Drake_Marcus

Haha- you and the rest of the league.

Bah. Tootoo deserves to have his s*** handed to him but that was hardly a decisive fight. More like one huge dude falling on a little turd. I was really hoping to see a few huge throws from 'tuzzi's long arms and was pretty disppointed when I clicked on the link to the fight card over at hockeyfights.

The English language weeps for the pain you've inflicted upon it.

Too bad there wasn't a similar view of the Lidstrom goal that made the call not seem biased and retarded.

I'm less pissed about the loss (we deserved to lose- the Stars won 85% of the puck battles... if you can't the first man to the puck or the last man with it along the boards you're going to have a tough time winning)... I'm supper pissed that Lidstrom was robbed of a goal and Datsyuk of an assist. I'd like to see Lidstrom's legacy padded as much as possible before he retires!

Could be the start of a losing 10 of 11 games type skid that precipitates the winning of a Stanely Cup (see February slide of the 07-08 season).

Not really. It is 100% pointless to have Leino on the 4th line. He's not an energy line player- he's a top 6 forward, so putting him anywhere lower than 3rd is crazy. I'd prefer to see him on the 2nd line just to get an idea of what kind of top six potential he has.

If Franzen is going to sign for 4million (highly unlikely unless there is some serious term involved) the Wings won't let him walk- they'd be all over that. And no- they'd never trade a player at the deadline to avoid "losing them for nothing". Holland has said the multiple times. If someone like Franzen gets traded it's for a player that either improves the team or doesn't hurt it while helping long term.

Friday: Pittsburgh @ New Jersey Ottawa @ Columbus Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay Nashville @ Calgary Minnesota @ Edmonton Saturday: Detroit @ Washington NY Rangers @ Boston Los Angeles @ Montreal Anaheim @ Colorado Pittsburgh @ Toronto Florida @ NY Islanders Dallas @ Columbus Atlanta @ Carolina Philadelphia @ St Louis Buffalo @ Phoenix Minnesota @ Vancouver Chicago @ San Jose Sunday: Ottawa @ Washington Nashville @ Edmonton Boston @ Montreal I made a few gambles in this one... let's see if I can gain some ground

Quoted for truth! I'm pumped to see Leino play tonight! I hope he scores at least one goal

Using a spread sheet I put together a few weekends ago to look at the possible re-signings this offseason I've done some calculations on just what the team could look like in 09/10. First things first, I cut some fat: --> Kopecky, Conklin and Downey were released as FA (Downey or Kopecky could be retained, but we'll look at that later). --> Chelios retires and is added to the training staff to mentor the younger d-men --> McCarty retires or is released --> Lebda is waived or traded (unless Meech is given the same treatment, I kept him for his age, versatility and slight upside) Next I brought up some kids (because that HAS to happen regardless of the scenario): --> Ericsson is brought up (no more minor league options left, he's already NHL ready and has impressed in his call-ups) --> Howard is brought up to backup Ozzy (no more minor league options left, if he isn't brought up he'll be traded and Larsson will end up coming up) --> Helm is brought up (he's ready and he's cheap) --> Leino is re-signed at the same price and brought up (he's really good and he WILL walk if he doesn't get a roster spot- he's waited longer for the Wings than he would have to with nearly any other club) Roster without major re-signings but with these changes: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Leino - Filppula - Cleary Helm - Draper - Maltby ? - ? - ? Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Lilja - Ericsson (that's a tall, heavy pairing) Meech Osgood Howard Cash left (assuming a static cap): $6,962,223 So here's where I got creative: I convinced Leino to take $75,000 less in exchange for term and a 1 way, front ended contract: 4 years: $1,200,000 - $800,000 - $600,000 - $600,000 (maybe some performance dependent renegotiation capacity that benefits him, if that's possible under the CBA) Cap hit: $800,000 Next I did the same thing for Hudler that Holland did with Zetterberg. This one might be tougher because Hudler has more potential to become a better player than Zetterberg (since one is already a 92 pt scoring, selke nominated, playoff MVP that's good for 40 goals a season). 8 years: $8,000,000 - $4,000,000 - $2,000,000 - $1,000,000 - $750,000 - $750,000 - $750,000 - $750,000 Cap hit: $2,250,000 This deal is very, very, very front loaded with a minimum payout for half the contract so I'm not sure how well it would be received in real life. Franzen gets the same treatment. Because his agent is very tough to deal with this is a really tough sale to make, but if Z could sign for $6.08 million Mule might take this contract. 8 years: $10,000,000 - $8,000,000 - $4,000,000 - $3,000,000 - $1,750,000 - $1,750,000 - $1,750,000 - $1,750,000 Cap hit: $4,000,000 Same caveat here as with Hudler. So here's where it got easier. I only had $787,223 left to sign one more player while still giving the cap room to float a bit below the predicted static value. Kopecky or Downey could be retained... or we could just take the best person at camp. Note that Abdelkader would bring the Wings too close to the cap. I assumed that Ritola played his way into a spot in camp (based on his performance in this year's camp and his very, very good +/- last year and this year in GR (he was outstanding last year in +/- on a club full of minus players). He's also dirt cheap (just over $500,000), strong, versatile and a hard worker. The price of this team? $56,424,444, leaving a cushion of only $275,556. The drawback? 4 rookies is hard to imagine on a Detroit Red Wings squad. However, I should stress that two players have to come up next season- they're out of options and among the top 6 RW prospects. One more guy is in the top 5 and will split if he can't play in the NHL since he's already put a year in the minors in after moving here as the reigning Finnish top-tier league MVP. So the only real leap of faith is that they'll take Ritola instead of a vet. Fair enough- you can fit Kopecky or some one else in with the remaining money. So here's my final roster for all this yammering: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Franzen - Filppula - Hudler Cleary - Helm - Leino Ritola - Draper - Maltby (two right wings, I know, but whatever, sort the lines how you will) Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Lilja - Ericsson Meech Osgood Howard Lost: Hossa, Samuelsson, Kopecky, Lebda, Chelios, McCarty, Conklin and Downey. Added: Helm, Leino, Ericsson, Howard and Ritola.

Haha... I love the topee episode and the one with the bald woman he supposed to see for a date. Classic

Hahaha thanks Making spreadsheets for non-work related stuff is surprisingly enjoyable if you like playing with numbers for fantasy hockey teams!

*Sigh* And TSN's agenda of force-feeding this topic down our ******* throats has spread to another media outlet. Huzza. The horrible dangers of fighting once again spun for us by a tool with a keyboard who took a quick glance at this week's talking points. Once again- they'll have to ban MMA and boxing before I admit that this is a horrible problem that has to go. Oh, and uncovered man-holes are STILL more likely to kill you than an NHL fight is to kill an NHLer. And I'm still siding with both public sanitation and with fighting.

We have to. Howard represents an organizational investment and is one of their blue-chip prospects. In the games he played in the NHL he actually impressed. His stats weren't fantastic in terms of wins but he looked very good for a call-up goalie. On top of all that- you just don't give up on a goalie that quickly. They take a ton of time to develop and are notorious for being streaky. Howard has the potential to be a franchise goalie- he has periods of amazing dominance and is considered one of the elite goaltending prospects in the AHL. I'm getting tired of him to, but that's mostly because Larsson is so damn impressive (tied for the lead in shutouts, among the league leaders in all stat categories).

If you look at this ppg for the amount of time he actually plays (in other words, his points per minute) he's very, very, very attractive for a 24 year old player. That and he's got clinch scoring experience in the playoffs. Size is becoming less and less of an issue in the current NHL. Size IS an issue in the NHL, of course, but it's less of a deterrent than most people think. Plus, Hudler isn't exactly a soft player. He's not hard, but he's not your typical player for a guy that's 5 foot 1 inch tall. The RFA status is the only thing that makes Hudler an easier signing for the Wings. Like you said- it's hard to imagine a GM gambling a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd on a player in addition to the 4 million cap hit that would necessitate the giving up of those picks.

It's weird, though, because I was pretty sure bald dudes liked to wear hats.

Man oh man I think this sets a very, very good presedent for the rest of the players we're trying to sign this year... How long does Hudler's contract have to be to get him to take 2.5 million per? It'd have to be reallllllly long since he's still got tons of upside that makes it impossible to guess what he'd be worth in 4 years.

Sweet. 12 years is really long, but if it keeps the cap number down to $6 million it's ok with me. Remember- if Z retires his remaining salary doesn't count against the cap. Zetterberg's main concern is health... so hopefully he retires when his health becomes debilitating.

Ericsson is a stud prospect but no one should expect him to step in and play on the Red Wings top pairing in his rookie year! If he does he'll instantly win the Calder So yeah... I'd love that!

Quoted for truth!

Courtesy of the Windsor Star.

Thanks Lidstrom and Datsyuk both knew about the missing the game portion of the rule but not the Crosby Clause? Odd... it's like they only read half of it then buggered off. Both Dats and Lids clearly back up the argument I subscribe to in their quotes. One argument doesn't make sense in the context of what Dats and Lids told Khan. And he's a fairly good source- he has the most journalistic access to the Red Wings and he's certainly NOT going to screw that up by misrepresenting their discussions with him in an article he credits them with being the source of. What interest is that to him? Does he want to endanger his livelihood by alienating his most important sources of information? Making small logical assumptions based on evidence is pretty standard stuff for a person that isn't omnipotent. Did Crosby do some evil back door dealing? No- he was looking out for his own ass. I'd do the same thing in his situation. Where he deserves scorn is the way he spoke of his fellow players when interviewed after the s***storm. Bettman brought this on himself by handling the situation so poorly- both with the media, the Wings and with Crosby. If Bettman's spin were true he'd provide the exact quote of the rule from the minutes of the meeting in which they were proposed. He hasn't. The onus is on the NHL office to provide that documentation. How is it that before the Crosby Clause TSN and everyone else used the specific wording of "missed the All Star GAME"? Why is it that the Wings management and others inside the know used that wording? Everything points clearly to the Crosby Clause being a matter of fact. Hell, the biased as f*** TSN reporters gave the song and dance about Crosby calling and asking what he had to do to avoid the suspension and Bettman laying out a compromise on late Friday afternoon/early evening SportsCentre. Dude- I try. God knows I try. Every time I think I've gotten over myself I end up doing something super cool like a back-flip and suck myself right back in again. Egroen's the earliest trumpeter of this cause and again, he's the far more succinct and impactful responder

All of your questions have been answered. Thanks M-live! Eat it everyone who argued against the obvious conclusions myself and other posters were drawing from the facts posted on Friday about the situation. Everyone who argued that the rule was modified for Crosby and that Lidstrom and Datsyuk were not informed until too late was wrong. Some of the posters above are persons I have respect for (Harold) and others aren't quoted but should have this post nailed to their bedroom door (Broken 16- time to man up and admit you were wrong). Stick by your convictions and if you're right you get to gloat on LGW

That whole theory falls apart when one considers the time frame. The All-Star break was 7 days long for the Wings. 7 days is actually a non-trivial time frame for healing quite a few different types of hockey injuries- especially when you catch it early (the longer you play hurt or partially hurt the worse the damage often is).