Yellowknife Redwing

With how tight the Western Conference is right now, it's looking like we're going to have to win in the neighbourhood of 13-15 of the remaining 19 games in order to secure a playoff spot. Detroit hasn't won 3 consecutive games in 2 months and hasn't scored more than 4 goals in over 40 games. I haven't lost faith and I'm not intending to make this a panic post, but realistically - do you think this team is going to be able to flip the switch when it comes to crunch time? Not only is the team going to have to face the challenge of teams wanting to "get up to beat the Wings", now they have the added incentive to try to spoil our playoff hopes. We've had the "oh well, it's only ________ part of the season, we still have ___ games to go" excuse going steadily for pretty much the entire year, but the sands in the hour glass are growing few.

This summer Helm needs to seek out Joe Sakic and train his wrist shot for 12 hours a day. Helm could be such a weapon on this team if he had a good shot because he gets so many opportunities to get himself in the clear. It was awesome to see him finally get rewarded for all his work.

I'm astonished by how many of you would sign the dotted line on Hossa's contract with the Blackhawks.

Don't mistake the purpose of my post. There's probably a mathematical possibility that the Wings could get into the playoffs winning only 9 of the next 19, but the odds greatly diminish with every single loss. My 15/19 number is almost a 100% guarantee that we will lock down 8th seed. That's 30 of a possible 38 points. With each point lost, we further decrease our odds of deciding our own destiny. The last thing thing any of us want to do is sit down and watch a Flames or Predators game on the last game of the schedule praying that they lose so we make the playoffs. There are no longer any excuses. This is still very much the core of a team that just came off back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and were poised for a 3rd. They're completely healthy, getting solid goaltending and have all the motivating factors on their side. They have just under 1/4 of the season to show what they're made of.

When this team starts playing well, I have confidence that Filppula will grow into his contract and be a very valuable 60 point centerman. Hossa's contract is complete and utter garbage. The Hawks are going to enjoy it for a couple of years, but it's going to cripple them down the road. It was a very shortsighted play by the Hawks to overload their cup drive. I'm sure we all agree that he won't play until he's 42, but even if he retires at 40, they're still paying him a very large sum for his late 30's. We've already got enough chips tied up in long-term contracts for forwards and it was a very smart move by Holland to cut ties with Hossa rather than getting entwined in a contract that would cripple the team down the road. Filppula.

Outside of his prime years, Bert has always been a streaky scorer. He did this identical routine in Calgary last year. He looked positively brilliant for a stretch and then disappeared almost entirely. I don't think he's gelled well with Zetterberg and he's no spring chicken anymore. For $1.5M I think he's done the job that was asked of him so far. Here's hoping he heats back up in the stretch because we're really going to need it.

Also, it's extra salt in the wound to see Howard get pulled, the Wings play like s***, Samuelsson score the dagger against us AND Leino score his first goal as a Flyer tonight.

aaaand the Jekyll and Hyde routine keeps right on rolling. Kronwall looks atrocious tonight and is directly responsible for 4 goals in the back of our net. If we can't right the ship while sitting in 8th with a quarter of the season left and being fully healthy, the management is going to have to take a serious look at the makeup of the team in the off-season. We have been utterly schooled and outclassed for this entire game.

Hopefully Samuelsson doesn't cause a ruckus

Strangest thing, I was just reading about tonight's game. Where was that now.... Oh yeah, in the GDT that occurs before every game http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63457

If I'm out of line for construing this combination of comments as calling Babcock "a horrible coach" then feel free to continue accusing me of hyperbolizing. You just admitted that you think Canada won this tourney in spite of Babcock, so it's not like either of my claims are baseless.

I have no problem with the critiquing of even the most popular of players/coaches, but this guy is trying to make a case that Babcock is a horrible coach and that team Canada won Olympic gold in spite of Babcock's clear deficiency as a coach. The notion is completely preposterous. You may disagree with some of the individual choices that the coach made during the tournament, but overall the result speaks for itself and Babcock got the job done. How anybody can be displeased with Babcock after the way the team performed and the resulting success is beyond me. If people want to s*** on Olympic coaches, I maintain that Bykov and BAG coached their respective teams into the ground.

I bet Rick DiPietro and Alexei Yashin have a secret clubhouse where they hang out and have money fights together and the toilet paper is made out of Islanders jerseys. What a colossal blunder that contract has turned out to be.

hurr durr we win'd da gold but if we not have babcock maybe we cudda win'd da gold even GOODER!!!!11 Give it a rest. He was given probably the most intensely scrutinized job in the history of hockey coaching. Canada was the only team in the tournament where the only acceptable outcome was gold and the weight of the entire country was on Babcock. In a very short period of time he managed to corral 23 of the best players in the world into a well-oiled machine where the line combinations were clicking and the defensive pairs looked comfortable and responsible. Babcock proved that the nation's faith was well placed and proved once again that he is one of, if not the, best coach in hockey today.

Do you have any concept of what a sour-grapes crybaby you sound like right now? The only calls made in this game were ones that clearly needed to be made, which is how officiating should go. This "parallel to the body hooking" type of officiating needs to be expunged from our game as soon as possible. The best games are the ones where the players decide them, not the officials. This was a terrific game where the teams were allowed to truly decide it, the penalty calls were even and fair and the better team won in the end.

I was expecting an excuse thread and was pleasantly surprised. This game had absolutely excellent officiating and hopefully the NHL can take a cue in realizing how great the game can be without all the chincy calls.

As a Canadian, I'm embarrassed by this post. Great game by the USA, great final.

Forgive me if I misunderstand you, but I think you may have an incorrect impression about handedness when it comes to shooting. Just because you shoot left does not mean that you are left handed. The vast majority of left hand shots are right handed people, just as the vast majority of people are right handed in general. The reason most people shoot left or right is because that's what felt most comfortable when they first picked up a hockey stick. It's all about what you feel strongest with. I'm a right handed person and I shoot, golf and bat left.

I absolutely love how Americans are like "harumph, Tyler Myers is from Texas but plays for Canada? Booooooooo!" and in the same breath can mention 24 year old Paul Stastny, their top-line center, as a cornerstone of USA hockey for years to come.

I set aside all meaningless rivalries when it comes to international play and get behind every player that has ever worn the Maple Leaf. How a Canadian could hate Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf right now is beyond me. I have an enormous amount of pride in our country, our system and our continued success at every level of international hockey. As stated above, nearly all "hatred" in hockey stems from jealousy of the player's skill or ability to dominate your own team.

I think we all know who got the last laugh in that situation. One of these days Sammy is going to have to kick his feet up, enjoy a fine cigar and bask in the year that the Red Wings and Tre Kronor have experienced in his absence.

The criticism for adding a 43-year-old Lidstrom to Tre Kronor's 2014 incarnation couldn't be much worse than that of having Fredrik Modin on the 2010 roster, could it? Part of me wants to buy into the theory that this is somehow a dig at the Swedish coaching staff, but chances are Nick simply has no intention of playing pro hockey for another 4 years.

You're in luck, friend! They just signed their goaltender to a mutli-year extension and his name just so happens to be Pekka. They're just keeping things interesting is all.

Without their incompetent coaches, Sweden and Russia both would have medaled in this tournament. BÃ…G in particular should be run out of Sweden by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks. Weinhandl with the Sedins was a complete and utter waste all tournament and he was just too stubborn to realize it. Not having Lidstrom on the powerplay is a colossal blunder. Giving Forsberg heavy minutes while using Franzen almost exclusively in a checking role when you're struggling to score goals is ridiculous coaching. Having Pahlsson, Tallinder and Weinhandl on the ice in the dying moments where you desperately need a goal to stay alive is a clear indication that he has absolutely no idea how to appropriate ice time in key situations. I would be very, very upset right now if I was a Swede and I just watched my team go out on that note.

You guys were saying? Better hope Miller keeps playing like he's been blessed by Jesus himself...