NGKEIB

In game 1 of the Columbus series, his line was huge. Secondary scoring (or rather tertiary scoring, as they're the 3rd line) would go a very long way this series, if our 1st and 2nd lines are going to be splitting time covering Getzlaf & co.

HV71

I agree, looking at the additions/players who left is deceptive. From that point of view, the Penguins are much weaker, but as others have said, losing Michelle and letting some of the youngsters get XP won't have done them any harm. Pittsburgh-Boston would be a fun conference final. I'd love to see Boston make it to the SCF this year, and I think that they could handle the Penguins, though Thomas would need to stand on his head, Chara would need to grow even bigger etc.

What makes me wonder is what happened to Rafalski? I didn't notice anything wrong with him in the BJ series, and then we had a long layoff, where he could sit out practices, and now he can't play... It's perplexing.

As I've said elsewhere, the defensive ramifications of this don't worry me too much. But our powerplay wasn't good enough today. It's not that I don't like him, but I don't see the point in having Sammy on the same PP unit as Lidström. He's fine on the 2nd unit where he can drift down the left wing and hit one-timers, but I'd rather see Lidström-Stuart/Ericsson as the first unit, even though they're all lefties.

I'm sure I remember watching this and getting quite irritated, because I think Franzén (or whoever isn't in the picture) had pushed Fairy, and he retaliated by pushing Lidström.

Sorry for yet another post, but if people don't want dumb penalties, please cc. Messrs. Franzén and Holmström in on the message, not Chelios. Good sports cars can go from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds, but we sure managed to go from 5-on-4 to 3-on-4 in a similar amount of time (I know, I know, the Ducks dove - they're acquatic birds, what else are they going to do?).

And for what it's worth, when Hudler got hit (let's not get into whether it was clean or not), from what I could hear the announcers saying (camera wasn't looking at this) Chelios was the only Wing to take the matter up with Brown(nosing-Pronger).

I thought Chelios was alright tonight, and I thought that he could have gotten a few more minutes - unless it had to do with fatigue, but I'm not convinced it was. Babcock doesn't like playing him that much, and it's his call. In playoff situations, I'd much rather see Chelios out there than Meech. He's not going to put up the numbers he did in his earlier years, but he'll work in the corners and is no pushover. He's absurdly experienced, and while not as smart in hockey terms as, say, Lidström, he definitely does know what he's doing out there. I don't miss Rafalski for his defensive play - we've got that covered - it's his offensive stuff (puck movement, but especially him on the PP) that is missed most. Plus, all the commentators seem to be making a big deal out of the 'Norris trophy count' for some reason. Chelios is a. a good reminder that you can have gotten a Norris trophy in the past without being Norris trophy-calibre at the moment (Donger), and b. I like the fact that if the 'experts' are going to count how many Norris trophies each team has, it makes our count even bigger than before.

I have to say, it was funny when Getzlaf and Perry went to check him and both fell over...

With 2:37 left in the first they were playing Rossini's William Tell Overture. With 2:03 left in the first they played a song that sounds like a cross between Queen's 'We Will Rock You' and Gary Glitter's 'Rock and Roll' (also known as the 'Hey' song). With 0:04 left in the first they played Jet's 'Are You Gonna be My Girl.' I guess it's the middle one, but I don't hear any lyrics so I can't look it up. It could be a cover version of the Gary Glitter song, since they usually don't play his stuff anymore since he's a paedophile. So that would be my (albeit tentative) guess - a cover of Gary Glitter's 'Rock and Roll'. Look up that song on youtube and see if it's the right one.

I agree with Thomaslupojr - they can't be doing too much wrong if we're 5-0. Obviously there are issues (our powerplay, injuries to defencemen etc.), but I can't agree with the ones being brought up here.

I'm not sure I'd be able to call him the best ever, because as great as he is, he hasn't revolutionised the position as much as (blah blah blah we've all heard it before...). Other ones worth mentioning are perhaps first European-born captain to win Stanley Cup, and the first European-born player to win the Conn Smythe, and the first European-born player to win the Norris.. Incredibly well-rounded defenseman in that he's top of the league (not speaking statisically) in terms of defensive and offensive play (not physical, but he doesn't need to throw a hit when he can lift sticks, steal, position himself etc.).

Haha, that's great. Empty seats vs. empty rafters...

Hossa didn't need to "show up" in the last series, except in Game 4, where he scored two goals (if I'm not mistaken). Also, even if he wasn't putting up great numbers, he was still playing solidly and not making any huge mistakes. I'm going to wait until later in this series before I pass any judgement on him. As for Zetterberg, he's been killing penalties, winning faceoffs, throwing his weight around (to a certain extent), and his line has been very good at shutting down as well as scoring points. You can question his leadership abilities, but the fact is Zetterberg isn't our leader - Lidström is, and he certainly showed that tonight! Not all "franchise players" need to be play-makers, and I'd say that he's been more than "solid":

He played a solid defensive game, and got a takeaway or two, and was very strong with the puck. I'm not worried about him.

Any roster changes anticipated? Will they stick with Parros? I know that a number of teams don't dress enforcers when playing the Red Wings, but the playoffs might be different.

Apparently they were calling some of the Rangers ***. I think that's from THN. And if anyone wants to see a feed of Babs looking very angry, look up the Lappy-Lidström incident on youtube. Though I don't think he can hold a candle to Joey Kocur throwing a chair onto the ice when he was an assistant under Dave Lewis. Poor Joey, I guess he felt left out.

Babcock will not sit Maltby and Draper before the playoffs start. They have so much experience, and I'm sure that they will raise their games. If not, Babcock will go from there. And I hope that whoever said that Downey-Draper-McCarty would be a good shutdown line if we should play Anaheim was joking. As much as it hurts me to say it, the over-the-hill player and a part-time enforcer in question are not suited to playing shutdown roles. For that we have players like Zetterberg and Datsyuk. However, I do agree that it would be nice with a bit more toughness in the line-up if we need to face the Ducks. But keep in mind that they traded away their best defensive forward (PÃ¥hlsson) as well as Moen.

Interesting numbers, but not surprising ones. Franzen is Mr. Clutch. Look at his run last year in the playoffs.

Nah, Franzen seems to just hit the ground as quickly as possible, whereas Samuelsson at least gives some banter and hangs on.

Yeah I'm gonna keep on watching for about another hour.

Carcillo to Philly. Seems fitting.

TSN is saying that SJ is interested in Neil...

Boston gets Recchi and a 2010 2nd round pick. TB gets Martins Karsums and Matt Lashoff.