Sky not falling - optimism thread!

[daniel1 32]

With all the negativity over Hossa and Sammy leaving and Hudler's defection to Russia I can't help but think that there's about 28 other NHL clubs that would love to have our problems. We have LOTS of reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season:

1st - If Datsyuk and Lidstrom were 100% healthy in the Cup Finals last year we would be looking for our 3rd consecutive Stanley this coming year. No doubt about it, with Dats and Lids at full strength we win in 6 again last year - this is not homer bias, just common sense.

2nd - We are fretting over who's going to play on the 3rd and 4th line! Kenny and Mike will choose the best options available and put together a team capable of another deep run and barring injury should challenge for the Cup again.

3rd - We have the best two-way defensman in the World.

4th - We have the best two-way forward in the World (and probably the 2nd best too).

5th - Our D is just sick. Add a full year of big E and it's gets even better, with or without Lilja, we have the best 6 D in the NHL.

6th - Our top forwards are all committed, dedicated, locked up Wings for a good while. Dats, Z, Mule, Flip, and Cleary are a top 5 that not too many other teams can match up with.

7th - We have some young guns ready to step up and fill the shoes of our dearly departed. Leino and Helm are VERY good players and will be able to ease the impact of losing 3 regulars next year. They could even challenge for the Calder next year along with Big Rig. Not many teams can plug in 3 guys who are capable of making as big an impact in one season as these three can.

8th - We have organizational depth in GR at both forward, D and especially goal. We have 3 top goaltending prospects that should make the transition to the post-Ozzie period a lot easier. Between Howard, Larrson and McCollum, one of them will be a top starter for us in the near future.

9th - We have one of the best, if not the best, coaches in the NHL, and he's not going anywhere for a long time. The players respect him and he's taken us to the Cup final two years in a row.

10th - We have a management, scouting, and ownership group that will do whatever it takes to win. They have the resources, experience and intelligence to keep us in Cup contention for a long, long time.

Feel free to add any reasons that I may have overlooked.

I'm looking forward to the coming year and can't wait for the puck to drop!

[LeftWinger 5,130]

The sky is not falling for sure! I am looking forward to having some Griffins up here! If they play well enough, I would have both Oulahen AND McGrath on the fourth line with Draper. They cannot perform any worse than Maltby or Kopecky did! Plus they'll bring youth and speed to our checking line. We need to sign a vetern 3rd liner (Malhortra, Grier, Peca, Joe UFA (take your pick)) keep Abby in GR to get QUALITY first line minutes and experience leading that team, and have lines something like this:

Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Datsyuk

Cleary - Fipulla - Franzen

Leino - Helm - Joe UFA

McGrath - Draper - Oulahen

Maltby

The "D" is set with Meech and Ledba battling for the 7th spot, one will go, one will stay, don't care which...

No panic here, youthful enthusiasm, very much looking forward to our little "rebuild" for lack of a better word!

[going_top_shelf 6]

Does McGrath have a shot at making it because I never hear of him discussed among Detroit's top prospects.

[Echolalia 2,961]

I thought most of the pessimism already blew over?

[LeftWinger 5,130]

Does McGrath have a shot at making it because I never hear of him discussed among Detroit's top prospects.

Well, he has to make it or pass thru waivers to be sent down. With our need for three more players to complete our forwards corps, why not give them the 4th line and sign a cheap UFA for the third? IMO, McGrath and Oulahen cannot do worse than Maltby/Kopecky on the 4th line last year, plus they are younger, faster and (unlike Maltby) are eager to impress Ilitch and Holland and prove they belong, they won't be just skating (no pun intended) thru camp with a guarnateed spot. This is their chance to make the Wings, until now, the Wings alsways had 1 spot or zero available for these youngsters, no they havfe 3 spots up for grabs (if you count Maltby as the 13th.) Maltby, by virtue of senority and reward, he is guarnateed a roster spot, but there is no reason why these two cannot take his spot on the 4th line pushing him to 13th and eventually retirement next year. Draper can still fly so couple him together with the two kids and theat should be a pretty energenic 4th line, and the third line of Leino, Helm and Joe UFA should be full of piss and vinegar too!

All this mkaes for great hockey! The transition is here, the core is set, the kids are coming, this is not your fathers Detroit Red Wings!

[daniel1 32]

Well, he has to make it or pass thru waivers to be sent down. With our need for three more players to complete our forwards corps, why not give them the 4th line and sign a cheap UFA for the third? IMO, McGrath and Oulahen cannot do worse than Maltby/Kopecky on the 4th line last year, plus they are younger, faster and (unlike Maltby) are eager to impress Ilitch and Holland and prove they belong, they won't be just skating (no pun intended) thru camp with a guarnateed spot. This is their chance to make the Wings, until now, the Wings alsways had 1 spot or zero available for these youngsters, no they havfe 3 spots up for grabs (if you count Maltby as the 13th.) Maltby, by virtue of senority and reward, he is guarnateed a roster spot, but there is no reason why these two cannot take his spot on the 4th line pushing him to 13th and eventually retirement next year. Draper can still fly so couple him together with the two kids and theat should be a pretty energenic 4th line, and the third line of Leino, Helm and Joe UFA should be full of piss and vinegar too!

All this mkaes for great hockey! The transition is here, the core is set, the kids are coming, this is not your fathers Detroit Red Wings!

Would love to see a third line of Helm, Leino and Grier. Put Grier's 225lbs in front of the net, have Helmer chase down every lose puck and Leino can make the plays and dangle a bit too.

Z-Dats-Homer

Mule-Flip-Cleary

Leino-Helm-Grier

One of the kids-Draper-Abby

Maltby (spare)

[Grim 5]

Another measure for optimism is Anaheim ditching Pronger and Beauchemin. Add to that, the Hawks dumped Khabibulin. All we need now is for the Sharks to make a silly big-risk move...

Edited July 24, 2009 by Grim

[Selke13 0]

amen

[MidMichSteve 1,115]

Another measure for optimism is Anaheim ditching Pronger and Beauchemin. Add to that, the Hawks dumped Khabibulin. All we need now is for the Sharks to make a silly big-risk move...

Thanks for that nice article in your sig.

[19Wingsfan4ever 0]

amen

Got that right!!!!!

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Another measure for optimism is Anaheim ditching Pronger and Beauchemin. Add to that, the Hawks dumped Khabibulin. All we need now is for the Sharks to make a silly big-risk move...

Heatley for Marleau, Michalek and a 2nd rounder?

Edited July 24, 2009 by Hockeytown0001

[MadMan Mark 0]

Another measure for optimism is Anaheim ditching Pronger and Beauchemin. Add to that, the Hawks dumped Khabibulin. All we need now is for the Sharks to make a silly big-risk move...

You may not have to wait too long, I read somewhere that Nabokov was willing to waive his no-trade clause. Now don't get me wrong, the Sharks NEED Nabokov, especially since Boucher is gone. But, they also need money and should have parted ways with Thornton and/or marleau to free up cap space. Fortunately, SJ's GM is almost as dim-witted as Chi's. Wilson talked a great game when the Sharks went down in Round 1 (again), but didn't do much as far as the house-cleaning he claimed was coming.

[AD2044 0]

Sign Grier, Pyatt and the newly bought out Eaves

Z-D-H

Leino-Fils-Franzen

Cleary-Helm-Eaves

Pyatt-Draper-Grier

ex Maltby

that is an unreal lineup in my opnion. good luck to all the other 29 teams playing agaisnt that lineup

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Love the idea of adding Pyatt, but he won't be dirt cheap (or Vancouver would just re-sign him, right?).

Grier is an optimal snag because the Sharks can't afford to outbid the Wings. But how low would Grier go? Isn't he tired of being on the perpetual pretenders over in San Jose?

How much of the Grier 'fit' is actually wishful thinking here on LGW? Would an outside source think he's as good a fit as we do? I hope so because I feel like his hitting, shotblocking, sacrificing style is exactly what we need on the bottom two lines now that Cleary is a permanent top 6 man.

[LeftWinger 5,130]

Love the idea of adding Pyatt, but he won't be dirt cheap (or Vancouver would just re-sign him, right?).

Grier is an optimal snag because the Sharks can't afford to outbid the Wings. But how low would Grier go? Isn't he tired of being on the perpetual pretenders over in San Jose?

How much of the Grier 'fit' is actually wishful thinking here on LGW? Would an outside source think he's as good a fit as we do? I hope so because I feel like his hitting, shotblocking, sacrificing style is exactly what we need on the bottom two lines now that Cleary is a permanent top 6 man.

Whomever accepts $1.0M is the guy I want! Peca, Grier, Betts, Joe UFA, I don't care, lets just get July 30th here and gone so we can move on!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Oh, and of course the sky isn't falling.

I get to watch a handful of preseason games then I get to watch 82 regular season games THEN I get to watch the postseason. Also there are 29 other teams playing NHL hockey that I can watch play.

I'm looking at a solid 9 months of my favourite game in the world.

Honestly, how could the sky be falling?

I'm waiting for Lidstrom's retirement to start the self-flagellation parade. Then again, who would've thought the Wings would recover from Stevie's retirement in less then one season?

[titanium2 867]

Honestly, how could the sky be falling?

Because Hossa isn't here to score 40 goals and the Wings have to make up for the loss of Samuelsson's great shot.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Because Hossa isn't here to score 40 goals and the Wings have to make up for the loss of Samuelsson's great shot.

ahh, but the good thing here is that the Wings let so many damn goals in the net that keeping the goal differential steady will be real easy if they just start to let fewer than 3 goals a game in (like they did when they actually won things!).

[Hankanator 0]

The only good thing about this upcoming season is that the black hole chemistry killer known as Marian Hossa is gone. I said it before he was signed, I said it during last season and i'll continue saying it.

The Wings have enough play money to sign two veterans or take a flyer on a guy cheap, like Bertuzzi and hope he produces. This team has shown time and time again that average players look much better on this team. We've seen Bertuzzi before and although it wasn't great, he was getting paid five or six million at the time.

Bertuzzi > Samuelsson

Sykora > Samuelsson

Hossa is irrelevant, he didn't win with this team and he is one of the main factors for them not repeating.

Losing Hudler blows but at the same time, you have Leino who will replace some of the production.

But with all that being said... how will we replace #82?

The season is over.

[DanZ 0]

ahh, but the good thing here is that the Wings let so many damn goals in the net that keeping the goal differential steady will be real easy if they just start to let fewer than 3 goals a game in (like they did when they actually won things!).

Plus Hossa didn't do s*** in the playoffs, which is when it really matters. I think Helm and Leino will have no trouble replacing those goals.

[thedisappearer 291]

Leino - Helm - Joe UFA

I dunno, I heard Joe UFA is lazy and he sucks. Plus, he doesn't fight.

[robb himself 143]

Id love them to sign Grier!

Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Cleary

Franzen, Filppula, Leino

Maltby, Draper, Holmstrom

Abdelkader, Helm, Grier

now thats badass

could replace Maltby with Ritola, Oulehan, Newbury, Williams or McGrath and just see what happens

[Tommy_Like_Wingy 25]

Is anybody else having trouble being positive when there's these ad banners all over this site advertising Hossa's Blackhawks t-shirt?

[titanium2 867]

Is anybody else having trouble being positive when there's these ad banners all over this site advertising Hossa's Blackhawks t-shirt?

Not if you have ad block.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

This team has had little/no trouble making the playoffs the past 15+ years. They still didn't last year despite how iffy goaltending and defense was during most of the regular season. They still have a solid roster despite some losses. I highly doubt next year will be much different...