TheBadOne

It wasn't the greatest tilt ever, but definitely the best in a while by a guy wearing a Wings jersey, that's for certain. I didn't see his name on the list of cuts, so I gots a feeling he may actually wind up with a roster spot. Considering Downey stepped up to Roy, who has both height and weight advantage over him, AND held his ground, he doesn't look like a bad choice for the 14th roster spot.

I'm not trying to be a homer, but I feel I should point something out. Osgood has yet to be scored upon this pre-season, something neither Hasek or Howard can say. That said, Howard should go to GR this season, and next season, when Dom retires, Howard/Osgood should be the tandem, IMO.

I think that at his highest potential, Cloutier is a starter in the NHL. That said... 1. He hasn't played two full seasons since the lock out because he's been marred with injuries. 2. Despite being a competitive player, he has a tendency to take games off, which isn't going to cut it in the big leagues. A full year in the minors will be good for him at this point. It will give him the chance to get back into the game at a slower level, so next year at this time, he can contend for a NHL job with the Kings, or at least showcase himself in the preseason of 08-09 to get onto another team's roster. I remember Dwayne Roloson spending a year in the minors after being a backup in Buffalo, and he went on to be a starter for both Minnesota and Edmonton. And if that doesn't work out for him, then I see that as more of a personal problem rather than him being untalented.

1. Sid the Kid getting into all markets. 2. If ESPN has a reason to actively promote hockey (instead of it being featured solely on a competitors channel) then they're going to get off their tush and do it. 3. The "new" NHL is just simply better than the old and should make for a more entertaining game. 4. Fighting in hockey seems to be growing more now than it did the first year after the lockout. As long as the teams and the league realize that a great deal of fans don't mind the odd tussle, it's going to bring people back to their televisions or arenas. Them's my two cents.

I think a season in Grand Rapids would be far better than for him to either be rushed to the NHL or for him to return to Russia. If Russia had the same kinda game, I wouldn't blame him for leaving (though he'd be better prepared than he is already.) I guess it comes down to whether or not Igor is willing to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. Yeah, he can make a decent amount of cash in Russia, but if he figures out the NA game and dominates it like he has the international one, anything he could achieve in Russia would pale in comparison to what he could do in the NHL. I hope he sticks with the system and doesn't run away like Liv.

I like the Joe, but once I came out to Phoenix and saw the Jobing.com arena, I thought "Man... the Red Wings totally deserve a place like this." Not to cut the Joe down, but considering how many advancements in technology and architecture there've been in the past 30 years, I think Hockeytown should have a new arena.

I was using Firefox to watch the games last night. It didn't work the night before, so I cleared the cookies and temporary files. That seemed to do the job.

Well, here's my history: Monday - nothing worked. Tuesday - I was able to watch the Wings-Wild game without logging in, but the video and audio were extremely choppy. Wednesday - I was able to watch the Phoenix-Leafs game without loggin in and the video and audio were fine. Thursday - I click on Center Ice and got a log in screen, though I have no account. I guess you can call them to straighten it out, but the person I spoke to only knew there was trouble afoot. I gave her my information and she said she'd give me an e-mail to confirm my new account. I'm still waiting.

Its my opinion the entire thing is political. If NHL returns to ESPN, then watch it eclipse NASCAR, golf, or womens basketball in regards to "popularity."

Great posts by everyone thus far. Here's my two cents: - If the NHL is going to expand into two cities, they should expand to Winnipeg and Portland. - If the NHL wants a team in KC, they should move the Devils there. They were already there before and they currently play in a market that's served by 3 teams (Rangers and Islanders being the others.) 4,615 NJ fans came out to support their team last night. By comparison, 8,392 came out for the Coyotes yesterday. Considering, however, that the Devils are moving into a new building, the Islanders may be a better option. - A team in Vegas would be a waste of money and time. - Florida's team should be moved before any of the others, if relocation is an option. Granted, the Preds and Tampa Bay are for sale, but Nashville's fans seem legit, and Tampa's team has been moderately successful. - Keep a team in Phoenix. In addition to the locals starting to get into hockey out here, there's a lot of transplants from Detroit, Denver, Minnesota, and Canada that live around here now. That way when I see someone from Denver at a Phoenix game, it's like "Hey, go Coyotes." and not "REMEMBER WHEN MCCARTY DID THAT CHEAP SHOT ON LEMIEUX?!" (and then I have to smack a person.) - I hope Bastille doesn't get a team. The league needs a team in Hamilton like Detroit needs to go sign Tim Cheveldae out of retirement as their starting goaltender.

Well, per dropyourgloves.com, Downey has a career record of 34-30-24, so I have to give him the tilt for winning more than he lost and still hanging on to most. Anyway, if I had my way, Detroit would go with 14 forwards and Downey would be #14. If the Wings were to get Sopel, they should move Lilja first (which probably isn't going to happen.) I think that the 7th slot should go either to Meech if he performs well during the preseason or Ference if he can do well in the preseason and win a few fights.

Badum... Samuelsson - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Hudler - Zetterberg - Cleary Draper - Filppula - Franzen Drake - Ellis - Maltby Scratch: Grigorenko, Downey Lidstrom - Lilja Rafalski - Kronwall Chelios - Lebda Scratch: Ference Hasek Osgood

All this talk of Igor "sucking" made me want to post what I found on the Forecaster.ca website: http://www.forecaster.ca/detnews/hockey/ex...gi?fantasy-spin Them's my two cents

You know, if the fans there didn't rally to support their team in a concerted effort to keep a team in Nashville, I might agree with you. Considering Nashville is one of the few markets where the fans put more money into the team than their local businesses do, I think they have every right to a team... ... and I like the 16 points the Red Wings get in return

Yeah Liv's gone back to Sweden. The Wings still maintain his rights (I believe he was tendered a qualifying offer, so that makes him a Group IV FA like Bykov was) Maybe the money's better there than in the AHL. Berkhoel will be going to GR as Howard's backup (or starting in Flint depending on how Pelletier fares during camp). He saw some NHL action as a Thrasher, but he was also the 5th goalie in their system at the time (their goaltenders had problems that year) and spent most of last season in the ECHL (I believe). As it stands right now, he won't project to anything beyond a reserve goaltender that the highest level. Yet he does have NHL experience, so in a system that lost 3 depth goalies in a year (McIntyre, MacDonald, and now Liv) it was ultimately a good pickup.

If the NHL would rather put a team there as opposed to say Winnipeg, Seattle, or Portland, my head would likely explode.

Thats great for that team, and kinda sucks for Mr. Belfour. But how many times can you be abusive to your backup goalies, make drunken and disorderly appearances in public, and still expect to get a free pass? If he wants to continue playing, it comes down to this. It would be worse if it were CuJo. And I wouldn't take playing in a 2nd Division in Sweden as a bad thing. The worst teams in the SEL can be demoted to the 2nd Division while the best teams in the 2nd division can be promoted to the SEL. The team he's signing with used to be an SEL team that ended up in the 2nd division because they had a bad regular season and subsequently lost the tournament that would have kept them in the big league. If he can lead them to a great record this year and win said tournament, then he did exactly what he was signed to do.

I was checking out that article and saw that not all of his exercises were strenuous: I wonder if this means he's still ahead of Osgood on the depth chart, yet behind Rodriguez...

Cool thread. I don't know what your skill level is, or what your health or economic position is, but there's always lower-level professional teams holding tryouts at the beginning of the season. Heck, if Brendan Tedstone can do it... As for myself, I'm a goalie that plays inline hockey. I started off playing in January 05 playing at Skateplex in Sterling Heights, where I spent the whole year playing drop-in, subbing games, and playing in a development league. In 06, I played in the Winter and Fall Iron leagues at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse and Maxx Arena. I started off on a team during the Winter 07 season, but had a falling out with the members and was gone after the first game. At that point, i focused on graduating college and moving to start a band. I've since accomplished both. Since I moved to Phoenix, I found a place that has roller hockey, but since I'm still waiting for my equipment, I can't say how competitive it is. I hope to find out sooner than later.

I didn't read anyone else's answers in hopes not to prejudice my own, so if I end up repeating what others say, well, sucks for me. 1. If he can stay healthy, Kronwall might reach Number 2 status. Otherwise, probably not. 2. I don't have the clairvoyance to say. Before the accident, I'd say certainly. Now, I'd like to see what happens at camp. I'd love to see him make an impact. I also wanted Liv to work out too, and we know how that went. 3. Hudler is more than capable than having a 20+ goal season. The question is can he demonstrate the maturity and gain the size necessary to do it. 4. I think Filppula will either meet or exceed 45 points this season. 5. If Lilja gets into 5 fights this season, Holland will probably trade him or re-assign him to the minors, so no 6. No, but I think Rafalski will have a career year offensively next season. 7. After Zetterberg gets the C I think Datsyuk will definitely be named an alternate captain. Depending on who sticks around long enough, my future picks would be either Rafalski or Ellis. 8. If Cleary ends up on the second line, he'll exceed 40 pts. Regardless, he should still finish the season out as a plus player. 9. Either Joe Thorton or Iginla. 10. I don't think they'd accept between $3-$5, but if I had my way: Top 6 - Either Joe Thorton or Iginla. Top D - Retain Lidstrom 3rd or 4th liner: Georges Laraque

:rotflmao: That's classic.

When you say WHL, do you mean the current Junior league, the defunct minor league, or the WHA, which was the contender until they folded and gave the NHL the Jets, Nordiques, Whalers, and Oilers? Personally, I say none. The league may as well expand if it would consider doing that, and there probably isn't any shortage of arguments about the league already being too large. If I had my way though, Winnipeg and either Portland or Seattle would get a hockey team. I'd like to see KC get one, but I'm not optimistic that a hockey team could be successful there.

I can't say I'm surprised. Given the current goaltending situation in the NHL, this is probably the best move for him. Good luck just the same.

Last I heard... Dafoe's called it a career and now does charity golfing on behalf of the NHL. Potvin was approached by the Thrashers during the 05-06 season after Lehotnen and Dunham were sidelined with injuries, but he didn't have the new NHL goalie equipment and refused to sign a two-way deal so Steve Shields ended up signing on. Since then, who knows.