Hank's signing

[clutchngrab 12]

I find it quite interesting that Babcock has kept Hank and Pavs separated for the majority of the season, yet now, post Z signing, they are reunited. History shows how well they play together and it is obvious - both on the ice, and in interviews, how much they like to play together. The cynic in me says this was a calculated way to low-ball the contract position of the Z camp by separating them and driving down Z's numbers.... Not that that is a bad thing for the wings or that Z isn't getting his coin, but I wonder how others think this was a deliberate strategy or not...

[Z and D for the C 712]

I think it might have something to do with the injuries..maybe not though. Maybe babs just finally realized that Z doesn't produce as much as normal unless he's with datsyuk. But I wouldn't be surprised to see them split up again. I don't think it will happened, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[softshoes 83]

I don't believe that for a second. I'm not the conspiracy kind of guy. Well except for New Coke, that was definitely a conspiracy to drive up sales for the old formula.

[thedisappearer 291]

I think it has more to do with the experiment splitting them didn't work as well as Babcock wanted, and it's getting close to thr playoffs and he wants his lines set.

[Opie 308]

I think the Homer injury has more to do with it than the Contract, and I don't think Babs likes his two biggest weapons on the same line, and currently his two biggest weapons are Hossa and Dats.

One thing about a hot player, if you can switch his lines and he stays hot, now you have another hot line.

Last night's box score, let's all be honest, that is what we want to see from this team.

Hossa Goal

Dats and Z 2g 1 a +2 each. I'll take that any night of the week and even on Weekend afternoon games!!

Beauty!!!

If Hossa brings his heat to the second line and helps ignite Franzen or anyone else for that matter this team will be primed for the post season!!

5 in a row baby!!!

[Frozen-Man 144]

I don't believe that for a second. I'm not the conspiracy kind of guy. Well except for New Coke, that was definitely a conspiracy to drive up sales for the old formula.

:lol: That's funny I feel the same way about blue M&Ms :lol:

[StormJH1 231]

Am I reading the Salary Chart right? It has been widely reported (Rotoworld, etc.) that the Wings got a great deal for Zetterberg because they only have to pay him "just over $6 million a year." But if the LGW chart is accurate, he's actually making 7.4 per year, until it goes up to around 7.7 per year (presumably because of the "nobody makes more than Lidstrom rule"). The only reason it averages out to just over 6 million is because his salary dips considerably between 2018 and 2021, at which point, who even knows if there's an NHL, let alone a salary cap.

I only ask because because some people have been saying that Hank's deal makes signing Hossa "more likely", but if you look at the yearly breakdown, I'm thinking that's not actually the case.

[Guest MrSandMan]

I doubt it. I doubt Holland would want Babs to piss off and discourage Zetter by forcing him to play on a stale line. It probably was more to learn about how Hossa meshes...

[Echolalia 2,961]

Am I reading the Salary Chart right? It has been widely reported (Rotoworld, etc.) that the Wings got a great deal for Zetterberg because they only have to pay him "just over $6 million a year." But if the LGW chart is accurate, he's actually making 7.4 per year, until it goes up to around 7.7 per year (presumably because of the "nobody makes more than Lidstrom rule"). The only reason it averages out to just over 6 million is because his salary dips considerably between 2018 and 2021, at which point, who even knows if there's an NHL, let alone a salary cap.

I only ask because because some people have been saying that Hank's deal makes signing Hossa "more likely", but if you look at the yearly breakdown, I'm thinking that's not actually the case.

The cap hit against a team is the average salary of all years per contract, so while Zetterberg is making 7.4M-almost 8M for the first half of the contract, you'll notice that the last few years are at 1M. That averages out to 6.2M, which will be his caphit for every year of that contract, regardless of what he is getting paid.

[stormboy 47]

re: the whole long-term strategy to get a lower signing...that sounds a little too Machiavellian to me, although if you look at the evidence, it supports the theory. i personally don't think it's true, but at the same time, i wouldn't be totally surprised if there was something of that thought process there. *shrug* but, yeah, hard to argue with 9 points in two games between those two, including a couple of game winners.

again, i don't think this is true, but part of me wonders if in some way this has been babs' plan all along, for a different reason. last year, the league knew that DHZ was one of the top five lines in the league (with the only better lines--perhaps ottawa and tampa--were supported by more or less dummy casts) and watched them all year long. they watched tons of tape and structured their team strategy around stopping that line. this year, babs has been juggling the lines all season. we've stayed real near the top of the league (have we ever dropped below third or fourth?) although not playing our best hockey. now, we've got DHZ back together and an even better supporting cast than last year--only the league hasn't been gunning for the eurotwins + the demolition man all year.

I doubt it. I doubt Holland would want Babs to piss off and discourage Zetter by forcing him to play on a stale line. It probably was more to learn about how Hossa meshes...

as others have wondered, i'm curious whether part of the (verbal) agreement with hossa was that he'd be playing with either datsyuk or zetterberg. i think it's become pretty clear that hossa leads a line very well, and perhaps plays better when he's the main guy on the line. i don't think he was playing in the shadow of datsyuk or zetterberg, per se, and the local fans definitely adore him (though it's hard to say he is loved more than dats or z by many), but i think there might be some psychology for him where when he's THE guy, he plays better. and that doesn't have to mean THE guy on the team, maybe just the guy on the ice. so when he's out there, he's more of less thinking, "it is up to me to get this done," so he gets it done. whereas, playing with 13 or 40, maybe there was some part of him that was falling back on them as well, and he wasn't taking charge quite enough.

man, when homer and franzen come back, leino will likely be gone, but roll 40-13-96 and 21/26/11/51/37-93-81 and that's looking really good to me. with leino gone, i'd put hudler on that line, but really cleary, flip or sammy would probably be fine. it's interesting that by adding hossa, the DH(strom)Z line should still probably be our top line...with hossa and franzen playing well, we really have a hell of a second line, too. hudler's been a bit cold lately, but i think has the set up capability to make plays for hossa and franzen.

sorry for the long post...it just seems like this should have been an obvious solution all along. hopefully hossa is happy with "second line" duty and will continue to dominate. who knows, maybe he and franzen will develop wicked chemistry and that will be part of hossa's reason for staying!

i think you can tell when our boys are having fun. they win. and score a lot.

as for me, i'm just riding the high right now...