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yave1964

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Blog Entries posted by yave1964

  1. yave1964
    Very simple wish list that I would like to see the Wings go out and do this year.
    First, Jimmy Howard has been less than stellar and frankly has had two average seasons. It is time to make a change in goal.
    Trade Jimmy Howard and a young forward to the Winnipeg Jets for Evander Kane. Kane is alienated in Winnipeg and he is supposedly being dangled this offseason. The Jets have putrid netminding. With average goaltending this season they would have been in the mix for a playoff spot.
    Sign local boy Ryan Miller. I am not one of those who feels that Miller is the second coming but he would be an upgrade over Howard.
    Jonas Gustafsson was solid in net but is an UFA and Mrazak deserves to be the backup and groomed for the eventual starting job.
    Daniel Alfredsson delivered as promised and the hope is that he will come back for one more year.
    Sign Dan Boyle to run the power play. He is slipping but IMHO he has a few years left, time for the solid bunch of defensive prospects we have in the pipeline to continue to grow.
    Thank Dan Cleary, Todd Bertuzzi, Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Quincey for their service and show them the door. Youth must be served, al of these guys except possibly Quincey are done and in Quincey's case we have better options.
    Let go of David Legwand. We gave up top prospect Jarnkrok for him, we needed more than a month of hockey and five playoff games to show for it, but there is no room for him on the team.
    That is about it. I have read a lot of folks say that we need to buy out Franzen but at a 4 million a year cap hit his contract is not unreasonable, just too long. I cannot think of a scenario where buying him out makes sense.
    This would mean the Wings would start the year with:
    Nyquist Datsyuk Kane
    Franzen Zetterberg Alfredsson
    Tatar Sheahan Jurco
    Abdelkader Helm Miller
    Others Weiss, Andersson Glendening
    Kronwall Ericsson
    Boyle Dekeyser
    Smith Kindl
    Others Lashoff
    In net
    Miller
    Mrazak
    In my opinion we would have strengthened our forwards, defense, goaltending, and power play. If Alfie rides off into the sunset then we should seriously make a run at keeping Legwand.
  2. yave1964
    I was fifteen years old when the WHA folded, I remember getting my hockey cards the following year, opening packs up and looking with confusion at cards such as Morris Luckowich Winnipeg Jets, Dave Dryden of the Edmonton Oilers and Andre Lacroix of the Hartford Whalers, not sure who they were, who the teams were or what the hell they were doing in the packs taking up space as I looked for my Dale McCourt and Reed Larson cards.
    Over the years I have made it a hobby of mine to study the game we all love, the history of it, and have made it a personal love affair with learning everything there is to know about the WHA. From Derek Sanderson and his 8 game 2.6 million dollar Philadelphia Blazer deal, to Bernie Parent walking out in the middle of a playoff series over not getting paid, Bobby Hull giving the league credibility, Gerry Cheevers getting mugged three times on the way to his car in his first season with the Celveland Crusaders, The Hanson/Carlson brothers from Slap Shot fame being REAL hockey players, Gordie Gallant, Billy Butters, Frank 'never' Beaton, teams merging and then disapearing overnight, Gordie and his boys. Hedberg and Ulfie, the San Diego Mariners owned by Ray Kroc of McDonalds fame, all of it is still very much alive to me.
    I collect cards and autographs, as well as stories from retired players. I send cards to players as I get their addresses with a hand written note, thanking them for the memories and asking if they would like to send a story of their time in the game back as well. So far, I have over two hundred letters from retired players, half from the WHA telling favorite stories. Most of the players were from the seventies and eighties, my favorite era, and if anyone is interested in hearing more about this or the WHA's rich history, let me know!!
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