VM1138

Parise is a lock for the Wings, and I tend to think Suter is, too, unless Holland has an ace up his sleeve for some completely unexpected defenseman.

Most likely 4-1 Florida. Should be a slam dunk in a world where they play with some heart, though.

I bet I can predict how the first round will go. The Wings won't show up for the first two and will go down 0-2. They will probably win the series, but it will require a lot of soul searching and last minute comebacks once they realize how half-hearted they've become. Honestly, the Wings need to try hard for 4th place. This is probably the highest chance for the top 3 teams losing in the first or second rounds in a long time. St. Louis is unproven. LA is likely to lose first round. Vancouver is the only really decent playoff team. Detroit could secure a long run of home ice if those teams get upset only if we're in 4th place. In fact, we could have home ice all throughout the playoffs if things work out right, but really only if we're in 4th. At the very least we could get through the Western Conference with home ice. Vancouver could lose in the second round and then we'd be in the Western finals against a lower seeded team.

As witnessed the last three years, Detroit can never have enough 40 goal guys. This year we didn't even crack 30 goals from anyone. The 20 goal depth scorer strategy is fine and all, but the Wings have been relying on that for years and it's been painful at times. We need someone who can consistently score for when Franzen is in a slump and Dats and Z are injured.

Me, too. I'd love to get a crack at San Jose again, but having them miss playoffs entirely is good, too.

I personally think Howard is the better goalie, but even if Schneider were marginally better, in the current NHL it's just not imperative you make that change. Goalies are so unpredictable, and since they don't need to be world class to win Cups, why wouldn't we just stick with the winning goalie we have? It's safer and doesn't cost us anything.

It's not like they're buying tickets and leaving right away. They want to watch a hockey game, and they never cause trouble. How exactly are they getting in the way of "your" hockey game? Last time I checked you didn't have to be a die-hard fan of a home team to go to their games. Liking hockey is enough.

Not too concerned about any team in particular, and I'm too superstitious to pick poison for the team. I will say, however, that a series against Nashville will probably be a snorefest, one way or the other. No matter how good that team gets I just find all the games against them dull.

I think if Eaves had played all year we wouldn't have lost as many games. He's good grit and secondary scoring. But I think he's done for this season and maybe the beginning of next.

Normally I would agree with you. But when you're replacing the best defenseman to play the game, you don't just find an "acceptable" band-aid. I'm usually a fan of building teams in an understated way, but once in a while you do have to go out and grab the big name superstar. Weber or Suter would fit that bill. So would a few other players in the league, but those obviously have the most attention on them. We shouldn't overpay, like with Wiz, but you've got to pay for quality. If they are among the best defensemen in the league you have to pay them like it.

The thing I'm most glad for is that Zetterberg is right around he season average. He's below it, but not drastically so (especially if he can finish with 70-73 points. So much for his drastic decline.

Seriously? I may be moving near Alexandria by the end of the year. That's going to be amazing, makes me feel better about moving there. I was worried about being cut off from the hockey culture. I'll be there for every game!

As usual, I can't watch the game. Never found a decent stream so I've seen one game in the last month and a half. But man, did they show up or what? 5-0 already? Hopefully they've flipped the proverbial switch!

Looks like Round 1 opponent will be Nashville. Just remains to be seen whether we'll have home ice advantage or Nashville. Sigh.

The wonders of division seeding. I wish they'd get rid of that.

Sadly it's going to be Amway Arena. Or perhaps Bell Tire Arena. I'd like to think Illitch is above that, but...well...Comerica, you know?

Only Pittsburgh and Vancouver would piss me off. Biggest bunch of whiners I've ever seen in the NHL. Can't say I'd be happy for St. Louis if they won though, especially if they beat the Wings along the way, but it wouldn't piss me off, I don't think.

Somebody seriously negged my original post? Anyway, the reason I love hockey is that anything goes in the playoffs. It just seems too storybook, and we all know Crosby gets special treatment (Just like all league favorites do in every sport). Shoot, he'll probably get injured in the first round and then come back the final game and score the game winner, that's just how his career goes. It's not that I doubt the Wings, the Crosby-fest the past few years have just made me cynical when it comes to the Pens, I guess. I do feel like once the playoffs start the Wings have a good chance at wiping the slate clean and making a deep run. If the team is healthy.

It being about Datsyuk is what salvages this commercial. That man should be highlighted in all NHL marketing, I know a few non-hockey people who have started watching because they've seen clips of him on Youtube. They should really focus on 5 or 6 players and run commercials highlighting their special talents (dangling, hitting, goaltending, grinding) to showcase the best parts of the game and get people to start name-associating.

So a child molester gets two years? Unbelievable.

I just realized we can't talk about playoffs like we're a lock anymore. How sad is that? 9th place is 8 points behind us. And we've dropped 8 or 10 potential points in the last two weeks or so. The teams behind us are on tears, and suddenly it's not so shocking to think a few teams could win 5 or 6 of the final games while we continue to struggle. I know that in reality the Wings will make it, but it's certainly a chilling thought.

We're getting too close to playoffs for this garbage. Just a couple of weeks left and the Wings need to get healthy fast. This will teach them to coast, I guess, eh? Now there's no time to make up lost ground and it'll be harder than ever to put together some wins when they need them most. Wouldn't be in this position had they kept playing hard the last month.

Say what? People don't undervalue Kindl or Ericsson. They're not good. Yeah, they would play on another NHL team. But they're nothing more than bottom pairing defensemen. Smith has a higher ceiling and AT WORST is playing as good as either of them have.

This has been tried. For whatever reason Zetterberg and Datsyuk don't have the same chemistry they used to. I think that ever since they became superstars in their own right they became too used to carrying their lines. I wouldn't be opposed to putting them together, but if they don't click right away the experiment needs to stop.

....aaaaaand now I don't like Winnipeg, haha.