Chunkylover

Like Pavel's PP goal against Anaheim. Doesn't even lift his stick up. I prefer that to the whole kneeling and blasting off fist-first like Superman. Dats can get physical when he wants and is pretty effective at it, but OV is younger so I guess you win this round, Salesman. I don't hate him or Crosby, but one thing that annoys me about Crosby-haters is that they have no problem fluffing the other media darling. It's not bold to cheer for one superstar over another.

No, we don't have anyone like Drake, but do you see no one on this team that can kill penalties and bring a high energy level to each game?

You seem to be implying that this whole discussion is an exercise in "Chicken Little" mentality....

At least you can spell it correctly.

The way I look at this is last season we needed a gritty defenseman so we traded for Stuart. Good deal. But who was our best physical defenseman? Kronwall! This season, neither has been stellar I'll admit, but we know they can bring it in the post-season.

So let's just say Conks is #1 in the playoffs; our defense line combinations are Lidstrom/Rafalski, Kronwall/Stuart, Lilja/Lebda. Where can we possibly improve by addition? The only way I can see is to trade for Pronger and put him with Lidstrom, put Stuart with Kronwall, and Raffi with Lilja. Who else could bring something we need? There are defensemen like O'Donnell, Klee, Morris, I've seen someone mention Havelid, all at the end of their contracts, but where are these guys going to go? They'd be sixth or seventh on the depth chart. We'd give up a good prospect or a couple good picks.

I'd argue we already have exactly what you are describing. Not on our #1 pairing, but does a combination featuring Nick Lidstrom really need improvement? Stuart and Kronwall are two big hitters that have, I believe consciously and intentionally, softened their game during the regular season grind and will step up in the playoffs. This team always plays soft in the regular season, but since post-season '07 they've increased their hitting by 50%. Where the real depth comes in, the third pairing, we have any combination of Lilja, Lebda, Meech, Chelios, maybe even Ericsson. Jason Smith won't do much there, if he's even able to keep up with this team's speed. I don't know how many more "work-horses" we need. We have a great top four and the way Lils is playing our entire corps is solid. They just aren't in playoff mode yet.

Hard to say. Goal-tending is our most immediate concern. Osgood isn't playing as well as Conklin at the moment. If the team plays solid playoff defense then we could easily ride Conklin deep into the playoffs. Trading for a top-flight goalie would cost us something like Filppula, Ericsson, and a first round pick, and when I look at the teams out of the playoff hunt there's no one who jumps out at me and says "Great Playoff Goalie!" The rumors about acquiring another defenseman seems dumb. We already have too much depth on defense. I can't think of any reasonable trades that could give us more forward depth either. We're pretty well set throughout the line-up. All they need to do is start playing like they want to win.

Exactly what I was thinking. Although Nash would own the league if he was here.

For those alleging luck, he had to consciously put himself in the position to make that save. Sure, he's lucky Toews didn't take a better shot, but that speaks to the skill and bearing of Toews not Turco. Good save by a good goalie. Luck isn't real.

Probably not. Possible, but not probable. But, anything can happen in the playoffs. Is there any reason to believe anyone will beat the Sharks in a seven game series?

Agreed. Osgood is slumping, but I think the softer defense has turned what could have been a small slump into a ten-day benching.

There is a lot of debate between the Osgood lovers and the Osgood haters (although I'm sure no one actually hates him), and the proponents of the team acquiring a fighter and those who don't see that as a necessity. I am of the mind that while Osgood has been bad, he's not been helped by his team. I also believe trading for a fighter is unnecessary. I pulled some statistics to see if my argument was actually supported be the numbers. 2006-2007 Regular Season Hits per game: 15.5 Blocked shots per game: 10.1 Give-aways per game: 12.5 Take-aways per game: 7.9 Shots per game: 33.8 Shots against per game: 24.6 2006-2007 Post-Season (18 games played) HPG: 26.0 BPG: 11.8 GTG: 14.0 TPG: 9.7 SPG: 34.7 SAPG: 24.7 2007-2008 Regular Season HPG: 17.2 BPG: 8.6 GPG: 8.2 TPG: 6.5 SPG: 34.4 SAPG: 23.5 2007-2008 Post-Season (22 games played) HPG: 25.8 BPG: 9.8 GPG: 9.0 TPG: 7.6 SPG: 36.5 SAPG: 23.6 2008-2009 Regular Season (through 58 games) HPG: 18.3 BPG: 9.1 GTG: 7.2 TPG: 5.6 SPG: 36.1 SAPG: 27.7 There is a trend between the regular season and the post-season: the team steps up the physical play when the playoffs start. Kronwall's spectacular hits, which occurred exclusively in the '08 playoffs, are anecdotal evidence which coincides with the 50% increase in hits in the playoffs. Additionally the team sold out more in the shot-blocking category as well in the post-season. In '08-'09 hits are down to numbers consistent with the last two regular seasons, as well as most every other statistic. The only anomaly is the shots against per game this season. I believe the decrease in physical play has contributed to the increase in shots per game and exacerbated a concurrent slump by Osgood. To be sure, something must be done to get Ozzie playing better: both he and Conks have faced an average of 26.7 per game while Ozzie's allowed a goal more per game. Even still, neither goalie in this year's tandem has played as well as those of '07-'08. Hope someone finds this interesting.

Hagman's should have been #1 since it was all hard work and he actually controlled the puck the entire time. The Nash and Wheeler goals are good but they didn't actually score on the original play, they scored on a rebound. Not taking anything away from them because they are skilled players, I just would rate their goals lower. Ovechkin's goal against Phoenix was better than the one against Montreal considering the angle of the shot. Is anyone else annoyed by the quickness of some announcers to proclaim a goal the highlight of the night?

Although a San Jose/Detroit WCF would be epic, I'd like to see Nashville get in to eighth spot and beat the Sharks in the first round. Nashville has four straight first round exits: two against us and two against the Sharks. They're one of my favorite teams beside the Wings and it would be good for their franchise to have some playoff success. It would be nice to avoid any West Coast teams but it would be nicer to avenge our '07 loss to the Ducks. Just for symmetry's sake; not sure how much it would mean to beat a team that's a shadow of their former selves. Plus they'd probably goon it up.

I was referring to their goals-against averages. Conk's is 2.3, Osgood's is 3.2 or something like that. Last season his was 2.0something.

But they still stepped up the physical play. Every year the team's toughness is questioned and every year, in the playoffs, they answer that question. Surprisingly there are a lot of people, ostensibly educated fans, who still haven't caught on to that fact.

You're right about everything you posted, yet I would be remiss if I did not point out the impact that the washed-up, useless, has-beens (I know, my words not yours, just some hyperbole for dramatic effect) Draper and Drake had in the playoffs last year. If the team can keep their offense going while tightening up on their defense, we'll benefit from having those guys for the playoff grind.

The only good thing about the cap is that it showed which franchises are legitimately elite. The Wings obviously, but you also have to give credit to Dallas and New Jersey. Staying competitive through that kind of change is impressive. It'll be interesting in a few years to see what effect the loss of Brodeur and Lidstrom will have on their respective teams. I give the Wings the edge on staying at the top. NJ not so much, although I have to give credit to Clemmensen and his team up to this point. Still, I'd kick it to the gutter in a second if I could.

Hossa. Yeah, kind of a bandwagon response, but he's the only positive difference between this season's team and last season's. The other difference, the lazy team defense I do not appreciate. Sorry.

Definitely taken out of context. What I hear is, "I destroyed the Penguins by dragging out my decision to sign with Detroit, thus making it impossible for them to get adequate replacements. I'm going to do the same to the Red Wings. I'm just working my way back to Ottawa."

What you've just described is a lack of effort. They just aren't working hard enough at it. Offense is all about talent, defense is all about effort. Our statistics this season demonstrate what are our strengths and weaknesses.

Dang, no mercy eh? But there is a precedent when it comes to the way the press covers the Wings. Wasn't Babcock supposed to be fired early in '06-'07 when the team struggled through a western road trip? If anyone's cranky it's probably Chelios, but then when isn't he?

I completely forgot about Illitch.

That's possible, but even in tough times businesses don't mind paying the price for advertising. Look at the arenas sponsored by airlines or automobile manufacturers; those industries have been struggling for a while yet they continue to find the money for naming rights. Look at how much was spent for Super Bowl ads. You may be right but, no offense, I hope you're wrong. I don't necessarily want Cheli back but you know he'll want to play. He hasn't ruled out playing somewhere else either. Homer doesn't deserve a pay cut because as you said he is punished everytime he's on the ice but I think he would because he loves playing here.