chrisdetroit

Well said

I doubt it. Somebody will claim him. He's a decent defenseman who can also play forward and he's cheap. There are lots of teams out there that have to fill their team out with AHL players and would rather have a guy like Meech. Chicago maybe? Now that would be funny....

Jesus Christ. Why did you start this thread? And why the hell did I read it. Bad memories. Just plain bad. Now I'm all pissed off...

Gonchar had 50 points last year and 65 two years before. Martin had 37 in his BEST year . 'nough said I'm thinking that I'd rather have Pronger or Chara on the blue line than Paul Martin. Just my opinion...

The Pens are screwed. After losing Gonchar, I expect them to struggle. Every time that he was out in the last two years, the team tanked.

Talk about spin... You lost nearly half of your rooster and you are "strangely confident that the voids will be filled". You are kidding yourself and nobody outside of Chicago fans believe you - not the media, the other teams, the fans of other teams nor anybody else. The Hawks are patched together with a bunch of AHL'ers and cast-offs and has beens from other teams. It will be a rough year in Chicago. But keep telling yourself that everything will be all right. I expect that by Christmas you will no longer be coming on here...

That's not true. Leino was given every possible opportunity and then some. His average TOI per month was: Oct 14:20 Nov 13:59 Dec 13:16 Jan 9:13 Apr 14:54 May 15:39 He was only playing 34 seconds more per game with Philly in the playoffs than he was averaging with the Wings in October. These are similar numbers to Darren Helm and he seemed to be doing okay with his ice time. Incidently Leino is cursed. 2 Stanley cup finals losses in 2 years with different teams...

He needs to learn to fight more. All hockey players MUST fight.

Yea but, Sundin was worth every penny because people came out to see him play, After all of the Hoopla over who would get Sundin, I'll bet that Vancouver increased their ticket sales by signing him. Willie Mitchell won't have that effect. I don't think that Mitchell is an "investment" so it makes no sense to overpay him.

Hockey is a much different game though because there is relatively low scoring so there are naturally more ties. The only sport that is similar is soccer and they allow games to end in ties if they are "regular season" games. And incidently, a regular season NFL game can end in a tie if neither team scores in the 1 OT period. It just doesn't happen very often. There have only been (17) ties since OT was instituted in 1974. (17) in 36 years. The last was in 2008. We had ties before in hockey so what's the issue?

Agreed. BUT, like it or not, the shootout is not going to go away. I wish it would too but fans like it (especially the bandwagon fans) and Buttman likes it. The best we can do is water it down.

Does your mom know you are using the computer?

It reads like it was written by a fifth grader. I hope that this guy isn't getting paid for his writing skills.

Agreed but if they won't eliminate the SO they should use a 3 point system. Regulation Win = 3 points Shootout or OT Win = 2 points Shootout or OT Loss = 1 point Regulation Loss = 0 points As it is now a SO win is as good as a regulation win. That makes no sense whatsoever.

Asham is a gritty, low scoring forward and is a career -34. In 11 seasons, he has had a positive +/- ONCE and that was in a year when he played 35 games. Ok, he's gritty, got it but he doesn't score much (10 goals last year) and isn't good defensively. Also at age 32, he has no upside. What you see is what you get. So why do people want him?

He wore #46 with the Wings and my guess is that he will keep the same number since it is available.

Actually, Fleury was great in the 4 games that they won and sucked in the other 3 .900 .885 .762 If you average the 3 games that he sucked with the 4 that he was great you get a mediocre performance. Look at ALL of his playoff games in all years and you find that he has a CAREER 0.911 save percentage compared to Niemi's 0.910. Neither Niemi or Fleury are good playoff goalies. And as far as big games, don't forget that the Pit-Det series was tied 2-2 with game 5 being the swing game and what did Fleury do. He was pulled after letting in 5 goals and finished the game with a 0.762 save percentage. So much for coming up big.......

In the finals, yeah it was one of the worst but through all 4 rounds it wasn't as bad. Fleury was worse in 2009. 0.908 versus Niemi at 0.910

Certainly Nittymaki is a downgrade. He has a career .903 Regular Season save percentage and no real playoff experience. Niemi has little regular season experience and a .910 playoff save %. Evgeni is .912/.913 regular and playoff. Nabakov is not one of the top playoff goalies but he is better than their other options. Without a good playoff goalie you USUALLY don't get very far but the last two years with Fleury and Niemi have been glaring exceptions and some of the GM's have short memories. San Jose is going to struggle this year.

No. The problem is the salary cap. That is why there are lots of mid-level players unsigned. Teams can't sign them, they are forced to sign prospects to cheap contracts. Take away the salary cap and these mid-level veterens would land on teams and there would be less prospects in the NHL.

Ok just to clarify. Keith is a good d-man and had a good year but I hope that you aren't comparing him to Lids. Lids is by everybody's account one of the top 5 D men to EVER play the game. Secondly, they aren't copying anything from the Wings. They were handed top draft picks in Toews, Kane and Keith. And then through increadily poor management had to disassemble their team 2 months after winning their first Cup in 49 years. Bad contracts not ONE but THREE in Campbell, Huet and the increadible vanishing playoff goal scorer Marion Hossa. And now we find out that they LOST money again last year because their season ticket prices were the 3rd lowest in the league. So they are going to raise them 20%. Sorry but this train wreck of an organization has nothing in common with the Wings.

First of all Modano costs $1.25M not $1.75M. He is eligable for a 500,000 bonus but that will count against the 11-12 cap not the 10-11 cap. You are exaggerating his cap hit to make a point. Secondly, adding up Rafalski's and Lidstrom's ages to make your point is a little bit juvenile. Lidstrom at 40 is still arguably one of the best D-men playing the game so his age is not a factor. Much of the defensive problems last year were due to poor play by Lebda and Ericsson. Lebda is gone and Ericsson was a rookie who has a tremendous upside. There is no thought of replacing Ericsson. We don't NEED to sign another D-man this summer. Next summer if Lids retires then yes, we do but when that happens, we can use Lids money to sign a free agent. I agree with Babs and Kenny who know a hell of a lot more about it than anybody on this forum.

Guerin and Weight? No thanks.

So why did he agree to play for only 1.25M? That in anybody's book is not much for him?

Chicago Tribune Article Evidently the Hawks lost money last year and are going to raise season ticket prices 20%. Poor management. Everybody off the bandwagon.......