Echolalia

My favorite memory has to be deep into the playoffs of 98, versing the Coyotes. The Wings were in Phoenix and were playing a tough game. There was a stoppage in play and the whole crowd was cheering, and the camera pans over to one particular spot in the seats where Konstantinov was standing up and waving to the Wings' bench. A couple weeks later we were to win the Stanley Cup and push Vladdy around home ice with the cup on his lap.

haha that was pleasantly simple

I don't think we need to look for another free agent. Bring up one of the many names that I listed above. Quincy has already proven he can handle it in the nhl. We already have enough defensmen, and they're good ones at that. Instead I think we should spend our extra money on a forward.

I didn't say anything about our defense last year. I was predicting how good our current lineup is. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Chelios, Lebda, Lilja and the plethora of promising young defensmen including Quincy, Meech, Kindl, etc. look pretty intimidating to me. I think Kronwall is a better defensman than Markov anyway, and if Lilja plays like he did in the playoffs last year, even he could be a good second option. Markov was a decent defensman, but hes replaceable. The only real upside to having him on the wings is his grittiness.

I'm really not to pleased with signing Drake. We picked him up to be a physical presence on the ice. I won't deny that that could really help us out in the long run, but Drake is getting old, and you don't want an old guy to be the enforcer for your team (although it is an upgrade from Chelios ) I'm really hoping that he meshes with our team, and maybe some magic will happen to give him a more valuable role than he's had recently, or is expected to have this year, but I'm not too optimistic. As for who is better, based on our current needs and state of the team, I would prefer to have Drake in the lineup. There was one time out of the entire season last year that I was proud of Lang and grateful he was on our team, and that was his clutch playoff goal. Unfortunately I think he may've indirectly been the result of many goals against for our team, and the only way I can see Drake doing that is by taking a stupid penalty. But at least then we won't have guys like Pronger trying to boost their egos by blasting our guys in the head at vulnerable moments.

Lions are winning at least 6 games this year. That will be one of them. Nashville will win at most 6 games this year. That won't be one of them.

After reading over our current list of defensmen I'll answer your question with one of my own- what difference does it make, our defense is going to be pumped. What I would give to verse the Rangers in the finals. All out offense vs an all out defense

fix'd

How did Kronwall get goalie interference??

I would s*** my pants if he ended up in Detroit, but I've been hearing he may retire, and if he didn't, the odds of us actually getting him seem quite slim

As much faith as I have in Holland to get things done (and God knows he has) and as much faith as I have in the team we have right now, I'm still concerned with where we are. We're seeing a bunch of teams spend to the brim and go out and get things done. We saw the Rangers beef up by taking 2 of the most eligible free agents out there, Philadelphia is rearing for a big comeback with how they're beefing up, Anaheim looks like they aren't going to slow down, even if Selanne and Niedermayer do retire, and most of the top free agents that would've helped the wings out the most spread themselves out over various teams. Now as of right now I'm content with the replacement of Schneider (although not so much the price), and I like that Lang and Calder have left us. Unfortunately I'm not happy with our need for an all-out sniper, nor with our sudden decrease in physicality, and with the money we have I think those two things are our biggest priorities. Having looked at the free agency market I'm fairly disappointed in the choices but things definitely could be worse. I know the wings are in a good situation, but I'm not convinced that we're in the best situation for winning the cup next year. With that said, I know Holland has rarely steered us down a bad path and I know there has to be some logical explanation why he seems to be holding back on the market. I just hope that explanation will get the wings what they need to get to the finals next year.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212226&hubname= we all knew it was coming, but it looks like the wheels are finally in motion

http://nhlnumbers.com/det.html well if you take Lang, Calder, Markov, Schneider, Bertuzzi and Hasek off the list you have about 12 million bucks. Minus that from the 44 M total at the bottom and you have around 32 million. 50 minus 32 is about 18 million, but that seems kind of high and I'm suddenly unsure of my math, or whether I left out a variable....

I think the problem is most of us (at least some of us) are considering the baseline for a rivalry to be what was between the Wings and Avs in the late 90s, however its important to note how truly exceptional that hostility was. Its to this day considered one of the greatest rivalries in franchise sports history, and its unfair to consider anything less than that not a rivalry.

Maybe if they make th nets 2 feet wider then maybe Sammy can hit the net. But I'm not holding my breath

I actually think it would be cool to have an award for the best crowd. It would put the fans in the game at a whole new level, support would be higher, and it may even attract some new fans.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&a...rticleid=323162

Messier Larionov Lemieux Stevens As much as I hate seeing Lemieux's name up there, I think he'll weasel his way in this year

The Leafs will always be in a rivalry with Detroit. Even though our skill is much higher than theirs and we only see them every other year, you can always expect the fans for those games to be insane, and the players to give it their all both physically and mentally.

I really wish they would get better. We need some competition in our division

I don't know much about Rinne, but these crazy events occuring at Nashville are definitely not going to help their attendance troubles...

They have a while to go still before they're playoff caliber. 5 or so years at least if they play their cards right

its news to me

Well Boston's just waiting for someone who knows how to win

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