Anomalously

Can't say that I'm a huge fan of Legace, but obviously fans hold longer grudges than players do -- or at least they're mature enough to set it aside for a weekend and have some fun while garnering some publicity for the league. Good clips, thanks for sharing. I thought it was hilarious when Babcock was hassling Thornton about his lack of a family at 28. Good stuff.

I think Sundin would fit in impeccably -- but I think he'd be too expensive for the Wings to be beneficial in the long run. A team like Nashville is regretting giving up so much for Forsberg, a rental that was supposed to bring them some postseason glory. If we could sign Markov, trade Kronwall and picks, get Hossa, then that would be preferable. But people are throwing around Markov's name like we're Anaheim and he's Selanne. He left to go play somewhere else because he wanted way too much money -- he's not pondering his future, he's playing hockey for a huge sum. But short of that scenario, I'd still like to see us get Hossa. As young as Datsyuk, a little less flashy but probably more skilled. Can be a complete game-changer. And I think he'd work great with Babcock's system. Without Kronwall, I think we could afford Z, D, H, L, and R. I hope, anyway.

I think you're mistaken with regards to how draft picks are awarded now. While we'd all love to have the 30th draft pick, it's no guarantee -- the Wings would have to win the Stanley Cup. Unless we win the Cup, we won't be 30th. Because the Sharks and Canucks, depending on how far they get in comparison with the Wings, could very well have worse first selections.

@ Dallas, 1/5.

I know this is nitpicky, but Ference does drop the gloves. He's no heavyweight, but he's fought at least once, usually more than that, pretty much every season he's been in the NHL. And he's been around a lot longer, too. He obviously knows how it's done. This is a case of Ference being in Crosby's face all night up to that point, Crosby taking exception, and doing what he needed to do with a guy much his superior in NHL and fighting experience, much his subordinate with regards to fame and skill. By the way, this wasn't the worst fight of the game: the worst one was between Laraque and Chara. Go figure.

Ironically enough, Kronner is in an embrace in the LGW feature photo atm.

Why? We can pay more to get our players, whereas other teams have financial limitations and can't.

He would be THE best player on this team for the next five years, provided we could keep him that long. And he's exactly what the team needs: proven, young phenomenally talented GOAL scoring winger. Six months younger... and 272 goals, 585 points vs. 110 goals, 342 points. If we snatched Hossa at the deadline, we could do it this year. We'd need to move Kronwall to do it, yes. But with Howard/Osgood as a tandem over the next few years, our goaltenders are only going to be a $3-4M problem for the next three years. You can move others over in order to get a guy like this. It may not be likely that we get him, but if we could get him without giving up Datsyuk or Zetterberg (another Heatley for Hossa trade): go get him.

Exactly. It is an increase. But it's a more modest one than those saying that he's going to double his point production (or increase it significantly more). Look, Franzen is great, he'll probably improve. He's getting an opportunity. But he's old by sophomore standards, and his adjustment to the North American game isn't going to make him a superstar. It's just going to make him a better player. I've reflected that. Others are hoping for miracles. I hope he's great, too. I think Datsyuk and Zetterberg are great, so no matter where on the top 6 he would land or bounce around to, he's going to have a top 20 forward dishing him the puck. But I just don't see 60 or more points happening. If it does, I'm just very surprised that so many people are predicting it. Am I seriously in the minority here? Or are those who are more realistic about Franzen just not posting in this thread?

Guys, he was 10-20-30 last year. And he's already 27. Some of you are being way optimistic. Try 15-30-45. He's not going to be getting top minutes on the powerplay -- there are way better offensive players on this team.

You can't use 9. Or 19. Their numbers are retired.

It's odd to some extent, because Datsyuk was playing, but his English is still only so-so. Same with Holmstrom, obviously, he hates giving interviews so I can't figure he'd be thrilled about talking to refs. Of them, I'd think Maltby would get it. With Draper, Cleary, Lilja, Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Kronwall, and hell, even Filppula scratched, though, I guess you gotta give it to somebody.

I love Mike Fisher. This is a great thing for fans of the Senators.

Norrisnick: Datsyuk and Zetterberg should have more goals than Hudler. So should Holmstrom. I think your expectations are a bit lofty.

Love the sarcasm. Love the short memory even more. Lang scored the most important goal of the Wings' playoff run.

He was the Czech Republic's captain in the most recent Olympics. And the Czech team was quite a bit better than Chicago...

Funny, I thought it was Alexei Yashin for Robert Lang... as in, we ditch Lang and sign Yashin (which is what the starter of the thread said). Answer: Ditch Lang and pick somebody else up.

Reem, you've been warned. One more infraction and it's 7 days. But really -- you pinpointed my irritation perfectly -- one comment about someone else, rather than someone else's point or topic, and an entire thread is derailed. I think it's most important on a board of this scale that returning members who post quite a bit have a knowledge of hockey and can get their view across without much confusion. And beyond that -- pet peeve or not -- certain members who are critical of others -- the individual topics aren't the place to discuss each other's typing. If one needs clarification, that's one thing, but... Time to get back to the topic. Glad to see it's headed there. Personally, when I see an article like this, I like to see who they mention as likely to return. Schneider, Bert, etc. No Markov or Lang. It's such a foregone conclusion that there's going to be a gap where Lang was with about five guys fighting for the spot as 5th and 6th forward.

We were a team with Lilja playing very, very well (a question mark for next year) AND Markov. If Lilja doesn't have the same playoffs and Markov is on the team, we play much smaller. We almost knocked off those Ducks, remember, without Schneider. And we knocked out San Jose without him, too.

Fact is, we're going to downgrade the defense if we can't keep both. Without Markov, it's a hit to our penalty kill -- Schneider has no business being out there in shorthanded situations, he's lost in the defensive end, he's as prone to turnovers as Lang. Taking Schneider over Markov is also a hit 5-on-5. Kronwall can eat some PK time, but face it, while he may have similar reckless abandon to Markov, he doesn't have the same hustle or ability to clear the puck out -- not even near it. Lilja, unless he sucks himself into a 7th position, is clutch at blocking shots and will get time, and Lidstrom's going to play at least half of any PK. Still leaves a void. Who else, then... Lebda? Quincey or Meech? Really intimidating, guys. Be sure not to knock Hasek/who ever else off his game, because with a defensive corps this big... These one-dimensional players are getting paid off handsomely, and I don't know why. Schneider isn't worth a dime more than $2.5 million (but then again, Kronwall will probably never be worth his $3M pay). Players with Markov's grit are also getting paid well; look at Witt's paycheck (it's pretty damned high). It's just a tough situation, and there's no solution sub-$2 million.

I disagree with keeping Quincey in. When Kronwall is ready, send him back in. He can play more than Quincey's 11 minutes per, and we need a defenseman who Babcock feels comfortable playing more than for 10 minutes.

Most of the time it means an Eastern Conference team has won.

Well, it's kind of like Marleau -- he's an impact player, he just hasn't done much this series. But then again, Guerin and Marleau are great players, and it doesn't take much for them to get a quality chance when they're under the radar. It doesn't matter if he has been nonexistent thus far -- a San Jose roster without Guerin isn't as good as one with him.

Obviously for different reasons. Nevermind.

If Homer is out for a couple games, it gives Hudler yet another chance to prove his worth on the ice and yet another chance for Babcock to take him off the roster after Holmstrom returns.