NeverForgetMac25

Those "trends" are because the Wings simply haven't needed to overpay up to this point. When Lids retires, I'd bet anything Holland will do absolutely everything he can to fix the hemorrhage. When guys like Stuart leave, that's what the band-aids are for. No way in hell Holland all of a sudden goes against the cornerstone of his success in his time here. Defense first, serviceable goaltending and a strong offense: he'll stick to his proven recipe. Meaning, guys like Suter or Weber will be signed before a guy like Parise is. Then whatever money is left, throw at the offense.

LAST UPDATED (2-23-2012, 9:12 AM ET) February 22, 2012 (1 Total Transaction) Phoenix Acquires: (F) Antoine Vermette Columbus Acquires: (G) Curtis McElhinney, 2nd-Round Pick (2012), 5th-Round Pick (2013-conditional)

LAST UPDATED (2-21-2012, 5:52 AM ET) February 21, 2012 (2 Total Transactions) Detroit Acquires: (D) Kyle Quincey Tampa Bay Acquires: (D) Sebastien Piche, 1st-Round Pick (2012) Colorado Acquires: (F) Steve Downie Tampa Bay Acquires: (D) Kyle Quincey

Yeah, what a s***ty job Babcock has night-in and night-out. Hmm....which goaltender that can't do anything but win should I play tonight?

I don't think, he'll clear waivers given the reasonable price tag. There are teams desperate enough and with the cap space to take on the low risk, potentially mediocre reward.

That animated gif was the single greatest Photoshop War win of all time.

Discussion regarding rumors on the trade deadline are kind of a whole new animal. It might be best to keep that in the rumor mill, but if people post in either of our threads rumors about what might happen, its not the end of the world unless it gets out of hand. There's a section obviously for that, but a comment here and there isn't going to invoke the police. Cheers Tim and sorry for being late this year.

Sorry to everyone for not starting my annual trade deadline thread yet. My family and I just got back from Vacation a couple days ago and I've been playing catch-up ever since. I'll start one shortly and continue to update the initial post with all trades since the start of the new year through the end of the trade deadline a week from Monday.

VAN only has 4 games left against teams that are 10 or more points out of the playoff picture (or bubble, if you will).The Wings have the exact same amount. The other teams VAN will be seeing are typically close as can be in skill level to the botom 3-4 current playoff teams and will put up a dog fight night-in and night-out in an attempt to make the playoffs themselves. Lastly, according to the remaining strength of schedule numbers for the West, the Wings have the 8th most difficult schedule to Vancouvers' 10th. Not a huge difference there.

Talk about baseless pessimism. SFT, you've become Mindy 2.0 here at LGW.

I remember reading this. Hysterical on Scotty's part. Classic Bowman!

Savings a few million isn't an issue at all, its a matter of keeping the cap number in a reasonable spot. While I agree the Wings need to be aggressive this summer and do what they can to nab guys like Suter, Parise, etc., they also need to keep in mind what another point you hit on in your post....the fact that they have a dearth of mid-20 year old players with lots of upside. Those guys are gonna need new salaries as well and as a result Detroit will be right back against the cap with Z's large cap hit, Franzen's decent hit and Datsyuk's new deal likely still being high. This goes without mentioning Howard's new deal, which will be atleast $2 million more per. What I'm saying is that, while they do need to be more aggressive this off-season, they need to proceed with caution as well, because hard decision (although good-ones) will be coming in 3-4 years as well and moreso with the addition of Suter and/or Parise. No matter how you slice it, if Kenny and Co. are going to be aggressive, it really needs to be toward Suter or another high-end defenseman. I just don't see Stuart re-signing here given how much he wants to be near his family and if the unmentionable happens this Summer, replacing a top-end Dman along with arguably the greatest Dman in history almost becomes just too much.

Kind of interesting that I'm a Brewers fan and he goes to the team in the same city as my beloved hockey team. Gofigure.

So what does that have to do with Dats being taken off the PK? If you want Kenny to add a bigger PK'er at the trade-deadline that's one thing, but it has nothing to do with why he's currently on the PK once-in-a-while. That's what I was answering for you. Also, the defense is typically responsible for defending the goaltender on the PK, so if he gets poked after the whistle is blown (something every single goaltender in the NHL gets, not just Detroit goalies), its more on the defense than the offense.

Amazing to think what's transpired in our Central division these past few weeks and its been fun to watch. While it's hard to imagine the race will keep up at its current pace it stands to reason that 4 of our 5 divisional teams will make the postseason. More mind-boggling is that the top 3 point-getters thus far in the West all belong to the Central. On top of that, 4 of the top 6 point-getters in the West are all from the Central. It's an amazing display of talent, coaching and solid-play by DET, STL, CHI & NSH. So, prediction time. What are your thoughts on how the division will shake out come April? How many of the 4 teams will make the postseason? What are your thoughts regarding the Wings division?

Datsyuk will be nowhere near the penalty kill in the playoffs unless its a crucial part of the game at a crucial point of the series. Eaves being out is the reason Dats has played some of the PK as of late. Either way, when Eaves gets back it'll be him, Miller, Helm and likely Z playing that role come playoff time.

Update: The WC-Central now holds *all 4 of the top point-getters in the West (*NSH & VAN tied with 62 points each). This division is incredible!

While I'm thrilled with the Packers offense, the defense just isn't playing up to snuff. I'd rather have consistent 3-and-outs rather than INT or seemingly a TD. Before yesterday it looked like the defense was heading in the right direction and I still believe they have the talent to be just as effective as last season, they just need to go out and do it. The points against aren't too bad, but the yardage is brutal and they can't keep giving that much up down the stretch. Lastly, what an up-and-down first half of the season so far. So many unexpected winners and losers. Discuss.

Keep in mind though that that will only affect the Stanley Cup Finals given everyone in the West will be in the same boat. Besides, the Wings' home schedule down the stretch very much favors them in R&R department.

Kane's pace dramatically dropped (obviously in attempt to get Backstrom moving backwards faster than he would normally to create more open space) but he never stopped moving forward. Just because he slowed down from a sprint to a crawl doesn't mean he wasn't moving forward. He always was, same as Datsyuk. Both goals are fine.

^ That really sucks. I was just thinking about him and figured we'd be getting news soon of his return given the initial timetable that was given. Bummer for him and the Wings, to say the least.

Aaaaaand, Boom goes the dynamite.

Talk about s***ting the bed. The defense was their same old self they've been all season and the offense was completely off. The saddest part of the loss is that NY didn't beat the Packers, GB beat themselves. I haven't seen them play that sloppy of a game in a few years and unfortunately, it happened at the worst possible time. Interesting sidenote: Since the NFL instituted the 12-team playoff format in 1990, the number 1 seed in the NFC started out 17-0 in the Divisional round, but since then the 1 seed has lost 4 of the past 5 years! That's crazy. The Packers did it to the Falcons last year.

I shouldn't even be humoring this comment, but since when is it the NHL's responsibility to help the economy of Detroit?