21 replies to this topic

[BigTex]

Oh I know for sure. I was just trying to come up with an excuse...we Texas folk have to stick together...hahah

Thanks BHWF, I appreciate you coming to my defense.  Worst threaad ever?  Maybe, but at least nobody flamed me personally, so at least that's a positive.  LOL.

I was really more interested in if anyone had seen him play yet this preseason.  I've heard so much about everyone else on the team, but nothing at all about Homer.  If he's about where he was at the end of last season then probably he'll be with the big club.  Just curious if maybe he's experienced any type of decline in his play over the summer.  Usually you see articles about everyone on the whole team by now, the lack of a single one about Homer is just plain wierd to me.

[eva unit zero]

Uh, he is pretty much the best at what he does, not many people can play in front of the net like him. He wouldn't last one second on waiver's...

IMO the only guy in danger is Emmerton if Brunnstrom/Conner/Johnson outshine him. Still not sure Holland would expose Emmerton to waivers, unless he stinks up the ice. There is always a trade of assets to open a roster spot, but even that is limited to just a couple players. And we all know how much "potential" is there...


Speaking of waivers and trades (sorry didn't want to start a thread on this) who gets waived or traded out of Buffalo and Washington? Buffalo is currently over $3M over the cap and Washington is just under $900,000 over the cap... Some interesting moves are about to happen...

Homer is not going to be waived; even if he's not worthy of a top-six spot anymore (true) he's still huge on the power play. Keeping him as a specialist is better than waiving him - the only conceivable situation he gets waived is if both Brunnstrom and Emmerton play their way into the top six in the preseason AND the Wings plan to only carry 13 forwards, meaning that a Homer vs. Miller competition for the 14th spot wouldn't happen because there IS no 14th spot.

Homer stays, and realistically, there's no reason he shouldn't because he's still a decent player. Assuming Homer plays in the bottom six, here are the lines I would like to see:

Hudler/Datsyuk/Franzen
Filppula/Zetterberg/Bertuzzi
Cleary/Helm/Eaves
Mursak/Abby/Homer
Miller/Emmerton

If Brunnstrom makes the team, it's in the top nine, and it probably pushes Mursak out, possibly Abby, and Emmerton off the roster. So in that case, I would like:

Hudler/Datsyuk/Franzen
Filppula/Zetterberg/Brunnstrom
Cleary/Helm/Eaves
Homer/Abby/Bertuzzi
Miller/Mursak

Alternate option:

Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary
Filppula/Zetterberg/Franzen
Homer/Brunnstrom/Bertuzzi
Mursak/Helm/Eaves
Miller/Abby

If Conner or Johnson make the roster, it's more likely that Miller is gone than Emmerton IMHO. I don't see Holland and Babcock adding another one-dimensional defensive specialist as a spare forward in favor of a solid two-way prospect with good skating, playmaking skills, and hockey sense, who could develop into a good all around second line center like Filppula. Conner is almost certainly headed to Grand Rapids; Johnson is the bigger threat due to his experience and faceoff abilities, however his tryout status reduces that. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to having Johnson over Miller. I'd rather have Emmerton over Johnson though. But for different reasons.