Andy Pred 48

lets see where we are after the 6 game homestand............yep this is usually the answer around here. We'll be ok its just a lul their
going thru,they'll pull out of it. Maybe we have hit the point where the Wings need to rebuild. After so many years of success and low round draft picks, eventually your team is going to be full of these type of players, unless trades take place to up the skill level of the team.Who was the last bonifide superstar we actually drafted in the 1st round? A player who'll ave a pt per game? That'll be back in '83 with Stevie Y, that is too long and yes i know we have traded away alot of our 1st round picks between those years. The problem is our own success and the new cap era. We cant just go out and sign 2 or 3 stars anymore and our low end 1st rounders havent really panned out all that well. Fish would have but for his illness. Kronner is good now and then but isnt consistent enough. Every 1st round pick we had since '93 until '07 we have drafted Dmen. Sheahan is the first Fwd we have tken in the 1st round since Curtis Bowen in '92, and we all know what happened there! So i guess maybe the time for us to keep letting our top prospects mature in the AHL for 3-4 years is coming to an end?
We are running short of options in the current 23 man roster, maybe sending Brunnstrom on waivers is a prelude to calling up some young fresh blood in GR. Time and time again I here Babs and Kenny state that the best players will play, well guys the so called best players aint getting it done as of yet,how much leeway do we give them? Why have talent sitting in the minors when they could mature alongside the vets for a season and learn the trade off them? In the past we never gave them a chance because of our loaded roster, maybe its now time for the wind to change direction and alter our thinking on these matters. We sure need a shake up and unless Kenny has the balls to pull the trigger on a trade, then the only option is to call up the kids. Times are a changing around the league and we cant get left behind.

Will Babs have the ba##s to sit one of his top 6 guys for tonights game?
Maybe Cleary needs to sit and re-group, I really do think the loss of
Mursak has hit us on the chk line. Helm Eaves and Mursak is one line
we could do with right now. I cant see Babs changing too much he's
gunna give his vets more time yet, i dont know how long but we could
start another 5 game win streak tonight so i hope so. I would suggest
giving Cleary a broadcast seat and handing Brunnstrom some top 6 mins.
We dont want to make the same mistake with him as we did with Leino.
The kid aint a chk line player, so dont use him on it, use his skill
for a few games with Hank and mule maybe?

Franzen Zetterberg Brunnstrom
Eaves Datsyuk Hudler
Bertuzzi Filpulla Helm
Miller Abdelkader Emmerton
Sit Cleary and Babs has stated that Homer wont play back to back.
Lidstom Kronwall
White Stuart
Ericsson Kindl.
Howard

REPORTS IN SWEDEN ARE SAYING THAT NYQUIST WILL MAKE THE TEAM AND BRUNNSTROM WILL GET A 2 WAY DEAL.

the hit was very unfortunate on both parts. Brendan couldnt predict what move Ben was going to make as he lined him up and Ben also made the cardinal sin on the move. When I started to play, my coach's last words as I stepped onto the ice for my first shift,"keep your head up" still ring in my ears today. Maybe with all the rule changes players are becoming less accountable for their own well being whilst on the ice. This is what Babs was trying to say when asked about the incident. I think Brendan will learn from this but also feel the suspension a little harsh as well. I hope the AHL boss will let him serve the suspension whilst in GR, as he'll not get called up if not.

so who's voting for Nyquist for the 14 forward? hell how about in as the 12th forward now because of jan's bad luck.

ive said it before, Fabian will be Hommers replacement. maybe a year in GR and then up

is it my mind playing tricks with age or did he have a contract with Dallas that triggered off a large bonus when he had played 100 games in the Bigs? just seems strange that he got to 99 and then got sent down, he hadnt scored for 12 games before being sent to Texas. 40 points from 99 outings aint to shabby either really. I hope he comes to camp with the right attitude and frame of mind to earn a place.

and Kenny sits and waits, hes smarter than we thought after all  

with Kenny actually looking at the possability of adding a top 6 forward at the start of the free agency,is there any ufa's left who still interest the front office? Could the Wings send an invite to anyone for the camp, or who would you like us to invite to camp.

alls not going well for the Kings in the re-signing of Doughty, it seems to be taking longer than they would like. Is this Drew
thinking more about where he could end up next season as a UFA or maybe its just about how much his agent thinks he's worth. Has
Kenny got a cunning plan by keeping the $'s he has for the signing deadline............I'm not sure but he sure would be an adequate
replacement for the capt.

there is the other side to this, Huds could put up 20 goals and 60 points next year and prove us wrong.

Your original post refers to the "Soviet block [sic]".  The Soviet Bloc, also better known as the Eastern Bloc, is a term denoting the countries behind the Iron Curtain that were within the sphere of influence of the USSR.  These countries include East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Yugoslavia. So, the other poster was correct that the Wings have drafted players from the former Soviet Bloc states.

If you're talking about independent nations that were once a part of the USSR, those are Former Soviet Republics or Post-Soviet States.

/homework graded

Soviet bloc and Eastern bloc are 2 different things:
Soviet bloc are countries that were once part of the USSR, Eastern bloc are countries that as you rightly stated came under the influence of the old USSR but were never part of the old USSR and were countries in their own right. Maybe if i had worded it as former Soviet countries it would have been easier to follow.

Hitchcock on D and Larionov to coach the Fwds.

its the experience over rookie factor each year with Kenny. He has stated that they need to make changes and the need to get
grittier is very eviedent. But then he says that the guys have to be able to play and not just add the grit and sandpaper. Well
those players are usually your 1st round drafted guys and they aint gunna come cheap, so as per usuall we'll end up waiting till
the back end of UFA season and maybe pick up a couple of veterans who'll add 'LEADERSHIP' to the team!! Well how about being,
pro-active just for a change Kenny, make something happen. I hear we discussed the possability of adding Zach Bogosian before the
playoffs, well go get him now Kenny, oh wait a minute, he's on $3m+! Then work out a way of adding him, but that might mean letting
one of our vets go eh Ken or tradeing away a top earner. If it makes the team better surely we have to start making some moves.
I dont want any of our guys to go but eventually they have to, Oz,Drapes,Mo and Ruslan is nearly $6m off the cap if we let them walk.
But Kenny will find a way of keeping Oz and Drapes for another year no doubt. Mo's done and Rusty was just a year gap signing.
So once again there wont be any major players coming in cause we like the status quo and the players deserve the option of letting
the front office know when they want to hang them up. I'll be amazed if im proved wrong by Kenny, but i doubt it.
My plans would be this:
I would try and get Doughty and Bogosian in this year even if Nic does come back. Id let Salei and Ericsson go. Kindl would be the 7th
D man again and give Smith another year with GR until Nic and Raffi retire at the end of this season coming. Draper, Modano, Miller and
Osgood I would let go and id try to trade Hudler. Freeing up roughly just over $10m. Secondary scoring and the grit issue, well the two
wingers i would choose from would be Jakub Voracek and Sergei Kostitsyn, Voracek has more size but Kosi has more skills. The grit well
how about Brad Staubitz or Cody McCormick, either one could do a job on the 4th line. The other option is to have one guy do both the
secondary scoring and provide some grit,Anthony Stewart or Brandon Dubinsky. With the comings and goings and the proposed cap going up
these suggestions could be done. The D would be set for 5-10 years after Nic and Raffi are gone and deals could be done with Doughty and
Bogosian that they would get a raise after the first year when Nic and Raffi ease off another $12m when they retire.

Roster next year
Howard MacDonald cap hit $2.9m

Doughty Kronwall cap hit $7.3m
Lidstrom Bogosian cap hit $10.5m
Stuart Rafalski cap hit $9.75m
Kindl cap hit $0.821

Franzen Zetterberg Cleary cap hit $12.8m
Kostitsyn Datsyuk Bertuzzi cap hit $10m
Eaves Filppula Mursak cap hit $4.3m
Abdelkader Helm Staubitz cap hit $2.3m
Holmstrom cap hit $1.875m
Total cap hit $61.1m. is that just under the proposed new cap?

cant wait for this kid to be wearing the winged wheel.