What is This?...

I definitely didn't see this coming. Seriously?

I hope this is just a negotiating tactic on his part. Otherwise...I don't even know.

UPDATE (7/9/09 12:50 AM):
Listen up, folks. The Wings’ off-season just got a whole lot worse. I fully expected Hossa, Kopecky, and Samuelsson to leave, but I figured they’d at least be able to hold on to Hudler. I’m not entirely sure what he’s going for here since he says that he still plans on going to arbitration with the Wings. On one hand, there’s a part of me that hopes this is all just a negotiating tactic to get more money out of Ken Holland, but on the other hand Happy Huds is quickly plummeting off of my list of favorite players. Holland sounds pretty convinced that he won't be back with the Wings. To think that part of my excitement at Sammy’s departure was due to the fact that it made keeping Hudler much more likely…

UPDATE (7/9/09 2:27 AM):
So anyway...I guess it's time to move onto the discussion of which free agent the Wings can afford to fill Hudler's spot. At this point, I don't even know what to think. I'm pretty sure that instead of randomly giggling when I see Hudler's face, I'm going to sneer now, even if he somehow ends up back in a Wings uniform. These are all natural reactions. I can't control them. Ask people who knew me back then about the Sergei Fedorov holdout debacle. I'm starting to practice using this picture. Oh the hair, the hair. He and Filppula should join forces travel the globe spreading their bad haircut voodoo. I can't help but think that this would make the world a better place.

Honestly, my favorite part of this is the quote in the Russian article about the Gagarin Cup being more "honorable" than the Stanley Cup. Because, clearly, every little kid who ever laced up hockey skates dreamed of one day hoisting the Gagarin Cup.