Wings_Dynasty

All this talk about Tootoo being a d-bag on and off the ice and having personal issues doesn't really have any bearing on his "status" with the Wings Fan Kingdom.

Wings fans love our d-bags. Probert is a prime example. He was an off the ice troublemaker and a bit of a cheap-shotting goon later in his career but he is a mythic player to us now. People constantly bring up retiring his number (with Chelios on the banner) because of his reputation as a tough guy. He had his own demons and it seemed like it only added to his persona.

Now that I mention it. Chelios and Wendel Clark. Two guys that joined the Wings at the same time when most fans thought they would NEVER want to see either in a Wings jersey.

Plus, the Wings have a great history with taking a player viewed as down and out and allowing them playing time to thrive. Cleary, Olausson, Fetisov, Eaves, Larry Murphy, and Dallas Drake (who is very much a similar player to Tootoo that everyone loved while he was here). And of course Todd Bertuzzi, who most of the league and fans had gave up on and the Wings picked up TWICE. Now there are people who are so desperate for toughness on the Wings they are deluded enough to consider Bert our enforcer because he wrestled Weber a little. They are so blind to non-hockey related issues to see that the Wings just picked up one of the premiere agitators who can actually fight pretty well.

Bottom line: He's cheap, tough, and can chip in a goal here and there. Give him a chance before you sell all your Wings memorabilia.

I've always wondered how I would react to him in a Wings jersey. I guess I get my wish.

I will say this. When we played Nashville I hated when he was on the ice. Not because he could score a goal, but because I knew he had the ability to catch someone with their head down (or up) and wipe them out of the game. He gives 100% when he is skating and doesn't really care what happens to his body when contact is made.

I call BS... hard.

Wonder if Schultz will get some or tons of boo's the first time he skates at the Joe?

Did Brunnstrom? The majority of the fans at the Joe will not even know who Schultz is.

Honestly, I think Parise is a replaceable player (Semin springs to mind if he plays to potential) but I think Suter is an almost MUST for the defensive side of the Wings game since our top 6 right now are very young and not that offensively gifted.

Very cool. For the Safari users, just go to "Safari" then "Empty Cache"  (or Option-Command-E) and reload the page and the tab will be at the top.

EDIT: Should mention I am doing this for Mac people.

For Chrome hit Command-Y to bring up History and click Clear All Browsing Data. Make sure that Empty The Cache is selected. Then reload the page.

For Firefox on the menu bar click Firefox and go to Preferences. Click on the Advanced tab then the Network tab. Under Cached Web Content click Clear Now. Then reload the page.

White is our #2 D-man right now. Trading him would be a HORRIBLE move without a GUARANTEED and BETTER replacement waiting.

So Suter gets an early look at his former team.

Well, one more righty on the point would help. Eaves can fill that role but I would much rather see him at one of the circles waiting to release his underrated one-timer.

Ericsson should be on the PP at the point. He has a 100+mph slapshot and it is under used. Teach him to put it about knee height and let him go.

If Homer leaves, Franzen and Bert are the obvious fillers of that role. A Ryan Smyth pick-up for 1 season would be a great idea, but I don't watch him all that much so I don't know if he brings anything other than a net front presence.

With Nick gone I guess that a combo of Kronwall and Pavel/Z will QB the point play. Not saying that Pavel or Z will be taking shots from the blue line, but they may be starting plays from that far out and be the ones to take the puck into the PP zone. With the acquisition of Suter and/or Parise/Semin, any of these players will be on the 1st line unit IMO. Ideally, the lines would look something like this:

Parise/Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Franzen
Suter-Kronwall

Bertuzzi-Flip/Z-Eaves/Semin
Ericsson/Quincey-White

I think if they play their cards right and attract some FAs to the team in the coming seasons, they can definitely be perrenial contenders (like the Wings).

Unfortunately the chances of a dynasty occurring under the current set up of the NHL (by that I mean the combination of conference and division system, rules, and salary cap) is slim. The best most teams can hope for is making the play-offs consistently and if they don't having that rare deep run (like the Devils and Kings respectively) every few seasons.

Every team with money is going to make him an offer. He is THE premiere UFA forward this summer. Depending on what kind of chance he wants to win a Cup, there are really only about 10 teams that have a legit chance every year to do that no matter what happens during the summer. The Wings are one of those teams, the Wild are not.

This is why he would be worth it to me.




EDIT: Not that I would take him over Parise.  I was thinking in addition to Parise.

First off, let me say that Nick Lidstrom is one of my top 5 favorite Wings of all-time and in my opinion the best defensive defenseman of all-time.

Now, his (expected) retirement is a major chapter in the history of this team. I for one cannot remember any second in the last 20 years as a Wings fan where I thought that Nick Lidstrom was a liability. On the contrary, I felt that a 50% Nick Lidstrom was an upgrade over pretty much any other defenseman that the Wings could have put on the ice to replace him.

Now we as Wings fans finally get to see what we have consciously dreaded but somewhere deep in our collective subconsciousness have always wondered. "What will the Wings look like without #5?"

I am (as the thread title bears) excitedly optimistic, and here are some reasons why:

1. We are already a good team - had this happened in a year where we didn't already have a strong core of players (say 2000) I would be pulling my hair out. But we have a Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, and even White to fall back on as a solid core of defensive players to build around. Not to mention the great 2-way forwards we have developing (Flip and Helm) and the ones in the minors.

2. We have SO much money - We just gained $6 million more chips in the Parise/Suter/Semin games. I would much rather have had only $3mil more (with the 1 year extension of Lids) but we have to look at what we have. I don't know the exact numbers, but if we drop the players to FA that I think we are going to drop (Stuart and Hudler) then there is even more money. I think we are looking at a summer where we sign 2 big FAs and a couple role players.

3. We are deep - Half of the Griffins played last season, and I wasn't really put off by any of them. In fact, a couple I would have wanted to take a roster spot from some vets that were having off seasons or were playing for less than they were being paid (Cleary, Hudler, Franzen). Smith, Tatar, Nyquist, and Mursak all looked good in the short time I got to see them and I think at least 2 GRGs will have roster spots on the big club this season.

and finally...

4. What else could you ask for? - I mean, come on, he has left a HUGE impact on the current roster and his presence will be felt for years. Other than retiring after winning a Cup (which probably wouldn't be likely since he would probably feel that he still had something in the tank) or winning another Norris, what else can he really do to excel? I don't blame him for calling it a career, maybe he will stay with the Wings as a European scout or a director of something, or, I daren't say it aloud, decide to take an upper management position that was said to be vacated when he retired...

Anyways, good luck Nick and thanks for being the wall in front of the goalie.

I want them to win because:

1. I don't like the way the Rangers have been playing and giving the "Who? Me?" faces on the ice and after the game.

2. NJ winning the Cup would probably place their names in with the Wings as the "Best team in the past 20 years" as they would have 4 Cups in that amount of time and we all know that they have been mediocre at best a few of those seasons.

3. Parise won't leave if they win.

The no goal due to a skate in the crease rule was eliminated.

If a goalie is outside of a the crease and is "interfered" with (as Wings fans are well aware happens when certain Nordic players venture too close) the goal can be waived off.

If a goalie is bumped in the crease the goal is waived off.

If a player is in the crease and a goal is scored by him or someone else than the goal stands if it is deemed he did not interfere.

So, is the only purpose for the crease just the "glove over the puck rule" and "wait until the shooter touched the puck on the shoot-out" ?

I think it is time to get rid of this thing. If a skater closes their hand on the puck anywhere while it is on the ice surface, 2 min for delay of game. And make it so the goalie has to be touching the net when a shooter begins skating during the shoot-out. Crease eliminated.

OR

Keep the crease, make it a little larger, and make it so if a goalie is in the crease he cannot be touched. If he is out and not in the trapezoid, fair game.