If you could bring one player back from '96-'97?

[The Noodle 39 14]

Well if you mean add a player from the 96-97 team to our current team now.. then that is a tough one.. Vladdy no doubt though lol. But Shanny from 96-97 would be a great fit too.. tough heh.

Can't forget McCarty who we could use as well. IMO Doug Brown i thought was pretty underated as well hehe. Ah what the heak just combine that whole friggin 96-97 team in with ours. That way we get Stevie Y, Shanny, and some clones of Lidstrom, Maltby, Draper, Holmstrom, Osgood etc. That way we can rest the older versions of them.

[toby91_ca 620]

QFT

While Fedorov was the better player, Shanny was the more important player.

I think you'll need to explain that a little further....for me anyway, since I saw Fedorov as the more important player.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

LARRY MURPHY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[OsGOD 3]

Fedorov... no doubt in my mind... only a few more months!

[WingNutt 12]

Most of you already can probably guess my picks.

first and foremost would be nice to have Fedorov back, He and Pavel would play good on a line with Flip. and Zetterberg could play on a line with Hulder and Homer.

but besides Fedorov I would take back Igor Larionov, and even todays Kozlov would be a good choice.

nobody can deny the Chemistry that the Russian 5 had, on ice was insane.

[Izzy24 44]

LARRY MURPHY!!!!!!!!!!!!

RIGHT ON!!!

[b.shanafan14 733]

While Feds beats Shanny hands down with skill; Shanny was a leader, & possessed a ton of grit which are 2 qualities that ya can't teach

Who can forget that night in March 1997 - when Shanny leaped thru the air to grab Patty Waa, & to duke it out with Foote?...It's no coincidence that we watched our beloved Red Wings win it all that year when Shanny was acquired.

exactly, from the minute Shanny dawned the Winged wheel he was a leader who put the team first. He has slowed down over the years, but give me Shanny's leadership plus his quick release and onetime ability anyday

[norrisnick 1]

While Feds beats Shanny hands down with skill; Shanny was a leader, & possessed a ton of grit which are 2 qualities that ya can't teach

Who can forget that night in March 1997 - when Shanny leaped thru the air to grab Patty Waa, & to duke it out with Foote?...It's no coincidence that we watched our beloved Red Wings win it all that year when Shanny was acquired Coffey and Primeau were dispatched of.

There you go.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I think you'll need to explain that a little further....for me anyway, since I saw Fedorov as the more important player.

Fair enough.

Fedorov was the more talented of the two no doubt, but Shanny was the more needed player based on the Wings roster at that point. Shanny brough an element of toughness that the Wings' forwards were lacking, and he was a natural scoring winger. The team had enough solid centermen, but Shanny was the more dire need for that team.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

If we are saying among active players right now: Knuble.

IF we are saying the 97 version of the player: Fedorov, to get Sammy off the goddamn point on powerplays.

[Dano33 41]

Tomas Sandstrom, it's hard to argue with his 18 points in 34 games.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Kevin Hodson

In all seriousness, Brendan Shanahan in his '96-'97 form. He was simply outstanding that year.

[VikingMark 5]

Active Players that played for Detroit in 1997 that could legitimately be acquired to help now (or, more correctly, at the trade deadline); Fedorov! He'll make a great offside winger for Dats!

A 1997 Player that was magically sent through time directly following the Cup win, excluding only Captain Yzerman and Sheriff Konstantinov?; Saint Nicklas Lidstrom, of course!

Playing alongside the current Multi-Norris winning 2007 Lidstrom, the 1997 version of Lidstrom would aspire to play even better than himself to finally win the Norris for himself! One of the two Lidstroms’ are on the ice at any time during games throughout the season. Norris finalists for the year are Lidstrom, Lidstrom, and ‘Pain Train’.

[norrisnick 1]

Fair enough.

Fedorov was the more talented of the two no doubt, but Shanny was the more needed player based on the Wings roster at that point. Shanny brough an element of toughness that the Wings' forwards were lacking, and he was a natural scoring winger. The team had enough solid centermen, but Shanny was the more dire need for that team.

Without Fedorov on the roster, adding Shanahan doesn't tip the scales. Shanny looks more important because he was the biggest name added, but you can't discount the other moves (removing Primeau and Coffey and more importantly adding proven Cup winners in Murphy and Kocur).

[datsyukonethree 0]

Hands down, Brendan Shanahan.

[eva unit zero 271]

Fair enough.

Fedorov was the more talented of the two no doubt, but Shanny was the more needed player based on the Wings roster at that point. Shanny brough an element of toughness that the Wings' forwards were lacking, and he was a natural scoring winger. The team had enough solid centermen, but Shanny was the more dire need for that team.

Shanahan was the more necessary player to add to the roster because we already had Fedorov. It's like the argument that we won the Cup in 2002 because of Hasek. Being the biggest name acquired in a Cup season doesn't make you the most important part of the team. Certainly those players helped...but they were not the most important players on the team.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Shanahan was the more necessary player to add to the roster because we already had Fedorov. It's like the argument that we won the Cup in 2002 because of Hasek. Being the biggest name acquired in a Cup season doesn't make you the most important part of the team. Certainly those players helped...but they were not the most important players on the team.

How so? I can see your argument but lets break this down even though I know we're never going to come to a consensus seeing as that this is a complete opinion thread.

I completely understand that the foundation was in place to win the Cup before Shanny was even acquired, but adding a player like that is what put the team over the top (that and the subtraction of Coffey and Primeau). Obviously the simple-minded argument was that Shanny was the missing piece that put them over the top. However, if you subtract Fedorov from the equation, you take away a playoff beast that was beyond dominant. The reason, IMO the edge goes to Shanny was because I believe the Wings had enough depth at center to overcome the deep loss of Fedorov, but I'm not sure they had enough size/scoring depth at Winger to overcome that of Shanny, because it was proven in the past that the Wings finesse team failed in the playoffs.

So I guess right now, with the current status of the Wings, I guess I wouldn't have much of a preference to either of the 96-97 Shanny or Fedorov coming back, as I feel this current Wings roster proved they can tough it out in the playoffs. I feel they turned a corner last post season in what they need to do in order to be successful in the playoffs, and its kind of a toss-up as to which of those two might help this *current* team more.

Edited December 11, 2007 by Never Forget Mac #25

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Feds.