Sergeiwasmyfav

The Wings are terrible; Chicago is obviously a superior team, we would have no chance against them in the playoffs, and if they get in, we might as well just accept another first round defeat. It doesn't matter anyway, even if we get past the first round, we won't beat the Ducks or the Sharks anyway because we are too soft. And if we somehow do beat one or both of those teams, we would definitely lose in the finals because we would be so beat up from those series (because were are soft, don't forget) that whatever team we played from the East would just walk over us. We would probably get swept. Also, the fact that the team is really old, would definitely mean we couldn't keep up with a younger team from the East. So, why even watch? It's just going to be another disappointment. Note: This was all sarcasm, in keeping with the spirit of this thread.

The Wings played a fairly strong game on Sunday, and Dom was great. Why does the bad game last night get all of the attention, and totally outweigh the games the Wings have played well lately? Shouldn't they be equal?

1. Gordie Howe 2. Steve Yzerman 3. Ted Lindsay 4. Terry Sawchuk 5. Sid Abel 6. Alex Delvecchio 7. Nicklas Lidstrom 8. Sergei Fedorov 9. Red Kelly 10. Mickey Redmond (My own personal bias here)

Exactly, I completely agree. Aside from last year's playoffs, there really hasn't been that much of a reason for the Joe to go crazy lately. I was at one of the games at home against Anaheim last year in the WCF (Game 2) and it was pretty crazy. Not like the clip in this thread crazy, but still, it was loud, and I bet it would have been to that level if it had been a game we had a chance to eliminate the Ducks in and not just Game 2 (not that all games in the playoffs aren't important). That video was great though. I was 12 when that happened and my parents were supposed to go to that game but my mom got sick and I went with my dad instead. It was so awesome and exciting. I remember when Shanny put that empty netter in, everyone was jumping up and down, hugging, crying, you just knew we were going to win the Cup then, at least that's how it felt. Being 12, it seemed amazing to me that we were actually going to eliminate the mighty Avs, and the invincible Patrick Roy. I honestly have goosebumps right now thinking about it.

Okay, Murphy, I could see someone not liking him that much. I like him, but I don't feel that strongly about it. But Mickey??!! What are you talking about? How can you say Mickey is not knowledgable or exciting? Do you watch the games? Mickey knows a ton about the sport and is one of the best color commentators in the league. He always has a great comment or anecdote or something, and he is never one to hold back his opinion. Ken Daniels is the worst of the three (although not that bad, I just don't care for him) and you didn't say anything about him. Maybe we just prefer different broadcasting styles but I think Mickey is great. What exactly is it about him you don't think is knowledgable or exciting?

I didn't compare him to me. I wouldn't last a shift if I were 100% healthy. I compared him to another hockey player (Yzerman) playing the exact same sport at the same level, who played through an injury that anyone would concede is worse than a broken finger. And yes, if Stevie could do what he did in the '02 playoffs on that knee, Stuart should play with a broken finger. Yeah, you are right, it may hard, it may be painful, but as Hockeycrazy said, players have played through much worse in the playoffs. And just to clarify, I'm not questioning his heart right now. I'm simply saying he should be out there for the playoffs.

I agree with those saying he shouldn't be out for more than a few games in the playoffs if it is his finger. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic to Stuart or anything, but if Stevie could basically play on one knee in the '02 playoffs, and you could see the pain on his face every time he got knocked down and had to get up, and kept getting up over and over, then Stuart can play with a ******* broken finger!! (Sorry for the f-bomb, Matt). I mean, seriously, I don't want him out there if he will be a detriment to the team, but again, see comparison above. It's a finger.

Maybe McCarty just figured that if the guy was really as big of a Wings fan as his mom was saying he was, he would know by using powers of deduction that he meant next Friday, as the Wings don't play this Friday. Thus, it had to be next Friday. Also, sometimes when you know in your head what day something is, you don't think of it the way others will, which will lead you to say something that seems completely clear to you, but is ambiguous to others. Perhaps McCarty knew what Friday he meant, and he has had Friday in his head as the day to come back, so he just said Friday knowing what he meant. People do that all the time.

That's exactly what I was saying. I don't get why everyone is responding like that.

I'm just curious, why is it so hard to believe that his mom ran into McCarty? The players do go places other than the arena and their house. My mom ran into Yzerman at Einstein Bagels once. I just don't understand why everyone assumes this guy is making this up.

I agree completely. Being the number one seed, as us Wings fans have experienced so many times, means nothing. When the Wings won the Cup in '97 and '98, they went in as the number three seed behind Colorado and Dallas both times I believe (although please correct me if I'm wrong) and it obviously did not hurt them as they won the Cup both years. San Jose can have the first seed for all I care; we know all too well it guarantees nothing.

You got me there, what you said is true. A lot of people can get pretty snippy on here at times!

Exactly. Someone should try telling that to the idiots in this thread that defend the guy because he scored 20 goals one year. Jason Williams scored 20 goals once as well, and people were clamoring for his demise here in Detroit, so I don't see how Samulesson should be any different. I don't think someone is an idiot just because they don't share my opinion. And I was not one of the people defending Sammy, so it's not like I took your post personally. My post in this thread was also about how frustrating it is to watch him and how he should not be on the powerplay. However, that is my opinion, and I don't think people who see it differently are "idiots".

I try to be as objective as possible about players. Lilja is nowhere near as bad as many make him out to be, and I don't understand why people have a problem with Hasek. However, it is really hard to find positive things about Sammy. When I watch him out there, more often than not, I get frustrated. I think Sammy does have a decent shot in the sense that it is pretty hard; however, his accuracy, or lack thereof, is a major problem, a problem which totally cancels out the speed of the shot. Whenever Sammy has the puck, it seems one of two things will happen (at least this is what I have noticed): He will either make a really good move to get around someone or get into a shooting position and then totally mess up the shot, or he will take a shot at a ridiculous time when he should try to make a move, pass, etc. As others have mentioned, he just doesn't seem to have the hockey sense that many other players have. I do think he has more skill than others give him credit for. As I said above, I think he has a relatively hard shot, and I've seen him make some nice moves, moves that do require some skill. The problem is putting it all together at appropriate times. This he seems to have a great deal of difficulty doing, and that just comes down to knowing the game well. The best analogy I can come up with for Sammy is that a decent amount of the pieces of the puzzle are there, enough so that you could put the puzzle together and make it look pretty complete, but he has no clue how to put it together. As for Sammy on the PP, it is annoying. Hopefully Babcock figures something else out, or Sammy suddenly improves just in time for the playoffs and makes us all eat our words. I would love for that to happen, but don't anticipate it.

Thanks for clearing that up guys! It makes more sense now. Thank God there was no injury, becuase that could have been awful. As others have said, someone needs to give Pronger a beat down. I really hate him, and I think hate is a very strong word. He is the spawn of Satan (aka Burke).

The TSN article says that Kesler was not injured on the play. Someone posted earlier in this thread that there is hardly any protection on the calf. How is it possible that Kesler did not get hurt? I watched the video and I think what Pronger did was definitely intentional and absolutely wrong. There is no way he was pushing off or anything like that. However, I am genuinely wondering how hard he actually stomped, given that there was no injury. I don't think it makes a difference because in my mind it is the intent that should matter, but I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to equipment or anything like that, because I am just shocked there was no injury here. I understand how the skate would have protected the guy from the Simon stomp, but like I said, someone said that the calf doesn't have much protection. I'm just wondering how Kesler avoided injury. I'm not in any way trying to excuse what Pronger did. He is a dirty, dirty player, and this incident is no different. I'm just wondering about the lack of injury, that is all.

I think that is fair. Mickey and Larry didn't think there should be a suspension at all, or at least that is what they said during the game last night. I'm on the fence about it. One game isn't a big deal, so I think it is fine. I don't think it deserved more than that though.

I agree that Cherry isn't technically racist because almost all, if not all, of the European players he openly dislikes are white. However, he is definitely a bigot in some shape or another. He doesn't like certain players because they are not Canadian. I think nationalism is being proud of your country and those that represent it. I don't think nationalism involves slamming other people because they are not from your country, which is what he does. With a few exceptions, he refuses to acknowledge the accomplishments of European players in the NHL, which is just ridiculous when you consider the contributions many have made to the sport. Then, to take it one step further, he also openly criticizes European players, and makes a point of saying why this and that aspect of their game is inferior because they are European. As I said above, this goes beyond nationalism; it is bigotry.

I agree completely. We all know what those guys are capable of doing, now they just need to do it consistently, which I think they can. I think Franzen has really picked up his intensity these last few games, and I hope it continues. He has been noticeable out there almost every shift. As someone else said, if he could keep this up and get a little more physical, it would be perfect, and right in time for the playoffs.

That is good news, although Franzen did a fine job filling in for Homer yesterday. No one does it like Homer though.

Exactly. I watch whenever I can just to see what he comes up with next. Him and Ron McLean together is great.

I love playing devil's advocate. The responses you get are great. Do you think anything that I said in the other post(s) is even true? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Maybe I'm just ******* around because everyone takes stuff so seriously in here. The beautiful thing is, it's the Internet, so no one knows anything for sure. I may have never been to a Wings game in my life. I might not even live in the United States. Anything anyone says in here could all be bull s***, myself included. In fact, many of my previous posts in this topic were, just because I thought it would be funny to see how people reacted. If you consider all of my other posts in other threads, I think you will see that I am a serious Wings fan. Sometimes I just mess around, especially when I know everyone will be in an uproar about something. I resisted the temptation when the Wings goal was called back against the Ducks, but I decided why not with this. Yeah, I'm an ******* sometimes. I admit it. I was in this thread. Also, I could only be 14 years old. Would you really expect a 14-year-old to pay for his own season tickets?

Wah, wah, whine, whine, cry, cry. Good God with all the bitching and moaning going on in here in feel like I'm either in a nursery or an old person's home. You all get up in arms about this like it's the end of the world. The league will address this, after last night's debacle. If they don't, then they deserve to be the laughing stock of professional sports. I just find it funny how upset you all get, and from all of the posts I've read about getting tickets and such, I don't think many of you put all that much money into the team. My parents have season tickets and were at the game last night. They spend thousands, and I do mean, thousands of dollars every year on the Wings/NHL. And they weren't half as mad as some of you people. They were upset at the bad call, but they also recognized that the Wings did not play that well to begin with. And for all of you who are going to say they must not care about the team that much then, they have had season tickets since they were the "Dead Things" in the early 1980s, we go to every single game, so we are not like those people with season tickets who have them and leave the seats empty, and they have spent a TON of money on this team over the years. Keeping things in perspective does not make you any less of a fan.

I agree completely that the refs should be expected to do their job correctly. I never said it wasn't an awful call! It was. I was watching in disbelief. However, that doesn't change my opinion about how the players reacted. You are right that it did land closer to a San Jose player, and it wasn't a hard play for him to make. I guess I'm more outraged that such a situation could happen in the first place than I am about how it affected the Wings directly, only because I feel they could have tried harder. That is my opinion. Something like this should never happen. I completely agree with everyone else about that. And it was unbelievable. It was everything everyone in this thread has said it was. I was just adding my thoughts about how the Wings reacted.

I never said it wasn't a bad call, Matt. All I said was the Wings should have kept playing. I think that is a legitimate point. How can you say it is moot? Do you think the Wings should not have kept playing despite the fact that no whistle was blown? All I said was simply, the Wings should have kept playing. That takes nothing away from how terrible the call was and the fact that it makes the league look ridiculous. It was just simply another point about the situation. I believe Mickey Redmond, who was obviously very, very angry, also said something to the effect of "Well, I guess this shows you why you play until you hear the whistle." In fact, I know he said that. Yes, San Jose still may have scored. You are exactly right. But I don't think my point that the Wings should have kept playing was ridiculous at all.