vladdy16

You should blame yourself for checking ESPN in the first place.  The only time I go there is when I want to know about poker.  Which is never.

Karsch and Anderson on 97.1 are bringing up Nick's plus minus and saying we should have paid less.  While a partial barometer, this stat is not indicative of any defenseman's overall worth.
1) While his plus/minus went down from last year, this is more indicative of team defense; Nick can't lift every stick on the ice.
2) He had 60 points last season.
3) Losing both our assistants AND our captain in the same year does not a smooth transition make.
4) Even with a less-than-desirable plus/minus, he's STILL a Norris finalist.

Why do I bother listening to these guys??

Fair call.

Look I'm happy he's back, and it would've been devestating had he retired, but I think it would've sent one heck of a message to the team and the league if Lidstrom had taken $5 mil and made a real statement.

If the cap had gone down, that would have been a statement he could make, but a player of his calibre taking a pay cut when the cap goes up makes no sense whatsoever.  I'm thrilled he decided to play another season, and the Wings could pay him 10mil and I wouldn't bat an eye.  This is a man who has taken pretty major home town discounts in the past and has deferred his own salary so we could sign other players.  IMO, Nick has given the Wings more than his fair share.

Welcome back, Mr. Lidstrom.

I would think the presser I heard about but can't find a link to is unnecessary at this point.  We know for sure Nick is coming back and I don't think anyone cares in the least what we're paying him, so we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief and move on to more important matters like what we'd like to do with Hudler.  

Link to Wings announcement.

At the beginning of the series my mom asked me who I thought would win; my response was "I want the Bruins to win, but if I had to put money on it, I'd bet on Vancouver."  Now I really, really want the Bruins to win it.  Supposedly the Western Conference is tougher than the Eastern, but all the WCF and this SCF has shown me is how much more diving the West does.  I'm embarrassed to be in the same conference with the Sharks and Nucks this year.
Hopefully the hockey gods will teach the West that you can't dive your way to the Cup tonight.

GO BRUINS!!!!

What a game!  Sedin gets called for diving and it actually gets better from there!  Luongo gets pulled and Boston proves who's their ***** in the Garden once again.  The only thing that could have possibly made that game better for me was to have Boston win the Cup.  Thank you, hockey gods, I had a great time.

"The main thing for a hockey player is to be in a hockey environment."  
That pretty much sums up this whole fiasco as far as I'm concerned.

I never did understand the Feds haters.

He took shifts/games off, contract hold-outs, darting for a chance to make more elsewhere... and all this to the organization that essentially smuggled him and his entire family out of Russia...

His number does not deserve to be retired and he should not be brought back here just for sentimental reasons when he has no place on this team...

With that said, he still had a great career here and those moments should not be forgotten either and this is a GREAT story, but lets not let something all warm and fuzzy cloud the memory of what he put the organization through when he tried to, and then when he finally did leave...


Agreed and this is what the focus of this topic needs to stay on.

  I know that this will have no effect, just like the million other times this has been mentioned, but Fedorov was making LESS in Anaheim than he was offered in Detroit. IIRC, he was offered 10 mil. per year in Detroit, and he made * mil. in Anaheim. If you hate the guy, at least get the reasons for your hate straight.

And all this has zero to do with his charity work.  Please keep it on topic.

Thank you for your donation to the Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation. A formal thank you letter will be mailed to the address indicated on the donation form which will also serve as your receipt for tax purposes. Please contact us at (313) 964-6994 if you any questions about your contribution.
Thank you again for your support which will help improve the lives of children and their families.

We sent $875.40!!  Way to go, LGW.  I'm very proud of all of you.

Sorry, Mr. Yzerman, but I just couldn't take Stanley getting another tan.  Besides, if you win a Cup in your first season, there's nowhere to go but down after that.

This could be a very interesting series or one of the most boring SCF in history.  I'm hoping for the former, and that the B's pull it off.  Original Six and they have the best commercials.  
History tells us the refs will pretty much swallow their whistles in this series; I'm hoping the Nucks respect the Finals and don't feel the need to continue with their previous antics.  And if they do, I hope Chara Kronwalls them.

Sign him as a face-off man at the very least.  We need someone who can take those damn things.

I say he still has some value to the team at this point.  One more year isn't going to make or break the season for us and I don't think he's taking a spot away from anyone else who's really ready right now.

From Twitter : "#SJSharks Fan Suicide Level - "WILL GRAB A RIDE HOME W/ DANY HEATLEY" HIGH"

Is it wrong I laughed at that?

What, are they mad the Canucks are trying to steal their thunder or because they want lessons?

Hey, I am 100% on the Nucks bandwagon, but it sure looked to me like San Jose played just as well if not better than Vancouver.  Admittedly I didn't watch the whole game - it was too close for my comfort.  I'm being a whiny ***** - I don't want to see good hockey in this series; I want to see Vancouver do unspeakable things to San Jose.

With 7 people still left to chip in, our current total for Children's Hospital is $720.40!!!  Several people have added a little extra to their pledges - thank you!  

You all rock.