Wings buy out Colaiacovo, will keep Bertuzzi

[amato 3,210]

An acquaintance of mine created a Dan Cleary Drinking Game, one of the rules state that you must finish your drink whenever Dan Cleary scores a goal.

Through the grapevine Dan Cleary somehow heard about this game and sent all of them glasses and autographed photos that said, "Drink up".

hahahaha say swear! that's great

[Guest The Axe]

Fire Ken Holland now. He stinks.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

Why don't you guys let it play out first, before making judgements.

Did you notice my Hampus Melen viking watermelon banana horn avatar pic?

HAHA....I distracted him!

Seriously though, we need to cut Cleary out of the equation. He's just eating a kids roster spot. We don't want Lecavalier for 5 years, but we'll keep Cleary for 3 at twice the salary he's worth at this point and then in the same breath say that in a year or 2 Jurco, Sheahan and Ferraro will be Red Wings? It's not so much making judgements at this point, it's trying to figure out the jigsaw puzzle that Holland is trying to make this lineup. He wants a youth movement, but he keeps going back to the old comfortable pair of underwear, though it's full of holes.

[gcom007 1,465]

Cleary at $3 million for 3 years but we can't do $4.5 million for five years for Lecavalier? I get why people defend Holland, but seriously? Seriously? We'll pay a guy who spends half his ice time on his knees $3 million for 3 more years because we're worried about the "pace" of a guy who's ten times the player Cleary ever was?

[hooon 1,089]

So if we re-sign Brunner, Cleary, Nyquist, Andersson, and then sign Weiss, all while not buying out Sammy or Bert... doesn't that leave us with 3 or 4 too many forwards?

Something has to give, someone's gotta go. If it's Tatar or Nyquist who don't get a spot, I will be sub-pleased.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

So if we re-sign Brunner, Cleary, Nyquist, Andersson, and then sign Weiss, all while not buying out Sammy or Bert... doesn't that leave us with 3 or 4 too many forwards?

Something has to give, someone's gotta go. If it's Tatar or Nyquist who don't get a spot, I will be sub-pleased.

Tuzzi's good if he's healthy. If his back issues continue, expect him to be on LTIR basically most of the year if not all of it. Sammy is playing games and I don't think it's gonna endear him to Wings brass. He won't wear the Winged Wheel next season. Illitch will turn him to pepperoni for hot n' ready's. I have a feeling Eaves may get moved so he can play more somewhere. He's a good 3rd line guy who is good on the PK. I wouldn't even be surprised to see Tootoo go somewhere. The Jets would be a good fit for him.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

One last thing for the night.

Some of these guys want roster spots.

[wingsfan4795 552]

Why don't you guys let it play out first, before making judgements.

I like you

[Nhurdi 42]

hmmm Cleary.

Henrik Zetterberg 14gp, 4g, 8a, 12p, +3, 8 PIM, 1 PP, 0SH, 1GW, 58S, 6.9S%

Daniel Cleary 14gp, 4gp, 6a, 10p, -1, 2 PIM, 1PP, 0SH, 0GW, 20S, 20S%

Pavel Datsyuk 14gp, 3g, 6a, 9p, +2, 4 PIM, 0PP, 0SH, 0GW, 39S, 7.7S%

I was all for letting him go before the playoffs, but given his performance i'm not so sure. Granted 3 Years at 3 Mill i'm not comfortable with but when it mattered only Zetterberg provided more points and only Drew Miller had a better S%.

I don't give a rats ass if we sneak in at 8th spot and he does f*** all if he scores at that rate in the playoffs. We don't play for Presidents Trophies, we play for the cup.

[pondrocket 35]

So if we re-sign Brunner, Cleary, Nyquist, Andersson, and then sign Weiss, all while not buying out Sammy or Bert... doesn't that leave us with 3 or 4 too many forwards?

Something has to give, someone's gotta go. If it's Tatar or Nyquist who don't get a spot, I will be sub-pleased.

If Holland gives Cleary 3 mil x 3 years........ it wouldn't surprise me at all. I think Holland should wear a helmet.

[wheelchairwing 11]

So, when will we hear something about whether agreements were reached?

[Guest The Axe]

hmmm Cleary.

Henrik Zetterberg 14gp, 4g, 8a, 12p, +3, 8 PIM, 1 PP, 0SH, 1GW, 58S, 6.9S%

Daniel Cleary 14gp, 4gp, 6a, 10p, -1, 2 PIM, 1PP, 0SH, 0GW, 20S, 20S%

Pavel Datsyuk 14gp, 3g, 6a, 9p, +2, 4 PIM, 0PP, 0SH, 0GW, 39S, 7.7S%

I was all for letting him go before the playoffs, but given his performance i'm not so sure. Granted 3 Years at 3 Mill i'm not comfortable with but when it mattered only Zetterberg provided more points and only Drew Miller had a better S%.

I don't give a rats ass if we sneak in at 8th spot and he does f*** all if he scores at that rate in the playoffs. We don't play for Presidents Trophies, we play for the cup.

He played well last playoffs. I will give him that. Id rather see Mantha though.

[BuckeyeWingsfan80 209]

If they:

A) Don't buy out Sammy

along with

B) Resign cleary for $3Mill for 3 years

and

C) give Flip anything more than $3.5 million per

I will be off of the Holland bandwagon once and for all

[ShanahanMan 473]

If they:

A) Don't buy out Sammy

along with

B) Resign cleary for $3Mill for 3 years

and

C) give Flip anything more than $3.5 million per

I will be off of the Holland bandwagon once and for all

You're still on? I officially threw myself off the wagon and gave up on him when he dropped Hossa and signed Justin Williams in 09.

[Nev 1,085]

Yes, because the signings Holland made had so much to do with that.

Yes, yes they did actually. Every single player on this roster was drafted, signed or traded for by Holland. Every one of the coaches. Most of the scouting staff and front office. From top to bottom, on and off the ice, this entire organisation is Ken Holland's handiwork.

So if we re-sign Brunner, Cleary, Nyquist, Andersson, and then sign Weiss, all while not buying out Sammy or Bert... doesn't that leave us with 3 or 4 too many forwards?

Exactly what I was thinking too. We're going to have 17 forwards and 7 defencemen (and the 7th is Lashoff!) I've got to imagine Sammy is playing the injury card, he's only got to have an ouchy till Friday and he's safe from a compliance buyout. Of course he's still not safe from an ordinary buyout - will cost us $1M against the cap, and I hope Holland does it if he is dicking around with us. Hell, I hope Holland does it anyway. Maybe he'll send him down to GR to clear a spot.

So, with our 26 man roster, and too many forwards, I keep hoping beyond hope that Holland has a trade in the works for a realgud D-man. The buying out of Colo makes no sense otherwise, he was a decent player with a low cap hit and only 1 year left.

If not, I'm not quite ready to jump off the Holland bandwagon just yet, but I'm becoming more and more sympathetic to some of the bashing.

[ShanahanMan 473]

Yes, yes they did actually. Every single player on this roster was drafted, signed or traded for by Holland. Every one of the coaches. Most of the scouting staff and front office. From top to bottom, on and off the ice, this entire organisation is Ken Holland's handiwork.

Exactly what I was thinking too. We're going to have 17 forwards and 7 defencemen (and the 7th is Lashoff!) I've got to imagine Sammy is playing the injury card, he's only got to have an ouchy till Friday and he's safe from a compliance buyout. Of course he's still not safe from an ordinary buyout - will cost us $1M against the cap, and I hope Holland does it if he is dicking around with us. Hell, I hope Holland does it anyway. Maybe he'll send him down to GR to clear a spot.

So, with our 26 man roster, and too many forwards, I keep hoping beyond hope that Holland has a trade in the works for a realgud D-man. The buying out of Colo makes no sense otherwise, he was a decent player with a low cap hit and only 1 year left.

If not, I'm not quite ready to jump off the Holland bandwagon just yet, but I'm becoming more and more sympathetic to some of the bashing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't most of our scouts and front office hired from Pre-Holland/Jimmy Devellano days? You know, the guy who personally assembled the team that got us our 1997 and 1998 cups?

And before you say, "well, Holland got us Zetts and Dats", they were both noticed and handpicked by our amazing scout Håkan Andersson (one of the few remaining saving graces for our team in management) and Jim Nill.

So basically, Holland has done little if anything for our team.

Meh, Hull and Robitaille were good signings.

Edited July 3, 2013 by ShanahanMan

[Nev 1,085]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't most of our scouts and front office hired from Pre-Holland/Jimmy Devellano days? You know, the guy who personally assembled the team that got us our 1997 and 1998 cups?

Ah, you mean from when Holland was our chief scout? So when he's the chief scout, its the GM who gets the credit. When he's the GM, its the scouts who get the credit. Nice. Tails you win, heads I lose

In other news, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! is reporting the Wings are only prepared to offer Cleary 2 years.

[ShanahanMan 473]

Ah, you mean from when Holland was our chief scout? So when he's the chief scout, its the GM who gets the credit. When he's the GM, its the scouts who get the credit. Nice. Tails you win, heads I lose

In other news, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! is reporting the Wings are only prepared to offer Cleary 2 years.

Chief of Scouting or not, I can't seem to recall any particular guys he's responsible for bringing into the organisation while he was a scout.

[Nev 1,085]

Holland started out as our western Canada scout. then he was chief scout, then assistant GM. If you can name me all 3 people who currently hold those positions with the Wings (without searching on the internet) and then name players they've "brought into the organisation" I'll give your comments some credit.

Otherwise what you just said is "I have no factual knowledge of the subject I'm talking about, so I'm going to just assume Ken Holland had nothing to do with any of it"

Dammit, I'm starting to sound like Crymson here

[ShanahanMan 473]

Holland started out as our western Canada scout. then he was chief scout, then assistant GM. If you can name me all 3 people who currently hold those positions with the Wings (without searching on the internet) and then name players they've "brought into the organisation" I'll give your comments some credit.

Otherwise what you just said is "I have no factual knowledge of the subject I'm talking about, so I'm going to just assume Ken Holland had nothing to do with any of it"

Dammit, I'm starting to sound like Crymson here

What does naming current guys in office have anything to do with my point?

You can find countless articles stating Andersson and Nill are the primary guys responsible for the current top players on our team. In fact, Holland has admitted this many times.

Instead of asking me to name off names for the sake of it, why don't you tell me specific guys or moves you know Holland directly made that were good for our organization?

A couple I named, Babcock is another, Bertuzzi was good a few years back.

point is, the credit this guy gets for past success is going to the wrong people.

[Vladiator 116]

Is it me or I am the only one thinking that Sammy has seriously gotten into dog sled racing?

[Nev 1,085]

What does naming current guys in office have anything to do with my point?

You can find countless articles stating Andersson and Nill are the primary guys responsible for the current top players on our team. In fact, Holland has admitted this many times.

Instead of asking me to name off names for the sake of it, why don't you tell me specific guys or moves you know Holland directly made that were good for our organization?

A couple I named, Babcock is another, Bertuzzi was good a few years back.

point is, the credit this guy gets for past success is going to the wrong people.

What's he going to say, "actually, it was all me"? You can also find plenty of old war stories about Holland going to watch guys like Lidstrom and Zetterberg. Andersson is amazing, and we're lucky to have him, but we also have a GM who has retained him - you think other teams haven't tried to poach him? He's also trusted him, and others below him - its a key part of any good leader, its not just about setting the tone and giving the orders, its about trusting and listening to those below you.

And your contradictory logic remains - when Holland is the GM, its the scouts who get the credit. When Holland is the chief scout, its the GM who gets the credit. So, which is it, the GM, or the scouts? Or is it, y'know, both, working in unison?

BTW: DeKeyser and Brunner.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

"Bad Back" Bert is back? Good thing Grand Rapids is close.

[LeftWinger 4,953]

So if we re-sign Brunner, Cleary, Nyquist, Andersson, and then sign Weiss, all while not buying out Sammy or Bert... doesn't that leave us with 3 or 4 too many forwards?

Something has to give, someone's gotta go. If it's Tatar or Nyquist who don't get a spot, I will be sub-pleased.

Not only that, but not enough money!

If Holland gives Cleary $3M and Brunner $2.5M that only leaves $5.2M to resign Andersson, Nyquist and Smith....Weiss will not be coming here. I guess we are looking at the same team minus Cola for next year...Good God Holland!

The problem here is why even re-sign Cleary at all? He is 1000000% replaceable! Why retain Sammy? again, 10000000% replaceable!

Just when I think Holland is doing something good, I see crap like this and I just shake my head...

If Cleary re-signs at all, let alone for $3M, this team is headed in the toilet...

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Buyout Sammy. Deal with him disputing it, he has no spot on this team, and hasn't since the 09 season. The fact he was ever brought back was a farce, and now it's time to say goodbye and never see #37 again. If NO free agents are added, and Sammy, Cleary and Bert are all on the team come the fall, then I have a problem with Ken Holland at the helm of this team.

I'd love to hear Babs honest thoughts on Kennys FA signings since Marian Hossa, I'm sure it'd be interesting dialogue even though we'll never know.