LeonardSankar

All I know is finishing 4th in the Conference will not get us a Cup!

So I guess the 4th seed it is and a second round exit as this team is done!

Wings probably drop this one b/c too many injuries also they suck on the road.

Thanks I'll try to post more when I get time or if I am mad I'll come on here to vent.

I think we need to change this discussion to if they are gonna hang on to 4th in the West b/c they are not finishing first in the West plain & simple!

Actually they are way too many teams to keep track of that I hate b/c my list is very long consisting of teams & players and I'll list a few with the reason being in brackets: Teams: Toronto Maple Leafs (hate their fans) Dallas Cowboys (Niners rival) Green Bay Packers (Beat Niners repeatedly) Buffalo Bills (Just like Leaf fans) New York Yankees (Jays rival in AL East) Pittsburgh Penguins (Lemieux & Crybaby Hater & 2009) New York Jets (Favre played for them in 2008) New York Giants (Beat Patriots twice in SB's) Baltimore Ravens (Bunch of Blow Hards) Dallas Mavericks (Can't stand Cuban & Dirk) North Carolina Tar Heels (Duke fan) Vancouver Canucks (Wings main competition)

So why did all those Penguin fans make the trip for game 7? What about the other games at the Joe in the finals in 08 & 09 were there that many Penguin fans? I didn't notice that many from home on tv but when I went to game 7 there was way too many for my liking. Also I know Steeler fans travel well but thats NFL and hockey doesn't mean as much as the NFL does in Pittsburgh.

I only root for Detroit for NHL & NBA as I grew fans of other teams in the other sports leagues. Since I live close to Toronto I'll root for the Blue Jays & Raptors but not the Leafs b/c they are the worst fans in the history of all of sports and my hatred for the Leafs is one of the main reasons why I became a Wings fan back in the old Norris division days of the 80's. Aside from the Wings I also rooted for the Oilers, Kings, Blues & Rangers e.g. Wayne Gretzky and I was one of the people who wanted the Wings to sign Gretzky in the summer of 1996 as it would have been great for him to be apart of the 97 & 98 Cup teams but he choose the Rangers.

I am from Ontario, Canada a city called Brantford e.g Gretzky. I didn't really like the Lakers I just always rooted for Shaq as I am a fan of the Pistons & Raptors for basketball but I also root for James & Wade. Also btw I am a fan of Notre Dame, San Francisco 49ers, Blue Jays in case you were wondering.

But they let other teams score on them when their net is pulled!

It's funny if the Wings were up 2-1 late we know the Hawks would tie it late but when the switch is flipped our guys can't score! Now you all know why I am so hard on this team b/c they just let me down!

Not a Heat fan but I hate the Lakers b/c they traded Shaq to the Heat in the summer of 2004 and thus I don't like the Lakers anymore and thus will root for the Heat to beat them when they play each other.

How about not fighting and just allow the opposing player to beat you up so you get a 5 minute powerplay?

Well add the Hawks to the list after today's loss and injury to Howard. Just a complete lost weekend for as Duke loses to UNC, Heat loses to Lakers and Wings lose to Hawks.

Well I just saw the score on the ticker and saw that Howard is injured so you pretty much know what I think about the outcome of this game! I guess the 4 seed is where the Wings will finish and you can add the Hawks to the list of teams including the Canucks, Blues & Sharks who can all eliminate the Wings in the playoffs.

In the West the main competition is Vancouver and then San Jose b/c of their hex on them and then the Blues, Hawks and Preds all pose a threat. But in the East the main threat is Pittsburgh with or without Crybaby as the Penguins are the leagues favourite team e.g Gary Buttman! I would take the Bruins or Rangers in a heartbeat over the Penguins as they have too much scoring even minus Crybaby for the Wings to handle.

Hi guys so what do you think will be the Wings W-L record in their final 22 games? I have them losing atleast 8 games but not sure how many if any of the 8 they get a point in so lets say they go 14-8 which is ok but not sure if thats good enough to get the top spot as the Canucks have an easier schedule and thus the Wings may need to go on a serious run to fend off the Canucks and this year the top spot in the conference is more important than ever b/c of the home ice factor at the Joe. Below I've listed games in which I expect a W or a L: Feb. 21 at Chicago 8:00 L Feb. 23 Vancouver 7:30 L Feb. 25 Colorado 7:00 W Feb. 28 at Columbus 7:00 W Mar. 2 Minnesota 7:30 W Mar. 4 Chicago 4:00 W Mar. 6 at Philadelphia 7:00 L Mar. 9 Los Angeles 7:30 W Mar. 10 at Nashville 8:00 L Mar. 13 at Los Angeles 10:30W Mar. 14 at Anaheim 10:00L Mar. 17 at San Jose 10:30L Mar. 19 Washington 7:30 W Mar. 21 at NY Rangers 7:30 L Mar. 24 Carolina 7:00 W Mar. 26 Columbus 7:30 W Mar. 28 at Columbus 7:30 W Mar. 30 Nashville 7:30 W Apr. 1 Florida 4:00 W Apr. 4 at St. Louis 7:30 L Apr. 5 New Jersey 7:30 W So as you can see I was generous in only giving them 1 loss at home which is to the Canucks and I would assume they will drop a couple to some of the bottom feeders as they normally have those types of games and it looks more & more like the Wings will be in the 2 spot assuming they can hold off St.Losers for the division lead.

Well what are the main differences b/t the Wings of 07/08 that won the Cup to this years team? For starters I'll list a few of them below: a) Team Defense - the 07/08 squad could actually shut down the opposition with ease and use of their superior puck possession game as they gave up the fewest shots on goal per game and very little quality scoring chances. The same cannot be said about this years teams as our goalies are being hung out to dry and the PK flat out sucks. b) Scoring - I'd say the scoring is about the same but with this years team lacking the defense that the 08 team had then we are at a huge disadvantage b/c with the porous defense you need to score alot more to win but the Wings still don't get the clutch goals when they need them. Also back in 08 the Wings could be counted on when they needed the big goals as they still only had 2 big guns up front with Dats & Zett but they got more secondary scoring when need be. c) Goaltending - I'd say this is the only area that's better but its not showing up in the stats sheet b/c they give up more goals and its attributed to horrible team defense. So Jimmy is better than Hasek & OsGood but he is only as good as the skaters around him and thus his fine heroics have been wasted at times. d) Powerplay - the powerplay was fairly consistent back in 08 with a few dry spells but nothing compared to today's unit that flat out sucks. Also the SH goals given up are also inexcuseable. e) Penalty Kill - another unit that has had a huge downfall from 08 and thus one of the main reasons for the spike in goals allowed. f) Secondary/Role Players - Well the 08 had some decent gritty players like Dallas Drake, Draper when healthy, Helm's arrival, and also players like Hudler & Fill were just entering the league. Today's team has some better support players according to the numbers but what they don't do is make plays when it matters most e.g. clear the puck of their own zone when leading by a goal in the final minute, or score the clutch goal that will ice the game or break a tie. So with all this factors I would say that this team will not match what the 08 team did in the playoffs which is win the Cup as in 08 they only had to deal with San Jose as the other powerhouse in the West and fortunately they got upset, but this year Vancouver is the main competition but teams like the Blues, Preds & Hawks can all eliminate the Wings.

Well I fear the Canucks more than the Blues in the playoffs b/c they can score but the Blues can be dangerous with the way they play defense. I would definitely take the Canucks over the Wings in a best of 7 series but take the Wings over Blues in a series if healthy.

I am a fan who gets angry very easily when things don't go my way so yes I've been angry since June 2009 game 7 against the Penguins.

You also have to remember Franzen missed 6 games in that post-season and the Wings still went 4-2 in that span. That team could shut down the opposition on a consistent basis but this team has yet to show that and until they do so I will be strongly critical.

I agree they have to make use of this summers cap room to make a serious push for the Cup in 2013 b/c there is not a chance they win it this year. They must treat this offseason like the summer of 2001 when they went for it all and won in the following season.

That's exactly what I was getting at b/c I remember in 08 the Wings would win a game 2-1 but it really wouldn't be that close as the score indicates b/c the Wings would stiffle the opponents to death with their puck possession game. Back then when winning by a goal the the other team rarely got a chance to tie it with the net empty but this years team will choke away leads in the dying minutes by the dozen. Also I just double checked and in 08 the Wings did give up the fewest goals in the league and have not done so since and its the main reasons why we haven't seen any Cup banners hung since.

No I am not a troller but I have no confidence in this team as they give up way too many chances to score and it wouldn't surprise me they played a clunker again tonight. Remember the Wild are Columbus you know.

Well I still don't think the Wild are for real but I do expect them to beat the banged up Wings tonight.