GMRwings1983

I don't care how cute they play, our top line has to put the puck in the net. Effort is for 4th liners. For top line players, it's scoring that counts. We need that top line to wake up right now.

Why is Kronwall such an idiot? There was no reason to give them more life and to take that stupid penalty. Our PK will cost us in the long run unless it's fixed.

I hope they advance so that we can face Joel Quenneville yet again.

I've done worse. You overreacted.

Has Tom Poti ever done anything positive anywhere he's been? Pens have a cakewalk into the Finals, especially with Boston not likely to make it there.

Could this guy be a bigger wuss? Beauchemin hardly landed any real punches, yet our boy Kopy still let himself get taken by a Frenchman.

He's playing better lately, however, if he doesn't put points on the board, he isn't doing his job. Guys like Maltby and Draper are here to play hard and not put up points. When Datsyuk does it, it becomes a problem, especially when he's a top line player and has been scoring all year. He's definitely been the biggest disappointment for the Wings so far in the playoffs.

Well, there's really no 5th line, so at this point there's no other place to put him. Babcock has faith in him when he plays poorly, yet when Sammy scores a goal, he gets put on the 4th line. Ironic.

Give him a break. The guy was fighting during his menstrual cycle, which is the only reason why he lost. You're right about Abdelkalder being an improvement, though. Hopefully he gives this 4th line some energy now that Helm has been promoted to the 3rd line. The whole key to this 4th line is for Maltby and Abdelkalder to let Sammy take all the shots, while they crash the net for rebounds.

That's why you should root for Chicago instead. Need I bring up Quenneville's record against the Wings? Unfortunately, though, I don't see Chicago winning this series. They were fortunate to win either of their games in the series. Vancouver just sucks at keeping leads for some reason, so they allowed Chicago to steal a few games.

I'm not surprised. Their biggest weakness going into the playoffs was lack of previous playoff success. Carolina on the other hand won the Cup a few years ago with this same roster. You tell me which team was more playoff ready?

The longer this goes, the more serious Rafalski's injury looks. I doubt he'll be back at all for the playoffs.

Imagine how big a ***** Patrick Sharp felt like after watching that fight. People who can't grow facial hair shouldn't be allowed to fight, even against a Frenchman.

When this playoff round began, I thought the best bet for the NHL was to have the Wings, Blackhawks and Bruins advance to the semis. Original 6 teams, big markets and possibly good TV ratings especially with a heated rivalry in there with the Wings and Hawks. I was actually excited at the prospect of such a scenario. Right now, all 3 of these teams are behind in their series. So I have to wonder, how bad would it be for the league if Carolina, Anaheim and Vancouver advance to the next round? Can you imagine the TV ratings in the U.S. for a Vancouver vs. Carolina Final? That would be a disaster in my book after the success last year for the NHL having the Wings going against the Penguins. I know it's still early to tell who's going to advance, but I was wondering if anyone else shares my outlook on this?

Alright, I give him credit for increasing our fight count and for possibly hurting Beauchemin's hand.

Kind of like Kopecky's play all season. He got beat up by a Frenchman. How much worse can it get for him?

Any news on Kopecky?

I hope not considering our history against him. On top of that, he now feels like he has something to prove to get his starting job back.

Finally Babcock read some of the comments here on LGW, which obviously influenced the line changes.

Yeah and they got scored on during that small time frame. How is that good? Especially when you consider it has been a weak link all year.

Our PK is our biggest obstacle right now. It hasn't been good in the regular season and it has been even worse in this series. I don't think having Draper or Rafalski back will help that, since they were in the lineup all year when we still struggled on the PK.

Yeah, great job. We could get the same contribution from Downey, except he'd actually win the fight. Also, they would then be tempted to dress Parros, which would mean scratching a skilled player in return. Neat trick on my part, huh?

If not, I'm holding you personally accountable for that faint glimmer of hope you just gave me.

If he's hurt, I hope it's serious. Who will be their 1st line center without him.

Which means many of us will have to fly to Michigan in order to watch the game.