egroen

Pocklington wanted money, not another expensive contract like Yzerman. Wings also came close to getting Bourque and Roy in trades.

Oh come on! You're better than that. Was Maltby the youngest captain to win a Cup? Does Maltby have a Hart, Art Ross, Richard and a 1st and 2nd Team All-Star selections? Did Maltby ever lead the league in PPG over 6 seasons like Crosby has since his rookie year? Obviously it is not one Cup that makes Crosby a HOF lock, but a combination of his accomplishments. That one Cup does differentiate Crosby from players with similar (though still lesser) primes like Lindros and Bure, and we all know that matters to the committee. Things like his age, his fame (and ability to have not been involved in any sort of scandal), Cup win, Olympic gold and the "golden shot" (groan) all matter to the committee. Like it or not. It is inconceivable that Crosby would not make the Hall if he retired today. Same with Ovechkin.

Ah, that sucks - I guess Leino was the last guy we got a pick for.

I hope he impresses - Emmerton would probably be the casualty, however. Maybe he could be traded for a late round pick like Ritola?

Retired Crosby and Osgood are pretty opposite scenarios for the Hall - Osgood is a candidate for being good for a long time, which Crosby obviously lacks, but Osgood has nowhere near the peak and prime of Crosby. Sort of the Bure vs. Gardner debate.

Crosby has a Hart, Art Ross and Richard, in addition to his Top 10 finishes, Cup & Olympic Gold, excellent PPG and playoff PPG, he has a 1st Team and 2nd Team Post-Season All Star Team Selection at center. There is not a single player with even a few of those accomplishments 'not' in the Hall of Fame, and it's a better resume than a lot of the ones already in.

Top 10 finishes: 1, 2, 3, 6 - Crosby 2, 3, 5, 7 - Bure 1, 6, 7 - Lindros And unlike Bure and Lindros, Crosby won a Cup, as the youngest captain to do so ever. He is a shoe-in.

I am no fan, but Crosby is already a sure-fire Hall of Famer, even if he never plays another game.

Yeah, it's just posturing to ensure he gets the Masterson

2012 Trade deadline acquisitions: Williams and Lebda Servers Explode

I know, he's in the doghouse if he doesn't, I just think in the case of Hudler, Babcock mismanages him.

It was mentioned earlier Hudler should just be allowed to play a Brett Hull game, and I completely agree. I don't really care to see him trying to play physical, grind in the corners and backcheck, because frankly, he isn't good at it. Hudler should be told to simply find open space. I know Babcock is a stickler for 'everyone backchecks' but Bowman at least knew his players' strengths and weaknesses enough to say 'everyone but LaFleur/Lemieux/Jagr/Hull/Holmstrom backchecks'.

Wings have been screwed out of a few more Calders over the years.

I don't think the Wings had that much interest in Bertuzzi nor Schneider after '07... You never heard of much negotiating going on and if they were offered contracts it was more of a "take it or leave" type. Pretty funny how badly Burke overpaid for them, that's for sure.

Maybe - though I always felt it was a Hossa or Franzen thing from the Wings perspective - and Franzen signed sooner. Totally forgot about LaPointe - he bolted, but his play after Detroit makes it easy to forget.

It is extremely rare to see any player "bolt" from the Wings and about the only players who have are Shanahan, Fedorov and I guess Hudler - and those were all pretty unique situations.

Ullman is definitely deserving, IMO... but I am sure winning no Cups with Detroit is the main reason he is not up there. The fact Kelly has his number hanging in the rafters in Toronto, and not Detroit (where he was a much better player) drives me bonkers. Huge part of 4 Cups, easily the 2nd best defenseman in Detroit's history and a Top 20 player all-time. I've spoken to Ted Lindsay about it and Ansar Khan, who said he would bring it up to Devellano.

Maybe now it is, maybe, now that it is owned by NBC, but certainly not when it was the Outdoor Life Network.

Not sure - probably a 1st round pick, a good prospect and a middling roster player.

Then you simply do not remember the early-90s.

It seems many of Bettman's defenders are younger, and I guess you can't help but give Bettman a 'passable' grade since the lockout, and if that is your scope, it does seem ridiculous for this guy to be so hated. But if you are a bit older, you remember that condescending prick as the one who lost 1 1/2 years of hockey and ESPN. It's really not all irrational reasons this guy is booed everywhere he goes.

It's amazing how lauded Bettman is now for helming increased revenue since the lockout, as if that was the year he took over. But Gary was there for the lockout too, and for over a decade leading up to it. In case I need to remind anyone, Bettman was the commissioner residing over the first major N. American professional league to lose an entire year because of a labor dispute. The Only. Ever. Oh, and he lost another 1/2 year on top of it earlier. Beautiful. I'll admit Gary may have learned a thing or two following the lockout, after 12 years of ineptitude, but that in no way pardons the 12 years of ineptitude. It was during Gary's reign the NHL went from a hot commodity in the early 90s to 12th on ESPN, behind poker, bowling, college sports, lawn darts and rock hucking. Not addressing the clutch and grabbing until 2005 was a costly, costly mistake. Bettman is also guilty of focusing on new customers before existing customers, which confounds me, as it just seems marketing 101 to always focus first and never alienate your existing customers. I guess you can love Bettman for moderate success over the past 5 years, but I have not forgotten the first dozen years and have long felt Bettman's level of 'success' is set awfully low.

Yeah, I'm already salivating at the admittedly improbable chance of getting him at the trade deadline.

Bettman?? More like B*U*ttman!!!!! HA!!!

It's not that hard to imagine - IMO, he easily deserved the Norris in '98 and '09. If there was no lockout in '05 he is the favorite to win it. There's ten right there and he was arguably better than Pronger in '00.