StevieY'sguy

First of all, let me say that everyone who is scared to talk about this for fear of jinxing the Wings is retarted for two reasons. 1. the Wings are absolutely gonna win this series, if you don't truly believe that then i would suspect you have been hitting the bottle wayyyyy too hard, open your eyes and start paying attention, Columbus can't keep up!!! 2. Why not talk about this topic??? If we win then it is a viable topic, about who we will see next, and even if we were losing this series it would be a viable topic, because it is more exciting to talk about than any off season talk I'm not sure who i want to play next round.....on one hand Anaheim has better leadership, more postseason experience and would beat the piss out of us physically, but on the other hand Vancouver has Luongo who can steal a series without batting an eye. If we can get some calls from the refs Anaheim will spend some time in the box so if our power play is clicking then we should be all set.....however if the refs decide to swallow the whistles we could be in for a long series. Vancouver is less physical than Anaheim but also takes less penalties, Vancouver has a ton of depth on defense and plays a much smarter game. The drawback for either of these teams is that they don't have enough offenseive firepower to keep up with us.

I think the rookie of the year should go to someone who played a vital role in a team taking a large leap in the standings, and should not only have put up a solid point total but also played well on both ends of the ice, having a highlight reel goal nominated by NHL.com for "goal of the year" would also be a solid attribute.......the fact that this guy was leading the NHL in plus/minus at the all star break and finished in 2nd place (by only one and it was to a teammate) is even more impressive.....I know that Steve Mason will win this award, but i think it is ridiculous that my guy Blake Wheeler didn't at least receive a nomination

Only Barry Melrose would pick the two teams with the shakiest goaltending to meet in the finals. Washington has no chance of making it and while we certainly do, we are definitely jinxed with Mullet Melrose AND Pierre MacGuire both picking us

SJS/ANA 4-2 DET CLB 4-1 VAN STL 4-3 CHI CAL 4-3 BOS MTL 4-1 WSH NYR 4-2 NJ CAR 4-2 PIT PHI 4-2 WCC: Detroit ECC: Boston SCC: Detroit 4-3

Canada's number one line in the Olympics??? Are you kidding me? In case you haven't noticed next year's Olympics are on Canadian soil so Canada is going to be under loads of pressure to bring home the gold. Whose shoulders do you think they are going to put that burden on?? No other than the golden boy, Sidney Crosby and if you don't think he's gonna be on the first line then you are out of your tree!

They would definitely lose if they played these guys: Toews-Crosby-St.Louis Parise-Malkin-Cammalleri Nash-Gagne-Hossa Hemsky-Spezza- Carter Green- Mitchell Souray-Phaneuf Campbell-Boyle Nabokov Thomas

Here's the deal, Don Cherry loves hockey and is in my opinion the most passionate analyst on TV. Anyone who has seen more than 30 seconds of Coaches Corner knows that Cherry has a temper and who hasn't said some dumb things when they get fired up? Do i agree with what he said? Absolutely not, but he is very relevant and good for the game....on almost every Coaches Corner segment he points out some clips of various NHLers playing fundamental hockey and tells any kids watching that doing the little things are important to becoming a good hockey player. He is very biased against Europeans and towards Canada, but it must be realized that while his generation was growing up there was a very anti-Euro sentiment in hockey. It is no different from old-timers who lived through the Pearl Harbor attacks being anti-Japanese or people from the old South being racist.....it is absolutely wrong but the fact of the matter is that MOST people display traits that were around them when they were growing up and by the time people age they are usually very set in their ways of thinking. I find it hilarious that people are trying to downplay Cherry's significane in the hockey world in a year that his criticism of Ovechkin, Pav and Lidstrom has made headlines all across the hockey world and has elicited responses from those players, do u think there would have been anything in print if Harry Neale or Kelly Hrudey said something like this??? Not a chance

Zetterburg-Datsyuk-Parise Toews-Crosby-Cammalleri Hemsky-Kovalchuk-Elias Lucic-Smyth- Getzlaf Lidstrom-Boyle Rafalski-Souray W. Mitchell- B. Campbell G-Mason Roloson

I'm not sure why he isn't drafted to tell you the truth....I have tried to find that out as i have followed him closely the last couple of years but i have found nothing.....maybe he just slipped through the cracks, Matt Gilroy who won the Hobey Baker award today and is the best defenseman in college hockey is undrafted as well, and he is a 3 time All-American...... A common misjudgement is that if someone isn't drafted, they don't have a chance at making it which is not true at all, look at some of the clowns who HAVE been drafted, (a player on my college's hockey team was drafted by the San Jose Sharks and this year as a senior, could only crack the lineup in 2 games and that was on the 10th place team in the CCHA, you're telling me he's more of a prospect than Pearce, who had the best GAA in the nation???) some people just slip through the cracks and lets face it, scouting reports are only as good as the scouts who turn them in!

Tippett, Granato, and Gretzky should go....(Gretzky never should have been hired; he never played defense, never layed a body check played horrible positionally and wasn't a locker room leader, if you are hiring someone to coach a hockey team it would probably be wise to hire someone who actually knows how to successfully play more than one facet of the game). I would be shocked to see Ruff go, after all he's been through with that organization I think he'll get another shot. I also hope that Edmonton hangs on to MacTavish, i don't know why, but for some reason i really like that guy.

This is awesome i literally yelled in joy when i read this thread, I've seen Pearce play a lot over the last two years and he is a very legit goalie. Moves very well has great vision, and is very consistent. I am also a big Jimmy Howard fan but i think i almost want Pearce to be our next top goalie now!!!

I am a college student that wears sweat pants 4-5 days a week and even I am embarrassed on behalf of the human race for Alex Ovechkin's hygiene (or lack thereof) how hard is it to wash the grease out of your hair and use a comb once in a while?? Also he looks like a moron in this commercial and every time he scores a goal. Bobby Orr is the greatest hockey player in NHL history and watch the videos, every time he scored a goal (aside from the flying Cup winner) he just skated back to center ice with his head down....you know, like he had actually done it before!!!

It's a shame Downey isn't on our team, he would bring some toughness that i think the wings would definitely benefit from.

This goal is not only amazing, but has a little hometown flavor for me.....I was not at the game as i am away at college but this goal took place in Port Huron, Michigan on the very ice surface that i played hockey for almost 15 years (McMorran Arena) the player who scored the goal plays for the hometown Icehawks of the IHL, despite this unbelieveable goal, the 'Hawks lost 2-1 in the shootout. Without a doubt, the Linus Omark (Sweden National team) goal from last week and this goal are by far the 2 best non-NHL goals that i have ever seen....as far as best of all time i don't think either can be called the greatest ever seen but in the top 10 or 15 i would say for sure......

Anaheim- Getzlaf Atlanta-Kovalchuk Boston- Thomas (there's about 5 people that could be considered for this, namely Chara but Thomas gets the nod) Buffalo- Vanek Calgary- Kiprusoff Carolia- Staal Chicago- Toews (the next great captain in hockey, reminds me a lot of a Joe Sakic) Colorado- Smyth (although Laperriere should gets consideration for being the only person on the team who's played over 60 games that doesn't have a +/- in the negatives...ouch) Columbus- Mason Dallas- Eriksson Detroit- Datsyuk Edmonton- Roloson (Hemsky's been great but to play as much as Rolo has and stay consistent is crazy) Florida- Bouwmeester Los Angeles- Kopitar Minnesota- Backstorm Montreal- Markov Nashville- Rinne New Jersey- Parise NY Islanders- Streit NY Rangers- Lundqvist Ottawa- Alfredsson Philly- Carter/ Richards (this one is as close to a tossup as you're going to get) Phoenix- Doan Pittsburgh- Crosby...He's had crappier linemates than Malkin all along and has been forced to be matched up against the opposition's top line every night....taking nothing away from Malkin- he's had a terrific season, but Crosby has taken almost all of the pressure on himself which freed the way for Malkin to remian comfortable and shine, Crosby has had no such luxury and has put up almost as many points....(9 less points in 5 less games) as Malkin despite those hardships San Jose- Nabokov St. Louis- Boyes (although i hate to award a team MVP to someone who's plus minus is -20) Tampa Bay- St. Louis Toronto- Blake (Ponikarovsky has an almost identical stat line, but as with Crosby, Blake has seen the opposition's top line wayy more than Ponikarovsky has) Vancouver- Mitchell Washington- Green/Semin....Obviously, Ovechkin is the best player on Washington but most of his stats are identical to last year's (although his plus minus is down an astounding 18) and yet the Capitals are a much better team this year what changed? Green, has raised his plus minus up 18 points, he has become the first defenseman to score 30 goals since the 92-93 season and has become the leading candidate for the Norris! Semin has raised his plus minus 42 points and has 31 more points in 5 less games than last season. Ovechkin produced the same offensive game and got worse defensively and yet his team got better and two of the best players on his team combine to raise their plus minus 60 points when AO loses 18 off of his....I'm not sure how that happens but i am sure that he is not the main reason the Caps got so much better this year so he does not get the nod here. By the way, i realize Semin like Malkin, gets the easier opposition but the reason I am giving Semin the nod and not Malkin is that Semin had a much more vast improvement in his game

Obviously you don't watch any NHL games other than the ones the Wings are in...... Here's the rundown on the top candidates: Parise: Plain and simple kept NJ's head above water while Brodeur was out. I watched him in college and you could always tell he was going to be a star, but he really took it to another level this year, Clemmensen played well but the single biggest reason the Devils are where they are is because of Parise....not only with the goals but playing with the heart that isn't often displayed in a scorer. Mason: Played out of this world for a goalie and in my opinion should win the Vezina, putting a team on your back and leading them to the playoffs when they have never been their in franchise history is really something. With that being said, he is in too tough of a field to have a shot at the Hart. I don't disagree with the idea of a goalie getting the MVP but this year i don't think it should go to someone that lives between the pipes. Datsyuk: Pav has done it all this year from his increased physical play to playing excellent defense (a +/- in the 30s) to his accustomed excellent offensive play. For right or wrong, he will lose credibility due to the offensive prowess of many of his teammates. However, I think it would be foolish of anyone to dispute that this season Pavel Datsyuk has been the most complete forward in the NHL.....Most Valuable Player? possibly. Crosby: Although i do not think Crosby should win it this year, he most definitely deserves to be in the conversation. For most of the season (before the arrival of Kunitz and Guerin at the deadline) he was playing with a decent Pascal Dupuis and a bum in Matt Cooke which is bad enough, but when you consider the fact that Crosby's line (Not Malkin's) is the one that always drew the opposition's top line, the fact that he has been in the top 3 in the league in points all season is absolutely remarkable. Add to that the fact that he is expected to not only be the captain of his team, but also the face of the greatest hockey league in the world at only 21 years of age and you have yourself a very bona fide MVP candidate. I'm not saying he should win, but if you can't give credit where it is due to Crosby then you are simply a homer for the Red Wings and please don't respond to this post. Malkin: Simply put, Malkin has had a spectacular season leading the league in scoring nearly wire to wire. However when it comes to breaking down the MVP race you have to be objective, and as already stated, Malkin was rarely facing the oppositions top line and had a much better line then Crosby as he was paired with Petr Sykora and Ruslan Fedotenko. With Crosby taking most of the pressure off of Malkin both on and off the ice, the door was open for Evgeni to have a fantastic year and he certainly took advantage of that oppurtunity. Ovechkin: Alex has led the league in goal scoring nearly wire to wire and has led Washington to be one of the East's most formidable teams and has analysts saying that he may indeed win the Hart for a second year in a row. I have 2 major issues with giving Ovechkin the MVP: 1. He has an excellent supporting cast with one of the best centers in the NHL in Backstrom and one of the top 5 snipers in the league in Semin. Also, Mike Green is a 30 goal scorer as a defenseman which hasn't been done in almost 15 years.....and yet you never hear about his supporting cast losing him votes like you do with Datsyuk 2. Yes he has more goals than anyone else but he shoots WAYYYYY more than anyone else in the NHL here are some numbers for you: Ovechkin has 496 shots which is 142 shots more than the person with the SECOND most shots in the NHL (Staal). Ovechkin has 55 goals out of those 496 oppurtunities; if the players above shot 496 times (assuming they kept up thier current shooting percentage): Crosby would have 68 goals, Malkin would have 62 goals, Parise would have 62 goals and Datsyuk would have 64 goals. Still impressed with Ovie's 55? Overall i think it should go to Parise or Datsyuk, I'm a big fan of players who put it all on the line and carry a team through adversity so for that reason i would vote for Parise, NJ has just had a much harder road this year and i think Zach has done a hell of a job and should be rewarded with the MVP

I agree, i am hoping that Ozzie can snap out of it and i want to think that the wings are just coasting into the plaoffs to get a bit of a rest, but unlike other years i don't see that being the case. There are just too many problems with shaky goaltending and a lackluster defense, combine that with the fact that there are multiple teams that are supremely capable of beating us in a 7 game series and i don't see us making it to the Conference finals