NeverForgetMac25

In the three years Lids has been captain he has taken his team to the Conference Final every season, Won a Stanley Cup, and finished one game from another Cup. That's a better post-season average than Stevie Y had during his career. How is that performing at the same level as his predecessor?

I'm not saying they wouldn't have won as much had Z, Dats, etc been captain instead of Lidstrom, but that doesn't diminish the fact that he's been a great captain. You make the comment that all he had to do was keep the ship from running aground like its some easy task. Yes, the Wings have some of the best players in the world, but you're diminishing Lids' contributions because he didn't have to turn the team around. That's not his fault, but he's done a great job of keeping the team where it needs to be. Because you called him a ***** on page 2 of this thread. Just like you don't understand the effort or the quality leadership Lids has given Detroit since he's taken over as Captain. What possible evidence do you have aside from blatant speculation that Lids is just a mediocre captain? Factual evidence proves my argument much more than yours.

Ah, gotcha.

The only shot Franzen would have of taking Z in points is if he smoked Hank in goals. Z's passing instincts are far superior to Franzen's and as a result the only shot he'd have of outscoring him would be if blows by Hank in the goal-scoring department.

Don't be an ass, I know what quotation marks mean. You're just side-stepping my question. You called him a joke of a captain, which is quite similar to egroen stating you think he's a "horrible captain" which BTW, you certainly seem to be more of that mentality than the other side of the spectrum. Calling him a joke of a captain is no different than calling him a horrible captain when you're inferring what you are. And how many players do you know that wear the "C', take paycuts and win the Stanley Cup that are bad captains? Go ahead, name one? This could be the most ridiculous comment I've read on these boards in a very long time. Lidstrom is the best player in the world, and like Stevie Y, leads by example both on and off the ice and his team wins. That's what makes him a great captain. Just because Stevie had more unfortunate luck with injuries during his time with the Wings doesn't make it fair to rip Lids for being weak since he didn't have to deal with the severity of injuries Stevie did. You have no clue how Lids would've reacted had he been in that situation, just like you have no clue regarding the circumstances of Lids not playing in the All-Star game. Did you ever stop to think perhaps the Red Wings staff advised him to not play in the game to aid with his health?

Haha....it sure looks that way, doesn't it? Actually, people start heading to Lambeau Field immediately after they open the gates to the parking lot, which believe it or not is usually 6 hours before kick-off. It's almost always completely full within 4 hours of game time, and that's a little too much tailgating for a game I'm not going to with college friends only. Anyway, this is the backyard of a guy I used to work with. Lambeau Field is only one block directly behind where my chair is facing and this way we can get there a couple hours before the game and still tailgate. What's nice, is directly behind me there's roughly a 50' x 75' section of grass where tons of people cram into to enjoy pre-game fun.

Aah...my bad. Cheers

Calling him a "joke of a captain" is the same as calling him a "horrible captain". Unless you went on to explain what *you* perceive the difference to be, you can't blame people for taking you that way. Lidstrom is the captain because he continues to lead this team by example year after year, while showing the sacrifice of rarely ever missing action all the while taking massive paycuts based on what he's truly worth. Oh, he also captained them to a Stanley Cup. How does that not make him a great captain?

I know your argument was with egroen, but explain how these two statements mean something different.

I'll bite. Do you honestly believe my 1-year/$5 million is that far of a stretch. The last thing Lids is struggling with is money, and given the state of the league and the likely cap situation next year, do you truly believe a guy of seemingly his character wouldn't sign for $5 million? Is that low for that calibre of player: Absolutey. However the intangibles make that number more realistic. The fact is Lids has nothing more to play for other than the love of the game. He's got money in the bank, far more accolades than most people could ever dream of and will be retiring sooner rather than later. What possible incentive would Nick have for demanding another $7.45 million contract when that extra $2.45 could go a long way next off-season when the cap will drop by atleast $3.5 million (likely $6 million) and almost all he's looking for (barring a joke of a contract such as $3 million) is to be on another Cup winner? As I said, the ball is 100% in Lids' court regarding his dollar amount, but from what we've seen of Nick's contracts since the start of the cap era why would him signing for $5 million be such a stretch at the age of *40?* Bottom line, $5 million isn't that much of a stretch and it could very well happen.

I actually started the thread before he signed the deal and it was rumored to be between $10-$12 for one year. I've made the change.

Tailgating before the Packers-Browns game last Saturday. Maybe next time, I'll actually smile in one of these pictures instead of giving a weird look.

Not to mention the font of the written names.

Whew! I've been on pins and needles all summer long waiting for him to break his silence. /sarcasm Not a shot at you Cusimano....thanks for the update.

:nonono:

When he stops shooting the puck wide of the net every breakaway opportunity he gets. Sidenote: Does anyone remember a few years back when someone created the thread entitled, "Book Titles You'll Never See?" I loved when some suggest the title, "Soft Hands, By Kris Draper".

Make a living? Seriously? Brett Favre hasn't had to "make a living" since the mid-90's. However, of course he has the right to play....and no, I'm most certainly not just a disgruntled Packers fan. I have zero respect for Ted Thompson for handling the situation the way he did the previous offseason, and now I have lost all respect for Favre who clearly is all about sticking it to Thompson even though he's pissing on all those that have blindly supported him since he turned this organization around. This has nothing to do with him not deserving a chance to play. This has to do with Favre picking the one team no Packers fan ever wants to see their players go to, especially the greatest player in franchise history. If you can't see that for what it is, there's no point debating it with you. You don't honestly believe this has nothing to do with just "continuing to play," do you? Why was Favre so hell-bent on playing for the Vikings last year? For the simple reason of wanting to get back at Thompson for putting him in a position he wasn't ready to be in at the time. The point is, Favre can tell the media (as he did yesterday) that this has "nothing to do with Thompson" all he wants...we all know damn well it atleast has something to do with it. While Favre is sticking it to Thompsom, the Packers fan-base are the ones that suffer seeing the all-time face of their franchise playing for its most hated nemesis. Edgar Bennett, Brett Favre....apples, oranges.

I would think Bert would get that, due to being the veteran.

Atleast I get what you're going for with your posts.....or should I say, "delusions?" When you want to have a serious debate, let me know.

That's why I wrote "sidenote." See above

Outdated? By what....2 months? The two teams that made the Cup Finals the past two years haven't exactly been what you consider "tough." Interesting how you and Kenny are on the same page, yet Kenny initially was trying to bring back Hossa, Hudler and Sammy. What nationality are they again?

100% agreed. The fact of the matter is that the US economy is just pulling out of its worst recession since the Great Depression and some want to believe the cap (which is solely based on league revenues) will remain unaffected. How some tend to be ignoring that make no sense to me.

Yeah, I'm sure Kenny checks in on LGW and runs a "micah" post search before he makes any moves. If Holland really listened to you, the entire offense from top to bottom would be Travis Moen's or someone of the like. Sidenote: Yeah, that NA/Euro ratio sure hurt the Wings when they were skating around with the Cup in 2008.

It's truly starting to look as though the recession is past its lowest point. The economy seems to be rebounding slightly and hopefully by the time the new year hits the country will be in a decent stride. My hope is that league revenues (which I agree will be down this year) won't be as low as if we had another full NHL season like the economy was during the entire 2008/2009 season. If that's the case, which I think is slightly more likely, it should put the cap somewhere around $53.5 million. If the economy is like it was during the past season, you're probably dead-on with that $51 million figure.

Priceless! Or atleast Ron Tibbles in the team picture.