Some Disparaging Words from Hudler

[Wingseroo 0]

I think it was more like comparing himself to Flip... I like Flip... Teams need guys like Flip... Truth is I think Hudler is a better offensive player then Flip is a 2 way guy... You need both types... Lets revisit this in 10 years and see what happens... I think Huds comes back to the NHL at some point just because it is the NHL... I then think he will probably be a solid 60-80 pts a year guy for some team for a few years... I think Flip has more longevity the type of player he is, but I think 28-34 years old Hudler might shine more...

[gcom007 1,465]

I think it was more like comparing himself to Flip... I like Flip... Teams need guys like Flip... Truth is I think Hudler is a better offensive player then Flip is a 2 way guy... You need both types... Lets revisit this in 10 years and see what happens... I think Huds comes back to the NHL at some point just because it is the NHL... I then think he will probably be a solid 60-80 pts a year guy for some team for a few years... I think Flip has more longevity the type of player he is, but I think 28-34 years old Hudler might shine more...

Yeah, I'm sorry, but Flip has nothing on Hudler. Not...a...thing. He's incredibly overrated and has done little with his opportunities because at the end of the day he just isn't that great at anything. He's an average, middle of the road type of hockey player. Not bad, but he doesn't have the skills to be a star and he most certainly doesn't have the offensive potential of Hudler or anything even close to it. I'd love for him to prove me wrong this year, but I'm expecting him to prove me right.

Meanwhile, Hudler really does have great offensive skill and has done far more with less of an opportunity than Flip. If I could only sign one of the two, I'd sign Hudler in a heartbeat. I don't think you'll need ten years to figure it out either. I don't think Flip will do much more than he already has and Hudler will return and continue to improve.

At the end of the day, Hudler's raw skill and talent trump Flip's average skill set and inability to finish plays.

Flip: bloated expectations. Hudler: true star potential.

[Z and D for the C 712]

If he had Franzen's body he'd be a superstar.

Agree.

[Broken 16 381]

Drake IS the s***, man. He's like.....the s***, the whole s*** and nothing but the s***, man.

Not only that... he's the corn, the nuts and the unexplainable bean sprout IN the s***...

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

I'm sure Jiri saw the contracts that guys like Z and Franzen got and said "hey, where's my long-term, multi-million dollar contract offer Kenny?".

What he fails to grasp is that the Wings don't generally offer those kinds of deals to one-dimensional players who appear to lack heart, commitment and loyalty to the team. Hank and Mule are complete players, they can play defense and PK with the best in the league as well as chip in offensively. I don't remember seeing Jiri out for the PK too darned often during his time here in Detroit. Players like Cleary and Draper that lack Hudlers offensive talents made themselves more valuable to the team by becoming multi-faceted and showing heart and loyalty. Drapes and Cleary and others like Mule and Z are willing to sacrifice their body, forecheck, backcheck, and basically do whatever it takes to win. I never saw that level of commitment from Jiri; he could have paid more attention to the defensive side of the game, but maybe that would have been saddling himself with the "grand piano" which might have interfered with trying to pad his goal and assist totals. When the game was on line and the Wings really needed a goal, I never saw Jiri elevate his game or give that 110% effort the way you can SEE guys like Z and Helm do, especially in the playoffs. Darren Helm showed more heart and determination in the few games he's played with us than Jiri did in all the years he played here.

I think there's a place in the NHL for the Hudlers, the Nedveds, the floaters who just don't see the value in backchecking or team defense, but that place isn't on the first line in Detroit while Babcock is coaching. Maybe Jiri should have asked Babs or Yzerman what he needed to do in order to elevate his game to the status of "first line player" rather than file for arbitration or run off to the KHL.

I liked Hudler while he was here but I certainly wasn't brainwashed into thinking he was more important to the team than guys like Z, Mule or Cleary just because his "points per ice time" stat was good. It doesn't really help the team win if you score a goal but then lose your check or refuse to backcheck which leads to two goals by the other team. There is much more to a players value than just goals and assists divided by ice time; I never saw anything in Jiri that would make me want to offer him a super high, super long contract and obviously neither did Kenny Holland.

Good luck in the KHL Jiri and maybe all these delusional morons and their calculators will follow you over there and compute your goal and assist totals down to the last second over there as well.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

I'm sure Jiri saw the contracts that guys like Z and Franzen got and said "hey, where's my long-term, multi-million dollar contract offer Kenny?".

What he fails to grasp is that the Wings don't generally offer those kinds of deals to one-dimensional players who appear to lack heart, commitment and loyalty to the team. Hank and Mule are complete players, they can play defense and PK with the best in the league as well as chip in offensively. I don't remember seeing Jiri out for the PK too darned often during his time here in Detroit. Players like Cleary and Draper that lack Hudlers offensive talents made themselves more valuable to the team by becoming multi-faceted and showing heart and loyalty. Drapes and Cleary and others like Mule and Z are willing to sacrifice their body, forecheck, backcheck, and basically do whatever it takes to win. I never saw that level of commitment from Jiri; he could have paid more attention to the defensive side of the game, but maybe that would have been saddling himself with the "grand piano" which might have interfered with trying to pad his goal and assist totals. When the game was on line and the Wings really needed a goal, I never saw Jiri elevate his game or give that 110% effort the way you can SEE guys like Z and Helm do, especially in the playoffs. Darren Helm showed more heart and determination in the few games he's played with us than Jiri did in all the years he played here.

I think there's a place in the NHL for the Hudlers, the Nedveds, the floaters who just don't see the value in backchecking or team defense, but that place isn't on the first line in Detroit while Babcock is coaching. Maybe Jiri should have asked Babs or Yzerman what he needed to do in order to elevate his game to the status of "first line player" rather than file for arbitration or run off to the KHL.

I liked Hudler while he was here but I certainly wasn't brainwashed into thinking he was more important to the team than guys like Z, Mule or Cleary just because his "points per ice time" stat was good. It doesn't really help the team win if you score a goal but then lose your check or refuse to backcheck which leads to two goals by the other team. There is much more to a players value than just goals and assists divided by ice time; I never saw anything in Jiri that would make me want to offer him a super high, super long contract and obviously neither did Kenny Holland.

Good luck in the KHL Jiri and maybe all these delusional morons and their calculators will follow you over there and compute your goal and assist totals down to the last second over there as well.

:clap:

[RedArmy 4]

there wasn't anything bad in that interview really.

Jiri wants to be the star of the team, hard to do with Pavel, Henrik and Mule around to get more ice time...

plus lower taxes on his contract in Russia will generate him more income...

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Yeah, I'm sorry, but Flip has nothing on Hudler. Not...a...thing. He's incredibly overrated and has done little with his opportunities because at the end of the day he just isn't that great at anything. He's an average, middle of the road type of hockey player. Not bad, but he doesn't have the skills to be a star and he most certainly doesn't have the offensive potential of Hudler or anything even close to it. I'd love for him to prove me wrong this year, but I'm expecting him to prove me right.

Meanwhile, Hudler really does have great offensive skill and has done far more with less of an opportunity than Flip. If I could only sign one of the two, I'd sign Hudler in a heartbeat. I don't think you'll need ten years to figure it out either. I don't think Flip will do much more than he already has and Hudler will return and continue to improve.

At the end of the day, Hudler's raw skill and talent trump Flip's average skill set and inability to finish plays.

Flip: bloated expectations. Hudler: true star potential.

This is a terrific post.

I couldn't agree more.

[thedatsyukian 7]

I'm not sure people realize just how much offensive potential Hudler really has(just look at his ahl numbers).

[gcom007 1,465]

I'm not sure if Hudler will ever fully live up to his potential as he does have the size thing working against him and he hasn't exactly been the most consistent player. I think he needs more confidence and his mental game in general needs to improve. He seems like an emotional guy and he's frozen up at times when trade rumors were in the air or if he wasn't getting a ton of ice time. He's done a lot proportional to his opportunity's, but he needs to get his head straight and just get out there and prove he can be an offensive force night in and night out. He needs to forget about ice time and forget about what people are saying and just play his game. He's got the skills to be a star. As someone said, if he had the body, he'd be a superstar. But, he still is more than capable of being a star if he gets his head straight. When he comes back to the Wings, he needs to buckle down and just do his thing. If he has his mental game solid, he'll get the minutes he wants and it'll likely be on the first or second line, which has been much like a 1a/1b thing on the Wings for awhile. I really think that's the only thing holding him back and the thing that likely bugs Babcock the most about him at this point.