Husker BigGuy

Is that with or without Pavel Datsyuk?

Well, we should probably stick to this deep subject started: the proffered strategy of Bylsma. I think Bylsma should be more specific in his instructions. Tell Malkin and Crosby to score 3 goals each, and then instruct the other players to each add one. Except Fleury. Tell Fleury not to let any pucks in the net behind him. And, of course, to stay in front of the correct net at the correct time. Now, as a counter strategy, if I am Babcock, and I tell the Wings to score first. Come right out on the ice and score once. THEN, after every time the Penguins score, SCORE AGAIN. Keep this up for three periods. I wouldn't tell Osgood anything in this case.

For the last two years, only one team has actually played for The Stanley Cup, and that's the Wings. Last year they played twice for it. Let's keep the record clean and play once for it this time. Babcock said as much as this in his press conference. I just elaborate here.

Post game presser, he said you really only play for the cup after you have three wins.

So now the question is, "How much of a Pavel Datsyuk guarantees the cup?" Is it 85%? Can the Wings make it a fair series by playing an 18" Pavel? With Pavel, Stanley Cup. No Pavel ...

If we don't get a healthy Pavel back, we will not win the cup. We need him on both sides of the puck.

Got Pavel?

The remarks here that someone thinks Pavel is superman (Yzerman?) or a one-man team must not be watching what's going on. Zetterberg is getting gassed. Even if Pavel was 8 minutes of Z, we win this series. As far as the Pens being all that, frankly, I don't think we beat the Ducks without Pavel, either, if he's out 5 games or so. Hudler can makes some Datsyukian plays at center sometimes. That doesn't mean he can give us 8 minutes of Pavel. If Pavel comes back, and we lose Z, or Lids - or maybe even Hossa - we don't win a cup either. No one is trying to say that Pavel is the face of the Red Wings (or the league). He's our MVP this year, a Hart candidate, and we miss him badly. Badly enough that it can cost us the cup.

I'm not blocked. I will see if they kill legit topics like this board does.

Eriicsson, Helm, Abdelkader and Leino all played average to poor last night. Helm was turning over the puck, Ericcson was back to the tentative play he exhibited when he first got the call when Rafalski went down Leino and Abdelkader were just invisible guys last night. The Penguins played Helm hard, and, of course, they can interfere with him and Hossa all they want without worrying about penalties. Last night's game shows that if these guys don't step up, we really, really miss Pavel. These are rookies, and we should expect this play sometimes. I suspect we will see very different play from them Thursday, except we may not Leino at all.

I was watching the game where Helm was turning the puck over and getting it handed to him with forechecks all night. The same game where Ericcson was getting manhandled on the boards. I say they were average, but if you think they were well below average, I'm not going to argue that very much.

I posted this in another thread, but because they are all becomeing the same I need to point out the obvious here. The Wings would be up 3-0 right now if it wasn't for bad breaks, and some bad officiating.

If it wasn't for a couple of bad bounces, and some bad ref calls, the Wings would be up 3-0 right now.

In the big picture, nobody knows who Sidney Crosby is.

What these videos actually show is that Hossa is perhaps the most heads-up guy on the ice. His play in these sequences is amazing. No wonder the Pens hate him.

Playing Pavel injured would be imprudent at best, IMO.

I'm a new Red Wings fan. I would not yet say I am an NHL fan because I have not yet watched anyone else's games. If the Wings weren't in the playoffs, I wouldn't watch them either. So I think I bring a fresh take on NHL on TV. There is no GOOD reason for hockey to fail to draw fans in America, IMO. It's a sport made for TV. That being said, the NHL has to lose it's Canadian orientation if it wants to become big time. It doesn't matter that the players are Canadian, the whole presentation of the sport needs to go American. Canadians have a chip on their shoulder about the US and it just shows all the time. Way too much little league broadcasting. Probably the first thing the NHL should do is start mixing in Americans into the broadcast, and into the Commissioner's office. The broadcasts need to educate Americans more on the ins and outs of the games, including the rules. To the seasoned fan, that may not sound very interesting, but I notice there are folks on this forum that don't know the rules all that well either. Statistics are a big enough part of Hockey to include them more often as is done is baseball. Not so-o-o often, but the key stats like points and their breakdowns need to be more readily available in the broadcasts. With line changes happening every minute or less, there needs to be an easy way to see who is now playing on a broadcast. Someone can get creative and show that info, I am sure. Finally, and this will actually upset the die-hards out there, the sport needs to lose some of its WWF features (and fans). American viewers' favorite sport is a contact sport with incredible hitting inside the rules throughout the game. But the rasslin' aspect of the NHL just must go. If you don't want to see this aspect of the NHL go the way of the two-hand set shot, or the flying wedge, then don't complain about not getting even 3% of viewers watching the most competitive trophy match-up in sports. Once people in the States start watching, the league will start to draw some more great athletes, and will become more of an American sport. Of course, the Canadians wouldn't really want what comes with that success, as the Canadian players would then become a minority.

Hudler had an excellent assist last night.

Fedetenko had the goal in game one, IIRC.

Thanks. There it was. I was looking for it at the Redwings TV portion.

Anyone have a link to Babcock's post game conference from last night's SCF game 1?

Maybe this trophy should go the way of the Heisman and be handed out to guys who don't win the big one.

It's a sincere question, just how the Pens will attack the Wings in ways that we haven't already watched. Anaheim jammed the ice with a powerful, sound-skating line, and often kept it close with physical play, but in the end got physically matched, and outskated and outshot. The Hawks are stretching the ice, and trying to outskate the Wings, and trying to match in physical play. They are actually failing at both, and getting seriously whipped. I'm not sure how you beat the Red Wings 4 of 7 unless maybe a couple more guys go down. At this point, I think the Wings could win sometimes even without Osgood. I'd REALLY like to know who Pens fans think is sufficient firepower and defense to win a series. I know very little about the Penguins. All I hear about is Crosby and Malkin. There is no way any two guys beat the Red Wings.

The eastern border of Nebraska is the Missouri river. It has a coast line. It's fresh water, by the way. It never runs dry. Nebraska has more fresh water than any state in the United States. One of these days, you all will be drooling over that water, and we'll probably be piping it to you at ridiculous prices, just like ethanol. Land prices around the metropolitan areas - 20 minutes - are less than $10k per acre. If you want a lot of Sodomites around you, you can find them in abundance in Lincoln, NE. So you could feel right at home here. The other thing that will make you feel at home is that Nebraska will tax you until it hurts. Omaha, NE is traditional a great hockey town, and has been for decades. You are welcome to come here in a couple of weeks and watch the College World Series, which draws more fans per game than the Stanley Cup. It's a great event. If you want aircraft, Stratcom (former Strategic Air Command) is in Bellevue, Nebraska. President Bush flew AF1 - the only plane in the nation's sky at the time - to it on 9/11/2001. Of course, we have our beloved Huskers, and Larry the Cable Guy, who makes people laugh. However, one thing we have that you don't: sense of humor. LGW!

Maybe you should leave San Francisco, and get some fresh air and water.