VM1138

I really wanted to disagree with the conventional wisdom and come up with some unique reasons for picking different teams, but I just don't see anyone other than Vancouver, Detroit and Washington making the finals. The East is so weak that barring some collossal upset by a lucky team, no one will beat Washington. If they lose it's a crap shoot as each other team could beat any other team because they're all at the same level. In the West it's up for grabs, but I don't see the Sharks breaking their bad karma and I don't think Chicago really has that grit to dig down deep and gun for the Cup, especially against a more experienced Wings team with similar talent or an all around solid Vancouver squad. As for Phoenix, they won't go far, they just aren't deep enough. And as for the rest....meh.

Other than the first goal Ozzie played well. Not great but then again he hasn't really played in forever. But he was better than usual. But he needs to be sat. He's just too out of the loop now to use him. Babcock really dropped the ball on the goalie situation. Hopefully over the summer Ozzie can get his stuff together and get a fresh start next year.

Maybe not many people are talking about it because it doesn't matter? We've had so many trophies over the years the Central title doesn't really mean much. I thought I'd be more upset about not winning it, but things have really been put in perspective.

I'm not picking their poison (I will never pick a preferred playoff opponent out of superstition) but I will say this: I think I'd rather face San Jose or Chicago or Vancouver right off the hop before they get into a groove and save Phoenix and weaker teams later when a skilled, steady team can beat them (See Detroit vs. Chicago last playoffs).

Not really. They tried desperately to rattle Datsyuk, Helm and Franzen and it didn't work. I'm not sure what the final hit total was but for most of the game Philly only had a few extra hits.

Is this a recent development? I seem to recall Ozzie going out to congratulate Howard all the time, but I admit I haven't noticed lately.

I think this will work out well. I hear Ozzie has been doing better in practice, the Wings are rejuvenated and playing well. Ozzie won't get hung out to dry, and if he has a good game a lot of that rust and shaken confidence can be fixed hopefully.

Yeah, his writing style doesn't exactly put images of the Pain Train in your mind, haha. Still a cool blog nonetheless, always interesting to hear player's thoughts outside of the cookie cutter post-game interviews.

Never gambled before, but I'm actually thinking of putting a bet on Detroit, Washington or Vancouver.

Only 2 posts for Mr. Hockey? Happy birthday Gordie!

I was wondering about this the other day actually. The Pens are always on Versus. At first I was bothered but then I remembered that I think the Wings were on all the time last season. Maybe they have a deal where the preponderance of games on VS go to the defending Cup champion?

I love the reactions of the posters. On the plus side, I hope the Wings or Nashville can steal the division title now. That'd be a cool collector's item to have if they miss out, haha.

I'm feeling good about the playoffs. They're playing extremely well, and the few times they're not they're fighting out dirty wins. This team can go far again in the playoffs. Almost all of the players are proven playoff performers, and the one potential weakness we have (goalie inexperience or lack of success) is one that all the Western teams share. It's going to be a fun run, I think.

Agreed, it would almost be as sweet as winning the Cup. But I'd rather have the latter. With each passing day it becomes more likely that Detroit can catch up, which I didn't think would be probably a few days ago. I even posted so. But I can sort of see Chicago only winning two or three of their next games. For some reason I thought they only needed to win twice to clinch the Central, but maybe it's three games. Still, though, Detroit has to finish with a twelve game win streak for us steal the Central with Chicago winning 2 or 3. So let's just hope Chicago loses a bunch.

Yeah, I would imagine Miller would do better than Leino is if he were given the chance. Any reasonably talented scorer could score with two start linemates. Especially since they were two assists.

Let's not forget that the Helm has played better during playoffs than any other time. Hopefully he continues that trend. Miller I believe also did really well in the playoffs last year I think. We have quite a few guys who step it up in the playoffs. I think come playoffs we can count on Eaves, Miller and Helm to up the scoring a bit to become truly threatening third and fourth-liners. Williams, however, will continue to coast.

Well, let's see. The Wings have done pretty good winning what 60-70% of the games this season? Let's assume they keep that up. They have 7 games left, so I think it's reasonable to assume they will go AT LEAST 4-3. That would give Detroit 99 points. The way they've been playing they could probably realistically go 5-2. That would give them 101 points. That means Chicago would have to go 0-7-1. Now, let's say the Wings go 6-1. That'd give them 103 points, so Chicago would have to go no better than 1-7 in order for us to catch them. Let's say Detroit goes 7-0. That'd give them 105 points. Chicago would have to go 2-6. I can see the Wings going 5-2 or 6-1, but I don't see Chicago going 2-6. So no.

The picture has changed quite a bit since before the Olympics, hasn't it? Things are much more comfortable now.

As good as Bertuzzi has been, if we could obtain a guaranteed scoring winger to replace him the move has to be made. Otherwise we might have to lose Eaves or Miller. And to be brutally honest, I'd rather have two young, hard working guys who can score once in a while locked up with the team for many years than have Bertuzzi for a year or two, even if he continues to play well. I would like to see Bertuzzi back, but we're really running out of roster spots here.

It feels good to believe that the Wings can win a game again. Let's go Wings!

I agree. He may get to start immediately in a place like New York, but he'll also be thrown under the bus if his transition isn't perfect there and he would know that. If I were him, in all honesty, I'd take the year in Grand Rapids to go to a team that is patient with its players and lets them develop without threatening to trade them or expecting them to be the savior immediately. In the Rangers he'd be as good as gone if he struggled.

I've been watching the players pretty closely wondering about this. It's obvious it will be Zetterberg, but there are some other really good candidates for captain or the A. I think all of you have missed the best candidate: Stuart. During the tough times this year Stuart has been interviewed a lot more than usual, and he's shown quite a bit of passion in them. Also, in a couple different articles it's been noted that Stuart is one of the leaders of the locker room. So for 3 A's my vote goes for Datsyuk, Stuart and Rafalski (assuming Draper retires when Lidstrom does).

Entire games? I've always wanted to see a '50s game.

Pavel can play a long career in the NHl. The KHL will always take him when he's washed up, so there's no rush. As long as he gives Detroit his best years he can do what wants. I see Datsyuk getting up there in points, but Hank probably won't reach quite the same height. Despite he and Datsyuk being about equal in skills in every category, Zetterberg's back might hurt him in the long run and drop his production sooner than Datsyuk's.

I'd rather not be the team that he proves that against.