dat's sick

The Wings only played (barely) the last 5 minutes. That can't, won't, shouldn't happen in Game 7. And they'll have last change, that should help. Sigh. This series has no business being tied. The Wings HAVE to win it..

Man, I wish that goal would have come with more time left.. we could have used this momentum 10 minutes ago. 50secs..

...so you're telling me there IS a chance...

Stranger things HAVE happened, you know. A Wings goal in the first 10 minutes and this is a game again.

One day the Wings will score on a 2-on-1. I know you don't believe me, but it's going to happen. One day.

Way up north, Kiruna

Almost 5 AM. Yes, these late/early games are killing me. Good thing Vancouver didn't make it to the WCF.

As usual the Ducks play really good in the 1st period. Getting out of it with 0-0 is pretty good, even though we had some chances. The Wings are a little sloppy, missing some passes and turning the puck over, but they're solid in the defensive zone. Looking for the Wings to start taking over the longer the game goes, just have to kill off this penalty at the start of the 2nd.

IN

Oh man, videogames were such a big part of me being a fan in the 90's and early 00's. I was so young and with school and whatnot it was really rare for me to actually get to see any games. So I missed much of the rivalry they had with the Avs, although I obviously saw it on "NHL Power Week", or whatever it was called, that they showed on weekends. But my best friend was a die-hard Avs fan (he's since abandoned them.. no surprise since they suck nowadays), so we had our own rivalry when playing games like NHL94, Sega's NHL games and then on to EA Sports NHL games. Such awesome times. I still pretty much only play as Detroit in NHL games

As a kid in the mid-90's, when I had just started playing hockey myself, I used to watch a weekly NHL-highlights show here in Sweden. Pretty quickly I fell in love with the beautiful plays of (mainly) Yzerman and Fedorov. I think the specific moment I really became a Wings-fan was during one of the cup runs, must have been the 94-95 season, I think it was when they played against the Sharks. In one of the few games I was able to watch, Fedorov did this amazing between-his-legs pass to a teammate that scored and it just blew my mind. The skill and speed was so amazing. Since that day I've been a hardcore Wings-fan. Obviously the fact that they've always had a strong swedish presence on the team helps as well.

I agree with pretty much all of that Opie. Just a note though, in the case of Z they "kept" him in the SEL for a few years before bringing him over. They allowed him to develop there instead of the AHL, since that league is atleast as good as the AHL.

At times I think players might be stuck in the AHL for too long, look at Helm and Ericsson. Both would have been playing the entire season in the NHL if they belonged to any other team. Leino too. But you can't compare the Wings prospects to Kane/Toews and the like. Most of the Wings prospects need time to develop, and the Wings give them that time in a great organization that puts them on the right track.

...he was nominated last year.

This whole post is so wrong, like you didn't watch last years playoffs or even this year's. Z has 11 points in 9 games, 6 goals. Yeah, some empty netters but so what. If anything that shows exactly how excellent he is in those situations towards the end of a game when the other team is pressing to get a goal. He doesn't "need to step and start scoring" because he is scoring. And the main reason he got the Smythe last year was because he was our best player during the cup run. He was amazing both defensively and offensively and he led all players in points. To me it seems like Datsyuk is the better player during the regular season, and Z is better in the playoffs.

He didn't score on that specific move, you're right. He also happened to try it in a Game 5 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, not in some beer-league regular season game. And my point is just that Pavel doesn't have a habit of imitating cool moves that someone else has done, he comes up with his own stuff. You know, "Datsyukian-dekes". If I mention "The Datsyuk-move", most people who are into hockey know exactly what I mean.

Ozzie should have had that one. Wasn't even that good of a shot by Franzen, and there was no screen. CONKLIN HAS TO START NEXT GAME

That has been done to death by all kinds of different showboating players. Hell, Robert Nilsson has done it, that says it all! name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /> Pavel is better than that goal, he's an inventor, not a copycat.

Ovechkin was hailed as the king of the NHL for doing that trick-shootout move in the All-Star game last year where he juggled the puck a few times and missed it completely on the shot. This was just as cool imo. Despite failing to reach the puck and get a scoring chance, it was impressive and something not many players would think of doing. Especially not in what is essentially a must-win game in the playoffs. That shift was probably the best he's had in the playoffs btw. Just dominant.

Their poor excuse for a "defense" in the last game was pathetic. Mike Green especially.

I feel like he's a little too old to sign to a long-term contract at 6+ mil. We already have Z, Pav and Mule locked up for a long time for a lot of money and they're not getting younger. Imagine in 5-6 years, we could look like the Rangers.. I love Hossa but I think it makes more sense to let him go. We don't want another season where we are unable to call up anyone from GR because we're too close to the cap.

He might have been trouble by a light case of the swine-flu and he's just now getting healthy. Not out of the question.

No, I'm not either. He's been the weak link in our (current) top 4 D. He's not doing terrible, but I wished he would find the groove he had last playoffs and it hasn't really happened. Good thing Stuart has really stepped up though.

I can't believe they always went with Goldberg. Worst goalie ever. Julie was spectacular but never got the chance.

What? Z had 3 points and was awesome all game. Pavel pretty much did everything except scoring, atleast he picked up an assist. Hossa's line looked great again, but he needs to stop shooting glove-hand.