A lot of good players have had issues with the Leafs over the last 10 years because of suspect management and coaching. You have to give Mats Sundin a medal or something for being as good of a citizen as he’s been.

Posted by Nathan on 03/04/07 at 12:35 PM ET

Man this guy is a moron.  Nolan was an option after the Bertuzzi deal was done.  The Wings already had Bert in the bag and were thinking of adding Nolan IN ADDITION TO Bertuzzi.  You’d think someone writing for a Toronto paper on hockey might have some access to the same - or better - reports than we fans do.  These writers act like Bertuzzi started WWI and WWII all by himself and then came back to haunt hockey fans just for the heck of it.  A bit of perspective is sorely lacking in NHL hockey today.

Posted by snafu on 03/04/07 at 12:35 PM ET

Uh, the Wings *do* have a long history of players having problems in the room.

Sean Avery
Manny Legace
Sergei Pedophile
Cryin’ Chris Isntgood
Dmitri Mironov
Jon Chabot

Need I go on?

Posted by Thomas on 03/04/07 at 01:38 PM ET

Ahhh, Thomas. Too bad.  I pay you a compliment the other day and your very next post is typical Dive fan garbage like that.  Disappointing.

Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 03/04/07 at 02:02 PM ET

How many of those problems were dealt with? All of them. How many of them impacted the play on the ice? None. The success says everything. A problem in the room only becomes a noteworthy issue when it changes the way your team plays on the ice. That’s not been the case with this organization for a long time.

Simmons has a right to believe that Bertuzzi will poison the team’s room. If it happens, we will admit he was right. But at this point, the track record of the team shows that they handle all off-ice issues well, and don’t let it get in the way of their success.

Posted by Nathan on 03/04/07 at 02:13 PM ET

Unfair, IwoCPO.  When I want an expert opinion on poisoning a room I go to Thomas.

Do not chase him out of this discussion.  He brings a tremendous insight on problem personalities.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 03/04/07 at 03:47 PM ET

Uh, the Wings *do* have a long history of players having problems in the room.

Sean Avery
Manny Legace
Sergei Pedophile
Cryin’ Chris Isntgood
Dmitri Mironov
Jon Chabot

Need I go on?

You’re not a Colorado fan by any chance are you?

Typical…

I’m not worried about Bertuzzi’s locker room issues. I feel they were blown out of proportion when he was in Vancouver. That whole situation was screwed up. The boys here in Detroit have been together for a long time. Also, Bertuzzi’s play and attitude with the Wings are going to determine the value of his contract for next year. If he’s smart, he won’t do anything stupid.

Posted by arice89 from Detroit, MI on 03/04/07 at 03:57 PM ET

Need I go on?

Please do.  I have a self-prescribed level of ass-hatted-ness that I try to read everyday on the internet and I’ve yet to fill my quota for today.

Posted by O-Joe on 03/04/07 at 06:56 PM ET

The thing one can take away from the e-mail exchange posted in the RWC thread is how Simmons is so much like Eklund – i.e. hey, if I got it wrong, don’t blame me, blame my sources.

Here’s Wings’ beat-writer Bruce Macleod’s post of March 1 at RWC regarding the Bertuzzi/Nolan timeline:

Ken Holland verified Thursday that the Red Wings had worked something out for Owen Nolan, who said that he wanted to remain in Phoenix because his wife is due to deliver a baby soon.  Holland said that the time frame was that the Wings acquired Calder Monday and knew they had Bertuzzi by 10 a.m. Tuesday. The Wings went after Nolan (and others) from 10 to the deadline, but couldn’t produce a third deal. 

Posted by O-Joe on 03/04/07 at 07:24 PM ET

Blah blah blah blah blah.

The Wings have had plenty of bad apples in their locker room. They get dealt with just like they do on every other team. Players come, some are douches, those ones are traded.

Me being an Avs fan is completely irrelevant. I know the Wings better than 99.9% of the people here because I *#$%@& grew up with them. I know the team inside and out, just like I know the fans inside and out.

Just because it’s your favorite team doesn’t mean that everyone who has ever worn the jersey was a stand-up individual. There have been a lot of shitheads to wear the winged wheel over the years, just like there have been a lot of shitheads wearing the ridiculous snow-covered A over the years. Both of our teams have had a bunch of really good, solid, standup guys as well.

For the record, as I have said a bunch of times, the Bertuzzi move was a coup, and I would have LOVED for Colorado to have gotten him. Especially if they had gotten him for absolutely nothing like Detroit did.

And I don’t, not even for a second, think that he’s going to be a locker room cancer. Vancouver was a mess when he was there, and that had a lot to do with their psycho coach and dipshit GM. Florida was an even bigger mess. Bertuzzi has to know that this is the best situation he could have possibly hoped for. He’s around a lot of veteran guys and playing in front of a fan base that is probably even more rabid, delusional and fellatory than that of Vancouver.

If he screws this up, then he’s just as dumb as the idiot Avalanche fans say he is.

Posted by Thomas on 03/04/07 at 09:04 PM ET

Wingie fans getting their panties in a bunch with the slightest bit of critisism, berts a bum and you know it only thing is you clowns won’t have a problem doing is critisizing him after your done with him (book it)

Posted by Cupster33 on 03/05/07 at 12:31 AM ET

Considering they’re both frauds, shouldn’t Albom be collaborating on the biography of Alan Eagelson instead?

Posted by hockey1919 from Montreal on 03/05/07 at 10:39 AM ET