Uncle Danny

Oh, I'm taking nothing away from Courtnall. Both of the Courtnall brothers were speedy as hell.

Totally agreed. If we're talking about days past, Fedorov was incredibly fast, but no one I've ever seen could hold a candle to Bure in terms of speed. Coffey was fast, but not in the same league as these two. His style was so fluid, though, it was a thing of beauty to watch. As for the Wings today? I'm going to go with the crowd here and say Lebda or Hossa. It's tough to measure on TV, though, since their skating styles are so different. Lebda LOOKS faster, but Hossa's speed is deceptive. He moves like a force of nature, and makes blowing past defenders look effortless.

Could be -- I wonder how much of what we see is related to him speaking to millions of people instead of a roomful, though I know I'd be gunshy! From what I've been told, it also has a lot to do with the age of the person when they come over. For example, my cousin-in-law came over at 13 and has no accent at all, my wife came over at 16 and is absolutely fluent, but has an accent. Her father came over at around 50, and is conversational, but stumbles a lot and has a rather thick accent. If Pavel came to the US at 22-23, could that have something to do with it? BTW, if this post is any indication, your English is great for someone who's only been speaking it for 8 years. Where in Russia did you live, if you don't mind me asking (PM me if you'd rather)?

I've been learning it sporadically for a couple years now as well, and I have to agree. It's a very different language, from the alphabet on up. They conjugate freaking everything. I married a native speaker, and even with her help, it's tough. From what I gather, learning English as a Russian speaker is equally difficult. She moved here around 17 years ago, and, while she's miles ahead of Dats, I still find myself correcting her english at least once a day (she has a standing order for me that I do so). English is so full of exceptions and odd pronunciations that it's damn near impossible to get it right from a textbook. I mean, look at how many native English speakers can't even get "there, their, they're" or "your, you're" right. Based on my wife's experience, English speakers have a much harder time with accents or small pronunciations than people learning Russian, for exactly that reason. If you mangle a pronunciation, but follow the rules of the Russian language, they'll pick up on your meaning, whereas if you mess up a single vowel sound or emphasize the wrong syllable in English, it often leads to a "huh?" Sorry for the ramble. Guess I coulda just said: "cut Dats some slack."

On Lidstrom: This made me chuckle. It sounds to me like one of those "my mom says I'm special!" quotes. Of course, I happen to agree with Mr. Babcock, but that's a different topic.

I build websites for a living and would be happy to donate some time. I can't do it all (not a lot of time), but I'm more than happy to help out, especially with the code and/or database design.

I'm so freaking jealous! Great story In all my years of following the Wings, even living six blocks from the Joe for a lot of them, I've never had the opportunity to meet one of them. The closest I've come actually just happened recently. I moved to CA a long time ago, and my dad, who still lives in MI just came out for a visit. My pops is not a sports fan at all, but knows I love me some hockey. He casually asks over dinner, "so, have you ever heard of a player named Pat Verbeek?" Turns out my little sister (she's fourteen and a nationally ranked soccer goalie) plays on a team with his daughter. My dad regularly hangs out with Verbeek and his wife at games, and if I remember correctly, has even been to dinner with them several times. Anyway, long story short, my dad knew he played hockey at some point, but had no idea that he had played for the Wings, or that he had the level of career that he did. He got a serious belly laugh out of me calling him the "Little Ball of Hate," and promised to get me at least an autograph the next time they cross paths. I can't wait

Beg to differ. I'm 35, and was just as diehard of a Wings fan before and during the height of the rivalry as I am today. Not a real fan? Pish. I collect jerseys. Mostly original six, but I've got no bones about picking up a jersey from any team with a number and name I like. I have no plans to, but I'd gladly pick up either a Sakic Avs jersey or a Selanne Ducks jersey. As for the rivalries, one half of having a great rivalry in place is respecting some portion of your enemy's game. For example, as much as I hated every Avs player aside from Sakic leading up to and following the Draper hit, I sure as s*** respected their skills. Had they not been the second best team in the league, it would have made for a pretty boring rivalry. The same (almost) goes for the Ducks. I respect what they've accomplished and the level of talent on the team, even if I'd absolutely love the chance to sock Pronger in his gap toothed mug (and then run as fast as I can... he's BIG ). Two of the favorite jerseys in my collection are Savard Blackhawks and Clark Leafs sweaters. Does that make you or me not a real fan since I'm old enough to remember when the Hawks and Leafs were our biggest rivals? Bottom line: there is only one team I support and root for, but there is an entire sport I love. If you don't want to wear another team's colors, great, more power to ya... but don't knee jerk into homeristic jingoism by accusing me and others like me of being less of a Wings fan for not sharing your opinion.

I predict that prediction will be 14-3. Keep the faith -- it'll happen someday!!

On that note: anyone up for predictions on the finals? I'm going to guess that Gretzky wrongly takes it from Stevie in a close race. Gretzky was a (far) better player, but not a better captain... but his name is even more synonymous with hockey than Hull nowadays, which leads me to think the common vote will skew his direction.

Couldn't agree more. He's done a great job in his short NHL tenure, and even shorter Captaincy, but how anyone could rank Sid above Iginla, Alfy, Koivu or Lidstrom is beyond me. I took the homer route, although, honestly, Iginla, Alfy, Sundin and Joivu could all make cases. None of these guys makes it past the second round anyway.

Not a whole lot to add here aside from a) we all agree here that the level of play from our Wings needs to and will improve, and b) welcome aboard

EDIT: Ok, I need to explain some lest I be accused of bad posts myself. 1) "Ozzie got smoked yet again by a center ice goal" -- Name the last time this happened in Ozzie's current Wings tenure. Name the time before that. See? 2) "he has no athleticsm" -- He has one of the best glove hands in the game. That doesn't come from booklearning. Just ask Jack Burton. 3) "i love Ozzie as a person" -- 4) "He is probably the most boring goalie i have ever watched play the game and thank god for Conklin cause i thought i was gonna be bored out of my mind this year with our goal tending when The Dominator retired." -- Do I really need to comment on this? Jee-money! I'm not saying the guy doesn't need to improve, nor am I a terrible Ozzie apologist... but this post was just over the top... bad.

Wha??? He made at least three timely big saves in the last four minutes of the game alone!

This will not be a game Mule remembers as one of his best. Oh well, he's earned a bad game or two.

QFT

Whole eeeeee f***.

I have the same feeling. Hope it ends correctly, though.

Datsyuk earned tonight's paycheck with that takeaway and goal!!! Beautiful!

MTU -- just noticed your name and post. My little brother is a junior at your school right now. Know any kids named Nathan? Back on topic: I predict Vancouver goes up by one, but the Wings battle back with a 3rd period Z goal and a SO winner by Dats.

Nice tackle by Dats.

Agreed. But what happened to Mick and Larry? They mentioned earlier that Simpson was a "last minute" substitution.

Homer out with back spasms, Kronner out with an ankle injury.

Agreed 100% Ridiculous knee-jerk by new ownership.

Sabourin just made a ridiculous save in the Philly/Pitt shootout. Look for it on the highlight reels.