Detroit Dan

I like this lineup, with the possible exception of Lebda for Lilja. Hudler, Filppula, and Franzen would score a lot. The top line, of course, would be the best in the NHL. The third line would be strong on speed and Leino is a playmaker. Draper and Maltby were weak this year, and by playoff time we may again be looking for youngsters for on 4th line...

I figured the Wings would win game 5, and the Pens' attitude was part of my reasoning. I had heard Orpik quoted as saying that Datsyuk's return wouldn't be a big deal, and that Datsyuk might not be effective after so much time off. This struck me as wrong. My take is that Datsyuk is very popular with his teammates. He's an excellent team player -- sets up his teammates, plays great defense, and is publicly humble. I didn't think that Pavel's play would be as important as would the fact that is teammates would pull together and play better because, among other reasons, they like and respect Datsyuk. So Orpik's remark struck me as a return to the immature mentality which characterized their performance in last year's finals. In contrast, earlier in the series I noted that the Pens seemed to be more mature in their public remarks, frequently praising the Red Wings...

What the hell is wrong with Babcock? Ozzie stinks and should not be playing. Hopefully, he has now learned this lesson and has made his decision to start Conklin in the playoffs...

I live in Detroit and wasn't able to get the game on TV last night. We have Comcast. Is this going to happen every time the Pistons and Wings play on the same night?

Amen. I have 4 Comcast digital boxes in my foyer. I tried setting one up last week but it didn't work. I called the support number and was connected to someone in the Philippines who had no idea what to do. Anyway, thanks to all for the information. Guess I'll have to get those digital boxes hooked up and working sooner rather than later...

Channel 20 (Comcast Detroit) says "Local Origination". Maybe it was on that?

Now that you mention it, I did get some games last year on a weird local station. I think it was channel 7 or channel 8. The games weren't listed in the TV Guide listings. The Comcast lineup has changed, so maybe there is an unmarked station somewhere that showed the game last night...

My question also. I don't see it listed...

Hard to believe, but the Wings were outplayed. It didn't help that Osgood gave away the first goal. We weren't sharp up and down the lineup. Toronto gave us a hard time over the weekend, but I thought it would be different with our full lineup playing. Zetterberg and Holmstrom looked good, but noone else stood out to me.

Maltby did seem to be weak last year. The year before, he was strong, if I remember correctly. Perhaps he'll have another good year this year. I sure hope so. Along with Maltby, Draper and Holmstrom are getting on in years. Malts is almost 36 Drapes is 37 Homer is almost 36 If the Wings play their cards right, Helm and Leino will move smoothly into 2 of these positions over the next several years. On average, one of the starting 12 forwards will generally be injured at any given time, so there will be opportunity for Helm and Leino even before the retirements start.

Well, the +/- stats match my impression from watching last year with regards to the forwards. We had a great team, except our 4th line was sub-par. Draper was strong, but Drake and Maltby were weak, although Drake picked up his game significantly in the playoffs. So I'm for replacing Maltby with Helm. The only mitigating factor might Maltby's performance as a penalty killer. We had the 8th best penalty killing in the league, which isn't bad...

So our 4th line was weak last year, with: Maltby -8 Drake -12 Draper -2 Can't blame Draper, as he was almost even in spite of having to play with Maltby and Drake so much. With Hossa replacing Drake, Kopecki will probably join Draper on 4th line. We need to get Helm in there in place of Maltby. There is no excuse for having such a weak link on such a loaded squad. Maltby is a great guy and has been valuable over the years. Leave him on the team as the 13th forward, I guess.

Regular Season: Samuelsson +21 Maltby -8 Playoffs: Samuelsson +8 Maltby E Dallas Drake was a horrible -12 during the regular season, but improved to +2 in playoffs.

I've was extremely pleased with Sammy's play in the Stanley Cup Finals. To me, Maltby is the weakest regular forward. I've loved his play for years, but at the age of (almost) 36, he seems to have lost a bit. Helm was much better in the playoffs, in my opinion. So I'd like to see Helm in place of Maltby. None of us have ever seen Leino, so it's hard to state authoritatively that he should be one of the 12 forwards. I look forward to seeing him in the pre-season, and during the regular season if one of the regulars is injured...