Kp-Wings

Who is this Sammy everyone keeps talking about? Sammy Hagar? Sammy Davis Jr.?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are my second favorite team, because of all the success and championships they've had in the last 40+ years. They are the gold standard of what an NHL team should be.

Marc Rodgers Phillippe Audet Darryl Laplante Stacy Roest Norm Maracle ...heh...

I really don't understand what Versus sees in the Detroit - St. Louis matchups; they have at least 1-2 of these every season. I mean, come on. The last meaningful matchup we've had against the Blues was back in 2003, and that was before anyone outside of bicycle racing fans had even heard of Versus.

"Not so fast, horn man!"

Somebody actually mentioned St. Louis? That couldn't have been a serious post. At least I hope not.

If Downey or McCarty aren't brought back, then there won't be a fighter. It's ridiculous to think that guys like Franzen, Lilja, Cleary, etc. will fill that role. Just because they have decent size doesn't mean their fighters. I mean, Eric Daze was 6'6, and I can't recall him ever fighting on a regular basis (or even at all, really). ...and whoever mentioned Kopecky earlier, please... just... no. He is so pathetic in virtually every aspect of the game, not even including fighting and toughness. The only reason he looked so good in his one fight is because it was against Patrick Sharp. Sharp can't even fight his way out of a wet bag let alone another hockey player. He's makes Lilja look like the reincarnation of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. Downey is the best choice the Wings have got; he's a heck of a lot better fighter than McCarty can ever hope to be anymore. But, if it's not at least one of those two, then I can only imagine the next best option would be someone like Quincey; that is, if he's still around next season.

#1 and #4 really made me laugh for some reason. Samuelsson trying to act tough is... well...

Apparently all the young defenseman we have, and the ridiculous logjam that follows it, isn't enough to convince Holland that Chelios isn't needed here anymore. I'm not going to sit around and trash Holland, considering we just the won the Cup and he signed Hossa for millions less than other teams wanted to, but I honestly can't understand this thing about bringing Chelios back again. Depth is one thing; if he's brought in as the 8th-9th defenseman, then whatever, I'm fine with that. But anything higher, even as the 7th guy, and he's holding back our younger players. When are guys like Meech or Quincey ever going to be given a real chance? Besides that, Chelios has obviously lost a step within recent years. He was scratched for Lilja in the SCF (read the sentence in bold to understand the point of all this), because he wasn't playing good in the playoffs. Shouldn't that say where he's at in his career now? I like Chelios, don't get me wrong, but he really doesn't need to be brought back again. I'd like to see what someone like Meech or Quincey will do when given a chance.

Eddie Olczyk has to be one of the worst color commentators in the game; right up there on the top of the list with Bernie Federko, Terry Crisp, and whoever that guy is in Anaheim. He's so boring and lame, I have to wonder who he slept with to get that job once JD left for St. Louis. Not to mention that his bias for Chicago and Pittsburgh is borderline disgusting. The other annoying thing about him (Doc as well) is their tendancy to veer off into some random, useless, completely idiotic topic of discussion that has nothing to do with hockey at all, while the play is still going on. Seriously: FOCUS ON THE GOD DAMN GAME. Save that stupid crap for the timeouts or break-in-plays; not when the play is still going on. That really makes them look either uninterested, or just plain jackasses. My guess would be the ladder. I would love to see Thorne brought in to cover hockey; he puts the guys on Vs. currently covering it to shame. His excitement for the game is great.

Do the Wings even have any interest in giving Quincey a chance next season? By all accounts, it sounds like Meech would get a shot first, and that's after beating out Lilja, Lebda, Chelios, etc. etc. I haven't heard anything at all about Quincey, which is alarming, because I personally think he could develop is a very good all around defenseman. Chelios really should just hang 'em up already. I like the guy a lot (met him a couple times; great guy to talk to), and he is still a decent player, but he's holding our young defenseman back. I honestly can't see Lilja being traded after just signing a new contract, and although I don't see any reason to keep Lebda, I doubt he'll be going anywhere, so that leaves Chelios as the only other guy. The logjam on defense is way too deep right now; assuming nobody is traded or put on waivers as an attempt to clear, we'll have a total of nine defenseman all on the roster and salary cap, which is too many. Somebody needs to go, and who that's going to be is still a huge question mark.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Lebda's name as a possible trade? Given that guys like Meech and Quincey are probably NHL ready, do the Wings really need him anymore? As was my understanding, the only reason Lebda was even brought here in the first place was to fill that role until one of those two were ready (they originally brought in Andy Delmore as that guy, but he was so terrible defensivily that things didn't work out). As for Samuelsson, he won't be traded. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see him given a contract extension at the end of the season. Babcock can't say enough good things about the guy (for whatever reason), and unlike others (Hudler, Lilja, etc.), I've never seen Samuelsson once punished for bad play. Maybe I'm missing something, but Babcock sure seems to hold a spot for him, no matter what.

Certain owners (specifically Jeremy Jacobs) are the bigger reasons for the NHL's problems. That being said, Bettman still sucks.

There is no way Maltby comes back after his deal is up. I like the guy a lot, and he's still one of my favorite Wings, but his time was up about two years ago. He's not the same player he once was, and given that his only real role is another PK filler (which is something he doesn't even do that often anymore), I can't imagine he'd be brought back again.

Another average player walks away with about 2-3 million more than he's worth. Bouchard could be a decent goal scorer (he was drafted high enough to assume he would be), but he'll never become that on a team like Minnesota. This signing is almost as ridiculous as New Jersey signing Fedor Fedorov; an offensive minded player playing on a defense-first trap-system. Completely idiotic. If the Wild ever think Bouchard will become the player they just paid him as, they better lighten up the defensive stranglehold they put on their forwards. But since they won't as long as Lemaire is running the show, you can chalk this up as what will probably turn out to be one of the worst signings of the summer.

Buffalo fans are loyal? Pittsburgh fans are loyal? Please. Oh, how quickly people forget the pre-lockout days when both of these teams were in the attendance doldrums, barely scraping 10,000 a night. A couple of winning seasons later, everyone thinks these two teams have the greatest fanbases in the world. No, f*** them, they don't. Just because their a bunch of loud bandwagoners doesn't make them the next Hockeytown, even though that seems to be the standard now. Seriously, screw this whole fanbase crap. Detroit is Hockeytown because the Wings rock, and are constantly one of the best teams season in and season out. Can any of these other cities that are being called Hockeytown say their team has won 4 Stanley Cup's in the last 11 years? Or, for that matter, even say they can put together successive winning records in the regular season for a couple year's straight? No, they can't. In Buffalo's case, they can't even say they've won a Cup in the entire team's history. Detroit is Hockeytown; it always will be, no matter what the media says otherwise.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son

This is what I've been saying the whole time when it comes to a replacement for Drake. It especially bothers me when they think Kopecky is that guy. He doesn't have the tenacity or mean streak that Drake had. Just because a guy is big doesn't mean he's physical. Ex: Eric Daze, Branislav Mezei, Nikita Alexeev, etc. I think on occasion Kopecky tries to be physical, but he's just so bad at it. He usually falls over whenever he tries to hit someone, and his hits are never any good. I am aware of the fact that he did lead the Wings forwards in hits last year, but what's considered a hit and what's considered an actual meaningful hit are two different things. Hit stats are very inflated anymore, since even the slightest bump is considered a hit. I really would be more comfortable with a proper replacement for Drake; not Kopecky, and not McCarty or Downey either. Downey is too slow and too bad of a skater to do that on a regular basis, as is McCarty. This is why I was pushing for the Wings to sign someone like Darcy Horidichuk, who is a good skater that can play regular minutes while bringing a physical element, but that option is no longer available. I don't think the Wings physicality is as much an issue as it was a few years ago, but it would be nice if they had someone for next year that could play the style that Drake played. We'll see what happens I guess.

You should have mentioned Samuelsson and Hudler by name.

I don't see this guy cracking the lineup, but who knows; stranger things have happened. I'd like to know what his problem is, because a player who's put up that many points in the AHL should have gotten more of a chance by now, especially on an offensivily deprived team like Atlanta. I'd assume it is his size, but it could be something else. I guess we'll find out next season. It's overall a decent signing, since he does have potential; if not anything, he'll bring some much needed offense to Grand Rapids next season.

Since you're a fight fan, I expect this must be a joke, because you can't possibly be serious about this. Hartigan was the exact definition of weak. ...and as for the "good role players" arguement, none of those apply to Hartigan, because Hartigan doesn't do anything. He fills no role. There's a reason he was never able to crack an NHL lineup in his entire career. Heck, he lost his spot on the team to a rookie (Helm) who was in his 1st professional season. Hartigan belongs in a European league. A player like him that can put up decent points in lower levels, but not in the NHL, usually excel in leagues like that.

Actually, much of the season was boring, to me anyways. This is because of the matchups we were forced to endure all season. Games 7 and 8 against Columbus, St. Louis, etc. were not entertaining at all. I think the point that the fight fans are trying to make here is that a good fight or two would liven up these ridiculously boring games against Columbus, or any of these other dreadful divisional games. In fact, it would probably make the hockey itself in the game better as well, since some passion would at least be shown. Oh, and the Wings had 20 fighting majors last season. Just so you know.

That might not even matter in the coming days, as the Wings don't seem to think of Quincey as a priority or part of the future anymore. Obviously I don't know everything their thinking, but they have yet to re-sign him, and are more destined to give Meech the last spot anyways. Of course, if they'd just get rid of Lebda already, then the probably would be solved...

I probably should have emphasized the fact of it being a fun thread. Post deleted.

As per TSN: