Drake_Marcus

This is likely the case. Hopefully Quincey and Meech either improve enough to make them worth while or get traded while their stock isn't bottomed out.

I won't cheer injuries to any players unless it's a Pronger-trying-to-knee-Yzerman-but-he-gets-hurt-instead kinda thing. That being said- I won't weep for the Ducks either! Sorry Duckguy!

Yeah, I see that happen with younger kids who come to the university now.

Intersting point. BUT I like saying "Geee I hope Turco gets the shutout."

Seconded! I also enjoy calling my enemies d-bags.

Interesting... You do have a point there. I wonder how often d-men get converted to forwards or are considered for conversion...

I just want to pipe in on this really quick: Far too many posters here use "***", "***" and "homo" to describe players they don't like. This is no better than saying someone "jewed you"- it's stupid and childish at best (and bigotry at worst). Using these words as insults just makes the entire forums look bad and reflects poorly on all of us. Sorry to sound preachy but this is a pet-peeve of mine because it's one of the last venues of "socially accepted bigotry". Honestly- it's no different than being racist in the 50's.

My thoughts: Trade Quincey- he projects as a 3rd pairing d-man at best. Yes- he was stawart in the playoffs last season but he didn't show flashes of brilliance, he just played good clean hockey. This season hasn't shown the Wings brass much to show that he's trying to impress them. I say the Wings need to trade Quincey while his stock is still relatively high. Keep Meech as the 6th man next season- if he doesn't keep improving his play and showing potential like he has lately trade him too. The Wings have tons and tons of defensive prospects- this isn't a Hudler situation. (The Wings can't afford to give up on Hudler- they have a very shallow pool of kids with Hudler's level of scoring talent.) Trade Lebda- he's a fine 3rd pairing player but doesn't look to have untapped potential left. It appears that we've seen Lebda's future- a fast puck-mover with a dainty shot and no offensive upside. Sorry to say that- but it's true. But: I'd be playing him as a forward in practices and encouraging him to hit up all the optional practices and keep practicing at it there. He's so damn fast that, like Dandenault, he'd provide some useful speed up front and create goal scoring oppertunities by way of his speed alone. Keep Ericsson this season. I know that's a bold statement, but let me explain. The Wings could really use Ericsson as a second unit power play winger. He's played that way on GR this year and he was a forward until his draft year. This tactic seems to work well for Boston with Chara. It would give us a big crease crashing, puck shoveling body on the second unit AND provide the Wings with a much-needed big body out there. Edit: I think it'd be worth checking Ericsson out as a forward in practice as well- if only for gits and shiggles.

But that can't be! They're in a warm climate. Surely the Lightning belong here with me in New Brunswick- it's cold here AND above the Mason-Dixon. I mean Betman's conspiracy to blah blah blah... yadda yadda bulls*** about Southern teams not deserving to exist blah blah.

You lucky bastard!

Ohhh. I'm concerned with the concept and its application to Detroit. I like the idea of renovating and expanding classic arenas like the Coliseum (home of the amazing Islander team of the early 80's) and the Joe.

YES! Cleary's easily one of the top 5 most important members of this team. He was easily up there with Dats and Z in terms of how crucial he was to the Wings success last post season and he single-handedly turned broke Calgary's back with his clutch goals (including the penalty shot) and his abrasive play. Hopefully the Wings can convince him to take 3 million or less, even if it means signing him to another year on the deal. With guys like him it's often possible to drop the yearly pay a bit in exchange for more job security.

I agree dude. I like the idea of keeping the classic arenas around. The Joe has become something of a hallowed place in the last 20 years. This arena is the symbol of the amazing success Yzerman's Wings achieved, and rightly so. I say it's better to renovate and expand it ala the Light House posted earlier in this thread.

Heh- I'm a Canadian university student and I hear about March Madness over here We share media and let's be honest- sports fans are sports fans. March Madness is an excuse to share a beer (with decent alcohol content in our case ) and hang out with the guys while betting against your buddies. I just with more Americans appreciated Lacross!

The fact that you claim to have had a fifth of a laugh makes me question the adequacy of your jr. high math teacher.

I imagine they see this as a perfect opportunity to rest Chelios until the playoffs start and he won't be back until he's 100.00% As such, I'd like to see Meech stay onboard until his hot play ceases (hopefully he keeps riding this hot streak because he's been playing amazing for a rookie d-man!). Lidstrom, Rafalski Kronwall, Stuart Meech, Lilja Reserve: Lebda Injured: Chelios Back down to GR due to a lack of space: Ericsson *sigh* I think I want my first picture signature to have Ericsson in it

Yeah! Hey- what do the Wings have trouble with? Secondary scoring. Solution- remove the player with the 5th highest point total among our forwards. Guess who's outside the top six forward scorer bubble? Filppula. But hey- he's tall.

Nah nah- I overreacted dude. I just read people s***ting on them all through that trade deadline thread from 9-5 (well inbetween doing homework ). Sorry for snapping at you.

Sometimes I suspect that injuries to 6 of your top 12 players has an effect on your overall performance... but I digress. Jesus-roller-skating-Christ people- half an AHL team is on the ice out there.

Oh- I've got some questions: Q: Who has more points this year- Filppula or Hudler? Q: Who's played more minutes per game, on average, this year- Filppula or Hudler? Q: Who was the Wings second leading scorer in January? Q: Who is too short to ride half the rides when he visits the carnival? Hint: the answer to all these questions is the same.

I beg to differ. Everyone knows that an Ekland rumour must first pass the NHL'08 xbox test before he posts it. The "E#" system corresponds to how many different platforms he was able to make the NHL'08 trade on.

Bingo. I don't really want to trade Filppula, but if it's for Hossa or Jokinen I have no issues. Filppula's potentially at the top of his tradeability, while Ericsson will be worth more in a few years.

Opps. I ment to say he's leading scoring amongst the prospects on the Griffins. So, to restate it correctly- Ericsson is the highest scoring NHL prospect on the Griffins.

Higgins is rumoured to be on the block if it's for Hossa. Plus the Canadians have a pretty deep pool of young talent sitting around.

My point wasn't to defend the position that Ericsson could put up 80pt seasons- I laughed out loud when I read that just as you must have. Rather, I was defending Ericsson's potential in light of assumptions that he was destined to be a 3rd pairing guy with 20 pt seasons. I see Ericsson as a 40-50 point player on account of his good vision, quick release and heavy shot from the point. So, in summary, my point was that Ericsson is looking like a potential top 4 defenseman, not that he's likely to have huge 80pt seasons on a regular basis!