Rice

Why was this brought back from the dead?

Hell no they couldn't, but injuries are a part of the game.

Please, tell me who one of the guys you listed would be playing over that's currently on the roster?

Confirmed by the Globe and Mail.

I've heard the same rumor from a different source which makes me assume it's the truth.

I thought Hiller actually gave up some pretty juicy rebounds that series -- it's just that Anaheim's defense collapses on net and is extremely good at clearing away those second chances.

DET/PIT: 4-3

Anyone remember all the LGW'ers that were clamoring for Datsyuk to be traded for Ryan Smyth when they were both RFA's?

There isn't one, people just need to find something to be angry about no matter the circumstances. Until the Wings start losing, who cares where the goals are coming from?

Quenneville's all-time record against Detroit: 19-51-10 during the season and 5-16 in the playoffs. All four of the recent Cups have gone through a Quenneville coached team.

You can try to "apply a system" all you want, but if you don't have the personnel to follow through with it it doesn't matter. The Ducks are so successful against the Wings because they have the right players for it. Seabrook and Keith are awesome, but you really think Brian Campbell's going to be able to play shutdown defense against Detroit?

DET/CHI 4-1 PIT/CAR 4-3

Most underrated player in the league. He's absolutely dominant. If he were playing in a bigger market you'd hear about him all the time.

They needed to change something. I'm betting they start the Chicago series with: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Hossa Hudler-Helm-Cleary Abdelkader-Draper-Samuelsson More or less the same lines they had in games 4 and 5. These lines looked great but stopped working against Anaheim when they put Pronger and Niedermayer together. Chicago doesn't have the luxury of having two top-5 defensemen.

Quick thoughts: - That's about as close as a series can get. - The better team won. - The Ducks have an incredible defense. They collapse on net and get Hiller's ****** rebounds out really quick. - That said, Niedermayer and Pronger are overrated in their own zone. Lidstrom is still the best in the game, easily. - The Ducks are GREAT at scoring timely goals. They seem to get a lot of lucky breaks but good teams earn their breaks. - Getzlaf is the most underrated player in the league. I was scared every time he had the puck. - Incredible that Datsyuk can be so cold and the Wings still win. Not many teams could overcome something like that. - The Wings in the regular season vs. the Wings in the playoffs are like night and day. I guess there is a switch.

This game was a whole lot like games 2 and 3. Then the Wings came out and dominated in 4 and 5. I'm confident they can win.

If you're talking about within the system, it's going to be Howard, Larsson, or McCollum taking over for Osgood eventually. If you're talking about free agents, who knows? The Wings could very well take a run at Luongo when Lidstrom retires.

Osgood's already signed. Conklin's probably gone and Howard takes his spot.

The Ducks say he's sick but I'd bet it was that play with Filppula. I'm sure he's also getting tired. All those 25+ minute games in this series and the Sharks series are catching up to him.

This is why voting is done before the playoffs -- so the post-season has no effect on the voters.

The Wings are still much deeper on defense than in '07. Lidstrom-Markov Chelios-Lilja Lebda-Quincey vs. Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart Lebda-Chelios Still significantly better.

Well, this really sucks. Hopefully he's able to go in game two.

The Wings have a significantly better (healthier, too) powerplay and offense in general than the last time they faced the Ducks. You can bet this iteration of the Detroit powerplay won't blow multiple 5-on-3's like its '07 counterpart did. Pahlsson and Moen would've played a big part for the Ducks in this series.

DET/ANA 4-2 VAN/CHI CHI 4-3 BOS/CAR 4-2 WSH/PIT 4-3

Wings defense in '07 Anaheim series: Lidstrom-Markov Chelios-Lilja Quincey-Lebda Anaheim defense '07: Pronger-Beauchemin Niedermayer-O'Donnel Jackman-Huskins Wings forwards in '07 Anaheim series (don't remember combos exactly): Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Cleary-Lang-Bertuzzi Franzen-Filppula-Samuelsson Maltby-Draper-Kopecky Anaheim forwards in '07: Selanne-MacDonald-Carter Penner-Getzlaf-Perry Moen-Pahlsson-Niedermayer May-Marchant-Motzko The '07 Wings team was significantly worse than the '09. Keep in mind that Lang and Bertuzzi were totally ineffective and Filppula and Franzen weren't nearly as good yet. Hell, Datsyuk and Zetterberg weren't as good. That defense speaks for itself -- Chelios was playing upwards of 25 minutes a game. Meanwhile, that Anaheim team was better than their '09 version. Granted, Getzlaf and Perry hadn't totally broken out yet either, but they had two good scoring lines and the best shut down line in hockey. MacDonald and Selanne killed the Wings with their speed while Pahlsson's line gave Hank and Pavel fits. They now have one great scoring line and a bunch of spare parts. I'm not too worried about Selanne alone on the second line. ...and the Wings still almost won. I'm pretty confident the Wings can do this.