VM1138

Is he really? He's pretty stable. Smith is an embarrassment on the back end. He will be good one day, but he isn't calming down, and even in interviews he seems very, very jittery. White isn't good anymore, but he won't be as jittery.

Exactly. The Hawks won in 2010. That's only two years sooner than we last won the Cup, so pretending like one is somehow past it's prime and the other isn't is a bit silly. At any rate, the Hawks media and fans are really making me mad. Aside from Kane, there's no one really on the Hawks to hate. It's not an intense rivalry between the players yet, and that is the extent of my agreement with the article. The fans and media do show a lot of ignorance when it comes to playoff hockey, though, and show every sign of people just getting used to the idea. Mostly what I don't understand is how the media can write the Wings off so easily. We are clearly a better team than Minnesota, right? So why do they treat us like we don't belong in the playoffs?

God, I almost forgot about the blue streak following the puck.

If shooting is the problem, then Flip and Cleary need to be kept off the same line. Cleary will shoot, but he loses the puck just as often. Flip will try to pass on a breakaway. Kills all offense.

Missed the game, but it sounds like Smith was terrible. The offense could probably be fixed by splitting Datsyuk and Z up, on paper that second line we started the game with looked pretty bad, I think it was Flip-Franzen-Cleary? I listened to the last period on the radio, and it sounded like Smith was out there all the time. It won't help his confidence to get torn apart. If Babs doesn't sit him, the least he can do is limit his minutes. I almost think White should come back in. I worry he's too rusty, but there's not a way we can rearrange the defensive lines, which I think are more important at this point. If you move Smith down, then you end up with Quincey and Kindl again. If you move Colaiacovo up, you end up with Kindl-Smith. White would add some stability at least. Smith's jitters are just too costly at this point. If they are going to dress Carcillo, we need to dress Tootoo, though I understand why he hasn't played recently.

On the bright side this wasn't the worst loss of the playoffs for us. I fully expect the Wings to bounce back. They can beat Chicago.

Well it is the lair of the darkest souls in hockey next to Philadelphia fans.

I hope they can break the '2 days off' curse. Wish I could be watching the game.

I guess they spent slightly less time diving than Vancouver.

San Jose needs to win if our exorcism of ghosts past tour is to continue. Anaheim-Chicago-San Jose-Pittsburgh is the way it has to unfold. I have foreseen it.

I haven't watched the Hawks much this year, but I just have a gut feeling that the Wings aren't tired. We are younger now and haven't seen any fatigue last series. I'm happy with the season now but I don't see why the Wings couldn't win. I hear Sharp has been mediocre, and we can shut down at least one of Toews, Lane or Hossa. We didn't have Brunner, Anderson and Nyquist playing well last time the teams met. Franzen wasn't scoring, either, and our defense wasn't playing so well. I feel like basing predictions off the regular season series is wrong in this case.

I keep thinking of reasons the Hawks will eat the Wings alive, and then I realize the same things were said of Anaheim. Speed, firepower, goaltending. I know the Hawks are better but I can't help but feel like the series will be more run and gun. As long as we can score more than 2 goals a game we will be fine.

Flip has turned into an offense killer. He had two good offensive plays this series, otherwise he blows a lot of chances and momentum by looking to pass straight to an opposing player.

Shoot, can we get Etem on our team? Kid is good.

Keating just made a good point. Babcock put on a coaching show. Absolutely outcoached Boudreau. It was like he was holding back this secret weapon until we really needed it. And his faith in the kids in Games 5 and 6 paid off huge!

Felt like winning the Cup. It's getting hard to get down on this team. January seems so long ago, a different team entirely. That was an almost textbook perfect game. Their structured support neutralized almost every chance the Ducks had. I'm nervous about the Hawks, but if we can edge out Anaheim, why not them? I just hope the players don't deflate by celebrating this too much. If we play Tuesday, I think we can steal the win. We won't have two days off, which is the kiss of death for us, and Chicago might be rusty or expect the regular season Wings to show up.

I'd rather let him go if we can find a good free agent to replace him with. In my mind he is only a placeholder until we find a legit second center.

I don't care if he is hurt or not. He is playing Game 7. An injured Howard is still probably better than the other options.

Quincey has played well without the puck the past few games. Most of the miscues were because of Smith or trips.

I've got to think Game 7 is ours to lose. The only reason some of these games have been so close is due to boneheaded mistakes by the Wings. Anaheim has been the better team for at least half (maybe more) of the series, but in such a low scoring series it seems like a lot of their goals from some ridiculous blind pass or stupid mistakes near the crease. If the hockey gods smile upon the Wings in Game 7, we can hopefully keep the Ducks from capitalizing on those mistakes.

I'm not sure, either. I think he's explaining how it doesn't make sense to bench a guy who has done everything right, but it had to be done. I don't understand the 'inside information' bit.

I hadn't really made that connection before. Just imagine Helm receiving a stretch pass from DeKeyser. It's going to be breakout city if they ever get on the ice together. Lashoff needs a full season of being put in dangerous situations to really warm up to playoffs. I mean, he played against bottom talent for the most part in the regular season, and suddenly in a back-and-forth season he's thrust into being targeted by the likes of Getlaf, Ryan and Perry. You can't really practice for playoffs, but a full season against some top offensive players would help him learn to handle pressure.

I'm afraid Bertuzzi will sit, even though he provided much needed puck control and was dangerous around the net. He just naturally gravitated there. I'd like to see a fourth line of Bertuzzi-Emmerton-Eaves, leave the third line intact and put Abdelkader on the top line, and run with a second line of Filppula-Franzen-Samuellson.

Helm and DeKeyser may not score but Helm would give us a second speedy line and DeKeyser would ha e prevented a few Ducks goals, resulting in a Wings 3-2 lead or a won series by now.

And people can say.Franzen is lazy but he has never hung his teammates out to dry like that. He's lacked hustle, but he's never been like that at such a crucial time that I can remember. Exactly. What if the opponent whiffs on the shot? You've got to be there and I think 99% of players would try to stop that without even thinking.