Wings_Toledo

He made a few nice defensive plays in that first period. I'm not so sure it would be a good idea to move him to forward as he could be a top 2 guy in the next couple of years and the Wings don't exactly have a lot of powerplay quarterback type of defensemen in the system.

Brendan Smith is going to be a huge star for this team in a couple of years.

I wish I could go. I'll be in Traverse City next week, but I'm going to miss training camp. Next year I'm going to do a better job of planning my vacation...

This doesn't really bother me. I would actually expect to see higher prices for those games. Would I would like to see is an out-of-towner discount for people who travel to Detroit to see the games

Maybe on a 2-way contract. Otherwise, I don't see how or why he would be signed with the current logjam of bottom-six forward the Wings have under contract.

I was just thinking about Asham and was going to see if anyone else thought we had a shot at him. He's probably too expensive at this point, especially with the way GMs are handing out these overpriced contracts for role players. It will be interesting to see what Kenny does, if anything at all. Just get a suitable 6th d-man and see what happens with Eaves and Miller, I guess.

As frustrating as his decisions are at times, I don't think there's a better coach out there for the Wings right now. Hopefully he sticks around for a long time.

I'd probably put them with someone who can clear some space for them, like Abdelkader or Cleary. I say that only because I'd be a little worried about Ilari's defensive play in his first season in North America.

I agree with LeftWinger. Did anyone really expect Tollefsen to play regularly on the Red Wings? I think everyone needs to stop bitching about the Leino trade because there's nothing anyone can do about it now. The guy waited until deep in the playoffs to finally try to make an impression on his team and the league and the Wings still got a 5th round pick instead of nothing. If you want to complain about something, complain about the cap. That's the real reason he's gone.

Hindsight is 20/20, my friend. Besides, Kopecky still sucks and Leino played himself out of Detroit and his attitude didn't help either. I think we'll all soon forget about the Leino trade once Hudler is back. I have a feeling that he's going to surprise a lot of naysayers.

As much as I hate to say it, I think that if Chicago had been forced to play the Penguins in the Finals, they would have lost. I dislike the Pens just as much as Chicago, but I think I would have been okay with them repeating as long as the Blackhawks didn't win. Niemi did not play as well as Halak did in the series againt Pitt and I would give the edge in experience to the Pens as well. But, what's done is done and there's no point speculating on what could have been at this point. I'm just going to look forward to next season. Honestly, I'm more excited about a couple of seasons from now when Tatar, Nestrasil, and the like should be in the lineup.

I don't know why, but after this series I actually don't mind Pronger and hate the Blackhawks. The 'Hawks are just one of those teams that is cocky and young and you think they'll be put in their place but then they ended up winning the Cup, which just irritates me to no end. I mean, they deserved it in the end, but, just like last year, it made me sick to see a certain team win the Cup. Also, Burish's comment just makes him look like an idiot as well. Moving on.

Drew Remenda cracks me up with some of the stupid stuff he says, though. To this day I still joke with my friend, who's a Sharks fan, when we heard him say on TV one time, "I mean it's a clean hit, but come on, that's boarding!"

I used to hate Bertuzzi but after he was traded to Florida and then ended up on the Wings I didn't dislike the guy so much. Now, I really hope he stays. It shows that he really wants to stay in Detroit and considering his injuries and age, he didn't have a horrible season last year. I also like the organization's mentality of making their own players improve rather than going after free agent scorers. Sure, it would be nice to have an insane amount of firepower, but unless you make the guys you already have play better, you're not going to get better as a team. If Kenny can sign Bertuzzi for less than $2M then I'm all for it. Guys who can score over 20 goals don't come along at that price tag very often.

Honestly, why get upset about the trade? I'm glad to see him doing well now but there is no way anyone could predict the way he is scoring in the playoffs. The guy has minimal skating ability at best and makes up for it with some nice hands. The way he played here, who can blame Holland for at least getting something for him?

Hopefully this signing will drive some of the talent back to the NHL since no one in the KHL is going to want to face the Dominator

This.

I actually wanted the Wings to grab this guy when he came off of the Islanders. He'd be a solid addition, but unfortunately I don't know if the Wings have anymore room for 3rd/4th line guys.

Not to get too far off topic, but what I don't understand is why NBC airs the first two games of the series, but not the 3rd and 4th. What if either team sweeps the series? Then you'd have the Cup ceremony and the end of the NHL season being aired on Versus, where more than half the country wouldn't even see it. I don't like this partnership with NBC. The way they dictate the scheduling is horrible for marketing the league.

Washington will never trade Ovechkin until he's past his prime, which is a long ways off. I'm not so sure that Thornton was the problem this year, but Heatley was a complete playoff bust and their team is still built for size and not speed and skill. If I'm the GM I start going in that direction. Also, Nabokov has been their main guy in net (except for '06 when it was Toskala, I believe) for a while now and maybe it's time to send him packing.

Don't know if this belongs here but I just wanted to mention that I was at game 5 last night for the ECHL finals between the Cincinnati Cyclones and Idaho Steelheads. The place was sold out and the ticket line before the game had to be a quarter mile long. The Cyclones ended up winning the cup and the series 4 - 1. Second time in three years! Being a Wings fan it's nice to live in an area where people are starting to care about hockey and we actually have a multi-championship team. So congratulations to the 2010 Kelly Cup champions, the Cincinnati Cyclones!

There's just something about the Sharks that I've never liked so out of all the teams left I'm going with Philly. I like Laviolette as a coach and even though they have some goon players, I like their toughness and the style they play. I absolutely cannot stand Chicago and their fanbase so it would be almost as bad as watching the Penguins win again if the Hawks take it this year. Montreal wouldn't bother me but after watching the first two games in this current series I really don't see them getting to the finals.

After watching the game yesterday I have no doubt that the Sharks are going to get their way with calls for the rest of the playoffs. They played well against us and probably deserved to win either way, but for everyone who isn't a Sharks fan, if San Jose wins the Cup this year the victory will be somewhat tainted by the questionable officiating they received throughout their run.

This idea just makes too much sense, which is why the league will never go for it. In all honesty, I don't see any way that this could be anything but positive for the league. Speaking as a Wings fan, I would love to see our team be able to afford to keep our best players and actually be able to go out and get that one big missing piece of the puzzle and simply pay the luxury tax to cover it.

For once, I agree with Carman. Howard did let in a couple of bad goals during both series but for the majority of the time he kept the team in the game when the defense was getting turned around. I, just like everyone, wanted to see the Wings go deep into the playoffs, but you just had a feeling this wasn't their year. Howard got some valuable experience and will be ready for next season, a season in which there will probably be a few major changes.