RedRum #1

Only way I support this move is if the Wings move Yashin to wing, and preferably Datsyuk's wing. A line with Datsyuk, Yashin and Franzen could be potentially outstanding. We keep crying about how awful our top 6 is but.... Yashin-Datsyuk-Franzen Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Hudler or Flip ...That's a pretty damn good top 6 if you ask me.

Ummmm, Hudler has a better shot...Saprykin is better than Hudler at every other aspect of the game.

Samuelsson can give you 25-30 goals playing with Zetterberg in a top 6 spot (as in '06) so I'm not gonna pull my hair out if he's in the top 6 to start the season. IMO Holland should get creative here. I'd go get a 3rd or 4th line center and sign a winger like Guerin to a two year deal. Here's how I'd go into next season...... Flip-Datsyuk-Guerin Sammy-Hank-Homer Maltby-Draper-Cleary Kopecky-UFA-Hudler or Kopecky-Hudler-Grigs ....Grigs will get his shot to push either Kopecky or Hudler out of a spot. If Hudler improves his overall game this off-season and plays well while Sammy struggles, you can pop Hudler up with Homer and Hank and be fine with Sammy as a 4th liner providing scoring depth. Or you could move Huidler back to center and NOT sign a UFA and have a kid line of Kopecky-Hudler-Grigs. You break up Dats and Hank and you immediately have a solid 2nd line with Sammy and Homer that will at least do well enough to have success through the regular season. Flip does well on Datsyuk's wing and Guerin gives you a right-handed shot. If Holland wants more dynamic scoring or size he can make a move come the deadline. You cannot tell me that this line-up wont get Detroit another 100+ point season and a Central title.

I'll take Zetterberg centering my top line over Spezza every day and twice on Sunday's.

If it were up to me, I'd re-sign Markov and if Schneider goes, he goes. Let's not get comfortable here just because we reached the WC finals. This is still and older team at key spots, and IMO we need to get younger and stronger on the back-end. To be honest, I have a hard time believing this team can win a Cup with their D-corps consisting of a 38, 38 and 46 year old. The elite teams in the West are getting bigger and stronger, and our back-end keeps getting older. Not a good combination.

I'm cool with bringing Kozlov back because he still has good speed. Signing him gives Holland the chance to get another top 6 forward and keep Bertuzzi. A Kozlov-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi line could be dominant. You have to think Bert will have his legs back and skating much better next fall, and while Kozlov have developed into a quality playmaker he's still a sniper at heart. I would have no problem at all with Kozzie coming back.

Spezza is immensely talented (and still young), but watching him still lack the slightest bit of defensive commitment gives me a greater appreciation for the all-around talent and work ethic of Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Spezza doesnt have a tenth of the defensive acumen those two have.

It was definitely time for Yzerman and Shanahan to move on. For all the heart #19 showed, he had an awful time trying to keep up with the pace of playoff hockey. Shanny had drifted more and more to the perimeter and didnt skate well enough to to anything on the forecheck. Hockey is still a young man's game, and Detroit had gotten too old. Now they have a nice blend of youth, players in their prime and old, grizzled vets. I was one that hoped Shanny would sign elsewhere and Yzerman would retire, just so we could turn the page and not to disrespect their legacy.

If Kopecky cuts out the penalties and Detroit keeps playing well I bet you wont see Hudler in game 5, I promise you. Unless there's an injury Hudler wont play against the Ducks.

I think the league will suspend Pronger for a game, but the Ducks are perfectly capable of beating Detroit without him. Detroit just has to focus on their game and keep skating and using their depth.

I like Calder, but if he's not winning battles and doing his thing along the wall and in front of the net...I wouldnt call him useless but he's ineffective. He doesnt skate well enough to be a forechecking demon, and that's what Babcock wants out of Kopecky. Babcock said after the game Kopecky makes Detroit "quicker", and honestly that's all it boils down to. If Calder was playing well Kopecky wouldnt get a sniff, but since he's not Babcock went with speed.

What was different is the fact that Babcock had a plan as to who he'd play together if he broke up Datsyuk and Zetterberg. He wasnt just throwing crap at the wall hoping it would stick...like Lewis did in '04 changing up lines, bringing Steve Thomas in and out of the line-up. So I would call it "constant" line juggling in that respect. Babcock essentially went back to 3 pairs of players who played well together during the regular season...Dats-Flip, Hank-Sammy and Lang-Cleary. He deserves a ton of credit.

Babcock doesnt want to play Datsyuk and Zetterberg together. He's always wanted them centering their own lines. Still dont understand why some Wings fans want to spend money on a #2 center this summer. We've got one of the top 2 one-two punches down the middle in the league.

Why spend $4-5 mil on a #2 center when we have two of the best centers in the NHL on our roster?

My concern is we'd be continuing what we're trying to get away from in not re-signing Lang. I want more mobility out of our #2 center...more speed, more youth. Simple question...who would you rather have next season as the #2 center, Sundin/Handzus or Datsyuk/Zetterberg? There is no UFA out there better than Dats or Z.

I get frustrated when Wings fans say Datsyuk and Zetterberg should NEVER be broken up. These two guys are, IMO, Top 10 centers in this league. They arent the Sedin twins, they dont need each other. Yes, they are awesome together...but so were Forsberg and Sakic when Hartley used to load up his 1st line. Get some quality winger depth so they can center their own lines and slide Flip to the #3 center. Along with Draper, that is very impressive center depth.

Exactly. A side note, Kopecky's skating is extremely underrated...he's worked on it to the point where it's a strength of his game. We need that speed , big time.

I wonder why so many want Drury. We already have a player that brings those Drury-like intangibles and is a younger, overall better player....Zetterberg. When Datsyuk signed, both Babcock and Holland said it gives Detroit one of the best 1-2 punches in the league. That leads me to believe if Babcock has his druthers, Datsyuk and Zetterberg will center their own lines next season (provided they sign a top 6 winger to play with Datsyuk, which is likely). IMO Detroit is set at center...... 1. Datsyuk 1b. Hank 3. Draper 4. Flip

1. Lang is a joke 2. I'd rather have Calder in the line-up over Hudler

My only comment on Game 4....I'll be holding my breath every time Lang and Bertuzzi are on the ice together and praying the puck doesnt wind up behind Dom.

I'm not disputing what the numbers you've presented say...Calgary picked up it's game considerably. Was that a function of Detroit playing worse of calgary playing better....Thursday will tell a lot. Numbers aside, I thoight the Wings were very strong in the 2nd and 3rd periods. I'll repeat that outside of the PP's we gave them, the Wings were the better team IMO at even strength. My beef is with you talking about Lang back-checking well and playing strong in front of the net. I dont see that at all, and if i did I'd readily give him his due the same as I do Sammy (who is mostly awful but plays well defensively).

Really? I remember several posts that went something like this after games 1 and 2...."Wings were awesome tonite, but Lang and Sammy sucked". Lang was still getting killed on the radio by fans after those games, trust me.

My problem is not necessarily your assessment of the team last night (I disagree but it's only an opinion)...my problem is you and Osgod saying their are more pressing concerns than how piss poor Lang, and by extension his line is playing. It's the same reason I thought Lang was awful against Edmonton last season while many thought he "stepped it up". Points arent everything and they damn sure dont tell the whole story all the time. Effort, energy moving your feet....I'm basically asking Lang to just compete out there, not be a superstar.

That right there pretty much invalidates the rest of your post (which was completey inaccurate by the way...Detroit IMO and many others was the better team most of the game last night, especially at even strength.) You know how I can tell Lang's play is indefensible? Because the only way you and Osgod can defend Lang is by bringing up how others players arent performing. That says it all right there. Let's be honest...can anyone confuse what we've seen from Zetterberg and Lang as similar in any way? Hank needs to get on the board and produce, but Lang isnt even competing.

If you're implying that Hudler needs Lang to be effective therefore Lang needs to stay in the line-up...I strongly disagree. Hudler would be fine playing with anybody.