TNBT

I'm really not sure what he will decide to do. On one hand, there is no better way to walk away from the game than with the Stanley Cup. However, we also have a team that will contend again next year, and I'm sure Dallas knows that the only thing better than one Stanley Cup is two.

What we do as far as signing another goalie will depend on what we decide to do with Howard this year. Either way though, I don't see Joseph coming back here. If we want to bring up Howard to backup Ozzie then I think we should look to sign a cheap prospect to give us some depth in the AHL. If we want to leave Howard in Grand Rapids all year then we should look to sign a solid goalie to play behind Ozzie, but not one who is past their prime like Joseph. A few names have been mentioned already, and Ray Emery and Dan Cloutier are also now available. The one thing we DON'T need to do is bring in a guy to start ahead of Ozzie, so that rules out guys like Miller. Basically, if Howard comes up then we need to add a young/cheap prospect or two in net for a little depth. We've lost Joey MacDonald and Drew McIntyre in recent years, and Liv has gone home. However, if Howard is not coming up then we need a backup for Ozzie, not someone to replace him as the starter.

I'm not reading through all 8 pages so I'll say what I have to say, even if it may already have been said. I was kind of praying that we would move up to around the top 5 and grab Luke Schenn. I have a really good feeling about this kid. He, Kindl, Kronwall, Lebda, Quincey and the others would make a great defensive core. I don't know much about the guy we got. Anyone with info care to give us a profile on the guy (unless it has already been done)?

Thanks for posting that link. I hadn't heard about this story before, but just reading it make me feel sick. I can't believe anyone would abuse the compassion of a guy like Stevie and the whole organisation like that. If karma exists, then this guy has some s*** coming his way.

I'm someone who has been high on Kopecky since his AHL days, and I had visions of him becoming a 1st or 2nd line power forward when he bulks up a bit. My girl however has seen every game and she doesn't see that as likely. Even if he only ends up as a 3rd liner, I hope he can bring some physical play and a scoring touch on a more consistent basis.

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but my girl got a call from Ericsson the other night to tell her he's headed to the AHL All-Star game. Same with Jimmy Howard.

The funny thing is that he's good friends with my girl so I've spoken to him before and he seems like the nicest, calmest person you could meet. Glad to see him kick some ass on the ice though.

I think Ozzie and Hasek have got the goalie position locked up this year, and if Howard can keep improving there's every chance he could be our starter for next year. The only thing I don't want is to see him sitting on the bench in Detroit. If he's not going to start then I'd rather him stay in the AHL and keep getting starters minutes and improving.

I tend to agree with this idea.

I don't have anything to say about your post, but I like your Chris Simon avatar. It will probably be easier for them to just go with Lilja, but I'd rather see Quincey get some more games.

I was one of the people who wanted Shanny to come back this year, so I'm not happy that he left. However, I don't think he left for the wrong reasons. The money being offered by the Rangers was essentially the same, so you know he wasn't running for a big payday. Also, the Wings were the best team in the league last year (according to the regular season, that is), so you can't really say he was leaving to go to a winning team. I honestly think that he felt that he had accomplished about everything that he could with the Wings, and that with Stevie and the old guard getting towards the end of their era, maybe it was time for him to make a fresh start and let the Wings do the same. Maybe we would have been better this year with Shanny, or maybe we would have been worse. Maybe we would have been exactly the same? We can't say for sure whether we've gained or lost because of him leaving, so I'm not about to wish him anything but the best. He's done enough for this team over the years to earn our respect and good wishes as far as I'm concerned.

Amen to that brother. Regardless of how you feel about Dats, there's one thing that we all should share: The hope that he has a great Playoffs and that THE TEAM does well. If you think Dats is God then good for you, just like if you think he sucks, then that's up to you. Neither party will change the others minds, and the only way that the argument will get resolved is if Datsyuk scores in this years Playoffs. There's not much that anyone can do that will alter the situation until the Playoffs start, so lets just keep hoping that Datsyuk (and everyone else) does whatever is needed for the team to win.

Not that it has anything to do with Osgood, but is Jimmy Howard still rocking this mask? I really like that design, but I think I like Joey MacDonald's old mask even more:

Exactly. I'm sure that Kenny tried to get Luongo (what GM with more than 2 brain cells wouldn't?), but was no doubt hampered by factors such as salary restraints, the amount we would have had to give up in a trade and the offers coming from other GM's.

Add Dion Phaneuf to that and I'll vote for it.

Same here.

And who has the other A? Zetterberg?

I considered poaching from the Coyotes, and I've been a fan of Boynton for a while. If we could get him I'd be pretty happy.

The way I see it, the Wings and the Ducks are perfect trading partners. One of the major complaints/fears of Wings fans is the lack of young defensive talent to come through behind Lidstrom and Schneider. Up front, we have way too many centers. The Ducks, on the other hand, seem to be in the opposite situation. With Neidermayer and Pronger, combined with their other defensemen, they are perhaps the strongest team in the league on defense. Up front, however, they look like they could use some scoring-line talent. The Pronger trade cost them one of their top young forwards in Lupul, and with the defensive core they have, they were built to win now. Perry and Getzlaf are great talents but they're still young, Selanne is proven but getting older and it's still not known for sure whether McDonald can consistently carry a big part of the offensive load. The Wings need young defensemen, and the Ducks have a guy that would be perfect for us in Francois Beauchemin. He's an important part of their defense but with Pronger and Neidermayer able to carry a lot of ice time, as well as some solid if unspectacular support from guys like O'Donnell, the Ducks can afford to move him if it helps to give them some more firepower up front. As I said before, the Ducks are built to win now, and adding a guy like Lang to center their top line with Selanne would give them some offensive power, and it would mean that the youngsters like Getzlaf and Perry aren't expected to carry the offensive load. Now I don't know if a straight-up trade of Lang for Beauchemin works under the salary cap, so maybe a pick or a prospect could be thrown in either way, but I'd like to know what people think of the idea of a Lang for Beauchemin-based trade.

Put down the crack pipe. Please, it's for your own good.

If you didn't notice, the title of the thread mentioned that this was a trade IDEA, not a rumored trade or a trade that was near completion. If you want to propose some sort of argument as to why we should trade Lang for Bouwmeester and why the trade would work then go right ahead.

I'd have him on the 3rd line.

I'm not sure that I'd place too much faith in this rumor, but if it went down then I think the top 2 lines would look more like this: Hudler - Zetterberg - Bertuzzi Samuelsson - Lang - Williams

I guess you've got a point. I've always thought that when a team has a strength and a weakness, they are better off moving some of their strength to help fill their weakness. However, I guess in this case their defense is a strength, but if they moved Beauchemin it would then probably become a weakness for them (outside of their top 2).

If anyone knows where we can find two of them, I call the 2nd one.