Echolalia

those are pretty strong words. Especially to throw at an original 6 team. Keep in mind how s***ty the wings were a good 20-30 or so years ago

because I'm too lazy to read through the entire topic right now, I'm just going to throw my opinions out there on what little I've read and assume that it hasn't been resolved yet. Most of us would probably trade Lapoint for Sammuelson in a heartbeat. The problem is nobody would be willing to give away Lapoint for Sammuelson. In a lifetiime. Bertuzzi is a tough power forward, but his timidness is more than just the result of his back injury. Hes been a bit more shy ever since the Moore incident, but occasionally will throw a good hit in People will always say the wings could use a bit more toughness, but I think its good to keep one thing in mind when saying this. We didn't loose the playoffs because we weren't tough. In fact, I think we were the toughest team out of all 16 teams to play. We stepped up to Calgary and they couldn't keep up with our physicality. We stepped up to San Hose, and they were all beasts. We stepped up to Anaheim, too. So its not that the Wings NEED another gritty player, even to win a stanley cup, and I personally think our money would be better spent on a sniper. Especially with Babcock's motivation. Hell, he got Datsyuk throwing the body around. With Babs behind the bench, we have 18 power forwards.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../706240688/1053 Just adds fire to the rumors points of interest include signing Smyth among others if Bertuzzi doesn't sign (which according to the article, looks like he very well may stay here) Schneider looks like he will be most difficult to keep, especially with Niedermayer possibly retiring. and possibly the most intriguing: "...the team also expects to get a boost from Igor Grigorenko, the highly touted 2001 Russian pick who's ready to debut in North America."

Sammy. There really isn't much argument any other way.

I've been playing street hockey for the past 10 years, and about 5-6 years ago they put outdoor street hockey rinks in my city, so my friends and I have been utilizing those very well. As for ice hockey, I played through highschool, and now I play intermural at Western

My old roommate works for a state rep. Rest assured some strings will be pulled

Reading this thread makes me really excited for next year edit: especially if we get Jesus

He won't be getting a new contract. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...0337/1128/rss16 its toward the bottom of the article

I thought the draft started tomorrow? edit apparently I'm wrong.

I would be ecstatic to see this in any other context, considering how fricken popular the nfl is.

you're all crazy. white jerseys for home. theres something universally antagonistic about dark colors, so I feel its only appropriate that the dark jerseys should be worn by the away team.

well somebody has to play the lazy-and-sucks player... I wonder if Sammuelson will take his place

fix'd

If Karyia wants to go to a top contending team, chances are he's going to be taking a pay cut no matter where he decides to go. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see him return to the Ducks, as I feel he'll be most comfortable taking a pay cut to return there as opposed to anywhere else. However, I wouldn't consider him completely out of the question for the wings either. Its a longshot, definitely, but we have proven to be a top contending team time and time again, and I have little doubt (as I'm sure he does too) that he would mesh very comfortably with our style of play, and some of our more skilled players. Also, Holland has a knack for pulling miracles. With that said, I would absolutely love to see him in a wings uniform, and if that happens to end up being the case, we will have already won the cup

I honestly didn't apply their attendance or fanbase to my decisions. The Kings have been mediocre at best for far too long, and with two other teams in California (which I still think is one too many) for fans to root for, I really think wiping them off the nhl would be for the best. I'm not sure about scraping all the teams that are struggling to put up decent numbers in terms of attendance and what not, as many of these teams that people are talking about are only 5 years old. If they're still failing come 10 years, WITH PROPER MARKETING APPLIED, then I'll be convinced that the state/area they're located in is not meant for hockey.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../706130431/1128 Nothing we didn't already know, but it stirs a lot of old memories

I say worry about the failing teams that we wasted optimistic time on that are still struggling to bring fans in. Fix whats broken before you go making the mess worse. With that said, I wouldn't mind seeing a failing team move to Las Vegas, but to expand the league there in the state that its in is a stupid move.

Florida Panthers and LA Kings are really the only teams I think are wasting space.

Even though Lidstrom is getting old, I think he will play beyond his 40th year. Lets look at the facts, shall we? 1 Winning a Stanley Cup never gets old. Even after 3 times. 2 Lidstrom is playing some of the best hockey of his career. He hasn't slowed down yet. He hasn't even shown signs of slowing down. 3 For a defensman, he plays very safe hockey. He uses position rather than physicality, therefore he's less likely to get hurt, or suffer a career damaging/ending situation. In fact, I can't even remember the last time Lidstrom was injured, so its safe to say as far as defensman his age go, hes in alot better shape than most. Other defensman his age are beginning to feel those knees grinding and their backs aching from the continued checks they lay out. Lidstrom has very little of that to worry about as a result of his playing style. 4.Hes been upgraded to captain, and although someone doesn't base their retirement decision solely on whether they're captain or not, I think that little fact will keep him around for at least 3 more years.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/rumors/post/Re...F?urn=nhl,35828 Apparently Holland isn't worried about coming across any snags with resigning Chelios, which, after the way he played this year is great news for me. If we can keep Chelios, Hasek, and Schneider, and maybe get a decent sniper before the next season, I'm considering the wings as the favorites to win the cup. Especially after how hungry and determined the boys played this year

Gah Chicago you could've done better than Samsonov... Its times like these that I really hate having only 1 other original 6 team in our conference, and it incidentally happens to be one of the worst teams in the league. I was really hoping Chicago would take advantage of its 1st pick this year and make a couple good trades, and maybe give us a couple good games next year. Oh well, Samsonov isn't that bad I guess...

Keep the offsides, it definitely has its value. i think a better idea would be to increase the width of the arena by about 10 feet or so (I believe someone else mentioned this in a different thread, and I really like the idea). There will be plenty of room to skate in the neutral zone, thus eliminating the 'trap-conundrum', and with that extra speed going through center ice, offsides will probably be reduced, if only just a bit. However if you don't like an offensive rush thats ruled offsides by a fraction of an inch, perhaps create a center line-blue line offsides rule. If the puck passes the center line, then the offensive team is free to skate into the other team's zone. Otherwise an offsides will be ruled. This eliminates the cherry-picking factor, and probably more importantly: the trap. With players being free to pass the blue line once a defensman crosses the half line, there really is little chance of clogging the neutral zone efficiently. And unless the majority of the defending team is waiting at their net, this will also increase the chances of odd-man rushes, as speed will be maintained through the neutral zone, and forwards can start crashing the net as soon as the puck passes the halfline. Personally, I don't want to see the goalie pads get smaller, or the net get larger. I can only see two results from this. First, with that extra handicap, coaches will turn to an even more defensive style of play, and require that all 5 players clog the middle of their zone and block even more than they do now. Not only would it fail to increase the scoring by a marginal value worth the changes, but it would make offensive play more boring. Second, scoring would increase, but many of the goals I can only expect will be what I call "sissy goals". Some Samuelson-like player will take a flimsy wrist shot from the top of the circle, and will beat the goalie far side in an embarrassing play, but one that puts the team up nonetheless. I would prefer the goals come well-earned, and I'm not necissarily saying that the wider nets/smaller pads would make every goal unearned, but I'm almost positive that many would be what we call now "the gimme-saves".

Go Lids!

I'm banking on the fact that he knows his best chance at a cup is in Detroit, and the more generous he is with his salary, the better those chances are going to look.