Andy Pred 48

i hate to rock the boat here with the Kindl and Big Rig decision making but I think you'll have to throu in Smith as well. The Wings aint gunna waste his talent another whole year in the A, so if Kenny wants all 3 we may see the departure of a more snr player? If Lids retires at the end of this season then it will be a very interesting off season. I hope the Capy gives Kenny plenty of time thou.

maybe Lids is using this as an audition for his eventuall replacement for Kenny, so who would you take out of the 5 he's picked?

Nabby will report to the Isle for the last month of the regular season to enable him to become a UFA, and Kenny has a pre-signed contract for 2011-12 with Nabakov's name on it, you just wait and see.

Kovalev for the run in and cup, he would be awesome on Pavs Wing. The guy has insane skills, put him on a team like ours and it would only be better.

yep that was my thoughts on it, so who are we interested in on the Isle's roster? have we ever had an Austrian on the team?

the whole process is a farce. Every team in the NHL had a chance to sound out Nabby prior to the Wings signing him, none did. So kenny does all the ground work for some bottom feeder team's GM to screw it up for Nabby and the Wings. I could understand a contender putting in a claim just to stop him from joining Detroit, because if we have a weakness it is in net. Hopefully if this isnt sorted, Kenny has told Nabby that there will be a contract waiting for him in the offseason. What stands out here that the more successful you are as a franchise the more you get shafted. Its the same with the drafting system. Now we have a cap to put all the teams on the same level, why should the worst team at it benefit each year by getting the #1 pick. Surely the incentive should be to reward the teams who manage the cap most effectively. The cap is in place to stop teams becoming power houses again, so although you may get top 1-5 picks for 5 years by doing well you'll have to let some guys go due to the cap restaints. The Pens stank for awhile, got some great picks and are one of the top sides. 2002 #5 Ryan Whitney 389 games to date. 2003 #1 Marc Andre Fluery 339 games. 2004 #2 Evgeny Malkin 351 games. 2005.#1 Sidney Crosby 412 games. 2006.#2 Jordan Staal 337 games. Compare that to us who where by far the better run franchise. 2002.#58 Jiri Hudler 298 games. 2003.#64 Jim Howard 108 games. 2004.#97 Johan Franzen 366 games. 2005.#19 Jakub Kindl 23 games. 2006.#41 Cory Emmerton 1 game. I know we gave picks away so out of those 5 years we only had 1 first round pick, but if the NHL are serious about having a level playing field why not just put the first round picks in a hat, and have a lucky draw for all 30 teams.Then the following rounds would be as they are now, down to final league positions. Would sure make the 1st day of draft day alot more exciting. Back on topic, maybe this was Kenny's way of sounding out the best non playing NHL goalie out there about playing for the Wings. Hopefully some sort of deal has been done and its just a matter of time before Nabakov becomes a Redwing.

how about bringing up Smith and putting Big Rig into hommers role, after all he is the biggest body we got to do the screeing and he did start off as a forward. just a though, although id like Tatar get some time on Z and Mule line.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired left wing Fabian Brunnstrom from the Dallas Stars in exchange for right wing Mikhail Stefanovich. Brunnstrom, a 25-year-old native of Jonstorp, Sweden, was originally signed by the Dallas Stars as a free agent on May 9, 2008. Since the 2008-09 season, the 6-2, 212-pound forward has played in 99 NHL games for Dallas collecting 40 points on 19 goals and 21 assists. In 37 games this season with the Texas Stars, Dallas’ American Hockey League affiliate, he has accumulated 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points, along with 16 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating. Was there something in his contract that triggered a payment when he played 100 games in the show? Sure sems odd he got sent down to Texas after 99 games. Anyway as we all know the Wings missed out on him but picked up the finnish free agent Leino. Im just wondering if the Wings gave up to soon on Ville or he just didnt fit in. He sure as hell fits in at Philly thou. I cant help but cringe when i view his stats with the Flyers thou. In all he iced for us 62 times for us (incl playoffs) and tallied 9+9 with a -3 rating. He seem's to have exploded in Philly in comparison. In 75 games to date he has 19+38 with a astonishing +33 rating.

Calgary Flames forward Tom Kostopoulos has been suspended for six games and will forfeit $29,569.92 in salary for delivering a blow to the head of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart in NHL game #609 on January 7, the National Hockey League announced today. "A number of factors were considered in reaching this decision," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "Kostopoulos delivered a blow to the head of an unsuspecting and vulnerable player. As well, he targeted the head of his opponent and, while the hit was not from the blindside, the head was the principle point of contact. The fact that Brad Stuart was not in possession of the puck when the blow was delivered and the serious nature of the player's injury were also considered in my decision

Red wings prospect Brooks Macek #171 overall in the 2010 draft has been traded along with Tri-City team mate Spencer Humphries (undrafted) to the Calgary Hitmen for the Hitmens capt Matt Mackenzie, a 3rd round pick of the Buffalo Sabres last year. Macek who was coming off a point per game season with the Americans has seen his out put drop this year having 8+14 in 36 games for Tri-City.Macek had played 168 regular season games for Tri-City scoring 37 goals and adding 82 assist's. He had 9 + 11 in 32 playoff games for the Americans. Best of luck with your new team Brooks.

Enjoy your time in Springfield ginger!!

i do like that lil swede that plays alongside Buf in Atlanta thou, what an 8th round steal he's turning out to be. hope our young Almquist turns out the same.

thats a great effort by the boys, a point more than i thought we'd get.

I fear this may be last team we needed to face on a back to back game, and with our depleted side. If having Dats, Fil, Clears and Mike out wasn't enough losing Stuy on the back end could prove one too many. Im feeling for Kindl at the moment, he needs games but coming in in this situation may be a bit of a hard task. I hope we dont get blown away, but we've been giving bottom feeder teams 3 - 4 goals, these Nucks dont need spotting any goals, my heart says 2-3 ot loss so we get something from the game but my head says 5-2 Nucks. Prove me wrong boys.

when the Griffs brought in Minard and Johnson they were expecting some vet leadership and some much needed scoring punch to what would be a very young line up. So far the 2 have combined for just 7 goals and have a combined -23 plus minus. Now as I dont get to see every game I would like some opinions as to how these 2 are playing, stats dont tell the whole story but they aren't supporting the fact that Chris and Jamie are helping/hindering the team in a way they were brought in for. Minard's fall off in production must be the more concering of the 2 as he is no way near his previous output ave's. With Murs and Tats up with the big club maybe they may get alittle more ice time on the top lines, or have they been getting that? On a more posative note, Ilari is on course for a 60+ point season which in my opinion would be a very remarkable achievement for his first season in the A'. This is probably more than the Wings/Griffs expected of him. I hope he gets the call to play with his bro for at least one game, to reward his season to date.

when you throw Nyquist in there with these 2, that is potentially one scary frecking line!

one interesting side topic on this is if Eaves is going to play, who does Babs sit or send back to GR? Mursak got the call first but when looking at the ice time Babs has dished out, one thinks he likes Tatar's overall play compared to Jan's. Mursak has ave just over 8mins per game whilst Tatar has over 11 mins. The D situ, maybe Stuy should sit a couple of games and heal up give Kindl some more ice time. I know he's the 7th D at present but unless he gets a little more playing time i feel we could stiffle his progress.That said, I think that he'll be trade bait come the deadline as Smith is going to be in the lineup next season. A year in GR is all he needs, too much talent wasted in the A, same as i feel that Tatar will be up next year too this kid just ouzes class and he reads the game better than a lot of his peers.

ah yes, seem's us Limeys know talent when they see it...........good for TT, now enjoy it.

well Flip snr and emmerton are both getting 0.83 ppg so i say its a draw !!! I'd call up Tatar, he's the most dynamic player of the forwards in GR. 8 games 1+4 and a -5 for Kindl, some things dont seem to change.

Gustav Nyquist 2008-09 U. of Maine H-East 38 13 19 32 28 2009-10 U. of Maine H-East 39 19 42 61 20 2010-11 U. of Maine H-East 16 6 14 20 2 looks like we already got one

To eva unit zero and Konnan511, I take it that you can't translate the , tongue in cheek, part of the reply? the only part Im serious about is trading Hudler for Filatov, and if we ever got the chance to get Mozyakin we should jump at it.

Raffi, Hudler, Kronwall and Minard ($11.87m comb) to NJD for Kovy and Volchenkov ($10.9m comb)bring up Mursak and Smith. Drapes stays in the press box for what his 6+ min of ice time is worth, i mean we may as well have an enforcer out there. Lidstrom Ericsson Stuart Smith Salei Volchenkov Kindl Kovy Dats Mule Bert Z Dan Abbey Flip Mursak Pat Helmer Drew /Homer/Drapes IR Mikey Tongue in cheek guys ( but very workable cap wise) Not enough old soviet guys in the current team, Pav needs a sniper on his wing. Sergei Mozyakin is only 29,one of the best players outside the NHL, probably happy in Russia thou. Lets hope the current roster can start to get back on track but i have a feeling that Rex is on his way out and that the front office are putting feelers out for potential suitors. Ive said it before a straight swap with the BlueJax for Filatov.

rumour that the Wings are looking at this kid and may be offering him a contract. Has good numbers at the Uni of Michigan, not sure of his status as he was drafted by the Rangers in '07.

So Rex is in the doghouse again, the second time he has been scratched this season. Not what you want to see from one of the top earners on the team. The question is, how long will Kenny let Babs do this with Hudler before he say's, ok is he gunna be a fit or do you want someone else in? I really think that time is running out for Hudler and he isn't going to cement any place on this side sitting in the press box. I can see Babs's problem in fitting him in. No way on earth does he put him on the 4th line he just aint got the wheels to go with the guys on that line. His skill set says he should be on one of the top two lines, but who do you move for him? I think Homer is going to see less and less time playing on the top line, but is Huds upto playing with Pav and Z? Maybe this could be the answer for a few games, give him some big mins with the top guns see if he can find his scoring touch and put some numbers up. Its a risk but its the only solution left for Babs to try and get Huds going. If he doesnt then maybe it'll be time for Kenny to get on the phone and see what he can get, before Hudlers loses any trade worth he has. Then next 2 weeks could be a make or break time for a diminutive forward.

scratched v the Devs, if hes in the press box tonight v the Kings then I think the writing is on the wall. Off loading his cap hit to a team needing his scoring (tongue in cheek) and calling up Jan or Tomas would leave the Wings plenty of $ to play with come deadline day. If Mike M has to call it a day too then the Wings really could make a big splash, over $4.5m could be very handy.