wings_fanatic

I agree with most of your posts however Cleary has been fantastic this series and I saw live today that he is flying out there providing energy and a good forecheck. He stays where he is. Datsyuk-Hank-Homer Franzen-Fil-Hudler Cleary-Abs-Bert Miller-Emmerton-Nyqyust

I was at the game today and I thought the Wings really deserved to win, but the refs thought otherwise. - Franzen is terrible... he has zero effort, takes stupid penalties now and just does not deserve to play with pavel datsyuk ever... babs NEEDS to change the lines heading into next game because it is a must win game - I thought the Wings really picked it up when Babs put White back with Lidstrom... I have always disliiked babs breaking them up so he better keep them together - Time for Pavel and Z to play together I am tired of Franzen - Our powerplay simply has to get better One final thing, I was REALLY disappointed that there was no towels at the game!! I am going to game 4 tuesday so there better be towels! GO WINGS

Guys there was nothing wrong the officiating tonight... every call for the most part was legit... the Wings have to do a better job at staying out of the box because as good as their PK has been, Nashville will score on the PP eventually. And yes, Pavel is CLEARLY injured... he isn't able to control the puck like he normally can, his passing is off, his shooting has been WAY off, though he was better on faceoffs. But he needs support behind injured with his wrist and Franzen floating around is not oging to do that.

Great response game by the Wings. A true veteran team showed by Bert letting Weber know that their team won't take cheap shot to its players... good clean fight and set the bar, then the Wings simply move on. I also loved seeing Babs clapping after the fight he looked real happy. I think it is a crime that Brad Stuart was not a star tonight... he was simply fantastic all game, especially in desperation times. I also thought the bottom 6 looked fantastic and had lots of energy. One thing I think strongly is that Nick can handle more minutes and I expect that will be the case with less penalties being taken. One thing that bugged me tonight was giveaways in our own zone... either find an outlet or just dump it out... too much cute stuff being tried that resulted in me holding my breath too much. Lastly, I think it is very apparent that Pavs is injured and it is showing so Babs has to come to his sense that sticking him with Franzen and bert is NOT going to help. Even the Zetterberg line had no real flow tonight so I think Babs should load up Pavs and Hank at home because he can also get them out there when Weber is not. Bottom line is Pavs needs support since he is injured and Hank gives him that.

Homer is at his best when he is with the Eurotwins and both hank and pavs always say they prefer to have homer playing with them because he retrieves pucks along the boards and hands it off to them and then goes to his office and makes it easier for the Big guns to get it done.

Emmerton is terrible and yes we do have someone else who has played center before in his career... DREW MILLER!!! Here are what I think the lines should be: Datsyuk- Zetty- Homer Franzen-Fil-Hudler Cleary-Abdelkator-Bertuzzi Conner-Miller-Nyqust - Solid top line and pavel can't win faceoffs because his wrist is injured and him playing with hank is way better then useless Franzen. Also Homer was fantastic last game and the Wings top 2 lines were lacking consistent net front presence all game- - Homer will provide that - Solid 2nd line that has worked magic in the past - solid 3rd line checking line that was amazing last year in the playoffs. The addition of Bert really solidifies the line imo - Miller can center the 4th line and he would have 2 speedy Wingers to work with... this could be a really good energetic line for Mike Babcock I think these lines would be our best.

Or how about us LOYAL FANS chant something like "Lets Go Red Wings" or "Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy", or a player's name like last yaer with Bertuzzi. Honestly, I hope you don't have tickets to game 3 because you really don't deserve to go with that kind of attitude. I have tickets to game 3 and I will be going to support my team, not debunk them. Anyways, the series will be tied up 1-1 by the time Sunday rolls around.

Yah because they are professionals... they are not going to start some pointless verbal war. The Red Wings will take care of their business where it matters- - on the ice. I stand by saying the Wings will win in 5 or 6 games and the Preds are in trouble now that the Wings are not too happy.

Babcock either needs to play Hank and Pavs together or Kenny needs to find Pavs a LEGITIMATE WINGER in the offseason because Franzen simply does not cut it. Other than that I think the Wings have a lot going for them in game 2. I think that that cheap shot by Weber will turn out to be the difference maker of the series because all Weber did was tick the Wings off... not a smart thing to do. GO WINGS!

Hard to judge anything after that period because it was almsot all penalties.... that was honestly one of the worst officated periods of hockey I have ever seen.... Gary Bettman should be banned from all nhl games because it is no coincidence that this many penalties have been called with him in attendance. Anyways, the Wings were lacking energy that period. The lines had little flow, but as I said with so little time for 5 on 5 hockey it is hard to judge. One thing i did notice was the Wings could NOT WIN FACEOFFS!!! As I said before, Pavel can't play center because his wrist is clearly bugging him and he is winning zero faceoffs. Best thing for Babs to do is put Pavs and Haank together so Hank can take the faceoffs and Fil, Franzen, Huds on the 2nd line. It did wonders in our last game...

I don't think a blowout win would be ideal for the Wings in game 1. All that would do is get the Preds to respond big time in game 2. I would rather a solid game between the 2 teams with the Wings coming out on top to win game 1 tonight and then hopefully continue for 15 more wins after that

I am REALLY looking forward to what all of these so called "professional analysists" have to say when the Wings eliminate the Preds. They will be jumping on the Red Wings bandwagon so fast it won't even be funny.

16 of course. I am a Red Wings fan and I will believe in my team until the bitter end. 16 more wins and a Stanley Cup Parade in June in Detroit!

I was thinking last night about how I wanted Babs to start the playoffs with Hank and Pavs together like we finished the regular season, but then it hit me that it would be smarter for Babs to start the playoffs with the regular lines (Fil-Z-Huds, Mule- Pavs-Bert) and see how they perform. If they are not looking good, then Babs has the wonderful option to put Pavs and Hank together during either game 1 or game 2 or whatever, and during a game that could create huge momentum for the Wings... so i guess it makes sense to do that because it gives us more options going forward for any line changes. I say this because I read the line combos at practice today and Babs did indeed go back to the regular lines. I expect if he doesn't like what he sees, he will not hesitate to switch things up because he knows he needs his team to get at least 1 of the 2 in Nashville.

omg preds guy u need to go learn the game of hockey and then come back and talk to us please. First of all Henrik Lunquist is winning the veizna and he is wayyyy more proven then ur pal Rinne. Second of all just go away until you have an actual meaningful argument. - Our defence is clearly deeper, more balanced and far more experienced - Our offence is clearly more balanced and our top 6 are WAY more lethal than yours - Your goaltending is stronger, but Howard is still a very good goalie Having said that, it will be a good series, but the points we make are the truth. You are just in denial.

Come on bud ur making ur fanbase look like total morons! I know a few nashville fans as friends and they have a great sense of hockey. They agree with me except they think the defense is equal but agree with me on the other points... honestly I think those Tootoo whistles must be getting to your head because everything you are saying is just completely wrong and is based on nothing.

As i said in other threads, I think we need Pavel and Hank to be together simply because PAvel's wrist is not allowing him to take faceoffs and we need a centerman winning faceoffs in the playoffs and Franzen was winning ZERO lol. Datsyuk- Zetterberg- Nyquist/ Bertuzzi Franzen- Fil- Hudler Cleary- Abdelkator- Nyquist/ Bertuzzi 4th line I think I would rather Nyquist on the top line cuz he has great speed and I think adds a lot to that line... I think they could be lethal. Also, having Bert on the 3rd line would make a good checking line like we had last year against Phoenix in the playoffs.

omg i was gonna give u the benefit of the doubt but now i am gonna downright debunk everything u just said. Yah the Hawks blew a 4-0 lead to ur team but ur team still managed to lose... congrats. First of all, the Hawks have had s*** defence ALL YEAR... and their goaltending has been pathetic so bragging about that to us Wings fans is very laughable... and Jimmy Howard is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better then Crawfard!!!!! You say Rinne is lightyears better than Jimmy well let me ask you something. Before Jimmy got injured back in Februrary did you know he was on pace to BEAT BRODEUR's record of wins in a single NHL season of 49?? I didn't see Rinne doing that. - Like I said you have a well balanced team, but you simply do NOT have the lethal offensive power stars that the Wings do so don't pretend that you can match that. - Honestly if you are gonna come to these forums, at least raise truthful points, not just jibberish that makes Nashville fans look bad.

Sorry let me specify... you dont have much experience WINNING IN THE PLAYOFFS. By no means do I want to make you think I am disrespecting your team because I am not, in fact I respect them very much for how they have built a solid team out of nothing. But you match up their experience of winning big games in the playoffs next to the Wings experience of winning and you get what I mean. I understand the argument that you guys have Weber and Suter... but we have Nicklas Lidstrom who imo is still the best all around dman in the world... especially in big time games. Next to Lidstrom, we have a better core of Dmen then the Preds too in White, Kronners, Stuart, Ericsson and Quincy. You guys have a good D core too, but ours is just more experienced and better at both areas of the ice. Switch gears to the offence. Do I really need to get into this? Yah you guys got Radaolov back, Erat, Kostistyn brothers... but do you really think that they are better than the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Val Filpulla, Playoff mode Franzen? The Preds play really well as a team, but I don't think they can match the Wings' playoff tempo. The preds have been playing playoff hockey all season long like the Blues, whereas the Wings were able to take several games off and still get wins. There is a big difference between regular season hockey and playoff hockey and I don't think the Preds will be able to switch to the gear that the Wings will and the Preds will have a difficult time containing our top 6 compared to us containing yours. It will be a great series and I expect every game will be close, but I predict the Wings will come out on top.

Since the lockout, both times the Wings did not open the playoffs against a team from the far West, they went on to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning in 08 and being screwed in 09. I fully believe that the Wings will be able to handle the Preds and if the Wings get feelign good about themselves they will become very dangerous. Personally I cant wait to hear Pierre Muguire pick Smashville to win the series, then list a whole bunch of nonsense reasons. Then after the Wings win the series, he will go on about how he will never bet against the Wings again and blah blah blah. GO WINGS

Does anyone know when the playoff schedule will be released?

Do you mean a site that tells you the lines that Babs plans to use for each game? If that is the case then go to www.redwingscentral.com where there are daily updates with reports from players, Babs himself and on practices explaining the lines used and stuff. Hope that helps.

As I said I am confident the Wings will come out flying in this series. If they can somehow catch the Preds off guard and steal BOTH games in Nashville then it will be a sweep and that COULD HAPPEN. The preds do not have a lot of playoff experience and they have a team this year that is EXPECTED TO WIN. Because of this new expectation that has been placed on them, that might have a negative impact on some of their key players in the playoffs because the playoffs are a whole different ball game. So the Preds could come out nervous and get hit by the Wings early and like I said if that happens then we sweep. More likely is that we win 1 of the 2 games in Nashville then come home to win both games and then win the series in game 5 or 6. Regardless I don't think the Preds will be able to contain our top guns. So the series will either open Wednesday night or Thursday night and I am REALLY HOPING it is Thursday because I have 2 exams on Thursday and if the Wings have a game Wednesday night I don't see much studying getting done lol!

I find it amusing how almost everyone here and in the hockey world in general think that Preds are gonna beat the Wings... and more than that they act like the Preds are gonna run the Wings over. Well lets think about some things here. - More proven team? The Wings - More forward depth? The Wings - More defense depth? The Wings (yes they have Sutter and Weber but guess what we have nick lidstrom and other dmen that are very effective... the Preds cannot say the same) - Better goalie? The Preds (but Howard is still a very good goalie) Clearly the Wings have the advantage in almost every aspect. We are superior down the middle, can create line combos that the Preds cannot compete with. Having said that, they are a very well defensively structured team. I think that Babs should start the playoffs with the lines we ended with today, meaning Eurotwins on the top line because I honestly do not think that the Preds can answer that. IT will be a hell of a good series, but I am saying Wings will win in 6 and upset almost everyone. Lastly, I am happy everyone is saying the Wings are done because it takes the pressure off them and they can actually be the team to pull an "upset" for once. I am looking forward to this series and I truly think the Wings will come out on top.

Umm no because then there is a good chance of having to play the sharks in round 2...