GMRwings1983

Why is Babcock so unwilling to actually coach and change things up? I'm a firm believer in the theory that when it's broke, you must fix it. I don't think that changing lines qualifies as panic. It's just part of coaching and making adjustments in a playoff series before your team is eliminated.

If we lose this series, I envision the Wings coming back next year with another soft lineup. There really are no positives if we go down in this series. It's all negative.

It's not just about Downey. It's about having some grit and toughness on your roster the whole year to prepare you for these types of series. Our players haven't been accustomed to this sort of play and didn't have to last year against less physical teams in the playoffs. I'm not going to give it up until our guys start winning battles for the puck and taking it to it to Anaheim physically by constantly crashing the net at all costs. Right now the team looks scared and tentative and hence they shoot the puck from 40 feet away into the goalie's chest all the time. Other than Helm, most of the players only play physical when they feel like it. He's out there constantly trying to hit people and battle for the puck. Last year we had Drake and McCarty doing the same thing on the 4th line along with Helm.

Will someone please explain to me how the NHL is better off having some team from California in the Finals as opposed to the Wings? I just don't buy these conspiracy theories based on the Wings popularity. The best bet for the league is if the Wings are in the Finals. The Wings have traditionally garnered the league its best SCF ratings, so I doubt the league has a conspiracy to allow a team from Disneyland or a team from Vancouver into the Finals over the Wings. The officiating in the NHL is just atrocious. It doesn't mean there's a conspiracy against us.

Hitler is overrated. We're just making him look good by constantly shooting the puck into his chest. Those kind of shots have nothing to do with his pads. We need more screens and more deflections like we had against Columbus.

You should carry a gun in your car. Then you could have at least scared them off with it.

It's funny how people here are so unwilling to admit that the Wings are being beaten up physically, when it constantly shows during the games. Our players aren't used to this kind of play and we didn't have to face a team anywhere remotely as physical last year in the playoffs. We lucked out. Also, other than Homer, everyone else on our team seems unwilling to crash the net consistently. That's a sign of a team that is afraid to do anything physical. The Wings are just being handled right now physically, and the people who've made excuses all year about us not needing toughness are unable to admit it.

So are you conspiracy theorists saying that Watson saw the puck the whole time and still blew the whistle on purpose?

Maybe Joe Thornton has possessed his soul, so that he can have another crack at the Ducks.

This game put things into perspective for me. It seems pointless to cheer for a team all season when something like this can end everything you hope for. I'm not saying I'm going to stop watching, but still it really does make everything seem somehow less important. I'd be taking this a lot worse in the past, although I'm still fuming after the loss this minute.

See, I told you having an enforcer in the lineup is a good thing. BTW, what are the chances Watson refs another Wings game anytime soon?

If Downey was dressed for the game, he would have at least elbowed Brad Watson in the head. What did Kopecky do to Brad Watson? Nothing.

What fans?

They should be forced to commit suicide. An alternative could be to replace referees with robots, which will likely happen in the year 2100.

Good point. I'm glad we didn't play them in the first round the way things ended up on the last day of the season. The Wings could already be golfing if not for the Blues.

To be honest with you, I don't know what to expect from this lethargic team. I expected them to come out fired up tonight and to play Wings hockey, but they looked like crap out there for the first half of the game. If a team has to wait before they're down 2-0 to start playing, then they're not doing something right. This kind of s*** worked in the regular season, but it doesn't in the playoffs.

You totally overreacted to my post with nonsense towards the end. If you think that being up 2-1 means that the next game is a must win game for you, then go ahead and think that. No point arguing with you over it.

Where was this great Franzen - Zetterberg - Cleary line that everyone here kept raving about after last game (which we BTW lost)? The 3rd line has also done nothing in this series except get dominated on the boards. Flip falls down each time anyone lays their body into him. Fact is, all the lines suck right now, thus a complete line overhaul is needed.

That bolded part is what's wrong with your post. You obviously didn't watch the entire game if you actually think that was the only reason we lost.

You're partly right. We could be up 2-1 right now in the series despite playing like s*** (provided we actually win in OT against this team). With that said, when you get as many SOG as we did in the 3rd, including two powerplay chances, you have to put the puck in the net more often. When you get off to s***ty starts, you put yourself in position for heartbreak in the end. This was unforeseeable heartbreak, but I don't want everyone on LGW to think that the Wings somehow played well, because they didn't. This team is playing with no confidence right now and are getting pushed around physically. If we're really that much better than Anaheim, we'll win the series 4-2. If we lose the series because of this, it means that our players are a bunch of lazy, weak minded losers, despite being far more talented than the other team.

Good. Now what's his address?

This WIngs team has lost too many series lately when tied at 2-2. I guess at this point 2-2 is more than we could hope for. Point is, the next game is only a must win game for the Wings, not the Ducks.

Does anybody know the name of that bastard who cost us the game? I want to remember this refs name for the rest of his existence in the NHL.

I guess losing in this fashion is no different than losing another OT game to these guys. Still, it shows you how meaningless all the worrying is during the regular season, when everything you've worried about can end just by one dumb call from the ref. This makes me wonder why I even bother cheering when such an extraneous source can s*** all over everything I worried over.

Babcock has done nothing right in this series. I don't know why he's so afraid to change lines that are clearly not working. He's making Dave Lewis look line a genius right now.