PDX Wingman

We'll probably lose 4-1, but that fourth goal is going to be an empty-netter so it's not going to be a complete beatdown. But I could see them shutting us out too. Maybe even a really low score like 1 or 2-0.

SJS/COL - 4-3 CHI/NSH - 4-2 VAN/LAK - 4-1 PHX/DET - 2-4 WAS/MTL - 4-1 NJD/PHI - 4-0 BUF/BOS - 4-2 PIT/OTT - 4-3 Western Conference Winner: Vancouver Eastern Conference Winner: Buffalo Stanley Cup Finals Winner: Vancouver

Overpaid and injury-prone.... No thanks!

Why the hell would you want to get rid of Raffi? He's a hometown hero and our second-best defenseman - after, arguably, the best blueliner of all time! It makes me sick to think that there are Wings fans badmouthing Rafalski.

My final words are "Hossa is a lossa, someone tell the bossa!" And there's no excuse for the pathetic choke job that the boys exhibited this week. I'm not going to spout off any nonsense about how it was a great effort and a nice season. When you get this close, you better deliver! The fans in Detroit who paid big money to see Game Seven deserve a refund.

I don't give a damn about Pittsburgh, and I'm not buying this "rivalry" crap that they're trying to thrust upon us in the media. Sure, they supposedly beat the Wings, but that'll happen from time to time. It's hard to hate a team when you only play them maybe twice a season. There's no real animosity between us. I hate Bettman more than I hate Pittsburgh, because he decreed that they'd get preferential treatment in this final. Anaheim, on the other hand, has played us dirty and is a conference foe. While the Wings eeked past them in the playoffs this year, the Ducks are the team that really defeated Detroit, by beating the hell out of our guys over a seven game period. Pittsburgh just reaped the benefits of that and of playing a weak bunch of Eastern Conference opponents. The only team I really hate right now is Anaheim. Chicago is definitely threatening to become a rival. Pittsburgh's just the league's sweetheart. I don't respect Crosby, but I don't hate the team.

How can you lump that imposter loser Hossa in with a hero like Franzen?

It wouldn't surprise me. He's gone after a marquee free agent goalie before, just to impress the press (Hasek, CuJo). I think it's a dumb idea. A superstar goaltender can turn a talent-thin team into a competitor by stealing games. The way the Wings are built, though, they should just need a guy who won't screw things up too badly. No goalie in history could stop everything. Some pucks are out of the netminder's control, no matter how good he is. When your team routinely outshoots its opponent by 10 or more and controls the puck for most of the game, you just need a guy who isn't a total sieve. With this stupid salary cap in place, it wouldn't be prudent to be paying a goalie seven or eight million bucks a year.

Believe what you want. It doesn't change the fact that they played like crap last night and on Tuesday. You can't just goof around for 50 minutes then slam your foot on the gas for the last bit of a game and expect to win the Cup. I guess all that nonsense about an "on/off switch" for the playoffs finally caught up with them.

Pittsburgh "dismantled" after last season. Weren't there something like nine new Penguins on the roster that we faced in this year's final? As long as they keep their nucleus (Malkin, Fleury, crosby) in place, they should remain a decent team. They shouldn't expect to be back in the final again next season, though, due to fatigue.

(double post)

You promise? Hell, maybe they ought to pay you the seven million bucks instead of the born loser Hossa who actually could have impacted the result of the series. It only would have taken a goal or two!

Ozzie understands what it's like to be the goat in Detroit, obviously, and he's a compassionate guy. Plus, he doesn't want Hossa grudge-scoring on him next year when he's in a Sharks or Rangers uniform. But Hossa sucks and is a cancer. I wouldn't take him for $750,000 a season.

I'd be willing to give up Hossa for a chicken-fried steak. Anyway, Bouwmeester's good, but I'm not as concerned with the defensive corps as I am with adding some clutch goal-scorers. I think it's possible to land the Sedins in Detroit if Holland works his crazy contract magick.

Obviously, we should cut Hossa and Samuelsson loose because they both suck. D-Mac and Cheli should be encouraged to retire. I don't really care whether or not Conklin stays around. He's a good insurance policy, but there are a couple of decent young goalies in our system that could back Ozzie up and I don't really see Conklin as a guy who could backstop a team to a Stanley Cup championship. Any chance the Wings could land the Sedin twins? What if we give them 30-year contracts for a couple mil a year?

Exactly! No one's said it better. Hossa was born to be a San Jose Shark. He makes Joey Thornton look like Stevie Y.

Whatever, they should have won eight - at least. I wish we didn't have all these damn European players who don't care about Stanley.

Anyone who's looking forward to next year - Remember, this Wings team has not exactly had a lot of time off during the past three seasons. Western Finals (six games) in '07, then participation in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. If you think they'll have enough in their tank to make it to the second round in 2010, you're freakin' insane! Trust me, don't go into the season with high expectations. This year's success was an aberration, even though it was a failure by Wings standards.

How's this for a discount? We give him $10,000 and a ticket to Oregon, where he participates in their assisted suicide program and puts us all out of our misery.

And we all know Sammy sucks. That's why he doesn't make 7+ million dollars. Ozzie hasn't sucked in a few years, but even though he's one of the best goalies around these days (when it counts), he makes a tiny salary. And Lang sucks, but everyone knows that. Hossa ripped us off this year!

I expect that piece of crap Hossa to commit seppuku like an honorable man.

He's the only goal-scorer who's incapable of contributing anything else. Dats and Z are premiere defensive forwards and penalty killers. Hossa's a scrub who supposedly has a knack for finding the back of the net. Only one player on the team was paid more than Mr. Loser last season, and that was Captain Nick. I'm pretty sure being a perennial Norris winner exonerates him from any blame. Hossa's the worst Wings pickup since Uwe Krupp.

Sad? Why would I be sad? I'm just PISSED OFF at Maryanne Hossa the Queen of the Losers. What a scumbag that puke is. I wish we'd never signed him.

So, who sucks more - Robert Lazy Lang or Marianne Hossa?