puckloo39

Playoffs, Lilja, without question. I think the serious bashers are silenced for now, Andreas. Stellar job, even with the turnover. No one was more devastated than he was over that. Season: Dan Cleary was amazing. Close runners up for best in show, regular season: Johan Franzen, our Mule. And right behind him, Markov.

Thanks, Duckette! I know fans from Anaheim see it one way, we see it another here. The Wings played well enough to deserve to win as well. But we learned the hard way that having two of your top defensemen out for the playoffs and a half dozen others playing injured will take its toll. That's who the Ducks beat, a battered team of valiant men who in the end couldn't overcome all the obstacles. The Wings deserved to win as well, and except for a couple of bad bounces and some luck, we would be having a very different conversation right now. That's hockey. Shedding light is fine, since you obviously understand that no one here will be convinced of anything contrary to the truth as we know it. By the way, Ottawa fans are not nearly as civil as we are, so tread carefully in their territory.

Odds of Hasek getting injured are about the same as any other player, so long as he keeps up the routine he did this year. He's been crushed in the net, run over and thrown halfway across the rink, slashed, bashed, and sat upon -- and has gotten back up and won each time. People cite his history, but lots of other players are just as injury prone, and it's never an issue. They certainly don't play for league minimum because of it. Shows how important Dom is the cause, I guess, that folks are so obsessed with his health. Funny, Hasek was one of the few completely healthy players by the end of the run... despite an entire season of media and fans waiting with anticipation for him to get hurt. Dom may be 43 and going grey, but he's not a normal 43 year old. My boss is 43 and he gets winded crossing the parking lot to get in his car. I'd love to see him one more year (well, duh!) but it's completely up to him now. Holland and Nick want him back, I suspect the rest of the team does as well, since they know even better than we fans do what Dom's capable of and what he brings to the Wings' organization. I bet he will be back.

You are very welcome here. However, if you expect all of us to read your posts, slap ourselves in the forehead and suddenly exclaim, "Oh my God!!! Duckette is right!!! The Red Wings sucked, the Ducks were perfection, and the Wings deserved to lose!!!" Well, this is a Wings board, and we love them -- so that isn't going to happen. Explaining to us over and over how great the Ducks are isn't ever going to convince many of us that what you're saying is true, though I am sure you sincerely believe every word. The Ducks didn't deserve to win, anymore than the Wings deserved to lose. Things went Anaheim's way in the series, in much the same way events in the Sharks' series went the Wings way at times. Them's the breaks. Seriously, you may want to spend more of your time with other Ducks fans, enjoying what happened while you can. Maybe worry about the Sens, not us?

it certainly was a factor in the Wings' demise when you add up all the injuries on this team. Homer would have been huge if the Goon Squad hadn't taken him out.

Anyone who thinks Chelios isn't a great guy simply doesn't know him at all. He's a character and he's grumpier than anyone on the ice, but so what? "Classy" players are over-rated, not to mention very, very subjective by definition. Cheli's OK in my book. If he didn't want to shake the players' hands, it's his business. It doesn't reflect on the Wings organization in any way, if you ask me. Ducks fans should be more worried about staring down Emery and trying to stop the pop-gun offense in Ottawa, instead of whimpering about Cheli.

Somehow, it made me feel a little better to see what I have been thinking in print.

it was. There was another mistake before that one I was thinking of. I don't blame Lilja, by the way, although it was pivotal in the series, no doubt.

Which colossal mistake are you referring to (serious question)?

oh, jeez... I loved Mike Fisher before I saw this. Now... Go, Sens!!! Anaheim will be blown away by Ottawa, their offense is just sick, their D is solid, and Emery can bring it when he's on his game. I hope the Sens sweep them back to Anaheim, Sens in 4. Win it for Elgin!

The only way you will be spared another season of watching Hasek win games as a Red Wing is if you don't watch. I wouldn't want you to suffer. Dom will get the job in Detroit as #1 if he wants it. As for running out and getting anyone else for 3X or 4X the contract, the Wings are going to have to cut loose some other players in order to afford that. Ottawa mortgaged their future to pay Gerber and look how that worked out. Lucky for them, Emery has been just good enough to step in and win for them. What makes you think Dom will ask for more money, when he's proved without question that he isn't in this for the money? I doubt seriously that Dom will ask for what he's actually worth, but most likely will agree to play for about what he was paid this season, if he comes back at all.

Are you pissed off that the Wings were missing two defensemen, and the ones we had on the ice were not there to do what they were supposed to? You should be. It's really too bad people are choosing to put the goathorns on Hasek after what he's done this season and in the playoffs. We made it past the first round for the first time since 2002 with Hasek back in the nets. If he's your favorite goalie of all time, then you should know how he plays his game and not be second-guessing him. If they had managed to win, you'd have nothing to say about how he wasn't good enough. I do realize that no matter how good a player is, particularly a Detroit goalie, it's never good enough. I hope he comes back next year, but I sure wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

you're right on there, OsGod. I have definitely seen much tougher situations to accept than last night's loss. Much worse. It's going to be an interesting summer, to see what the "deciders" do with our team, though, huh?

wow, no Cheli fans in here, eh? I support him, whatever his reasons were. Primarily because I don't think it's as big a deal as ya'll seem to.

Chelios is Methuselah on Skates, and he can do whatever he wants, for all of me. He shook the coaches' hands, from what I've heard. If he chose not to shake the hand of a player or players on the Anaheim bench, he must have had good reasons. I honestly couldn't care less in this case if Cheli skipped the handshake. He has to live with himself, and maybe he just couldn't stomach it after what happened to Homer, and who knows what else. It's a non-issue in the bigger scheme of things. PS - Icteria, we posted almost the same thoughts at the same time. At least you and I are in agreement!

well, it's not likely anyone's going to pay you that much for anything, ever. What was the point of this post, anyway? and you are just as biased against him, so I guess we're about even! And it doesn't change what I said in the rest of my post either.

oh dear, you just reminded me how much I despise Burke. And his band of feathered cheapshot artists. Go, Sens, GO!!! F, you might get your posts deleted a lot, but you tell the truth in spite of it all.

oh, good. Quality posts like yours are hard to come by, at times. I look forward to dissing the Ducks with you and our other esteemed LGWers!!

H, are you planning to stick around for the Sens/Yucks series? I hope so. Your eloquent description of Pronger in the above post actually made me laugh out loud, and I didn't think anything could at the moment.

that's what I saw, too. He gave them every chance tonight, making a dozen saves in each of the first and second periods, when the Wings were the ones playing sloppy. He just couldn't win it for them, and that's a shame.

doesn't bother me if he didn't shake their hands, if that's what happened. I didn't see, as I turned off the feed when they started showing Pronger's ugly face. I can't stand to look at him. Maybe Cheli feels the same... maybe he'll say what it was. Until then, I guess I don't care. I thought it was nice Dom and Giggy were respectful and hugged each other. Goalies are a strange breed, for sure.

you would wind up very disappointed, I think. Ask Ottawa if they can even find Gerber at this point. What a joke, going out and throwing money at someone thinking they are better than the best goalie in the business, at any age. Pronger... oh, my God, I don't know if I can watch that idiot unless it's to see a Sen take him out and make him cry. That, I could watch. Go, Sens, pluck those Yucks!!

Wow. You got every single media-driven slam possible against Hasek in one post, somehow. Good job!! Who knows what will happen, but I doubt that Dom will agree to play for any other team in the NHL aside from Detroit. He loves the Wings, and God knows, they should love him. I doubt very seriously that any player in the room considers the situation with Dom's injuries to be his fault -- since at any moment, it could just as easily be them in the same situation. Hank is a great example - I don't hear anyone blaming him for not being the scoring machine we know he should be. That's why we lost, by the way... no offense when it was needed. Every player on the ice is a risk. Dom had a great season, injury free, because he worked at it, dedicated himself, and went to extraordinary lengths to make sure he could be there 100% for his team. A little credit for all the sacrifice would be appropriate. I bet he will come back, but if he doesn't I wouldn't blame him.

I think you're one of the posters here besides myself who remembers that the Wings haven't gotten past the first round since 2002. Who was in goal then, and who was in goal this season? I suspect the Wings are hoping Hasek decides to come back, esp. since Kenny's already said the job is his if he wants it (Cheli, same deal). Who is this young superstar goalie everyone hopes we're going to go get over the summer and who will play for peanuts, anyway? Edit: it's about the intangibles a player brings sometimes, not just the play on the ice, although there was nothing wrong with that either where Dom was concerned this season.

The Wings' best option is Hasek, if he decides to come back. That is assuming they won't offer Ozzie the starting role, of course, but if history is a teacher, they won't. The Wings certainly won't find anyone of Dom's calibre for less than a million dollars, let's face it. He doesn't play for money at this point -- so I won't be surprised to see him back. Ozzie and Dom, the sexy tandem in Detroit: if it's not broken, why try to fix it? Wonder when he will decide? There's a factor that might figure in with his family, too. His kids love Detroit, and his son is a senior in HS next year. I wonder if his kids will talk him into staying one more year?