McAwesome

Wow, bad series there, hit post, handball goal waived off, then 2 straight 2 on 1 breakaways, and bad giveaways right through the crease, this could get ugly fast.

PP upcoming, cash it in boys!

WTF was that pass Bert?

Thanks. When I watched the game last night and saw a guy named Lashoff heading to the locker room, I thought maybe our guy was let go on waivers or something, but I guess I was mistaken. So our guy is the one that played in the WJC, seemed to have a pretty good tourney, hope he pans out as a prospect.

That's hilarious. Dated yesterday, so too early to be an April Fools joke, the writer probably meant to say fifteen-year veteran, but good for a few laughs. Thanks for sharing

Is he any relation to the Lashoff that plays for Tampa Bay? The one who got tossed last night for boarding Fedotenko (though I wish it had been Crosby)

Detroit: Datsyuk Lidstrom Filppula Columbus: Voracek

I nearly pissed my pants. How did laughing Rex get stuck in a dog..err..pigpile of Toews, and why the Habs jerseys?

Little thing I've noticed: Both sides of this argument have made and continue to make valid points regarding the pros and cons of having an enforcer in the lineup, but the pro-enforcer folks seem to concede the valid points that are brought up during the debate, whereas the anti-enforcer folks rarely concede anything. Brad May was a valuable piece of this team while he was needed, and when we got our regular players back from injury, he was no longer needed. Not because of his style of play, but because we had too many players under contract and we needed space. IIRC, May was brought in towards the end of training camp without much realistic expectation of making the regular lineup, and only got a contract after Franzen went down with what appeared to be a season-ending injury. I'm grateful for his contributions when he was in the lineup, I'm glad he wasn't claimed when he was sent down, and I firmly believe he will get some playing time in the playoffs, especially if we have another deep run, but he is a role player and nothing more. How many fighting majors have the Red Wings had this season aside from May? I can name a few, Ericsson had one against the Ducks and I think against the Sharks, Janik had a couple during his brief stint (which he lost if memory serves), Eaves vs. Versteeg which was a great fight, Abdelkader fought Corey Fairy, and I think Cleary had a fight too. Does fighting have its place in hockey? Absolutely. Does having an enforcer directly correlate with fewer injuries and/or star players being roughed up? Debatable. Are having a tough team and having a skilled team mutually exclusive? No, and that is where I think most of the partisan debaters are mistaken. You can be tough and not fight, and and you can be European and not be a wuss. /rant Absolutely

Quality stuff as usual. Are you going to be doing the playoff bracket wallpaper for the playoffs again? I still have that as my wallpaper on my work computer, as a reminder of what could have been

This x 100 Like them or hate them, the Penguins bring ratings, and when you are a TV network trying to get ratings, why not show the team that is most likely to get you high ratings. The Penguins/Wings game last Monday was the highest rated regular season game in the history of Versus, it's not that complicated. It's the same reason why Washington is always on NHL Network and the Leafs have the national game on CBC HNIC every Saturday, TV is about ratings, and popular teams bring in ratings. As far as marketing goes, I agree that the league should do a better job of showcasing talented players like Stamkos, Parise, the Sedins, etc. but why should they place less focus on the stars they already know bring in the big bucks. When I heard the Penguins were on Versus tonight, my initial reaction was, "why does that not surprise me", but I cannot understand why people are so bitter about it.

Thanks. I was just asking because I picked Kronwall in the Nashville game, and he technically scored the game-winning goal. Oh, well. Can't win them all. Now I wish I hadn't missed picking 5 straight games, I could have so many more imaginary cool points by now.

It's been 6 games without a goal, he's due. Every other player that has had a watch thread, or a X player sucks thread, or a X player has to step it up thread, has had a breakout game shortly afterward (except Leino ). Franzen was on fire when he came back from his injury, but has cooled off considerably since. His last goal came against Minnesota (actually a two-goal game), and look who happens to be our next victim, er, opponent. Let's get the good vibes rolling for the Mule.

LOLOMGWTFBBQ What happened?

Feed the Mule and he'll feed the net!! Boo, iffy call there, kill it off guys Edit: That was quick

Alright, Flip. They took away your goal, go out and get another one!

What a 1st period, this game could easily be 6-0 were it not for spectacular saves by DesLauriers and the post. If they start dropping back and playing prevent defense, I will be extremely pissed off. They need to go out and keep their foot on the gas pedal and get some more freaking goals.

Goal!! Who tipped it? Edit: Pain Train?? Edit #2: FLIP!!!!!!

I don't normally follow European Football, but a co-worker of mine had the ManU/Bayern game on, and all I have to say is that GW goal was filthy.

It's the "finding a way to win" that I was referring to when I said they were playing like every game was an elimination game. I see the same things you do with regards to bounces and tired legs, especially in the Nashville game. The main thing I noticed in the Blues game was that despite being out-played, the Wings created chances out of seemingly nothing (see Rafalski dumping the puck directly on goal from center and Filppula going after the rebound) but it didn't appear that we could even muster that kind of effort in the last Edmonton game, they came out flat and save the last few seconds digging the puck out from under a defender and burying it in the last tenth of a second, they couldn't muster any energy. I would love to see an effort like the Pittsburgh game tonight, if we play like that, we should have no problem putting up 6-8 goals.

Yeah, that would have been the ultimate kick in the nuts if he ended up going to Chicago and getting to play us 8 times a year plus playoffs. As it stands, we get to see him again this Sunday and I would not be surprised if he steps up his game in an effort to show us up, make us regret moving him. But, as others have already stated, it was painfully obvious that it wasn't working out for him in Detroit, so I wish him the best of luck except when he's playing against us.

Gonna stick with the same picks until they either all fail. Detroit: Franzen Kronwall Filppula Edmonton: O'Sullivan Question: I don't remember if you covered this in the original thread explaining the rules, but how does the shootout winner count towards points?

I have a feeling that the first team to score will win tonight. At least, if last game is any indication. We have been playing each game like it were an elimination game since the Olympic break, the only exception was our last game against Edmonton, where they were obviously coasting and had no killer instinct. Hopefully they have a little pride and don't let is get bruised by these bottom-feeders again. Just win please..

I think it's funny that Ken made such a Freudian slip on-air, and I would really like to see the next few seconds of that video, where Mickey and Trev share a chuckle about it. Let's face it, most of the bad feelings towards Crosby in general, and specifically on this board, is not because he is a bad player, quite the contrary, he is arguably the best player in the NHL right now, and I say arguably because people will argue about it until the argument turns into a pissing contest, shouting match, or whatever constitutes slap-fighting on a forum. The bad feelings towards Crosby is mainly due to his overmarketing by the NHL and Bettman. He was tagged as the greatest thing since sliced bread before he even set foot in an NHL rink, and while comparisons to Gretzky are not completely unfounded, there is such thing as too much hype. Also, there are perceived personality flaws, from temper tantrums, diving/complaining to officials, lack of respect for opponents, and general immaturity which make the media onslaught even harder to swallow. The thing that makes it so much fun to make fun of Sidney Crosby is that he is such an easy target. His first name is androgynous, he has effeminate features, let's face it, the guy probably went through hell in middle school for those reasons alone. Not to mention the antics I previously mentioned. So, to those who scan these boards looking for mention of Crosby's name so they can jump to the rescue and say "not so fast, my friend", I say calm down. No one in their right mind thinks Crosby is a bad player, most of us just don't like him, and no amount of statistics or anything else you come up with to defend him is going to change that. Getting back to the REAL reason for this thread, does anyone have the extended version of that video?

Ideally, the Wings win the Cup, Lidstrom, Holmstrom, Draper and Maltby all announce their retirement at the parade. If we don't win, then as long as the Penguins don't come close to the Finals, I'll be OK. I think I'd even be OK with the Blackhawks winning as long as the Penguins don't. Worst case scenario (aside from a Penguins repeat) Devils or Thrashers from the East, Predators or Coyotes from the East, I would have to start a thread "What if every hockey fan yawned at the same time"