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Reggie Fleming. A lot of players later in life are finding significant memory problems: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/sports/hockey/18concussion.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 But that is besides the point - with modern equipment and training these guys are bigger and traveling at much faster speeds than they used to. Personally, I wouldn't mind all that much if they went back to no helmets and tube skates, but I am probably in the minority there.

Scotty Bowman has long been an advocate of this ("Why should a penalized team be given an advantage?") -- but then he is usually coaching the teams that draw the penalties.

I'm hoping Filppula works with Zetterberg -- Z needs someone else to carry the puck on occasion and able to carry it into the zone. I really think Zetterberg needs to start thinking like a sniper (getting into position vs. carrying the puck constantly and digging it out of corners) -- he's clearly not doing well trying to do everything.

I wonder if the mods or administrators can change the settings to lower the amount of rep votes you get in a day? I'm sure the novelty will wear off in bit though, and hopefully someone can reset SWF's rep (it is kinda humorous how low he is).

AC/DC quivers in fear when Gwar rolls into town:

Did you not notice Hudler was back? Bertuzzi is still making $1.3m from his Anaheim buyout remember -- that is the only reason he signed for as little as $1.5m. I dunno, maybe he will sign for that low again (with no supplementary income from Anaheim next year) but I would not be shocked if he demanded as much as $3m, in which case he would obviously not be a Red Wing.

Good to keep a colony of dung beetles on hand for incidents like that:

Still in the water cooler: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=60840

Not anymore! Sorry, couldn't resist

Bottom right-hand corner of each post -- you're already a +3 (which is in your profile).

Though at least the Wings are not paying Osgood $4m.

Whoa, your reputation is already worse than Mindfly's Looks like posters are just going through and voting down every single post of people they don't like. Ah well... definitely an imperfect system (it works best with how Slashdot does it - a revolving, random group of "karma police"), but it might come in handy at some point to hide posts below a certain threshold. It also encourages [good] posting and could dissuade posts like "Holmstrom sucks!!!" I like it, and bet we'll start to see some genuine reputation whores real soon. Just adds another entertaining aspect to the forum, and can easily be ignored for those who don't care.

Though it does crack me up that Mindfly's reputation is already "poor".

It was great seeing Williams go to the net like that... hopefully that encourages him to to it more often.

Amen. Asking him to play a shutdown role at this point is a misuse of his strengths. Considering his lack of experience at the actual position, as well as his size, the defense is only going to come with time.

You are correct - though it is retroactive once/if he does go on LTI (the team's doctors will have a good idea as to whether it will be necessary or not (to bring up Abdelkader.))

The reason I go with Lidstrom is simply -- He would be the hardest player to replace this year. Even including his rough start, he has been the best defensive defenseman in the league this year and he is still in the Top 10 offensively (despite having had little support with all the injuries this year). Howard is a legitimate Calder candidate, but Lidstrom has been a legitimate Norris candidate.

Lidstrom, with Howard shortly behind. Without either, this would be an ugly season.

No - there is not an official one between Russia and the NHL; simply a "gentleman's agreement" at this point. Regardless, it is reported Hudler has an out-clause after one year in the KHL.

With my trusty financial calculator I once took the time to factor average inflation, and the average growth of the NHL (being conservative, as despite the NHL trailing some of the other major sports in growth (though it is still in double digits) I believe it is far less mature at this point and could outpace them if Bettman doesn't screw it up too bad (we are talking about a major sport with still no major TV contract)): Being extremely conservative - these long-term contracts Holland is signing will have little-to-no adverse effect on the cap hit well into the future. They are literally great contracts to sign, with very low risk. I have the actual numbers I pulled up somewhere, but am too lazy to find it right now (I do apologize).

Electing for arbitration ensures no other team can extend offer sheets (Filppula did the same, and it is typically a sign of good faith from the player). Yes, Hudler could have signed a contract with Holland for a similar favorable price (at his return), but it wouldn't be much of a difference (and might have been more - arbitration has rarely worked in the player's favor).

In all fairness, he did not use it as a claim to being a hockey god (or use it as ammo to belittle others), but simply as reference add credibility to his detailed observations (I thought he described the difference defensively between Filppula and Hossa quite accurately -- Filppula is the better PKer (but not by a lot) and Hossa is definitely the better backchecker and forechecker). I have no problem believing experience actually playing the sport adds further depths to an analysis or observation (though there are certainly numerous exceptions).

Seriously. Most of the posters poo-pooing Hudler and "wouldn't take him back" have welcomed Bertuzzi back with open arms. Hello? Bertuzzi left Detroit for slightly more money to go play for the F#$^ing Ducks - whom just happened to have beaten us that year in the Western Finals and gone on to win the Cup. Yeah, Bertuzzi was a rental, but Hudler went out of his way to make this as great for the Red Wings as possible -- He certainly did not go to a legitimate rival; he left the league altogether; he guaranteed no team but the Red Wings have his rights when he returns; it's a short term deal (one or two years); and he'll be in his prime when he returns; and when he returns he is signed for two years at less than what Filppula is making (he could have gotten more from Holland - arbitration never works out in the player's favor); and hell, he is legitimately making 4 times as much money for a year or two to play in a decent league closer to home - who can really fault him (it is a job, after all)? Come on - put this in perspective, and don't use this as an excuse not to welcome him back -- if you simply don't like his game, fine.

I've agreed with a lot of your posts, but I would appreciate if anyone does have links to this (I never saw them)? Even if true, this is pure speculation then... as to not sign Hossa for that amount would have been criminally insane on Holland's part (factoring inflation and growth $4.3m will be a 2nd/3rd line player in 8 years... IE. not a lot more than what we are paying Holmstrom and Draper at this point. And that's assuming Hossa is still playing, because if he is retired (or traded, or sent down) his salary comes completely off the books). My understanding is Hossa was asking for around $6m during last season, so Holland locked up Franzen first. I think it is safe to assume Hossa came down from that in the off-season, but I highly doubt it was all the way down to $4.3m (it's not like the Wings are his only chance to win a Cup in the next decade).