truebladearmy

Well, as an example we outhit Pittsburg by double tonight. In fact, we've been outhitting and outshooting everyone....all post season.

Yeah whoa, that was pretty creepy. I've seen Sammy score two goals in a game a few times, it's just funny that this prediction was so close to accurate on every level.

I've lost track of 3 accounts, but I joined this site back when I was living in Colorado when the wings won in 2002. I believe. I remember being in Colorado and going to a bar called the Tin Lizzy, which was a Detroit Sports themed sports bar in downtown Denver, lol. It would overflow with Redwings fans, and so would the restraunt across the street. I joined a local club called "Redwings fans of Colorado" which had hundreds and hundreds of members. Their website was letsgoredwings.com Well one night I drunkenly left out the "red", and stumbled upon this place. I dated a girl for over a year who was a huge Avalanche fan. Amazingly, she actually really did know a lot about hockey. But she turned into a psycho, so every time I see the Wings crush the Avs, I send her a telepathic F*ck you And....that's my life story lol

My thoughts exactly. So we have a little class. It's gotten us 3 cups in a decade, and we're 3 wins away from our 4th. There is a reason everyone is trading away their fighters.

I don't see Kronner being a candidate just because it usually takes incredibly exceptional defensive play to be considered. Zetterberg is mostly overshadowing everybody right now, and Osgood has been outstanding, so I expect it to be one of them two. All in all we've had such a productive post season team, that it's near impossible to pick just one guy. Imagine if Franzen had stayed healthy and kept scoring like he was? The dude could have 20 goals by now.

I took leave from the army just in time to make it home to Michigan for game's 3 and beyond!! One plane ticket home......$500 A two week stay in a hotel....$600 Beer .... $8989997892598732759372597987 dollars Not missing the best stanley cup finals of my life.......pric....well no pretty damn expensive. heh.

In the finals, when the home team wins game 1 they have gone on to win 87% of the time. In all sports (MLB, NBA, etc), when the home team wins game 1 they go on to win the series .79% of the time. Go up 2 games to 0, and it's a 90% win ratio for the home team. Go up 2 games to 1....and it's a 96% win ratio for the home team. Go up 3 games to 1....and it's 100% win ratio for the home team. Go up 3 games to 2 (Say Pittsburg takes 2 games for example)....and it's still a 95% win ratio. In short....when the home team wins game 1....they basically win the entire series nearly 90% of the time. So, it's pretty freakin important. whowins.com for references.

Lang was the biggest disappointment I've seen us acquire in quite a while. One year he almost won the scoring trophy with the capitals, then he came to us and went on Vacation for a few years. Sammy at least has goals in the playoffs, and he obviously showed up tonight. Big game. Big goals. The game winner. And the insurance goal. Both unassisted. I think he's earned himself a little more room, even though I'm sure next game he'll be back to shooting 0% on 14 shots

There is no doubt that Crosby and Malkin weren't use to being hit so often. Datsyuk alone had like 6 hits mostly on Malkin or Crosby (I don't have the exact stat, but I was following the stats on nhl.com through the game). It's like I said before, those guys are use to playing a fast transitional game, get the puck to the net, and set up nice scoring chances. Nobody pittsburg played before will have 4 sticks right there waiting, while a kronwall flings himself bodily into your scorer. Detroit is entirely defense first. We get so many scoring chances because we keep the puck moving back to the other end over and over. I think Malkin and Crosby adjusted poorly to having so much defense right at the net, and so little time to set up plays. When the puck was in our zone it was in the corners with three wings on it. The rest of the time it was either bouncing to neutral ice, or being carried there. I think Pittsburg will change things up a bit for game 2, and I think we'll see more dumping. Pittsburgs biggest offensive flaw in my opinion was that they tried to carry it to the net over and over, which basically activated our best defense methods. They're going to have to dump and fight for it at the boards. It's not philly where crosby and malkin can skate circles around a bunch of bruisers anymore And those centering passes that were so effective for them so far, aren't going to get through guys like lidstrom, rafalski, dats and zett like I'm sure they're use to. Other flaw I saw Pittsburg make, and it was also a strategy issue, was when they were playing defense in their own end they were trying to keep the forwards off the net, and leaving the point wide open. We must have taken twenty good attempted shots from the top of the circle right down that open lane over the course of the night (I'm including shots that missed the net or were blocked as well). A team like philly doesn't have a lot of defensive scoring. They rely on a few power guys to get it to the net and kick in rebounds. Pittsburg was still playing a defense good for causing turnovers and getting a good transition back up the ice, but in the process our D men had more freedom than I've seen them have all playoffs, and even our forwards were driving the puck right down those open lanes...right to the front of the net. If Pittsburg had maintained their first period speed and puck transition all through the game, it would be a different story. I was a little nervous in the opening moments of the game because they looked incredibly fast and hungry. I thought for sure I was going to see 20 scoring chances from them by the end of the game. I think once Detroit realized 1) Hey, they're carrying the puck in every single time, and 2) They're not pressuring our blue line at all....that was when things shifted. But that's just my opinion.

The Rangers do not have the defense of Detroit. I wouldn't put any money on winning games where Detroit is ahead by three goals. In order to win the Penguins will have to start scoring first, especially if Franzen comes back strong. He was scoring three times a game all by himself against colorado. 9 goals in 4 games, even breaking Gordie Howes record for goals in a series.

I felt bad for him too If it had been someone like Roy back in the day, or Giguire, I would have been laughing my ass off. Since it's Fluery I merely chuckled. At first I couldn't believe it had happened, and I got a text message like 6 seconds later saying, "That has to be a good omen for us". I don't want to see Pittsburg win, but I don't want to see them humiliated either heh. In his defense, that was only his second time ever stepping off that particular step

I've lived a lot of places, to include Texas, Colorado, and California, and I've never seen sports fans like there are in Detroit. Sure some seasons are up and down for one team or another, but even with the Tigers not doing so hot this year so far, it's still good to see them selling out games.

You don't win game 2 playing anything like the Pens played in game 1. Game two might also have Franzen and Chelios in it....so the series is just going to get even more physical. I was really expecting more from the Pens. For the first 10 minutes in my mind was running the thought, "They're so damn fast". But they lost that speed very quickly when Detroit figured out that Malkin and Crosby really aren't that effective if you take the transition game from them. The whole night I'd watch Crosby try to carry in and slip a pass to the center, five seconds later Detroit had it back at the other end. Detroit is possibly the best team in the league at picking up loose pucks at the net. Pens will have to be more physical. Detroit is just going to get bigger when Franzen returns, and if we put Chelios in especially. As it were Detroit nearly doubled the Pens hits. Even datsyuk had 6 hits, and most of them were on Crosby or Malkin. Pens will need shots. They won't be able to carry it in and work fancy plays in front of the net like they did in Philly. Detroit has two of the best defensemen in the league, and two nominations for best defensive forward. Then guys like draper, who has been nominated for it before. And Helm isn't doing too bad either. Kronwall is also no joke Pens made a huge mistake early off, and never really recovered from it, or fixed it. That is in an attempt to pressure Detroit's forwards down low at the net they left the lane from the point open over and over again. Detroit has incredible defensive scoring, and will often let a forward come in late to the play to take the puck down that lane. If Pens don't play the lane from the point more aggressively, shots will keep flying in from the outside, rebounds will keep happening, and Fluery is going to be a very busy man. Don't get me wrong. I have always been a Penguins fan. I was praying for a Detroit/Pittsburgh final. A few years ago I played a season of NHL on Playstation and my friend chose Detroit, and I used Pittsburgh. We took it to game 7 before he won the finals in OT. I'm still bitter about that lol. I'm not trying to talk crap or anything, but the Pens did WAY worse than I thought they were going to, and Detroit played the best game I've seen so far this year. I sincerely doubt Pens will get shut out Monday night. But I honestly think they're going to have to play their best game of the post-season in order to pull a win out of it.