Red Wings
They said 2002 was loaded with Hall-of Famers.
1997, 1998, 2008---2008-2009 team might be
the best.
Hossa
Hi everyone,
Just got back in town and heard the news about Hossa. Jeez I'm shocked but elated. What's the buzz on possible line combinations? Hossa on the third line? (laughing) Chris
Veterans
Another thing is ... with all the competition for spots don't you all think this will make them all work that much harder over the summer to make sure they are ready for the season to start?
Attica
Q: anyone seen that cat around?
A: I'm right here dude....
Q: Ever since the posts on the wings being 12 mil apart with stuart, (and by ghollands count it seemed as if they were about 4 mil apart (total contract).
A: You are getting what I said confused with what you are reading again....The difference i stated was what was on the table by the wings and what the MARKET was going to offer....he would have gotten 5yrs & 25 mil EASY - hence my comment of the 10 - 12 mil difference.
Q: And the jagr face to face, which never happened,
A: This will take a minute to explain....You seem to 'READ ALOT' so you remember Kenny saying that Hossa was on their top 3 list....correct? Well, heres how the shopping list shook out - The top 2 impact forwards the wings thought they could sign to a 1 year deal were #1 Jagr & #2 Sundin. Now Hossa was definetly on the wish list at #3 but THAT DEAL CAME FROM LEFT FIELD! Finally, as you know, Pat Brisson represents both Brad & JJ, the wings were hoping to get Jagr in on Tuesday to talk...but as you can see, I think his mind was already made up as to where he wanted to go.
Q: and the q to cbj to talk to hainsey, which never happened, he seems awful quiet.
A: The #1 priority was to get a #4 defenseman, either by resignning Brad or thru FA...The man thought to be the closest to their needs, capable of playing our style and thought to fit in our salary structure was Hainsey....at about 9am, a trade was being explored and as allowed by the CBA, salary points can be discussed with the trading partner and the representing agent to talk money & term. It was rumored that Q was the asset offered. You don't need NHL permission to explore trade options, only if you are transferring EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATING RIGHTS for a period of time. I still think Q will be the defenseman dealt for a draft pick at some point.
Q: Not to mention the whole boughtout goalie thing.
A: You were right that they wanted a bought out goalie...now Raycroft was snatched up by the AV's because they offered the CHANCE to be the #1 goalie and offered 50K more in salary....still a 1 yr deal. Next Lalime was offered a 2yr deal and more dollars than we could afford - nice pickup on Conklin.
ps: And i know you'll get this when i say, my little sis is not moving to motown as you mentioned yesterday...gonna stay out west for awhile.
salary cap
Perhaps it's already done what it's suppose to do. Look at how different things are, say, in Detroit, where we still can get a marquee player but now we get him for less. Maybe the Wings would be best to just set a lower bar, they do that and repeat, what a coupe, eh?
Bertuzzi cut by Ducks
Dazed,
Should it matter? If he came for free and wrapped with a bow, should it matter? Should he be in Hockeytown? I vote no, a great big no. When it comes to getting great talent for little or no money, Drapes has the market cornered. Let's not sip from that bottle again. Let Bert look for a Cup with some other team, preferably one that lets you do a lot of nothing and then try to win with a couple of cheap shots and a goal or two. Let him go to Pittsburg, they could use a goon like him. Let's keep Detroit clean and gifted.
aTTicA
To Attica:
Ya, blow them off. Don't be afraid to blow off Sid and his little friends. Just because they garner big bucks or can score goals or even be threatening doesn't make them winners.
They breezed through the Eastern Conference and I had to give them more credit than I originally felt was their due, but they can't handle the kind of 2-way players Detroit puts on the ice, and a year of playing with their core group isn't going to get them there.
But they don't even have that advantage now. Look at the names that stayed and the talent that left. When do the Howe's and Gretzkys and Crosbys win a Cup without those role players, not to mention a key guy like Hossa. They will replace the role players with different role players they can now afford, after paying huge money to keep their kids until they're old, if they make it till they're old, and have to learn to all play nice and play at a level that gets them into the post season. Not likely at all.
Let's use Detroit as a model here. Without the acquisition of Hossa, Detroit kept it's SC winning team! Now it's better than ever!
aTTicA
Attica...
It's not just the money. The point is valid, the core is disrupted in Pittsburg and replacing experience with different players doesn't give the team the time they would have to continue to work with the players that were already working well.
If you have a team with more playing choices, and those choices aren't close to being shabby, then your chances are really pretty terrific, so yes, the Pens don't have the advantage over the Wings. Their choices weren't as good and the core they kept, albeit talented, isn't enough.
aTTicA
Re your 2:20pm post
The jist of your post is that, by paying Crosby and Malkin such hefty contracts they will have trouble affording a supporting cast. Maybe
I have projected the cap hits for the top 6 players for both the Wings and Pens for 09/10. I have made a couple of assumptions. 1) Hossa stays with the Wings(at $7.4) 2) Franzen stays with the Wings(at $4 mil) and 3) Staal stays with the Pens(at $4 mil).
Pens:Crosby $8.7 mil/Malkin 8.7/Gonchar 5/Fleury 5/Whitney 4/Staal 4. Total: $35.4 million.
Detroit:
Lidstrom:$7.450 mil/Zetts 7.4/ Hossa 7.4/Dats 6.7/Raf 6/Franzen 4. Total: $38,950,000.
Even if you drop Hossa from the Wings and Staal from the Pens, the new totals are Pens $31.4 mil and the Wings $31.55, so either way the Wings are paying than the Pens.
The Wings have been working on their "veteran" core for well over a decade(Lidstrom, Chelios, Draper, Maltby) while the Pens are but four yrs. from basically building a team from scratch.
My original point was that a lot of posters were saying that because of the losses that the Pens suffered, they were toast next yr and beyond. I just think that Pittsburgh has way tooooooooo much talent to simply blow them off.
Cup_dreams_2009
17 years. For someone who doesn't know how many consecutive years the Wings have been in the playoffs, you seem to be pretty sure of yourself about your prediction.
What was your prediction before we won the Cup?
Mine was that we would repeat, at least once, and that the Pens would likely not show up for the post season.
I'm not afraid to say, barring injury of course, that the additions KH has made will only enhance our chances!
tiger dog
theres another one over there of babcock. HE said he views ericsson as a big part of our team this year. I think your right.
pierre
helm blew up in juniors, he got a full year in gr before coming aboard. As good as he was, he was still an afterthought. The wings never intentionally moved players to give him a shot, he got in because of injury. And while i liked what i saw of helm, lets be realistic. The guy played about 5-6 minutes most nights and babcock was real careful about matchups. Again ill point to Q who had a pretty good 5-6 minutes/game against anaheim, and landed right back in GR.
I like abby alot, i like helm alot too, i just find it highly unlikely that the wings would bring them up now when both players could improve quite a bit with a season in GR. I think they both could contribute this year as wings, but id just as soon have them develop more in GR so they are that much better(less growing pains) when they do get here. When you factor that with having to push out veteran players who still are more than capable of playing their roles in order to give them a chance, i feel its a pretty safe bet that neither will make it this season.
The one exception is kopecky may not be ready at the start of the season(surgery) and you never know , someone could get injured too.
Holland's comments on the roster and stuff
Mlive has some audio clips of interviews with Holland and Babcock on WJR with Mitch Albom, Stone on WDFN, and WXYT.
If you click on "continue reading", there is an arrow at the bottom of each story with an audio link, and both Kenny and Babs go into their thinking about the roster, etc.
Here's an excerpt from the interview with KH on WDFN:
Mike Stone: You mention defense, I was kind of surprised that you re-signed Lilja. Not that I think that he's bad or anything like that, but, with the three young kids, Meech, Quincey, and Ericsson, I really thought this was going to be the year they'd really get to play a lot, and I was kind of surprised. Talk about the reason you decided to re-up with Anders...
Ken Holland: Well... (pauses) Um, we like the kids; are they ready to go? You know, our feeling is, we're gonna go to camp; we've really got ten defensemen that we think can play, now, are gonna be NHL defensemen. We've got four kids on the back end, Lebda, Quincey, Meech, and Ericsson, Kindl's probably a year away...
Lilja's an insurance policy. If they're not quite ready, he can play; if they are ready, then we'll have to make some decisions on, everybody's looking for defense. We're not gonna have any problem if we want to make a trade in training camp. You know, on the defense, we're talking about, they all make, you know, Lilja's the highest-paid player at a million-and-a-quarter, everybody and lower, I don't see that we're going to have any problem making a deal. Let's get to training camp, let's evaluate where we're at with those kids, and we're basically, I guess, we've deferred to make that decision in September instead of in June.
I would not want to be referred to as "an insurance policy". he should've known something was up when they gave him a set of Samsonite luggage in lieu of a signing bonus. I think that Lebda is penciled in on potential future Red Wings' rosters, as is Ericsson. I see Lilja being dealt, probably for a prospect or a draft pick, and either Meech or Q is No. 7 with Ericsson as No. 5 or 6 with Lebda. A couple things have to happen to get big E his ticket, but I think it will all be sorted out. As of today, he's in GR.
Predictions
Before we won the Cup I predicted that the Pens would be a no show next season. That was before Conklin, and Hossa, before Hasek retired and Stuart re-signed. It's only gotten better.
I don't think Flip is going anywhere and I'm not sure, although I think we could do without him, that Lila is going soon either.
Looks like we not only keep the team that looked poised to win it's 12-peat, but made as close to assurances as can be hoped for.
This is all based on things staying normal, like health.
TC
Scout,
I was discussing the "room" as in before and after games, at practice, out for dinner and drinks and perhaps during the third overtime when everyone is tired and looking for someone who is still skating like it's the first shift in the second period. Anyone who has ever been in a locker-room between halves or between periods, in this case, knows that that the time is for strategy. I got that you got that before I continued the line of dialogue. Still, my opinion holds that Maltby is one of the top five or six guys on a believability scale. He's been there, done that, and has the rings to prove it. So, my assertion is that his value is high on the ice and off the ice. I also think he's better than he's advertised to be as well.
