puertoricanWingsfan

Lidstrom may not be the biggest, and he may not hit the hardest, but he is unquestionably the smartest defenseman there is. He's always in the right place at the right time, he's got incredible stick work, and did anyone see the sure-fire goal he saved in the third period last night?!?

I'm gonna have to agree with BringHome here... I think Flip has a great future if he works his ass off. There are some aspects of his game that need some work, but I think he'll be a household name in a few years.

The moment I found out that Todd Bertuzzi was being signed to the wings, I let out a long groan. I'm not denying his abilities, as he's proven in the past how he can be a value to a team. I groaned because bertuzzi plays a different style then the wings franchise. The wings have never been a dirty team, and Bertuzzi has history of being a dirty player. He takes dumb penalties, and is just a goon. Now, I'm not writing this to be a Bert Basher, but I am saying that the Wings would potentially be better off without him. Unlike what has been said before, the wings don't need a goon to survive the "physical" playoffs; what they need is skill. That unfortunately is something that Bert doesn't have a whole lot of. Why are players like Sidney Crosby, Vinny Lecavalier and Pavel Datsyuk some of the best players in the NHL? Because no one can touch them. Goons are gamebreakers; skill players are. BENCH BIG BERT! BTW, as far as the whole Franzen/Bertuzzi debate, you can't honestly say Bert has made a bigger contribution that Franzen. If you think he has, you haven't watched a single minute of this postseason.

I admit, it scares the hell outta me when Hasek flops around or plays the puck behind the net, but there's no denying the fact that he is still an incredible goalie. not used to be, IS. The man has never lost a playoff series while wearing a wings jersey, and that alone should win him our respect. He's got one of the highest save percentages in the NHL, and in case you didn't notice, he made some pretty incredible (and clutch) saves this evening. His defense and the Wings lack of offense cost us this game, NOT hasek.

ARGGHH! boy was that ever frustrating. We came out and played our game in the first period, and slowly but surely throughout the second and into the third, we just fell apart. I give all due credit to SJ, they came out and dominated. It just frustrates me we played so poorly in the end. We've gotta come out wednesday night and play SIXTY minutes of hockey...

Nice thread I grew up with a bunch of New Yorkers, so most of my family are Rangers fans. My teams are usually the opposite of my dads in pretty much every sport, and hockey is no different. Growing up, Shanny and Yzerman were my hockey idols, so the Wings became my favorite team. I also loved Vladimir Konstantinov, and I've always hated the Avs. I grew up in south carolina, and now I live in virginia, so hockey's not that big down here, but I'm a wings fan through and through. buuuuuut... I might be the only Puerto Rican Red Wings fan. Let me know if you meet any others!

I don't blame anyone for being upset, I don't blame anyone for getting angry (I punched a hole in a door in my apartment after SJ scored their second goal), but I never said anything like "this series is over." Fairweather fans annoy me more than anyone else in the whole world. If you're a fan of a team, that means you love 'em no matter how good/bad you are, win/lose, succeed/fail. A true fan ignores all the crap that everyone else talks, because they love their boys. I'm a Notre Dame fan. Always have been, always will be. If there's anyone who knows what it means to be a true fan, put up with haters and hate fairweather fans, it's ME. GO WINGS!

oh BOY am I glad we came back to win that game! I gotta be honest boys, I punched a hole through a door in my apartment after SJ scored their second goal. If I take anything out of this game, it's this: so many people have been saying that we can't hang with the sharks. In this game, the sharks were in complete control of the game at the beginning. And when it looked like it couldn't possibly get any worse for the Wings, we pulled it together, made some adjustments, took control back, and stole the win from their hands. This game proved we can take them. We played like total s*** to start out, and still won it. That's not luck. we were pretty even in shots on goal/scoring chances, and Hasek stood on his head. Cleary played out of his mind, and we fought to win. Let's see how we do in the Tank. But I'm tellin you, the Wings can take 'em! Wings in 7!

Thanks for the kind words my friend. It's impossible for me as a wings fan to complain about other teams fans unless we Red Wings fans represent well... I'm glad we've made a good impression upon you. Let's keep up the good work ladies and gentlemen!

did I just accidently click "wings in 4" AFTER we lost game 1? Man I'm a dumbass. I meant wings in six.

it certainly was a disappointment to see us drop game 1 at home... But I have to be honest. I was a little worried about the series before tonight, and even though we lost, I think (hope) game one was quite revealing. I think we showed that we are without capable of hanging with the sharks, contrary to popular thought. We almost doubled them in shots, and for most of the game were neck and neck in tempo, even though I think we played like s***. If we play with some inspiration on saturday, I think we'll take game two. Nabakov was decent tonight, credit to him even though his saves were pretty easy and the wings didn't really challenge him. Still a tip 'o the hat to him though. With a little excitement, the return of homer, and the cheering of the Joe Louis faithful, I'm calling game two 4-2 wings.

Here's hoping for a quick recovery... Tomas is as tough as they come, as he's constantly proven in the paint. Hopefully he'll be back to do his damage in game 2

your analysis is a fair one... it should be a fun series to watch. Nabokov has given us trouble in the past, but I believe that after conquering a goalie like kipper in the first round the wings will have the necessary confidence to face Nabby. This series could go either way, but I give the edge to the wings due to their experience and ability to play hard AND smart. Wings in six.

I have a strong feeling that we will continue to play physically. Considering the fact that Datsyuk was out there hitting people consistently demonstrates a team-wide gameplan

never doubted my boys for a second on a separate note, I watched game six in a restaurant and I was the only person there so late. I scared the hell outta the waitress when franzen scored and I started screaming

hats off to kipper, and hats off to you whiteout. 'twas a hard fought series.

from what I've been reading, it seems the general consensus seems to be a desire to play dallas. I'm not too sure who I'd rather play, I'm more concerned with how WE play. for the wings to continue to win, we've got to play OUR game and not be sucked into the gameplans of the other teams. IMO that's why we lost two games to calgary. no matter which goalie we end up facing, we still need to pepper him with 40 shots a game. If the other goalies aren't as good as kipper, (which only time can tell), then we'll destroy whoever we play and win each game 10-1. I guess my point is just that we need to play inspired hockey, and we need to play our game. If we do so, no matter which team we play I predict wings 4-2 in the series.

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! OH the poetic irony! the man takes a swing to ribs like a man then makes the SOBs pay with the most painful goal of their whole pathetic season. Payback is a *****, and so is Jarome Iginla! and to make it better, it was in front of all their ******* fans... they were cheering their hearts out, and we shut 'em the hell up! WOO!

I just had to laugh at the fact that the dirtiest team in the playoffs is being led by a coach named "playfair." *shrug* what can you do? laugh it off and watch the wings eliminate those ******* in game six. Here's hoping we embarrass and humiliate the Calgary Lames in epic fashion in front of their lousy fans. GO WINGS!

here's the other thing, if we thought we saw dirty at the end of game five, we're probably going to learn just how dirty and UNFAIR they are in game six

is there a "hell no" option that I can click?