GMRwings1983

I'm actually not that nervous. I think starting on the road kills a lot of the nerves. In the past, game 1 was the most nervous game for me, because playing at home it felt like we had to win.

Ericsson ******* up already.

Lilja needs to pound that visor wearing ***** Doan into the ice.

Surprise surprise. The Senators actually have a good team. They've had a pretty solid season and will make this series tough, although I still expect them to lose in the end. Their defense needs to be better, though, because they can't outscore the Pens like this the whole series. They don't have the firepower.

Aren't most pre game shows and post game summaries meaningless based on this? It's usually the same talk anyway.

It feels so weird to be starting a playoff series on the road. In the first round no less. Also, in the last two years, we went up 2-0 in all but one playoff series.

I'd fire him. The guy has no composure and makes a fool of himself too much. I don't see how he can garner respect from his players with constant outbursts, both in and out of the locker room. He acts more like a fan than a coach.

Phoenix will beat Detr.... As the poster said above, though, Philly has beaten Jersey 5 out of 6 times this season. Also, Brodeur has been subpar in the playoffs since the lockout. I don't think they've even made the Conference Finals since their last Cup.

Mine predicted Philly to beat Vancouver in 6 games to win the Stanley Cup. So there you go.

Mara looks like a Confederate soldier with that beard.

Sure I miss him. One of my favorite players and it was great to see the Grind Line in the playoffs. They were always fun to watch and stepped it up big in our Cup runs.

With Jimmy Howard being the starter in the playoffs, that got me thinking about how many different netminders we've started in the playoffs since the mid 90's. Osgood, Vernon, Hasek, Cujo, Legace and now Howard. You can even count Ozzie and Hasek twice, because they've had several different stints with the team. I don't think there's ever been a dynasty in the NHL that had so many different starting goalies during their run. I think it's a testament to our defense and the system that we can keep rotating goalies like this every couple of years in the playoffs. Let's just hope that with Howard we've found someone who can stay here for about 10 years or so.

That was Sven Butenschon. He used to play in the NHL. Scott Parker had the best beard in the NHL for years, but he never really played in the playoffs.

Lilja already has the best beard. I just hate it when some players don't participate in the ritual. We better see a beard from Howard, Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Flip and Helm. Actually, I don't think Flip or Helm can grow a beard.

You'll watch the Wings game for 30 minutes and then it'll switch to the other game. What's confusing about that?

I wonder what was the last such 3-peat in league history? If I'm not mistaken, the Islanders in the 80's were the last team to make three straight Finals appearances. Gretzky's Oilers couldn't do it, Mario's Penguins couldn't do it, and the Wings haven't been able to do it. It's hard to make it to the Finals three times in a row, let alone for both teams to make it. I think the odds are against either team making it just based on history. But that could change so you never know.

Why wouldn't game 7 be televised to people outside the Detroit area? You'd think that game would be kind of important.

I didn't know they even had fans. They'll probably be wearing Green Bay Packer jerseys or something.

How about a Meech/Draper/Lebda 4th line? Get it done Babcock! No one will possibly handle their speed.

I just looked at the nhl.com schedule, and it looks like many of the games in this series will be on Versus.

Holmstrom

As I've said before, it looks like Draper has been out of the lineup since mid-January. Abby and May will both be more noticeable than him on the 4th line with Miller.

He hasn't been the same since Andreas Lilja punched him down to the ice last year. He's a good defenseman who has a great shot, but his health is too much of a risk for anyone, especially since he'll be asking for a big contract like everyone else is doing.

Tyler Kennedy looks weird in a Hawks uniform.

So wait, what is the TV schedule for Versus and the NHL network?