dat's sick

Finally hockey is back again! Great match to start things off with too. I'm really interested in seeing how Zibanejad and Rundblad do. As for the Wings, I hope they come out flying and show the rest of the league they are a contender.

Signed up and made my picks I placed pretty far up last year and now I'm going for the win!

If he wasn't on the plane I would think he'd have made some kind of announcement already or atleast someone would have heard from him.. I hope I'm wrong but right now it's not looking likely..

Looking at the photos of the crash site it'd be a complete miracle if anyone survives. Actually it's a miracle that they managed to find two (?) people still alive. I hope he makes it, even though his life will obviously never be the same even if he does..

For sure this will be extra hard on many Detroit players and staff. McCrimmon, Salei and even Liv..

I hope it's true that atleast Salei wasn't on the plane. But even that would be a small comfort because this is absolutely horrible. I've sometimes thought about how much hockey teams fly back and forth and feared something like this would happen, but it's still kind of unthinkable.. Damn, Stefan Liv, Brad Mccrimmon, Pavol Demitra.. and so many others edit: so Salei was onboard as well.. f***.. I want to throw up.

I've been sort of staying away from hockey since Game 7, so I completely missed this. Wow. What a shocker. I knew he went through injuries the last few seasons and didn't look at all himself during the playoffs, but still I was 100% convinced he'd be back next year. He was the best d-man in the Olympics just a year ago and even this season he had some great stretches. Very sad to see him go, loved seeing him play next to Lidstrom. He wasn't perfect, but he was a great fit for Detroit and just a great puck-handler. His career is a great story and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do after hockey.

VAN/SJS: 4-2 BOS/TBL: 4-3

Great game, great series, great Pavel. Wings just got a little too beat up in the end. With Franzen, Bertuzzi and Cleary I believe we would have taken it. As fans we should be proud of this team though. Anyone who complains about lack of heart, drive, dedication or whatever is a moron. Now, I'm a Tampa fan.

It's really ******* difficult to win 4 straight. SJ has home ice and got the all so important first goal to get the crowd roaring. It will take a monumental effort to slow SJ down right now. Can the Wings do it? Yes. No doubt they can. But I for one will not be disappointed in this team and call for the heads of coaches and players if they don't. Remember they're without Franzen, they're without Bertuzzi now, and Datsyuk is banged up. I believe they're going to give they're very best and we can all just hope it's enough.

Win or lose, I'm proud as HELL of the Wings for the way they've fought their way back into this series and the way they're playing in this game.

I was gonna say he brings puck-possession, but lately he's been SOOOO weak on the puck. Just about everyone just pushes him away and takes the puck from him. That's why I've defended him in the past, because he's always been a good fit for the Wings. Good defensively, good at holding onto the puck and entering the zone, good skater. But his confidence seems to be at an all-time low. That or he's nursing some injury. I don't know. All I know he's been really disappointing for me almost the entire season and now especially in the playoffs. Sad, because I truly thought he was heading in the right direction. Must've taken a wrong turn somewhere.

I'm really disappointed in everyone not named Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Howard or Zetterberg. Okay Kronwall and Stuart too. Where is Filppula? He was invisible against Phoenix and is nowhere to be found against San Jose. I've been a defender of him but now I'm just amazed by how much NOTHING he is doing. Franzen is probably not 100%, but he's been lazing around the entire season and other than a glimpse here and there he hasn't been much in the playoffs. Where is the Mule, the guy who took the puck, deked the defense before running over their goaltender as he was scoring a goal? Remember that guy? I freakin LOVED that guy! I'm not giving up on this series, but this team needs a jumpstart. Throw Modano in there, change up the lines, someone YELL at them, do SOMETHING, ANYTHING, because THIS, what they're doing right NOW, is NOT working. 2-0 is nothing. But the next game is a must win. Must. Win.

Howard, Datsyuk and Lidstrom came to play tonight. Everyone else is still in "waiting for the 2nd round to start"-mode.

Can't do anything but join in on the hate for the SJ announcers. Holy ******* s*** they are horrrible. I mean I get that all teams announcers are a bit biased, Kenny Daniels and Richmond are too, but these guys...WOW.

Feeling much more nervous than I ever did during the Phoenix series. You can just tell how much more skilled San Jose is offensively. Good news however is that the Wings aren't having huge problems creating pressure and chances in SJ's zone. If we can get out of the 1st period with a lead it'll be great, the Wings have looked somewhat rusty so far.

Bad things happen when Ericsson pinches. Time to see how our PK fares against something better than the Yotes PP.

WAS/TBL: 4-2 PHI/BOS: 4-2 VAN/NSH: 4-3 SJS/DET: 4-3

Isn't it funny that Kesler is an anagram for Selker? ...anyways, he can take it this year. It'll be Pav's next year again. Maybe Pav can still take home some trophies this summer. If you know what I mean.

The Norris more than any other trophy is prone to favor guys that have been good over a long period of time, which is why first-time nominees (Weber) rarely win and some guys get nominated on old merits (Chara) and guys that suddenly have a great season (Visnovsky) rarely get nominated. I think Lids will win this. That's just what I think. I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if Weber won it though. Lids has done something amazing to have a season like this at his age. Just getting nominated this year is a victory for him. If his +/- was just a little better he'd get his 7th Norris with a landslide win.

Wings can never make it easy, can they? They were way too undisciplined in the 3rd, I don't know what happened. You can blame the refs but mostly it was just stupid moves by Wings players, such as Franzen's cross-check. The first 2 periods were amazing though, and they did pull themselves together in the end and held on to the win. Series is 2-0 and I'm not going to complain too much. Btw, this was one of the best games I've ever seen Pavel Datsyuk play. He's played many great ones, but wow. Did he make a single mistake tonight? Did he lose a puck battle? Did he miss a pass? Did he not completely dictate the pace of the game every time he set foot on the ice? He is shutting up the people who have called him a playoff no-show, one shift at a time.

The Wings have completely taken the Yotes apart in this period. Still a lot of hockey left in this game though. And I hope Franzen only needed stitches.

Man what a nice start to the playoffs. First period was a bit shaky but I wasn't really worried since it wasn't a lack of fire but more a lack of composure. And they found that in the 2nd period and from that point on it was just classic Red Wings hockey. Phoenix never really had anything to answer with, even though they did score one. I still think the Yotes are a tough opponent and this series COULD be a long one. However, this is exactly the way the Wings needed to open the series in order to not give the Yotes any big confidence boost. Some notes: * Great game. Very entertaining, especially the first 2 periods, despite all the penalties in the 1st. Playoff hockey, love it. * Mule looks like he flicked the switch and is in playoff mode. He took the puck to the net, he shot it, he made plays, basically he looked more interested than he's done since he had that 5 goal game months ago. * Pavel, as usual, was amazing. I noticed him falling down a lot but that might have just been because he was playing with a lot of effort and desperation. So many nice steals, shots, passes etc. We're looking for him to lead the team in the absence of Z, and he definitely did that. * Howard kept the team in it during the 1st and beginning of the 2nd. Some huge saves. * I wouldn't be against playing Modano over Miller next game.

Not sure I'd call it "jitters" but they looked a bit over-excited about it being the playoffs, not playing very smart which lead to a lot of penalties. In the 2nd they settled down a bit and the results were obvious.. this game isn't over but it's looking good.

Imo the Wings are playing with a lot of fire, I don't know what you guys are watching. What they need to do is settle down a bit, play smarter (i.e. stop taking penalties), get control of game. I'm not worried. Yotes play well and they're a strong team. Bryzgalov look solid. But it's been one period. Have some faith people.