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YES LET'S PAY LIDSTROM A HALF-EATEN HOTDOG IN HIS (MAYBE) LAST SEASON OF HIS LEGENDARY CAREER WHEN HE'S STILL ONE OF THE TOP 5 D-MEN IN THE LEAGUE GOOD IDEA

This has to be a tongue-in-cheek post, right? If not, holy effin crybabies Batman. That is some of the most childish reasoning I think i've ever seen. I mean, that's the kind of stuff 12 year olds base their likes and dislikes on. The way people look? Really? Byfuglein- Show me the cheapshots? Aside from wildly hacking at Andy McDonald, the guy plays a very straight up game. Cheap shots my ass. You don't know what you're talking about. He's a big guy yes, but he's also a guy who can play power forward AND defense, has great hands, can score 15-20 goals and is showing up big time in the playoffs. IMO, he should've been on Team USA. As for his celebrations, they're nothing compared to AO. I'd love to have Buff on the Wings. He's exactly the player they need. And he never shies away from a confrontation. He has more fights than anybody in a Wings sweater these days. Hossa - Traitor? Really? Because he came here as a free agent for 1 season? You're as big a freaking baby as those Pens fans who cried the same thing. Whaaa, whaaaa! Sharp - so basically you don't care that it was an accident and that he apologized to Lidstrom. I guess you must hate every player who ever laid a hand on Lidstrom. Maybe Lids should get to wear a special jersey like a quarterback in practice so everyone knows he's not allowed to be touched. Give me a break. It was an accident. Aside from that Sharp hasn't done anything to anyone. He's just a good, skill player. Kane - I'll admit, I love him because he's a US kid. You cannot deny the talent either. For his smallish size, he's just fantastic and far, far better along the boards than somebody his size should be. The whole cab driver incident seems to be shrouded in some he said, she said but I hardly think it puts him in Sidney Crosby territory the way you're hating on the guy. Kopecky - seriously? You might as well hate Brent Sopel too. He had about as much impact in a Wings sweater as Kopy did. I guess you hate Shanahan and Fedorov too for leaving. Ladd - pretty much tougher than anyone on the Wings. And you don't like him b/c he looks odd. Who are you, freaking Brad Pitt or something. Show us a pic of yourself Mr. God's gift to women. Puh-leeze. Campbell - This is another player who has never done anything to warrant hate. Sure, he's overpaid. I guess that's enough reason to hate him like a jilted little girl. Eager - For a guy who says he loves rough stuff, Eager should be a dream come true for you if he were on the Wings. A 4th liner who can ACTUALLY SKATE and contribute!!!! let's see here, he's fought Janssen, Ivanans, Rypien, Murray, Jackman, Stortini, Rupp, Boll, Lucic, Parros, etc....Yeah, what a "wannabe". My respect meter for you is hovering perilously close to zero right now.

Are they going to show the game, or just talk about how ******* great game 1 was. Enough over-analysis already. Get on with the show NBC! Don't say those things on a Wings forum. I doubt any of their retard fans were shouting "Go Wings" in the Finals last year.

This topic of conversation is getting WAY too personal. You may not agree with people's decision to cheer for one team over the other in this series, but some of the posts here are getting out of hand. If you don't agree with another member's choice or reason in who they're cheering for, that's fine. But responding in the manner that I've seen the last few pages have been childish at the least, and bordering on the edge of breaking the Forum Rules at the worst. Keep the discussions civil please. Either agree, or disagree, but at least give other members the common courtesy of respecting the decisions that they have made and move on.

I love everyone who thinks they can expound on Chicago sports traditions. High-lare-e-us. I'm laughing here. Go Hawks....my dad is under the weather right now and could use the win.

I dont care if it's tradition or not, yelling through the anthem just furthers Blackhawks fans as ignorant pricks. Go Pronger Go!!!

Can a mod please just leave this thread here and let it be... if you keep moving them, new ones are just going to keep popping up... if anything, move the old ones back and merge them with this thread, then when it goes official later today/this week, just change the title and lock it. Agreed, but until it becomes official, for all we know, it will be closer to 5....

I'm rooting for Chicago because I think they deserve it. They had to go through both the first and third seeds, they flew out West for two of three possible playoff series, and they're just flat out the better team. Also, I like Toews, Sharp, Keith, and Seabrook, and I harbor no ill-will against Hossa or Kopecky. On paper, they've got an insane roster; Hossa, Toews, Kane, Keith, and Seabrook are all superstars. I personally think some of you guys let other teams' fans bother you too much. The 'Hawks winning really doesn't matter all that much; I think we'll still retain our bragging rights. We're still a powerhouse team remaining in contention, we've won more Stanley Cups in the last fifteen years than they have in the history of their franchise (literally; 4 > 3), and we've beat them in every playoff series we've played with them for the last twenty years. Not to mention the fact that they have 15 players signed and they're already over next year's salary cap with a young stud goaltender that may win the Conn Smythe. All of those things add up and make me pretty confident that I can root for the Blackhawks without giving their fans too much leverage on us.

I hate Pronger more than any player in this series, but in the end, I just can't bring myself to root for Chicago just because of him. I hate the Hawks more than I hate Pronger. Way more.

You guys do realize that Hawks fans despise the Wings more than any other team. I doubt they've rooted for us in any of our SCF matchups. Why should we root for them? What the hell kind of fans root for their rivals, who hate them in return and say "Red Wings Suck" at every game, even when we're not playing? And who cares about Pronger already? You hate him more than our biggest rivals in the Conference? And I say there's plenty of despicable Hawks players. Kane, Bufflin, Kopecky, Hossa, Campbell, Eager. I hate these rejects just as much as the Flyers cast of a-holes.

A few thoughts... Stan Bowman has said on numerous occasions that Hossa's role on this team is to be the guy who leads the way towards a strong two-way game. He's the guy who out-hustles everyone back to help on D and that's what Bowman wants out of him. He's got tons of scoring depth, but those guys needed to learn from another scorer how to play a complete game and Hossa's greatly helped in that area. He seems to be raising his scoring game thus far in the Stanley Cup Finals. 2 assists and a generally great performance in game 1 and the first goal in game 2...tough to say the guy isn't answering the call when it counts more than ever this year. And sure, his scoring's been down, but he's played a different role on this team and no one watching and critiquing these games has been short of praise for Hossa's overall play. It's looking pretty likely that the Hawks are about to go up 2-0 on the Flyers in the Finals, and you've then got to think that there chances of winning are pretty damn likely. It's tough to rip on the guy when he's playing for Stanley Cup right now and we've been done for awhile. Franzen's outscored him, sure, thanks primarily to a great single game effort. He was non-existent a great deal of the time in the playoffs and unlike Hossa, when Franzen's not scoring, he might as well not be on the ice. Hossa's going to be great whenever he's on the ice, in every situation you can throw him into. He can score. He can be a playmaker. He's an excellent 2-way player. He never takes a shift off and he out-hustles everyone on the ice. He's a complete player. I have no doubt that Hossa's head has hindered his offensive performance thus far in the playoffs after 3 years of questions and supposed "curses." It's got to bother him. But he's come into the Finals to win and again, he's answering the call thus far. If they win it this year, thus silencing Hossa's critics and removing the "curse" and the pressure, watch out. He'll be better and better in the coming years when he's able to just get out there and play his game. And I still wish he was a Wing...

Burn in hell, Hossa

Since the Hockey Gods have pissed on the Wings all year, Kopecky would probably KO Carcillo with one punch. Then Leino will demolish Bufflin with a bodycheck at center ice.

I love Carcillo. What a game so far. These teams are reeeally starting to hate each other. Shame we never see this in Detroit games any more. Real shame.

Gretzky must have been in Russia and saw Pavel play as a kid.

Rafalski...that is the costly contract... Lidstrom is the best defenseman on the team...the best player on the team...and one of the best defenseman in the NHL...If its slightly under 6 million than he isnt een the highest paid defenseman on the team... Lidstrom could h ave gotten MORE money than last year if he went UFA. Coming back at 6 million is still a pay cut.

Same.Just unacceptable,in my book,to root for a rival such as the Hawks. Speak for yourself.

Is it happy hour already?!

I guess every person can find a different thing to piss them off as far as players on a different team. Kane - Punched an old cabdriver. Annoying mouthgard. Looks like some little midget twink. Bufflin - Fat Albert. Acts tough but hardly fights. Backs away a lot for a guy that size. Has cheap shots. Celebrates disrespectfully like a dumb clown. Hossa - Traitor. Did s*** for us during that one night stand. Kopecky - See above. Sharp - Speared Lidstrom in the nuts. No I don't care that it was supposedly an accident. Campbell - Ginger boy who's overpaid. Spouted off about the Kronwall hit, despite having a similar one in the playoffs several years back. Ladd - Don't like his face. Looks like a psycho who kills people. May have DT's. Eager - Wannabee enforcer. Don't they call charging or boarding anymore in the NHL? I just hate the uniform more than the players wearing it. With Chicago, I hate both. I don't have a problem with the Flyers fanbase as much as Chicago's. With the players, I slightly hate the Hawks players more.

i hate the stupid song

Nice to see the Hawks leading after 2. Another solid 20 minutes and they're halfway to the Cup. My dad is kinda pissed that he couldn't make it up to Chicago for either of these two games, although he's contemplating going up there if it goes 5.

According to Cap Geek's bargain hunter Bertuzzi was #4 for bargain on the team. Wanna know who was first. Patrick Eaves for a mere $22,727 per point. Daren Helm was second, $24,977 per point. Drew Miller was third, $27,632 per point. Bert in fourth, $34,091 per point. Any ways check it out as it's a pretty cool page. http://www.capgeek.com/bargain_hunter.php

Intermission entertainment comprising Mike Milbury, Creep-pierre and Roenick. There's my cue to change the channel until the 2nd. Deadliest Catch marathon on Discovery.

I still get a kick out of people thinking that if Lidstrom doesn't take a discount for the betterment of the team, he is a greedy selfish jerk. Sure, we've seen examples of people deferring money in the past. But it isn't the norm in business, nor should it be expected/assumed even though it's happened in Detroit a few times over a span of years and years. Giving up money to stay at a job longer or being loyal is definitely and honorable thing to do, but to expect Lidstrom to just give up millions to be a team player is just silly, when he is still one of the best defensemen in the league. Thinking less of him if he doesn't do so is even more ridiculous since he's taken cuts here/there in the past as already previous stated. Would it be nice if he took a huge pay cut for the team? Of course. Should we expect him to? Nope.

He had 2 good assists in Game 1, so even if he's not scoring, he's still helping out and that's all that matters.