Earthhuman

Sucks to be Vancouver, they have a horrible team, Bernier and Backes wont help much. I almost hate them more for having such a piss-poor team and having to rely on s*** like this. Granted St. Louis is not much higher on my list. I'm glad two of the bottom teams in the West just made each other mutually worse.

I'm with you STK. If Hossa left and that was the end of it, ok, it happens, that's sports. I grieved for Schneider for all of... how long did it take to get Raffi after that? The problem being that Hossa had already cost 3 very good (possibly a top-liner, as well) players, a 1st round pick, then Malone and whoever else's rights were traded. That's a HEAVY, HEAVY price-tag. Even at the trade deadline I was thinking, "That's a god-awful trade." Then he doesn't re-sign. You tell me he didn't have an obligation to stay!? At the same time, I wouldn't be burning a Hossa jersey. I'd be throwing bricks through Shero's windows. Then I'd follow that up by throwing another brick for every goal one of the lost players' scored. He did an ok job this offseason after losing all those players, but he set himself up for that situation. Too many UFAs. Too much faith in a player staying who was already looking at options. Poor back-up plan.

Right on. But what justifies the name "horse?"

There isn't much offensive talent in the system. Mursak is that much more valuable.

Oh shut up. Be happy. He's icing another contender team.

Permission to go slightly off-topic? This is how much Briere and his ilk make per year. Each firecracker represents a dollar. They also symbolize freedom:

My brain's fail-safes wont let me believe that.

Not sure how much hockey you watch, but you should have realized by now that better defense leads to lower save %. The leader every year is someone who plays on a bad team, like Tim Thomas, Vokoun, Luongo. Hasek could never make it out of "average range." Neither could Osgood. That's a reflection of the team. Nabokov is an elite goalie and probably should have won the Vezina. I disagree that Lundqvist is over-rated. He steals the majority of the games they win. Two-time Vezina finalist. Olympic gold. Consistently good stats on a defense that, in the past, featured such studs as Ozilinsh (sp?) and "what's his name?", that kid, "what's his name," and that kid. Their best defenseman at the beginning of last year was Rosival. If you don't watch the Rangers, he's a poor man's Kronwall that shoots the puck. Over the course of the year, the best defenseman was Girardi or Stall, who are both young, learning the ropes. Lundqvist has been terrific game-in, game-out, except for a small streak early in 2007. Other than that, you feel safe with him in net. He's the only goalie that makes me think, "Yes! Shootout!" No shot is "unstoppable." You know this if you saw him in the playoffs.

I was thinking the same thing. Everyone knows it's a one year deal. I'm already starting to think, "Win it for Hossa."

I joined. But I think this post could have fit in somewhere else.

No Wings, probably Stamkos.

Nope. The GM is set on the future, accumulating draft picks, etc. He's not going to give up first-rounders. He'll take any of the decent forwards remaining. Any goalies left? Also, do they have any guys they still need to re-sign?

I think so far I've been the ONLY one to suggest that Franzen might not be here season after next, and I said immediately after that I would take Franzen over Hossa in a heartbeat. He's a guy that was drafted while he was working in a factory. He rose to the NHL and had a wonderful playoff year. Hossa is some guy that will be here for one year in all likeliness, that I didn't particularly care for, before he signed. Nobody wants Franzen gone, he's a fan favorite. As for his loyalty to the Wings, I'm thinking he'll take a little less, just like the rest of them. Like I said, drafted out of a factory, shaped his game around what the Wings needed at the time. This guy is loyal. I'm a little worried about Filppula, but I'm relatively confident he'll resign to a decent deal.

I watched a lot of Rangers games, and I have to disagree with that. He went into the corner, got the puck, and circled around for awhile before losing the puck. For $8 million. The only reason he was a good deal is that Washington paid half of that. Gomez and Drury and the young guys drive that offense, and there's not much of one in New York. I hope this year will be different.

My first thought was, "bye Jagr." He wanted to be the highest-paid player in the team, thing is, he has been declining. He needs to soak up some of that ego with a Big Apple-sized sponge.

Come to think of it, if he's going to blame somebody, blame Glen Sather, blame Philadelphia, blame the teams that sign someone to $10 million a year.

Florida as the worst, likely. Maybe Columbus. I'm betting the Penguins will not be any good. New York could be near the top, probably will. Dallas. Red Wings may coast to another Presidents Trophy, but I'm thinking it's a toss-up.

Here's a question, what if the Wings sign Zetterberg, and then there's room for Hossa or Franzen, but not both? When it comes down to it, I say sign Franzen, because some things are more important than goals.

So then who's left? Blake and Kaberle? Stanley Cup, here they come.

He's at least partially right, but it probably shouldn't have been him to say it. Hypocrite. EDIT: Imagine how Perry feels about that statement. A little betrayed, maybe.

He's the fifth-highest player on the team. If Sundin re-signs, he'll probably be the 6th highest.

People write Lebda off so easily. The Wings have put years of work into this guy. He knows the NHL game. He played with Chelios. He's a great character guy. He said "f***" on live television. But Meech might turn into something better. Hmm. I like Lebda for now.

e is a constant, like pi. It means 2.71 or thereabouts. EDIT: Someone got there first, my bad. I like 66, funny.

Good post. Ended lamely. I don't think Rolston will test the market. If he wants money, it's TB. If he wants a shot at the cup, it's Detroit.

I have trouble believing that this guy believes this. More likely it was assigned to him or something.