Rice

Lidstrom, as always.

Al Strachan, Ted Montgomery, Adam Proteau, and Ken Campbell have all picked Calgary. I've seen a few others pick Calgary too.

It's frustrating for the Flames too and I think that's the point.

Wasn't expecting that.

If someone finds a feed could you post a link please?

It very well could be. The Wings with Bertuzzi and the Wings without Bertuzzi call for different game plans.

Um, what? No.

I agree. Franzen.

Spector picks the Wings to win in six: Predictions don't really matter.

Colorado has some great young players (Wolski, Stastny, Svatos, Liles), along with Sakic who put up 100 points this year at the age of 38. Hejduk underachieved this year. They need to revamp their defense and goaltending.

Hmm...ok. Did you come to this conclusion when seeing Calgary backed into the 8th seed?

So this means you thought we would win in 2003, '04, and '06, right?

I think the resounding answer here is going to be McCarty.

In the 03-04 series against the Flames? CuJo stood on his head... the last two games were 0-1 losses.

You haven't stopped bitching about how dirty he is since we got him. Give the guy a chance.

Well, it must be taken into account that Zetterberg played only 63 games and he was on an unbeleivable pace prior to his injury. We also acquired Calder and Bertuzzi at the deadline.

Bingo.

They're both going to play. That's my guess at least. It's good to hear Zetterberg had no problems doing contact drills.

I don't get what you mean by this. The Predators know who Zetterberg is. They see him eight times a year and it makes it no easier for them to shut him down.

Bertuzzi isn't the Wings' go-to guy like he was in Vancouver. The Flames are going to have their hands full with the best line in hockey. Bertuzzi is just a compliment to punish the Flames defense and chip in some offense against the Flames weaker pairings. The Wings aren't going to be underestimating anyone. They know the pressure is on to get out of the first round and they're not going to take the Flames lightly. This is the type of matchup they've been preparing for all year. When they Wings are on their game they can absolutely smother teams.

I have almost every one of his goals from this season on my laptop but my power cord is broken. I think the new one is coming tomorrow but I'm also getting my wisdom teeth out. Send me a PM and we'll figure something out when I come to my senses.

To add to my last post, I think Babcock is a better coach than Playfair and coaching will be key in this series.

Oh, really? I'm not going to make any predictions. What I do know is the Wings are a more dynamic team than they were last year. In my opinion they are the underdogs in this series. Everyone thinks this is the type of team that kills the Wings, and to an extent they're right. A series win will be a huge confidence booster for the Wings. I see Datsyuk surprising the world. Hopefully Zetterberg will be rested, not rusty, and tear s*** up in this series. Hasek needs to play great and the defense must limit mistakes. Our forwards are younger this year and we have a good mix of guys who have won it and haven't won it. We also have a nice batch of players that are in contract years. Go Wings.

And Tkachuk isn't a gamble? We gave up virtually nothing for Bertuzzi. Atlanta sold the farm for Tkachuk.

I'd like to add that I think it's good we're playing a team that is considered a contender by most so it's not like a huge underdog scenario like Edmonton was. People know that anyone can beat anyone. The Wings aren't going to take Calgary lightly.