DreamsofHope

Zetterberg = Forsberg 2.0

He had a goal, an assist, and he gave me a fist bump going down the tunnel. Jiri Hudler Hat-trick

Hey guys, Does anyone know any good sources to read Tampa Bay lightning stuff. I'm very interested in the team, but pretty much all of my knowledge about the Redwings team came from MLive (Especially when Malik was doing work) since 2001. So between watching and reading I want to get to know this Tampa team because of Stevy Y, as well as their fun top players. Anything that you guys know about would help. Additionally is there anything you particularly love about TB if you follow them? Thanks guys.

Agreed. The only concern with this is that arbitration or an offer sheet (one that we will match) will drive the price up. Say, for the sake of an example (even though it is a very unrealistic example) that we offer Helm $500,000, and Columbus offers him a $1 mil offer sheet. We match. Now we are paying $1 mil for what Holland deems to be a $500,000 player. Not good. However, I'm not even sure what I am trying to prove here, other than to say, I hope we get them signed soon.

Wasn't Johan Franzen drafted at the age of 24. And he didn't really become what he is until he was 26, and he currently is 30. So if we are going to go with the forward argument, I don't think it is completely valid. I would say if a player doesn't get drafted til 24 and bloom until 26, then someone has a chance at 28. Samuelsson (perhaps I'm not helping myself with him as an example), is 33 years old and didn't hit his stride (he was in the NHL the whole time, I might add) until about 4-5 years ago when he started playing with the wings. This would make him 28-29 years of age. I'm not saying this is what WILL happen with Filpulla but I am saying that I think a player can come into their own in the later stages of their career.

Does anyone have the stream passwords? I don't get the game in Colorado

Although I think it is POSSIBLE that Hossa signs for 4 mil... guys it isn't likely. He already took a pay cut to play for us for 7.45 mil, and for him to take a deal playing for 4 mil for the rest of his life... It seems doubtful, and I don't know where everyone got that number. I know Ansar Kahn mentioned it, but that was purely a guess, not based on something Hossa or his Agent, or Holland said was going to happen. So I think we're looking at something more like 5-7 mil. And that is a big hit. Not only are we giving up our depth with Hudler, and Sammy, but we might have to trade away Fil. This is why I would err on the side of not resigning Hossa. It isn't about lack of desiring him on the team. Sure in a year we'd have 10+ mil, but hopefully 3-5 of that goes towards resigning Lids, and 1.5 goes to resigning Holmstrom, Maltby (You know the team won't let them walk). So really next year we'll have 4.5-6.5 mil. that will need to be used in the future to keep players like Erics and Helm. And yes we might still have team depth to come in and replace, but we don't currently have another Hudler in the system... And finally, do I think Holland would do something to hurt this team? No! Of course not. But given the cap, and it potentially going down. I don't think he has a choice anymore... I am willing to admit though that he and everyone else in the wings organization are a LOT smarter than me. And no matter what happens I'm willing to be surprised when it works out better than I had anticipated. This has happened many times (Yzerman and Shanny leaving, Hasek coming out of retirement, signing Pavs, signing Zetterberg, signing Franzen). Just when I think we might be done for I get surprised... So here's to Holland.

Well Hudler is a RFA to be, so his rights are worth a lot more than a UFA. And yeah Sammy would just be rights. Ha ha I don't know why I'm standing up for my dream. But it would be sweet, to get Toronto's first pick. I don't think Hossa is selfish at all. I don't think he had desires of doing nothing while a team won for him. I mean the Wings front office thought the world of him, how hard he worked, his skill level, and his personal integrity. I don't think that was the issue. I think the issue is keeping him might blow up our whole team. I think he is a man of integrity. I mean he plays hockey professionally, and I believe he wants to score, contribute, play and be a part of this team. He said part of his decision to come to Detroit was to learn from the Detroit greats. Yzerman, Lids, Draper, Cheli, etc. I see how you could be bitter though. I'm not bitter, but I don't blame you for being bitter. I just think if Hossa staying blows up our team philosophy it isn't worth it...

So this was strictly a dream... and there is no truth and probably nothing realistic about it, BUT... I had a dream last night that the wings traded Hudler, Lebda, Sammy, Lilja and our 1st rounder, for Toronto's first rounder. And then we signed Hossa to a (4.8 or 5.8) million dollar contract. The thing about this dream is that I was convinced it was true, or at least parts of it. I even got on Mlive this morning thinking I might see the Hossa signing news. The problem with the dream is that it still wouldn't have cleared the cap room for Hossa. Here are my thoughts on the whole Hossa deal, dream aside. I LOVE Hossa. My fear is that we will ruin what has made this team so great by fighting to keep him. We are constantly praised for being a TEAM and how we keep people around and have roll players instead of flat out 'stars.' I feel if we sign Hossa, we begin to lose that and dismantle this team. We also make the next few years of operating under the salary cap hell for us. We might not be able to sign our good young players, down the road, and we might have a ton of old, highly payed stars. 34-40 year old Hossa, Zetterberg, Franzen, Datsyuk. For the same cap hit... Just worries me a little. I'd love to see something magical happen, but aside from Hossa taking a 4 mil a year deal (which still would hurt) and Lidstrom eventually taking a pay cut... this doesn't make sense. Thoughts on the dream? Thoughts on the thoughts?

I'm in no way going to argue that we're in a good position without Dats, so that is my disclaimer before I say this. But perhaps not having their defense load up on Dats line, if he gets replaced by Fil or Leino, will put Hossa Fil/Leino Holmstrom in a position to put up some numbers. Perhaps them not lining up good D on Hossa could get him on the board, and he can build off of that. Thoughts?

Does anyone have a feed for the Carolina game? Again ATDHE is not working. Thanks in advance!!!

Statts... you're wonderful. Thank you.