Stevie Y.

I'm not questioning their desire for hockey. I'm saying it's not a reasonable statement that because X number of people want tickets for the current Toronto franchise that you'll see all those left out in the cold rush to sign up for season tickets to a new team. That's not a prediction of failure should it happen. I think said team would be more successful than a lot of current teams. But I still maintain you can't just assume those Maple Leafs fans are going to want to flock to a transplanted team from the American South. And yes, two teams in New York has always worked, because New York is broken into so many territorial pieces. New Yorkers love to be united in opposition. It's entirely different than virtually every city on the North American sports map. (LA possibly being the other exception)

Where to begin? I can honestly say i have never felt so good after having been knocked out of the playoffs. Why? EVERYONE got better it seems like. (Well, except Lang, but come on it's almost too obvious to point out.) I would say with the exceptions of Lang, Draper and Maltby that either the players got better (Cleary, Datsyuk, Zetty, Filpulla, Samuelsson, Holmstrom, etc.) as the season progressed, or they remained top tier talent as you'd expect (Lids, Chelios, Schneider) This is an excellent team with a very promising future. The acquisition of Bertuzzi is going to work out extremely well and hopefully Babcock gets off his jonesing for Calder and plays him some more (I don't see that happening though. Calder is stuck in the same situation Robitaille was in before he left) This is a great team who is going to be a hell of a lot better next year even if we steered clear of the free agent market entirely.

This seems like a silly discussion to me. If not for a lucky bounce of Nick's stick in game 5, at WORST we're playing a game 7 at home tomorrow night. Hasek hasn't been spectacular because he hasn't had to be, not with the guys we trot out on D. He's been plenty good enough to win a championship. I don't even really like the guy or his style of play, but I don't see how this elimination was in any way his fault. Hasek wasn't the one not putting pressure on the Anaheim D when they controlled the puck at the blue line. He wasn't the one getting outhustled along the boards. He wasn't the one out of position on our powerplay opportunities. And he most assuredly wasn't the one who basically made Anaheim look 4x better than they are by half-assing it for 2 periods in game 6. If he wants back, let him back. If Howard is to come up, then play him behind Dom. Howard is the future, not Ozzy. Thanks for the good times Chris.

I've given it plenty of thought. I suggested getting rid of two centers, and signing two centers. Square pegs in round holes? If you insist. And yes, I trust Ken Holland to know more about signing quality, tough, impact players than both you and I, and be creative in managing the associated costs. If you were the GM, I'd have faith in you. As it stands, I'll throw my symbolic weight behind the guy who gets paid to do it.

My first choice: Banish Bettman. Second: Contraction. (Bye bye: Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus) Third: Undo the East/West garbage and get back to Campbell/Wales. Imagine hockey losing it's popularity when Detroit plays Toronto, TORONTO, once a year. Chicago languishing in mediocrity. Rangers next to useless for a decade. Montreal not in contention. Boston not a real contender in quite some time. Why would we want to pay attention to those old teams when we've got real work to do in Phoenix, and Atlanta, and Florida, and Kansas City... In summation: I hate you Gary Bettman.

Assuming the Maple Leafs fans WANT to support this second team, mind you. All those people waiting for tickets aren't waiting for ANY tickets.... they're waiting for Leafs tickets. I think putting another team in or near Toronto makes as much sense as adding another Detroit team.

I'll root for whoever doesn't have Pronger. Go Sens.

Right. Because no trade clauses are never worked around, right? Did you completely miss the part where I said those lines are cast and there's overlapping positions? Must've. As far as the money goes, I'll let Ken Holland take care of that.

I know I'll take heat for this, but: Out with Lang and Draper (sorry but Drapes is simply not contributing like we need and we have plenty of leadership) In with Drury and Gomez. Datsyuk Filpulla Drury Zetterberg Holmstrom Franzen Bertuzzi Gomez Cleary Now those lines clearly aren't set in stone, as there's a lot of overlapping at positions. But just imagine marching those 9 guys out there.

Alright, so I may have underestimated his contribution, but need I say any more? Work 'em Cleary!!

At my dad's house, loving every single minute of what transpired. Blew off work for it. Best decision ever... well, next to choosing my wife.

Dan Cleary He has been skating hard and making plays. With Anaheim's depleted defense, he's going to have more opportunity to take advantage of his speed, hunger, and skill. I already predicted in another thread he'll seal the deal on a 3-1 game with an empty netter, which I stand by. He may or may not assist on another goal, but he'll certainly make his presence felt out there tonight. Don't make a fool out of me Cleary!!!

Better than 98, perhaps (of course, IMHO). Better than '02? I don't know. That Colorado series was epic in '02.

It's not really okay for him to elbow anyone up high; teammate, opponent, or anyone else.

Goaltending is the chic excuse, but it's not like the Wings were giving up 4+ goals a game in any of those playoff bounces. The one common denominator in each of those series was, however, our complete inability to score an adequate number of goals. They were simply not generating enough offense. Your goalie can only do so much. I think the assessment of the article is pretty good. It couldn't have been easy for the young guys to step up with legends standing in front of them. It's got to be so much easier to play not wanting to let a guy like Steve Yzerman, hands down the greatest Red Wing EVER (sorry Gordie), down. That's an enormous amount of pressure gone. That said, it's also true that if Bob doesn't do the unthinkable (contribute) against San Jose in game 4 we're not here right now.

I think it'll be a tight one as Anaheim is really going to buckle down defensively. I look for them to clog the middle of the ice and I don't think we'll many, if any at all, long cross ice passes directly leading to goals like in game 3. I'll go 3-1 Wings. Detroit: Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Cleary (empty net) Anaheim: McDonald

And on all the teams that this genius GM has built, what does he have to show for it besides a legacy of lineups of ill repute, suspended players and his defense thereof?

I could stomach him being on the Wings, but he'd get no free passes when he inevitably pulled out a dirty hit from me. There's a short list of players I never wanted to see in Red, but he can count himself amongst Claude Lemieux and Eric Lindros in my book. Dirtbag players are dirtbag players, Winged Wheel or not.

For the last time: Everyone appreciates big hits, when they're clean. Everyone appreciates the fact that sometimes sticks come up and clip guys in the face and they don't get personally riled up; knowing it wasn't intended. This, however, is not what happened. Pronger, as per his M.O., intentionally headhunted a guy with his elbows. I will admit that normally he likes to hit them in the face or from the side; so in that case this hit was slightly unique... but only insofar as it showed even less class and integrity than his usual cheap shot. And that's saying something coming from Chris Pronger.

Look at the track record of the teams Burke has put together. Every one of them has a guy or two with a total goon-like mentality. Burke doesn't understand what passes for modern-day hockey; unfortunately so for the players playing against his teams.

A just penalty for his actions. I hope to see the news on nhl.com shortly just to assure me this is true.

On the off chance Pronger gets sent this, I'd like that to be run by an editor or two before I get included amongst the fans.

That was potentially a crushing defeat for Anaheim. Hopefully, Pronger gets the suspension he deserves. If so, it's over. Unfortunately, Bettman has zero spine and will not suspend him; citing the fact that he wasn't penalized on the play as justification. Good win for the boys. Let's hope they make similar meat of the Mallards next game as well. With the way the other series is going, the Wings need to end this one as quickly as possible.