Echolalia

I know this isn't my argument, however, if I could butt my pretty little nose in here a bit.... I understand where you're coming from and I don't consider it a bad idea (in fact, last year I wanted to see Kopecky on the top line with Datsyuk and Homer, even if only for experimentation's sake), but its just not something the Wings tend to do. Its all about working your way to the top. You could be the greatest AHL player and be called up, but you're going to get fourth line minutes and do a fourth liner's job to prove that you can be put into any situation and excel in it. I don't always agree with it, but it seems to be the way it is.

Methinks you're just demonstrating how predictable the nhl is. And excellent job, by the way. Someone's gotta do it.

Wow. He is Haydar's cousin

There's so many more variables besides where a team is placed in a draft that determines the outcome of a team's success. You can't pin it down to 1st round pick, 1st round pick, 1st round pick. Yeah, Pittsburgh was sick last year, and they got significantly better at the deadline, but they didn't win the cup. And they lost a lot to get as far as they did. Its all a balancing act, and I don't think the Wings will start to suffer until about 5 years after Holland and co. retire, assuming the GM to be sucks. If he's well trained and his crew is also, then our dynasty could last for another 20 years. All in all, though, teams go through cycles. A couple years of stardom, a couple years of crap, and usually the higher you go, the deeper you fall. The Wings have been in the top three for the past decade+, so we're definitely overdue. But we have alot of talent beneath the Wings offensively, defensively, and apparently in goaltending as well. When Holland and co. plan to retire, they won't be leaving us with nothing.

This kid definitely has potential. I love that he plays for us now.

Would you like to discuss this?

Darnit. Now I'm getting more excited about how awesome Dark Night was. Arite: thread topic change! What is better? Hossa, or the Dark Knight

Did you really expect anything else, though? I mean, the nhl is hurting right now, and the Wings already have a massive fan base that brings in good income to the organization. No bandaids needed there. Chicago on the other hand is a youthful team with a bright future, and the nhl needs a Western Conference posterboy and Conference-favorite team. All the publicity and growth has been focused in the Eastern Conference (Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Stamkos already), so it only makes sense to balance out the equation. Hopefully Chicago goes from a good team on paper to a great team on the ice, because the opportunities for the nhl to sell out a Chicago of the West vs Pittsburgh of the East would be monumental, and amazing for the league. Besides, the Wings are amazing at polarizing the fanbase. You either absolutely love the Wings, or absolutely hate them. Chicago is a blank palate right now.

apparently you can just mail your favorite players for an autograph

I can give that to you, in that we never have had a pure goal scorer, but scoring was never a real problem for our team (although the second line definitely had its slumps). I guess the main point that I was trying to drive through was that we don't even really need Hossa at this point, or anything he has to offer. Its a complete luxury, and a very unbelievable one considering how much other more desperate teams were offering, many of which DO need what Hossa has to offer, simply to solidify a spot in the playoffs. As for the supporting cast, I'm willing to bet that he will not be playing with Dats and Zetterberg throughout most of the season, but rather with Fillppula and Franzen. I will give you the fact that that is a solid line (I had said something similar in my previous post), and I still agree with you that its a good supporting cast (Fillppula is a born playmaker, Franzen is a scoring powerforward who can open up room for Hossa); but to reiterate, I don't think he will be playing alongside our offensive all stars, if thats what you were even referring to. Sorry about such a long post in completely agreeing with what you said, but its either procrastinate on a half-dead Wings forum in the offseason, or get back to studying for my physics final.

Burke shoulda won it this is ridiculous.

Yeah, stay in the East. They have enough defensive problems without you leaving.

For two and a half years his main responsibility was to be a defensive forward. He didn't start scoring until the opportunity came up where both Homer and Cleary were out, and he was the one that was left to play the gritty forward on the top line. And he produced. And from that he gained confidence. And he continued to produce. Then Cleary and Homer came back. But he was still producing. In fact, if anything, his numbers got even better once Cleary and Homer came back, because he was back on the second line, and all the focus was on Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Homer. All of a sudden the Wings top line comes off; you get your top D off the ice to rest up for the next time they're out there. But wait! Franzen's on the ice! No time to relax now, cuz he's about to score! But in all honesty I kind of hope he levels off a bit, because I can't possibly see how both he and Zetterberg will be here next year if he pops 600 goals this year.

I don't think anyone here is really "overrating" Hossa. Nobody is saying he's better than Crosby or Ovechkin, or can steal the captaincy from Lidstrom. In fact, the only thing the OP said was that he still couldn't believe Hossa is a Wing, then followed with Hossa you're awesome. No overrating. He is awesome, and that's validated. He's had a 100 point season. He was one of the biggest reasons his team made it to the finals last year. There's no way that isn't awesome. But the majority of the hype isn't for Hossa's playing abilities, because quite frankly, we already have everything that he offers in various other players. The excitement stems from the fact that Hossa belongs to the Wings, despite all the forces that seemed to make that an impossibility at the deadline, and the fact that he puts our team (an already proven cup winning team) over the top for another year, when all our top competitors just got worse. At least that's why I'm excited. Not because he can outscore Ovechkin if he had the same linemates, or that he's better than Lacavalier in some obscure offensive statistic. Its because he's on our team now, and the Wings as an organization couldn't have possibly made a better move this offseason. As for his postseason play, I'm not worried in the least about that. He is most likely going to be playing the second line, which means he won't be shouldering all the offensive responsibility of playing on the first line (and all you hockey players know there is an extra weight on your shoulders come playoff time if you're the one getting first line minutes). He won't be versing the top two defensmen from the other team, so he should have more room to work, and he'll most likely be playing with Franzen and Filppulla, which out of all the second lines in the league, if I were a scorer, I would hop onto this line. I really see him playing a similar role as Hull and Robatille when they came to the Wings in 02. A definite powerhouse when it comes to scoring, but 2nd line responsibility. Besides, he had a good year last year. If you're looking at anything earlier, you're out of date

and our beer.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AjYY...mp;type=fantasy I guess its to be expected, but I still think its a bit early.

Barring injuries, my expectations for Dats Zetterberg and Hossa are to break 90 points each. I think thats a large enough challenge for the each of them in their careers right now, yet definitely not unrealistic by any means.

Well, Crosby's not getting his name on the cup for the next three years...

But now he won't be able to play with Jeff Finger

When Democrats are in office, theres nothing for the country to complain about

Its almost an exact two and a half hour drive from Kzoo to Detroit, so you would be cutting it really close.

I didn't realize he was with the Wings the entire season. I was under the impression that he was in Grand Rapids and was only called up for the defensive injury plague we were hit with, which by the way, if I'm not mistaken, we ended up losing like all our games in February except one or two; not winning most of them.

double post, but you know im really just trying to boost my post count

Seriously, Nashville, its just not meant to be. At least not now. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_dadd...F?urn=nhl,93565 But at least Del Biagglio went bankrupt. edit to fix link.

yahoo sports is my favorite