cmac19

Signing Modano would be perfect IMO. Think about it: Bert - Z - Mule Hudler - Dats - Fil Cleary - Helm - Eaves Abs - Modano - Homer Keeping Modano and Homer together on the 4th line frees them up for the PP Dats - Z - Homer Mule - Modano - Hudler/Fil I am actually excited about that possibility... If we could just keep them healthy...

I don't think we're going to see Homer playing up on the top 2 lines... his value is more on the PP at this point in his career. He ended up playing a lot of 4th line time to try and keep him healthy. And I don't believe Fil is going back down to the 3rd line. He showed that given time with skill players he can be effective. Bert - Z - Franzen Fil - Datz - Huds Eaves - Helm - Cleary Miller/Abs - Draper - Homer Lids-Rafalski Stuart-Kronwall Erickson-Janik/Kindl Howard Ozzie I'm still not thrilled about signing Bert and going after Eaves and Miller when we could have used that $$ along with trading Cleary to try and bring in some scoring punch. This team is going to walk a fine line between great and awful. I still don't see them being up to the level of San Jose or Chicago. If they don't make it to the Finals this year it's going to be time to overhaul this team big time.

Can someone explain to me how the wings salary cap issues break down now that Happy Hudler has taken his no defense style of game to Russia...? Quote from the Detroit News: With Hudler not in the fold, the Wings are approximately $1.5 million under the salary cap for next season, with one forward left to sign (assuming Justin Abdelkader remains on the NHL roster). So I don't understand how this is true if we've lost a huge portion of their pay with Hossa, Conkln, Sammy and Hudler leaving... Can someone clarify this for me?

Not sure if this was posted but this was a quote in the Dallas Morning News: I've caught guys on my own team just whirling around the net. I've seen guys get major injuries to the face, especially when you're not expecting it," Turco said. "A [stick] to someone's face at any time is pretty gutless and not fair at all. It's just something our game doesn't need."

Any thoughts on potential lines for next year? Here's what I see: Franzen/Zetterburg/Samuellson Datzyuk/Fillpula/Holmstrom Maltby/Draper/Kopecky Bertuzzi/Hudler/Cleary Lidstrom/Kronwall Schneider/Markov Lilja/Lebda/Chelios Dom Ozzie Howard This assumes of course that they keep Dom and resign the UFA's. This would probably leave them quite a bit under the cap but with that lineup I'm not sure where you would add or subtract. Kopecky would be the odd man out I guess if they signed Drury,Smith or Gomez. I personally don't trust Dom in the net at age 43 and would prefer them to trade someone like Lilja for a goalie. Perhaps Theodore who I know Colorado would love to get rid of and would probably play much better on a team with this much talent.

Talking about the off season already?? Resign Calder? sign Carter? You must be a Ducks fan... Calder has proven worthless and although he's an ex-Spartan, Carter has never really reached any potential worth giving him money for... Why on earth do we need Ryan Smith...? I'm not done with this season yet but the only thing this team will need to solidify next year is a solid, playoff proven goalie... Once we let Lang go and get Hudler in full time I think this team will be even better next year than it is this year...

I think everyone's rushing to pick up offense when what we really need to do is put any available cash towards signing Bertuzzi and then a top notch goalie... datz/zetterburg/holmstrom hudler/fillpula/bertuzzi maltby/draper/cleary franzen/ellis/kopecky lidstrom/kronwall schneider/quincy lebda/lilja I'm not sure who the best available goalies will be but I'm sure there will be at least 2 that could come in and not only be great but be someone that could be signed for multiple years

Hey guys, I've been a long time reader of this site but never posted before this. I couldn't resist after seeing this post and all the people debating who should or shouldn't sit now that Homers back.. I find the debate between Franzen or Bert to be misplaced because there's at least 3 other players that should sit before either of them.. I think if Babycock wasn't one of the worst coaches at putting lines together (I know, I know... that's for a different post) you would have seen Bert on a line last night with Datsyuk and Hank... how Sammy got put on that line will always remain the biggest mystery of last nights loss. Having said that I think that we all know that Hudler will sit BUT the person that needs to sit is Calder... it's obvious that he was a bad pickup and isn't the player that he was when he first came into the league.. He has provided absolutely nothing and hasn't been the spark they thought he would be.. Bert is a physical presence on the ice that any team needs to be concerned with when he's playing... does anyone really think that the Sharks are fearing Sammy, Lang or Calder right now?? Those 3 need to be put on a line together and put on the end of the bench and left their to rot until the season is over and then let go as a sign that slow, uninspired play has no place in Hockeytown. I think that if you had a Fillpula/Hudler/Bert line put together you would basically be getting the exact same thing you do with the Dats/Homer/Hank line, 2 skilled skaters using the rough, in your face winger to block the net and it would result in another potentially dangerous line that the Sharks young defense would have all sorts of problems dealing with... unfortunately Babycock will never do that because he ALWAYS takes the veteran over the rookie even if the rookie is showing the kind of energy and youthfulness that the Sharks are using against us... Babycocks the real problem here and not Bert... I think next years team should be Hank/Datz/Homer, Fillpula/Hudler/Bert, Drapes/Maltby/Clear, Ellis/Langfeld/Franzen.... now that's a team ANY coach should be able to win with!!