SouthernWingsFan

Ducks should come to mind first, but the Wings are deceptive with the physical game. No, they're still not going to overpower or strike fear into opponets with hitting 24-7, but they don't back down, they don't quit, and they dish just as many hits out when it is necessary.

Both of Anaheim's PP goals came on two really good screens. Hasek's save percentage tonight is probably going to be low but he can't be faulted on any of them, especially the PP goals. Just one of those games where the Wings outchanced them but ended up on the wrong end of the board. Reversal of game 3 more/less.

How about giving credit to the other team, especially Giguere, and recognizing that goofy/screened goals were scored... Babcock can't push people out of the way of the goalie's sight line from the bench. Contrary to popular belief, the other team can play good and beat the Red Wings, vs. the Wings just beating themselves.

Pathetic? Don't be such a drama queen. Gigeure stonewalled a lot of the 5-on-3 chances, especially the first one. Did it ever occur that it actually might not be the Wings beating themselves, but the other team or other goalie doing something right? I mean heaven forbid... The power play is fine and generated great chances, and no I am not changing my opinion on it.

Give me a break Burke, are you s**tting me? Pronger hit him square in the head, Pronger pays the price with a 1-game suspension, no if's/and's/but's. He's lucky it's not 2-3 games or the rest of the series. Let him serve his time tonight gracefully, then life goes back to normal for your team on the game Sunday. Let it go Burke.

Hair in the 'pit area? You mean she's French?!?!?!?

I could've sworn the Wings have made the playoffs what.........15, 16 years in a row?

GIguere. No if's, and's, or but's on who should be starting.

I've always liked skimming through Burnside's columns/opinions. While I'm not going to fully agree with him early in his blurb that the Wings couldn't win with Yzerman and Shanahan again, the point where they were either retiring or getting ready to move on was inevitable. It could've easily happened after the 2002 Cup run. Hell, it could've happened earlier than that. As fans though.....and I don't care what some say that the Wings needed to get younger, somebody needs to fill Yzerman's/Shanahan's skates.....I seriously doubt none of us were mentally prepared to let them go and accept that they aren't Wings on the ice anymore. It definitely took some getting used to on my end the first few games not to see #19 or #14 out there. It was weird. Kinda funny though how it has worked out this season (so far). That has absoluely nothing, ZERO to do with slighting Yzerman or Shanahan. I know I definitely miss seeing them play in Hockeytown. To Yzerman and Shanahan! :chug:

Carlos Santana/Wyclef - Maria Maria

Don Cherry is a loud and obnoxious lunatic that talks the tough game just for dramatic effects. I don't take anything he says with any seriousness.

No. Nobody is calling him the next coming of Gretzky, but 2 assists in 6 games in the playoffs for a rookie so far isn't half that bad, unofficially 3 when he distracted Nabokov enough in game 2 for Zetterberg's goal. He has made respectable use of his limited ice time more often than not. I understand and support the decision to play Kopecky last game and will continue to support if he contiues to play over Calder or Hudler. But to say Hudler has looke like crap in the games he has played in is being a bit overdramatic.

As stated, a lot of the big media outlets have predicted against the Wings more often than not, at least this season. And it's understandable, so many changes for the Wings this year with Yzerman retiring and Shanahan leaving. Who knows what kinda chemistry the team was developing, how Bertuzzi would be going into the playoffs, and such. Were they going to be the same old Wings as recent past? I'm not surprised that a lot of media outlets weren't sure about the Wings going into the playoffs. It's not bad, it's not slighting the Wings, it is what it is. I certainly wasn't sure as well what to expect either, I didn't really have too high expectations for this playoffs, just try to get out of the first round. I think some of the uncertainty by the media and myself is finally getting answered as a result of the latter part of the San Jose series, and especially after the convincing 5-0 win last night. What is humorous to me is plenty of members in here getting all worked up over it that people can actually go against and be uncertain about the Wings.

Hudler has had his chances, and he could have some more obviously. I think it is obvious that Hudler has more offensive skill over Kopecky, but on the road in a hostile environment, and against a fairly large team in the Ducks, Kopecky provides an extra body with decent size in a grinding type role. If Calder is still getting the boot by game 5 on Saturday, I bet we'll see Hudler play at home instead of Kopecky.

1. You can find just about ANYTHING on YouTube as long as it is graphically censored to an extent or people are fully clothed. 2. You realize some of the retarded statements that are made, generally speaking, on You Tube. Probably at least 90% of You Tube members are of the 11-year old Internet tough guy variety. Don't take it too seriously.

I've always had a man-love crush on Tomas Holmstrom, he's far from the most talented guy on the ice, not fast, but he busts his a** off every second and still somehow produces. I see a lot of myself in him, at least when I was playing a lot of pickup basketball in college. I had some basketball savvy, but I was regularly playing against standard athletes in basketball or football, so the only way for me to contribute or keep up was to just be a pain in the a** on defense right in people's faces and dive and run through brick walls for the basketball and make the open jump shot every now and then. I've recently gotten man-love crushes on Flipper and Samuelsson.

I haven't read the first five pages of responses, so I apologize in advance for rehashing, but here's my quick $0.02... Fair and justified suspension. I know Pronger can throw the body around and that is a major part of his game. He's a damned good defenseman. You can't just slam people's heads into the boards though. Hit him that hard with a body shot, fine. Not the head though. At initial glance, this should obviously help the Wings for game 4 tomorrow night. However, Pronger is not the entire Ducks team. The Ducks are still large/physical, will still have a damned good defensemen in Niedermeyer playing, and can still put the puck in the net at anytime. Pronger's absence will benefit the Wings to a certain degree, and if a dramatic situation ever presented itself to get a stranglehold of a series, Pronger's suspension is up there, but they better not take the rest of the Ducks lightly as this series is not even close to being over.

311 - Applied Science

Here's a question for fans, I'm going to play devil's advocate here... The Wings have had former coaches who rolled different lines very frequently. Bowman was notorious doing it, and he was successful in his tenure in Detroit more often than not obviously. Former coach Lewis did it a lot as well, especially in the 2004 early playoffs exit, and he wasn't really too successful when he needed to be in the postseason. Babcock did it a ton last night, and it worked, giving some uncertainty to the Ducks. When do you think constant line juggling is bad or is counterproductive? Is it just a "guessing game"? Sometimes you roll the dice and guess right, or wrong?

In your terms of "standing up to Pronger", you might be disappointed, but... As long as the Wings weren't going to implode and play defense, the game was all but determined, the Wings don't play that kind of game where they just will throw a big guy out to fight another big guy after. To all the physical/grit fans, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE TEAM ISN'T TOUGH, they've proven after the trade deadline that more often than not that while they still won't physically dominate games, they can dish just as much out as another "physical" team. Besides, one guy standing up to Pronger could have led to a bad sequence of events, the game spiraling out of control a little bit more, and so forth. I doubt it would've come to this, but we don't want a rehash of the Calgary series where all the Flames were doing, when games were all but determined in the Wings favor, is just contiunally pester and hit people well after dead plays and such. San Jose and both Anaheim, these first three games at least, have played with a little more class and restraint, despite being physically aggressive teams. Let's let the Wings keep it that way and not stir a boiling pot even more.

James Brown - The Payback

I think Flipper was glad he came back about middway in the 3rd period.

I'm calling him "Belly Man" despite his fairly slender look, with his puck stopping referring to the famous phrase... "GET IN MY BELLY!!!!!"

You play for home-ice advantage in game 7 scenarios. I'm not dismissing the importance of a loud home crowd and such, but home-ice overall IMO, is overhyped. Wings have lost twice at home (despite a good home record, 6-2) and have managed to gut out some road wins to a respectable away record (4-3), so home-ice isn't everything, given how decent the Wings have played on the road in hostile environments in San Jose and Calgary.

Yes, I read that earlier in one of your posts above. And I can guaran-damn-tee you that it will be a Lang ripping frenzy if he makes a bad turonver or the Wings lose over the next few games. He is arguably the ultimate scapegoat. This thread was better to be left dead in the water wherever the hell it was.