VM1138

Don't worry, they wouldn't have been laughing and joking about him if he had had a serious problem. He probably was in the bathroom or stuck in traffic or something, which would be laugh worthy. Or, like Stevkraus noted, maybe he got called over to a different broadcast or some other job, some kind of "promotion" and they were making fun of him for bailing on them.

Stuart always seems to step it up a notch in the playoffs. Just another steal for the Wings. Last year he was a beast too, up until the very last game, I think it was. What a time to have your first bad game. But yeah, Stuart has consistently been one of the best players on the team. I can't believe he's been tossed around so much by teams. I guess he just needed to find a home to prove his worth. I just looked it up because I forgot, too. We got him for a 2nd and a 4th round draft pick. Not bad considering how valuable he's been since we got him. I remember how cool it was when he and Kronner got put together. Wings fans hadn't seen that kind of destruction in a long time at that point. Check out this site I just found doing a google search for the Brad Stuart trade: It's funny to remember all the negativity at the time. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/11085-nhl-trade-brad-stuart-now-a-red-wing

I know, it's so weird to see Datsyuk celebrate a goal, it's a nice change of pace, though. He's getting a bit of swagger to him these past few seasons.

God I hope we win Sunday. It'd be nice to give the Wings some rest while the rest beat each other up.

Mike Green is a joke. Doughty could be great. I haven't followed him but I was surprised to hear Ken and Mick predict he'll be like Bobby Orr (and by extension Lidstrom) someday. Anyone think he could really be that great?

Hasek will always have a fan in me. Truly one of the all-time greats, and he's still got it!

I'd like to say they'll come begging to get back into the NHL at bargain prices, but what'll happen is NHL managers will overpay for crappy, lazy players or they'll go into the other European leagues.

Love Tom Clancy books. I read that one when it came out but I'd totally forgotten that reference. Awesome find. EDIT: Let's not forget South Park. They had an entire episode devoted to those evil bastard Red Wings.

They can keep their Calder so long as Jimmy gets to lift the Cup this year.

Any team who has a decent goalie and quality defensemen?

I like to think he's the best. Nothing against Orr, obviously, but Lidstrom was an iron man at the NHL level for a very long time and has been the rock for this team. He's been unflappable in his tenure here.

The Senators suck. All they are doing is making the Pens look good.

True, Hudler can't play physical or anything. But that's okay. It's a pipe dream to think you can have an entire team full of gritty two way forwards. I'll take a scorer like Hudler even if he's not perfect.

They bash the NHL every chance they get. They always try to diminish it. It's not a matter of not covering it because they don't broadcast games, they literally tear it apart when they do discuss it.

I don't know. ESPN has spent so much time bashing the Nhl over the years their audience is probably automatically going to dismiss the NHL and not try watching it. Which would be justification for ESPN to limit NHL coverage (they would probably start out with small coverage thus making all the NHL progress over the past few years moot). Keep it on VS. The only issue is reaching an audience which seems to be happening.

Ladies and gentlemen....Jimmy effing Howard!!! He answered the call and stepped up huge! Man, what a game. The Wings just need to show they can put up two strong games in a row for Game 5. I have a good feeling though. A battle like that and a performance like that for Howard has got to have him sky-high right now. This could be the catalyst that is needed to spark him to a Stanley Cup winning performance and turn the tide.

The Wings are old? Aren't they like a year older on average than the Coyotes or something? Sports people get way too caught up on age. Age has less to do with anything than skill level. For instance, Bertuzzi is said to be declining at 34ish. Yet Lidstrom is playing at a high level despite being 40ish. Chelios played at a high level into his 40s. Yet we have athletes retiring when they are in their mid-thirties.

I'm feeling 4-1. Howard goes into lockdown and the D stops pinching, letting 2 on 1s happen. Phoenix will come out flying and pepper the net with a lot of great chances but Howard will stop all but one. I'm thinking they'll get around 28 shots to Detroit's 39. Because of these close calls it will be a nailbiter but the Wings offense will connect and score 4. Two rebounds, one breakaway and one slapshot redirected. You heard it here first.

A couple more bad calls like this on teams not named LA, Phoenix, Chicago or Pittsburgh and I think people can have a case that the league is trying to influence who moves on.

Um...this is rather routine. Look how quickly 3 wins pile up. Game 4: Wings win, even the series. Game 5: Wings ride momentum to a win. Game 6: Due to two losses in a row (which is routine in playoffs), Phoenix panicks and loses Game 6. So yes, it's entirely possible.

Honestly it's a pretty even series. Phoenix is playing much better than people thought. I'd say both teams have dominated roughly half of the first three games overall. However, the Wings aren't capitalizing. Howard hasn't been all that great. He's let in way too many softies whereas Byrzgalov is not. The Wings are playing horrible defense. Basic stuff, which makes it frustrating. One defenseman gets caught out of position and Lidstrom (it always ends up as Lidstrom) ends up defending against a 2 on 1 which always ends in a goal. The first game would have gone to the Wings except for their terrible penalty kill. The PK is much better now, but that first game the Yotes scored on all but one of their power plays. Unfortunately, this 50/50 play is favoring the Coyotes since they have the extra win. Also, Howard and the defense needs to be better. The offense is doing all the little things, everyone is carrying their weight. The problem is basically Ericcson, Lilja, Rafalski, Kronwall, and Howard at this point. So...in short? An even series in which Phoenix has had all the breaks. Hopefully the Wings can catch a few. The weird thing is that both goalies have been terrible. Neither has really come up with that huge "Oh My God!" save yet. Most of the crazy "saves" are just pucks hitting defenders and deflecting away.

They could get some talent for him, I'm sure. Hudler has proven he can score. Obviously weaker teams would want him but I see no reason for the Wings to trade him. We need him. Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Hudler-Zetterberg/Filppula I like that lineup. The bottom 6 will need to be arranged. I didn't want to list them because I'm not sure what combination to use but I see these guys returning (obviously): Helm, Miller, Eaves, Abdelkader. Draper could return, Maltby could return, who knows.

Maybe that should be part of his penance? Haha. Congratulations, who knows, maybe by this personal sacrifice for your family the hockey gods will reward you with your kid being the next NHL superstar someday!

I think this story was reported right after the Wings won in '08. Not a new story but very, very cool and classy. I wonder if there are any players from the '43 Cup win left alive? Or even any of the earlier ones? I can't imagine there would be any from the 30s, but it's possible.