Theophany

Babs also said that most of the guys don't even read anything written in the media. Babcock said it perfectly, "you guys are writing about the game, we're playing the game." I don't think that there's anything more going on than the Wings' leadership in the locker room (Lids, Zata, Dats, Draper, Ozzie) talking to their team and getting getting their collective minds in the right mode after realizing how they had slid in game 3 and 4. This was a completely different Wings team that we saw tonight; any team would have trouble with these guys when they play like this. Getting Pavel back probably helped quite a bit--bringing new energy and that boost of confidence--but I think it was mostly their own head game that brought them out of their slide. They're focused now; it's going to be rough going for the Pens to take game 6.

Absolutely, and it's definitely miles above what we saw from him in the regular season.

There's a reason that Kronwall has been on the SNT and has won Triple Gold. He's good. He's not top 20 in the NHL (), but he's definitely good. Everyone has f***ups. I could point out numerous times when other players on the Wings have made mistakes (including Ozzie, Lids, and Zata); it's part of being human.

Because he'd be the equivalent of a 5th line center, as he can't play wing. When you've got (going down the roster) Zata, Filppula, Helm, and Draper centering each line, there's not much room for a guy that isn't comfortable playing wing. Leino, on the other hand, is comfortable playing wing, and is a good player.

Those lines don't work at all. Helm is basically a grinder; he's been playing great, but there's no way he'd be able to keep up his energy for an entire game playing minutes like Zata and Dats normally play. Homer on the 4th line doesn't make much sense either, to me. It would make more sense to leave Leino in, to have someone that actually forechecks and hits. My own lines would go like this: Homer - Zata - Franzen Filppula - Dats - Hossa Cleary - Helm - Sammy Maltby - Draper - Leino That's my personal feeling; scratch Hudler and Abdelkader (only because he's not that great at wing). Put Dats on the wing if he can't really work the center dot tonight (i.e. he's not 100%).

LOL @ calling Lidstrom anything but elite talent. He's the best defender in the NHL bar-none. Mentioned in the same breath as people like Bobby Orr. He's one of the best to ever play the game. That's from Ted Lindsay's mouth.

Er, when he was playing, he was (line of Maltby-Abby-Leino). If you meant with Draper back he wouldn't have been playing center, then yeah, you're right.

No goalies? Hm. Lidström Datsyuk Crosby Getzlaf Malkin IMO. If we added goalies, I'd probably slot Lundqvist in at #3. Carrying a team to the playoffs is pretty impressive as a 'tender. Z was a close 6, BTW.

The bottom line is actually a bit more complicated than that. Putting Datsyuk on a line with Filppula and Hossa presents one of the most dangerous lines in hockey. Yeah, you lose Homer's screening in front, but is there any doubt that the puck cycling would be that much better? Not only that, but the Pens will have to work ridiculously hard against that line, instead of what they do now. Right now, they just stack someone on Homer and all he does is screen Fleury. With Dats out there, you need a competent defender on Filppula, Hossa, AND Dats. All three are pretty big threats with the puck. Not only that, but the Pens don't have many two-way forwards. With last change, you can match Zäta against Crosby and Dats against Malkin. Malkin's line isn't the strongest defensively, which will allow Hossa and Dats to put a lot of pucks on the net. You'll also have one of the strongest defensive lines of all our forwards, with Dats and Filppula together. So long story short, yes, one player of Pavel's depth can change the way the entire game will be played, especially with last change.

It wasn't that Abdelkader wasn't comfortable at center, it's that he wasn't as comfortable at wing, obviously. Draper is going to center line 4, and Helm is going to center line 3. End of story now that Draper is healthy again. Taking out a player that's used to playing winger to Draper for a guy that's not used to playing winger at all isn't smart. Leino is used to being a wing. So is Maltby. If Abdelkader could play wing as well as Maltby, don't you think he'd be in?

Hossa was pretty great on both sides of the rink in games 1, 2, and 3. He disappeared last night. IMO, the series will swing again in the Joe. Getting back home, seeing your fans supporting you, not having to deal with Pittsburgh fans, skating on home ice, etc will all fire the team up. It was pretty easy for the team to forget what they were fighting for when 99.9% of the Igloo was in white and cheering on the Pens. When they see their home crowd, they'll get their fire back and remember what they're fighting for. That and the banners (seeing the banners, the history of the franchise, etc) should be enough to get them going again. Add in the energy that Dats will bring back, and we should be able to turn it around in game 5. This is by no means over.

Do us all a favor, please.

I don't think so. He loves the game too much and the team could use him.

Gonna guess either iheartradio or AOL Radio apps would have it. There might be one or two others that would have it. Edit: most radio iPhone apps are free. The ones that will have 97.1 will probably be free.

Yeah, because I don't care about the commentary as much as I care about being able to see everything. My eyes are pretty crap; trying to follow the puck on normal def TV is a lot harder than HD.

Yes, clearly very few people can see that non-calls are going both ways when in every thread about calls, someone says, "I don't have a problem with the calls, they're generally going both ways."

You pretty much just admitted to trolling.

Your join date gives you away, idiot.

I would be cracking up if I were Ozzie.

WTF @ people centering a Dats line with Filppula. I would run: Mule-Zäta-Hudler Filppula-Dats-Hossa Cleary-Helm-Sammy Maltby-Draper-Abdelkader Great D on every line with some of our best scoring combos on each line (cept for line 4, but they're the LOLFORECHECK line).

Unless you want an international sweater, then I'd suggest ICEjerseys.com. They even do accent marks (handy when you're getting a Swedish national team jersey).

Seriously? They want THIS guy back in the lineup for the Wings? I knew Pens fans were stupid, but not that stupid.

Pretty amusing, but you know that that kind of stuff would happen in Hockeytown, too.

Also check stubhub.com if you want to try to get tickets in advance. Ebay works as well.