egroen

I'd love it -- but a team should still not be allowed to go below the cap floor, or Bettman's parity would go out the window. But for a team above the cap floor, but not anywhere near the ceiling - by all means trade that cap space away and get something out of it. There would always be plenty of buyers, Red wings included. I like it because it 1) Another way to benefit struggling francheses and 2) Allows the better teams a way to retain talent. Doubt it would happen, but I like it.

All Eva was saying, I believe, that in terms of the cap figuring, a team must first apply an LTIR's cap hit towards the actual cap ceiling first. Simply that if a team $9m under the cap loses a $10m player to LTI, that team can not exceed the cap by $10m, but they must first spend the $9m up to the cap and then only $1m beyond. It's funny because it all essentially amounts to not counting a LTI's cap hit during the time he is out - which most people just assumed and is also a hell of a lot simpler to convey - lawyers for yah

Stevens was always one-dimensional --- when he was putting up good points in Washington he was more like a Phaneuf. When he started playing great defense he never scored more than 31 points.

Towards the end of Messier's career he was a stats compiler -- He had a lot of pull in Vancouver and NY and literally was demanding 1st line minutes and a spot on the 1st PP, which actually made him a liability for those teams, as he was a shade of his younger self.... unlike Yzerman who accepted less minutes but was a difference-maker in more ways than just points (unlike Messier at the same age).

I have trouble with Stevens over Hull. Both were pretty one-dimensional, but I think Hull's peak years are clearly a level above. 72, 86, 70, 54, 57 goals in consecutive seasons is awfully good.

Offensively, they are pretty even... but I think MacInnis was clearly better defensively. MacInnis was also much better later in his career than Leetch (played 5 more seasons) and was runner-up for the Norris at the age of 40. Leetch has 2 1st Team and 3 2nd Team selections. MacInnis actually has 4 1st Team and 3 2nd Team selections.

I'd probably put Stevens ahead of Leetch, actually... but not MacInnis -- MacInnis' defense was not so far from Stevens to make up for the large offensive gap. I'd agree Hull could go right before, or right after, MacInnis -- but definitely in front of Stevens and Leetch. I personally feel Messier is one of the most overrated players in the history of the NHL. He was a great, great player, but many believe him to be a Top 10 player of all-time which I think is a complete joke. He only won two Cups as a Captain and was rarely the #1 scorer on his team in the playoffs.... and I personally do not think a single one of his runs was more impressive than Yzerman leading a team of Hall of Famers in scoring, on one leg and at the age of 36 in the playoffs en-route to a Cup in '02. Messier was an outright liability at that age. For instance, Messier had 8 goals and 26 points the year he won his Conn Smythe. He was tied for 4th on the Oilers in goals with Coffey (Gretzky had 13 goals and Kurri had 14) and 3rd in points (Gretzky had 35 pts), while playing on the 2nd line for Edmonton.

Get rid of the trapezoid! :beerbuddy:

I'd be for bringing up Jeremy Williams -- the team desperately needs a goal scorer and that's about all Williams is good for. 7 goals in 12 games in the AHL and last year he put up 5 goals in 11 games in the NHL last year. Let him float all he wants - the Wings just need someone who can bury the puck right now.

The Wings have been seriously bit by the injury bug... but the thing is, so has every stinking team in the NHL this year (just a crazy year for injuries). They should be fine without making any big changes -- with the plethora of depth they have in the AHL right now: Janik, Delmore, Kolosov, Kindl and Williams, Newbury, Abdelkader, Tardiff, Ritola -- most of these guys can step in without completely stinking up the ice.

Defensemen, I'd have MacInnis slightly ahead of Stevens and Leetch. Forwards, I'd put Yzerman and Messier at the same level (slight favor to Yzerman), followed by Hull (who gets seriously underrated), then Francis and Robitaille last. Together, I would go: Yzerman Messier MacInnis Hull Leetch Stevens Francis Robitaille Very close -- and I would probably give a slight edge to the class of '07.

Holland did the right thing there, as many GMs might have continued dealing with Hossa right up to free agency and end up losing both.

I thought it was 4, though I know one was on a PK...

Absolutely not, this team needs somone who can bury the f'ing puck. Filppula has frustratingly few finishing skills.

I'm sure that definitely skewed it, but man, that third pair seemd out there an inordinate amount of time from the beginning.

Ok, what the hell was Babcock thinking??? TOI 21:37 Stuart 20:56 Kronwall 20:36 Lidstrom 20:03 Ericsson 18:21 Rafalski 16:35 Lebda Anything look a little off?

We can only hope!

Excuse me? This game isn't over yet.

Has our #6 defensman really been on the ice for 4 out of 5 goals against tonight? It's gotta be tough to ignore that for Holland and Babcock.... "Huh, maybe we've been playing Lebda too much?"

"Been a rough night for Lebda" -- Understatement of the year.

If Draper could hit the broadside of a barn he would have 500 career goals by now.

Thank god Toronto can never make the playoffs.

Apparently Lilja has had a few days without headaches, so I'm hoping as early as December... if we're lucky. Kindl is not ready - I'd rather have Janik back up.

How many goals need to be scored on Lebda and Ericsson before they are broken up?

I get the sense they are really scrambling to justify that contract.