NGKEIB

Not sure about the cap situation, but I think that if he's on LTIR he won't count against the cap. I see Chelios leaving, and Ericsson coming up full time. I want to see Lebda for us next season, I thought that he really played well in the post-season. Keep Kindl in the minors and have someone point out why plus-minus is a significant statistic. Not wild about Meech. Granted, he is versatile, but if we need an extra winger I'd rather call up Abdelkader (who will still be in GR) or someone else. I don't see Meech fitting in to our defense corps... Lidström-Rafalski Stuart-Kronwall Ericsson-Lebda (Lilja injured, but will hopefully return to the roster. He had a great year.)

Pens will be fine. I can see Chicago having difficulties however. You guys make it sound like Pittsburgh isn't a desirable place to play. Not sure about the city, but their team has loads of exciting and skilled players. People will take discounts. Now that Michelle is gone (I actually really like Bylsma and am so happy for him) I don't see why they won't continue their upward trend. I don't think that they'll repeat, but those who claim that they'll regress to how they played in the first half of the season should sort themselves out.

Dustin Penner, you mean. Helm will be up, for sure. Abdelkader will spend another year in GR, and I'm fine with that. I want him playing 15 minutes a night for another year, not 4. And if I had to choose between Hossa, Hudler and Samuelsson, I would choose Samuelsson. I don't think that he's the best of them, but still. I like Hossa, and am not one of the people who accuses him of losing the Cup. He had a great season, and helped us get to the Finals. Hudler is good, and is great to have on a lower line where he can match up against pylon-goons and put up good points. However, he deserves more money, and will probably get us a good pick. Lets talk about Micke... No one takes out our opposition's shins as well as he does, and he does have a nice one timer from right next to the net. He can be resigned for not much money, and while he isn't too consistent, he did have some huge goals for us this post-season.

As much as I like these lines, don't expect to see them tomorrow... Babcock might want Datsyuk, Filppula and Zetterberg on different lines, as we won't have the last change. Though I could maybe see him going with Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Helm and Draper down the middle...

Sorry but the atmosphere at a 'Euro' game when the fans sing is something else. It's something American fans could really learn from. Who needs cheerleaders and cheesy songs piped in when you have a core of diehards singing and shouting the entire game.

Maltby has clearly been such a pest this series. You have to love him for it.

Nice to see that Lizzy gave Erica a job (what a surprise, also signed him as a player). Who says nepotism is passé?

Sorry if this has already been posted, but I didn't see it. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/20...uelsson_pa.html If he can't play, Draper will replace him. Datsyuk didn't look good skating, but apparently is making significant steps and might play in Game 4.

I can't understand this lack of respect for Eklund. Fine, he's been a bit off once or twice, but when it comes to rumours, the man is money in the bank.

I think that Samuelsson might have the same flu that Patrick Kane got when Bourque hit him. Was it Cooke who hit Sammy in game 2?

Leino will sit for Datsyuk, Abdelkader is Draper's 'replacement'. You don't sit a guy who is scoring on a goal-a-game pace in the Finals I don't think that his foot is broken, but if he is having trouble turning etc. could that point to an ankle injury? He'll have all summer to rest up, so I don't think that the doctors will have a huge problem with 'aggravating' it, so long as it isn't serious. I was one of the people who was thinking that he was going to be back for game 1. Now he may be in 'day-to-day à la Rafalski' mode, which could mean anything. I hope to get him back soon.

Somebody mentioned ankle. It seems plausible.

I think our PK will finally get its ass in gear this series, but I sure do miss Lilja. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we haven't given up a goal on a 5-on-3 yet have we? That at least is a good sign. The Penguins have one of the better defense corps in the East, but that doesn't mean that much. Washington has a couple of 4th forwards and some faceless jobbers, NJ is nothing like it used to be. Philadelphia's idea of 'team defense' is if it looks like someone else is going to score, start a fight so that play is blown dead, or have your fowards go out of their way (and out of position) to hit people. I'm not saying that all of the teams in the West have better defenses (Chicago is a case in point... Campbell for the Conn Smythe!), but we've faced a really deep defense in Anaheim and gotten through, and I think that after us they have the best defense in the league. I agree that Pittsburgh's defense is underrated, but that doesn't mean it's that good...

I assume that lots of people have you on 'ignore' or else somebody would surely have replied to this. The 'hot young goalie' is a contender for lots of silverware, and Columbus wasn't the lowest seed in the playoffs. The Pens didn't face cripples in wheelchairs, but I think that the West is a lot tougher than the East (toughness, depth, physicality, talent, defense). I think that Anaheim and Detroit could probably have taken on a lot of the high-ranking Eastern teams and schooled them. Pittsburgh may prove to be an exception, but one good team doesn't make a good Conference.

I thought that Lebda did a good job on keeping Kane to the outside. It was Kane's great shot that made the goal, not a bad play by Lebda. Fair enough - but if it was a do-or-die game I think that Lidström would have played. Same goes for Datsyuk. I think that they will play on Saturday.

I don't want to sound like a mindless optimist (especially taking into account the whole Rafalski 'day-to-day' shambles), but I think that they will play. Eyewitness reports say that Lidström is walking completely normally (no visible bandages or padding, no limp, no hunch/cramp/etc.), and he has been exercising, so I don't think that it is that big a thing. It may just be that Babcock didn't want to take any risks. I think it's the same for Datsyuk. X-rays showed no fractures, and he can get his foot into his skate now (he skated yesterday or the day before I believe), and said that he was having a harder time turning and stopping, possibly due to swelling/pain. By Saturday that should hopefully have subsided - in his case, the fact that he can get his foot into his skate is pretty important. Once again, if Game 5 had been a do-or-die match, I think that he would have played. And all of the commentators seemed to suggest that Ericsson would be back for Saturday.

I heard that Big Rig would be back by Saturday. I'm not sure about Lilja though - and that would be a real dilemma. Who would sit out of Lilja, Lebda and Ericsson? Lebda and Ericsson have both been playing so well... Reports I've read on Lidström (especially eye-witness accounts of him walking completely normally, without a limp/hunch/etc.) seem to suggest that Babcock might just have been resting him. I think that Datsyuk should be back by Saturday. Apparently x-rays didn't show any breakages/fractures, so his foot is probably very swollen. I imagine it will have subsided by then, as he was able to skate yesterday.

I think in the long term Helm might become a sort of Draper 2.0 - fast skater, good defensively, scores the odd goal etc. He's going to be great. I understood the comment about Helm replacing Draper as a sort of longer-term observation. I think that both of them will play next year. Helm could be a 3rd line centre next year - he works really hard, but he would need some guys with better hands and shooting to go with him. Leino and Samuelsson? All in all, great game.

I concur. I think he's had a really good playoffs, and the way he stepped up last night was great. I didn't notice any big slip-ups or anything negative. He's got great wheels, and was skating just as quickly at the end of the game as he was at the start. Lidström, Rafalski and Stuart are great at passing the puck to start a rush, and while Lebda can't pass as well as them, he can sure skate with the puck very quickly and effectively. Let's not forget that he set up both of our goals, and he also had the most even strength minutes of any of our players (not necessarily a compliment, since it just means that Babs doesn't use him on special teams, but still...)!

Personally I think that his humble, team-first mindset would be a great fit in the Red Wings locker room, especially once we get rid of Osgood. He's shown that he's not an NHL-level calibre goalie, and it's a good thing that he has a high-scoring team in front of him. [/sarcasm] Emery did actually put up decent numbers in the KHL (http://en.khl.ru/players/?idplayer=15207〈=en), but unfortunately only 2 PIM Though I think that there is a video of him getting into a fight with one of his team's trainers on youtube somewhere. On another note, I noticed that the KHL had awards for refs - they pick the 10 best refs of the regular season. I think that O'Halloran and Watson should go play in the KHL so that they can get lots of recognition!

I think that the Wings should sign Ray Emery. It would kill two birds with one stone - the whole 'we need better goaltending' argument and the crowd of people saying 'we need an enforcer'. Imagine how great it would be to have an enforcer on the ice all the time!

Sorry, I had to correct your post. I bolded my corrections. I agree that his play has gotten worse since he's been moved down, but Lidström makes everyone look better so it's no surprise. Based on interviews Lebda and him seem fairly comfortable playing with each other, and they're both good movers of the puck (not so much passing as just good at skating with it into the offensive zone). He's making mistakes, and sometimes gets a bit flustered, but at other times he displays good patience, and is good at tying people up along the boards. People want to see physical play from him, and who wouldn't, but keep in mind he's not the 6'6 225 lb monster people make him out to be. More like 6'4/6'5 and closer to 205 lb. (That's still pretty big though...) As someone else said, it's sort of been a baptism of fire for him, and on the whole I'm very satisfied with his play. While he's no replacement for Lilja, he brings stuff to the table that Lilja doesn't, and I can't wait to see him play next year. Everyone says that Ericsson looks worse now that he's with Lebda, but look at it from the other angle. I think that Lebda has had a pretty good post-season, and maybe some of that has to do with playing with Big Rig. I don't know...

Actually, Ericsson's scrap worked out even better, since I believe they each got seven minutes. And Kopecky was the one to challenge Beauchemin, not the other way around. Beauchemin was apparently surprised, since he didn't make Kopecky for a fighter (I don't think his opinion changed after the fight). Haha, is Cromwell going to be a new nickname for him? Well, actually, gold is pretty soft... I think Calgary is sort of a case in point. Their goalie was exhausted, and their D-corps injured. Though you might question the decision to suddenly ratchet up the physical play 22 games before the playoffs start, since then you might suddenly have a whole slew of injured players to deal with. As for micah, I think he kind of misses the 80's... I wouldn't call Lidström soft - he's only missed one playoff game in his career etc. I would say there is more to being 'hard'/'strong' than fighting. Though on the other hand, I can understand why he doesn't like Franzén, Maltby and Samuelsson.

If we win, I could maybe see him retiring. But in an interview he said that he and Drapes felt they had a lot left in the tank. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him play out his contract, at the very least.

The way I see it, Babcock wants to roll 4 lines in each game. And the only way he will do that is if each line is solid defensively, so lets say that each line has to have 2 good defensive forwards on it. That his why I don't think that we will see Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Franzén, as that puts 3 of our best 2-way players on one line. Similarly, Leino-Hudler-Maltby wouldn't be a good line, since Maltby is the only one who is sound defensively, and Jiri isn't that great a centre. I don't think that he sees it as advantageous (from a defensive, shut-down point of view) to have Zetterberg and Datsyuk on the same line, unless we should happen to play Pittsburgh and they happen to play Crosby and Malkin on same line. If Datsyuk isn't in (and we know that Draper and Kopecky won't be) I would use: Franzén-Zetterberg-Hudler Hossa-Filppula-Holmström Cleary-Helm-Samuelsson Leino-Abdelkader-Maltby If he was in, he could always go in for Hudler, and Hudler take Leino's spot, but I still think that Babcock won't do that since he wants to spread his defensive players out. While I would love to see Filppula and Hossa together, I think the only way it happens would be: Franzén-Zetterberg Hossa-Filppula-Holmström Cleary-Datsyuk-Samuelsson (in theory this good work with an excellent playmaker, a gritty hardworking guy, and a 'sniper', but they haven't really played together, and I don't think that Datsyuk deserves to be on the 3rd line. You could always switch Samuelsson and Hudler - Sammy has scored on that line.) Hudler-Abdelkader-Maltby I'm not suggesting any of these line changes, I just think that if we're getting scoring, Babcock will be more concerned about being able to roll 4 defensively sound lines. If we get completely shut down, we'll see new stuff like against Anaheim, but I think that it is more likely that he'll go back to how it was before. [/ramble]