AIK'91

What a dive by McKee. That's a disgrace to hockey.

Pittsburgh just scored after a review (the ref initially waived it off) to tie the game 2-2. If it was the Wings instead of the Pens, you know the refs would claim 'intent to blow'. EDIT: Wow. Like 4 people beat me my post by a minute

That's what I was wondering. Maybe he was the last one to vote and everyone knew he would be the tiebreaker.

Who?

I go to Northwestern and I have to deal with way too many Hawks fans then I would like too...It's about four hours to Detroit and ten minutes to Chicago from Evanston. And you thought it was bad for you.

No, I think you have a point. He hasn't really been bad--but certainly not the same beast he was in the last two runs. Actually, I think Pavel's been working hard all over the ice and Mule hasn't really kept up in the intensity department (save for the few moments you mentioned). If Franzen can get going (especially down low), I think it'll create a lot more space for Datsyuk. Because of the way that Phoenix is playing Pavel so tight, I think a more assertive Mule would really help him out.

In such a small sample size, it's tough to just focus on who was out there for each goal against. It's more about the overall flow of the game. To me, it just seems that the 3rd pair really lacks speed and gets hemmed inside their own zone a lot--and that may catch up with them later on. Of course, E is a much, much better D-man than Lebda and has more potential. And I'd still go with him for now. It's just that if he looks shaky or we lose another game, I wouldn't close the option of Lebda stepping into the lineup since he's played steady with Lils in the past. And I've seen a few of your posts before. You often defended Ericsson when he had the roughest of games. He hasn't been bad at all now, so I guess I can't make any argument to you. Well, to settle it right now. Let's just agree that no team's fans are ever happy with their third D-pair. You pretty much have to go with whoever scares you the least. And I like those D-pairs actually. It's just that Babcock always seems to be so reluctant in changing the combinations. Even if he does for a while, you know he's eventually coming back to Lidstrom-Rafalski. The bottom line though is our entire team has to play better. I've spent way too much time talking about the third pair. It's about our team playing with grit and emotion instead of that pathetic, uninspired hockey I paid to see yesterday after traveling 300 miles.

Don't get me wrong, he hasn't been bad by any means. But, that's where the issue gets complicated. If I'm Babcock, I can't really justify taking him out of the lineup for Lebda when he's played alright. It's just that our lack of speed on the 3rd pairing is certainly troubling--especially against a fast Coyotes team. I thought Ericsson was fantastic in last year's playoffs. So his regular season play this season has been one of the bigger disappointments for me. And we won the Cup with Lebda-Lilja as our 3rd pairing. Yes, I think Lebda is horrendous. But, do you really remember many major gaffes on his part from the last two playoff runs? He usually plays a safe (and useless) game, which is all you need from your third pair. But, it's a moot point anyways. Unlike Lebda, Ericsson has a future here. So unless he really wants to shake things up a bit, Babcock won't risk shattering E's confidence right now. Though, I would have to think E's on a short leash if he messes up; Babcock wasn't afraid to scratch him for a while late in the regular season when we needed the points. And lastly, of course you 3rd pair isn't anywhere near as important as your 1st pair. But that doesn't mean you don't look for ways to improve your team all through the lineup. Our first pair can't change. And I'm confident Nick will be able to play like himself here on out.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'd prefer Lebda to be in the lineup over Ericsson. I was at the game yesterday and it seemed every time the Lils-E pairing was on the ice, they were caught flat-footed in their own zone. Phoenix could almost cycle the puck at will when they were out there. Despite having little hockey sense, at least Lebda complements Lilja well and is usually capable of making the safe play out of the zone. His speed allows him to get to a lot of loose pucks in our end. More troubling though was the first pair. That was surely the worst game I have ever seen Lidstrom play. I've come to expect nothing less than perfection from him. Usually, Rafalski could have the worst game and Nick could still more than compensate for that. But yesterday, something was wrong with Nick's body language. There were so many shifts where he seemed so tentative and unsure about his coverage. Is someone human wearing his jersey or what? And I didn't notice the Stuart-Kronwall tandem much. They should have been more engaged physically to at least try and energize the team. They're supposed to add sandpaper to our top 4. Instead, like a lot of our players, they were just so emotionally disengaged from the game. I just complained about each D-pair. That's never a good sign. Good thing this topic isn't about the forwards though. I'd easily more than double the length of this post.

Luckily for you, the players don't make any money in the playoffs. But regarding the roster change, I think that's exactly what we need. Even at only 8-10 minutes, Abdelkader should help set a more physical and grinding tone that might rub off on the other forwards. Most importantly, we don't have to see Williams attempt to play hockey.

The first playoff game always takes forever to come. After that, it's just staying along for the thrill ride. Go Wings!

I sure hope this guy isn't representative of all the other 'yotes fans out there. All seven of them.

If I had to guess, I would pick one of Helm, Eaves or Cleary. I think that line's going to be huge for us. But, since you're probably looking for one pick...I'll go with Eaves.

He means aside from the 2 games on NBC, the rest are on FSN.

Same! Right after I saw game 3 was on Sunday, I went straight to Ticketmaster and got 2 tickets. I don't even know how I'm coming home to Detroit yet. Just too excited for the game.

After watching him play lately, imagine having to defend him. Before, you knew he could easily deke you silly. Now, he might just snipe it right by you. I honestly never thought he would be able to shoot like this. It just goes to show how hard the guy works in practice.

It would be fitting if they ended up sharing the scoring lead. Since the lockout, they've always been 1A and 1B among on our team's forward corps. Hopefully they can both crack 70 tomorrow. After that, it's just about winning the title that matters.

Elliot stands on his head. Sens in 7. Heard it here second.

Being a Western team in the Eastern time zone, this team should be used to travel. Now, I'm not denying that travel takes a toll, but it shouldn't be an overwhelming factor. I mean, after we make the initial to trip to PHX/VAN/SJ, the other team will have the exact same travel schedule we do. It's just later rounds where you're concerned that the Wings might be fatigued from previous travel and face a team that had it easy travel-wise. So, unless you're afraid of them being far away from home in 5-star hotels, I think they should be fine. EDIT: Spelling

So what you're basically saying is that it takes a team to the win the Stanley Cup. No, it's true. We don't win those Cups without a franchise defenseman like Lidstrom. No defense-by-committee system can replace Nick's presence on the blueline. Obviously he's not the only reason we won. But in looking at all 4 Cup wins together, he is without a doubt the most important player we've had.

Regardless of the extent of his injury, there's a good chance he'll be MIA come next week anyways.

I'd keep Halak. He's consistently been the better goalie this season. And from the sounds of it, he's a better teammate as well. Who knows if Price will ever reach his draft-day potential? Besides, Price would probably fetch more on the trade/offer sheet market.

Maybe he won't ask and will indeed take a sizable pay cut. But regardless, even at 40 he still deserves 6M+. Sorry, just fine-tuning your quote.

And in the end, it was Cujo standing on his head while the team was unable to score. Agreed. It was Babcock's "winning the next game" attitude that kept them riding Jimmy. So now, our season rests in Howard's hands. However, Babcock has said Osgood will start one more game. Obviously he knows that if Howard falters come playoff time, we can't afford to have a too-rusty Osgood.

With all our injuries this season, he should definitely have a shot at being nominated. But I can't see anyone other than Dave Tippett winning it this year. Besides, as Babcock says, the best coach in the league is the one that wins the Stanley Cup. That almost makes the Jack Adams seem irrelevant.