NeverForgetMac25

Hudler's deal is fair (not a steal for the Wings but also not bad), Williams isn't going to be here anyway, Bertuzzi has stated publicly money won't be an issue and wants only to re-sign in Detroit, and your Homer comment is BS. You have no clue what he's willing to sign for, especially given term. Helm, Miller and Eaves are all RFA's, with Helm likely being the only one Kenny won't let go if push came to shove. Do they have enough to go out and grab Kovalchuk: No. Are they in fine shape to re-sign most if not all: Absolutely. You're being melodramatic...once again.

CBC also reporting 1-Year, $6 Million. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/06/01/sp-nhl-wings-lidstrom.html

Patience is a virtue. 3 new threads containing the same "rumor" have popped up in the last 3 hours and I was hoping for confirmation aside from the AP source to come up quicker than it did. Hence, the re-title of the thread. Had I moved it, another 3-4 members who just woke up and checked TSN, ESPN, MLive, etc. would've came on and started the exact same thread.

Wonderful first thing to read after getting back to the office from a great 3-day weekend! As Babs said, the guy has just too much good hockey left in him. Hopefully this comes to fruition.

Welcome to the final Round of our Playoff Picks Game! Round 3 Final Scores are below. Here is the Stanley Cup matchup with respective ranks: (2) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (7) Philadelphia Flyers NOTE: Please copy and paste the following template when making your picks. Bold the team you're picking to win, and then write the series score directly after in this manner: CHI/PHI: 4-2 Round 2 Template: CHI/PHI: ________________________________ This truly cuts down on the time it requires to tally up scores and I greatly appreciate it. Best of luck to everyone, and I'll post my Picks shortly. Rules: Each round you will pick a winner for each series. For every correct series winner you predict, you will receive 4 points for the first round matchups, 8 for the 2nd, 12 for the 3rd, and 16 for the Finals (0 if you pick the incorrect team, 3 points if you picked a 4-3 series and the other team won). Also to aid with tiebreakers you will also pick how many games the losing team in each series will win. Given that the team you picked to win actually does win the series, you will then have the opportunity to receive up to 3 bonus points. For every game you are off for the losing teams actual win total, I will subtract 1 bonus point. After each round, every player will then pick again based on the teams that made it through to the next round. Whoever has the most points at the end of the season, wins Playoff bragging rights. As was mentioned earlier, if you pick a series to go to the 7th game and the team you picked ends up losing, you will receive 3 points rather than 0. Round 3 Final Scores (Including Conference Champion Bonus Pick points): Rank, Player, Mid-Round Score 1 Batigol2k 96 2 Skiminok 78 3 Zohan Franzen 77 3 SeeinRed 77 5 Hockey13Playa 76 6 sibiriak 74 7 germanwing 72 8 *** CaliWingsNut 70 9 STICK 68 9 mindfly 68 11 marcaractac 65 11 Greatness=PavelDatsyuk 65 13 McCartyFanForLife 61 14 wingsgirl001 60 14 zombi 60 16 wmubronco420 58 16 Real1 58 18 Aussie_Wing 57 18 Third Man In 57 20 crotty99 56 20 TheDetroitRedWings 56 22 edicius 55 23 Zeowingsfan 54 24 bellarina 53 24 -=Red_Force=- 53 26 ARice89 52 26 mule 52 26 azshark 52 26 BamaWing 52 26 stevieisthebest 52 31 Dano33 50 31 Shaman464 50 31 Swayze 50 31 Stevie4Pres 50 35 F.Michael 49 36 TX Wing 48 37 P. Marlowe 47 37 pavandzforpresident 47 37 Carman 47 37 brownie 47 41 KillerB14 46 41 Vladifan 46 41 wingsfan_fl 46 44 aflac9262 45 45 NeverForgetmac25 44 45 Donohue75 44 45 UKWING 44 45 Dominator2005 44 49 dat's sick 43 49 Tristanium 43 51 Wings_Dynasty 42 51 ddygu 42 51 55fan 42 51 Breadgy 42 55 Firehawk 41 55 Nightfall 41 57 Reds4Life 40 57 wiszo1mt 40 59 Hockeycrazy3033 39 60 zetterisbetter 38 60 CanadaBoy 38 62 Jon22 37 62 Superman54 37 64 anthonyn66 36 64 ToMaToToWnWinGsFaN_24 36 64 Lidstromboli 36 64 *** Namingway 36 68 russianswede919293 35 68 Lidstrom for life 35 68 Bry-O 35 68 Wingsequallife13 35 72 Detroit # 1 Fan 34 72 redwings2002 34 74 kook_10 33 74 Gordie Howe hat trick 33 74 Russian Houdini 33 74 T-Ruff 33 78 lookalive07 32 78 WingsallTheway 32 78 8 Legged RedWing 32 78 kylee 32 78 MCleveland89 32 78 shaeb30 32 84 Xitium 31 84 The Nephilim 31 84 GoWings1905 31 84 matt198913 31 84 Chunkylover 31 84 FinWing 31 84 PDX Wingman 31 91 Buppy 30 91 scotvm 30 91 cupcrazy 30 91 hooon 30 91 redwingcapt 30 91 Yzerman191 30 97 maddog66 29 98 Howard He Do It?! 28 98 Echolalia 28 98 Norwegian Wing 28 101 DirtyD 27 101 Hockeymom1960 27 103 Canadian_Yzerman_Fan 25 103 Uncle Danny 25 103 OldMan333 25 103 Casey 25 103 paul19010 25 108 3chrisosgood0 24 109 HD30 23 110 Icesurfer 20 110 RedWingAbner 20 112 interminded 18 113 funguy21 16 114 Jericho613 15 115 clutchngrab 14 115 MidMichSteve 14 117 wingnut40 13 118 Klunzo 12 119 chuklz 10 119 redhot 10 121 mmamolo 0 121 redwings1926 0

God Bless the marketing company the NHL hired. They're putting out classic after classic!

He has a smaller place in the Detroit area, but his family lives in TO. Kate's pretty tiny so I'm gonna go with forward...just like her Dad is/was.

And that's the thing...who's to say he wants a 2nd home in Florida? From what I've read, he loves it where he is. On top of that, it's not like Drapes' kids are old. They have plenty of school left before he would likely want a Winter home, if he does at all...and time is of the essence on this deal given Draper is getting closer to retirement. Thanks, and many Congrats yourself! It's truly amazing from moment you find out to moment your first-born arrives! Best of luck!

Draper lives in the Toronto area and commutes to Detroit because he wants to raise his family there. I highly doubt he'd be as willing to commute to Tampa Bay. That's kind of a hike. ...and Rafalski at $6 million.

I don't feel betrayed. He wanted to be a GM and the Wings weren't in a position to make that happen. He didn't go to one of our rivals, he's in the Eastern Conference and they had to pay him the sales tax of California just so he'd say yes. What's the guy supposed to do? Besides, it's not like the door is shut for him never to return to Detroit.

Not to mention the fact that the Lightning suck and the Wings have been a perennial powerhouse.

As much as Burke gets ripped on (I like to throw jabs out there as well) and likes to whine, no one can deny the guy is stellar at turning teams around. That said, the moves he made prior to the deadline had an immediate impact on the team and their play showed it. I completely agree that keeping his head on straight and signing the "right" guys rather than the high-priced UFA's is the right move for that team. Their D is vastly improving and Kaberle being moved (or having his contract expire) is another step in the right direction. With Phaneuf, Komisarek, Beauchemin, Schenn, Van Ryn and Gunnarsson all in the mix, their D looks better than it has in years. Toronto is in fine shape between the pipes and now adding the right mix up front will be huge in determining the type of success they'll have going forward. Adding some fair scoring, tough-to-play-against guys up front will go a long way for the type of team Burke is known to put together.

There has to be meaning behind the quotation marks. I'll bite....Tampa sucks and shouldn't be in the NHL?

...I'd put a bullet in my head. Sorry, I didn't read past the title of the thread.

No doubt it is, but he wants to be an NHL GM and since the position is already filled in Detroit (wonderfully, I might add) he had to go elsewhere *for the time being.*

He may still. There's no way he was going to get the GM job in Detroit until Kenny moves on/retires. At that point, Yzerman should be plenty experienced in his new role and may fit in nicely in Detroit. As much as its sucks to see him work for another team, look at the bright-side: He'll get a little wet behind the ears and make rookie mistakes on another teams' watch. Then he can GM in Detroit once Kenny is finished.

QFT Must've been for appearances until the deal was finalized. Either way.....F!

CHI/PHI: 4-2

Classic!

Note: Round 2 Final Scores Below Here are the Matchups based on their respective ranks: WEST: (1) San Jose Sharks vs. (2) Chicago Blackhawks EAST: (7) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens NOTE: Please copy and paste the following template when making your picks. Bold the team you're picking to win, and then write the series score directly after in this manner: SJS/CHI: 4-2 Round 2 Template: SJS/CHI: PHI/MTL: ________________________________ This truly cuts down on the time it requires to tally up scores and I greatly appreciate it. Best of luck to everyone, and I'll post my Picks shortly. Rules: Each round you will pick a winner for each series. For every correct series winner you predict, you will receive 4 points for the first round matchups, 8 for the 2nd, 12 for the 3rd, and 16 for the Finals (0 if you pick the incorrect team, 3 points if you picked a 4-3 series and the other team won). Also to aid with tiebreakers you will also pick how many games the losing team in each series will win. Given that the team you picked to win actually does win the series, you will then have the opportunity to receive up to 3 bonus points. For every game you are off for the losing teams actual win total, I will subtract 1 bonus point. After each round, every player will then pick again based on the teams that made it through to the next round. Whoever has the most points at the end of the season, wins Playoff bragging rights. As was mentioned earlier, if you pick a series to go to the 7th game and the team you picked ends up losing, you will receive 3 points rather than 0. Round 2 Final Scores: Rank Player Total Points 1 Batigol2k 70 2 Skiminok 65 3 McCartyFanForLife 61 4 zombi 60 5 germanwing 58 5 wmubronco420 58 5 Real1 58 5 sibiriak 58 9 edicius 55 10 Third Man In 54 10 Zeowingsfan 54 12 bellarina 53 12 -=Red_Force=- 53 14 ARice89 52 14 STICK 52 14 mule 52 14 marcaractac 52 14 azshark 52 14 BamaWing 52 14 stevieisthebest 52 21 mindfly 51 21 Greatness=PavelDatsyuk 51 23 Zohan Franzen 50 23 Dano33 50 25 SeeinRed 49 25 F.Michael 49 25 Hockey13Playa 49 28 wingsgirl001 47 28 pavandzforpresident 47 28 brownie47 47 28 Stevie4Pres 47 32 KillerB14 46 32 Vladifan 46 32 wingsfan_fl 46 35 aflac9262 45 36 NeverForgetmac25 44 36 Donohue75 44 36 UKWING 44 36 Dominator2005 44 40 TheDetroitRedWings 43 40 Aussie_Wing 43 40 Tristanium 43 43 Wings_Dynasty 42 43 crotty99 42 43 ddygu 42 43 Breadgy 42 47 FireHawk 41 47 Nighfall 41 47 CailWingsNut 41 50 wiszo1mt 40 51 Hockeycrazy3033 39 52 CanadaBoy 38 53 Superman54 37 53 Jon22 37 55 anthonyn66 36 55 Shaman464 36 55 Swayze 36 55 ToMaToToWnWinGsFaN_24 36 55 *** Namingway 36 60 russianswede919293 35 60 Lidstrom for life 35 60 Bry-O 35 60 Wingsequallife13 35 64 Detroit # 1 Fan 34 64 TX Wing 34 64 redwings2002 34 64 P. Marlowe 34 68 Gordie Howe hat trick 33 68 Carman 33 68 Russian Houdini 33 68 Lidstromboli 33 68 T-Ruff 33 73 lookalive07 32 73 WingsallTheway 32 73 8 Legged RedWing 32 73 kylee 32 73 MCleveland89 32 73 shaeb30 32 79 Xitium 31 79 The Nephilim 31 79 GoWings1905 31 79 matt198913 31 79 Chunkylover 31 79 FinWing 31 79 PDX Wingman 31 86 kook_10 30 86 scotvm 30 86 redwingcapt 30 86 Yzerman191 30 90 maddog66 29 91 55fan 28 91 Echolalia 28 91 dat's sick 28 91 Norwegian Wing 28 95 Buppy 27 95 DirtyD 27 95 cupcrazy 27 98 Reds4Life 26 99 Canadian_Yzerman_Fan 25 99 Howard He Do It?! 25 99 Uncle Danny 25 99 OldMan333 25 99 Casey 25 99 paul19010 25 105 zetterisbetter 24 105 3chrisosgood0 24 107 HD30 23 108 RedWingsAbner 20 108 Icesurfer 20 110 interminded 18 111 funguy21 16 112 Jericho613 15 113 clutchngrab 14 114 chuklz 10 114 redhot 10 116 mmamalo 0

Round 2 Final Scores: Rank Player Total Points 1 Batigol2k 70 2 Skiminok 65 3 McCartyFanForLife 61 4 zombi 60 5 germanwing 58 5 wmubronco420 58 5 Real1 58 5 sibiriak 58 9 edicius 55 10 Third Man In 54 10 Zeowingsfan 54 12 bellarina 53 12 -=Red_Force=- 53 14 ARice89 52 14 STICK 52 14 mule 52 14 marcaractac 52 14 azshark 52 14 BamaWing 52 14 stevieisthebest 52 21 mindfly 51 21 Greatness=PavelDatsyuk 51 23 Zohan Franzen 50 23 Dano33 50 25 SeeinRed 49 25 F.Michael 49 25 Hockey13Playa 49 28 wingsgirl001 47 28 pavandzforpresident 47 28 brownie47 47 28 Stevie4Pres 47 32 KillerB14 46 32 Vladifan 46 32 wingsfan_fl 46 35 aflac9262 45 36 NeverForgetmac25 44 36 Donohue75 44 36 UKWING 44 36 Dominator2005 44 40 TheDetroitRedWings 43 40 Aussie_Wing 43 40 Tristanium 43 43 Wings_Dynasty 42 43 crotty99 42 43 ddygu 42 43 Breadgy 42 47 FireHawk 41 47 Nighfall 41 47 CailWingsNut 41 50 wiszo1mt 40 51 Hockeycrazy3033 39 52 CanadaBoy 38 53 Superman54 37 53 Jon22 37 55 anthonyn66 36 55 Shaman464 36 55 Swayze 36 55 ToMaToToWnWinGsFaN_24 36 55 *** Namingway 36 60 russianswede919293 35 60 Lidstrom for life 35 60 Bry-O 35 60 Wingsequallife13 35 64 Detroit # 1 Fan 34 64 TX Wing 34 64 redwings2002 34 64 P. Marlowe 34 68 Gordie Howe hat trick 33 68 Carman 33 68 Russian Houdini 33 68 Lidstromboli 33 68 T-Ruff 33 73 lookalive07 32 73 WingsallTheway 32 73 8 Legged RedWing 32 73 kylee 32 73 MCleveland89 32 73 shaeb30 32 79 Xitium 31 79 The Nephilim 31 79 GoWings1905 31 79 matt198913 31 79 Chunkylover 31 79 FinWing 31 79 PDX Wingman 31 86 kook_10 30 86 scotvm 30 86 redwingcapt 30 86 Yzerman191 30 90 maddog66 29 91 55fan 28 91 Echolalia 28 91 dat's sick 28 91 Norwegian Wing 28 95 Buppy 27 95 DirtyD 27 95 cupcrazy 27 98 Reds4Life 26 99 Canadian_Yzerman_Fan 25 99 Howard He Do It?! 25 99 Uncle Danny 25 99 OldMan333 25 99 Casey 25 99 paul19010 25 105 zetterisbetter 24 105 3chrisosgood0 24 107 HD30 23 108 RedWingsAbner 20 108 Icesurfer 20 110 interminded 18 111 funguy21 16 112 Jericho613 15 113 clutchngrab 14 114 chuklz 10 114 redhot 10 116 mmamalo 0

The due date and time are correct. I think you got your dates mixed up.

SJS/CHI: 4-2 PHI/MTL: 4-2

Thanks for the well-wishes everyone. Here's one more picture (of the 4,000 we've taken) of Kate.