Wings looking great so far

[redwings.cup]

end of first period. yzerman banged home an EZ goal on first Wings shot of game. Later took a Big Al slapshot near his Johnson. Observations Tough hitting by Blues, wings hanging in w/ physical stuff well. St. Louis must be frustrated by Hasek's great play. Hull has his 5th goal,,,, the man is on fire!!! First power play goal that Blues have given up in playoffs on the road. Pace and penalties picking up.

[Bier Meister]

Yeah- looking a lot better since games 1 & 2 vs. Van.

[redwings.cup]

my god... hasek is unreal today. the blues must be totally frustrated. great showing at end of two. blues have hung tough, but...... they played well and they cannot penetrate the DOMINATOR. still p1ssed he isn't a Vezina finalist. very disrepectful.

[Bier Meister]

dodged a late game feury. But, 2-0 wings.

[Egret]

The Blues finally came on late in the third, but it was too late. I expect to see more of the Blues we saw at the end of the game. I'd be very surprised if the Wings won the next two games. St. Louis should win at least one.

[Lerxst]

redwings.cup:

still p1ssed he isn't a Vezina finalist. very disrepectful.

Hasek isn't a Vezina finalist because he shouldn't be. 'Nuff said.

[redwings.cup]

so lerxst, you'd rather have Burke than the Dominator?

[Lerxst]

No, I would rather have Hasek, but without Burke, Phoenix doesn't even come close to making the playoffs. Without Hasek, Detroit would still be a top team, as if they have proven in years past. Burke is simply more valuable to his team.

[Guest Azazello13]

i don't know for sure without checking, but i'm pretty sure detroit's GAA went UP this year going from osgood to hasek. yeah, anyone with two brain cells would rather have hasek than burke come playoff time, but hasek did NOT have a great regular season by his standards (or by vezina trophy standards) and he does NOT deserve to be a finalist for the award this year.

[Lerxst]

Excellent post Azazello13! Red Wings fans are never happy it seems. Their team spends the most money to buy the best team, their players schmooze with the officials to get all of the calls and they still find something to whine about.

[Foosball God]

Lerxst:

Their team spends the most money to buy the best team

I can't believe everyone acts like the Wings are the only team that goes out and gets high priced free agents. One of the reasons the Wings have the highest payroll is because they've been good for many years and the players have been paid accordingly. Colorado has spent almost as much on free agents as the Wings have, and they are starting to feel how it is when contract time comes up because Sakic, Blake, and Roy are all making a boat load of money.

[loaf]

Darn it! I thought this was gonna be about chicken wings on your Big Green Egg www.biggreenegg.com

[Hugh 0ne]

Foosball God:

 

Lerxst:

Their team spends the most money to buy the best team

One of the reasons the Wings have the highest payroll is because they've been good for many years and the players have been paid accordingly.I partially agree/disagree. What you say isn't untrue, but keep in mind the additions of Hasek, Hull, Robitalle. Those are major salary additions. F'N half Swiss. wink

[Guest Azazello13]

Foosball God:

 

Lerxst:

Their team spends the most money to buy the best team

I can't believe everyone acts like the Wings are the only team that goes out and gets high priced free agents. One of the reasons the Wings have the highest payroll is because they've been good for many years and the players have been paid accordingly. Colorado has spent almost as much on free agents as the Wings have, and they are starting to feel how it is when contract time comes up because Sakic, Blake, and Roy are all making a boat load of money.one thing i must point out is that the avs have NEVER signed a big-name free agent off another team. they've never gotten a player without giving up what was perceived to be equal value by the other team involved. all of their acquisitions have been by trade, and not by free-agency bidding war. the only thing they've done in free agency is retain the players already on their team.

 

the red wings sure as heII can't say that, nor can any of the other elite teams in the league.

[policyvote]

Az--keep in mind that they lost Lapointe to FA this year, and that the last two cups they won WERE with all homegrown or fairly traded-for talent. This year, yes, they pretty much bought a cup, but your characterization of a "bidding war" is completely inaccurate. Robitaille and Hasek both turned down more money (and in Hasek's case, a LOT more money) to play in Detroit. Hully wasn't getting very much interest, so it's not like the Wings really had to outbid anyone. Really, what happened is more like the Wings decided this year was the last hurrah, and all the cupless HoFers decided to get on board--no different than when Ray Bourque decided to ditch Boston to get his name on the chalice in Colorado.

 

Peace

policy

[Foosball God]

Azazello13:

one thing i must point out is that the avs have NEVER signed a big-name free agent off another team.  they've never gotten a player without giving up what was perceived to be equal value by the other team involved.  all of their acquisitions have been by trade, and not by free-agency bidding war.  the only thing they've done in free agency is retain the players already on their team.

 

the red wings sure as heII can't say that, nor can any of the other elite teams in the league.

The only players the Wings have gotten via free agency are Hull and Robitalle. All the other big name stars we're either drafted or traded for.

[Guest Azazello13]

Foosball God:

The only players the Wings have gotten via free agency are Hull and Robitalle.  All the other big name stars we're either drafted or traded for.

well that's two more than the avs have on their roster, and that's all i'm trying to say.

 

besides, you make it sound like hull and robitaille (two 600 goal scorers, fer chrissakes!!) are drops in the bucket or something. that's two 600 goal scorers they added to their team and gave up squat. not to mention, trading junk to buffalo for hasek because he left the sabres no choice. when the yankees do that, people call it "buying championships".

[Foosball God]

Azazello13:

 

Foosball God:

The only players the Wings have gotten via free agency are Hull and Robitalle.  All the other big name stars we're either drafted or traded for.

well that's two more than the avs have on their roster, and that's all i'm trying to say.

 

besides, you make it sound like hull and robitaille (two 600 goal scorers, fer chrissakes!!) are drops in the bucket or something. that's two 600 goal scorers they added to their team and gave up squat. not to mention, trading junk to buffalo for hasek because he left the sabres no choice. when the yankees do that, people call it "buying championships".

Kozlov and a 1st rounder were not "junk" If you ask me Buffalo got more for Hasek than Pittsburgh did for Jagr.

 

I'm just saying that before this past season with Hull and Robitalle the Wings didn't do anything on the FA market either.

 

If anyone has tried to "buy" a championship it's been the Rangers, they just prove that "buying" a championship in hockey is a pipe dream. The players have to want to play together if they want to win the cup.

 

Hull and Robitalle both gave up the extra money they could have made else where to play for the Wings, that's more than the Flyers and Rangers can say for their free agents.

[Guest Azazello13]

Foosball God:

Hull and Robitalle both gave up the extra money they could have made else where to play for the Wings, that's more than the Flyers and Rangers can say for their free agents.

you wish. who did the rangers sign this year? anyone with the status of hull and robitaille? and roenick actually DID turn down at least the possibility of more money (probably from washington) to sign with the flyers on the first day of free agency. the wings may be better than the rangers and flyers, but their means of acquiring talent aren't that different at all.

[Hugh 0ne]

Azazello13:

 

Foosball God:

Hull and Robitalle both gave up the extra money they could have made else where to play for the Wings, that's more than the Flyers and Rangers can say for their free agents.

you wish. who did the rangers sign this year? anyone with the status of hull and robitaille?Who's that little Russian guy who used to date that tennis player. Oh, yeah, now I remember, Pavel Bure. You're right, he's not a big name.

[Foosball God]

So you're excuse if the Wings win is going to be that the Wings bought a championship???

 

What a joke.

 

Obviously Hull and Robitaille are big additions to the Wings and if we win the cup the will be a part of it, but they are only two players on a loaded team. If the Wings win it won't be because of the money spent, it will be because the players worked as a team and wanted to win together. Don't think for a second that your precious Avs wouldn't have signed a free agent if they had had some extra money, but they blew their wad on resigning Blake, Roy, and Sakic.

[Lerxst]

Keep in mind too that since there is no salary cup in hockey, Detroit can throw all kinds of money at their own free agents and few teams can keep up with that. That is why the Red Wings are the Yankees of the NHL. Because the only way they can stay at the top is to outspend every other team in the league. And don't give me this "homegrown talent" crap. Hull, Hasek, Robitaille, Shanahan & Chelios are 5 of their most important players and none of them are homegrown players.

[redwings.cup]

i'm having a hard time with the av's fans logic. you "trade" for Blake when he is approaching free agency and then sign him. yes, avs gave up some talent, but this is no different than what the Wings did with Hasek. The avs did sign free agents...sakic, roy, and blake come rushing to mind. they simply signed their own. That's well and good..... what about running out and buying Fluery's talents at the end of the year. Bourque has been mentioned. What about Kasparatis.... whether. Both the Wings and the avs have done a great job in staying on top of the heap for an extended period of time. They've done it by doing a great job grabbing players and growing playing. They've turned themselves into places good players want to play We can go on and on, but Luc wanted to stay in LA and the Kings (a supposed up and coming Cup contender) didn't ante up. Hull fell in the Wings lap. By the way, I agree that Jagr was given away for less than Hasek. Thank god our Dominator didn't end up with a Blue's note on his jersey.

[redwings.cup]

Lerxst:

No, I would rather have Hasek, but without Burke, Phoenix doesn't even come close to making the playoffs. Without Hasek, Detroit would still be a top team, as if they have proven in years past. Burke is simply more valuable to his team.

That's not what the Vezina is about. It's about the top goalie and Hasek, during the regular season, was better than Burke. He is better period from any which way you want to look. It's clear that several of the Wings, including Bowman, get short changed during awards time.

[Guest Azazello13]

HUGH ONE:

Who's that little Russian guy who used to date that tennis player. Oh, yeah, now I remember, Pavel Bure. You're right, he's not a big name.

probablty hard for you to follow...but we've been keeping trades and free agency separate for purposes of this discussion, because they really ARE quite different. in a trade, you have to give something up to get a great player...you have to give up more talent/potential talent than any other team is willing to give up, AND you have to give up the dough if you want to keep them. to get a free agent you just have to give up more money than anyone else.