Sergeiwasmyfav

I think Franzen has been showing consistency for at least a couple of months now. He had a great second half of the season, especially in March, and it carried over into the playoffs. He was solid in the first round, and had a great start to the second. I think he is proving his consistency goes beyond just one playoff game, but I agree with you in the sense that I hope he keeps it up. I just think it should be pointed out that he has been consistent for a while now, and what people are praising is far more than just one playoff game.

I'm not the one who wrote that, and I don't think Hejduk is a "joke" defensively, but I have to agree with the guy who said that to the extent that I don't think Hejduk is in the same category defensively as say a Joe Sakic or Datsyuk. Not a joke, but not wonderful. Just my two cents. As for the series overall, I don't think this will be easy for the Wings at all, but I think ultimately they will come out on top and move on. I actually think these two teams match up fairly well, and it's going to come down to the intangibles such as who just works harder, who wins the battles on the boards more often, who is willing to take the punishment to make the play. I hope the Wings have it in them, and I think they do, but the Avs will not be easy. This should be a great series.

I think it is really nice that he wants to be with his wife when she has the baby. I think we will be fine without him for a few games, and I'm happy that Lilja will get a chance to get back in the line-up for a bit at least. Seriously though, and this is not meant to sound heartless or anything it's just an observation, how many jobs would let you just take off work and sit around waiting for your wife to have a baby? Not many. I'm not saying he shouldn't be there, because I think he should, but I hope pro-athletes realize and are appreciative of the many perks that they get at their job that the ordinary person will never have.

It is going to be a tough series, I think, and I'm a little surprised so many people think we will handle the Avs so easily. The Wings are going to have to play hard and not give Colorado many quality scoring chances, or else guys like Sakic and Forsberg, both of whom definitely still have "it", will make them pay. I am predicting that the Wings will win in 6 games, but this is going to be a test. I hope the Wings don't take Colorado too lightly (I don't think they will, but sometimes things can creep in subconciously) because if they do, it won't be pretty for us Wings fans. That being said, I think the Wings will ultimately prevail.

Ding, Ding, Ding!!!! We have a winner!!! Most rational post in the last 36 hours on the LGW boards!!!

LOL! So true! That was great.

I agree with most of the others who have posted in this thread so far: I don't think this is the best idea ever. I like Lebda, but I think Lilja does more for the defense overall. Yes, Lebda is faster, but that's about it. I would rather have Lilja's shot blocking and hitting than Lebda's speed at this point, but we shall see. Perhaps Lebda will do really well and surprise me; I hope so. I'm just not sure this was a good idea by Babs.

My comment was literally one sentence long. All I said was I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I never said it wasn't classless, I never said he was being a "good sport". The league has decided to address the issue directly, so good. Now we can be done with it. But please don't lump me in with those who were defending Avery as though everything was just hunky dorey because I was not. I just said I didn't think he had done anything horrible.

I understand what you are saying, but somehow I just think that a good Scott Stevens-type hit in the center of the ice would do the job of deterrence much better than sitting in the penalty box. It's sort of like the distinction between a "time out" for children and a spanking. Not that I condone beating a child in any way, shape or form, but I know from my own experience as a child that a good smack on my behind when I did something wrong made me think twice about doing that ever again, way more than any time out did. To me, a penalty is the equivalient of a time out, whereas my suggestion is the equivalent of a spanking. I think it is more effective. And I am not sure, I don't want to state this as fact, but I don't think anyone has ever laid a hit on Avery like the type I am thinking of. I am talking about the player has no clue where he is when he gets up, and can't play for at least a week afterwards. That being said, I do agree that the play was classless, otherwise I wouldn't think such a play from the opposing team would be necessary. I just am not sure it is the refs' job to deal with it.

No, I do get what you are saying, GS&T, I just think that this whole situation could have been handled within the game itself if someone from the Devils had punished Avery for his behavior. I know they (the Rangers) were on a 5 on 3, so I don't mean at that very moment. But at some point throughout the rest of the game. Avery would absolutely have known what it was for. If someone on the Preds did this to Dom I would be pissed, but I can honestly say I would be more pissed if the Wings let him get away with it and no one layed him out on the ice. I think a play like this would have only happened once in the old days because the issue would have been dealt with on the ice by the players, and someone would have been beat down.

For some reason when I watched that Youtube video of the screen again, it didn't look as ridiculous to me as it did the first time, even though I did not think it should be a penalty in the first place. I don't know, maybe it was just me, or maybe it was the angle of the camera on that particular video, but I didn't think it looked that bad when I just watched it again.

There was nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned. I am surprised no one from the Devils leveled him, however.

Somehow I don't think the Ducks are out of this yet, and I hope the Stars aren't thinking like that, because if they are, the Ducks will win. That being said, I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching the Ducks get booed off of their own ice last night. However, I still think they can turn it around. Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing though if they got swept the year after winning the Cup, since that is what they did to us in '03. If it happens, there will be no more appropriate time for the expression "Karma's a b*tch."

Agreed. I don't think they are bad people, and I'm actually happy that they have fans in their arena who care about the team because I think it is good for the NHL. I too have often wished the Joe was louder in general, so I know what you mean there. I just meant that in some cities, they cheer so loud for every little thing, that it seems that they don't know what means something and what does not. But overall, I agree, the environments are totally different, and we shouldn't be condescending towards their fans. But, I'm not gonna lie, I still can't stand the chants.

Personally, I'd rather be at the Joe any day than Nashville's arena. I would rather sit in silence than listen to the absurd chants alluded to above. Also, I don't understand why everyone gets on Detroit fans for not being loud enough (that's not directed specifically at you, SWF, just in general). Perhaps we don't feel the need to cheer maniacally at every single thing that takes place in the game. "The Preds iced the puck!!! YES!!!! Standing Ovation!!!!" I can do without that, thank you, because I think it shows knowledge of the game; it shows the fans know what is really important and what is not. Not that icings aren't helpful, but they don't deserve the same response as, say, Kronwall's hit in Game 1.

Exactly. Perfectly stated. If the Preds had gotten those couple of bad breaks that they claim (let's just assume they have a point) and the Wings had gone on to dominate the game and totally blow them out, I would think they had a legitimate beef, because something like that could really deflate a team. However, they came back, tied it up, had the momentum, and could not capitalize. That is no one's fault but their's. Stop blaming everyone else Trotz; put the blame on your team where it belongs.

I know exactly the call you are talking about. That play was on the other side of the ice from where we were sitting, and when they showed the replay on the big screen thingy I was like, "I would be pissed if I were Nashville. That was a weak call." However, I think what Hank did was in the same category; neither should have been a penalty. As for the goal, maybe we got a break, and I will take it. But just remember, if the Preds get a break like that in a different game, it will be really ridiculous if we are all on here complaining about it, considering everyone is saying the Preds should just accept what happened and move on. If something like that happens to us, I will be waiting to see if everyone here follows the advice they are giving to Trotz and Co.

I actually posted earlier in this thread that I thought your idea was really good about creating a Wings section and then another section for the rest of the league. I think that post got lost in the shuffle though, because like five posts went up all within a couple minutes of each other. So, yes, I agree with you about that. I also agree with Opie about combining threads based on topic. I think both ideas a very good, and deserve consideration. And I don't think that if someone has an idea that could help the site they should keep it to themselves. Nothing has ever been accomplished by not sharing ideas. My only thing was that since your idea is not how the site is right now, and everyone ignores Opie's constant pleading to combine threads, people should just ignore threads they don't like for the time being. That is my overall opinion on this topic: for the time being, until things change, ignore the threads you think are pointless, stupid, etc.

Wow, you can be brutal in your posts, but I find it oddly hilarious. I just laughed for a good 30 seconds when I read this, although I actually agree with a lot of what the guy you were jabbing at was saying.

I'm not disagreeing with you about the fact that people could keep all of the posts in one thread, like the fight thread you mentioned. That is fine. But, since people don't do that, and the site is not set up the way GS&T suggested, this is the way it is for now. So my only point way back on like page two of this thread was that people do not have to read or post in a thread they are not interested in; they can just ignore it. And I guess I am somewhat guilty because, while I have never started a thread about Feds, I usually post in most of them. If there was a separate one just for him, that would help. I also just want to say that I think the immense amount of Sammy threads we had a couple of months ago here was way worse (and more annoying) than the Feds epidemic that is currently going on.

Just because someone does not donate money to something doesn't mean they don't care about it. I think many of the members here are relatively young, in their teens to late twenties (not everyone, but a lot). Generally, people in that age range don't have a ton of spare money lying around. I realize donations are not a lot, but to some people, what seems like a little to you or me is a lot. So I don't think we should judge how much someone cares about the site based on how much money they give. That is not fair.

You have my vote. Then I can revel in all my Feds glory all day long, posting every tidbit of information I can find about him. But seriously, I think your idea would be good for the site. Good thinking!!

I understand what you are saying; I wouldn't have a problem with your suggestion of how to change the site. However, since the site is how it is for the moment, I don't see the need to criticize others for posting things they think may be of interest to others. And this was of interest to me. If Nev hadn't started the thread, I wouldn't have known about the article, and I wouldn't have gone to the Freep site where I found a link to another interesting article from a Washington newspaper about Feds. So, this was of interest to at least one person, me. Therefore, I would say it wasn't a pointless thread like you said.

Just because you are not interested in something, doesn't mean that others are not. I enjoyed the post, and went to the Freep site to read the whole article. There are a lot of threads on here that I am not interested in, so I don't even click on them. If others would like to read them or post in them, that is their perogative. If you don't like threads about Feds, don't click on them.