Ms_Hockey

I'm absolutely positive I've been watching the same series. One of the goals last night was a complete fluke goal.. the one that the Pens took the lead on. It was a result of lack of concentration on Ward's part - otherwise, it would've been an easy stop. It wasn't a spectacular play. It wasn't even really skill. It was just a fluke goal - much like the one Fleury gave up to Staal. Of the three remaining goals, two were assisted by Crosby. In the end, without Crosby or Malkin on the ice, the Penguins talent goes through the floor.

Hey now.. it wasn't the Wings fans who made this thread. Remember?

This thread should be titled "Crosby and Malkin advance to the Stanley Cup Finals".

Pretty sure at least one of our forwards is going to land himself in the HOF. Datsyuk is a widely respected and renowned hockey player. He's going for his fourth Lady Byng and second Selke. He's been in the ranks of the three you mentioned in terms of points for the last two seasons. He keeps going the way he is, he'll be a contender for the HOF.

I don't think that's arrogance. The eastern and western conferences play different styles of hockey. The west coast teams are just really tough teams - and I'm not just talking about California. Generally speaking, the east fails when they face a western team just because the west is really damn hard to play. That's not arrogance, that's an observation. And if it is arrogance, then every sports analyst whose ever said it is also arrogant - and there have been plenty. As far as the Pens go, they're a much better team than they were last year - especially with the experience under their belts. However, after watching them through three rounds.. it has become more than obvious that they have two players on that team. Malkin and Crosby. If it's not one of those two getting the goals, it's one of those two setting up the plays so someone else can get the goal. Nothing occurs on the ice without one of them involved in it. If Detroit can shut down Crosby and Malkin like they did last year, I think it's safe to say the Pens are going to be struggling to find something to do. If Detroit can't shut those two (or even one of them) down, they'll take the whole show on their own. But I have enough faith in the Wings. They've got enough experience to not let a two man team beat them.

The more I watch the Pens, the more I'm convinced that they're a two-man show. If you shut down Malkin, Crosby, or both.. they have nothing. Fleury can hold them in if he's having a good day.. otherwise, they're done.

The posts over there make me laugh. They're so genuinely entertaining. You can definitely tell they haven't experienced a playoff run in a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng time. If Franzen were to sneeze on Kane, they would've wanted a misconduct for it. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT IN THE PLAYOFFS. NU UH! NO WAY!"

Chicago language: "OMG THE REFS FAVOR DETROIT!" English language: "I'm bitter because we got our asses handed to us."

They really need to make the bathrooms bigger or something. Or have more than one in a ten mile radius.

I think it's funny that the announcer said Franzen "ripped" Kane's mouth guard out of his mouth. Really? That's ripping it out? Ooooookay then.

I figured it would last until the Wings were done. Ah well, there's still the Tigers hitting three home runs I can watch for.

Lol. Thanks. /Bow.

I think it was in the 80s. The Islanders and Edmonton. I could be way way way off.

I wouldn't care for Hossa either if I were a Pens fan. Realistically, I can understand his motivation - though it was a huge slap to the Pens organization. I mean, he was offered a one-year deal by the team that just lifted the Cup in front of his face. People in his own locker room were leaving. He wasn't sure where the Pens would go. He went to the team that would give him the best opportunity to lift the Cup. It makes sense from Hossa's perspective.. but it really sucks from the Pens/Pens fans perspective. I feel for ya there.

Pavs can be my BFF if he gets me free Arbys.

I think this is absolutely ridiculous. If I were a Hawks fan, I'd want blood - and lots of it.

Yeah, but Babcock likes to give the superstars ridiculous amounts of time off. I'm sure if last game would've gone poorly, he'd be throwing Datsyuk in there. It seems to me he's got a "better safe than sorry" attitude about our players injuries and he'll give them massive amounts of time off.

It depends what your definition of "soft" is. We make hits and lots of 'em.. but we don't fight. To some, the not fighting part is enough to make them scream "soft". It's pretty subjective and unless you outline the definition of "soft", we'll never agree.

At least they get an extra day. And we did pretty well without them last game. Don't fret just yet!

I saw that shirt in Meijers the other night and ALMOST bought it, but considering the series is almost over, I let it go.

Welcome back.

You're on a Red Wings board. Is it really surprising that the people here think the Wings are going to win the Cup? You're never going to get them to say "You're right, we're going to lose." I wouldn't expect you to think the Pens are going to lose and you shouldn't expect these people to think the Wings are going to lose. The NHL isn't the Red Wings.. and yet the Red Wings are still in their dynasty. Ilitch was voted the best owner in sports. In terms of Stanley Cups, we're third only to Montreal and Toronto. And contrary to what you've been preaching, Lidstrom is not this whole team. Yes, our dynasty is going to end and new one will emerge - that's just the way of things. But it's not going to happen just because Lidstrom hangs up his skates. We don't pick superstars - we MAKE superstars. We get the 210th pick and the 171st pick and we turn them into Zetterberg and Datsyuk. It's our farming/scouting system that's unmatched.. not our players. When that ends, our dynasty will end. As for the Joe having empty seats, you are absolutely 100% wrong. I've been to multiple playoff games this year and they've always announced a sellout. In fact, in the aisles, about 3/4 of the way down, they put in temporary seating. Where there's normally standing room, they set up folding chairs. The empty seats that you see are season ticket holder seats who couldn't make it to the game and couldn't sell them to anybody. However.. those seats are still paid for. The Red Wings have one of the highest percentages of season ticket holders. Not only that, but the JLA experienced and 11 year sellout streak that ended in 2007.. and since then, we've never fallen below #7 on the sellout streak list. So don't even try using the "empty seats" bulls*** because that's exactly what it is... bulls***.

Hiller was a rookie. He was going to make mistakes. But even so, you should know that hockey is a certain percentage of luck. Fleury has given up fluke goals as well.. it's just part of the game. To say Hiller sucks is just asinine. I'm not denying that you're going to give us a run for our money. I'm not an idiot. I just don't think you're going to win the series.

There's a difference between arrogance and confidence and I think you're confusing that. We've played games without Lidstrom and Raffy.. and we've still won. It's not so much the players we have, it's the system we have. But even if you are right... what does it matter? Lidstrom and Rafalski are on the team THIS YEAR.. and isn't that what we're debating anyway? When they retire, I'll still be a fan of this team - even if our skill drops dramatically. But we're not talking about when they retire. We're talking about the matchup THIS season.

You cannot be serious. The Ducks were easily the second best team in the playoffs. Their defense was pretty much unmatched. I can almost promise you that a Pens/Ducks series would've ended up with the Pens on the losing side. You're not giving Anaheim nearly enough credit. They're a gritty, take it to you, superior defense team. But they, like the Pens, consisted of a few good players and whole lot of fillers. They had ONE excellent line. After that.. they were done. It was their defense that gave us so much trouble and given that it was ranked as one (if not THE) top defenses in the league.. it's absolutely ridiculous to think that having a seven game series with Anaheim shows any kind of vulnerability. I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree. I'm not remotely concerned about the Pens. The Pens are good... in the eastern conference. But the western conference for years now has just been plain better.