xtrememachine1

Lets not forget that two of those points and his only goal of the series came with the Habs two best defensemen out of the lineup.

As much as I don't want to see the Pens or Hawks go to the Finals, part of me would love to see Hossa score the Cup clinching goal at Mellon Arena. All this incredible luck that the Pens are having HAS to come back and bite them at some point.

I'd like to see Todd Mclellan win it. Though the thought of Hossa finally beating Pittsburgh in the Finals has a certain appeal to it.

Great season Wings, can't wait till next year!

Did everyone else die or something?

Well if you remember, the refs barely called ANYTHING in the Finals last year. I mean, the Pens had 6 guys on the ice for almost 30 seconds and nothing was called. Very bizarre. But I do find it interesting that Gill has 10 PIM in 4 games against the Pens while he recorded only 6 PIM during the entire '09 playoffs.

Same way for me. I used to love the Pens, but Crosby has really soured me on them. How far has the Crosby-mania gone? They sell t-shirts here, that have "Crosby 87" on the back and the front has gold triangle, but instead of the Penguin on skates, it has the number 87. At this rate, in 10 years, they'll be the Pittsburgh Sidney Crosbys.

The Bruins won the Winter Classic, so doesn't that mean they're supposed to go to the Finals and lose?

This is actually great news for the Wings because everytime I've watched them play in the playoffs this year, they've lost. This is a blessing in disguise for them. lol

Yeah, now they'll just destroy the Habs rather than cremating them.

They traded up for the 1st overall in 2003 and got the 2nd overall pick in 2004. Otherwise, they would have Ovechkin. They won the draft lottery in 2005 to get Crosby. Whether or not the fix was in, I don't think so. Bettman has however made it clear that he wants Crosby and the Penguins to be the face of the NHL with all of the nationally televised games, commercials, etc. I agree, but it doesn't hurt to reinforce that point with another Cup win over them.

Its funny that you say that because I had a dream that we traded Franzen for Jordan Staal. I even remember talking about it on this board and how their were people for it and against it. Yeah, I know I dream about this board. How lame am I? lol

The Pens luck swings like a pendulum and always has. They're lucky enough to get Michel Briere, then he gets killed in a car accident. They get Mario, win two Cups, then the franchise files for bankruptcy. They're bad for awhile, but they get Fleury, Malkin, Crosby and Staal because of it. The team almost moves out of Pittsburgh, but they stay and win another Cup a couple years later. I kind of understand it, but why do people want the Pens to get knocked out of the playoffs? I mean, I wouldn't exactly be heartbroken if they lost before making it to the Finals either, but nothing would make me happier than to see the Wings beat their ass and take back the Cup. That can't happen unless they get to the Finals. Nothing would say "We're better than you, now go away" better than winning the Cup in the final game at Mellon Arena.

It would be great to see the Wings vs the Habs. On the heels of the Team USA vs Team Canada gold medal game, we have the greatest American NHL franchise vs the greatest Canadian NHL franchise.

Yes. As much as people love to say "Crosby is better than Ovechkin" because of this loss, it IS a team sport. Like you said, Crosby has a number one overall pick goalie, two other forwards on the team were top 2 overall picks, and his defenseman actually play defense. Yet somehow, Crosby is better than Ovie because he lost his first round matchup and Cindy won his?

Coaching was a big part of this loss. Boudreau didn't change the powerplay at all and they were like 1-30 in the series? They had their 50 goal scorer at the point and all the passes on the PP set up a Semin shot. How about you let your MVP take all those shots instead. Not the playoff choke. He yanks Theodore after one bad game, the same Theodore that finished the regular season 21-1-2. Finally, why didn't he change the lines?? If you're struggling to score, juggle the lines. At the beginning of the year, Ovie, Backstrom and Semin all played on the same line and were dominant. That line combo wasn't even attempted in this series.

People hate the Wings because they're the best. I take their hatred as a compliment.

This is why I want the Wings destroy the Pens in the Finals this year. Could you imagine having to put up with crap like this all year?

Anyone else want to see Savard steal the puck from Cooke and then score the series clinching goal? Then in the handshake line Savard can say to Cooke "This time you didn't see ME coming"

If the Caps blow Game 7, the Pens will have a free trip to the Finals, pretty much like last year when two of the top 3 seeds got knocked out before the Pens could face them. I wouldn't mind seeing Pens vs Wings III. Complete the trilogy and like all good trilogies, the good guys win the first one, the bad guys always win the second one and the good guys finish it off with a final decisive win. Could you imagine the Wings winning the Cup in the final game at Mellon Arena? HA!!

Yeah, I don't see us offering more than $4 mil. With the cap going up and salaries always going up, I figured he would stand to make a little more what Stuart makes. I'm sure someone out there will pay him more though and it will be between $4-$5 mil, maybe even more than that. Look at the Rangers and the ridiculous contracts they throw out. For us, he's a $4 mil player max.

It would be fun to watch Kovalchuk tear it up for us, but we need to stick with what we've been doing and that's building up our defense. If Lidstrom leaves, our defense is significantly weaker. We won't find a replacement for him, but Volchenkov is a pretty good start. A defenseman with his abilities should pull between $4-$5 mil, but I would be surprised if he got up to $5 mil. He's a shot blocker and a shutdown defenseman. He won't contribute on the powerplay or put up a lot of points. Plus, he hasn't played a full season in three years, which is typical for type of player he is.

Everytime I watched a game in this series, they lose. When I don't watch (power outages, not televised here, etc), they win. I will NOT be watching tomorrow night, so you can bet on the Wings winning and advancing to the next round. I'll miss the entire playoffs if it helps the Wings win the Cup.

Yeah I don't "hate" them the way I hated other teams in the past playoffs. I think it because they don't do shady stuff like Anaheim and Pittsburgh. They don't take cheap shots and act like they're something great when they win. Phoenix plays hard, they have a good coach, a tough goalie and they don't act like jerks.

It was the exact same hit Ovechkin put on Campbell (in the same freaking building too). It HAS to be a two game suspension. No more, no less. To do anything else makes the NHL look like a joke. You can't say, "Well its the playoffs, you can't suspend a game for that many games." Players will go out there and kill each other knowing that the penalty won't be as bad as it would have been in the regular season.