Nev

Just from watching on TV there's definately been a different vibe the last few seasons, like they're getting a different crowd - less corporate, more blue collar. During the reign of Yzerman the lower bowl was always half empty due to corporate no-shows, rarely see that now. Whether that's because the team has changed, or because Detroit's economy has changed, or both, I dunno. I do know that the crowd sounds much rowdier than it ever used to.

Seriously, I imagine they'll do with Zetterberg what they did with Lidstrom - no-one gets more than the captain, and offer him a range of options. 2 years, $12M, 3 years $16.5M, 4 years $20M. which is Kennys usual modus operandi, trading length for cap hit. A 2 year extension would put him awful close to 1000 points and pass Feds for 5th all-time as Wing. 3 years would see him crack 1000 points for sure.

Thats good...as long as he doesn't ask for a 5 year $50M contract

Aww, poor ickle journalist Did the nasty man stand up to your stupid questions? There, there, he's gone now.

I got to admit, when I first read that, my heart sank. Its like all the doom and gloom predictions of the Holland Bashers coming true. It is however worth noting the "I think we are going to have a real good competition at training camp" line which implies if they don't earn their place on the roster they'll be waived. Its also worth noting that Sammy requires surgery on his pectoral injury, and if he's on IR, he can't be bought out.... But there's more to it than that. This article says that Bickell and Stalberg, amongst others, have long been on the Wings radar. Well, we can't sign them without cap space and roster room, and we're already over-populated at forward.... There's also this very interesting interview with Holland which I recommend everyone to read. Some choice quotes

Exactly. Who do you want our youngsters to learn from? Cleary with his "this is the price you must be prepared to pay" attitude, or Franzen with his "have a couple of decent seasons and coast into retirement on your lifetime contract" attitude. I would take Cleary back - at a reduced salary - as the 12/13th forward. Rotate him in and out of the line-up, limit his minutes, ready for the playoffs.

You do realise only 1 team can win, right? And that that doesn't mean the other 29 teams are all failures whose players all deserve to be sacked. The Hawks are a better team than us. That doesn't mean they "care" more, it just means they have better players. Go ask Philly and Rangers fans how the "win the Stanley Cup or everyone gets traded/bought out/sacked" approach has worked for them the last 20 years.

Wow. Just wow. And that clip of McLellan complaining to the refs that the diving motion is making his players look bad???? That's just shameful. Honestly, how the head coach of a top NHL team could have the lack of shame to do that? I do feel sorry for the refs when they have to try and sift the dives from the penalties, but until they start calling Couture et al for diving, the players are going to keep on doing it.

Just wait, there are going to be a LOT of free agents around. There are a lot good/decent on bad contracts out there that teams will be looking to dump - Richards, Hossa and LeCavalier could all end up bought out for example. Plenty of teams are in a real cap crunch and will be unable to sign their UFAs, so there's a real possibility of guys like Horton hitting the open market. I agree with all of this except for Miller. He and Eaves are pretty much interchangable, and if we re-sign Cleary (cheaply) then we can't afford to waste a roster spot on a guy like Miller, as servicable as he's been for us. We've got a logjam of forward prospects coming through,and a lot of potential talent available on the FA market, so we need to have the roster space to take advantage. Also, send Emmerton down to GR, there's a fair chance he'll clear waivers. If not, good luck to the kid, but with a healthy Helm, Andersson takes the 4th line C spot.

This summer? No. This summer I use my 2 compliance buyouts on Sammy and Bertuzzi (sorry Bert) I believe there's another buyout period next summer? I'd certainly let him know his name is on the shortlist for a buyout in 2014. Yeah, he's a decent cap hit for his production, but its his effort and attitude that bother me - it sends entirely the wrong message to the team, especially a team that is going to be filled with youngsters.

This.

I dunno, Suter in LA does a pretty good job of trolling the media

Pav and Hank, we need you to turn up tonight. And The Mule, be nice if you we could get a rare spotting of you tonight. And Flip, do you want your 588th and last game in a Red Wing jersey to be a game 7 loss? Dan. Daniel. Danny. This could be your last game in red too, but I know we can rely on you to leave every last ounce of what is left of your broken down, beaten up, falling apart at the seams, clapped out, knackered old body on the ice. Oh, and don't stop believing.

Trust me, if you haven't read the books, you did NOT want to see episode 9 last night, not after the Wings blew it like that. It would have been too much for you

Its because, for the first time this post-season the Wings are actually under pressure. Game 7 against Anaheim, we'd already exceeded expectations and everyone was happy. I don't have the talent for it, but there is some serious photoshop/gif potential in that scene.

Pavel normally has one big game per round, and he's due tonight. He breaks out with a goal and 13 assists as the Wings march into the conference finals with a 14-3 win.

2010 , Game 4, Detroit 7 - San Jose 1. We all know how that ended 2009, Game 5, Detroit 5 - Pens 1. We all know how that ended. There's lots more examples, but we should all have seen enough playoff hockey to know that blowing a team out at home when your back is against the wall means NOTHING. If anything, it makes the Wings comes out harder than a 3-2 triple OT loss would.

Meh. James T Williams is average.

No, thankyou Ser, for having the foresight to transform it to a motivational poster. This one is for all those who frequent the HFboards

Blackhawks have hit the post 5 times in the last 2 games, I fear they are due some puck luck. I'm also smelling an OT tonight. Time for one man to end the Franzen v Hossa debate once and for all

So I thought long and hard about how I could make this even funnier, and in the end, I came up empty. Resizing a screen cap counts as a photoshop, right?

Not getting ahead of myself, but finding myself more interested in the outcome of this series. Not really seen any of it, could someone summarise the play in the series so far?

I gotta admit, my concerns over whether he would be able to adapt his game to the NHL have proven misplaced. Since he came back up he's been superb. He does need to work on his shot accuracy though. He creates a lot of chances with his skill and speed and misses the net a LOT.

During the '08 finals I had a dream Babcock was my dad. It wasn't a very pleasant dream.... :