egroen

Maybe 'about' equal, but Lidstrom beats him decisively in every single area. 6 'best of position' trophies vs. 4 Each have 2 Stanley Cups, but Lidstrom has a Conn Smythe on top Brodeur-mania is starting to annoy me.

Lidstrom, of course. Though I am surprised how quickly Jagr has fallen out of the picture -- he definitely could be the forward of the decade.

From a Czech:

Yeah, you deserve it -- that's utterly stupid.

I'll agree -- I just really do not see Lidstrom retiring this year.

Retarded posters -- I would love to see Lidstrom sign at anything under $5.5m a year.

Good point - you can not replace a Top 5 defenseman of all-time... of course. But I would settle for a top defensive defenseman in the NHL right now -- Upcoming free agents on D (a weak year, unfortunately - but I also do not think Lidstrom retires this year) Scott Niedermayer 35 ANA $6,000,000 Sergei Gonchar 35 PIT $5,500,000 Kim Johnsson 33 MIN $5,300,000 Pavel Kubina 32 ATL $5,000,000 Paul Martin 28 NJ $4,500,000 Brett Clark 32 COL $3,500,000 Marek Zidlicky 32 MIN $3,500,000 Andy Sutton 34 NYI $3,500,000 Mike Rathje 35 PHI $3,500,000 Rob Blake 39 SJ $3,500,000 Willie Mitchell 32 VAN $3,500,000 Mike Van Ryn 30 TOR $3,350,000 Derek Morris 30 BOS $3,300,000 Ruslan Salei 34 COL $3,275,000 Henrik Tallinder 30 BUF $3,250,000 Adam Foote 37 COL $3,250,000 Anton Volchenkov 27 OTT $3,200,000 Toni Lydman 31 BUF $3,150,000 Randy Jones 27 LA $3,000,000 Joe Corvo 32 CAR $2,750,000 Jason Smith 35 OTT $2,600,000 Aaron Ward 36 CAR $2,500,000 Dan Hamhuis 26 NASH $2,500,000 Brian Pothier 32 WASH $2,500,000 Rostislav Klesla 27 CBJ $2,250,000 Dennis Seidenberg 27 FLA $2,250,000 Adrian Aucoin 35 PHO $2,250,000 Mark Eaton 32 PIT $2,000,000 Shaone Morrisonn 26 WASH $1,975,000 Brad Lukowich 32 VAN $1,800,000 Jordan Leopold 28 FLA $1,750,000 Niclas Wallin 34 CAR $1,725,000 Garnet Exelby 27 TOR $1,725,000 Paul Mara 29 MON $1,675,000 Andrew Ference 30 BOS $1,625,000 Mathieu Schneider 40 VAN $1,550,000 Nick Boynton 30 ANA $1,500,000 Stephane Robidas 32 DAL $1,500,000 Zbynek Michalek 26 PHO $1,500,000 If push came to shove I would give someone like Willie Mitchell (or Volchenkov) a lot of money to come to Detroit.

That's because Lidstrom has been rock solid defensively (though not as much offensively, but I view that as our forwards problem more than Lidstrom's)... take him out and our defense would struggle.

With all the injuries and the fact Detroit has essentially played with a bottom-dweller cap number for most of this year so far (around $35m) I am pleased with where they are in the standings.

I really want Janik over Meech or Lebda.

No. If Lidstrom were to retire, I want dollars spent on either a goalie or a defenseman. Howard, plus McCollum and Larssen in GR makes me rather content with goalies for the future at the time being, but I want Detroit to lock down the best defenseman available at free agency before they start looking at forwards. Kovalchuk is a pipe dream, but I have said it before, and I will say it again... I would gladly dangle Filppula as trade bait for the building block of a trade for Kovalchuk. I just view that as secondary in the event of losing Lidstrom.

http://www.redwingscentral.com/stories/200...5_RWCReport.php He really could be a gem.

Just because skaters could and have played 30+ minutes a game does not mean it is best - same goes for goalies.

Great Post! Hasek also had the Vezina wrapped up as late as 2006 with Ottawa at the age of 41, and it was his alone, until he was injured at the Olympics. Numerous sports writers and scouts with international exposure were already calling Hasek the best goalie in the world years before he ever became a starter in the NHL. If Hasek had started his NHL career at the same time as Roy (Hasek is actually older), you're right - there would be no debate whatsoever, in fact the debate would be: Who is best? Gretzky, Howe, Orr, Lemieux or Hasek?

Any exhaustive study I have seen has Hasek on top, then Roy -- and a significant gap between the rest of the pack led by Brodeur. Here is an example, focusing on adjusted save percentage: http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=718221 PS... This is 1983 to present.

Come on, are we now thinking it is impossible for a team to lose with a good goalie?

It certainly does not help But I would not question whether Roy was a good playoff goalie based on his Game 7 vs. Detroit in 2002, either. Overall, Luongo has done very well in the playoffs.

Luongo's save percentage in the playoffs is .930 with a 2.09 GAA - pretty small sample size, but that is really good. Vancouver's main problem is scoring goals, not goaltending -- much like many of the 2000s Red Wings teams.

I think you mean Hainsworth. Anyways, it's kind of pointless to compare today's athletes versus yesterday's as they are and were. Of course Ovechkin would mop the ice with Gordie Howe if we teleported him back to 1955 -- but what's the challenge in that? Ovechkin was able to enjoy vastly superior nutrition, training, equipment and sports medicine, while Gordie Howe had to work a job in the off-season to make ends meet. I think it is far more interesting to determine who would be better on equal footing, being brought up in the same era. Clone those two, pick any year to 'plant' them, and I have a feeling Gordie Howe comes out the more dominant hockey player 9 times out of 10. It's the training, mechanics, nutrition, etc. that makes today's athletes better, not superior genetics from dynamic human evolution over a span of 50 years.

I am probably most disappointed with Datsyuk - unlike Lidstrom and Osgood, he's in his prime and now would be a great time to shine... I guess I had hoped he could be that type of player (and he still might be). Chris Osgood is not exactly paid to be a difference maker - Datsyuk is. I would have traded Filppula if it meant keeping Hossa... I would certainly do the same for Kovalchuk, with a 1st and a top prospect.

Leino , Filppula and Williams were looking good - but with 2/3 of that line gone Leino has just looked lost. Hopefully it serves as a good, early lesson - be adaptable and don't get too dependant on your linemates, as they are ever-changing in the NHL.

Seeing as rarely the best coaches ever get the Adams (Scotty Bowman has as many as Don Cherry --- 1), this probably is his best chance to get one... though I think the Bylsma is a shoe-in at this point.

The solution is so simple and easy to implement (because they already have the process in place to do so) that it is infuriating they have not done so yet -- yeah, Bettman tells us it will "probably come up at the next GM Meeting". If the puck is shown to be in the net before the whistle, allow it to be reviewed by Toronto (they already review 100% of all goals) and allow them to overturn blatant erroneous "intended" whistles when the puck is shown to never be dead (like they can already overturn 90% of goals and non-goals). Simple, easy.... not done. Why not? The refs seem to be using this rule more and more as their "get out of jail free" card and it quite frankly opens the door to abuse and corruption (yeah, yeah... unheard of in professional sports).

Kronwall really is actually overrated by other teams' fans and underrated by Red Wing fans (same as Rafalski). Red Wings fans are under the illusion 50+ pt defensemen fall off trees, and other teams' fans assume his highlight reel hits = awesome defense. When Lidstrom's line is not on the ice, Kronwall is running things... he really has become a great player (who is TERRIBLE with giveaways at times). Anyways, yes - I think they miss his passes, moving the puck up the ice and he was the main cog on the 2nd PP.