Cruiser008

I knew it!!

Someone give this man some props!

Holy S***!!! I'm so ecstatic right now!!

ahahahaha.... Chicago seems pretty desperate to play the playoffs but their lack of patience is gonna hurt them down the road. P.S. Huet now makes more than Brodeur. LOL

My guess is that we've offered Hossa (and possibly Sundin) a 1-year deal in the range of 7-8 million and let them know that if they want a real good shot at the cup they know who to call.

Jesus what a deal! I guess watching the Wings win the cup did something, but getting a legit NHL backup who's capable of playing 30 games should Howard falter is a ridiculous steal when you look at just about EVERY other signing goalie or otherwise. I would post some quotes from fans of opposing teams green with envy from HFBoards.com but there is just way too many to list. P.S. For those of you who think this is a mistake because Jimmy Howard should be our backup, let's not forget that Babcock doesn't play favourites and will start the (backup) goalie who has EARNED to right to play in front of our Stanley Cup winning defense. If Howard can't beat Conklin for the #2 job in training camp and the pre-season, then he'd be better off spending another season in Grand Rapids anyways.

What an AWFUL signing; par for the course for T.O. though

Holy crap Theodore can be fantastic but is much too inconsistent to warrant that kind of money.

Looks like fans of several of our rivals think it's a good deal too. Here's a sample of comments from HFBoards (another hockey forum I frequent) "Great for the Red Wings!" "does Holland have incriminating pictures of all his players? seriously, for the sweet deals he gets them to ink..." "Wings win this deal ... I remember reading a couple of days ago that Stuart wanted a 5th year" "How on earth does Detroit keep getting good players to sign for so little? (relatively speaking, at least) Excellent deal for the Wings." "Heh, at first Detroit just offered more money than anyone else. Now the players are just willing to take less to play for Detroit. It's almost unfair. I would've given Stuart 4-4.25. Hell, 4.5 if the Pens don't resign Orpik." Way to go Kenny! :beerbuddy:

Well it's under 4 million so I'm satisfied. Right now we obviously have a glut of D-men but we now have the depth to overcome any injuries on D (save for Lidstrom who is irreplacable) during the regular season or playoffs. Good move.

I read that too... those are some glowing reviews from a Hakan acquintance.

Excellent read! Can't wait to see who Andersson unearths in the draft this weekend (although we won't find out until 3-4 years down the road)

Awesome! Congrats to the professor!!

Here's me at the red carpet arrivals prior to the airing of the 2008 NHL awards this past Thursday.

Our management is too loyal to kick him out the door and I have no problem with that. On a different team this might be problematic, but the good thing is that Babcock will play the 6 best D-men we have and won't hesitate to scratch him for a young guy who's playing better.

What an amazing accomplishment by Dats to win both the Lady Byng and the Selke; shows everyone you shut-down the opposition and still be a gentleman! Now as far as whether Dats was actually the best defensive forward in the league, consider this. The definition of defense is preventing goals. When you have the puck, the other team can't score. When Datsyuk is on the ice the Wings seem to always have the puck, and when they don't the best defense is to get the puck which is exactly what Datsyuk does virtually every shift. You can't ask for anything more.

I've watched many NHL Award Shows and this was probably my favourite. Dats, Lids, Z and Babs (as well as Bowman, Holland, Nill, etc.) together one last time before the summer, an emotional tribute to Gordie and his lifetime achievement award, Datsyuk's speeches (although Kane's remark about his sisters was the quip of the night) and Ovie winning the Hart (s*** it Cindy!). Oh and I was at the red carpet arrivals prior to the live broadcast too! (got my jersey signed by Dats, Lids, Z and Babs!!!) All in all a wonderful evening!

I wouldn't be surprized at all if this was true. That game 6 was the single most biased game I've ever seen in North American professional sports.

Celtics. I hate Kobe with a passion

Well best of luck to him. Kinda wish he would have stayed, but as Babcock would say, it's a tribute to the people in this organization that an assistent coach such as McLellan was able to beat out so many big names (Quennville, Burns, Tortorella, Crawford, Maurice, etc.) for arguably the most coveted coaching vacancy in this offseason.

I didn't watch it 'cause I wasn't expecting much. Just saw it on Youtube though and I thought the 5 or so Wings fans in the audience (who did the LGRW chant and came up to shake hands with Lids and Ozzie really made the segment)

This is an AMAZING collection.

Kenny is a freakin' genius. A LOT of us have doubted him in the past he's proven to be the best GM in the league and Detroit wouldn't be where they are today without him.

Let's do one from each round: vs. Nashville - Franzen's OT winner in Game 5; who could forget the posters on here that jumped off the band-wagon when Bonk tied the game, only to come back? vs. Colorado - 8-2 in the series clincher; CRUSHing the Avs never gets old and Mule single-handedly matching the Avs during the series (with 9 goals) was filthy! vs. Dallas - The shorty that Zetterberg scored in Game 3 to make it 4-2; I honestly didn't think we'd win that game, and it was at that moment, when we put the pedal to the metal instead of protecting the lead against one of the best teams in the league, that I realized that this Wings team was something special. vs. Pittsburgh - The 5-on-3 play Z. made on Crosby; that was SICK! And it was like the Wings collectively said f*** the refs and the media and league and their golden-boy; WE WILL NOT BE DENIED!!

Listed in reverse order (like they do it on the sports shows) 4) 1998 The whole year Detroit was on a mission to repeat as Cup Champs and win for their fallen teammates. Although the finals were one-sided the comeback in game 2 with Draper's OT winner remains vivid and the ovation from the players to the crowd when they showed Vladdy and Sergei in the press box was a moment frozen in time 3) 2002 The playoffs were defined by Stevie Y willing Detroit to victory on one leg. The center ice blast was the biggest turning point in any of the 4 cup runs, and the Det/Col series (the talent between those two rosters is something we may NEVER see again) remains my favourite play-off series of all-time. Lidstrom made history as the first European to win the Conn Smythe, and winning game 5 at home in Bowman's last game as coach capped off a remarkable season for a truely remarkable squad. 2) 2008 This year's cup win was truely different from the previous three because the nucleus of this team was so different. The Wings especially the new generation of stars such as Datsyuk and Zetterberg had SO MUCH to prove to the world; we were called too soft, too small, and worst of all playoff chokers (the worst was after 2006). No one picked us to win at the start of the playoffs and no one wanted us to win in the finals. But Wings fans kept the faith and we persevered, winning every series on the road. Ozzie returns to glory 10 years after his first cup, Lidstrom becomes the first European captain to hoist the silver chalice and Zetterberg has a all-around performance for the ages. 1) 1997 93, 94, 95, 96. EVERY year the disappointment was greater than the year before, and we wondered if it was ever meant to be. A lifetime of joys and sorrows turned into one magical June night in hockeytown that the Wings, their fans, and the hockey world will NEVER forget. Perhaps The Captain said it best: "I don't know how to describe how I feel. I wish -- I am glad the game is over, but I wish it never would have ended. You know, since I was -- as long as I can remember four, five years old I have watched the Stanley Cup. I have stayed up, made a point of watching it, presented the celebration in the locker room and always dreamed of the day that maybe I would get there and I never kind of the dream is way out there and you never -- sometimes you wonder if you will ever get there and so, I guess as the game was going on and when we finally won, is it is almost like I wanted to it is back and watch the whole thing and not miss a minute of it and not forget a minute of it. I don't know if it could ever be as good as the dream, but like I said, I would rather watch it is back and watch the whole thing. I don't want to miss any of it. I wish it would have never ended." -- Steve Yzerman, June 7th, 1997