The Wings, who were squeezed by their salary cap, offered 10 years for $40 million for the forward....

The Wings, who were squeezed by their salary cap, offered 10 years for $40 million for the forward. But they knew they likely wouldn't get him and gave his agent Ritch Winter permission a week ago to talk to other teams. They did it out of the goodness of their heart because they could have tried to trade his negotiating rights as Florida did with Jay Bouwmeester; but they felt they owed Hossa for signing with Detroit last year and leaving lots of money on the table elsewhere."

-- Edmonton Journal on the classiest organization in the NHL

over 2 years ago Christy 5 comments 0 recs |

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shows us all...

the ultimate class holland & crew have, & exactly why the wings are the best team in the decade out of all major professional sports teams.
go wings!!

by puckyou2 on Jul 1, 2009 8:54 PM CDT reply actions

Couldn’t agree more.

(But not signing Conklin?—Got a feeling thats not a smart move on Holland’s part)

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." - (Twelfth Night; Act II, Scene V).

by Hockeytown_ice on Jul 1, 2009 10:38 PM CDT up reply actions

Although this has been said elsewhere, not signing Conklin was purely a cap move. We simply didn’t have the room to resign Conklin. Besides, Howard has paid his dues in the minors and it’s time to give him an extended stint in the NHL to see what kind of goaltender he can actually be. Short visits simply don’t give you a good picture of a goalie’s capability.

We’ll be more than fine this next season, and who knows what kind of signings Holland may yet do. There’s still some quality depth players out there.

by Brobz on Jul 3, 2009 12:21 PM CDT up reply actions

I

miss conklin

Datsyuk is like Iverson....... Breaks ankles all the time!

by Wings40 on Jul 23, 2009 9:09 AM CDT reply actions

It was a different atmosphere

Ken Holland was still operating under the assumption that Jiri Hudler was going to be an easy re-sign when he let Conklin go. If he had known he was ultimately going to have a little wiggle room under the cap, I think we would have seen Conks back. Thats even a stretch though. Had Hudler signed Holland would still be butted right up against the cap. Should have signed a couple tier 2 free agents last year instead of signing just one for a lot of money who ended up bolting anyways. Just makes more sense. Then these departures would not be so painful to see. Could have shored up some depth last year when he had a little money to spend. No sense crying over spilled milk now though i suppose. I am thinking the next 10 years or so is not going to be as fruitful as what Wings fans are accustomed to. And we will be able to look back on the 2009 free agent debacle that was Marian Hossa and understand why.

by riki42972 on Jul 30, 2009 9:04 AM CDT reply actions