Red Wings

[jaadam4]

Nice read Tom (6861)..

[froot loops]

Two years ago isn't now, Froot.

They're a better team than one person retiring sending the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Holland was worried because yeah, having to replace Rafalski AND Lidstrom in the same offseason would probably be a little much.

People were so terrified it was the end of the road when Konstantinov was crippled. They were apoplectic when Yzerman retired, wondering who was going to fill his leadership role.

The Chicken Littles were wrong then. They're wrong now.

The Red Wings will be okay. I promise.

1. People weren't terrified when they lost Konstantinov. They were terrified for him personally. But they just won a cup, they were going to be contenders then even without him, nobody said what you're claiming.

2. People weren't apopletic when Yzerman retired. Certainly you never
want him to retire, but by the time Yzerman had retired, he a complementary part in the team.

How is anyone supposed to take your arguments seriously when you set all of these strawmen about how people are arguing?

You can say Kronwall might be the best defenseman, but some of that is saying it for shock value. Lidstrom still had a really, really good year last year. And he might have been their most valuable player in the playoffs. They can be OK, but its no certainty, getting good defenseman on his level is improbable. You saw it this year, they was very little available and nobody near his level.

[jaadam4]

I felt sick when Stevie Y walked off the ice his last game.

[Drew]

Nice read Tom (6861)..

X2

[chemiclord]

1. People weren't terrified when they lost Konstantinov. They were terrified for him personally. But they just won a cup, they were going to be contenders then even without him, nobody said what you're claiming.

2. People weren't apopletic when Yzerman retired. Certainly you never
want him to retire, but by the time Yzerman had retired, he a complementary part in the team.

How is anyone supposed to take your arguments seriously when you set all of these strawmen about how people are arguing?

You can say Kronwall might be the best defenseman, but some of that is saying it for shock value. Lidstrom still had a really, really good year last year. And he might have been their most valuable player in the playoffs. They can be OK, but its no certainty, getting good defenseman on his level is improbable. You saw it this year, they was very little available and nobody near his level.

1) You're wrong.

2) You're wrong.

I was in that media mix when the second was happening, and following the first closely. Red Wings fans were absolutely beside themselves wondering how each player was going to be replaced. There was damn near panic on the radio waves, in the news... etc.

I'm hearing the same bullshit now. "Lidstrom's gonna retire! It's the end! It's over! THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!!!"

Ken Holland has earned my trust over the last twenty years. I am confident he will find a way to minimize the loss. Make no mistake, there will be a loss, but it won't spell the end of the road... at least not yet.

Look on the talent on that roster, subtract Lidstrom. Is that a team that's going to fall apart and be a bottom feeder? Absolutely not. It's not going to be nearly as pretty in the defensive zone, but it's going to be good enough for the talent up front to win enough games to remain a contender.

Lidstrom retiring is not going to be the end. There's enough there to sustain a high level of competitiveness for a handful of more years, and that's assuming no one steps up to continue fueling the machine, ya know, like they have for the last two fucking decades.

Just stop while you're behind, Chicken Little.

[lions&tigers&wings...yea]

I think we will get Suter after next season and we will have the best and one of the youngest defenses that we've had in a long time.

Potential Line-Up:

Suter-Kronwall
Stuart-Smith
Kindl-White
scratched: Ericsson

I like the Big-rig but I just don't see him beating out any of the other players for a spot in a years time. Considering how much he's making if he is the #6-7 he should get traded so he has an opportunity to play.

[nhwbrooklyn]

Young yes... best... dunno about that.

[chemiclord]

Doubtful it'll be the best, even adding someone like Suter. Hell, they didn't even have the best defense with the best defenseman of this era in the fold.

But it should be good enough to win games. That's what matters.

[lions&tigers&wings...yea]

Sorry what I should have said was that it has the potential to be better than all of our defenses since The Fisch had to retire because of how young the group is

However, Kronwall and Stuart are FAs next summer so it might not work out that way because although I doubt it...Kronwall might want to test the market. Stuart more than likely won't because he has been around the league a bit and has stated how he loves it in Detroit and would like to play here for a long time

[chemiclord]

Kronwall's already been tagged as the top priority for the Wings next offseason, and he's already stated he wants to be back. He's not going anywhere.

Add in Suter or a different FA target, and along with Smith and whichever one of the Kindl/White/Ericsson trio makes the most strides, the Wings will have two more than capable defensive pairings. They're going to struggle with the third pairing, I think... but that's a problem just about every team has.

[Tom]

Thanks jaadam and Drew.

Just to be clear, I never said losing Lidstrom is "The End". I don't think anyone here said that and I haven't heard anyone say that. That said, I think losing Lidstrom next year will hurt more than losing Yzerman at the time he left. Lidstrom is still a great defenseman whereas Yzerman had become just an above average player (he may have been worse but it's hard to admit it).

[chemiclord]

Of course it's going to hurt. But your exact words were "a great era is ending." Sounds like you're saying... uh... that it's end.

But the Wings will be okay. They'll make due. Just like they always have when one of their great players has hung them up (or left in FA) for the last two decades.

EDIT: It would seem I misinterpreted what you meant. In terms of Lidstrom retiring, yeah... that would be a truly great era ending. Arguably the best pure defensemen in the history of the game.

[gjdodger]

A Russian jet carrying a top local ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing 36 people and leaving one critically injured, officials said.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed immediately after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles northeast of Moscow. It said one person survived the crash with grave injuries.
There was no immediate word on weather conditions.
The ministry said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl.
Brad McCrimmon, 52, head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was one of the two assistant coaches with the Detroit Red Wings last year. He is a former Wings player and hadhelped coach them for three seasons. A former Red Wings prospect,Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, is also on the Lokomotiv team. Former Wings defender Ruslan Salei, who played for the Wings last year, is on the team, too.
The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The league is made up of several ex-Soviet nations.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation's transport minister to the site of the crash, 10 miles east of Yaroslavl.
President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year. The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in service with Russian and other airlines.
In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error.

.

[jaadam4]

Oh my, thats really horrible.

[FCRhodes]

That really sucks.