Rice

Anaheim is thin on defense. They have Pronger, Niedermayer, and Beauchemin but the rest of their defense is pretty average or below-average. They are inconsistent, and we have seen what the veteran Wings can do to expose that. They rely on three lines, not four which favors the Wings. It's going to be a great series. We've seen that BIGGERYOUNGERFASTERâ„¢ isn't guaranteed to beat the Wings anymore. Hasek was lights-out tonight.

Hell yeah boys. What a series. I'm so glad we just took out BIGGERYOUNGERFASTER. The Wings were great tonight. I have a lot of things to say but I don't feel like typing them right now. I'm just proud of the team. Just goes to show some San Jose fans that there are more factors than the ones on paper.

Great shift by Bertuzzi there.

Do I smell a Mikael Samuelsson Hot Streakâ„¢? Lidstrom is so good it's unbelievable.

Smyth or Drury would be great but they're too expensive. I like Bertuzzi a lot but is it worth it to give up another first round pick for an unknown commodity? Let Lang go. I'd re-sign Calder for the right price. You can never have too many guys like him. Handzus would be great for the second line but I believe he's commanding a lot. Zubrus has been great for Buffalo in the post-season. Holland should take a look at Taylor Pyatt, maybe Fedotenko too. On defense, I'd let Schneider go and re-sign Markov and Chelios. Sign Scott Hannan. Vishnevski and Sarich are options too. Re-sign Hasek if he wants to come back. Other than that, Filppula and Hudler are going to have bigger roles next season. You've also got to think Quincey will get some time after what he's done in the Playoffs so far. Grigorenko will likely be playing for the Griffins but if he may end up getting some time with the Wings. This is what I'd like to see realistically: Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom Franzen-Handzus-Calder Maltby-Draper-Cleary Hudler-Filppula-Samuelsson Lidstrom-Markov Kronwall-Hannan Chelios-Lebda Hasek Osgood If Calder prices himself out, I'd sign Pyatt or Zubrus. Same with Hannan and Vishnevski/Sarich.

I'd put Meech in before putting Samuelsson in as a defenseman.

No chance Joseph comes back here after the way management treated him. His play the past two seasons hasn't been anything special either.

I hear Norm Maracle is still out there.

Term papers suck.

This series isn't over yet, but this is what I said after the Wings won Game 2 and it still holds true:

IMO, 2-2-1-1-1 is fine. I've never liked the idea of 2-3-2.

How many points did Draper have? Was he still effective? Thanks.

During the season when Schneider was out Kronwall filled in admirably for him. Hopefully he can come back quick and shake off the rust.

The Lions and Wings both won in '52.

Ansar Khan:

It's actually $1.1 million. That's nothing anyway. A base salary of $750,000 is a huge bargain.

He's not as good as he once was, but he's still been the Wings' best defenseman. I don't know what games you're watching. Nick has been playing 30 minutes a night against some of the leagues top forwards (Thronton, Marleau, Iginla, Cheechoo) and has done an excellent job neutralizing them for the most part. No one can look flawless against forwards of that caliber, especially at the age of 37.

Hasek has been excellent. He has let in a couple questionable goals but when he has to be huge he has been. It's amazing to see what a goalie with some confidence can do for the rest of the team. ...and for $750,000? What a deal.

I thought he sucked last year which is why I'm so surprised at how great he's been this year. He's been pretty turnover and penalty free and has really stepped up physically. I hope he keeps it up!

SCHNEIDER!!!

Wow this is nerve-wracking.

For good luck.

LANG!!

Stupid move.

Here's the link to the story. Good to hear. More teams will probably start drafting Russians again and it will be easier to get Grigorenko over here.