Firehawk

Is it just me or is this the most emotionless and slow elimination game you've ever seen ? MY God. Someone skate please...

Wings look just slightly off, but the Ducks to me look way off, just like last game. I think the Ducks are afraid to lose, and they're playing that way. It's going to take 1 goal by Detroit and they'll turn the gears up, just like last game.

Is Rafalski in or out tonight/ I missed the pregame.

The added pressure of embarassment in front of your crowd i'm sure has something to do with it. The expectations in Detroit are so high it's absurd. The ducks will be feeling it tonight. I believe the expectations are the reason we lost game 5 last year in the finals, at least for the most part. The red carpet was all but laid out. I just hope we win tonight. I doubt the Ducks will goon it up. There's too much at stake. They've done a really good job of not taking too many stupid penalties over the last few games. If they start taking bad penalties tonight, they're done.

The tenacity of the Hawks scares me. That's about it. To me, it's been playtime for the Hawks. They're about to enter the 3rd round against the big boys...whether that's Detroit or Anaheim (god forbid).

I bought a couple pizzas from Little Ceasars before the game today, and went in my Chelios Jersey to pick them up. While I was waiting, the guy working the register started talking to me about the Wings tonight. I asked him who he thought was going to win today. He said he thought ANaheim was going to win ithe series in 6 becuase they're a better team. I should really find a way to contact Mr. Illitch about this guy. LOL Consequently, he also thinks if we were to get through and face Luongo, we'd lose...oh, and he also thinks Chelios is still a superstar defensemen in the league. Now, I love Chelios, think he's great, but lets face it, he's too old now, he's slowing way down, and he turns the puck over. At any rate, it was a really interesting conversation with this kid. I thought you guys would like to hear about it. Hell, he might even be on this board.

Hiller isn't the reason the Ducks are down 3-2.

There goes O Hallerin F'n us over on that stupid call...that the ducks do on a regular basis. Whatever. We need to learn how to kill a damn penalty off. Wings looked slow. They need to get it going in the third. Win the third period, and we're all set.

I wouldn't mind seeing Carolina in it. I wanna see more of those dancing girls they have...

I'm sorry. This is the playoffs. If you're on the bench and you aren't injured mechanically in some way, then you better be out there. Being sick is no excuse. Why play him the entire game up until the 3rd period? They're playing the defending cup champs. You don't sit your best guy on the bench unless he's injured. He's injured. That crap about being sick can't be true.

The Wings are responding like true champions, losing a 3OT game then a crap call costing them the next game. I so hope they continue this beating through the 3rd. I think anything less than playing their best and they're going to get scored on. COME ON GUYS!

Hopefully that gets Hossa going now. PLease Lord don't make me be tired at work in the morning for nothing...PLEASE CONTINUE TO DOMINATE PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please for the love of God let this lead hold up. Please Red Wings, show the Ducks why you're a Dynasty. Show the Ducks and Bettman, and the Rest of the LEAGUE. PLEASE LORD!

Yeah, at 4 mill a year or whatever it was, that's highway robbery I'd say. I hope we see more of Franzen and Hossa together. Two big power forward types at the same time, who both can arguably score 40+ a season, wow....

That's probably because once the wings started playing, they couldn't get into the offensive zone. We have 40 more minutes to see if they continue to leave him alone. Somehow I doubt it.

Anyone else pick up on #13 on the ducks swatting a wings player in the back of the head with around 8 minutes to go I think? Dirty play. I think Homer was laying on the ice and a Ducks player kept hitting him in the head...another dirty play. It's hilarious when Ducks fans say that anyone else in this league is 'gutless' or 'dirty'. Absolutely hilarious.

Finally, babcock changes the lines up and suddenly the Ducks aren't sure how to handle it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I really like the sound of that Hossa, Franzen, and Filpula line. 2 big forwards and a speedy guy. Real nice sounding line.

Apparently, because Bettman wants there to be parity in the league, that's the kind of finals he's after...a team nobody cares about against another team nobody cares about. That's parity. Any team making it at any point. I hate it. But whatever. I'm probably just spoiled from watching the Red Wings play such top notch hockey... I swear it's almost like the NHL is trying to vanish.

What the NHL should do in cases like last night's late disallowed goal is make it reviewable, and if the puck is clearly not under a body, and the ref is just out of position and stopping play, the call should be reversed and it should be a good goal. A puck that's loose but under a body should be kept the same as now, blow the whistle, review that and still say no goal. But yesterday was an atrocity. The puck clearly was wide open in the paint and because the ref is a retard and caught out of position, he stopped play. This should have been one where he consulted with the ref at the red line, who had a great view of the front.

I have to echo this comment. Great post. There are just more important things in the world. Honestly, the NHL is destroying the game with the way they're calling things. It makes me not really want to watch anymore. I have been thinking about this all season. And I agree, it's pointless to follow a team for every single game all year, then have a ref cheat you out of a title, or even just a bad, stupid break cheat you. Just more important things...

Why wasn't there a mention that the referee was out of position?

I'm really concerned about the Red Wings. They aren't generating much of anything at all. They aren't going to the net hard and getting traffic. It looks like the Ducks are methodically blanketing them. We've seen this in the past, where the opponent gets into one of those grooves, and smothers Detroit. The Wings don't really look like they are firing on all cylinders at all. They're not skating fast like they were in previous games or anything. And the refs suck again. How do you let the blatent stuff go but call retarded, chincy stuff?

I actually sent an instant message in to 97.1 during the post game about this. I wonder if the Flu is in fact going around. It would explain Zett, Dats, and Hossa all seeming to be a bit slower.

Man that sucks. But I will say this, the wings have been starting and playing the games sluggishly and turning it on at times. Maybe this will wake them up now. They're true champions, so I think they'll respond in Game 3.

The wings have carried the play most of the 2nd OT. I hope that continues. It has to be wearing down their defense. Gotta give it to Anaheim, they're playing solid D at least. Every time they get the puck control in our zone my heart starts skipping.