redwing77

If it is not early departures, then I hear JP Lamoreaux will be leaving UND later in May. So will Rylan Kaip and Kyle Radke.

What goes into rating defensemen? I'd like to know what makes Fienhage 36th ranked and MacWilliam 147th ranked, for example. Aren't they roughly similar in size and game style?

But Lou Nanne says that Sakic and Co. are old and the Wild's youth trumps that...oh...wait....

Crazy, sure, but respectable too. Gaborik has to go hide behind Boogaard. But then again... I don't see an Iginla or Lecavalier on the Wild, Gaborik included.

The numbers Kane put up just are too much to not get the trophy. Kane will get all the glitz and glamor while Toews will get all the respect and admiration by those who know the game well.

Though breakin face is going to jump all over this.... I must ask is all this tar and feathering of him necessary? I don't like a good majority of his posts, but I don't think it is necessary to berate him like you all are doing. Just ignore him. Good grief, you all act like he's Happy or the second coming of GrahamKracker.

No offense to Telly, but I'm kinda surprised it took this long to make it to eBay. Just being cynical.

An owner that wants to spend money? Too bad their GM is dedicated against that principle. Toronto wants to talk to Doug. KFAN and Lou "Wild Kool Aid" Nanne says he hopes not. I for one say I hope so. And I hope Lou Nanne is forced to choke on many a more of his idiotic opinions. Rolston has produced. I have no problem with him. But seriously, the Wild made all these "moves" and are still a one dimensional team offensively. Colorado did a great job of making Gaborik look like a figure skater and not a hockey player. Demitra is marginal scoring talent. Rolston is a one trick wonder whose one trick worked a lot. I've NEVER been a fan of Bouchard. If he dove a little more he'd be a less offensively talented Forsberg. I love the Simon pickup. Put Voros, Boogaard, and Simon on the same line and you have the NHL version of the Hanson brothers. I agree that you need to have grit and toughness. I think Fedoruk and Voros add that. Voros can be a bit cheap at times, but every team has one of those (though the NHL's leading cheap shot artist, Philly's Steve Downie, shouldn't be emulated). Fedoruk adds toughness and grit, will drop the gloves, and will crash the net. In my opinion, that makes Simon and Boogaard expendable. Sure, Boogaard is a world class fighter, but let's just say Lemaire should drop his name to a GM that can be better for Boogaard's style of play: Dana White, the GM of UFC. They do need a big guy up front. I'd say someone like Dustin Penner or Thornton (neither are available I believe). They need a playmaker like Toews. They need a system that is willing to give up .5 more goals per game just so they can gain .5 more goals per game if necessary. They already have good goaltending. I think they need 3 big name free agents. If they want to make Rolston one of the three, that's fine. But the other two should be a big time goal scoring forward and the other a big name defensive defenseman. The rest they can go youth movement if they want. THere are very few Wild players other than Gaborik, Koivu, and Backstrom that I think the Wild couldn't live without, even Burns. Gaborik would be the first line rep, Koivu, the second line rep. Not impressed with any of their defensemen. Burns is the best I think he's pretty weak. He has no identity on the ice. I don't know if Lemaire need be fired. Not sure there are any better head coaches out there. I don't find Wild hockey exciting, but sagard is right. It's much better than it used to be.

Yup. Not that I'm a Forsberg fan (he taught Robbie Earl everything he learned on diving), but imagine if Minnesota made the moves Colorado made this year... getting Salei from Florida, Forsberg from Sweden, and Foote from Columbus (I think). Well, we'd still be watching Wild hockey right now, that's for sure... Ok, well, we'd be waiting for their next opponent anyways.

UND isn't going hockey east. They're going to join the CCHA! UMN will join AHA to exact revenge on Holy Cross!

So let me understand this... Don't believe what Kozek has done this year, he still sucks? Gotcha. GO KOZEK! HIstorians out there, Kozek has been told to sign with the Thrashers before next season has even begun. We've seen sign Joe Finley and Brian Lee threads before, but is the Sign Kozek call count as the earliest someone has been thrown off the bus? I don't know what Kozek will do professionally, but if he decides to come back, he made the right decision. IF he goes pro, so be it. I'll support him either way.

Holy Cow, people have caught onto the Wild mantra! Or is it the Twins mantra? Or...the Vikings? Heck, I can't tell them apart front office wise.

yekcoh: Your signature makes me think regarding Bettman... what's more frustrating: Not being able to fix stupid or seeing that continuing Bettman's employment is stupid and not fixing it? It's hard enough seeing something that is stupid that you can do nothing about, but when there is action you can take (firing Bettman in this case) and it isn't being done is more frustrating. "We need to fix this problem but it is the player's choice" Okposo chose to sign the dotted line after Snow told him to sign. So, was it or wasn't it Okposo's choice? It's the "we need to do something so we'll see if we can do something."

Yeah. PP Unit 1 has Chorney and Bina while PP Unit 2 has Lee and Genoway.... WOW. Too bad Lee sucks.

INTERVENTION!!!! Then again... It would be worse if he were doing something stupid... like imitating Marc Denis...or Ray Emery...or Alex Auld

THIS JUST IN! Samuel Clemens once inferred: "The news of AZSioux's demise has been greatly exaggerated." He's dealing with some personal issues off-board right now. He'll be back when those issues, whatever they may be, are resolved. That is all. The doors shall remain open for now.

Who cares! You're ALIVE! I went looking for you when I went to a game this season. You were a noshow!!!! I dunno, but I hung out with Sioux-cia, Siouxmama, and Morley and you didn't show up... neither did Sioux7 or Goon....

STAY Wheeler, STAY! Good dog! No argument here. Having Finley around would make everyone happy. Those of us who root for the team no matter what will have a tried and true vet on the blue line. Those of us who dislike him will have someone to chastise for every little thing he does. It's a win-win.

SIEVE!

Maybe he'll play like Muse? Maybe he'll need time to acclimate. I see our offense not being as strong next year. Eidsness will also see a lot more shots than JPL saw. It could be another good year.... it also could be a disaster. It hasn't been this uncertain cince the 2001-2002 preseason.

It's also no surprise. It will be interesting if he produces at the next level or if he is just another Junior Lessard/Peter Sejna.

No. I'm also unhappy that I can't root against the Wild this series. They suck so hardcore (imo one if not the worst playoff team) but I can't in good conscience root for the Avs either. Well, hopefully Detroit pulls their heads from their breezers and ends it. And, for the record, I hate Lou Nanne with a passion. He believes that, once a skater reaches a certain age, they become crap. Didn't stop Sakic from scoring last night. Didn't stop him from putting it in the back of the net in the Avs' win. Nanne you are a worthless homer. Stop drinking the Wild kool-aid and open your eyes.

I agree. Patience left us long ago.

God I'm going to miss Radke and Kaip. Both of them added so much fire to the team. They both played hard against BC but couldn't get it done.

Sorry, but it's been going downhill for longer than that. I'd say January of Brian Lee's freshman year was the start of the downward spiral. I'm not ready to blame Jim on this. He cannot be held accountable for some of the idiots who post here. Micromanagement only adds on to his workload and that makes this place not fun (not that this place is any fun for Jim). But seriously, instead of closing this place down, we should be working hard to help Jim make this place better. Remember, Gopher fans loved prideonice before it shut down. GPL took a long time to garner acceptance. We didn't help it any, but right now we'd be losing a lot more than we'd be gaining if this place shut down...