Ms_Hockey

I'm really not sure what team you've been watching, but it hasn't been the Red Wings. If they lacked the killer instinct as you claim, we wouldn't even be in this right now. We would've packed up and gone golfing during the Anaheim series.

Just as a general rule of thumb, western conference > eastern conference. The style of play between the two conferences is in stark contrast to each other. That said, Columbus was easy. Anaheim was incredibly difficult. Chicago is so-so. I truly don't think the Pens would've been able to beat Anaheim. I know you're a Pens fan and all.. but that one year of experience isn't going to mean a whole lot against the team with the best offensive depth in the league. If Detroit can shut down Crosby and Malkin, they have nothing to worry about. Those two ARE the Pens. If the Pens shut down Datsyuk and Zetterberg, they've still got Franzen, Hossa, Hudler, Filppula, Cleary and others to be concerned with. There's a HUGE difference in depth between these two teams. And as long as we're dressing Lidstrom, the Pens won't have the best defense like they have in their previous rounds. This is going to be a whole different ballpark for the Pens. They'll be familiar with it because of last year's SCF and yes, I do believe they've gotten better as a team - but in all honesty, I said back during the Anaheim series that whoever won that matchup was going to take the Cup and I still hold true to that.

I'm 20 years old and don't even have kids.. so the "hockeymom" thing needs to end. Holmstrom is the best in the league at what he does. He's not put on the ice to put up points and score goals. He's put on the ice to screen the goalie. He's made his entire career out of that one tiny aspect of the game.. and he's succeeded to a ridiculous degree at it. We have plenty of talent on this team to let Holmstrom do nothing other than screening. Naturally, you can think whatever you like. But to blame the entire OT loss on Holmstrom is a bit ridiculous. The entire line broke down - not just him.

Then become a fan of a different team. I wouldn't trade Homer for anything. Other teams would kill to have this guy planted in front of the opposition's net for them. This is really just a case of being overly-spoiled.

Damn you for having a brain!

What did you expect him to say? "I think it was a perfectly legal hit and my teammate shouldn't have had his head down"? Come on, guys. This shouldn't be surprising.

Yes, I exaggerated.. but I think my point got across. I think....

Don't worry about it. People on here can be insanely retarded. Someone comes up with one stupid idea and everyone else jumps on the retard bandwagon. If I knew, I'd tell you.. but I don't. Sorry bud.

I really don't think my post was that far off the mark, if at all. When you compare the individual talent of the Wings & the Hawks, the Wings trump the Hawks in almost every manner. Kane & Toews are Chicago's big guns. Other than that, the players you've mentioned - while they're GOOD players, they don't compare to the caliber of players Detroit has on their second, third, and in some cases - fourth line. I would go so far as to compare Kane & Toews to possibly Zetterberg and Datsyuk in so much as they carry the team with that extra burst of talent to trump everyone else in the game. However, taking out those four (Toews, Kane, Datsyuk, Zetterberg).. who do you have to match Johan Franzen? Who do you have to match Marian Hossa? How about Jiri Hudler or even Dan Cleary? The Wings have players throughout their roster that would easily make first liners on other teams.. and I stand by my statement that the talent is nowhere near matched between these two in that regard. We've got Lidstrom, easily one of the best defenseman to ever play the game. Brain Rafalski, who'd be a top defenseman even on the Hawks. Byfuglien is turning himself into quite the goaltender annoyance - but Holmstrom has made his entire career out of doing that. My point really is this: The players on the Hawks are like shadows of the players on the Wings. You've got great players, we've got better players. As far as realizing that pressure must be put on the puck before entering the zone, that is true of every team under every circumstance. The difference maker is that the Wings pick up on those mistake and capitalize on them far better than most teams in the league. When it comes right down to it, Chicago makes some incredibly amateur mistakes because that's exactly what kind of a team they are.. inexperienced on the playoff front. I didn't expect any differently going into this series and I haven't been led to think otherwise. Now, I'm not saying the Wings are a perfect team. Lord knows they have their fair share of struggles.. but when it comes to turnovers leading to break-away opportunities.. the Hawks have yet to find that kink and work it out. They've done better, I'll give them that.. but they still make those rookie mistakes that Calgary & Vancouver didn't pick up on that well. I don't expect you to agree with me. You're a Hawks fan. Of course you're confident in your team. If you would've spoken to be during the Anaheim series, you would've noticed something vastly different. I was nervous during that series. My stomach was in knots after each loss. After yesterday's? Nothing. Complete serenity. Why? Because I truly believe that our talent and depth outranks the Hawks on many many levels. Maybe that makes me a homer. Maybe it means I'm wearing red-tinted glasses. But the fact remains that while Chicago may give us a nice run for our money, we're still the better experienced and equipped team to make it through these playoffs. The Wings are good at finding a ***** in the armor and battling it down to nothing. The Hawks could switch their game up on them numerous times, and the Wings would still find a way to get in there and beat them. That's what they're good at.. winning. I'm sure this'll be an exciting series even though we disagree on a few things. I, like you, hate seeing great players taken out of the game. Kronwall's hit was unfortunate that it hurt Havlat (not a penalty in my opinion, but what can you do?) but that's playoff hockey. I've never been one to complain about the reffing, though. It seems to be the first scapegoat for anybody who is the fan of a losing team. I just consider horrible officiating part of hockey. It happens to every team and I'm sure the Hawks have received their fair share through their playoff run too.

Post of the day! If you really think these teams are evenly matched, I'm going to start laughing. There's not a single player on the Blackhawks who is better than a player on the Red Wings. The Red Wings have more depth than the Hawks could even hope for. The Hawks can't defend against the Wings because they don't know who to be covering. You don't have enough guys to cover Franzen, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Cleary, Lidstrom, Samuelsson, Filpulla, Hudler, Hossa, and the list goes on and on. The Hawks are failing on two fronts. First, Detroit isn't Calgary or Vancouver. You make turnovers and give the puck away, and Detroit is going to continue to capitalize on those mistake until they make you pay. And frankly, Chicago being such a young team - they've been making A LOT of those mistakes. Second, we have the most offensive depth of almost any team. You can cover all of our big name guys.. but we'll still have someone on the third or fourth line who's perfectly capable of scoring. And then you'll be stuck running around trying to find something to do to cover THOSE guys. Face the facts, man. Detroit is more experienced, much deeper, and better suited for the playoffs than the Hawks are at this time. It doesn't matter what you do.. the Wings are capable of finding a way around it - and they don't ever let the opposing team get into their heads. They're experienced enough to know not to get rattled.. so they don't. They stay calm and they keep playing their game. I don't feel remotely threatened by the Hawks. Why? Because this is nowhere near an even matchup. Anaheim was an even matchup. The Hawks are just getting schooled. So you go on and continue making fun of the city. We'll go on and continue lifting Stanley Cups over our heads.

He just emailed the Detroit Red Wings office and bitched about his automobile problems. Ilitch has nothing to do with the auto companies - and neither do the Wings. In short, he made a complete and total idiot out of himself.. so there's no need for me to make fun of him any further. He did that all on his own.

Nah, I don't feel any hate or even dislike toward the Hawks. They're a young team and they're fun to watch. I guess it's also because I don't feel threatened by them. I believe we're going to take this series and that it'll be a huge learning experience for the Hawks.. so that helps to keep my feelings in line.

mlive article From that alone, I'd say the alcohol rumor is probably nothing more than that.. a rumor.

Chicago, you make me laugh.

Cleary.

The refs have sucked for every team during every series this postseason. There is no conspiracy.. it's just crappy reffing. That's playoff hockey. Some stuff is let go, other stuff isn't.. and it's completely random when they decide to pocket their whistles and when they don't. The conspiracy bullcrap is getting really old.

I definitely wasn't expecting Chicago writers to start saying it's over. Wow. I'm surprised.

All I remember were Pens hats, one guy wearing a t-shirt that said MALKIN on the back and one guy wearing a Penguins Eastern Conference Champions t-shirt. They were a couple rows behind us in line and were completely surrounded by Wings fans. I overheard one of them remark "It must be Michigan day," which is when a good group of people erupted in the Wings chant. Haha, sorry I freaked out about you being there. I just had to point out how ridiculously cool us Wings fans at CP are.

OH MY GOD, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. I was at Cedar Point with my boyfriend today as well.. and I wore a Red Wings t-shirt for part of the day, but had to wear a tank top in the second half of the day because it was too hot. While we were in line for the Maverick, we noticed a group of younger guys (All wearing Pens stuff) near us. Out of nowhere, a bunch of people starting chanting "LET'S GO RED WINGS" and I joined in! So crazy that you were there!

At first, I could respect the fact that you think differently. But now, you're starting to act like a troll. There is absolutely no reason that Matlby should've given his number up to Hossa. Hossa may have asked, but I'm sure he was even smart enough to figure out that when an organization veteran says no, you don't push it any further. If you're trying to imply that Hossa deserves the same organization recognition as Lidstrom, I'm going to laugh my ass off. Hossa is nowhere near Lidstrom's level, no matter how much he's getting paid.. and Malts most certainly should not bow to down to whatever Hossa wants just because he's a potent goal-scorer. Holy cow. Sometimes I wonder if people on this board actually HAVE a brain.

I truly cannot understand your mindset at all. Players take pay cuts to play here. How much money he's getting paid doesn't mean much. And actually, I believe Lidstrom is the highest paid player on our roster. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong here. I read somewhere that part of the team setup was to keep Lids the highest paid player.)

Hossa doesn't deserve preferential treatment just for being Hossa.. and certainly not from one of the longest standing team members on our roster. He has seniority over Hossa, no matter how good Hossa is.. and I'm sure Hossa gladly gave up the number so Maltby could keep it, recognizing the fact that Malts is a veteran to this organization.

Hall of famer or not, Malts has seniority with this organization - not Hossa. Especially considering Hossa only signed a 1-year deal and Malts has been here for 12 seasons, as someone else mentioned.

I'm pretty sure Maltby is enough of a veteran of this team to be able to keep the number 18, no matter who signed on board. Frankly, if Hossa or management pushed for Maltby to give it up, I'd be pissed at their lack of respect for the guy.

I can understand the bandwagon argument, as much as I don't like it. Obviously, when you have a team whose been consistent winners for 11+ years, people are going to be interested. By the same token though, making the bandwagon argument is dumb for this reason: There's really no way to tell. The fans haven't been tested in over a decade. How would they know if we're bandwagoners or not? Answer: They wouldn't. Argument = null and void at that point.