Echolalia

Seconded as long as you help your ol buddy Echolalia pay for school. Let's start a National Hockey League Fans' Union

This whole "Bettman is the problem" thing is really getting out of hand. The guy is a slimeball, but let's give credit where it is due. Bettman is essentially employed by the owners of the teams in the NHL. It's his prerogative to make them happy, or he finds himself unemployed. All things considered, he has done an excellent job satisfying owners. The game has evolved and grown by leaps and bounds under his direction, and the owners overall have made great profits, despite everything the league has had going against it. Bettman is the voice of the owners is the labor dispute. What they want is what he has to try to sell to the NHLPA and public. Bettman is not the devil whispering evils into the ears of the owners. Its actually the other way around. He's just the front man. Edit: actually Bettman is in quite a tough pickle now that I think on it. The owners are asking for quite a lot and under the current environment are coming of as unrealistic and greedy. If Bettman can't achieve these extremely lofty and completely one-sided goals (ie owners win, players lose (again)), he may be out of a job. I'm not sure if it would come to that considering the profits that the league has earned in the past decade, but its certainly not an appealing situation to be in.

The Flyers blue line takes a big hit in this injury. (link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=639281) Granted, the guy had a good deal of injury problems to work through last year, so the Flyers aren't entirely inexperienced in this area. Still, having Pronger and Mezaros out of the lineup, not to mention losing Matt Carle is not an appealing situation to be in. What this means for us: The Flyers organization has not been shy in its attempts to bolster their defensive corps. With such precious few options available, this is likely to push Holmgrem to be even more aggressive. As the Detroit Red Wings are also in the market for a reliable defensman, I imagine prices are going to soar. I wouldn't be suprised to see a very strong package deal take Yandle to Philadelphia, even if its a vast overpayment. Holmgrem is a balls-to-the-wall GM. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/andreas-lijla-says-4-months-flyers-lose-another-153435865--nhl.html Andreas Lilja will miss the first four months as well.

"To make that guy pay" as you put it, serves nothing more than to satisfy your own sense of justice and/or revenge. It won't prevent tough guys on other teams from being tough guys, it won't prevent cheap-shot artists from being cheap-shot artists, and Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, and all the others will still have to play with their heads up. This is a professional hockey league. Goons have a very narrow niche that they fill, which is becoming more narrow as the game evolves. If they shy away from doing what they do best, they likely lose their job to someone who can better benefit the team. We could have dressed Probert, Kocur, Shanny, Lapointe, Pronger, Clutterbuck, and Tootoo all in their primes against the Preds, and Weber still wouldn't waste a second in slamming Zetterberg into the boards. You would get to see them "make that guy pay", probably in a more satisfying way than Bertuzzi provided, but it wouldn't stop anything. Actually, it might make the series even more of a bloodbath, because then the other team will want to "make that guy pay", but hey, at least its entertaining to watch right? Tootoo can make that guy pay and he can do it well enough to satisfy your sense of justice or revenge or entertainment or whatever it is you're looking for against most players in the league. He can also contribute in creating scoring opportunities. I'm not sure what more you want.

...okay? I'm failing to see your point, if there is one.

I don't want to derail this thread (too much) but I don't think it matters who is iced if you're looking to prevent guys from getting run. The goons in the NHL are all high testosterone competitors and won't back down even if there is a tough guy out there wearing an opponent's jersey. I've seen Yzerman get run plenty of times while we had Probert and Kocur. Yes fights occurred afterward, but star players still took their licks. Then there are smaller guys who run players looking for someone to drop the gloves so they get a power play out of it via the instigator. Tootoo gives us chaos, and people will focus on him when he's out there, and not so much the game itself. He (much like any other NHLer) won't prevent Datsyuk or Zetterberg from taking a cheap shot, though.

I agree. If your definition of toughness is exclusively in the realm of Probert and Kocur, then there are only six or seven guys in the history of the NHL that can be categorized as tough. Tootoo knows how to give and take real haymakers, throws his body around chaotically and drives into people like a freight train. On top of all of that, he is comfortable with actually playing hockey, and can be known to contribute as well. I'm looking forward to seeing this guy play, and I agree that he will surprise a lot of Wings' fans as well.

Actually I like how our forwards look better than last year. It's defense that worries me.

They damn well better show them. I think I'm more excited about the alum games than the actual Winter Classic

Whenever talk of sending a number to the rafters pops up, I like to rely on a very simple test to determine whether a number is worthy of being retired: is there even a debate as to whether the jersey is hung? If we're debating it, then the player didn't do enough to convince me he deserves to have his number retired. Yzerman was no debate, Lidstom is no debate. Fedorov (and Osgood for that matter, but that's another topic), there are arguments on both sides and for that matter alone I would not retire his number.

So Weber still cannot be traded for the next year, correct? Or is that only in effect if the Flyers sign him?

Just curious: what part of his response is baffling you?

Because Doan brings the crazy to the ice and opponents think less about hockey and more about Doan when he's out there.

Let's be honest. Nobody has any clue where any one team's prospects compare with others. One site says Wings are top 5, anothet says they're bottom five, another says middle of the pack. How do you rank something as vast and variable as "talent", or "intelligence", especially when there is absolutely no standardization. One kid comes from the CCHA, another from SEL, another from Juniors, another from AHL, and the amount of diversity that each kid faces within a league is immense as well. People try to justify their claims by "compensating" for trends in certain leagues like high scoring, or faster paced or whatever, but the truth is nobody knows what anyone will end up doing of anything. The only sure fire kids are the ones who are put immediately into the NHL, and they're never prospects.

I do not want Holland to patch up big holes with little bandages. Especially if these are bandages we can't remove once more adaquate bandages become available. You don't spend to the Cap every year just because you can. You do it only when it will make your team better, and while this year's extremely average group will become slightly above average with Semin on it, it isn't worth sacrificing the cap space if it prevents us from landing someone who can really make a difference in our line up, and make our average group a legit contender. It would suck sitting on all this cap space, but it we can't get anyone for just a one year contract, I'd rather face the season with who we currently have.

There are a lot of interesting things going on with this situation. With such a massive front loaded contract, is it possible the league may deny it, and if they do, then what happens? Secondly, the Flyers can use Pronger's LTIR cap space to cover some of the cost of Weber's salary, but not all of it. If Pronger were to retire, the Flyers lose that gratuity and are in serious cap trouble. Pronger's contract is a +35er too, so his salary is on the books until the contract is expired or it's bought out. Also, from what some folks have investigated here, it seems that the Preds and Flyers are still capable of negotiating a trade in the 7 day period, which in light of all the above I see as the most likely outcome. If a trade occurs, is Weber still restricted to playing for the Flyers for one calandra year, or can he be traded away?

Don't forget the albatross contract to Paul Martin the defensive savior. Actually, what Shero did there in signing an average player to an above average salary and term and give him an above average role to fill the defensive void is exactly what Holland refuses to do this year. Interestingly enough most Pens fans want Martin removed to get that cap space back. Funny that situation should make its way into this thread of all threads...

I wanna like this kid and hope he becomes a star in the NHL. I really do! But when I see him do this stuff I can't help but think that this is the type of kid who is going to finesse himself into a freight train and have his career ended in his 20s. And maybe he should be practicing something that will help him out a little more. Yeah, yeah, hand eye coordination blah blah blah

Excellent post

I'm hoping (and cautiously expecting) that Smith can be the Wings' replacement for Rafalski.

Unfortunately there are other factors that come in to play when signing someone aside from cap space and need. Does the sniper in question want a long term contract? Does he even want to play in Detroit? I don't think it's worth the risk to sign Semin or some other questionable player if they're looking for a several year contract. We're in tough shape today, but imagine how bad we would be with two Franzen-types locked up for the next five years. Is that really the solution? If he wants to play here, and is willing to play for one year, awesome. But otherwise it becomes iffy, and frankly I'd rather sit on the money and use it next year when some legit top players without all the baggage are available. The Wings are in a unique position to for once have a lot of money to work with, but there's only scraps and garbage available to buy.

Look, Holland is being smart here. He tried his best to get both Parise and Suter, but in the end they wanted to be close to their families, which Michigan cannot provide. After those two, the free-agent pool drops off considerably. We have money and we have needs, but is it smart to utilize that money in a poor free agent market in attempt to fill your needs with average players, or would it be better to put a bandage on all the wounds for now and wait until next year when more high profile players will be free to sign wherever they like? Trades are always an option too, but when you need someone to replace Lidstrom, or some top-six sniper (in a dry free agent year no less), prices are going to be high. Holland admitted he wants at least another player before he's comfortable with the team, but it's goIng to be a bandage, not a permanent fix to our roster issues. This year can't provide us with a permanent fix. That's just the reality of it. Better luck next year.

Based on the dozen-or-so game sampler from last season, I'm quite confident in his offensive capabilities, patience, and vision. What I'm worried about is his backwards skating and his responsibility in his own zone.

Interesting that the Flyers are on that list. Howson might actually get what he thinks Nash is worth...