Frozen-Man

I have mixed feelings about possibly signing Modano.  We get bigger and more talented, but we get slower and older as well. As far as lines go, as much as I'd like to see Abs and Ritola get a chance, the possibility of being able to ice Eaves-Helm-Miller as our fourth line sounds pretty kick ass to me. Also, the prospect of having four players over 200lbs and over 6' (Modano, Holmstrom, Franzen, Bertuzzi) on the first two lines, each centered by Datsyuk or Zettergerg, could be overwhelming to opponents' defense.

For his age Modano still has a pretty good set of wheels. I don't think he will hurt us at all in that regard.

That's definitely a possibility... this has been a SLOW day... I'm really surprised there haven't been more moves on day 2, maybe all the GM's have already left for the long weekend

Maybe they have all overpaid and have no cap space left.

Tell me the D pairings the Lightning have had over the past few seasons that are even close to as good as Keith/Seabrook and Hjalmarsson/Campbell. I would absolutely love to hear that.

I agree with you there but it is still not certain that Hjalmarsson will be a Hawk next season. He only made $600k last year and is due for a big (top four D man) raise. Combine that with the high price teams have been willing to pay for D men so far this free agency and the fact all teams know the Hawks are against the cap wall and he may get an offer the Hawks can't match or that at the least will force them to pay much more for him than they want. Hjalmarsson hasn't had a big payday yet, already has a cup and will likely want to max out and get as much as possible for his next contract.

I'm a troll? How? I've been pretty respectful, and most have been the same way in return. You just seem bitter. Why is that?

You have absolutely not been a troll. You have been well informed, articulate, and nothing in your posts indicates that you came here merely to trash the Wings and start fights. I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the other poster and hope that he was referring to some previous Hawks fan's postings. You however, have done nothing but improve the debate and discussion here.

Again, not sure why you think I'm all bummed out about any of this. I'm not asking for anything other than a competetive team and a playoff appearance next season, and we'll get that.

Oh well.. I guess I'll leave, since saying anything positive about a team other than Detroit is apparently "trolling". I understand this is a Red Wings board and some won't take lightly to saying that the Blackhawks are anything other than horrible, but I figured if I was reasonable about it I'd get a fair shake.

Oh well. Good luck next season. I look forward to the Chicago Blackhawks doing their best to defend their Stanley Cup Championship. If it doesn't work out, oh well. I'll congratulate the Red Wings if they win the division, and I'll actually welcome Detroit fans on my board.

Your team should still be very competitive next year, they have too many good players not to be. The depth that they are losing will likely hinder them from being elite but they should still be very competitive, and with all the prospects/picks they are getting in return they should be able to retool quicker than most teams.

Finally, you are welcomed on this board and I for one hope you continue to post here.

From Twitter feed:

CraigCustance: I'm really curious to see how the Atlanta Thrashers will handle their Stanley Cup hangover.

Its been since the 80's that the Bears won a superbowl so sure you have a decent team but not exactly championship upon championship.

The pistons are one of the most successful teams in basketball this past decade.

The tigers have been successful, went to the world series in 2006 if I'm correct. How have those cubs been?

Chicago's only somewhat consistent team is the Bears and even they havent won a championship in how long? We have the best hockey dynasty the last 20 years and one of the best in basketball the past decade. Our only bad team is the lions.

Plus hockey trumps all other sports by such a large margin that they don't really matter.  

Well . . . . . . . Bye.

26 Seconds in:



        

Well, for all of what amounts to a lot of wishful thinking by Wings fans, that the Hawks get ripped apart and become one season wonders, anybody care to put their money where their mouth is?  Anybody care to make a prediction for the Hawks for next season and the season next?

Here's mine:  Hawks will compete for Central title both years.  Hawks will make playoffs both years.  Hawks will reach Conference Finals at least one more time in the next two seasons.

Anybody else care to put a prediction out there for the record?

I'm not sure if I can count newfy's statement "The hawks are absolutely f***ed next season" as I don't know what that means?  Does that mean they won't make the playoffs?

I don't think the perception is that the Hawks will win 10 games next year or anything like that (at least that is not my perception). They will still be a good team, it is just that they will lose a lot of their depth and a few core players that will take them from being the hands down favorite to win the Cup (as they were this year before the season even started) to being a good team that if they get on a roll might have a chance at winning it all. They will still do well probably compete for the Central Division but won't run away with anything and may struggle quite a bit at times. It is similar (although I think a fair bit worse) than the problem that Detroit had this year. They will lose guys who will expose holes in the team (for example the importance that Sammy had here) and their margin of error related to injuries or slumps will be greatly diminished. It is not that they will be competing in the draft lottery next year rather than competing in the playoffs but rather that they have been pulled back into the well above average pack of teams and will have to fight much harder next year for any success that they achieve.

Also, Jonathan Toews gets a $1.3 million bonus for winning the Conn Smythe. Because it wouldn't fit on Chicago's cap from this past season, it carries over to the 2010/11 season.

Ouch, I forgot about that. Just another proverbial kick in the crotch for the Hawks.  

WERE HAVING A FIRE! sale

Plus 1 for the Arrested Development reference.

"Oh, my God! We're having a fire ... sale! Oh, the burning, it burns me! Evacuate all of the school children! Ama...This isn't a fever! ... zing grace... I can't even see where the knob is!"

"No I did not book this one. I think I made the fire too real for them."

Very well said, & exactly what I was looking for when I asked Why Holmstrom? I do however think there are better options

What exactly are those options? Not in the abstract but actual players who are available and that the Wings can afford?

I started to go though each NHL team & cap money to compare salaries, but I just don't have the time to really investigate & not to mention that the $1.875 we gave Holmstrom could be combined with other money to sign a better forward.

Believe me, I'm not happy with Cleary's contract at all! Rafalski has been very good since coming here & in some aguments has played better than Lidstrom at times, so that one I will let go.

Not saying Rafalski outplayed Lidstrom, just justifying his salary & why I'm not that upset about it.

Quite the contradiction

and ONCE AGAIN(ugh) "carry their team on their back" does NOT MEAN DO IT ALL...

Pavelski has been tearing it up for San Jose and Heatley and Boyle and PPG players... "carry a team on your back" means lift them, emotionally and physically with your play... it's not all about stats, and if he can't inspire them and score goals WHEN THEY MATTER, he is a choke...

I don't even know how I have to keep explaining this to you, I really could not have made my point any clearer... UNTIL HE WINS THE BIG PRIZE, THE EARLY ROUNDS DO NOT MATTER

Visual example of carrying a team on your back:

  It's amazing what working alongside superhuman players like Pronger, Hartnell, Asham, Carcilo Lapperiere and Richards can do for a guy's confidence.  I'm sure that playing under the tutilage of Assistant Coach Craig Berube hasn't hurt any either:)

I guess its amazing what playing along all those "soft Euros" like Mule, Homer, Lids, Z, and Dats can do for Eaves' and Miller's confidence. Or perhaps Leino, like a whole lot of players, may play well with a change of venue or the offense of being the odd man out and shipped to another team.  

Toughness of the Flyers is what made him actually get on the scoreboard more! (cuz toughness makes the puck so scared of tough players it throws itself in the net out of intimidation)

Entertainment at it's finest.  

Don't know if you pretend to be stupid or something but generally speaking, canadians play the game with more heart, power and grit, they live their hockeylifes wanting to win the cup while euro's dream of olympic gold and whatnot, I want more power, grit and people willing to drop the gloves, too many teams take advantage of all the euro ******* that are on this team.

That must be why the Wings have been such a failure as a franchise in the recent years.  

I still remember this game though: