Sevumar

You're right. The numbers favor the Wings because underneath everything, they're still a powerful team. What's really mystifying to me (and painful to watch) is that they can't seem to regain the spark they had earlier in the season.

Is this "don't call anything on the Leafs" day, or what?

I like Lilja for completely irrational reasons. He reminds me of a pirate.

Why couldn't the Kings just be the joke we know they are?

I like the way people decided to ignore the bit about non-ex-Wings halfway down.

Ovechkin Saku Koivu Olaf Kolzig Teemu Selanne Can't really name a fifth without going into ex-Wings.

I never said I had any personal hatred for any of these players. I just think with the money we have to spend, that we can geta young prospect who is nearly as good as any of these guys at this point in their careers, and for less money. To be perfectly honest, Roenick, Fedorov, and Forsberg are probably past their primes. As one of the older teams in the league, we do ourselves a service by tapping into young talent rather than old. I recognize the place the these guys have earned in hockey history, but I'm not sure that their present value lives up to their nostalgia value right now.

When I was last at the Joe (watching the Wings take on the Sharks), there was no player more hated than J.R. I hope we don't end up with him. For our money and our sanity, there are much better fits out there.

It seems like the Wings have had to fight harder for their victories lately. I think we need a good blowout against one of these teams for morale. Then, once our confidence is up, we can show what we're capable of. However, I wouldn't say the outcome of any of these games is a sure thing.

Draper would make a good defenseman. He's a man of many talents who never seems to get his due as a forward.

I'm confident in our ability to beat anyone from the Central or Northwest. We've had some rough games against a couple of these guys (hello, Chicago), but I think that we can overcome any of these guys if every Wing is willing to play hockey. The Pacific guys are the ones I'm not sure about. Anaheim will always feel dangerous to me, but that could be because I'm exposed to their propaganda on a daily basis.

Markov is playing in the Russian league.

I have no idea what Holland is willing to give up for Hossa, but I think he's the best bet of the bunch.

I'm not sure I believe in a magical transformation of teams and play styles once the post-season hits. It's natural for people to go all out when it really matters, but I doubt the difference is as large as you're making it out to be. Filppula's confidence has grown tremendously this year. I think he'll be fine. Hudler has cooled off a bit since earlier in the season, but I don't think it's impossible for him to find his legs again. I'm not advocating leaving that $5.5 million unspent. I'm simply saying that we don't need to add a player like Forsberg or Fedorov to the roster when there's a host of younger talent we can pick up and develop for the long run. Honestly, I think adding Brunnstrom might be one of the moves the Wings can make. Paying too much for a player whose biggest asset is nostalgia won't add that much on the ice. As it stands now, the core of the team is very good. The sum of the players the Wings put out there is more than the stats of any one would lead you to believe and that's what's going to serve the Wings in the playoffs.

There are a lot of places in the league where Filppula, Hudler, and Cleary (if he keeps playing the way he has here) could be first line guys. When Holmstrom and Zetterberg were injured, these are precisely the guys who did step up and fill the gap admirably. Not everyone is going to get a ton of points every night. I don't think anyone is saying that the Wings' current roster exemplifies perfection, but it is one of the strongest and most flexible in the league. The fact that they can continue to do what they've done all season without a roster of Crosbys or Ovechkins is a testament to the scouting prowess of the organization. Most teams have a superstar player or two and then there's a gulf in skill level between those players and the rest of the roster. That gap is narrower in Detroit and some nights it's almost invisible.

As much as I dislike the Ducks, I sympathize with Duck Guy's plight. It sucks to see your favorite team lose, no matter who they are. On top of all that, he manages to like and respect the Wings. He usually keeps his cool even with all the Duck bashing that happens here.

I'm pretty sure whoever puts together the schedules watches out for too much of a disparity in back to back games and long road trips for teams. There have to be acceptable bounds for how often back to back games are played and travel schedules.

It wasn't that long ago that the secondary guys were doing most of the scoring. It looks to me like this is the kind of thing that goes in waves. Don't forget that Babcock has been playing around with the lines a lot lately and in the past few games, teams have been able to shut down a lot of the Wings' offense across all lines. When you don't get your first goal until the second half of the game, the problem isn't just with your second line forwards. If anything, I'd like to see more scoring all around.

Pronger Dion Phaneuf Jordin Tootoo Anything named Niedermayer Todd Bertuzzi

Next time I go to a Wings game, I'm bringing a "Free Holmstrom" sign, just in case. This is ridiculous.

What about a trophy recognizing someone like Draper, who is arguably the best face-off man in the league, but whose skill is not reflected in the common statistics? There isn't really a way to measure how much someone contributes to the penalty kill or how often he wins important face-offs for his team.

If this was the worst thing Emery's ever done, I can understand people objecting when someone makes a big deal about it, but this guy has prima donna written all over him. From his bouts of temper to his lack of professionalism, I'm surprised people are defending him. There are posters here who will take every opportunity to declare their disdain for Manny Legace, and he was never as bad as Emery.

I can understand the dislike for the Ducks. I live in their backyard and they're my least favorite team in the NHL, to put it mildly. That doesn't mean Teemu Selanne is a bad guy. He's a hell of a forward who plays a clean game, and that's something you can say about precious few Ducks. I'm not convinced that adding him back onto the roster at this point in the season is the kind of secret weapon Ducks fans think it will be. Will they get better? Maybe, but if they keep playing the way they did against Detroit last week, they won't have much of a playoff run.

I live in the area, so I decided to a buy a ticket and go see the game. It's the first time I've been to the Honda Center, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It's a nice, shiny venue, but it lacks the character and history of the Joe. The Ducks only have a few banners up, and 3/5 of them are all about Detroit's decision to let them borrow our Cup last year. The crowd seems programmed to cheer at anything a player named Pronger or Niedermayer does, particulary when they decide to pick on the little guys. Meanwhile, anytime someone so much as touches a hair on any Duck head, they're screaming bloody murder. I guess that part isn't too different from your average hockey crowd, but they do seem easily offended there. Any time the penalty is against your team, the refs aren't wearing their glasses, but if it's against the other guys, boy, they really had it coming. It was good to see so many red jerseys in the crowd, too. I don't recall seeing as many supporters for a visiting team at any of the other arenas I've visited. I also discovered that we're fortunate to have a team with a two syllable name. When there's some guy in the crowd banging on a cow bell, trying to encourage the "Lets go <team name>" chant, it doesn't work too well if your team's name has one syllable. "Let's go Duuuh-uuuhcks" is completely lacking in charm.

Snoop was funny, but this video just reaffirms what we already knew about Pronger -- he's basically an inarticulate thug.