b.shanafan14

haha unfortunately, there is no possible way to flop as bad as Krupp did for the Wings, and I wouldn't wish that on Hossa either way. Sucks he left for a rival, but thats that.

When Hossa came last summer, I knew it was a one year deal. Watching him walk to the Hawks is a bit tough, but I'm over it. We got rid of Kopecky. The list of players who would love to play for Detroit is long and Ken is the best GM in the league. He'll get as much out of our remaining cap as is possible. Just not a fan of Howard in goal...

haha best thing to come out of the Hossa signing! Good riddance! Love how they paid him $1.2 per. YEAH BABY!

Great for Hossa, tho it certainly sucks for the Wings. Hope fans don't boo him like they did in Pittsburgh. At least he'll get to finish his career with a contender, just sucks it will be a contender in the same effin' division as the Wings.

Was already a topic and I believe it was already merged elsewhere. If they sign Hossa half of me will be pissed and the other half will laugh at them continuing to handcuff themselves with Toews, Kane and others up for contracts soon. Campbell for 7, Huet for 5, and add Hossa for around 7 with the franchise duo up for contracts in a year or two?? That would sure be silly....

haha ouch, so much for hoping Hossa the best. Please go to LA instead.

Yeah, Iginla and Getzlaf I'd say. Nash is a power forward like Franzen or Hossa are. Perry is too much of a damn rat.

There are a few Power Forwards, but not any Shanahans anymore. Lucic more than any other player is an old fashioned Power Forward. These days "power forward" is a word tossed around to any player who is big and skilled, ala Franzen or Jumbo Joe. But there are very few in the traditional way we've known it, Shanny in his prime being damn near the best I've ever personally see play. In Shanny's prime, he could score at will, run defensemen in the corners, dig around the crease, and had a temper which allowed for plenty a match of fisticuffs. Lucic is the only player that really jumps out at me in that mold these days, with nowhere near the release of Shanahan (his quick release is trumped in my mind only by Brett Hull in the same era). Players are getting bigger and strong these days, but the talent pool is skill oriented and the game has changed to make size and sandpaper less of a requirement and more of a nice bonus. I'd be surprised if there was ever another power forward of the old school definition who was as elite as Shanahan or Tkachuk or Lindros.

Hossa not staying has everything to do with the fact that the Wings have no money left to sign him to a big dollar deal. You can't really expect him to take less than Franzen, at least 5 other teams will give him just as much term and about $20mil more over the contract. Kenny knows what Marian is worth, Marian knows what he is worth, I think both sides would like to hope against hope that a square peg fits in a round hole, but it isn't. Plus, the Red Wings players and brass don't live in downtown Detroit, they live in one of the nicest neighborhoods you'll find in any city in the league. Good luck to Hossa and his bride-to-be elsewhere, wish there wasn't a cap, but there is. Just feel bad that if he in fact goes to LA, this really was his best, last chance to win the Cup. Good guy either way.

Well, if Hossa wants $6mil and term, he isn't going to be a Red Wings, which is unfortunate. But I won't blame the guy. The Wings are willing to pay him $40mil over 10 years, there are at least 5 other teams that would give him $60mil over that same period. $20mil is a lot of coin. I've loved the Red Wings my whole life, and I would bolt for an extra $20mil. These athletes so often end up in financial straits after they retire, whether it be poor spending or whatever, every little bit counts. Hossa could have been a great Wing and won lots of Championships, but I don't blame him when he goes elsewhere. Good Luck, Hoss.

I'm pretty much the same. If he is willing to sign long-term for around $4mil/season as previously reported (which seems like a stretch) and we don't lose Filpulla or Cleary, I'm all for him sticking around. I think the pressure was WAY too much for him to handle this playoff, and in the Finals it was almost suffocating. He'll have a huge bounce back coming off a secure contract long-term, and I hope its with the Wings.

May be a good influence on Luke Shen, as I said earlier, he should go to a bottom-feeder Eastern team with a young defensive talent. But I don't know if I can see Burke signing someone as old and used up as Chelios, a market like Toronto may also be a little hectic for Chelios too, although he did love doing morning shows in Detroit often.

May be a great fit on a bottom-feeder Eastern Conference team with a young defense core. Could see a team like Atlanta bringing him in to mentor Bogosian or if a team like the Islanders end up foolishly picking Hedman over Tavares. At this point in his career, a steady-veteran mentor is the only role he can really fill nicely. Good luck elsewhere Cheli!

Agreed.

Its weird, I've bashed Sammy nonstop for 4 years, but he was a Wing for that long, and like egroen said, I'm gonna miss the bastard. He may need a compass and a tether to the blueline on the PP, but he was a part of the squad. Good luck elsewhere, Sammy. Hopefully you sign a contract you can live up to. (that all said, I'll enjoy empathizing with fans of whatever team he goes to as he patrols the PP point and coughs up the puck to the Wings, and raises Ozzy's save percentage by hitting him in the Winged-Wheel each shot )

Add that we had the Grind Line when they were in their prime, which was a huge game changer many nights. They were tough, gritty, fast, shutdown experts who could score, nothing like they have been in recent years. Throw in Larry Murphy (tho not as prime as he was with the Pens) and a ripening Marty Lapointe. Lidstrom and Konstantinov, Vladi especially, were two of the best defenseman of the time. The Wings mowed through the competition.

Sounds like LA to me.... Chicago can't afford it, and the Wings wouldn't want him and can't afford him. He'll go whereever gives up the most and isn't in Ottawa.

Sundin is washed up, and apparently the only thing he will be able to retain from his better, more youthful days is the ability to doop some poor team in vastly overpaying for his services. Teams will foolishly bid high for him again this year and I'll yet again be scratching my head. Do the Wings want him? No. Will they want him for a discount? No. Will he take a discount to play for Detroit? No.

Datsyuk and Zetterberg are best when together, but Holmstrom can't do top two line minutes anymore. The sooner we move Franzen and Cleary onto the top two lines permanently to play their own brand of Homer, the better off we'll be, top to bottom. If Hossa sticks around for $4m cap hit, we'll have to peddle some defensemen to make cap room, then try to form some permanent chemistry between him Mule and Fil. This is going to be a very interesting next couple weeks, either way....

haha I want a Zetterberg deal too! And so does my brother! The structure is no surprise, but as everyone here and hopefully in Vancouver know, there is no way in hell either is worth Hank dollars.

Wait a minute... haven't the Penguins been a Oilers/Islanders caliber Dynasty for 3 years now???? Could have swore that's what I've been reading on NHL.com, TSN.ca, ESPN.com, etc. since they first made the playoffs since the lockout.... Quick Note: It takes more than two good years and one Cup to make a dynasty, young, talented core or not. Simple as plain common sense: Gretzky >>> Crosby Messier > Malkin Kurri >>> Staal Plus this is a salary cap era, MUCH harder to even repeat, let alone string consecutive cups. Make the Finals 6 times and win the Cup 4 times in 14 years, making the playoffs for 17+ consecutive seasons and THEN talk dynasty. There will never be another Oilers/Canadiens/Islanders dynasty.... ever. The best any club can strive for in the new era of better goaltenders, fickle officiating, and the salary cap is the Red Wings brand of dynasty, ie season to season consistency and level of competition. Enjoy your Cup, they are VERY hard to come by, I remember when the Wings won in 97 and 98, I thought they would be invincible for years to come, but no one is.

Please no.

if they can somehow get home for around $4mil thats great, otherwise, I don't like losing one of Cleary or Filppula

Not a fan of psychology, in fact I think most of it is nonsense and excuses. I do respect a lot of what the OP said. That said: -I've never seen the Wings phone in two games like they did Games 6 and 7, that more than anything was disgusting to watch. -I've never seen any league NBA, NFL, MLB, or the NHL pre-Crosby wave a single teams flag season after season, this causes missed calls one way, and the circumventing of rules the league otherwise is supposedly hell bent on enforcing that much fishier (just look at the whole sequence from the end of Game 2 to the end of Game 3, from the rescinding of an automatic suspension to 6-on-5 for a near mythic 20+ seconds, to the GWG being scored on a severely weak interference the likes of which much worse was let go on both sides the entire game) You are definitely right that the sheer blind-sided reaction of Wings fans to their loss is much like dealing with death, but its the stench around loss both on the part of the Wings who came out flat when they should have had extra motivation and the stench of a team that from marketing campaigns to the near Penguins-sweater-wearing-admission of Bettman is obviously favored by the league as a pure profit machine, that makes it so hard to bare. As I've said in another thread: when have you EVER seen a team marketed as a DYNASTY before they ever won a playoff series? When have you EVER seen a team marketed as they would a CHAMPION the entire season after the lost? How many Tom Brady and Patriots ads did you see showing them pummeling the Giants the season after they went 18-1?

I gain no solace from any of these truths. In fact, thats why I hate the Penguins, similar to why I hate the Ducks: when we lost to the Ducks, the Wings were the better team, but we beset with injury and the officiating at a double-standard and goonery allowed to pass killed the series. Same thing happened with the Penguins this season, and almost last season. We were the better team. Injuries mounted and certain players didn't play to potential. Penguins have their share of villains, though instead of the powerful villains your respect, they are the entitled, corrupt villains you loathe. The glaring difference between the Ducks and the Penguins is that I respect/slightly fear the Ducks, but the Penguins win based on opportunity and fishy-business from the NHL, who doesn't hide its burning desire for that team to win more than any other. I have never in my life seen an NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL team before the Penguins who were marketed as winners the entire season after they lost like the Penguins were last season. Holding Bettman's hand makes the Penguins worse to lose to in my books.