barabbas16

What is it that you're going to act surprised about? That they'll be top five in the league in goals against this year? ... again? .... since that's what they did last year? ... WITH three rookies seeing significant time, Kindl in his first season of full-duty, and a down year from Quincey. There's no reason not to expect marked improvement from the group as a whole this season. And, also no reason to add another defenseman at this point.... possibly midseason or at the trade deadline depending on how things go, but definitely not now imo.

I guess people see what they want to see.

Hahaha - nothing! I totally was just watching Yzerman's jersey retirement ceremony on NHL network (well, DVR) and was thinking of that rather than Lidstrom's. Still going with Sheldon Kennedy as the most likely out of the 3, though.

I was under the impression that Grabovski had shed the 'lazy' tag a couple of season back. Plus, Grabovski is making less than 1) the Caps' now 3rd line center, Laich... who, I believe was supposed to become their 2nd line center at some point... and 2) their 2nd line center from last season, Ribeiro - less than he was making and less than he will be making. Significantly less in both cases. And, only a one year deal. Very minimal risk and potentially high reward. Grabovski is, in my opinion, an above average 2nd line center.... $3 million for 1 year? Solid signing and I'm jealous of it, honestly.

Well, I'm going to go with Sheldon Kennedy as by far the most likely out of those three.... considering that neither Ellis nor Calder ever played a game with Yzerman.

I agree - a step in the right direction.... still doesn't seem like much, though, but we'll see.

Yeah, I was saying that it wasn't really your opinion... it was something you had misremembered (if I can steal a word from Roger Clemens). There's no need to apologize - I'm not offended or anything, I was just taking up the argument because I believed what you said to be false. I guess I come to Samuelsson's defense because I loathe the whole 'whipping boy' concept here. I think people feed off of each other's negativity on a certain player or subject and it gets out of control. It is almost as if your dislike (and the board's general collective dislike) for him led you to create the scenario of his bitter and nasty departure from Detroit (which didn't really happen) in your mind. I know Detroit has 16 forwards and 2 have to go.... but why do we have to tie guys to the proverbial whipping post in the mean time? We're all going to cheer just as much when Sammy or Tootoo (or Emmerton or Eaves or Bertuzzi) scores a goal next season as we are with anyone else, aren't we? Of course, the whipping boy thing goes on during the season too, so..... I guess I'm just fighting a losing battle here. Never mind.

It was your opinion? Are you saying that there was something he said or did upon leaving that is open for interpretation? And, you interpret that to be "nasty and bitter," but others may not? That scenario aside, I don't see how your opinion comes into play in this particular situation. Either he left Detroit on nasty and bitter terms or he didn't. I gave you an opportunity to support your statement with a source and you are unable to do that. So, let's agree then that your 'opinion' was incorrect and that Sammy did not leave on "bitter and nasty" terms, but rather for more money and a better opportunity. And, since you've said you have no problem with leaving for those reasons, we have no more discussion.

Ah, you know what I meant. Getting out of the 1st round once since then.... sub-.900 save percentage in the playoffs every year since.... all of that despite playing for a consistent Stanley Cup favorite with all of that talent in front of him. He's essentially the sole reason the Pens lost some of those series (in my opinion)

Ah yes..... if only the newer (garbage) playoff model of MAF had come along a little bit sooner....

You don't recall correctly. If I'm wrong, please post a link with Samuelsson's nasty quotes about Detroit from that time period. Seriously, has the Samuelsson hate gotten to the point now where we're going to make up bad stories about him that never happened? Or is the hatred just so blinding that we don't really remember and just assume everything associated with Samuelsson was negative and terrible?

Grabovski is Belarusian.

Ok, but the number of 'Stevie and a few others' is vastly outweighed by the number for which it didn;t work out and for which it was a mistake. I'm not saying you're wrong. You might be right.... we're most likely not going to find out one way or the other. But, odds are... you are wrong. Plus, seriously.... how many times does anyone have to bring up the fact that we have too many forwards on this team? There isn't a spot for him right now.

Mmmm.... it seems like you could. When exactly did goal scoring and good attitudes start automatically going hand-in-hand? I'm pretty sure there have been many goal scorers with less-than-stellar attitudes.

I agree. They definitely should medal. Finland probably has the edge on the U.S. in goal, though.... Rask, Rinne, Niemi, Backstrom, Lehtonen...

Kindl has indeed emerged, and Lashoff was an unexpected surprise last year. However, last year far from proves that Lashoff is ready to be anything more than the #7 defenseman. Quincey might be overpaid, but he is a much better option on the ice right now than Lashoff. Additionally, why would you NOT want 7 NHL ready defensemen on the roster? If you only have 6 and someone gets hurt, you have to play a non-NHL ready D-man. If this team is trying to make the playoffs and they get rid of Quincey this year, they will need to replace him with someone not named Lashoff that is (at least) a proven top 6 NHL player.

I would guess that yes, you are in the vast minority. I don't think I could disagree with you more. It's only like a bunch of all star games if we lived in a world where all of the players on each all star team want to win every all star game REALLY badly because each one matters a LOT to them. That sounds pretty awesome to me.... except that's not what all star games are actually like. But, it is what the Olympics are like. Why would anyone prefer to watch a bunch of kids compete instead of watching the actual best players in the world? If that's the case, the NHL should get rid of all these really good players and sign some children.

I suppose it comes down to opinion. He said "He doesn't bring more, just something different." Fighting is something different, but not necessarily more. Just like (from the opposite side of the discussion) one might say that killing penalties..... or not taking stupid penalties to put the team down a man.... or not going way out of position on a regular basis to make a hit.... or being able to play center... would be bringing "more" than Tootoo brings. And, you might not see that as 'more,' but rather just something 'different.' That said, I am indifferent on the Tootoo issue. I like him fine because he provides some entertainment value. However, I don't necessarily feel that he helps the team win more than Miller or Eaves. And, he is paid more than Miller and Eaves. Emmerton is a different comparison, but he plays center and is paid even less. I'm fine either way... keep Tootoo or get rid of him. He hasn't really been around long enough for me to associate a sense of loyalty with him. I really still think of him as a Predator. If Quincey goes, he'd have to be replaced somehow.

Everyone feels that way because he didn't do anything last year. But, there was no way to predict all of the injuries Samuelsson had. It might look a little bit different if he had played. Maybe he would have had 25-30 points in 48 games last season, if healthy.

You are entitled to your opinion. I would definitely agrue with your wording in one spot. I would say that the team "chose not to sign" rather than "failed to sign." And, that would be a decision that was made by people that have more than likely seen Quine a hell of a lot more than you have (unless you are his dad or something) and are way more in the know about what the organization needs/doesn't need at the moment. Career AHL players have their roles in organizations as well... just look at last year's Calder Cup winning Grand Rapids Griffins roster.

I thought it was interesting on http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=678198&navid=DL|DET|home it says that "The league schedule will go on a two-week hiatus in February to allow players to compete in the Olympic in Sochi, Russia. While suspending the regular season isn’t ideal for the league, it’s conceivable that some Red Wings – most likely Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Jimmy Howard and Justin Abdelkader – could represent their countries in the Olympics." ... it seems the writer felt that Abdelkader was at least the 7th most likely Red Wing to participate in the Olympics... ahead of Johan Franzen.

Quine was born in Ottawa.

Right, I agree with you. My point was that.... Tootoo is actually not one of the smaller players on the team when it comes to weight. There are probably more guys that weigh less than 200 pounds than weigh more. "Pound for pound" is used more often, as you say with little guys. I would say that Tootoo is short, but not necessarily little. Most of the Wings that do weigh more than Tootoo don't have too many pounds on him. It also implies that the person the phrase is being used in reference to is not, in actuality, the best hitter. It would seem more accurate (to me) if someone were to use the 'pound for pound' phrase in reference to Kronwall or Helm as both probably weigh 10 pounds or so less than Tootoo.

Yeah, I was hoping he would go a different direction. Oh well... I agree that the still-potentially-up-in-the-air Cleary situation may be the hold up on Alfredsson.

You guys that are saying Tootoo pound for pound do realize that he is not one of the lighter players on the team, right? The guy might be 5-9, but he weighs 200 pounds. Maybe you mean inch for inch. That said, though.... Tootoo is probably my answer without a specific definition of "best."