VM1138

Exactly. They need to shut the door on the Sharks, which is going to be extremely hard. The Sharks are clearly better than they showed in Game 6, and they're going to be pissed and eager to kill the Wings. The Wings will have to weather the storm, never give up, and put pucks on the net and go for the rebound as often as they can. I think these comebacks are becoming more prevalent. There have been three in the last two seasons. The new parity in the league I think is going to make these comebacks more frequent.

Obligatory single post on gameday. I'm so pumped!

IF the Wings pull this off, I think it has to go up among the greatest moments, probably the greatest moment not involving the Cup. Simply by virtue of it only having been done four times at that point. Hopefully the Sharks don't bring their A game and don't get lucky bounces.

Pretty cool to see non-NHL hockey on TV. VS is really doubling down on hockey, I love it.

Really, it's the intensity. Hockey players occasionally fraternize, but the game is too intense to do it on the ice. Once in a while you'll see someone make a comment (unheard of course) that makes an opposing player laugh, but it's usually not in the playoffs. And if we're discussing baseball, the players were probably just trying to stay awake.

The short-lived Ducks rivalry, culminating in '09, was pretty crazy. That was freaking war. But ask me tomorrow night around midnight for my answer to this question.

I love the idea of getting him a recliner. He's been through the battles like few ever have, when he retires he deserves to be lazy.

Honestly, I thought San Jose would be the toughest team to play against and they're proving that to be the case. They were looking unbeatable in the first few games. IF (and that's a big if mind you) the Wings can pull this off, Vancouver seems to be a step down from them now. As for the Wings being too old, the rest clearly didn't help them to start this series. But now they are warming up and if (again, a big IF, I'm not trying to anger the hockey gods) the Wings win tomorrow night they might be able to keep it going to steal one in Vancouver. And Howard being more inconsistent? Like the article says, regular season means nothing. In these playoffs Howard has been night in and night out the most consistent goalie except for maybe Tim Thomas or Rinne (haven't seen much of either but the media loves them).

I'm surprised 22 people voted for Thornton. Datsyuk is always included in discussions about the greatest players in the world, Thornton never is. Thornton is a great player, don't get me wrong, he's an excellent playmaker, but Datsyuk is better all around, and THEN you have the "intangibles" where Datsyuk again outworks Thornton, shows more class, and has a good sense of humor to boot.

Each channel mixes it differently. Sometimes you can barely hear the crowd. On FSD you could hear the crowd, but you could tell there was sound dampening going on. But you could tell it was loud just because it was louder than other FSD games.

The thing about Game 7's (and this series especially) that scares me is that it's not always the better playing team that wins. It's the one that gets a crazy bounce and scores late in the 3rd to break a scoreless tie, or something like that. The WIngs cannot be overconfident, the Sharks season is on the line now and they should expect them to play the best hockey they are capable of playing. Keep up the speed and pressure, keep the defense tight, and Howard HAS to be on top of his game. Don't let them crowd the net and hope for some crazy redirect. Even Game 6 could have ended 1-0 despite the Wings outplaying the Sharks badly. Oh...Game 7's...anything can happen.

Hudler should definitely stay in, he's not scoring but he's playing well and doing a good job on the forecheck. As for Modano, I didn't notice him at all last night, but he's probably better than Franzen at the moment. Franzen simply can't skate he's in so much pain. Draper should probably come in for Modano though, because Draper wins faceoffs and was showing a lot of hustle and physical grinding before he was pulled.

Or else it suddenly puts even more pressure on him, haha. I didn't know Konstantinov still hung around the locker room, that's pretty cool.

This looks like an entirely different team, even from the one that manhandled Phoenix. I'm trying really hard not to get ahead of myself, because Game 7's are terrifying. But I like how the Wings managed to come back and win despite not getting any lucky bounces. They worked for each of these goals. I felt like they got lucky in Games 4 and 5, but this was all on them, which makes me think they can really pull this off.

Especially since it's not like the Wings are one of those lucky, one and done teams. IF they win this series, (a big if) they will be easily the most dangerous team in the league. Please, Wings, if you can play like that in San Jose and win, I'll even be okay if you lose Game 1 of the Conference Finals, haha. Just put it together for one more win!

Honestly, the Wings don't really dive. They'll embellish high sticks and stuff, but they're too smart to go to the ice without a good reason. They know that if you dive and a call isn't made, suddenly you're out of position. So yeah, they'll throw their head back so the ref knows a stick was near their face, but diving? Not that I've seen.

Thought you fans of Red Wings history might enjoy this. I was doing research today and found this neat advertisement. It was in the Free Press the day before the Detroit hockey franchise played its first game.

Sweet Jesus that's amazing!

And one of them has the nickname "Gizzy?" The first half of the 20th century really liked their silly little nicknames.

Wings better keep the pressure up so the series doesn't end tomorrow like Nashville, I just hope they can outwork the Sharks and win.

As of right now that's the only image, but I expect more in the near future. The rest were scans of articles that I'm using for a research project. You could check out my sig, I wrote a short little ebook on the 1937 playoff run. It's a neat little piece of history.

I know several people who don't watch games because they think they're bad luck. And as superstitious as I am, I don't think you should go so far as to not watch it. Simply because what's the fun in winning if you can't watch? Don't worry and watch the game, but maybe mix up your pre-game routine or something. EDIT: Or if you have the capability, DVR it and watch it as soon as the game ends.

Nothing really to add, just getting in my obligatory single post which I've done the last few times to keep the mojo going.

God I hope the Wings can weather the San Jose storm and win Game 6. The wait is going to suck. They better be ready, bring their A game and keep hustling, hitting, and fighting for each inch of ice.

I'd rather make a play at St. Louis, he'll be available, won't he? Although I doubt he leaves Tampa with Yzerman in charge and a deep playoff run under his belt.