Now that it has actually happened, I’m more disappointed than I thought I would be. Hopefully, there is a big-name player headed to Detroit to ease the pain.

Posted by PDXWing from Portland, OR on 07/01/07 at 01:54 PM ET

hmmm.  wouldn’t be too sure how to feel if it weren’t the ducks ... but it IS the DUCKS.
et tu, mathieu?

Posted by ColdWar on 07/01/07 at 01:56 PM ET

byebye Niedermayer…

Posted by Walzy on 07/01/07 at 01:57 PM ET

Does this mean Scott Niedermayer is retiring ?

Posted by kosta105 on 07/01/07 at 01:57 PM ET

Good riddance, and an overpayment.

Posted by snafu on 07/01/07 at 01:57 PM ET

I feel the pain of a dull jagged knife through my heart.

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 07/01/07 at 01:57 PM ET

Jerk.  The Wings most certainly offered him $5 million, if not $5.25, and Schneider leaves for another $1.25 million, which ain’t all that much these days. 

I guess Schneid was about the money, and now the Wings desperately need a second defenceman with a superb outlet pass who can QB the PP.

Jerk.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 07/01/07 at 01:59 PM ET

Will Schneider get the Fedorov treatment he deserves now?  It was all about $$$ with him.  Good riddance, now the Wings will be forced to get involved with some bidding for younger, grittier D-Men

Posted by bababooey on 07/01/07 at 02:01 PM ET

Schneider has been drastically underpaid in Detroit the last two years and yet you don’t see any appreciation from the fans that are posting here. I’d expect a bit more grattitude for someone who never grumbled about his salary and played hard.

Posted by The Falconer from Atlanta on 07/01/07 at 02:03 PM ET

Disappointing, but I’m not surprised.  Anaheim must suspect Niedermayer is retiring, or I can’t see why they wouldn’t have gone for a less expensive option.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:04 PM ET

He was “underpaid” because the NHLPA agreed to a rollback. Please keep in mind that he got a pretty good contract from the Wings under the OLD CBA.

For the time he was here, he was fine.  I just think the Wings needs are such that they do not need to pay a 38-yr old D man almost $6 MM for 2 more years.  Their farm system has some depth and they already have Lidstrom.  He has a greater value to another team.  Good for him and them.

Posted by snafu on 07/01/07 at 02:05 PM ET

Hey Falconer, so when your wife leaves you for your archrival, you’d say… “Well, she was good while she was with me” ??? right??

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 07/01/07 at 02:07 PM ET

Not gonna bash him but I’m not sorry to see him go either, he was good here but I always thought a chunk of that was his teammmates, especially having Homer screening the goalie for him. He was gone regardless anyway IMO, he wants to play somewhere in Cali. Free’s up a few bucks anyway.

Posted by Jeff on 07/01/07 at 02:09 PM ET

You would probably see a lot more understanding if the offers to Schneider were nowhere near close.  Holland said at one point that they were interested in keeping him, but if the bidding got higher than $5.25 or so, they would be less interested because they need to put together a team.

The difference between $5.25 and $5.5 is what I think accounts for the bitterness.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:09 PM ET

In todays market, Schneider deserves the money that he received, for the numbers he’s put up.  Philly giving Timonen almost twice what he’s worth didn’t help the cause league wide, but it is what it is.  I hate to see him go, but I don’t blame him for taking the money. He’s near the end and getting the big payday is what anyone would look for.  I guess this gives Jakub Kendl his shot ?  Wouldn’t be a bad training course, with Chelios and Lidstrom as your instructors eh ?

Posted by yzerman19 from Nashville on 07/01/07 at 02:10 PM ET

I am quite disappointed.  He was a solid player and teammate.  Him and Lidstrom on the point of the power play was always wonderful to see.  He was a solid defenseman who could put up some great offense and he could be dirty.  I shutter to think about him and Sasquatch paired together.  He was underpaid in Detroit and deserves the $ he signed as his likely final contract.  Snafu, he signed his last Wings contract after the NHLPA rollback.  He gave Detroit a hometown discount on his last contract.  This is his final contract.  He signed with a team that just won the cup and has every likelihood of repeating.

Posted by Tuba Guy from Royal Oak, MI on 07/01/07 at 02:16 PM ET

The lack of middle-aged defensemen probably played into the calculations. It would be very tough if all the vets retired at once and a bunch of young guys had to be broken in at the same time.  Maybe by letting Schneider go the introduction of younger defensemen can be staggered a bit?

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:19 PM ET

I highly doubt Schneider will be putting up the points he did with Detroit again - no matter where he plays.

Posted by Rick on 07/01/07 at 02:20 PM ET

Schneider was paid his market value—at the time, $3.3 million for a 50-point defenceman was a good deal, and I’m sure the Red Wings were more than willing to give him $5-5.25 million a year as Schneid was a stand-up guy both on the ice and in the locker room.  He’s a classy guy all around and was a wonderful fit here as an on and off-ice leader, but…

He went with the bucks and the opportunity to be “the guy” for the Ducks.

From the Freep:

Defenseman Mathieu Schneider is done in Detroit. He’s signed a two-year, $11.25 million deal with the Ducks.

This isn’t really a big surprise - once Scott Niedermayer hinted he’d retire (there hasn’t been an official announcement yet), Schneider shot to the top of the list of possible replacements.

The Wings spent the past week furiously trying to re-sign the 38-year-old offensive defenseman, but to no avail. From Schneider’s point of view, this is an ideal situation - he is now near his off-season home in Southern California, and he is no longer has to deal with coach Mike Babcock, with whom he didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 07/01/07 at 02:21 PM ET

None of you know why Schneider signed with Anaheim. It could be a combination of money, location and/or other factors. How can you fault a guy for signing a deal like that and wanting to live in Orange County? Not such a bad lifestyle. Detroit is a rotting, blighted city. It is home for me and will always have a spot in my heart, but don’t fault a guy for wanting to leave, especially when you don’t know the full reason. Losing him is a significant loss, as I think he did a terrific job of being QB on the power play until he got hurt in the playoffs. His price tag was pretty high, however. Good for him for getting that kind of loot. Best of luck to him. Let’s hope the Wings can ink a Ryan Smyth and/or Brian Rafalski. I’m on board with Chris Drury too. That dude scores big goals and scores them by the bushel when it counts.

Posted by Eric from Scottsdale, Ariz. on 07/01/07 at 02:32 PM ET

Rafalski is over the Wings price… Sign Hannan and hope Kronwall stays healthy.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 07/01/07 at 02:35 PM ET

Rafalski is around $7 million per year, apparently.

If the Red Wings sign Souray, I’m going to puke.  They better not spend that much on a replacement defenseman.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:40 PM ET

Perhaps Kindl gets his shot, and according to fan960 in Calgary, Cory Sarich will be signed by the Flames.  Hannan would look good in Red, but who knows.

Posted by yzerman19 from Nashville on 07/01/07 at 02:42 PM ET

Eric-

If that’s the case then why was Schneider widely quoted as saying how much he loved it here and how comfortable he was here with his family?  He gave the impression to fans of his that he’d work something out to stay here because of his career years and his love for the organization, but money talks louder.

Posted by bababooey on 07/01/07 at 02:44 PM ET

Tuba Guy, I stand corrected.  However the cap was at $39 MM then when Mathieu re-signed and the Wings had to cut payroll significantly while keeping both Datsyuk and Z.  I don’t begrudge Mathieu his money, yet I do feel that it was too much for what he did bring to the Wings.

As for Detroit being old and decaying, sure it is.  How many Red Wings live in Detroit (the city)?  I’ve lived in Tempe and San Diego, but am in Ann Arbor now.  Other than the economy in Michigan being worrisome, I prefer it here over anything in SoCal or Arizona.  I personally find those places overcrowded, overpriced, and the miles and miles of concrete thanks to the sprawl makes them difficult places to get around in….

Posted by snafu from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:52 PM ET

The guy lives in SoCal in the offseason. And the Ducks likely offered him more money. It was probably a no-brainer. Let’s be decent human beings here and not get delusional. If I had a dime for every time I heard a fan say, “Oh, but Player X said he and his family really loved it here…” I’d be a millionaire. Yawn. He got a good deal and he left; let’s not be bitter. Wings will get someone else. A new toy.

Posted by Eric from Scottsdale, Ariz. on 07/01/07 at 02:52 PM ET

The last paragraph was aimed at Eric in Scottsdale, TG.

Eric-  Schneider also did not get along with Babcock apparently, so a few reasons for him to move on.  I think Lang and Shanny were the other older vets who never adjusted to Babs.

Posted by snafu from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:54 PM ET

I don’t think anyone is being delusional.  There are ways to hedge politely without giving the impression that staying with a current team is a real possibility, and the prevailing emotion I see in these comments is disappointment, but not a lot of surprise.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 03:05 PM ET

I’ll bet Preissing’s agent’s phone lit up as soon as the Schneider deal went down. I just hope Holland was among the first to call, even if Matthieu’s departure drove Preissing’s price up by about half a mil.

I think the only one really happy about all of this right now is Danny Markov. Welcome back, Danny.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/01/07 at 03:09 PM ET

now with paying Rafalski, does this mean that there will be a Lebda/Quincey/Kindl rotation of some sort ?

Posted by yzerman19 from Nashville on 07/01/07 at 03:34 PM ET

Snafu: I don’t care if he did leave town the man gave Detroit a home team discount and you crap all over him for leaving. Why shouldn’t he be paid what his fair market value? I wouldn’t give you gruff if you left your employer to take a higher paying job.

Besides I’m pretty sure his kids from his first marriage live in the LA area so that may have been a factor as well as the money and playing for a top team.

Posted by The Falconer from Atlanta on 07/01/07 at 04:13 PM ET

Who’s crapping all over the guy, Falconer?  I never said I’d hoped he stayed or gave the team a discount.  I pointed out he didn’t get along with the coach, so if he can find greener pastures, that’s great.  I will however stick to my view that I think he benefited more from playing on a Wings’ team with a style of play that enhanced his strengths.  He was defensive liability, in my opinion, and I don’t think he was worth that much money TO THE WINGS.

Posted by snafu from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 04:27 PM ET