pits200

You realize that 90% of your fellow forum members said this about Crosby and the Pens before the series started. So all of a sudden its not fair for someone else to bring up this topic I'm not condoning it one bit, the penalties are not relevant to the series so far. But don't be a damn hypocrit about how Bettman is going to give the Pens calls, and Crosby is a diver and make it such a big point of contention.. blah blah blah. I dont know how many times I have heard these comments on this forum, now all of a sudden if someone brings it up about the Wings, its just a ridiculous thought.

Pens fan here... The penalties mean nothing, even though there were a couple flops from the Wing players, people still thoroughly recognize the dominance of the Wings regardless of some "weak" penalty calls. If this was a closer series in the first two games, I might have a gripe with the officiating. But, its not like the Power Play has been whats killing the Pens even though it does crush momentum. Let me tell you what the Wings do better than any team I have ever seen. Their transition game is ridiculous, that is the difference in this series. Your defensemen get the puck to mid ice and boom, its gone. Very impressive playing from the Wings, I can't even put up an argument for the Pens. Also, I guess all the conspiracy theorists can shut up now about Bettman.

Pens in 6, winning it at THE IGLOOOOOOO!!! I was bored, no one needs to respond to this post because its pointless and I know that. Good luck Wings tomorrow even though none of you feel like you need it Gooo Pens!

Now you're giving all kinds of credit to dallas when it works into your argument. Its not possible that the Wings had a bad game which is probably what everyone was saying after that game. And not that, OH DALLAS IS SO GOOD they made us Wings look like fools. I dont believe thats what everyone was saying. You cant have things both ways to fit your argument.

Dallas- GA 207 for the season NY- GA 199 for the season What makes them better?

The way I look at it, it was the Pens who made the Rangers look in your words "Impotent". Both the Rangers and Stars had 97 points on the year so its funny how you call the Stars a good team but the Rangers are no good. Glad to see you have an impartial mind and you aren't like, boo whoo, the Wings play all the hard teams... Simple fact, each team played 2 bad teams and 1 ok team.

I know everyone doesn't know much about Pitts 4th line, but don't make a mistake. The Pens will run 4 lines in the 1st game, look for them to get about 7-13 minutes of ice time throughout the game. But that obviously will depend on how the game is progressing and if one team gets way behind.

Ha, I knew my post would get some people in a tizzy. Fact is simple, neither team played the best of competition in the playoffs and did what they were suppose to do which is beat the living bejesus out of them and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals. Go Pens!!!

You're right, the 2 best teams might not be playing. Im still unsure about the Wings because they didn't have to play the Sharks or any other tough playoff team. Also, dont forget that the Pens played in the hardest division in the NHL, 4 teams over 95 points and 4 playoff teams vs 2 for the Central. So the Wings still have to prove to me that they are 1 of the best 2 teams in the NHL, I guess we will see this Saturday.

Different kind of top ten. You're right about Dats, his stick work is phenomenal. But Crosby takes on a whole team in a couple of these.

Very Nice, but you can't argue. Crosby's top 10 was better. Not being a biased fan either.

Come on now, anyone who uses the numbers from 20-25 years ago that Gretzky put up is not very knowledgeable about hockey. Hockey is a different sport, not just the rules, but like in all pro sports now a days there is so much parity. Gretzky was amazing, dont get me wrong, but he was playing against players who were so much less skilled than him it was ridiculous. You'd have big lumbering defensemen who couldn't catch a cold. Now you have big players like Lidstrom who are strong and fast and would put up a MUCH better match against the Great One. Back then Defensemen- 4 Gretzky- 10 Difference of 6 Now Defensemen 8 Gretzky 10 Difference of 2 This is the main reason you will never see anything close to a 200 pt scorer again. The players are just better.

I know Hossa is worth way more than 6 million, but he wants to be on a winning team and possibly may take less. I know its a long shot, but the point I was trying to make is that they would not sign him unless for some miraculous reason he was fine making 6.

Pretty much hit it on the button. They will try to keep hossa if they can get him for less than 6 million/year, but this is highly doubtful. Staal, he is still young and they can sign him for semi cheap because he isnt a pure goal scorer. Malkin's staying, he'll get crosby money. Fleurys getting paid from us Malone is expendable unfortunately They will be fine, they can keep the core that they had at the beginning of this yea. They may try to sign Dups. Overall, this might be the best pens team in terms of talent compared to the next couple years because of all the great players they have now for a reasonable price, but they are lacking experience.

Ha, you do realize that Crosby was out a 1/3 of the year with a high ankle sprain. So I guess you think the Pens offense went into a shell for that third of the season cause Crosby wasn't playing. Also, just so everyone knows, Crosby didn't ask to be the face of the NHL. When he came into the league 3 years ago, hockey was dying around the country as you all know. They needed someone to revive it and Crosby didn't put his name into a lottery drawing and luckily get picked. He had nothing to do with this, its the typical media trying to look for the next lemieux or gretzky. Its much easier to hype a 18 year old kid than a 30 year old superstar because he has a clean slate. So give the kid a break, he doesn't sit up every night trying to think how he can be on tv more, think about how competetive you were when you were 20, all you cared about was playing the game.

Not really fair that you compare that you take your best defensemen vs our best player. But then to make your point more glaring, you take our 3rd best defensemen vs your best player. Thats one thing I've noticed on here, people always skewing figures to benefit their team. But overall, this forum is well run and many of you wing fans are very knowledgable. MUCH BETTER THAN THE FLYERS FORUMS!

Hey, if you want to use stats, you need to use fair ones. Crosby had an high ankle sprain and missed a 1/3 of the season getting over this. Before his injury he was the leading scorer in the league. Crosby (1.36 pts/game) + Hossa (.92 pts/game) = 2.28 pts/game Dats (1.18 pts/game) + Zett (1.23 pts/game) = 2.41 pts/game Now the discrepancy doesn't look as big anymore, does it? Im not usually a stat boy but since I think this duo comparison is so close, I dont want to just give my biased opinion so stats work great.

Thats actually a really good point that I didnt think about. I don't want to have to wait 3 more days to find out, this is torture.

Thanks for your input, I'll be sure to ignore your pointless posts from now on, so thanks. How are you going to hold a teams schedule against them as a liability. They can only prove their merit based on the teams they're playing and these are the cards they were dealt. No matter how bad these playoff teams were, its hard enough to go 12-2 in the regular season against scrub teams, its only that much harder in the playoffs. Even if you played all last place teams for 14 games most clubs would be happy to go 12-2 let alone the weakest playoff teams.

I won't claim to know much about the Wings 3rd line, so I will just say that the Pens have Staal who is 19 years old and a beast. He is a mini malkin with phenomenal defensive skills. 1st line-wash 2nd line-pens 3rd line-not sure bout the wings line 4th line-Wings Nice thing about the 4th line is that they don't need to be on the ice that long, just long enough to give the 3 lines above them a rest.

Hmm, you don't think Hossa(19 playoff pts)/Crosby(21 playoff pts) match up with Dats(19 playoff pts)/Zett(21 playoff pts)? But don't forget, the Pens have played 2 less games than the Wings. So Crosby(1.5pts/game)/Hossa(1.4pts/game) Dats (1.2pts/game)/Zets(1.3pts/game). Also, your guys are on the ice much longer. I see that happening with the pens as they will definitely reduce the 4th lines time in this series and increase their first two lines time. I know about all the stats, the +/- of your guys, the backchecking, their strength. But I can't imagine how Hossa/Crosby dont match your first line. Thats all

Yup, I'll give you that about the defense. But like I keep talking with people about, certain teams ask defensemen to do different things. People who judge whose defense is better based on points aren't really making a fair comparison. The Pens only use 1 or 2 defensemen as offensive weapons and hence they don't have the amazing stats that some of the Wings do. Its no excuse, I still feel Detroits def guys are better, but I feel when it comes to just straight defense and stopping goals, its a closer comparison than when taking the guys in an overall comparison. All I want from our defense is to play solid in front of the net and not give up any turnovers while creating outlet passes. If they can do that, our forwards and wingers are good enough to make up for the lack of help behind them.

First time poster, but as my name probably gives away. I am a Pens fan... Let me drop a disclaimer first and say that I have read about 50% of this post, some of it being B.S because of team pride, some of it being very informative because I won't claim to know the ins and outs of the Wings. So if I make a pont that has been beaten to death, I apologize. 1.) Hal Gill is hilarious, his nickname that he got in Toronto I think was (Skillz Gillz) which is a bit of sarcasm cause we all know he has none. 2.) The most beat to death thing on these forums has been "Our lines/depth is better than yours" I am going to be biased but I truely believe the Pens have the better top 3 lines. If the Wings split up Dats & Zett from the 1st line, that gives the Pens an advantage on the 1st line. If the Wings keep Dats & Zett together, then the 1st line is a wash for both teams but then the Pens have a decent advantage on the 2nd line. GO Pens.