Andy Pred 48

Garnet Exelby,Doug Janik and Greg Amadio will be good mentors for Smith but they are all basically the same type of player. There isnt anyone in GR that can really help him along with his game the Wings will want him to play. These 3 will help him with his defensive game which is where he needs to improve. Hopefully he will get 20-30 games on the Wings to learn from the master the art of great offensive play and positioning in the Show.

Maybe if Brunnstrom does well, could we offer him a 2 year deal the 1st year a 2way deal and the 2nd a 1way? This could be the plan as they may see Brunnstrom as a replacement for Homer who has just 1 yr left on his contract. The Conner deal is a strange one to me, i didnt know his was a 1 way deal.

no one has suggested that Eaves could be on the top 6. He has the wheels for Dats and also a great wrist shot to get some points, 25 goals in his 2 years with the Wings on mainly 3 and 4th line duties. Could be he may be promoted but then again that splits up a probable 4th line of some potential with Helm and Mursak.

Homer should be used as a 4th line PP specialist in my view. He wouldnt be doing anything new as that is where he was playing at the start of his career. Who should be on the top line is more of the question. Can Brunnstrom make the roster, and could he fit onthe top 6? An all Swedish 2nd line, Z Franzen and Brunnstrom? Can Cleary carry off a top line role or is Bert to slow for Dats on the top line? alot of questions for Babs and co to sort out. For me Eaves Helm and Mursak would be a great shut down line with their speed, and then that puts Homer off the 4th and on the 3rd but i think he wouldnt be cut out for that role. The big ? is will Homer being sitting in the press box alot this year. Will Hudler come to camp a different player and blow us all away and force himself on one of the top 2 lines? I cant wait to see all these problems unfold,and what opening day roster we put out. But one thing i think will happen is that we havent seen the end of any trades for us.

is it my mind playing tricks with age or did he have a contract with Dallas that triggered off a large bonus when he had played 100 games in the Bigs? just seems strange that he got to 99 and then got sent down, he hadnt scored for 12 games before being sent to Texas. 40 points from 99 outings aint to shabby either really. I hope he comes to camp with the right attitude and frame of mind to earn a place.

Homer's long term replacement. well he's half way there, he wears #96!

not much difference in production really; Kostitsyn Pl326 G87 A99 Pts186 +- +16 Hudler Pl328 G62 A102 Pts164 +- +26 the other aspect is Kostitsyn is a year younger. contract difference would be $400,000 into Kennys fund. Arent the Habs on the lookout for help on the blueline thou?

the new 4th line of Eaves Helm and Mursak become the new SpeedLine and terrorise the league. Commo becomes an instant cult figure by putting Cindy thru the plexi in the 1st pre-season game. Hommer see's more time in the press box than he thought he would. Pasha stays healthy and finally hits the 100pt mark for the regular season. Rex spends most of the year on the 3rd line but becomes a PP specialist and tops 50pts.

and Kenny sits and waits, hes smarter than we thought after all

I know the details of the tournament have been realised but does anyone have the actual Wings roster for this or has it yet to be announced?

left field ; Steve Valiquette left his KHL team. Big goalie, 33ish i think, could be ok for cheap back up to Jimmy.

okay folks just for a bit of fun I have been following the Wings since '85.Can you list your favourite 14 man roster that have iced for the wings since 1985. That is 9 fwds, 4d and 1 goalie. The catch is all the players must be born in different countries. Then list what would be your best starting line using the same method. My starting line would be; Hasek Czech Rep Lidstrom Sweden Larson USA Hossa Slovakia Yzerman Canada Fedorov Russia.

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the thing we hear pre-season by Babs and Kenny is that the best players will get to play. Well i know that in a few situations this hasnt happened (sending Leino to Gr in 08-09) so what Larsson say's most of us would agree with it. will be very interesting to see if Smith and Tatar have a great camp, what the powers to be will do. save the talk guys if you havent got the balls to follow it thru, its a dangerous game that you play. Mursak and Tatar and maybe Emmerton will skate a few of the vets off the rink, but i doubt they'll get picked before them when it comes to it, they should if their true to their word, but we all know they wont.

just me then Goalie; HASEK Czech Rep D; LIDSTROM Sweden D; KRUPP Germany D; SALEI Belarus D; MYRVOLD Norway FWDS; BROWN USA YZERMAN Canada HOSSA Slovakia FWDS; SANDSTROM Finland FEDOROV Russia MacLEAN France FWDS; MURSAK Slovenia BOLDIREV Yugoslavia THOMAS England.

alls not going well for the Kings in the re-signing of Doughty, it seems to be taking longer than they would like. Is this Drew thinking more about where he could end up next season as a UFA or maybe its just about how much his agent thinks he's worth. Has Kenny got a cunning plan by keeping the $'s he has for the signing deadline............I'm not sure but he sure would be an adequate replacement for the capt.

Ovie +88 in 475 games Dats +187 in 662 games. i think its really a matter of what one actually wants from a player. Pav was a 6th round pick, Ovi was a 1st overall. you'd expect Ovi to put up the sort of numbers he has. From Dats draft year, only Lecavalier 1st overall,Tanguay 12th overall,Gomez 27th overall and Richards who was a 3rd round pick have more points than Pav has up to now. The fact that stands out more is the games played by these guys compared to Pav. Vinny played 934 for his 793 points. Alex played 818 for his 686 points. Scott played 864 for his 675 points. Brad played 772 for his 716 points. Pav 662 games for 651 points. Only Tanguay is anywhere near Pavs +- with a +155, Lecavalier,the 1st overall pick is a career -110!! I do sometimes wonder what sort of stats Ovi would have had had we got him from the start?

15 guys on the roster so far are 22yrs or younger.

Nail Yakupov

Lauri Korpikoski Babs really likes this guy, wonder if the Yotes will pass on his abra cap hit coming up.

i think Janik is on a one way deal this year

Andrej Sekera is in the same boat as Gragnani at Buffalo.

any sort of deal and the Wings would have to take on the = cap hit from the dealing side as its a no goer with anyone. not sure if Kenny has kicked the tyres with the Isle regards Nabby, as they do have 4 goalies signed up. Not sure who else off the Isle roster Kenny would be interested in and that they would want to loose. Trent Hunters cap hit with Nabbys is about as close as youll get combined for Hudlers hit. The Isle aint gunna give up a 6'3" power forward for a 5'9" guy no matter what he has done in the past. I think Kenny is resigned to keeping Rex this year, hope he turns it up and then can sort out any future contract at the end of next season.

yep Stevie loading up before he comes back