Wings5

Tanguay is playing for the Lighting now.

Detroit Red Wings reduce Pittsburgh Penguins to crybabies By Helene Elliott | Tribune newspapers June 7, 2009 DETROIT -- Revived by a day's rest and the return of Pavel Datsyuk, the Red Wings reduced the Penguins to a bunch of petulant 2-year-olds Saturday while moving within one victory of claiming the Stanley Cup for the second successive season. Capitalizing on a series of bad Pittsburgh penalties during the second period, Detroit turned Game 5 of the Finals into a 5-0 rout before a happy and Cup-craving crowd at Joe Louis Arena. On Tuesday the Red Wings can clinch their 12th title in franchise history, become the first team to repeat since their triumphs in 1997 and 1998 and prove that gray but clear heads can prevail over even the swiftest and most youthful legs. Despite looking tired in losing Games 3 and 4 the Red Wings had enough energy Saturday to ride out an early Penguins push and capitalize when their opponents' discipline dissolved faster than the mood of a toddler denied a favorite toy. Waah! Sergei Gonchar slashed Datsyuk, went to the box, and watched Niklas Kronwall whip a shot past a befuddled Marc-Andre Fleury at 6:11 for a 3-0 lead. Related links Pavel Datsyuk's return sparks Detroit Red Wings' rout of Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings' Marian Hossa fails to quiet Pittsburgh Penguins fans Waah! Postseason scoring leader Evgeni Malkin, rendered invisible by Detroit's relentless defensive efforts, elbowed Johan Franzen into the glass and got a penalty-box view of Brian Rafalski rifling the puck off the left post and in at 8:26. Waah! Top-line left wing Chris Kunitz was sent off for roughing Darren Helm, and Henrik Zetterberg made him pay with a shot from the right circle at 15:40, Detroit's final goal and the last shot seen by Fleury before he was replaced by Mathieu Garon. "I like to forget about it as soon as possible and move on," Fleury said of his habits after bad losses, but this one -- the Penguins' largest margin of defeat in 22 playoff games -- might be more difficult to bury. Sidney Crosby, held to one shot by Zetterberg's defensive wizardry, let his frustration boil over into a slash of Zetterberg at 17:37, and Maxime Talbot slashed at Datsyuk's bad ankle at 17:57 to get two more of Pittsburgh's 48 penalty minutes. The Penguins didn't get burned those times, but those offenses summed up their emotional state. "I think our guys were frustrated and then trying to play physical and started to get off the page by trying to run around and be physical," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "We certainly tried to regroup and get back to staying on the same page, but emotions come to the surface in hockey and they forced us into a situation where we were frustrated and they had a big lead with the crowd going at home." The Red Wings, playing their sixth game in 11 days, didn't mount on their locker-room bulletin board any of the apparently premature reports of their demise. "We don't need to do that," said forward Daniel Cleary, who scored the only goal of the first period on a long wrist shot that Fleury should have stopped. "We've got a group in here that prides itself in being a good team, good players working hard. Too old, too slow, all this kind of stuff, that's just extra motivation for us. We just believe we're a hard-working team that plays the game the right way." As opposed to the way the Penguins played Saturday. "When it's out of reach like that early, frustration sets in," Cleary said. "But we didn't let it bother us." The trick for the Penguins is whether they'll be able to let go of this and hold serve Tuesday at Mellon Arena. Home teams have won each game of these finals, and an end to that pattern would end the Penguins' season. The Penguins said they're glad of the extra day's time out to prepare for Game 6 and vowed to put it to good use. "In the end, you could lose 10-0, but it's still only worth one game," defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "It's 3-2 in the series. Just because they beat us bad doesn't mean they win the Stanley Cup tonight. They still have to beat us one more time and we're going to be ready for them Tuesday night." Ready to play with the grown-ups? Or to be sent back to the sand box? Crosby initially said the Penguins had "been here before," but corrected himself to acknowledge the Penguins hadn't experienced so thorough a setback this spring. "But a loss is a loss. It's unfortunate that we didn't have a better effort, but the reality is we've got to go home and win one," he said. "We've got to have our best game in our next game." Or it will be their last game. Any kid could figure that out.

I agree that losing Drake is more significant than originally thought. However, it does seem that Kopecky is coming around, not falling down on every shift, on every hit. I don't know if we will have that singular player in Drake. I think what will happen is Maltby and Kopecky will awaken because they know if they don't knock around some people there out of the lineup. That's the difference between this year and last, more depth. If Ericsson sticks around for the playoffs I hear he's shown an abrasive side in GR.

I've probably been as critical of Kopecky as anybody here. I have to give the man his due. He's played extremly well the past few games. I always draw the comparison to Boyd Deveraux with his ability to fall down on every shift, on every hit, whether giving or receiving. Maybe it's the confidence, maybe it's the knee getting better, but he's actually laid out good hits and hasn't fallen over...all the time in the past few games. Yeah I did notice him getting thrown around like a rag doll in front of the net tonight. However, I think part of his current success can be attributed to Maltby and Draper getting their heads out of their nether regions and playing like they are capable of. The 4th line is playing the best they have all season, I mean Draper is even scoring, and hell hasn't frozen over. Kopecky is the closest thing we have to Drake so all we can do is hope he learns to be half of the physical presence that Drake was in the playoffs last year. This is kind of out of the box thinking but maybe a few Yoga or Gymnastic lessons would do the trick to teach him balance.

Kristen Bell's crush on Osgood, Stanley Cup sponge bath wish By Greg Wyshynski Actress Kristen Bell has this exceptional ability to stir every geek passion imaginable. Sci-Fi geeks loved her for "Veronica Mars," her stint on "Heroes" and for donning the gold bikini of Princess Leia in the unreleased "Star Wars"-inspired flick "Fanboys." (Although we much prefer her as a blonde.) Comedy geeks welcomed her into the cult of Apatow with her starring turn in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." And, of course, puckheads love Bell for her passionate support of the Detroit Red Wings, admitting that she actually cried when they were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks last season. That passion took on new dimensions in an interview with NHL.com this week, as Bell was asked which hockey player she'd like to meet and why: Chris Osgood was my first crush. Brad Pitt be damned, he had nothing on Osgood's rookie skill and sad eyes. There was actually a day in high school when I wrote on a name tag 'Mrs. Osgood' and wore it the whole day. I really thought we were perfect for each other. I'd love to meet him and probably apologize that things never worked out. Yowzer. And if Bell had the Stanley Cup for just one day? I would start by eating an entire box of Fruity Pebbles out of it. Then I'd take an afternoon sponge bath in it. Then I'd retro fit it with handles and make it into a Stanley Cup handbag.

I was wondering if anyone here knows where I can buy lettering for a blank Red Wings white jersey. I found some on ebay for Hasek, Yzerman, Draper, Maltby, and Osgood. But I specifically want Zetterberg or Lidstrom.

I've seen blank CCM jersey's at Dunham's for $30 as well. If you can find somebody who embroiders that's about as cheap as you can get them for. At least there is one thing positive about the new jersey's for next year, the old one's are now dirt cheap.

I don't see why people want Draper gone. He had the one spectacular year and people expected for him to put up similar numbers. If you look past that Selke year his numbers have remained steady. He still has great speed for a team that is still lacking, and he is still a dominate Penalty Killer. The fact remains he has one more year left on his contract and a no trade clause so you're stuck with him either way. As for Lang, I'm glad he's gone. That's 3.8 million to spend elsewhere for a much more productive player. I want Bertuzzi back...If they can sign him for half of his current salary or less. One thing we will lose in Lang is size. Bertuzzi provides that. Hopefully a summer of rest can get his back completely healthy again. If he misses a stretch during next season we know we have some capable talent in Grand Rapids to help out. Without going into certain players available I want to look at what the Wings glaring needs are. Obviously we need help on the powerplay. To me it almost looked like the Wings were looking for that one-time shot from a right handed shot (Shanahan), the only problem is that he is in New York. I haven't looked at the UFA class of 07' so I don't know if there is anybody out there to fill that void. Mikael Samuellson GET HIM OFF THE POINT on the PP. I realize he was taking over the injured Kronwall on the first line, but he'll still be on the point on the 2nd PP unit taking over the departed Jason Williams spot to go along with Schneider. I think that Sammy will be the Lang of next year. I will be glad to get rid of him after next year. I'd almost like to see what Val could do on the point. Looking at the defense I'm just wondering about the future. I don't know that much about our defensemen in Grand Rapids (Kindl, Meech, Ericcson).I have a couple questions about them..1.What kind of defensemen are they(offensive defensemen, defensive defenesmen)? 2. Do any of them play on the PP? 3. How well do they move the puck? After seeing Quincey we know he can be a reliable 6th or 7th defensmen with the Wings current depth. I know it would be nice to be Schneiders big shot back but did you guys notice how the PP started clicking for a couple of games after Schneider went down? I'd love to have his shot on the point but I think as far as the powerplay is concerned they put a little too much emphasis on schneid's shot. But then again if they had a healthy Bertuzzi or another big body in front, perhaps some of those juicy rebounds coming off Schneiders blast would go in a bit more frequently.

For those of you that are on facebook there is group that I would encourage you to join. The group title is what were all thinking right now "I hate Chris Pronger."

I never thought I could hate Pronger anymore than I did in the Edmonton series. I wouldn't mind seeing a puck knock that huge gap in his two front teeth.

I've been going to this site basically everday for the last couple years and I finally decided to join up. I did however let the Wings down. I play a couple games of the EA sports NHL game the day of the Wings game. I didn't for game 2. I basically just beat the crap out of the team the Wings are playing. Nothing better than knocking Pronger to the ice. I did this in 02' and they won the cup. I started it up again this year. I don't know why but it seems like Lidstrom has the best hits in the game. Anyways I don't want to jinx my system but I'd have to say the Wings will have a strong game tonight. Close game as the whole series will go. It's our turn in line to get some fluky goals. Wings win.