GMRwings1983

San Jose didn't carry an enforcer for most of the year and in the Nashville series they paid for it with cheapshots on several of their players. They lost to us because guys like Marleau, Guerin, and their entire defense didn't contribute anything offensively. We don't have to mold our entire roster into a big physical one like the Sharks have, but some balance is needed, and we have none right now. As hard as it is to believe, once again we have a softer, smaller team than we did the year before. At this trend, we'll have midgets playing on our roster in five years, because every year we get smaller and smaller.

What Predator fans? I thought that their existance was just a myth. But lets suppose that these fans do exist, then they should hate us more than we hate them considering that we win the division every year.

I wasn't laughing that night. Just ask my furniture.

Maybe not, but it'd be nice to see Pronger have to back it up after a Probert or Laraque chases his scrawny ass across the ice and beats the s*** out of him. The truth is that enforcers have never been great players, but the need for them is higher now than it has ever been with all the cheapshot aritsts that this league has that aren't willing to back up their play. We need someone who can retaliate and take out one of the other team's players in a 7 game series to even the odds.

I hope Lidstrom doesn't pair with Rafalski, because in 2004 when he paired with Schneider, his offensive numbers went down since Schneider took some offense away from Lidstrom. I thought that was the reason he didn't win the Norris that year.

I'm not sure about that. Ron Francis is 4th all time in points, and no one has him ranked anywhere close to the top 10.

Simon doesn't drop the gloves that much anymore, but he'd be a great commodity to have and also no one on this forum could whine about how he's taking up precious roster spots since he has more talent than your average enforcer. All in all, though, this is like beating a dead horse because we all know that we're not going to have an enforcer on the team this year just like every other year.

I think that his personality will prevent others from ranking him anywhere in the top 10. Also, he doesn't have the same legend status that other top 10 players have.

Fedorov is my 2nd favorite player ever besides Stevie, and I'm more than aware of his playoff history. However, it's ridiculous for you or anyone else to suggest that he can be a huge contribution to this team. He's injury prone and on the downside of his career. It's hard for someone to drop off that fast, and then all of a sudden to become a good player again in their late 30's. He also doesn't have to add to his legend because he has nothing left to prove. He's a sure fire hall of famer as it is.

So are you saying that Samuelsson should be on the 1st PP unit instead of Rafalski?

We already have a pretty solid 3rd line center, his name is Kris Draper. If we're going to bring in a forward at the deadline next year to help us score, it has to be a 2nd line sniper, because I see a problem with Samuelsson and Franzen as top 6 forwards right now.

Versus shows a lot more playoff hockey then I could ever envision ESPN showing if they do bring hockey back. I just know they'd wind up cutting off a game right in the middle of overtime to broadcast the paper, rock, scissors world championships which will undoubtedly become as popular as poker.

For Fedorov to be a deadline acquisition worth pursuing he first has to put up some good numbers in Columbus, and that just isn't something that I see him doing at this point in his career. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another disappointing injury-riddled year.

We'd still have to replace Schneider with an offensive defenseman, so I can see both Fischer and Rafalski being here, but that would mean less money for Kronwall and probably no Andreas Lilja signing two years ago.

What's wrong with you. Murphy is a Hall of Famer, so Rafalski has a long way to go before he winds up there. However, in the present, Rafalski is a better player than Murphy was when he came here since he was several years past his prime, while Rafalski is still in his prime.

I hate Forsberg. Too many injuries and as a Wings fan there's too much water under the bridge for me to ever actually cheer for him. I'd love to have either Markov or Selanne, especially since Selanne has that right handed shot that we desperately need on the team right now. However, I have a hard time seeing Selanne going anywhere else besides Anaheim if he does indeed decide to come back.

Of course Crawford is ***, he was the head coach of the Divealanche.

I don't see how clutch goals are a decent excuse for him not playing hard on every shift on both sides of the ice. We can't have players that pick and choose out there. That can spread like a disease. As for finding a new whipping boy, every fanbase out there has one in every sport, we're just more creative at it than anyone else.

That's a great point you make about players wanting an enforcer in the lineup. I think that all of us here would be appreciative if there was an enforcer in the lineup, but it seems like many here are finding excuses for why there shouldn't be one. I wonder how many of the nay-sayers would change their mind on how enforcers are a liablity if Holland was to finally sign one?

How can Samuelsson be a 2nd liner after the season that he had. To mee he's a third or fourth line guy. Also, Fillpula played well last year, but I have serious doubts about his ability to be a first liner for an entire season.

Or if he gets arrested and charged with something that makes Michael Vick look like a choir boy.

Don't worry, we'll find a new punching bag very soon to gripe about here. Can you say Mikael Samuelsson.

Does this mean that Drake will teach Kopecky on how to run players from behind?

What is the word on a guy like Eric Godard. He ain't going to do much except fight, but that's better than what a guy like Langfeld can give us.

I like the fact that they brought back their old logo several years ago, but the colors sucked. They went from yellow to some kind of beige color, much like the St. Louis Rams did when they changed their jerseys. Is it just me, or does it seem like just about every team in the league doesn't have as good a jersey as they once did in some point in their team's history.