Jake Ryan

This pretty much sums it all up. Datsyuk and Hossa are playing great TEAM hockey. And the TEAM is winning.

That's Manny Ramirez type working out!!! I'd be happy with 5-10 pounds a year!

EXACTLY. What's wrong with saying Pavel is doing a great job playing like Dallas Drake played last year? The Wings are outscoring their opponents 45-26 right now in the playoffs. Pavel and Hossa play a great two way game that pressures the opponent at both ends of the rink. If they don't score goals and the other Red Wings do, it's ok. It's not like they're going to put an asterix on Hossa and Datsyuk's name when they do the Stanley Cup imprinting. *Did Not Score Like He Should. Would it be nice if Pavel and Hossa were getting better bounces and making the score 7-2 instead of 5-2? Yah, it probably would. Is it more important that they stick to their defensive assignments and play physical? Yah, for sure it is.

Babcock actually said to stay out of the paint - meaning to stay on top of the crease and cut down angles. The reason for this is because when goalies play position goaltending, they have to rely less on their reactions. This is a staple for Ducks goaltending. That's why you see so many shots from the Red Wings landing in Hiller's chest or glove. When goalies stay back in the crease, they allow themselves a split second more of reaction time at the expense of opening up angles to the shooter. In the NHL, these angles are enough for the skaters to put the puck in the net on a consistant basis. There are a few goaltenders who have unreal acrobatic ability and catlike reflexes (Hasek). They can afford to stay a little closer to their net and protect against side to side movement better. Most goalies, however, have to reduce the angles as much as possible so that the puck hits them instead of finding a hole. The counter to this type of goaltending is crashing the crease (Cleary!!!).

Watch the first goal yesterday. Find Holmstrom. I'll give you a hint. He's waiting for the outlet pass at the blue line instead of helping his defensemen. You can see him in the background 60 ft away from the net along the boards. Johan Franzen got caught flat footed as well, because he thought the defense had position and control, but Holmstrom ALWAYS skates blue line to blue line. Datsyuk and Hossa skate goal line to goal line. They play the whole ice surface like MOST of the Red Wings. The worst thing about Holmstrom right now is that he's not even banging in pucks on the PP. That's his only job and the only real skill he brings to the team. I hope he retires gracefully at the end of next season and the Wings don't have to send him packing. It's time to start looking for his replacement.

I am not cool enough to think of "Carby" as a name. OH MY. There's more than one person in the world who thinks that Datsyuk's scoring problems are more NINETY-SUX related than Pavel Datsyuk related?!! Imagine that. All of the newspapers are saying it. The coach is moving the lines around because of it. A lot of letsgowings members are coming around to it. Are you going to keep your head in the sand or pull it out? It's not rocket surgery.

Ok. Next time I better just start a thread called "Everything is perfect with the Wings." Apparently, Datsyuk and Hossa are the only Red Wings that have improvements to make. Let me rephrase my point: When Chris Osgood is not the starting goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings, would you like to have a goalie who could handle the puck a bit better? I think it would be beneficial to our power play, as it could increase the time we spend in the attacking zone by decreasing the time our defensemen spend chasing the puck. By no means am I unhappy with today's Red Wings and by no means am I bashing Chris Osgood. I just am raising a DISCUSSION QUESTION. Now start flaming again.

I agree with you, crossed arms guy.

I would just like to see someone who could get the puck up ice quicker on the PP. Osgood always leaves it behind the net. He rarely skates out of his crease and gets it up ice quickly so they can get back in the attacking zone. Then Lidstrom and Rafalski have to skate all the way back behind the net. It would be nice to see a goalie allow the Wings 10-15 more seconds per power play in the attacking zone because he was a good puck handler.

You didn't hear about Larry Murphy coming back to the Wings, too? Holland is all excited. He's bringing back the clutch guys that the fans really like. They can't skate, but the fans are going to be so happy.

The "Ozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzgoooooooooooooooooooooooood" chant in the crowd of opposing buildings always makes me laugh. It takes me back to 1993-1994 when Ozzie was hard at work earning him that chant. Letting in slappers from the red line, never clutch, and seemingly in space on a lot of plays. He has certainly come a long way from that time period.

Agreed. Ninety-SUX is poison on skates out there. And Datsyuk and Hossa are infected.

Kenny Holland just announced that they are NOT going to resign Hossa and they're also going to trade Datsyuk. "Samuelsson and Hudler are enough", said the Red Wings general manager. "Pavel can't score in the playoffs and Hossa isn't far behind that. We're sick of it." Holland also noted that they extended Tomas Holmstrom's contract another 8 years at 5 million a season due to his stellar play in the post season.

I'm not saying Holmstrom is the worst player in the league. I'm simply saying he's on the wrong line and probably shouldn't be playing much 5 on 5.

HHO.

#11 = GOLD

Sammy had an awesome behind the back pass that left Filps in the clear today. Of course, Filps couldn't bury it, but it was a HUGE surprise to see Sammy passing. I had to double check the sweater number!

I agree. If I were the coach, I'd take out Hossa and Datsyuk. Bring up Steven Holmstrom and Jergen Holmstrom to play with their older brother, Tomas. The HX3 line could dominate all of the rest of the playoffs. Hossa had a run of puck handling at the end of the game where he got his 3 times, cross checked twice, and hooked the whole time, but still managed to rag it for a good 10-15 seconds. Hossa and Datsyuk back check and forecheck and neutral zone check better than everyone except Zetterberg, but because they don't score 2 points a game because of Ninety-SUX, everyone thinks they're not doing anything valueable. Typical HHO syndrome.

Look at her picture!! ha ha ha. Definitely HHO syndrome. One more year, Hockeymom1960. Enjoy it.

I agree with this. It's hard, because you want Holmstrom to be as talented as Franzen, but the fact is that we only have ONE mule. Zetterberg and Cleary get The Mule, and that shouldn't be tampered with. That line looks fantastic. I hope the coach gives Helm a try in that Datsyuk-Hossa-______ spot. I really think Helm could open up a lot of space for those two. But we may just have to be happy with the Stanley Cup however it gets won!!!

This is what I mean. "Holmstrom played very well." Look at the stats. He's the only Red Wing to have a minus number and didn't do anything. I am not saying that ONE game is a good determination of this, but 8 straight has to be taken into consideration. Holmstrom is POISON 5 on 5. http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/ES030321.HTM http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=84607...season=20082009

Get Holmstrom OFF of it.

HHO = Holmstrom Hard-On It's a condition a lot of fans on this site suffer from. No matter how bad Ninety-SUX plays, he's still not the reason the line that he is playing on is not playing well.

"LAST YEAR" You just said it best. I'm glad you don't have a HHO. You like Holmstrom, but you're not willing to admit that he's Steve Yzerman. I think most of the fans are starting to realize what you have. The guy has a role. It's not with our top forwards.

Getzlaf is a goon. He should take a cue from Zetterberg and SHUT HIS MOUTH and stop making WHINY faces like the rest of the Canadians in the league. Getzlaf is the BEST player in the NHL right now when he's on his game. There is no way to contain this guy. He doesn't need to be a little Sidney Crosby every time things don't go his way. He just needs to continue to dominate the way he has the last 2 seasons. I agree with the poster above that said he's going to be the BEST player in the league in another year or so. He's coming into his own and cannot be stopped. I just want him to lose the goon and keep the skill. That's all.