xtrememachine1

If the Wings never lose another playoff game this year, I'll still be mad about this loss. I'm just crazy like that. To me, this was another typical Wings loss. Dominate the play, have the opponent's goalie stand on his head, then some loser for the other team that scored maybe 10 goals all year, throws a prayer to the net and it goes in. That frustrates the heck out of me.

Yeah and the Islanders won the first time and lost in the rematch, so if the Wings meet up with the Pens again they'll have Crosby's named engraved on the Cup before the drop of the puck in Game 1.

Don't I know it. I wanted this win almost as badly as a SCF win. I was sick of hearing, "Yeah, we're having a bad season, but at least we beat Hossa and the Red Wings!" Hossa's goal was great and the fact that he schooled Jordan Staal (their "hero" from the last game) was even better. Great win for the Wings

When I was watching Conklin play for the Pens last year, I kept thinking to myself, "He'd be a great fit for the Wings. Great at rebound control, good puck handler, doesn't let up softies and can come up big from time to time." Really, that's all the Wings need from their goalie. The defense does the rest.

Just ignore them. I live in Pittsburgh and I constantly have to hear about how great that 7-6 game was. I'm like, "Ummmm, you won a regular season game... we won the Cup. Are you really going to trash talk?" Pens fans are very bitter towards the Wings because they feel like it screwed up their "coronation". "How dare the Red Wings interfere with Crosby's rise to greatness!" Speaking from experience, Pens fans have hated the Wings for quite some time, they just have a reason now. These Wings bashing blogs are good for a laugh because nothing changes the fact that the Wings are the defending champs and will continue to be one of the best teams in the league for years to come.

I can't believe something like this was written, with Hank winning the Conn Smythe still fresh in everybody's head. Iginla's a talented player, but you can't go saying he's better than Zetterberg a month after he wins the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophies. Let's get real.

I STILL can't believe the Pens fans can't get over this. On this popular Pens blog site, they have a "two face" Hossa picture with a quote "Hossa 3:16" at the bottom of every post. You'd think Lemieux left or something. http://thepensblog.blogspot.com/

I always knew he was a Flamer

Actually based on what I saw when he was on the Pens this past year, his strengths are rebound control and puckhandling, two things that work in our favor. I could see him and Ozzie posting some very good numbers this upcoming season. No knock on Howard, who I haven't seen very much of, but Osgood and Conklin should be the goalies this year.

I'm so glad someone on this board saw that article by Gene Collier about the Hossa signing. I read that last week and had basically the same reaction you guys did. All of the Post Gazette's sports columnists are ancient, negative and have very bad memories. If it wasn't for Max Talbot's goal with 34 seconds left in Game 5, Hossa never even plays a Game 6 to get a "bad bounce". Living in Pittsburgh I hear a lot of "If we had shown up for the first two games it would've been a good series". The team has the same mentality too. They don't think they were beat by the Red Wings, they think they blew their chance. It was theirs for the taking and they didn't get it done. The Wings are the much better team, they know what they need to do in order to win and do it unlike the Pens who complain about officiating when they start losing and take cheap shots like Whitney and Roberts did in Game 2. That's why Hossa left for Detroit. The Pens had a great year, but the Red Wings have been having a great couple decades.

I'd be very unhappy if we got Brooks Orpik. Not a Red Wings type defenseman. Doesn't move the puck well at all and gets caught out of position more than anyone. I'd take Lilja over Orpik.

If Malkin does leave for Russia, they'll lose a lot, so I don't see this happening... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08172/891435-61.stm

Wow, that's pretty much dead on. Thornton, Lecavalier, Heatley could be moved around maybe, but the rest are in place.

Truth be told, he's a Flyers fan and he was probably wearing that outfit DURING the Finals.

To all you people that think defensemen are the keys to winning a championship, all I have to say is.... SHHHHHHH!! The less teams that know that, the better

Brodeur has been playing 70 games each year and he's burned out when its time for the playoffs. Same with Kiprusoff. Lidstrom does play every game, but based on what I've seen from players in the past, playing goal wears you out more. Ozzie hasn't played that many games in his whole career, I don't think we should start now. There's more than enough capable FA goalies out there that can play 30-40 games, if Howard cannot.

Highest all time ranking? Lidstrom. He's one of the top 3 defensemen of all time. Highest Red Wings ranking? Yzerman, for sure. He was the heart and soul of the team for many years and I can't look at the Wings logo without thinking of him.

You can't have a 36 year old goalie play over 70 games in the regular season. I've only seen Howard a couple times, so you'll have to help me out here, but is he ready for 30-40 games? If he's not capable of that, there's Ty Conklin or Wade Dubielewicz. They wouldn't be bad stop gaps till Howard is ready for the big time.

Yeah, last year I think the Wings got screwed with the matchups they ended up getting. Last year it was like, "Congrats, you got the number one seed! Now you get to play the Flames, Sharks and Ducks and that's just to GET to the Finals." The Wings were the best team last year and it didn't show because they 3 tough matchups in a row. This year, I think the Wings got an easier path, but that's kinda the point of finishing with the best record in the league. You should have an easier path.

For all the die hards on this board that love the Wings no matter what and kept the positive energy going even after a devastating Game 5 loss. For Ozzie, who proved to everyone that he still has it and that 98 wasn't a fluke. For Zetterberg, who OWNED the best player in hockey. I think that title is about to change. For all the Wings fans in places other than Detroit. Living in Pittsburgh, its been a tough couple weeks, but the feeling today is OHHHH so good! Last and definitely not least, for my 5 month old son, Caleb whose middle name is "Yzerman". He sat with and watched almost every second of every game with me. For a little guy, he can stay up pretty late. I can always say the Wings won the Cup in our hometown the season you were born.

As long as the Wings can forget about this last game, they'll win the Cup. Even the great Oilers dynasty blew a Game 5 at home in the Finals. GO WINGS GO!!!!!!!!!!

It will all come down to the play of the new line combos. If they have the same success they had late in Game 5, the Wings win the Cup. If not, its going to be a problem. As a resident of Pittsburgh, it is exciting to know that the Wings will be competing for the Cup 20 minutes from my house. Let's just hope they win it because I've been getting non-stop ribbing from Pens fans for the past couple weeks. If the Pens win the Cup, I'm going to have to move out of town!

They're not focusing on the next game, they're just complaining and complaining about losing the last one. Doesn't bode well for them. Before this playoff run, the fans in Pittsburgh wanted Therrien's head. I don't think he's a poor coach, he's just not right for this team.

Dats drilled Roberts and Roberts fell down and went "BOOM". I couldn't believe Dats threw that punch. Of all people to knock down Gary Roberts with a punch, Pavel Datsyuk? Wow! WWGRD? Get knocked on his butt!

Hey everybody! I'm the Wings fan behind enemy lines and I work for post-gazette.com. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is releasing anti-Red Wings cheer cards (http://www.post-gazette.com/penscheercards/) and I noticed that the Detroit Free Press picked this up (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080522/SPORTS05/80522007/1053/rss17). The guy that is making these cheer cards sits right behind me. I know there's a lot of good web artists on this board, submit your anti-Pens card to the Detroit Free Press and give me something hang on my desk!