Nev

It received national media attention in the UK!!! I couldn't believe it when I heard them talking about it on the radio!

More of this would be even better - and less stressful too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xO_57ZN4Oo Both goals assisted by Pav, 2 of his 13 assists on his 14 point night. Selanne with all 3 goals for Anaheim, but no-one cares.

Think I picked a good game to sleep through....I daren't even begin to go back and read the pages where we're blowing a 4-1 lead.... Good news - Jimmeh let in some poor goals and we still won. Going back to the Joe tied at 1 we gotta be happy.

Nyquist cold and flu FTW!!

Have you ever watched hockey from the 80s? I can't even begin to imagine the carnage that Pav would cause with the level of goaltending and defence that the likes of Gretzky, Mario and Yzerman got to plunder.

Tootoo as Tyrion? I got my prediction wrong last game, the series score won't be 14-3 Wings - the game 2 score will be 14-3 Wings! Pavel "Faceless Man" Datsyuk with a goal and 13 assists. Joffrey Perry gets 5 minutes and a game misconduct for being an incest derived baseborn b@st@rd.

Listening to the radio commentary I don't think I heard Brunner's name once, despite hearing Nyquist and Andersson plenty. I said in another thread that he might be on a very short leash, I imagine Bert is chomping at the bit.

I'm not going to predict a 14-3 win tonight, because that would be silly. Everyone knows scoring goes down in the playoffs! However the aggregate score in the series will be 14-3 Wings Night shift and internet radio baby! LGW!!!!

Its an interesting discussion - I think right now Pav has a HOF resume, Hank not so much. Both are late bloomers, both played in a lower scoring era, and both have lost 1.5 seasons to Bettman, so they're not going to put up huge totals. Pav however has 7 trophies to Z's 1 and 2 cups to 1, as well as his unique, stand-out talent.

Mrs Nev not happy about this development!

Datsyuk isn't like any other star though. He's such a unique player with an otherwordly level of skill that I have never seen in any other hockey player. He is Barry Sanders or Lionel Messi on skates. Combine that with a shy, almost introverted humilty, a wry, self-deprecating sense of humour, an elite defensive game, 4 Lady Byngs, 3 Selkes and 2 Stanley Cups. 6th on the all-time Red Wings scoring list. Other players may come along and score more points and win more Cups, but none of them will do it with the jaw-dropping brilliance of Pav. Thank goodness this is the Youtube generation so we can show our kids and grandkids exactly what he used to do.

Good for you Bryz. Every single experience with journalists that I or someone I know has had, has done nothing but reinforce my belief that they are the most arrogant, above-the-law, entitlement whores on the planet. And they really, really don't like it when anyone calls them out on it. And modern sports journalism is just the pits - trashy, simplified sensationalism. 1st rule of journalism - never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

*shakes angry fist at lack of weekend matinees*

I don't know about America, but were I come from, calling someone a "tosser" is quite an insult

I so wished my talent matched my imagination!

I did say something of a reversal

Obviously its a small sample size, but since the Z-Dats-Abs line has been formed, Abdelkader has been phenomenal. A lot of the goals Pav + Hank have scored he hasn't got an assist on, but his play has been key. Last night he was screening the goalie and tying up a defenceman on Ericssons goal - no assist. The other night he had a hit behind the net which caused a turnover and led to a goal - no assist. Is he as good at screens and deflections as Homer? No, but who is? But he sure as hell skates better than Homer ever did and his hitting and puck retrieval has been key to creating the space for Hank and Pav to light it up. I'm loving what he's bringing to this team right now, even if he isn't putting up as many points, our Euro-Twins are. If you want a hard-hitting, defenceman crashing power forward who scores like Pav and Hank you need a time machine to get you 2002 Todd Bertuzzi.

He'll play. Now way Babs will drop him now, he loves to talk about how his vets who may have struggled in the regular season come alive in the playoffs. Plus the guy is an absolute warrior in the postseason. Brunner and Nyquist on the other hand....I think they will be on very short leashes and Babs will get Bert in there if he detects any lack of "compete" in their game.

Shutouts: 5 (1st in NHL)

So by my reckoning, we've done it with 5 rookies as regulars on the roster (DelKaiser, Smith, Nqquist, Brunner, Andersson), another 2 rookies contributing significantly (Lashoff, Tatar) and 2 borderline NHLers who most of us had given up on who turned into bona fide NHLers (Kindl, Emmerton)

Interesting that 3 of the top 5 missed the playoffs and the other 2 only just squeeked in. Just goes to show Babs was right. You gotta be healthy.

Is it wrong that after all the "world is ending" threads that would have plagued the forums, the thing that worried me most about missing the playoffs was the lack of Photoshop Wars?

Yep good luck to Jim Question is - who does he want to poach from our roster/prospect pool?

Thing is, this year is seeing something of a role reversal of previous seasons. I think its no longer a case of the Ducks brawn vs the Wings skill. Just look at our D corps - they're all big boys. Kronwall is our smallest guy at 6-0 190. Whenever Perry and Getzlaf are on the ice, so will be Ericsson and Abdelkader, so if they start trying to pull their usual crap we've got a couple of players who can stand up to them. The 3rd line are in for a shock to the system though, they'd better be prepared to stand up to it.

22!!!!! Suck it *******!!!