it worse; and there is no question the intensity in the playoffs is at a level we rarely see in the regular season. Emotionally and physically, it takes a toll.

Well, if Campbell wants to be "consistent", he is going to give Ovechkin 4 games, just like he gave Lapierre for almost the exact same hit. I plan on holding my breath until that happens.

The NHL has certainly been creative with "intent to injure" and "misconduct" when they hand out suspensions from bitings & stompings to saying "sloppy seconds". Campbell had it within his power to do the right thing, and he really screwed the pooch. It is nice to see a Penguins fan call a spade a spade here.... and from Guerin as well.

When was the last time the Wings had a goalie firmly in the Top 10 during the regular season? And a 2-time Cup champ with a Conn Smythe worthy postseason from only the year before as backup? Bah, that's the last of my worries.

Missing 11 games - on pace for 39. Then there's the 25 goals in 39 playoff games - which is just unbelievable. Certainly happy he is back in the lineup, he is having a huge impact on every game and it's nice to see someone other than Bertuzzi out there throwing some mass around.

All bets are off if they have a healthy lineup and make the playoffs. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they had a 1st round loss or went all the way.

I think 40 goals from Franzen would be reasonable with a healthy season.

Ugh... thanks for once again reminding me of the suspension heirarchy in the NHL: Sean Avery says "sloppy seconds" to the press (no prior suspensions) = 6 games Matt Cooke hits another player in the head from the blindside and ends his season (twice suspended in the past year) = no penalty, no suspension EDIT: And sort of on topic - Grier could have taken Rafalski's head off in the game tonight. Yikes! It was nice to see him step aside on that play.

The first one - no Hart nor 5 of the major awards he had listed.

I'd love for both Osgood and Ericsson to get some games, but at this point there is such little room for error that you have to go with the more proven players at this point.

No, you're supposed to start a flame war insisting Brodeur is superior to Lidstrom and by far the greatest goaltender of all time.

George Malik's blog is also a great source: http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/index.html

One of theses days Canadians will finally admit Lidstrom (and Hasek) was better than Brodeur.

In Heaven There is no Beer - The Stanislawski Brothers Band "That's Why We Drink it Here!"

If the Red Wings were formed in 1990 you would have a point. But the Red Wings have had a long history beyond that. Draper, Maltby, Holmstrom (and even McCarty) all were valuable members to championship teams and they deserve to be in the Red Rings Hall of Fame, but there are numerous NHL Hall of Fame players that would be in line to have their jerseys retired before those guys. Hart winners like Ebbie Goodfellow, or someone like Syd Howe, who retired as the NHL points leader of all-time. Marcel Pronovost, Jack Stewart, Marty Pavelich, Norm Ullman, Bill Quackenbush, Harold Lumley, Marty Barry, John Mowers, Norm Smith -- all these guys were better players and also led to multiple championships. Red Wings history is so rich, that guys like Draper and Maltby would literally open up the drafters to dozens more deserving players.

IMO, The Key: They Never Played the Trap They suck at it, and lose lead after lead playing it.

Filppula seems to have trouble just putting it all together. He can skate and stickhandle at a fast speed, and he has a decent shot and pass - he just can't do it all at once. His hands literally turn into brick mittens when he is skating with speed. At the very least, if he can slow his game down a little, controlling and protecting the puck better (like Datsyuk has been able to do), I think he really could start to blossom.

I think that's exactly what they will have to do with Campbell or Huet, if they want to get rid of them, IMO.

Can you imagine Sopel anchoring the 2nd defensive line and Kopecky centering the 3rd line? Out of curiosity, is everyone remembering to carry forward the bonuses from this year into next? I'll have to give this a go later, but man... it looks daunting.

Hooray for Hazel - Tommy Roe

I'm for Fedorov going up (though it will not be for a long time, I have a feeling), and I really wouldn't sneeze if Osgood went up (though I might not vote for it personally). I agree - this has been an unprecedented run (in modern history) by the Red Wings and Fedorov especially, was a huge part of that.