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Hudler
OOPS, had cut this piece out to move it and forgot to paste it back in.
My point is that for the kind of money you are suggesting a Thomas Kopecky like player is all they are going to get. If they wanted a Thomas Kopecky type player for $1.3 million they could have just paid him that (thats more than he got from the Hawks) and cut Hudler loose. Having not done it a week ago, why would they do it now?
Hudler
Kopecky signed for $1.2 million in Chicago. He is bigger and hits more than Hudler, but right now, I would take Hudler ahead of Kopecky any day of the week. If you haven't noticed the Wings just lost about 70 goals production from the offense. Replacing Hudler (a 23 goal guy) with a Kopecky type grinder (10 goals) just doesn't seem to make sense.
To be honest I just checked Kopecky's bio and would never have guessed he is 6'3" and 200 pounds. Yes Kopecky threw a lot of hits but more often than not he was the guy falling down.
I think a lot of people mistake "tall" for being big. There is a difference. Based on his fighting prowess and how easy he was to knock off the puck, you have to question his upper body strength. I would actually be surprised if Kopecky is really 200 pounds, just based on how many times he would hit someone with no effect except on him. I mean based on these stats he is much bigger than Kronwall, and yet I don't recall him ever throwing a hit near as solid as Kronwall did on Havlatt. What I recall of Kopecky is him scampering into the offensive zone, hitting the defenseman and falling down, allowing the other team to waltz out of their end. The idea of hitting, is to take the other teams player off the puck and create a turnover. Hitting and falling on your butt while the guy you hit skates away with the puck isn't the idea.
need to retool a bit
Plus a number of the games Howard appeared in in 2007/08 were in that stretch in February of '08 when the Wings were missing pretty much there entire top 4 d. I agree that people just aren't giving the guy a chance. He is coming in as the backup. The reality is that Conklin was signed for one year for a reason. That was to give Howard one more year in the minors. This was the plan all along. If the Wings didn't think he could fill the backup spot then they wouldn't be giving him a shot. Have some faith in the management. Let him get 20-30 games under his belt in a season and if it doesn't work out there is always the trade deadline to pick up a serviceable backup. If he stinks in his first 5 starts he probably won't see much action after that anyway and the Wings will be on the hunt for a backup. If he becomes the next Cam Ward, then there will be some on here that will be glad no one listened to them.
need to retool a bit
Jimmy Howard has started 7 games in 3 YEARS for the Wings. He appeared in 9. ONLY 7 GAMES STARTED! ONLY 7 GAMES! Do you understand that????? I can't believe people would judge someone's career on 7 games. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?
Give the guy a chance man! Let him get some confidence going and then see what he does. How can anyone gain confidence playing in the NHL in 9 games over a three year span.... give me a break!
And yes he won a game ..... but you would have known that had you looked up how many games he played in.
And the Wings will not find a goalie worth a darn for only $716,667.00
need to retool a bit
yes we are still pretty good hopefully the players mentioned can rebound. although I think it time to say goodbye to maltby and try to get a better backup goalie because jimmy howard is not an NHL goalie by any standard I believe he has yet to win a game in a Wings jersey, We should have tried to keep Conklin.
Hudler & Leino
I have a feeling Hudler is not going to be on the starting roster next year either. Between what he is asking or what an arbitrator may award him the Wings will trade him. They simply can not afford to pay him anywhere near $3 mil or more.
I think the Wings should focus on signing Leino and plan on Abdelkader being on the roster next year. That will give the Wings about $1.3 - $1.5 mil, taking into account a raise for Leino, to go out a get a bigger more physical grinder type player than Hudler.... because of the loss of Hossa, Sammy and Kopecky the Wings will need such a player.
Filppula will have to step up and start shooting more because they are going to need production from him.
Holland Definitely Gets Hudler Now And Can He Get Say, Colby Armstrong?
Jimmy Dickens said: "The fact that the guy wasn't that effective in the post-season should weigh heavily, in my opinion, against a very large pay raise."
My question is what are your expectations of a third line player playing 13.5 minutes per game? I challange you to find another third line player on any team that had as many points per minutes played as Hudler. I already pointed out the guy on Pittsburg, (Kennedy) who played 13.5 minutes per game on average had 9 points in the playoffs, 3 fewer than Hudler. And oh yeah, he played one more game. You can't expect Hudler to produce points like a guy playing 5 or 6 more minutes per game.
Not a great final series I will give you, but he had just as many points as Hossa (3) which is 2 more than Samuellsson had in the finals, plus he was a plus 2 while Hossa was a -1 and Sammy a +1. Plus in the finals, Hudler only played on average about 11 minutes per game. Tough to make a significant impact when you are riding the pine. Ask anyone that has played the game. When you play that few minutes, it is tough to get into the game.
Sammy
I, for one, am glad Sammy is gone. He had one of the least accurate shots in the league. He was setup so many times, om;y to miss the target. Put Lieno, Helm or Abdelkader in the same position and I/m confident they would score more goals than Sammy.
our forwards are dropping like flys
Looks like Mac might be back.
Is #37 Samuelson gone too?
if so... for who/what?
wouldn't it be a great 2010 SCF with the Hawks and no show HossoChicago bolt
"Chicago made me a great offer and it's a great hockey town, and the team is young, big, strong and fast. It has a nice future and that's why I came here." Hossa.
The future for the Hawks got a little dimmer when the two-time loser came on board.
Hossa to the Hawks
Only one thing for sure... The Blackhawks will not win the final with Hossa on board.
Holland Definitely Gets Hudler Now And Can He Get Say, Colby Armstrong?
Your post is deceiving; it reads like they signed Hudler and they haven't
Holland Definitely Gets Hudler Now And Can He Get Say, Colby Armstrong?
Unless the wackjob arbitration board gets ahold of this one, Hudler's coming back for certain. The fact that the guy wasn't that effective in the post-season should weigh heavily, in my opinion, against a very large pay raise.
I honestly believe that Mikael Samuelsson is worth whatever raise he's getting from Vancouver, but the trouble for him now is how inanely picky their management is for guys who played with the Sedin's. Their best linemate to date
any new news?
besides leino?
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