NeverForgetMac25

No he didn't.....as I said, the second defensive unit predominantly featured Kronwall alongside Sammy. The numbers even show that: Playoffs Kronwall PP TOI: 64:17 Sammy PP TOI: 56:43 Stuart PP TOI: 13:51 Sidenote: NN was referring to the guys up front more so than the backend. He even stated in his post that the only individual this would affect would be Sammy since he might be gassed if his line followed the 2nd PP unit.

They're on the second pairing because once again you have a RH and LH shot on the backend (as you do with the first unit), giving your PP more options and better puck movement. On top of that, both those guys have great offensive instincts, thus they'll be able to move the puck up front to FZH with more ease than Stuart. The backends of Lids-Raf for the first unit and Kronwall-Sammy for the second are perfect for the teams needs.

You obviously aren't seeing the benefits in having depth at defense during a long season. Don't get me wrong, Cheli has lost a step but he was crucial during the February stretch where the Wings were one more injury away from icing the complete Griffins roster. Again, Cheli is not taking Ericcson's spot, the cap crunch is along with the Wings' philosophy.....which BTW, has worked better than any other teams' for the past 15+ years.

Stu Barnes Retires

I didn't think that you were laying those lines out because you thought I didn't know them (that was confusing ), I just feel that it makes plenty of hockey sense to match-up when you can give your team an advantage. Don't get me wrong, there are times where it can be effective to not match-up the way I just posted, but more often than not (especially when the Wings play at the Joe), it will be of benefit. *This isn't necessarily directed at you*, but people really need to calm down about how stacked this roster is. Just because you have arguably the best roster heading into the upcoming season doesn't mean you're going to breeze through 82 games and then 16 more. Again, not directed at you.

To think he'll go the entire season without playing the match-up game is pretty far-fetched IMHO. I never said the Wings' top 3 lines couldn't stack up against any others in the league (they most certainly can), I'm just saying think how scary it would be for any third line to cover Hudler-Z-Franzen. I completely agree that Babs doesn't need to play the match-up game, but I guarantee he will because its simply better hockey strategy and will lead to more wins, especially at home.

Not if they can move Khabi to a desperate team early in the season. Even if they don't, his contract is up after this season and they had a chance to nab a solid goalie. They paid a little too much for Huet but other than that, it wasn't really stupid.

Iminent, alright! Sundin Decision May Come During the Season

I think those lines go beyond interesting......I think they're phenomenal. That third line should cause fits for any opposition, and Maltby-Drapes-Kopecky/Downey/Mac will really frustrate any teams' 2nd line.

Chelios isn't keeping Ericsson (correct spelling BTW) from playing......the Wings cap crunch is. On top of that, Ericcson playing full-time minutes in GR is more beneficial than playing 7-8 minutes per night for Detroit this coming season. Expect to see Big Rig full-time during the 09/10 season. Also, why on earth should Chelios step aside for the young guys? He doesn't owe them anything.

Not to worry....no way Kenny lets Z come even close to becoming an UFA. Bank on it. You're kidding yourself if you honestly believe Z will be had for $6.5 even in a long-term contract. Dats signed towards the end of two seasons ago at $6.7 when the salary cap was nowhere near where it is now. His contract at this point is beyond a bargain and with the cap hopefully continuing to rise, Z's likely contract of 6-7 years/$7.25-$7.50 million will end up being beyond a bargain long-term as well. Actually, $7.5 million per is a good contract *right now* given some of the other contracts out there and the fact that the single player maximum for this coming year will be $11.34 million. Obviously the Wings' philosophy of "winning championships takes sacrifices" will keep Z's contract from being where it should be, which is around $8-$9.

The funny part is at this point without Sakic the Avs really don't have much of an identity. Class act, nice to see him back in the mix.

The rest of your post aside....god forbid he didn't want to win the Stanley Cup as a rental. TBH, I have a ton of respect for a guy wanting to not only win it all with a team they've been with the entire year, but with a team they've been on all but four years of their entire career. If you want to rip him for being indecisive, go ahead....but blasting a guy because he didn't want to be a rental and cheapen a potential Stanley Cup is ridiculous.

If an American doesn't win it, I'm really hoping Federer wins. Obviously, I'd like to see Roddick win but he's just really not at the elite level the big three are. As for Federer, the guy has had a year to forget (by his standards anyway), and he's always been the model champion, both humble and gracious. I'd love to see a Feds/Nadal rematch and have Federer take it straight sets. Shelly and I watched it through the third set. When Blake lost the second set I said to Shelly, "watch Blake cruise in the next couple sets". Sure enough my prediction looked great when he won the next set 6-1, and then....oops. What a thriller.

If you truly believe Howard is going to make the team this year over Conklin you're kidding yourself. I agree that Conklin isn't in the Wings long-term plans but having him for the bargain price the Wings got him for, the fact that you know what you are getting in him at the NHL level, and being one that the team would probably feel more comfortable in front of come playoff time (in the event of an injury) are just a few of the reasons Conklin will be on the Wings this year while Howard spends this one last year in GR.

If you're curious about whether or not a dated article has been posted, use the "Search Forum" at the bottom of GD Forums page. 99% of the time if its been posted you'll find it, as is the case for this article.

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree that Dallas will be a major obstacle for Detroit to overcome, but I see the Sharks being equally difficult as the season wears on. I think between the playoff-experienced players they've added and the addition of McLellan, it will greatly impact the way that team plays down the stretch and in the playoffs. Now with Dallas, I expect them to come firing out of the gates, but it'll be interesting how things work with Brunnstrom and how effective Avery will be. While I could argue that Dallas is the top competitor for the Wings, we need to keep in mind that this team is now minus a quality back-up in Smith (although they did add Richards), and still has a lot of their eggs in one basket on offense. If they can provide timely scoring like they did last postseason, they will cleary be the top competitor for the Wings but when you look at them compared to the Sharks *on paper*, an argument could be made for either.

Yeah, I was definitely torn between the two (hence the "slim margin over Dallas" comment). The thing is, I think the Sharks will be a better playoff team with the subtraction of Wilson and the addition of McLellan. They may not be as strong out of the gate chemistry-wise due to the changes they've made, but look for them to catch their stride mid-season and be a contender.

How does that kool-aid taste? Sorry, back on topic.

All true, but keep in mind that the likelihood of losing to a team that goes further in the playoffs is greater in baseball due to the fact that half the amount of teams make the postseason (16 for the NHL as opposed to 8 for MLB). Chances are much greater for a baseball team to have lost to the eventual champion or the runner-up than they are in hockey.

Zing! What the kid should've done is waited in the locker room a little bit and then said he wasn't a morning person, hence the late arrival on the ice. The Sens would've felt right at home.

Not that I'm arguing that Crosby is better than AO, but you're comparing apples to oranges here. Pittsburgh was much more stacked last year than Washington.

Fixed it for you.

I considered people thinking I was West biased, but it really isn't the case here. The bottom line is that if you put Dallas or SJ against MTL or PIT, I honestly believe either West team would beat either East team 6-7 games out of 10.

They're really not as far as you think. They're not gonna challange Detroit for the top seed in Division or anything, but they've already made some major strides this year and this offseason. With the addition of Bowman and the new players that team is making its way in the right direction. It'll be really nice to have that rivalry heat up again. It sure meant alot to me back in the early 90's.