NeverForgetMac25

I tend to agree with Heaton here. This Wings team isn't the same as it was coming out of the lockout and as a whole the entire team is tougher. Now, the loss of Drake takes away obvious toughness as does the absence of Downey (and even Mac), but the team as a whole is much tougher than enforcer-slappies want to admit. Now, thats not saying that adding a tough guy to replace the void Drake will leave isn't necessary. It's also not to say that Downey and Mac aren't valuable to this team. IMO, one or both of those two should be signed and with the loss of Drake guys like Kopecky will need to step up their physicality even more. I agree with all the enforcer fans that this team does need that balance to continue to be successful and stay healthy, and I agree its very important to sign Downey or Mac (or both), but I also feel this team isn't the soft bunch that everyone saw coming out of the lockout. Again, balance.

Easy...It was just a joke man. Some of your posts earlier than the one I quoted made it seem as though you were pretty upset about it and possibly taking it a little more serious than I feel it needs to be.

I would agree with Snipeshow, I would've thought it was common sense that paying someone on the side is against the rules when there is a salary cap in place to keep teams on a level playing field. Wow, and you think I'm taking things too serious?

Yup! That's the one.

Somone had an awesome still-shot of Franzen on top of Malkin with his arm/fist fully cocked and ready to fire at Malkin and the shear terror on Geno's face is beyond hilarious. That picture should be entitled: Mule Smash! Edit: It's similar to this photo, but Franzen isn't fully on his skates yet and his fist is fully cocked.

Really? What makes you think Bert will reinvent his career all of a sudden? TBH, I see him continuing to fizzle off into retirement. He'll score some goals, but I think he's a shell of his former self and I never expect to see that player again.

Aren't you taking this a little too serious? Could I suggest, "relaxing"?

TBH, I think its kind of funny. Chicago knows their team hasn't been in the same ballpark as Detroit for the last decade, but this is a long-standing tradition for Chicago. It doesn't mean the Red Wings are a bad team, it just means "Detroit Sucks". The Blackhawks could be 0-82 and the Wings 82-0 and to them, "Detroit Still Sucks". It's all in good-natured ribbing.

I believe the percentage drop rule only applies to new multi-year contracts. If a player is set to become an UFA their salary can drop below 50% of what they were making the year before, but if they sign a new multi-year contract each subsequent year cannot drop by more than 50%.

Indeed, but the OP wasn't taking a stab at Burke. He was wondering if there was actual documentation of this potential loophole. It's funny how some members on this board think people are being too serious and then some wonder if you're kidding. I guess there's no middle ground when it comes to tone over the internet. Some of us need to grow thicker skin while some of us need to learn how to take a joke. I wasn't being malicious.

I tend to agree. Even with the addition of Mac (regardless of the fact that he's not the enforcer he once was) he still appeals to the Michigan blue collar worker more than anyone in the league simply due to his past reputation. If Mac doesn't fill the seats at the Joe on a nightly basis, the Brashears, Laraques and Downeys of the league most certainly aren't going to. That's the fact of the matter.

As in, "I will or will not be playing hockey next year for Toronto or any of the other 29 teams." [/Press Conference] Honestly, Sundin owes nothing to anyone. He can take as much or as little time as he needs determining what is best for him, his family and his future. The only problem is his window for winning that elusive Cup is shrinking by the day.

I never do....another day of the grind. TBH though, I would like to think most people would realize that stuff like this is not allowed. I totally understand people looking for loopholes, (and kudos if you can find them) especially after what Burke accomplished last season, but this one is too easy.

My advice when you're tired.....go to sleep. While I haven't had a chance to check out the CBA yet today, I am 100% positive there is a stipulation for any/all player wages to come off the team salary cap. I don't mean this to be rude, but it's absurd to think something as simple as paying on the side would be an option when the league spends as much time as the they do on all the rules and regulations of the CBA.

I couldn't agree more, but I have a little more faith than you probably. The thing with Franzen is that he was supposed to be a scorer for the Wings right from the get-go last year, and had he not been injured the first part of the season who knows where he would've ended up. Now, it is beyond naive to think he can keep up the torrid pace he was on from March through the end of the playoff run and I'll flat out say that he's not going to perform like that consistently next season. What I do expect from him given that he stays healthy is a 30+ goal season now that he'll have either Z or Dats centering him, around 20 assists and a strong physical presence night-in and night-out. For the level he showed he could play, those types of things can and should be expected from Mule next year.

That's a fair response. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the Wings fight more on a toe-to-toe basis where both teams gets penalized equally. However, when a goon on the other team takes a whack at one of our players I'm most certainly fine with letting that individual screw his team by putting them SH'ed against this Wings lineup. The key here is not taking a stupid penalty back to even things up. Downey can go beat the crap out of any guy that cheapshots our guys in a way that puts them both in the sin bin, but I most certainly don't want to see the Wings start cheapshotting back which is what Babs has preached. He's 100% right. If a guy wants to take a dumb penalty, the Wings are smart enough not to retaliate in a way that evens things up penalty-wise. Then you've got a guy like Downey to take care of things afterwards to make sure a message is sent.

Agreed................ ...........but this bolded comment differs greatly from the way you have come off in this thread and in general on this board.

That works for me.....because that isn't the same as "he's always been a good playoff performer".

Whether Lecavalier gets a free pass or not, or is a better/worse playoff performer isn't the point. I thought I made that clear in my previous post. If you want to argue who the better playoff performer is between these two, it could very easily go either way as they seem to have similar postseasons. The bottom line is somehow this thread digressed and started comparing him to Vinny when that had nothing to do with your initial comment which stated that Hossa has always been a good playoff performer. The truth of the matter is he hasn't *regardless of what Vinny has done*.

Great, but what's more important to you? Attending a game in which all of the things Opie listed happen aside from a fight or watching Downey get in a scrap with someone and the Wings get outplayed in every other facet of the game and lose?

Just because he was near or at the top of his team in scoring doesn't make him a playoff performer. If the team as a whole sucks and he just sucked less then the rest, that isn't something to write home about. TBH, this doesn't really have anything to do with Vinny other than Zion brought him up in comparison. The fact of the matter is Hossa (whether leading his team in scoring or not) hasn't been a good playoff performer *consistently* since the start of his career, and just because the team around him struggled doesn't in any way validate his performance or make him worthy of the title you labeled him. As I said, Hossa's *numbers* are no more impressive than Vinny's and before Hossa's breakout postseason this year (playing alongside Crosby) his PPG in the playoffs was over 13% lower than Lecavalier's.

Not really....he's been an up & down playoff performer. His first 3 postseasons he managed 4 points in 14 games. He had a solid run in the 01/02 and the 02/03 playoffs, was mediocre inthe 03/04 playoffs, did practically nothing in the 06/07 playoffs and then had a good run this year playing alongside Crosby. Stating he's always been a good playoff performer is a bit of an exaggeration.

But why do you think he's "conveniently" not getting first or second line minutes/linemates? It's because he's never shown the ability at the NHL level to warrant more minutes or better linemates. I'm not denying that he doesn't have talent at *most* hockey levels, but it just isn't enough to garner him playing time at the NHL level. Don't get me wrong, I understand that the guy may be a friend of yours and hence you want to see him do well, but if he really was as capable at the NHL level as you want to believe he is, than he would've been given his opportunity by now. The fact of that matter is that he may be good or even great in many leagues in this world, but he just isn't good enough for the highest level league in the world.

Thornton I'll give you, but Vinny has only one mediocre postseason since his first time in the playoffs. Hossa's numbers in the playoffs are no more impressive than Vinny's.....he's just been there more times.

So you're saying he needs better linemates to make him respectable? That isn't too convincing for a player that's already been given more chances then he should have ever got.