achildr1

As long as this includes the Cup in 2002, this is my list. I don't see a reason to have anyone on my list that wasn't on a Cup team. Past that, I don't think we win the Cup in '02 at all without Hasek, thus his ranking. My major changes...I'm not the biggest Osgood fan but he certainly should be on the list. Darren Helm, I believe, is one of the most important players on the Wings and is arguably the best bottom six forward in the game. He's the new Kris Draper, who was ranked highly for similar reasons. I think both of those players set the tone of work ethic when they play/played. 1.Lidstrom 2.Datsyuk 3.Zetterberg 4.Hasek 5.Kronwall 6.Shanahan 7.Franzen 8.Hull 9.Yzerman 10.Rafalski 11.Holmstrom 12.Osgood 13.Draper 14.Helm 15.Cleary 16.Stuart 17.Filppula 18.Samuelsson 19.Chelios 20.Hudler

Definitely disagree on Andersson. At this point I think he translates to the NHL easier than anyone not named Nyquist or Smith. Babcock loves the kid, he's putting up better numbers than people expected, plays a hard nosed game, is a big kid, and projects to be the second coming of Sammy Pahlsson. Those are the guys you see traded at the deadline every year now. The guys playoff teams want.

Pennicton Plush. Southern California Cuddles. Tennessee Teddies. Grand Rapids Goodies. Lol...this is dumb.

If you''ve never met a grown woman who is into this kid...you must live under a rock. The Bieb has some serious women fans...I wouldn't doubt that some of that hottest women/cougars you will ever see go to Bieber concerts.

It's all a big joke to me now...I would be shocked if the Wings picked higher than 25th and one of Phoenix or Edmonton didn't get the first pick. No surprise...

Exactly. I love the Wings but if I were the fan of another team...Franzen and Kronwall, before he learned how to stay on his feat, would have made my team. On the other hand, I bet Bert would go with anybody given the right situation.

Talbot. Crosby COREY PERRY Clowe. Thornton. Couture Kesler. Bill Maher. St. Louis Cardinals Obama. Brian Burke. Kane Weber. Blackhawk Fans Leaf fans. Bieksa Wisniewski. New York Yankees Iran Luongo Fleury I can hardly make a whole team of hockey players anymore. Normally to really dislike guys, you have to have a rivalry with them, they have to be pretty good, or they just have to be arrogant. For the latter...just insert the Canucks or Sharks. Otherwise, I think I just don't care enough anymore to really be bothered by most guys. All time... Guys I couldn't stand because they were so good...Forsberg, Roy because of arrogance...Roy, Lemieux, 2010-12 Vancouver Canucks because they way they play...Marchment, Lemieux, Roy, Thornton, Crosby, Pronger because I can't stand to see their face lol...Ricci, Couture, Crosby, All baseball team: Cruz. Trout. Swisher Jeter. Cano Sandoval. Konerko Pierzenski Inge Weaver Chen Holland --------- Nathan Motte

Thompson, Dubinsky, Carle, Crabb, Conklin.

Isn't Jack Johnson from MI?

So was Brendan Smith...look at Kronwall and Smith's draft pics, it's pretty funny, they're children. Jarnkrok, Almquist, and probably a few other guys need to pack it on too. That's the disadvantage of picking 27th every year in the draft.

So I'm sure i'm no the only one excited for AHL hockey this year... Couple things: http://okcbarons.com/index.cfm?fa=pressreleases&ra=showarticle&guid=89afd461-0278-478c-bd62-84074deff8d2 Oklahoma City looks filthy. That team will probably decimate the league. RNH, Paajarvi, Eberle, Schultz, Tuebert, Marincen, Martindale, Pitlick...crazy. Grand Rapids will play two preseason games on the "east side" as well...one at the Huntington Center in Toledo and one at Yost in AA. Be nice to catch one of those. Who are you guys excited to see? http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=75725

Are there anymore drop in's soon there?

Not to mention a consumate professional, ultra hard worker, fourth liner who wore an "A", Selke winner, and the closest Chuck Norris look alike in the Western hemisphere. Drapes would still school Abby. Who knows what Drapes' career would look like if he had been given the opportunity his whole career that he was given during 03-04.

Matt Mahalek G. Monroe, MI. CAR draft pick

I know this is a Wings fan site so it seems biased, but Lidstrom and Datsyuk are easily at or near the top of my list. I am so thankful that these guys are/were Wings. I'd hate to watch them from afar. Pavel Datsyuk. When you talk about players worth the price of admission...this would be my pick. I grew up playing hockey and i think it takes someone who's played to truely understand how unreal this guy is. A casual fan might think he looks slick and makes some unusual plays but we see a guy who at 5'11" may be the strongest player on the puck in the game, who's skating/balance is almost unrivaled, who's larcenous defensive play should make Bob Gainey feel like Patrik Stefan, and who's stickhandling is the best the game has ever seen. Lidstrom. A machine. If you made a robot to play defense, you program it by feeding it videos of Lidstrom on the Power Play. This guy, at 40 years old, was voted by his peers as the best Defensive Defenseman in the game, while taking about as many PIM's as the tenacious Kyle Wellwood. That about sums it up. I beat with my stick instead of my body...because im smarter than you (and the majority of the defenseman in NHL history). Peter Forsberg was an absolute machine. There was a playoff series between us and the Avs (we lost the series) where Forsberg seemed to score at will and seemingly beat us all by himself. Kind of like Franzen against the Avs, except we were 3 times as good as that Avs team. When he had the puck, you just knew we were screwed. Patrick Roy. When he was on...game over. Greatest goalie i've ever seen, hands down.

My additions... Columbus: Bobrovsky hasn't exactly been the second coming of Glenn Hall but has to be much better than Steve Mason. John Moore, Ryan Murray, and Erixon have some big upside to add in with Johnson, Wisniewski, Nikitin, and Aucoin. Ryan Johanson should be alot better and will almost certainly get more ice time. BJ's should roll out a much more balanced, tough, and deep lineup. Nashville: Gabriel Bourque, Craig Smith, and Colin Wilson should get most of Kostitsyn and Radulov's (who didnt really even play much last year) ice time and have the potential to make Nashville's fans forget the latter ever existed. Ryan Ellis should get time on D now and is one heck of a hockey player. Detroit: I hope Babcock gives Nyquist Hudler's ice time and calls it a day, I wouldnt expect to see a huge difference in output. That said, it's more likely to get spread out between Brunner, Nyquist, and Samuelsson. Missing Lidstrom, in my estimation, is going to devastate this team in more ways than we know. Who gets the point shot on the first PP...Sammy? I can already hear myself verbally abusing his every misguided shooting attempt. I can't even really think of another alternative because we have basically no one else that is either smart enough to make the right shot or has a good enough shot that could play that position. Our D might as well of lost three top-4 guys because Nick counts for two...our top 6 makes me nauseus. If Fil goes back to his norm and/or Dats or Z miss anytime, this could be the worst Wings season i've ever seen.

I decided to pop in the 1997 Championship video and got to thinking... A movie about March 26th, 1997 (preferably marketed under that title) would not only rock for Wings fans, I think it could be the next great hockey movie if made with the same fervor as "Miracle". I don't believe i've ever seen a more entertaining hockey game in my life. Personally, I preferred the pre-lockout brand of NHL hockey. The battles, physical play, and refs who kept the whistles in their pockets made it much more convincing that only the best team won the game. Obviously, most of you probably know the intimate details of what preceded the game to make it what it was, so ill spare that. My rough draft includes... Important...Avalanche are the antagonist, duh. It would be great to have it be just an unbiased advertisement for that rivalry and time in hockey history but the Avs have too many bad guys to make that work. Opening Credits: A quiet video montage with intermittant quotes... Wings disappointments of the preceding few years, Lindros trade and the move of the Nordiques to Colorado, Wings 62 win season, Colorado getting Roy, etc...leading into the 96 WCF. Opening Scene Movie opens with the intermission and minutes of the period preceding the Claude Lemieux hit in the 1996 Western Conference Finals. During this scene we get glimpses of main characters in the movie (Bowman, Yzerman, McCarty, Maltby, Draper, Vernon, Larionov... Sakic, Forsberg, Foote, Roy, Lemieux, Ricci, Crawford) and a feel for the air in each teams locker room. Scene 2, The Shanahan Difference: Beginning of season. Talk between higher ups of the Wings about the Shanahan deal, why it was needed. Shows his arrival and Detroit locker room atmosphere. Scene 3: Avs raise banner, explores lockerroom atmosphere, get to know players/attitudes (especially towards Detroit. Empahasis on Roy, Lemieux, Crawford. Scene 4: One of the early season meetings of the teams with emphasis on the wings locker room struggles/coming together/animosity towards Colorado Scene 5: Midseason highlights slideshow with commentator clips. Scene 6: Week leading up to the 26th...anticipation from both teams, arrogance, jokes, etc. (all preceding scenes are less than 1/2 of movie time) Gametime: More than enough opportunity to make a great flick here. Actors (this is I think what got me started with this idea)... Scotty Bowman - Jason Alexander (Sounds insane, but he could look almost exactly like him and if he pulled it off would be one of the more impressive acting roles he could ever accomplish) Claude Lemieux - Jason Isaacs Mike Vernon - Emilio Estevez Mike Ricci - Himself (previosly played Elmer Lach in The Rocket) Mathieu Dandenault - Himself (also played in The Rocket) Marc Crawford - Himself (i bet he'd be a good actor) Adam Foote - Owen Wilson (i know, right? Wierd? It’s in the nose...would also be a big role for him if he pulled of the attitude right because its not his normal role) Joe Sakic - Harry Conick Jr. (I know, i know...google it tho). Probably not though, no idea for him. Peter Forsberg - If you know anyone else that looks like the offspring of a vampire and lion, let me know. Konstantinov - ?? (btw, Vlad was one of the oldest looking 27 year olds ever) Darren McCarty - Critical role and I am clueless Igor Larionov - Himself (a little hair color and he's 36 again...dude's to cool for anyone else to play him anyway) Brendan Shanahan - huge role, big voice in the movie, humor focal point along with Darren (ideally some young, funny, up and comer...no idea tho) Barry Smith - Paul Gleason Dave Lewis - Whoever normally plays Hitler in movies Real interested in who LGW can come up with!

It wasnt my first choice...it was the only one that made any sense after trying to figure out someone who looked even relatively like Scotty. For all I care, Scotty could play Scotty. The more impressive thing is if Costanza could actually pull it off, that would be a sight to see.

This may put be a big hiccup in our effort to sign Suter. I can't see them trading his rights to us. They may even trade him to someone else just so we don't have as good of a chance to get him.

Lol, I was getting mad reading that. It's funny how we're so spoiled (Hasek, Hull, Hossa, Lang...at the time!, etc.) yet welt the same time Holland says this crap for years too.

Hahaha. Nice.

Toronto- Burke and Gillis are buddies and worked together in Vancouver. Big name and big bucks but Toronto could eat that deal. I bet TML fans would get over any disappointment quick. They're not exactly the most level headed group out there. Komisarek, 2nd round pick, prospect Columbus-Not sure Lou would go there but I think CLB would do it, Carters deal pretty much proves that. They're probably going into rebuild mode though. Mason, 2nd round pick. Tampa-I don't see Steve biting on this unless he could trade Vinny for him and that doesn't make sense really for either team. Florida-Jacob Markstrom could be Schnieder as early as this year. Wouldn't make much sense either unless Tallon would rather go with the established goaltender. Loungo has a name in southern Florida and could concievably add to this years momentum. Clemmenson, Ellerby, 2nd round pick.

This. But with all white lettering, including the captains letters. Just enough change to appease the NHL while sticking to our tradition of not messing with what works. Love it. One stripe on the socks though and the off white color that the Rangers used this year instead of regular white.

Yep, teams are probably going to let him write his own check. I think he's going to go somewhere to win though and that's where we come in. Parise won't have to be THE guy here, we have the history, he gets to play next to THE guy, and could challenge for the Cup in the first year of his deal. Not to mention, if Illitch pulls a Mike Illitch and goes for gold, signing Suter too, you can use the dream team angle like in '02. The thing about this off-season is the ability is there for us to really stack this team. Not only that but I believe this off-season is pivotal to the future of the Wings...either staying elite or fading away. When you have a chance to steal one, or two, franchise-type players without trading the farm...you should do it. If those two players are exactly what you need (hardworking goal scorer and Lidstrom replacement), you shouldn't think twice. If Lidstrom is thinking about staying, this is where you prove to him that it will be worth it.