Vancouver Wings Fan

..... Chicago...after being disposable to LA....after being disposable to Vancouver.....notice the trend??? Sopel never was nor ever would be a Red Wing....he knew it and he did the right thing for his career....move on..... Belive me, I've seen him play out here for a number of years...we will not miss him......

Agree 100%...... We proved in last year's playoffs that toughness and grit were lacking....Pronger/Neids getting away with cheaping on Holms....countless late hits and run at Dom going unanswered...We have a great team and all the ingredients needed, but a little spice is missing..... The years the Cup was hoisted never would the above examples go unchecked....

Seems all Wings fans living here in BC think the same! Sopel sucks and was not wanted on a team like the Canucks after being released from LA.......The Wings don't need him! If Downey is the only availible answer for a perceived "enforcer" then bring him in...I'd still like to see a more threatening enforcer....the kind that really doesn't need to do much because the threat is enough....

Nothing is being changed......the Wings already have shown their new uniforms back in early August. This is just some person who put together an MS Paint or Adobe design for kicks. If a 3rd jersey is need....the example of the Detroit Cougars one above is not bad.

KLIMA #85

This is ridiculous.....posts like this make me wonder what kind of fan base we have??? A future (and present) Hall of Fame golalie for 2M.....great deal. The delay in signing does not change the fact that long term and large dollars for tier 2 type players is not a smart move. People have to remeber that this is not PS3...you can hit re-start after you F it up!

Great job by Holland! People also forget that we had UFA's unsigned BEFORE the off-season. Holland was prudent and signed the likes of Dats and Holms beofre we even got to this point! Is it fair to say our biggest UFA signed was Dats....he is better then anyone signed for the ridiculous amounts in this past week! Time to give the youth a shot, tweak/trade as needed as we go, prep for the trade deadline when the next crop of UFA will be on the block (ie. Dany Heatley) Shrewd and logical move! This is what makes the Wings and the front office the elilite of the NHL!

Great job by Holland! People also forget that we had UFA's unsigned BEFORE the off-season. Holland was prudent and signed the likes of Dats and Holms beofre we even got to this point! Is it fair to say our biggest UFA signed was Dats....he is better then anyone signed for the ridiculous amounts in this past week! Time to give the youth a shot, tweak/trade as needed as we go, prep for the trade deadline when the next crop of UFA will be on the block (ie. Dany Heatley) Shrewd and logical move! This is what makes the Wings and the front office the elilite of the NHL!

Hey no worries....certainly "to each their own", but when you state that Kenny dropped the ball I was hoping for some reasoning. I hope Rivers has a great season and can stay with the Habs.

Then you are serious??? Why would Kenny have dropped the ball by not signing a guy who floats between the AHL and NHL and would take up space on the cap??

You must be joking....Kenny didn't sign Rivers so he dropped the ball? Good one...

IMHO allot of the "Buzz" has been the crazy long term contract and large $$$'s flying around. Aside from the "tier 1" type players, (drury, Briere) many players (ie. Bert, Smolinski, Hamerlik, long list.....) have been signed with little regard to cap room and the future health of the teams aquiring them. This has positioned the Wings very well if you consider the group of young talent here and the vailibilty of ample cap room for the trade dealine in 08 and also next summer's "tier 1" UFA's. Danny Heatley comes to mind....

Look at all the ridiculous contract term and money spent in the past week. It is out of control! The Wings are in a great position to re-tool. No to any of the remaining cast off's from teams that are sub par to were the Wings are now....No to basically any of the remaining under performing UFA's forwards that there existing teams don't even want.... Sign Hasek. Give the young kids a chance to perform. Save money on the cap. Tweak as needed through trades. I still think with that formula the Wings are still in the upper class of the NHL. Prep for next years crop of UFA's as there will be plenty availible and we will be in a great position to scoop the cream.

Ban Spam!

No to O'Neil....No to any of the remaining cast off's from teams that are sub par to were the Wings are now....No to basically any of the remaining UFA's. Give the young kids a chance to perform. Save money on the cap. Tweak as needed through trades. Prep for next years crop of UFA's as there will be plenty availible and we will be in a great position to scoop the cream.

With the wave of ridiculous signings over the past week, large dollars for UFA's with long term commitments, Kenny has positioned the team perfectly to give all the young guys a chance to step up, make the team and execute. Should a couple not live up to expectations, then there will be cap room availible to tweak as required. This is a great strategy given the crop of UFA's availible next year. Greg, Flip, Huds, Kop etc. have every opportunity to be forces on this team. I love the attitude each is speaking and judgeing from the "greg interview" he could assume a roll of a Doug Gilmore type player. The type of grit we need.

Canucks are positioning themselves for a trade. I would bank on Morrison, Cory Schneider, Cooke, and maybe even Naslund to be involved. ...maybe a team that has just cleared allot of cap room (Bert,Lang,Calder) would be involved?? Wouldn't think the Canuck's and Wings would deal...but you new know???

It is true Blue/monk....look at the history past and recent.... other teams are envious Past..... ..the best scouting staff....Lidstrom, Fedorov, Konstatinov...the list is huge ...the best deals...from Shanny for Primeau...to Coffey for a roll of tape...other then a few bumps (Jimmy Carson!!!) they always find something and it works... Recent... Hasek last year when no other team would even give him a cup of coffee... Rafalski 2 days ago when Scheid's is leaving.... They will come through...count on it!

I agree they lost size...but really not allot of grit.... ..Schnd's could be edgey but his job to quarterback a power play and be a top 4 defenseman...they replaced him and more with Rafalski.. Both Bert and Lang are mis-characterized as "physical" roll players...they are not...and neither have ever been....both showed there usefulness in this past run....not very effective. Markov would be nice to keep...but looking at the coin flying around (Hamerlik for 4 years at 22M!!...give me a break!!) he may choose to get rich quick elsewhere.... with the exception of Markov...and Scniders before the wrist..... We have to trust that the best front office in the NHL knows more then us and will make the deals needed to get past the few "bad bounces" that kept them from getting to the finals this year....with all the guys mentioned above not even being a factor!!.

I am not suggesting Bootland........but there are guys we can get or trade for. ......but at the price of a guy with the history and baggage of Bert....this is addition by subtraction..... ...people forget...the Wings have a front office and scouting staff other teams envy.....watch this extra cash bring some serious talent!!!

I remeber at the trade deadline when tons of people on this board were bashing me for saying Bert was nothing.... I said it then...I say it again....Bert is not an enforcer....he is a defensive liability....he takes terrible penalties at the worst possible times...and he has never been a part of a winning team on any level ever.... ....this is no loss....it is a gain in cap room....

I will quote you now and again next season!! You are absolutely correct!

Excellent! Let Anaheim soak up cap room on Bert. There are other guys out there to bring in, who likely would have a more pronounced impact on this version of the Wings. Remember, Bert was a non factor in the run to the Semi's.... and signing him for large dollars with a history of injuries and never winning anything IMHO made no sense.

Get out this story from TSN with Proger's comments on his hit, the refs, and suspension. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=208210&hubname= While he is correct about the inconsistent calls from shift to shift, let alone, game to game, he just does not own up to his responsibility for his actions. I knew Pronger was rumoured to be a bit of a loose canon and somewhat of a whiner, (ask any Edmonton,/St. Louis fan) but to just absolve himself from all responsiblity to his actions, his team, his opponents and the game of hockey is a real sign of his lack of character. I think him coming back to the line up will likely result in more power play time and inspire the Wings to bury their chances and Pronger!

I am no Bert fan, but that last shift with seconds left in the game when he fought hard and got the puck back in front showed me that he hard heart and gave it his all despite the back injury....gained a couple of points back in my book! All round good effort...if the price is right...he may have a home here......