stevkrause

amazing read, thank you for posting!

WEST: (1) San Jose Sharks vs. (8) Anaheim Ducks - Anaheim over San Jose 4-3 (2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Columbus Blue Jackets - Detroit over Columbus 4-2 (3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) St. Louis Blues - St. Louis over Vancouver 4-2 (4) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (5) Calgary Flames - Chicago over Calgary 4-1 EAST: (1) Boston Bruins vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens - Boston over Montreal 4-2 (2) Washington Capitals vs. (7) New York Rangers - New York over Washington 4-3 (3) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) Carolina Hurricanes - New Jersey over Carolina 4-1 (4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers- Philadelphia over Pittsburg 4-2 WCC - Detroit ECC - Boston SCC - Detroit

I always shave for the last time on the last day of the regular season, so this year, my last shave was this past Sunday...

If it were my choice and I'm not saying this is AT ALL what it will be, this is just what I wish it would be... Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Hossa Hudler-Draper-Cleary Kopecky-Helm-Samuelsson Maltby Leino Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Chelios Meech Lebda Osgood Conklin PP1 Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hossa Lidstrom-Ericsson PP2 Franzen-Filpulla-Holmstrom Kronwall-Rafalski PK1 Zetterberg-Datsyuk Lidstrom-Kronwall PK2 Franzen-Cleary Stuart-Ericsson

I would say the opposite... if I had to guess, I'd say Maltby

Detroit (2) will get by Columbus(7) unscathed San Jose(1) will beat Anaheim(8) Chicago(4) will beat Calgary(5) and St Louis(6) will beat Vancouver(3) Then in the 2nd rd St Louis will beat San Jose Detroit will beat Chicago and we will have a Detroit VS St. Louis WCF Do I really think this is GOING to happen? No... do I think it is possible? this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs - so, OF COURSE it is POSSIBLE My reasoning behind this - I don't think anyone factors in JUST how much travel affects a Stanley Cup run and it's not the teams that worry me, as much as the toll it takes on the players to be jetting out back and forth from the West Coast... here's to hoping! :beerbuddy:

I thought they played well... as Babcock said, you can't manufacture the intensity of a desperate team trying to match the playoffs, couple that with what most of you already said about resting star players and it's gonna be hard to win those ones... Put in our star players full time in a game that matters, or playoff game and I think we have a very different outcome

A. That was indeed amazing... B. That would never happen in a game that matters, both teams are out of playoff contention and I think he was just having fun, because honestly... it didn't matter if either team won or lost

Everyone needs to hop over to hockeyfights.com and pipe in, those f'in homers from Buffalo are high... Ericsson clearly won that fight and he's getting no love...

perfectly clean hip check... if Malkin didn't want to get upended, he wouldn't have tried to leap and wouldve just ducked down and taken the hit like a man... afterwards, Ballard still won the fight too, so all and all, Ballard did everything right.

I personally think any West Coast team is a horrible first round matchup because of the travel alone... if it goes anything more than 5 games, you're a walking zombie going into round 2... I'm rooting heavily for a strong St. Louis push to get them up to number 7 and Nashville down to 8, with hopes that Anaheim falls apart and falls out of the playoffs all together... this last week is so nerve racking...

I was thinking the same thing... also, where was Crazzy Eddie the eagle in there? he had a few outbursts I remember clearly...

I know a lot of people are Chelios haters because of his age, but the guy is flat out hockey genius... he may not have the legs like he used to, but he is so hockey smart it's sick and is a perfect partner for Ericsson. I personally think that defensive line-up gives us the best chance to win until/if Lilja comes back and when he does, pair him with Ericsson... either way, short of an injury, we are better defensively without Lebda... he makes bad decisions and is a defensive liability, not to mention he gets knocked around, I would put Meech ahead of him on the depth chart... Here on out and playoffs: Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Chelios/Lilja Meech Lebda

I still wouldn't call them bad, but I think they'd both play better with a different partner... I think Stuart is more comfortable on his natural left side, which putting him with Raffi would allow... we all know Nick can play either side, so put him on the right side and let Kronners play the left. problem solved.

I'd be good with that, I like Kronwall with Lidstrom

I agree on the man-love. Ericsson will be my next jersey purchase when he is a full time roster player... I've only held off now, because I have a feeling he'll revert to #4 or a lower number once he is given an every day spot...

he's a career -24 and has been in the offensively weaker East. you're argument is so flawed, I don't even know where else to start... keep believing what you want, but I'd bet a million bucks on the fact that this will not happen, and call me crazy, but I'm gonna go on a limb and say Holland kinda knows what he's doing... which is why it won't happen....

agree to disagree, you're playing on fantasy terms, not reality.... You'd be, at MINIMUM, making a 4 ROSTER player switch... you only do something that drastic when you're rebuilding... forget about the money - YOU DO NOT disrupt chemistry THAT much, it's. just. not. smart. period.

this is the one BIG contract Bouwmeester can get... 6.5 won't cut it when he can get 7 or more and STILL be on a competitive team... also, you're lineup still doesn't make sense - lets say we DO get him for 6.5... you sign him and Franzen, then you're saying goodbye to Hudler and/or Samuelsson as well, as you've just maxed yourself out on other contracts... so then what are you going to do? our offense would be very weakened and yet again, who's to say he fits in here? You don't fix what isn't broken, you tweak it... and you're proposing a wholesale change. not smart.

In the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, 'Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me. I'm dead.' Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion. You're dead.

Bouwmeester is out for a money grab and will be looking for at least 7-8 a year - Kronwall and Flip only frees up 6.5, not to mention, you now also have a hole up front and are parting with 2 important parts of your 08 cup run - Kronwall - you mess with a lot more than production when you make a trade of roster players, you screw up chemistry and need to tread wisely with these, this isn't NHL09 on 360... Also, you now need to fill that hole up front, and how are you going to keep Hossa and Franzen or even Hossa or Franzen, not to mention round out the rest of the roster... Bouwmeester in Detroit makes absolutely no fiscal or team sense

I'm sorry, not to be disrespectful, and this isn't a jab, but an actual question - Do you know how the salary cap works?

exactly. well said. to everyone else, if this weren't a salary cap era, we could have this debate, but it is, and therefore this is a pointless debate. It WILL be Osgood/Howard with Howard given EVERY chance to upseat Ozzie throughout the year... and Larsson will see some time if there is injury... Also, it is NOT Larsson's turn either, regardless of how great he's looked OR how much he deserves it, Larsson has AHL options next year, Howard does not... so yet again- No discussion Osgood/Howard for 09/10 - period.

with that same logic, McCrimmon shouldn't be back there either... he shared parts of seasons with Osgood and played on a team with Lidstrom way back at the end of his stint with the Wings... granted, there is MUCH more time removed, but I still don't think it's really true I think the transition has to do with how vocal a leader the player was in the first place when he was a peer... and lets be honest, Cheli isn't exactly the "bite your tongue" type... I can see your point on where conflict could exist, I just think it depends on the team, and with the Wings professionalism and the fact that he'd only be an asst and not a head coach, I don't see the conflict in this case