Thunderpriest

I think Maltby, Draper & Abdelkader would be quite a nice 4th line........

Same page? I don't think that you and Holland are reading the same book. Hudler comes back at a reasonable price......2M - 2.25M/yr. (Unless someone throws ridiculous $$$ at him and Kenny takes the compensation instead.) We've only got around 3M in cap space right now.......

Sure, Meech can play F or D.....I just didn't think he does it very well. He hasn't impressed me at all. He's expendable, and I would hope that he's moved along with Lebda. Don't get me wrong, I like Lebda, but he was very prone to pinching at the wrong time. The only thing he's got is his speed, and while it comes in handy when he's trying to get bck into position, I'd really rather have Lilja on the blueline to help clear the front of the net. I think one of the reasons that our PK suffered was due to Lilja's absence. Lilja used to be a whipping boy of mine because of his turnovers, but it looks as though he's addressed that and has become a very solid stay-at-home defenseman. It doesn't hurt that he's significantly bigger than Lebda, either. Lilja's only drawback is that he makes as much as Lebda & Meech combined.

I think that we end up giving a raise to Hudler, re-signing Leino, letting Sammy go, trade a defensemen depending on Lilja's health (if Lilja's healthy, I'd trade Lebda), and then bring some of the kids up from GR. Personally....I'm just fine with that. Here's how the roster could look: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom Cleary, Flippula, Franzen Leino, Helm, Hudler Maltby, Draper, Abdelkader Lidstrom, Rafalski Kronwall, Stuart Ericsson, Lilja Osgood Howard I don't know how this lineup fits cap-wise....I'm too lazy to look everyone up.....but Meech is under contract and could fill a swing role, or he could be traded and we could fill some more depth up front. Either that, or re-sign Kopecky and package both Lebda & Meech for picks. In that instance, put Kopy with Maltby & Draper & move Abdelkader down for depth.

The only way I would speculate Lilja's $$ coming off the cap is if his injury is serious enough that he won't be able to return and subsequently retires. (I fully expect him to come back, however, which I'd prefer. I'd much rather lose Lebda than Lilja.) I was merely speculating based upon that possibility.

Well, there is also the possibility of freeing up some space from the list of already signed players. Trade Lebda & Meech for starters. (Assuming that Lilja will be able to return.) That frees up just over $1M. We'd have a defensive corp consisting of Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson & Lilja. That sounds great to me. Kindl could be a call up if necessary. If Lilja cannot return from the concussion, then keep Lebda & get rid of Meech anyway. That's a savings of $1.7M+. Unforutunately, we'll have to deal with Maltby & Draper next year. While Draper's still valuable for faceoffs & defensive responsibility against lower lines, Maltby is easily replaced by Helm (who's already figured in the cap), Leino, Abdelkader, Kopecky, etc. So, do not expect Hossa to return, unless Kenny lets go of Hudler, Sammy, or both......which I would not like to see happen. Sammy, I could live with. I've been tough on him for a long time, but he proved valuable this post-season. (I just wouldn't pay him what he'd likely get from another team.....not when we've got some up & coming AHL'ers.) I think we definitely keep Hudler.....unless someone makes a ridiculous offer for him. That's the only way that I can see us resigning Hossa.....is if someone offers Hudler big money & Kenny doesn't want to match it. So, we've got a little over $3M right now..... Add a minimum of $1M by pruning the defensive corp..... Resign Hudler long term to generate a cap hit of around 2-2.25M..... Let Sammy go..... Bring Leino & Abby up full time.... Resign Kopecky, dirt cheap. Bye-bye Hossa.... Roster for 09/10: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom Cleary, Filppula, Franzen Hudler, Helm, Leino Maltby, Draper, Kopecky Abdelkader Lidstrom, Rafalski Kronwall, Stuart Ericcson, Lilja Osgood Howard Yeah Hell, yeah. (This also ensures that Cleary gets quality minutes, which I believe he deserves.)

Absolutely, Matt. If Drapes is able to go, he should replace Leino. The Pens will be able to dictate the matchups, so faceoffs will be more important than ever.

If Lilja is cleared to play, I'd much rather have him in the lineup over Chelios, Meech or Lebda. Pair him up with Ericsson. The Swedish Towers. He'd really help our struggling PK, too.

I have been saying for a very long time that Filppula should be centering Hossa. Datsyuk should be centering Z & Homer. These combinations are a must to get clicking for the Finals, assuming that we make it. Dats & Z have chemistry like nobody's business.....but it does take a game or two together before they begin to gel. The lines as I would set them: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Homer Franzen, Filppula, Hossa (...and, since Draper & Kopecky are out....) Hudler, Helm, Cleary Maltby, Abdelkader, Samuelsson

Time for me to eat some crow, as I've been a fairly regular Sammy basher. He's played really well in the playoffs, and his goals have been timely. Like most, I'd rather see Stuart get his PP time, but other than that, he's been more than satisfactory. Good job Sammy! I'll bash you no more. (Until next season of course.....LOL)

Whether we are scoring enough goals to win against Chicago is not nearly as important as getting Datsyuk & Homer scoring in preparation for Carolina/Pittsburgh. I've seen it said in this thread that Homer just can't hang against the oppositions best and that's garbage. Anyone recall the most prolific scoring line of all last season? Pavel, Hank & Homer. That line needs to be reunited, and stay together until Pavs & Homer get rolling. The chemistry takes a game or two to come back, but once it's clicking, it's an awesome line. Babs had stated that he didn't want to put Pavs & Z on the same line because they were short a center with Draper out of the lineup.....but Draper is back. Additionally, remember the Franzen, Filppula, Hossa line dominating against Anaheim? There's your second line. Let Hudler center Cleary & Samuelsson Then put Draper out with Helm & Maltby......or Abdelkader if you like. The lines should roll as follows: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom Franzen, Filppula, Hossa Cleary, Hudler, Samuelsson Maltby, Draper, Helm When all is said and done, though, I think we'll all discover that Pavel is playing through an injury. Sport's hernia anyone?

Wouldn't it be much more delicious if Hossa gets the Cup winning goal? Picture it...... Game 7 2OT Datsyuk strips the puck from Gonchar at center ice and breaks up the middle with Hossa streaking in on the right wing. Crosby is the only man back. Datsyuk dekes and dekes again. Crosby's ankles tangle and he falls to the ice. Datsyuk flips the puck up over Crosby and Hossa one-times it over Fleury's glove hand. Crosby slides into the net, just after the puck does. He and Fleury hold each other and sob as the Wing's celebrate at the other end of the ice. Sound about right?

The time to renew the team is not in the Conference Finals. That youth and talent in GR has nearly ZERO experience, and that's why you keep Maltby. I agree that his time has come and that he should retire in the off-season, but you don't replace him now. You don't overhaul the engine 1/2 way through the race.

I'm certain that the Hawks organization has plenty of scouting on Leino at this point. Any pro organization is going to keep tabs on possible replacements, so I don't think he'd be an unknown quantity. Additionally, we're already getting scoring from our role players. We need to get the big guns firing. I think that mixing up the lines and throwing out new bodies is counter-productive to getting Dats & Homer going.

Okay, what's the fascination with Leino? Don't get me wrong, I think he's going to be a solid player for us, but he's just not ready for the NHL playoffs in my opinion. I've seen people on here calling for him to be inserted into the lineup as though he's the answer to a scoring drought. How many actual NHL games has he played? Can you count them on more than one hand yet? Let's get a full season under his belt and see how he develops. He's an offensive player and will take longer to season than a role player. And I still don't like splitting up Z and Pavs. They need to be kept together. I am glad that Uncle Mike did some line juggling to throw off Anaheim, but I'd like to see the following lines kept together for the duration: Dats, Z, Homer Franzen, Filppula, Hossa Hudler, Helm, Cleary Maltby, Draper, Samuelsson This is how you'll begin getting more production from Pavel and Homer. The second line is a monster and would continue to be so. And you couldn't pay me to put Kopecky back in for Helm.....even if he were 100% healthy. The D is easy: Lidstrom, Rafalski Kronwall, Stuart Ericsson, Lebda Man, I wish that Lilja were ready to play. I'd love to see him out there with Ericsson. Lebda & Chelios need to go next season. (trade + retire) Maltby & Draper need to retire after winning their 5th Stanley Cups each. Bring up Leino next year......Re-sign Hossa (somehow) Pavs, Z, Homer Franzen, Filppula, Hossa Cleary, Hudler, Samuelsson Leino, Kopecky, Helm (This sounds like a nice combo) Abdelkader Lids, Rafalski Kronwall, Stuart Ericsson, Lilja Osgood Conklin I wonder if that lineup would fit under the damn cap.

No way in hell. Maltby is a veteran of the playoffs with 4 cup wins under his belt. Leino has played only a couple of regular season NHL games......total. Let's bring him up next year to get some seasoning. He's not ready for the NHL playoffs yet.....and Maltby has been fine.

I've got a bad feeling about this. That's no moon.......it's a space station!

Folks, Babcock is losing this series for us right now. What adjustments has he made? None. He needs to put Datsyuk & Zetterberg back together, and I mean right now. He's got the Wings playing a frightened, defensive game. We should be forechecking when we're backchecking. Anaheim is beating us to every single loose puck. Watch....in their zone, we've got one, maybe two forwards near the puck and Anaheim has us out-manned by 2 players......because we're afraid of a breakout and have a third forward high. We need to take charge and play with the puck in their offensive zone, or we're done. I don't see the desperation from our forwards, and it's frustrating as hell. Put Z & Dats back together with Holmstrom, play Filpulla with Hossa & the Mule, let Hudler center Cleary & Samuelsson and throw Helm, Maltby & Kopecky together. We're deeper than them, but Babs keeps 40 & 13 apart. Has it worked so far? Nope. Damn frustrating!

Just a couple quick observations that wouldn't seem to fit in most of the other discussions. #1. Defense combos. I really, REALLY am impressed with the young Mr. Ericsson. I think we all need to send a collective love letter to Haakan Andersson. No wonder Scotty wanted to double his salary to entice him to move to the 'Hawks organization. The Big Rig is a true gem.......selected last overall. Brilliant. He will be a fixture on our blue line for many years to come. Having said that.....I'd move him off of Nick's line for this series while Rafalski is out. I understand that he's paired with the Perfect Human in order to help cover for his mistakes, but I feel that he's good enough to trust him with Nick Jr. and play Stewart up with Lidstrom. I can see the pros and cons each way. The Getzlaf line is Anaheim's one true threat.....they drop way off from there. Perhaps the thinking is that Ericsson is paired with Nick to add some size to help handle them down low. I think that Stewart can handle that aspect and I'd move him up. I also don't see Ericsson making any glaring mistakes yet, so he doesn't need to be babysat. Let him and Kronner wreak havoc in the second pairing. So, for me, it'd be: Lidstrom, Stewart Kronwall, Ericsson Lebda, Chelios Man, just think if all of our D were healthy: Lidstrom, Rafalski Kronwall, Stewart Eriksson, Lilja Anyone else think that Lebda & Meech will be moved in the off-season to help clear space for Hossa? (Not to mention Chelios retiring and taking a coaching spot here or in Chicago.) I still miss Fischer, too. #2. Forward lines: Okay.....always my favorite topic. I always wanted to see how a Z, Dats, Hoss line would meld. How could that not strike instant diuretic distress on the opposition? It does kinda throw Holmstrom down a line or two though, so I can understand not using it. (I'd sure as hell try it if we were in desperate straights, though.) So, instead, I'd simply like to see Dats and Z reunited again. The point production of all of our big guns has dropped off in the playoffs. I think that the play of the other forwards has stepped up enough where we can pair Dats and Z again. They are greater than the sum of their parts when playing together. Funny, but Hossa's production is down, and I think that's because he seems to thrive when he's more in control of the puck, rather than passing often. His forte' seems to be in gathering speed through the neutral zone and driving hard to the net rather than running the cycle. Fil has stepped up his game, so I'd move him back to 2nd line center. My forward lines: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom Franzen, Filpulla, Hossa Cleary, Hudler, Samuelsson Maltby, Kopecky, Helm #3. The long layoff made the boys rusty. It was quite evident that the layoff hurt the team's initial intensity. We looked slow in the first period and the Duck's looked intimidating....even putting the Wings down 1-0 for the first time in the playoffs. However, as the game rolled along, you could see the team begin to wake up, as evidenced by the 18 shots on net in the third period. I think that the Wings will come out with much more energy in Game 2....you know the Ducks will. Having said that......when both teams are playing at their highest levels...the Ducks cannot match our depth. (Though I have really been impressed by their defensive play.) #4. The Ducks only real shot at taking this series is with a win today. They have to negate our home ice advantage so they can try to get wins at home when they have last change and can get the Getzlaf line away from Lidstrom. If the Wings manage even one win in Anaheim, I think that the Duck is roasted. Did I say these would be quick observations? Sorry.

Hey esteef.....where'd you find my "Homer's Crease" image? Is it from last year's thread?

Please expand the pic or you'll miss some detail......

You really must expand this picture to get the full effect.....