GMRwings1983

Clarkson has 26 goals this season. Nystrom has 16. Naturally, we didn't move to get either. Now we can watch that brilliant 4th line of Holmstrom, Emmerton and Mursak.

We don't really have anyone else who can be an effective workhorse as a 3rd line center. Maybe Abby, but I think Helm is better at center than he is. We've already been playing useless Emmerton on the 4th line all season as a center. Does he move up one line now?

Not this argument again.

Easily the best offensive player in the league. A few years ago, Ovechkin and Malkin could compete with him for an Art Ross trophy, but a healthy Crosby would win the Art Ross easily the last two years. His work ethic and ability to read plays put him over the top. Doesn't everyone on LGW think it's still 2008? s***, I bet there's still posters here who think Zetterberg is better than Crosby.

I picked Vancouver to beat Pittsburgh in the Finals before the season and I'm sticking with that. But I can see that Final going either way.

These can be any type of series from any level of hockey. Also, I’m not counting Wings series, because then everyone would just pick those. That probably deserves its own thread. 1994 Stanley Cup Final (Rangers vs. Canucks) Yeah, I was rooting for Vancouver big time. Those cool Halloween color jerseys, and Bure was my favorite non Wings player ever. He was amazing in those playoffs and was real close to being the first European player to win the Conn Smythe, 8 years before Lidstrom won it. Also, New York were clearly the media darlings here in the US and the Messier love was annoying to me. They were essentially the Oilers team relocated to New York. I guess in retrospect, Vancouver fans would be more arrogant today had they won (is that even possible?), and the Rangers would still likely not have a Cup since 1940. But I’d still change the outcome of this series if I could. 1972 Summit Series (Russia vs. Canada) I know the Canadian posters here won’t agree with me, but I’ve always regretted that they won the series. I admire the skill level and machine like approach those Russian teams had. Probably the most skilled team ever. The dirty play by Clarke is one of the cheapest incidents in hockey history and clearly turned the series in an unfair way. The whole team was just full of arrogant pricks. In retrospect, this wouldn’t have changed much. The series would still be just as important today if Russia had won. Actually, in Russia they remember the series as being one where they showed they could compete with the Canadians, and not a series where they choked the last 3 games at home. However, Paul Henderson likely wouldn't be a household name in Canada. 2003 Stanley Cup Final (Devils vs. Ducks) Even though they embarrassed us by sweeping our Hall of Fame team in the first round, I still rooted for the Ducks to go all the way. Back then, I actually liked Paul Kariya and they had several veterans like Oates and Thomas that had never won a Cup. Also, I really didn’t want to see Jersey win their 3rd Cup of the era, which wound up tying the Wings. If this happened, it’d be the biggest upset in league history, having a 7 seed win the Cup. 2010 Stanley Cup Final (Chicago vs. Philadelphia) This one is pretty easy to explain. I hate the Hawks and their arrogant fanbase. And there’s that whole Hossa thing, potentially losing 3 Finals in a row with 3 different teams. If they had lost, they’d still have to gut their entire supporting cast in the offseason, because of their cap issues. But they would likely have a hungrier team in the near future. 1996 Stanley Cup Final (Colorado vs. Florida) This wasn't a close series, but because I hated Colorado, I had to put this on the list. Would have been a massive upset, much like the Florida Marlins winning the World Series the following year. The only bad effect I can foresee, is that Detroit would have it tougher in 1997, since Colorado would have been hungrier to win the Cup. Also, I was originally going to include the 1999 Finals instead of this, but realized that had Buffalo won, Hasek wouldn't have likely come to Detroit in 2002. Hence, we probably would have lost to Colorado that year too. So I'll leave that series as it ended up.

The Blues have been too good and the Wings have been too bad to think we can still win the division. Detroit needs to worry about staying ahead of Nashivlle for 4th. At the same time, if we dropped to 6th and played Dallas in the first round, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But the division has slipped away with this losing stretch.

I have no intention of ripping your post because you didn't say anything that wasn't true. We did win the Cup in 2008 despite a slump in February and injuries. However, in retrospect that team had a much better likelihood of winning the Cup. They were a hungry team that lost in the Conference Finals the year before and had a boat load of players that had never won a Cup. There was just more hunger overall. Not to mention, Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Holmstrom were better players than now and Franzen was a monster in the playoffs. Furthermore, our bottom two lines made us harder to play against in the playoffs. Also, that team did actually win the President's trophy, hence they had a great season with just one bad slump coming in February. I don't remember them stinking it up on the road either. And finally, it didn't hurt having Osgood and Hasek as your goalies. This team hasn't shown us much in the last two playoff runs and they just don't seem hungry that often. Maybe there's too many guys on this roster who already have a Cup. Also, they're not going to win the President's trophy or even come close most likely. The road record has been awful. And unlike 2008, our 4th line is unlikely to cause anyone fits in the playoffs. The special teams hasn't looked that good and Babcock doesn't seem to be getting through to the players as much as he did earlier in his tenure. We've had plenty of slumps the last few years, and someone always brings up that 2008 February. I remember it being brought up last year and the year before. I just don't feel the comparison is a good one. All it shows is that we once won a Cup when many people on LGW were unhappy and thought we wouldn't. In retrospect, we should have known better at the time. If this team wins the Cup, I don't think one can say we should have known better in retrospect. This team has no signs of being a Cup favorite, unlike 2008.

From what I've read and heard, the Russian players were instructed by their coach not to fight back. Vasiliev was the only player that really disregarded these orders constantly. I don't think the majority of their players knew how to respond when faced with cheap play. And I don't remember how many Russian players tried to kick someone with their skates. Wasn't it just one incident? Also, the off ice stuff doesn't pertain to the Russian players. They had nothing to do with the Canadian players wives and the fans being treated a certain way. In any case, the Clarke play was the cheapest on ice play during the whole series. Despite denials, it was likely the coach instructing him to take Kharlamov out. That's why it gets so much attention. Imagine if some current NHL coach instructed one of his players to take the other team's star off the ice in the SCF.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Devils weren't even close to reaching the Cup Finals in 2009.

Yeah, I'm still waiting for an answer for all the posters who make that comparison. All 764 of them.

Yeah, the fact that Orr and Hull were missing actually made Russia look a little weaker in that competition. I mean, those were the two best players in the world arguably. Certainly in Orr's case. If Canada lost, they could have always used that as a decent excuse. Either way, the series wound up being way more than anyone could have anticipated.

Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Kronwall, Stuart, White, Howard, Holmstrom, Hudler. That's the Grand Rapids Griffins? f***, the Grand Rapids Griffins should win the Calder Cup every year based on that. Best minor league team in hockey history.

What is this team's advantage over the one in 2008? I'd like to ******* know, since that every damn poster here keeps talking about our damn losing streak in February of 2008. It's getting annoying quite honestly. What does this team do better than the 2008 Wings team did?

As I stated in my OP, if the Sabres won that Cup in 1999, it's doubtful that Hasek would have come to Detroit in search of his first Cup. And what did it matter which Pens player scored? I hate Talbot too, but I wouldn't feel any better if Hal Gill and Staal scored or something.

What happened to all our defensive depth. I thought we were supposed to have one of the best bluelines in the league.

Langfeld is pretty close.

I agree. We should goon it up like the Ducks always did against us.

Something is rotten in the state of Detroit.

The "Float Line"

I wonder which clubs in the LA area the Wings hit up the last three nights.

6th seed here we come!

You're telling me with a straight face that you wouldn't be afraid of that look? Lilja lost like one fight here in 3 years and yet he's an awful fighter somehow. <_<

Not really. Does that come from "Crime and Punishment"?

Someone needs to call out Ian White for his recent play. I know Lidstrom makes everyone looks better, but this guy has presumably played hockey without Lidstrom at some point in his career. He just looks lost out there in front of his own net.