VM1138

If there ever was an awesome middle aged gang, the Malibu Mob would be it. Oh to be a fly on those walls.

He's doing so well in player development that I'd hate to see him leave for a coaching job, but coaching is part development, too. I say give him an assistant job. Just picture it, 10 years from now we could be witnessing an Yzerman-Fischer coached team. Defensive smartness with explosing offensive talent.

I wonder if he improves his English more, if he'll be in the running for the captaincy when Lids retires? I see it being between Hank and Pav, if Pav can learn to speak more fluently. He sure LOOKS like he's blooming into a great leader. I don't know about behind the scenes but the guy brings his A game every single night and is an inspiration to this team.

I've been learning more about how the Pens work, and I don't think they could be a dynasty. They're not different than say, Tampa Bay. Even if they come back to win it this year, no way do they do it again. Malkin's ego won't let him stay in Pitts unless he bankrupts the place. He's already said he's giong for the max. I guess MAF has expressed interest in going elsewhere, the Pens fans seem to think they'll be losing a lot of their role players after this year, Roberts will retire, and their coach is terrible and would need to be replaced. I see this as more of a "last hurrah" for the Pens instead of the Wings. They may be dismantled next year.

Datsyuk is the greatest player in the league right now. I have NEVER seen him take a night off. Especially the past two years, the guy is a workhorse who never gives up.

Is there a POSSIBILITY? Yes. They could figure out how to make his heart safe. And certainly he would have a place. Will he? No. There's just too much of a risk. He has too much to live for to risk losing it for a game. Barring any sudden breakthroughs in the medical field, he's done. So sad. He was going to be one of the greats, I always felt.

Anything can happen. Game 3s are always a different story. The WIngs need to step it up but I have faith in the Wings.

Everyone makes mistakes. You go find someone out there who's better than he is and never makes mistakes that isn't a huge marquee player. There isn't anybody. Stuart is the best there is for his role.

No, he's just a poor coach. Pittsburgh really lacks any kind of leadership. They all look absolutely shell shocked. They're complaining and saying the wrong things. I mean, any half-wit knows that when frustrated, just give generic answers. Babcock does that or changes the subject. There's no room for complaining. And complaining just ups the frustration, even outside of sports. Complaining has a way of frustrating and depressing people.

You only need to hit to get the puck or stop a rush. Since Detroit always has the puck and is always shooting it, no reason for Detroit to hit. And yes, I'm betting most of those hits were after the play or cheap shots to Franzen's head.

Goal is the only thing left he has to prove. I say put Datsyuk in net and put Ozzie as a forward. Seriously people, have any of you seen the new Indiana Jones movie? That might answer your question as to what Datsyuk is.

Well, he did spend his entire career playing against the Wings. If any one player was the Red Wings' arch nemesis, it's Pronger. I'm not surprised at all he knows very minute details about the Wings and the Joe.

Wow, maybe I'm watching a different series than Pens fans, but they seem to think we're like NJ of the 90s, playing boring hockey with no scoring chances. Last night alone had countless scoring chances. They complain that no one has possession for long: Again, are they watching the same series. Being good at keeping the puck and stealing the puck and coming out with the puck out of the corners is not the same as obstruction. Puck possession is infinitely more interesting to watch than watching ten guys fight for the puck in one spot and have no flow to the game.

How crazy is it that the two players people wanted Holland to pick up, Hossa and Stuart, are playing against each other, showing us which one was worth the cost to acquire?

I'm tired of embellishments, too. If you can't get a penalty fairly, don't get one at all. And yeah, I can see how some fans think the Wings fake a little too much. Ozzie has been more dramatic than usual, which I don't think he needs to be. And those cheap shots by the Wings in Game 5 of the Dallas series kind of bothered me, I'm glad they didn't stick with that strategy.

How often do you see good captains bitching about things like icing? They pick their battles and Sid needs to learn that the world isn't out to get him. Obviously if he took lessons from the great captains his team wouldn't be panicking so badly, no? And I'd hardly give Sid credit for leading his team to the finals. They haven't faced any adversity until now and have had no need for a captain. I'm honestly not trying to be unfair to the kid. He may be great one day. But he's not right now. It gets really annoying to see his jaw hanging agape, this pissed off look on his face, and him CONSTANTLY jabbering with one of his teammates, using his hands to act like whatever happened was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

After seeing O'Halloran ref, how can anyone else look worse? All these refs missed were some hard to catch penalties, and there were soft penalties, but I'll take those over disallowed goals and ridiculous phantom calls at crucial moments any day of the week.

My Lilja Cycle theory is revealing itself again. After a break, he comes back and plays well, but then quickly deteriorates in quality of play as the games go on. I don't know if we should switch him YET, but Chelios only had one bad series (Dallas) and that was due to some injuries. With the pressure Crosby and Malkin will be putting on Lilja, since they have that home ice advantage, I'm not sure I want Lilja in high pressure situations where he could cough up the puck to one of them. Chelios is more reliable in that way.

I hope they sign him. He's adjusted so well here and I think that next season he could be even better, considering he'd be closer to his prime and be even more comfortable, maybe his family will have settled in, so no distractions. And I think Stuart could be a #1 on some teams, have you seen some of the defensive units out there? The league is going through a serious lack in great defensemen. Sign him for a reasonable amount. He seems to have a great attitude, and he works hard.

Let's hope all this talk isn't premature. We're only up 2 games to none.

So can I, but I wouldn't say the Wings are cowardly. They're usually winning so fighting serves no purpose for them.

Even in the most frustrating moments, all Babcock ever says is "well, let's try a different topic, okay?" But let's not get cocky. Pittsburgh being beaten this bad is unbelievable. It is shocking. Can it last? Of course I think the Wings will win, but we're going into Pittsburgh, they may get a system together, they may get the lucky calls, who knows. Wings have to keep the pressure on. Allowing Pittsburgh to gain ANY confidence is a bad move. Right now they are totally clueless and the Wings have to make sure they stay that way.

You know, I don't remember a team losing it's composure so fast and whining so much when it was down 1 or 2 games. Even Dallas, down 3-0, showed more composure.

I'm so thrilled at how well he's playing. He's played above what I expected from him. I agree about locking him up long term, so long as it's not too expensive.

I love their whole attitude that the league isn't handing them the Cup like was promised them. How dare Detroit actually show up to play against King Crosby?!