This Is Bida

As I sit here at almost 30 minutes past 1 o'clock on this wonderful Thursday morning, as drunk as I may be, I can't help but look back on the whole season and this series just to soak in all the glory. How proud I am to be a Red Wings fans. I just came back from downtown Plymouth. My hometown and where I have lived all my life. I've been bred on hockey. Played it since I was just a few years old. So I may be a little cocky in saying this but sometimes I put myself above other Red Wings fans, because even though I am a Red Wings fans through and through... and though I may bleed only red and white... I am truly at heart, a HOCKEY fan! I'll watch other sports... Baseball, sometimes Football, very rarely Basketball (only for the Pistons, even thats hard to bare). But nothing competes with the physical AND emotional endurance hockey players are put through. Hockey, in my eyes, is 'bar none' the GREATEST sport known to man. So with that said, as great as a series as this has been... and as happy as I am to be so relieved/excited/alleviated/euphoric etc. for this series to be over, I must tip my hat in respect to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I have now been alive to, not only witness, but remember 4 Stanley Cups in my life time and not once have I seen a team so resilient to hand over a Cup that does not belong anywhere but here in Hockeytown. Philidelphia was up there, fighting 'til the end, but were much more easily taken care of. The Penguins, on the other hand, fought back from being absolutely dominated in games one and two to make a series out of it not only once but twice, after the Wings taking a 3-1 series lead. Even with the Wings leading game 5 3-2, as the seconds ticked down, the Pens wouldn't give up... So to make my story short... Through all the complaining back and forth thru the Stanley Cup Finals about officiating, the bickering, the swinging of momentum... I have to say, you Penguins players and fans deserve all the credit in the world. Aside from your coach, the team in itself will be where we are at today. I will guarantee you Penguins fans that you have nothing to worry about. The Cup WILL be in Pittsburgh within years. You're team never surrendered, never gave up and fought hard 'til the end, even with the better team clearly winning. So one last time, my hats off to you! As for The Wings and Nick... As much as I miss the good old days with players like Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman. The North American players we can all relate to... I am very truly honored to be a Detroit fan! A fan of a team that is proud to be the first team with a European captain to hoist the Stanley Cup. Round after round, the analyst said we couldn't do it. Yet we did! A team that would 'never survive in the salary cap era'... a team that 'was too small to make it the whole way'. We proved everyone wrong. 100% I stood by the Wings and I am happy to and proud to be a Wings fan. Enjoy this moment everyone, for this is ours... and it could be a once in a lifetime thing. Thats one thing my father has taught me after the 42 year drought. Enjoy it! P.S. If this series didn't prove to the Basketball/Baseball lovers across America that hockey is a true sport of all sports, maybe the game needs to stick to his true, diehard fans. This was a Stanley Cup Finals for the ages... First 2 games the Wings clearly dominate. The 3rd game the Pens continue their unbelievable home record. Game 4 the Wings edge out to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. And game 5... wow! The Pens take a 2-0 lead. The Wings push back with all they have to not only tie, but take the lead in the 3rd. Then, only 34.3 seconds away from taking the Cup on home ice, the Pens tie the game. 3 overtimes later the Pens put the Wings into "gut check time" (thanks Matt) and force a game 6. Even game 6. The Wings holding on to a 3-2 lead, with the seconds SLOWLY ticking down, as the Pens try for last rush, slide one across the goal line. What more could you want in a series?

QFAFT!!! (which means: Quoted For Absolute F*ckin Truth)

100% AGREED! If you notice I said I respect he Pens players and fans. I wanted to touch on how annoyed I have been by Therrien, but as you said, its been beaten to a dead horse. And if that man cannot accept the fact that the better team won, he clearly does not even deserve my praise. Also, about Crosby... I agree again. Yes, he can complain, but not near as much as his coach... and especially for his age, I think he can and will be one of the greatest captains of any league. Of course, he has some growing up to do, but people quickly seem to forget the fact that he is only 20 years of age. With that said, every team has the trolls who will show up on this board, but for the most part... just talking hockey here... The Penguins PLAYERS deserve my praise and recognition. They are a great hockey club, and not to sound cocky or stupid here, but they honestly... truly deserve to be placed second only to the 2008 Detroit Red Wings. P.S. THE CUP IS HOME BABY!!!

It sure will be fun to see all these people saying how great Franzen, Huds, etc were in the playoffs once the Wings win it Wednesday. I have no problem with fans saying that so and so did this or that wrong, but when it turns into "oh this player sucks, the series is the Pens now... blah blah blah"... that really irritates me. I was at hockeytown cafe and probably saw the most disappointed people next to being at the Joe, and honestly... I was probably the calmest guy. I have just as much passion for the Wings as the next person, but as a whole, the Wings made an almost impossible come back and lost in OT. They played great. If anything I saw a Wings team that got robbed of the Stanley Cup. They were faster, stronger and hungrier. It was simply a bad break. I cannot wait until Wednesday when the Wings win the Cup in Pitt so we can rub it in their faces.

MY GOD! Thankfully some people are good fans and not the kind of piss and moan because we lost game 5 in overtime. All I have to say to the people crying now is... would you rather be UP 3-2 or DOWN 3-2? We're on top still. and the Wings will continue the trend and close out the series on the road. They were inches away from touching the Cup and the Pens took it away. You could tell, they were hungrier and wanted it more. That will continue over to game 6. I'm telling you the Wings WILL WIN IN 6!

How much?

Yea, the only place to get them right now is on Stubhub.com And thats just a bunch of people trying to rip everyone off. Seriously, I know its game 5 of the Cup Finals but who on EARTH would pay around $3,000 for a ticket? Maybe if I was a multi-millionaire but c'mon! Well, here's to praying I find 2 tickets. I was praying Standing Room would be $300. That I'd go far. but not $400

sooo, I have played competitive hockey for my whole life... I've played house hockey, AA, triple A, midget minors, Junior hockey, High School hockey... hell, I've even played roller hockey now for many years. In all my 21 years of playing hockey not ONCE have I heard the term "shovel shot". P.S. The "Do you actually play hockey?" quote is PROBABLY one of the funniest things I've read in a very long time!

I'm in a frantic, desperate search for 2 tickets actually. I have someone who MIGHT have a couple for me, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Hopefully I'll be there to watch our boys skate with the Cup!

Sooo... he said we have the better defenseman, right? But said we don't have the better overall TEAM defense. I'm sorry, how many Penguins are up for the Selke award? Yea, that makes COMPLETE sense! Considering Crosby and Malkin won't even touch the ICE during a PK, that can't say too much for your TEAM DEFENSE. Other than that, I didn't think the article was HORRID! I mean, obviously this Burnside guy hates Detroit. So what. Hell, even Melrose had some good points and seemed to favor Detroit. Really, if you take away Burnsides horribly stupid comments, its not bad.

Not too sure why you guys wanna be members of the opposing teams forums... for one, you gotta know that the educated hockey fans who say "the Wings are a great team, if its the Wings vs. Pens in the Finals, it'll be a close series" are few and far between. I mean, majority of Wings fans or Pens fans are gonna be biased and think their team is better. If you feel like getting into pointless conversations and debates, I guess thats your thing. Same goes for all the link posting to stuff on their boards... Here's a GREAT idea, (as someone already pointed out) just DONT read it! Again, of course their fans are gonna say "we don't need to worry about the Wings" or "the Wings haven't played anyone", etc. Here's all anyone needs to know... IF (that is a huge key word here) the Stanley Cup Finals is a battle between the Wings vs. the Pens... a. It's the #1 vs. #2 teams respectably. b. Neither the Wings nor Pens have taken out a Cup favorite. c. Our sweep of the Avs is near identical to their sweep of the Sens. d. The Wings have a great offense with a better defense. The Pens have a great defense with a better offense. e. Osgood has proven himself but is a bit older and hasn't won a Cup in.. what? 9 years now? Fleury has proven himself but is young and could crack come the Finals f. The Wings: 11-3. The Pens 11-2 (respectably) g. The Wings have Dats and Z. The Pens have Crosby and Malkin h. Wings have Franzen (who i'd imagine to be back in the Finals) and the Pens have Hossa. Honestly, to me, it's a total freaking toss up. I truly think the Wings take it in 7. And the ONLY reason we take it in 7 is because we have the overall experience and have obviously learned from our lessons over the past couple season. So, again, IF it is a Wings vs. Pens series... Here is to what I think could be one of the most entertaining, exciting, 'edge of your seats' Playoff hockey anyone has seen in a VERY long time!

BINGO! We haaaaaave a winner! I for one knew that, but my brother goes to Vegas more than he lives at home.. lol. So I know almost all there is to know about Vegas, betting, odds, etc.

Now you just need to add a caption that says "I FART in your general direction". (from monty python in case anyone wonders where that came from)

'Least someone has some common sense. Not that I think anyone here talking about the Cup Finals already is gonna give us bad karma or somehow effect the team... But it just looks stupid so sit there and talk about the Cup Finals only to see Dallas make a miraculous come back and go instead of us!

yet again... Nashville FAILS!

My prediction after the 2nd round... We face the Pens in the Finals. Both teams sweep the conference. We take them out in 4 MAYBE 5. I'd either love to sweep the Pens (after we sweep Dallas and they sweep Philly) or it goes 7 games and obviously... we win!

Whats with everyone hating Crosby so much? Not saying I love the guy or anything. Hell, he's a great player (and at such a younge age) but its not like I am any type of fan of his. But do I hate him? No. So many people just cannot stand to even watch the guy play

haha, so true!

Egh! I'm your typical hockey fan who hates basketball. Such a boring sport. The exact opposite of hockey! Anyways, that hit by Downie honestly pisses me off. He charges after Sykora and drills him LONG after Sykora gets rid of the puck. What a pathetic hit. Someone needs to lay that guy the f**k out. Its guys like him that don't belong in the NHL. (Sorry, just never liked that guy)

Him and Kronner have been the big bodies we've been missing in the past. Now, if he wanted to stay, would I take him? Why the hell not? Sure he hasn't been "amazing" but he's not a Brian Campbell type of player. He is very solid defensively and is a big body. To answer your question, yes! If he wants to stay, we should absolutely sign him. If he decides to go then we can hopefully sign another big defenseman

Ummm, someone else correct me if I'm wrong but we could only sign him to a one year entry-level contract. Just like how Brunnstrom could've only been signed for one year. Its in the CBA.

egh, you gotta wonder though if Ozzie was here the whole time would he really be the goalie he is today? I mean, not saying he wouldn't be, but I really think the travel and everything made him who he is. Only fitting he got the chance to come back.

beautiful goal... horrible turn over, gotta get those pucks out. nice hard work by Roberts though, and a nice pass to boot

I think you really have gritty and dirty all screwed up. No offense, but do you play or have you ever played hockey? If you have you'll realize that the little hacks and little whacks, stuff like that is players playing gritty. Hacking someone with the intention of hurting them is playing DIRTY! Atleast thats how I see it, after playing hockey for 20 years. Anything that is intent to harm someone is dirty. The little cheap shots that happen are just gritty players getting under peoples skin.

As much as I dislike the Flyers and would love to face the Pens in the Finals... I gotta feel bad for them. That was one of the worst calls I've ever seen. I give them credit for hanging in the game.