T.Low

Chris, I've always thought your avatar was cool but this post makes me wonder about the picture; are you the one in the glasses or the other kid? By definition, a championship team overcomes anything and everything to become champion. The Wings were hurting, they were injured, they were worn out, and they couldn't/weren't hungry enough to rise above it, and Pittsburgh went in for the kill. Thats all that matters. Sydney Crosby will take the Cup to his favorite fishing spot all by himself this summer as he has dreamt about doing since he was a Tidbit. Mike Babcock will not take it waterskiing on his lake in Saskatchuan. Thats all that matters. Please quit making excuses. POSITIVES: HELL YES THERE ARE POSITIVES! Pain is the biggest motivator of all. All those lackluster performances and one goal wins in the first half of the season last year; well I don't see this team being complacent and bored with regular season games next year. I see a team that will be sharper in every way, and hungrier and more motivated. Since the end of the 2nd period in Game 7 last night, I was hoping for a rematch in next years finals.

Refs schmefs. We came out flat. We were worn out and beat up, made mental msitakes (turnovers) and physical mistakes (Rafalski looking like he was escorting Stahl in on the shorthanded goal that turned the series around). Pittsburgh won. Detroit lost. Maybe this will put some jump back in there step.

He certainly didn't have the jump he usually has. And remember, he was the team leader in hits before. He wasn't throwing hardly any hits since his return. He wasn't close to 100%. Too bad, but thats all part of why the Stanely is so difficult to win.

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I hope you are not referring to me. And he didn't just get shut down this series. He had a couple goals in the game 4's and thats pretty much it. TSN’s Ray Ferraro made some great points following Pittsburgh’s clutch game 6 victory saying Hossa looks like he’s scared to touch the puck or do anything with it. He said Hossa is playing like the smallest guy on the ice. I agree with that. Hossa’s not throwing the body much; not making impact hits, forechecking and owning the neutral zone as well as he can or as well as Mike Babcock probably wants. If anything, it should of be him stepping up to shadow Evgeni Malkin during Datsyuk’s absence.

Wow. You either don't know when to say when with the sarcasm thing, or you're paddling down de nile.

While i agree with you in principle, and I am a huge Hossa fan since his arrival and subsequent regular season play, he was successfully shut down most all playoffs. And he is a go to guy. Hossa is looked to to contribute tallying points. He needs to score. He did not score, was a non factor. At 7.4 million dollars. That cannot be.

Somehow, I would sign him to a short term, smaller contract. Hossa will either wither away like a wilted flower or come back next year like a rabid Pit Bull. Frankly, he hasn't been the same since going into the boards head first. When this happened to a guy at our rink, he ended up in a wheel chair to this day. http://ballhype.com/video/hossa_gets_hit_a...d_first_in_the/

Yeah, everytime he was along the boards fighting for the puck they'd just knock him down pretty routinely.

I was gonna say just like last year, eh.

thats why they gotta play the game. History schmistory. Its even, 3 games each. Obviously, either team is quite capable of winning tonite. Both have huge firepower (albeit in different ways and capacities) and goalies that can stand on their heads. Both have huge motivation. I just hope that it comes down to performance and execution rather than bad calls, weird bounces, or random misdirections. Here's to a great Game 7. Here's to Wings win. Go Wings.

Yes, it would nice to see Marian Hossa show up tonite instead of that empty 81 jersey we've seen lately.

It would be interesting to go thru the room and find out who is 100%. Who feals great. I'd say nobody OK, then who is 95% Or 90? I know that I've played when I could barely get thru the pre game skate, but really came alive during the game. So how bad are these guys hurting at this point?

I'll crack open two bottles of Bad Frog Ale and have a long talk with God. "Yo, G, WTF?"

Heatley would fit nicely in Vancouver, contract and all.

No matter what opinions people hold of the Wings and Crosby/Malkin, everyone respects them. Everyone whose team is not playing right now is saying "Why can't our team be more like Detroit" or "How did Pittsburgh end up with Crosby and Malkin, why couldn't our team end up with them?".

80%. On the one hand, I see Detroit coming out and taking care of business in a real focussed onlsaught from the git go. Z, Pavs, Lids from the point drawing the puck as he skates backwards changing his shooting angle, Franzen with some soft handed nifty moves, Cleary with some hard charging drives to the net, Malty throwing in a garbage goal. Hossa with the big opinion changer. On the other hand, Pittsburgh has fire power and can get a ton of momentum off the littlest goal. I'll never forget that frikin Stal Hatty last winter. Sheesh. I want to say 100%, but I hate being overconfident then losing. I'll stand at 80.

Excellent post. I would have to say that Osgood has surpassed expectations of nearly everybody, however. Especially in the Finals. He has shutdown a Pittsburgh onslaught at the beginning of nearly every game and kept Detroit in it. The one game in Pitt that the media says he had a let down, I disagree. He was screened a lot by Pitts and his own team. Osgood has been nothing short of Stellar and gets my vote, with a very slight edge, over Z for the Conn Smythe should Detroit Hoist Friday. Osgood has earned more of my respect this year than even last year.

The Wings are certainly a fantastic team top to bottom and an incredible organisation overall. However, the Pens are showing a glimpse of the future by returning a second year in a row, also. Not too many teams have been able to do that, recently. Crosby, Malkin, and Flurry (sp?) are huge cornerstones to continually add role players to and have great success. They will be competitive for years to come. I'm hoping for a Wings Hoist Friday, then another rematch next year.

In Vancouver the sports radio guys are loving the series. They love that there are so many story lines, so many stars, and so much end to end, and high skill displays. They know about Dats and Zetterberg but are still blown away by their skill levels and two way play. They all agree that both teams are lethal but are somewhat split on who they think will win, most seeming to go with Detroit. I agree with them and have to think that the hockey fan world has to be happy with this series. Yes, instead of each home team being ramped up against a more lackluster visiting team I would have liked to see both teams totally ramped every game...but they are the pros and I am not. There is more to it than meets the eye. And people forget that while your gnipping, he's gnopping, meaning that there are two teams on the ice fighting for every puck. While Hossa is trying to get some room to operate there are two or three highly skilled multi million dollar NHL championship caliber hockey players trying to take away that room and knock him off the puck. I've really enjoyed the series. I was hoping the WIngs would be able to Hoist at the Jow this year: its so much more exciting at home...but anything can happen in Game 7's. Go Wings.

Why do you have to go R rated in a hockey forum, dude? Sheesh.

Margo, I agree with the whiney observation, but I don't see the correlation between "dipwad" fans and Stanley Cups. Adios.

Hey, by the looks of your join date you lasted just over 2 months on the bandwagon! Not bad!

Look at the bright side, fellas. How cool is it gonna be for the Wings to hoist the Cup at home this time?!! Way cool, thats how cool. Way cool. Have one more beer, shrug it off, and look forward to the Cup Ceremony in Hockeytown.!

Who was the last team to win back to back Stanley Cup Championships? We are fortunate to have such a great organization to be a part of. Go Wings! Last night my wife said she misses the old Wings (she named Stevie Y and Shanny and Bret Hull) and I said "so do I. However, I'd rather miss them and have the next gen dominate and win the cup, and teach their young how to continue once they've passed the torch, rather than getting a bunch of totally new guys that aren't winning more than a round here and a round there. Now the rest of the world is looking at The Nightmare on Helm Street, Big Rig, Wile E. Leino, and the Ab Buster, and saying "holy s***, they got a whole nother generation just waiting to take over from this 2nd generation already. WTF?!" I'm luvin it. I wish the rest of my life was this good. Go WIngs.