Rice

Lidstrom!

Make them pay.

FLIP!!!!

Woo. Nerve-wracking.

I had to put headphones in to hear it, but thanks Iwo.

Was it a second? I was thinking it's a first.

I'm pumped and time is going by so slowly. Here's hoping that the Wings come out flying.

If he re-signs, Florida gets a first round pick. That's definite. I'm not positive what the conditions are, but if we go to the Finals and Bertuzzi is in our top five in scoring Florida gets another first. If we go to the Conference Finals and Bertuzzi is top five in scoring and plays a certain amount of games they get a second round pick. There is another set of conditions for Florida to get a third rounder but it depends how far the Wings go. I'm not sure if the conditions I posted are right but it's something like that.

Yes, this team is better. Last year's team faced almost no adversity during the regular season. Draper was a top six winger. The team as a whole was pretty one-dimensional and had no answers once the Oil started trapping. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have each matured into much better players. Legace was terrible in the playoffs and brought the whole team down. His attitude was a cancer and it seemed every time the Wings had some momentum he let in another softie. Hasek brings the "f*** you" attitude which is much more productive for the entire team than the "hang myself" attitude. The Wings have the capability to dump and chase, especially if Bertuzzi is in the lineup. Williams is gone. Lilja isn't in the top pairing. Draper is back in a checking line role. Hudler and Filppula have added youth to the lineup as well as two fresh bodies that haven't won it all yet. The Wings had some serious injuries in the regular season and dealt with them. They stood up to physical play and showed they could grind it out and win one goal leads. Last year's powerplay had a 22% success rate. This year, the Wings scored 17% of the time on the PP. This is a big disparity and the Wings still managed to win games. The team's 5-on-5 play is much better as last year they were pretty dependant on the powerplay. They've shown the ability to suffocate teams, keeping shot totals to 25 or below. The Wings had the most shots in the league and the least shots against. I think this team is much better prepared.

Welcome to the boards. Don't expect too much out of the Joe, you may end up disappointed. Here's hoping the bounces go the Wings' way tonight!

Bertuzzi wasn't brought here to be a deciding factor. He was brought here to be a thorn in the side of the other team. If he knocks Kiprusoff on his ass a few times this series and pounds Calgary's defense I'd say he's done his job.

Wow, I didn't realize that!

They brought a back specialist over from Sweden at the recommendation of Hakan Andersson. Zetterberg says his work helped a ton.

"If anything Scotty should get a penalty for elbowing." What?!

Wow! Is anyone watching the game right now? "Hartnell was going for the body and just missed!" What a joke.

They also said the Hartnell's knee-on-knee hit was clean. I guess that's why it warranted a game misconduct.

Also, the Wings are going to need their best chance to win in Game 6, considering how terrible they are in the second half of back-to-back's usually. Hasek will be in.

Hasek didn't play back-to-back during the season because the Wings were conserving him for the Playoffs. It's not like he can't play back-to-back.

That's a big loss for the Flames, bigger than Bertuzzi for the Wings. The Wings must take Game 1.

From a physical aspect, I'm hoping Franzen brings it on the forecheck. Scoring wise, there are a few guys on the team who I think have the potential to surprise.

Damnit. Well at least the Wings are prepared. They won without Bertuzzi for most of the year and Zetterberg is back. This just means someone is going to have to step up.

No, there are two non-Canadian Smythe winners (Lidstrom and the player you're talking about) and one non-Canadian captain (Hatcher).

Let's see what happens in the games, Useless.

Don't worry, I wasnt laughing at you. I was laughing at your post:

Strachan is from Fox, Montgomery is from USA Today, and Proteau and Campbell are from the Hockey News.