VM1138

Morning everybody! Just dropping in before heading off to work. Let's go Wings! Almost to 2000!

A lot of great pictures in here, let's get to 2000! I'm haeding to bed, gotta work in the morning tomorrow. It's a shame I'll miss this game. Hope they can win so I can see them clinch in Anaheim after work on Tuesday!

Lost is amazing, this last episode has gotten me really excited for the finale. I can't freaking wait. Just think, we could have a double whammy. Wings clinch the series on Tuesday (I think), and Lost on Wednesday. What a mid-week slam! Oh, and I don't think Jacob is Christian. There's a reason for it but I don't know if it'd count as a spoiler or not so I won't mention it.

It's not happening. Team X moving to Hamilton. Never going to happen, as much as I'd like it to.

You know, I'm glad Draper is returning, but in a way, I'm not. We've been playing well overall. Draper this season has been a bit touch and go and I'm nervous about injecting the team with a player with that recent history, who has been injured for a substantial amount of time, in an absolutely critical series. Part of me would almost have him wait until Game 1 of the next round. Whenever we play the Ducks (as we have seen) each game is very tenuous. A freak accident or luck or bad reffing can alter the game. Now that we have momentum and each game is a must-win from here on out, I'm a little nervous about changing the formula too much, at least at forward. I really want Rafalski back, though.

Are you kidding? Kopecky should be given a medal. He took out one of their top defensemen for 5 minutes while the Wings weren't at any great loss withuot him. Now he's out, opening a position for one of the excellent Black Aces who will perform better than him.

Kopecky, being as useless as he is, isn't really a loss. Anyone who replaces him would at least be at the same level, if not better. Rafalski not coming back yet again...something is seriously wrong. Draper, too, I actually forgot what he's out with anyway.

After last night I am absolutely even more convinced that Ericcson is going to be one of the top defensemen in the league next year or the year before. He's playing with confidence, making huge plays (or breaking huge plays for the other team) and dominating when he's on the ice. He and Lidstrom are a perfect compliment.

In short, the Colorado-Detroit rivalry was one of the best in sports history. The Anaheim-Detroit rivalry is great, but nowhere near that. It's simply a great sports rivalry. EDIT: Someone else mentioned as an aside a possible Detroit-Chicago conference final. THAT, in my mind, would start a really great rivalry. There's already a little bit of "chippyness" to the games between Chicago and Detroit, they have the history, and the storyline is there. It might take years to develop but I think this year (if the Wings can beat the Ducks and Chicago can beat Vancouver) could be the origins of something great. Oh, and yeah, Anaheim games are always must-see for me. They're the biggest rivalry the Wings have right now.

Up down, up down, I'm getting dizzy on these forums! If people just stayed with the ship and had confidence they wouldn't have to suffer so much. Series is tied and far from over, but the Wings have what it takes. If they perform like tonight they should be able to win this series. Anaheim isn't going down without a fight, but they know this and will prepare accordingly.

Absolutely amazing. I'll miss the next game if it's during the day instead of 7:30, so I hope they keep this up. They were playing like we all knew they could. Absolutely no complaints. Keep grinding away at the Ducks!

I knew he'd get his chances. Zetterberg was really great this game, too. Datsyuk was a little invisible. I don't know why he's having such a hard time. Is he hurt/psyched out or something? I feel bad for him, because we all know he's the best player on the team and the most reliable. He's a workhorse and I feel bad he's snakebit at the moment.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but every single time an opposing player has touched the octopus (at least the last two years, I don't know about before), they've lost. Here's to continuing tradition!

DSOTM has supernatural powers. With the juju it generates the Wings should each get a hat trick tonight. Go Wings!

Reffing should be halfway decent tonight, I don't have any complaints about any of them. Hopefully we get a few makeup calls, too.

Unless Ozzie gets a hat trick.

You are absolutely right. My God, imagine a Vancouer/Carolina final. Or an Anaheim/Washington final. That's a whole lot of "who the hell cares?" going on in that potential matchup.

I have a good feeling about tonight. THe past few games I've been uneasy for whatever reason, but tonight I'm feeling a huge win for the Wings. They're going to come out flying and take over this series. I also feel like there's going to be a huge play that crushes the Ducks spirits in the 2nd.

Are all these kids playing tonight? Who's going to sit for three forwards? I figure Kopecky is out, but Maltby has been solid for us. Nobody else is really expendable. I've never seen Kindl play so I hope he's as solid as our other young defensemen have been over the years in the playoffs. As much as I like Downey I'm kind of nervous about losing a spot for a good player just to have someone fight. We need everyone possible to score tonight. EDIT: And why was Howard called up? Is there some league rule that requires someone from every position to be called up or something?

No, it's like jumping out of a moving vehicle because it's heading for a cliff. And it's on fire.

Hell yeah the Original six should leave and take a few valuable franchises with them. How about a league starting with: Detroit Red Wings Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers Boston Bruins Chicago Blackhawks St. Louis Blues Philadelphia Flyers Dallas Stars Colorado Avalanche San Jose Sharks Buffalo Sabres I think that'd be an entertaining league, though the Western teams are few and far between which would create problems.

I was as pissed as anyone in the first period and after that goal last night, but I agree with yuo. These people saying things like the series is over, or "3-1 and it's over" aren't watching the same series. We knew this would happen going into the series. Most of us felt it would go to 7 games. Either team could have won these games so far, which is scary ebcause the Wings haven't really showed up for a full game yet and they're still in this thing. Now they have the motivation and Datsyuk is finally making things happen and Hossa is finally turning things up. We've solved their smothering defense last night, but it was too little too late. Game 4 the Wings will come out flying with an axe to grind. They've always played best under Babcock with a chip on their shoulder. This series isn't over until someone wins 4. And the Wings, playing with a hand behind their back, are still playing even with the Ducks through most of the series. EDIT: It makes you wonder who remembers being down 2-0 to Vancouver in 2002. Or hell, even the Nashville or Dallas or Pittsburgh series last yaer. Lots of people were convinced we were going to be out in the first against Nashville. That overtime gave was a nightmare. Then Dallas was going to come back because we couldn't finish them off. Then Pittsburgh was going to get momentum and steal the series. This is the playoffs. Nobody goes 16-0.

Sigh. Babcock has been nothing but dynamite for us since he came here. Everyone thinks line shuffling works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. He's never let us down before. We shook things up earlier this season and nothing happened. He did a little line shaking last night, but the Wings were already playing good at that point in the game and Hossa and Dastyuk had stepped up their games. He knows what he's doing. He's been in this situation more than most coaches in the league.

I know you're joking, and everyone here still loves Datsyuk, but it's really irritating how people are bashing him in certain areas. The guy is a playoff beast who has somehow hit a rough three games against a team that is playing smothering defense. He'll come through for us. So will Hossa (well, technically Hossa already did).

I really don't think Meech would be an upgrade over Chelios. Cheli was solid for us the last game, drew two penalties and was shooting at the net more than I've seen him do in years. Decent shots, too. Rafalski won't be back for Game 4, I'm almost positive I heard Ken Daniels say this during the game, but that the Wings just didn't announce it yet. We really need him back. I think the Wings will come out strong for the next game. They live for moments like this.