BringHomeTheCup!

You do what you have to do to catch the games. It's what being a fan is all about.

CHICKEN PARM!!!!!!!

I agree. However, if this were true, I couldn't argue with it. What Malts brings to the table, he is worth that price.

If that doesn't work for you, you can always got nhl.com and click on radio feed, better than nothing, and you get good anouncers!

I'll give you all of the others, but he loves Vinny, he intnetionally adds the extra ephasis there. What's great is hearing him try to pronounce a new european kids name. God he can really butcher names with the best of them.

Bettmans motto must be '60% of the time, I am right every time' What a toolbox this guy is!!! We need a commish who knows hockey. BOBBY ORR FOR COMMISH!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I love the way Smyth plays, and what he brings to a team. I don't think anyone plays with more passion, and love for the game. But he is going to command around $6 mill per. Even if you get him at $5 mill per, he is out of our range. Especially if you want to bring back Bert, not to mention any of our other UFA's. And remember, we still need to sign a number 1 goalie, and as much as I'd like that to not be Hasek, there really aren't any other viable options. With the season Hasek has had, we won't get him for the bargin he was this year.

It's pretty clear to anyone who doesn't think Dom is god, that he isn't playing great. Put him in a San Jose jersey, and it's at least 2-1 Detroit. If you don't think so, well, I guess your love affair with Hasek has got you blinded. The only goalie (still in the playoffs) playing worse than Hasek is Emery. So yeah, let's rally around Hasek because he is playing his best hockey. You people are comical. If we could get the Dom from game 6 against Calgary in net every night, we'd be up 3-0 no doubt. But instead we are getting the Dom that has 2-3 HUGE brainfarts every night. So go ahead, call me names, it makes me laugh. I'm not the one who is blinded by the homer lenses. And one last question, have you guys EVER looked at anything from a different POV than your own? You might want to try it, you could learn something.

Don Cherry is a living hockey legend. He is flamboyant, opinonated, loud, obnoxious, and boarderline crazy. But I love him. I respect his opinons as they are right about 80% of the time, but when he is wrong, HE ADMITS IT!!! Class act, crazy at times, and very animated, but classy.

The problem is he doesn't get teh job done when he plays the puck. I'm not even talking about the Thornton goal, that's gunna happen every now and again to any goalie who plays the puck. I'm talking about all the little misques that he makes. Something as simple as which side he leaves the puck on for the dman to pick up. Watch for it this game, whenever he handles the puck it's almost always a chore for the dman to figure out what the hell is going on. Hah, all season long they have had confidence? Why didn't Hasek make road trips? Why didn't he ever play back to back games? They were worried about him getting injured, or too tired. If you have 100% confidence in your goaltender, like say Vancouver or New Jersey does in their netminders, it shows. Actions speak louder than words, just look at the way Detroit plays, they don't pinch, ever. And on the odd occasion that they do, someone is always covering the pincher. That does not bode well for the confidence in Hasek thoery.

When you see Dom come out of the net to play the puck, what's your first thought? Try not to lie to yourself, everyone thinks the same thing, 'oh s***!' The Wings aren't playing like a team that has confidence in it's goaltender. I am not asking anything unreasonable from Hasek, just simply that he plays better. If you want to talk about GAA, Haseks is 2.00 this series. With the our forwards not putting up big number, we need Dom to step it up. As I have said all along, SO DO THE FORWARDS!!! But there is no denying it starts in goal. Tonight we need Hasek to be HUGE for us in the first period, and steal one for us. No team in this era can win a Cup without great goaltending, and in this series, we aren't getting that.

I don't understand you POV at all. You make it sound like this entire thread, all that has been said is if we had a better goalie we would have won. Or that it's all Doms fault we lost. I am really curious if you actually read the posts that question Hasek. It has nothing to do with Hasek not playing an 'utterly insane game', it has to do with Hasek not playing like he can. He has been good in this series, but not good enough. As I said before, I don't place all of the balme on Hasek, the team needs to get better. Every single player that puts on the winged wheel needs to step it up. But it starts in net. We need Hasek to be huge for us, and thus far in this series he hasn't been, there is no denying that. As for being a spoiled fan, you are wrong. I'm not spoiled, I am a HUGE Toronto fan. I love the Leafs, outside of the Wings, they are my favorite team. How do you think I felt when they got eliminated on the last day via shootout? Yeah, I wasn't happy, but I enjoyed the race, and the great hockey that was played. Another thing I don't understand, is why would you as a fan of Team X, watch a game and not want them to win? It just doesn't make sense. If you are watching Team X just to watch them, that's fine, but don't call yourself a fan if you aren't pulling for them. Don't question my team loyalty, or passion by suggesting I root for another team in order to 'gain perspective'. It insults my intelegance. When I watch the Wings play, I want them to win every night. I realize this is impossible, but it doesn't stop me from hoping for the best. I am a Lions fan. I know what it's like to root for a team that never has a real chance to win. But every Sunday I turn on the TV and hope they win, and when they don't, I am let down just like every other true fan is. The bottom line is you need to learn how to have a proper conversation, or maybe even a debate if that's what you want to call it. You claim we say things we didn't say. You assume things when in reality you have no idea. And you badger people for having an opinon different than yours. Learn how to think like an adult.

In today's NHL, players are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before. This leads to some of the most breath taking highlight reel goals, saves, and yes, hits we have ever seen. However, there is a cry for the NHL to regulate blows to the head with shoulders just like it has with elbows. On a recent showing of HNIC's Coach's Corner, Grapes talked about this. I agreed with what he had to say. He showed clips of hits on guys like Bobby Orr. One hit in particular, Orr had his head down, while skating the puck out of the defensive zone. He was coming up the far boards, and the dman stepped up, and absolutely drilled him. Orr went down like a ton of bricks. He stayed down, play was stopped. Orr skated off under his own power. It was a clean hit, and something Bobby undoubtedly learned a lot from. Then Grapes showed some hits from today's game, Jason Williams and Todd Fedoryuk. Both guys got hit hard(yes,I know Todd was hit with a fist), both were knocked out, both were carted off on stretchers. Both could have skated off under their own power, Fedoryuk wanted to get up and skate off, but he wasn't allowed to do so. Grapes argued that the reason so many people think hitting in today's game is so much worse than it was before is due in large part to the sight of seeing someone carted off the ice on a stretcher, which is something you just didn't see back then unless it was necessary. That is a somber sight, and one that, for the most part, hasn't been necessary in the NHL. Scott Stevens was the master of the open ice hit. We all saw what he did to Lindros, Kozlov, and Paulie. We had a guy by the name of Konstontinov who was pretty good at that too, anyone remember his hit on Lindros in the finals? Ouch. You don't really see a whole lot of hits like that in todays NHL, I think mostly because the game is so much more fluid. This is also a great example of why fighting is a necessary part of the NHL game. When a guy, like Dallas Drake, shows no concern or RESPECT for a fellow NHLer and leaves his feet to hit the player, just like he did Lebda, a fight is necessary. Why no one went after him, I don't know, maybe it's because no one on the Wings was willing to fight (just another reason to keep Bert around). If someone had stood up for Lebda, I know as a player, I would feel much better about my team. When you know that your fellow mates have your back, you can play fearless. There is a bond there with your team that is created, or lost in moments like this. It's something all the great teams have had, and something I think the Wings started to get at the end of the season, and really built on in the Calgary series. BTW, I know the topic title doesn't have anything to do with this thread, but I told someone I would, and I'm a man of my word. FYI, I'm going with great player....

I don't like Dom, I've said that all along, I didn't like him back in 1995, I didn't like him in 2002, and I don't like him now. That isn't the issue. He isn't playing like the Wings need him to, or like he can. I never once told him how to play, except for the obvious don't play the puck. And if you think he should play the puck, wow, seriously you need to learn a bit more about hockey. You just don't realize how much what he does screws up a dman. You can't deny Hasek is playing poorly this series. He needs to be better. So does the rest of the team. But like anyone who knows anything about hockey will tell you, it all starts in goal. EDIT: Just FYI, I did, and do give him credit for the way he played in Calgary, but somewhere on the flight back to Detroit, he lost whatever was motivating him to play that well.

First of all, in this series, Haseks isn't allowing just 1 goal per game, and in fact his GAA is 2.00 in this series. So your idea of only needing to get more than 1 goal to win just doesn't hold up to the facts. Another problem I have with all you Domaholics, no one has said they expect Hasek to be perfect. You keep saying that, but it isn't true. You are starting to sound more and more like a politician. All any of us have said is simply that Hasek needs to be better if the Wings are to win. And I don't think anyone will argue that we need to score more. Lastly, about Hasek not being able to clear the puck, maybe you should tell him that. I don't know what games you are watching, but Hasek typically will leave his net and try tp play the puck while there is pressure in the Wings defensive zone at least once a period. He needs to stop that. He should never handle the puck. If it comes near him, freeze it. He simply does not have the skill to move the puck. If we want a goalie who can move the puck, Babs would be starting Ozzie. Obviously Babs is more concerned about the goalie stopping the puck, than playing it. Why does Hasek always think he needs to play the puck? It's insane. He knows he is an awful puck handler, the Wings know it, and so does the rest of the NHL. So who does he think he is trying to fool? STAY IN THE NET HASEK!!!!

It seems we who think this way about Haseks play are in the minority.

That's all part of the humor of it!

It is funny, I just don't get it. Clearly Dom hasn't played like he can, and he needs to play better. But don't say that, you might hurt someones feelings. Yeah, the first time I saw this avatar, I couldn't stop laughing. I'm surprised no one has ripped me a new ******* for having it lol!

Why is it so hard for people to understand? You say one bad thing about Hasek, and suddenly you are blaming him for the Wings losing to the Sharks in '94. Come on people, grow up!

One thing that jumped out at me in this piece was the bit about late hits. Everytime I say something about the players not respecting each other in a thread, I get torn apart. Guess I wasn't so far from the truth. Hah, as for that 60% who approve of the scheduling, he must have polled fans in the current Rangers-Buffalo series. Hilarious how he dodged the booing question!

IMO I would sit either Sammy or Franzen. Here is why. I believe it was Franzen, correct me if I am wrong, who along with Sammy at the end of the Calgary series shook hands using his left instead of his right. Word is that both guys have broken hands. **I can't remember exactly, and I'm too lazy to look it up, but if it wasn't Sammy and Franzen, I'm pretty sure it was Sammy and Calder, in which case I'd be in favor of Franzen staying in the lineup.**

What really is hilarious is that all of you Hasek lovers can't seem to see any fault in him. Tell where did I ever say I hold Hasek responsible for every game we lost? Where? Oh, that's right, I didn't. Also, where did I say it was all Haseks fault? And that every other Wings was playing perfectly? Oh, that's right, I didn't. Boy do I feel silly. Other than game 6 in Calgary, Hasek has not played half as well as he can. He needs to be better. Seriouly, how can you sit there and actually say Hasek can't play better? Did you even read my post? Or did you just see that Hasek was in bold type and assume what I wrote?

Hasek may be playing good in the playoffs, but I'm sorry, in the playoffs, good just won't cut it. We need great. And so far, Hasek has played one great game. We need more out of him if we want to win this series. I wish you Hasek lovers could look at things objectively. He wasn't stellar in the regular season, and he certianly hasn't been anything special thus far in the playoffs. Just to make things clear, so I do get eaten by the wolves here, I AM NOT PUTTING ALL OF THE BLAME ON HASEK, I know we need to score more for him, but he has to be better. It all starts in goal. If we don't have confidence in our goaltending, that directyl effects the rest of the play.

First of all, I don't think Hasek can really be blamed on either of the Sharks goals. Especially Choochoo trains. There were 3 Wings who didn't do their jobs, Cheech should never have been in that spot. All that aside, I've said this in other threads, but repitition is the key right? At the before this series started, I thought there was one clear cut advantage between these two teams, and that was goaltending. I though Hasek, even not at his best, was better than Nabby. So far, Nabby is proving me wrong. He has outplayed Hasek in every game, including the Detroit victory. And before you say no, remember that San Jose managed just 6 shots on goal in each of the first two games.

Hah, yeah, my buddy and I laughed at that as well. It was funny seeing Joey complain to the linesmen like Hank made him do it or something.