Behind Enemy Lines in CO

In the late 80's I was travelling alot and spent time in Hartford when the Whalers were still in town. The Bruins would come in to play and there was always a bus or two that would park outside the rink with Boston fans onboard for the game. And of course there were always fights on the sidewalk outside of the rink right next to the buses. Classic!

Chelios needs to come back in only if he is not hurt, which is what led to his poor performance earlier in the playoffs. The Wings will need his physical presence on the boards - those other punks Lebda and Lilja do not bring it like he does.

Here is the link: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24810034/ Enjoy.

Gonchar just now whinning when asked about what happened in the 2nd - Wings outshoot 16-4. He could only mumble something about penalities. No, it was the puck possession stupid.

I thought it was interesting that I did not hear Malkin's name called all that much over the course of the first two periods. They are shutting him down and taking their chances with the diving kid.

What a great period. Lots of puck possession and good movement, and Sammy actually looked in control. Pens looked frustrated.

I don't know how I ever found this. http://www.236.com/video/?embed_video=1564442824

Big George is not going to be doing anything other than passing out towels on the bench this series. He is too slow to be effective and is not stupid enough to sit in the penalty box.

I could not agree more completely. Both Lids and Osgood's comments about not being under pressure really indicates the problem. Dallas obviously feels the pressure and is bringing it. The Wings are acting like a cool machine that is not firing on all cylinders. No passion does not win games I always remember one of those NFL videos that shows Lawrence Taylor of the Giants talking about "going out there and acting like a bunch of crazed dogs". Not sure if he was high on cocaine at the time but that is the attitude the Wings need to win tonight.

I'm not convinced that the mule will return at all if the headaches need to disappear completely. It has been 2 weeks now with headaches. He has only been cleared for light workouts at this time, and one of the stories I read indicated that the headaches have not entirely disappeared. If the Wings are waiting for the headaches to disappear then at this point in time I would say the playoffs will be over first, conference finals or Stanley Cup finals. However, if they make the determination that he can play without the distraction of the headaches then we would probably see him no earlier than a conference final game 7 or game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals. He needs a little time to get back into game shape, both mentally and physically.

Right on target. Others need to step up. If Dallas scores first again it changes the dynamics of the game, and the wings will not win when they have Zets attempting to rush into the offensive zone by himself with 3-4 Stars in front of him. This happened too many times in games 3 and 4. Dallas is playing better the last 2 games, no question. However, this series is still the Wings to lose. Others need to step up.

Hi - anyone miss the old loose nets? Last night when Zet scored at the beginning of the 3rd period I had no idea it was a goal until the announcer cried out. With the old nets the puck would push the netting out and would give you something to look at. And I beileve it was more dramatic. I guess I just like that effect more than the current fixed nets. Just my 2 cents.

Just thinking about this, not to jinx anything because the Stars have a bigger problem. Where will the Western Conference winner wear the Stanley Cup Finals Patch? In past years it has been worn on the upper right side of the jersey. Wings have a problem because the captain's "C" and alternate's "A" are worn here, and the Stars have a problem because they have their unofirm number on their road jersies. Alot of other teams would have the same problem (San Jose with the uniform number, Islanders also I think). I know the Wings moved their Believe patch to the shoulder for the 1998 Finals however the Stars cannot because they have that huge Texas patch on their shoulder on the home jersey. Wait - why am I so worried about the Stars? Anyway, you see my point. Wings could wear the patch on their shoulder and not have a problem.

I believe that Franzen has epilepsy-like symptoms triggered by the red flashing goal light that he has turned on so often over the last two months. From Wikipedia: Examples of these normal provocants (triggers for epilepsy) include reading, hot water on the head, hyperventilation, and flashing or flickering lights.

When Floppa was brought back to the Avs this year the local sports guys put it this way: Foote was brought in to make the playoffs, Floppa was brought in to put butts in the seats at the Pepsi Center. Everyone knew he was not the same player as before however the hype will sell some tickets. And that is exactly what he did - the Dives sold some extra tickets and guess what, Floppa was a no-show for the first home series due to injuries and alot of ticket buyers were pissed! He is not a factor in this series unless the Wings make him one!

How many times have we seen this crap from Coach Q - remember the last game of the regular season a few years ago when Kocur threw the chair on the ice because Q sent his goons out. Living in Denver and having to watch the Dives alot I have seen this tactic too many times. Dives get in trouble and the goon squad comes out. As long as the Wings do not phone it in they will take this series because the Dives are quickly figuring out that the Wings are not the Wild!

The Av's have struggled all year on the pk. The Wings have a golden opportunity to score some goals IF they get a chance. Colorado also has a habit of not getting into the box for long periods of time.

Well, for someone that is forced to watch the Avs all year here is my 2 cents. Wolski is non-existant and has been under alot of pressure to step it up. Smyth has been streaky all year despite his injury time. Hejduk has also been non-existant at many times during the season. Brunette can be a beast and probably will be in the playoffs (think Tanguay/Drury in the past). Statsny needs a body on him at all times or he will steal a few goals. Captain Saint Joe is a question mark; sure he will show up although he does not bring the firepower that he did in the past. Same for Floppa; if the Wings let him be a factor then he will be. Foote was brought in to shore up a very shaky defense, and again, he will be a force to reckon with although not a potent as in the past. The rest of the defense is very suspect and if the Wings press them continuously then they should see many power play opportunities. No question the Wings defense is far superior. Goaltending is definitely a question mark. Jose is playing better however we all saw what the Wings did to Kipper last year. And look at Kipper this year - good game, then bad game. I see the key to this series being the pressure that the Wings can CONSISTENTLY bring to the Avs. If they are consistent then I do not believe the Avs will keep up. If the Wings slack off then the Avs are capable of making it a series.

Check eBay. Seriously, just before the Super Bowl they had replica championship rings highlighted on the main page. Most were for football, however you might find a hockey ring. The prices were around $300 if I remember correctly. I had no idea there was a market for this kind of stuff. Happy hunting!

Yes they did. These 2 guys are a disgrace to their profession. Living in Denver I have to put up with their crap and it is so bad that I will not watch some Avs games because of them. The Avs are never outplayed during a game, just a few lucky bounces for the other team ( did you hear that at the end of the game?). It is never what the other team did right to win a game, it is just that the Avs came up a little short. I believe they call this homerism (not to be confused with our beloved Homer) and they practice their art like a skilled magician. Mike Haynes, the play-by-play guy, is a total homer who brought his rose colored glasses with him when he switched from radio to TV. The biggest disappointment however is Peter McNabb, who should know better. Out of 10 insights he has during a game, probably 2 or 3 are relevant and not directed towards Avs ass-kissing. He has definitely sold out to keep his job. And when Peter Forsberg played for the Avs it was one love fest the whole night. That was why I was not surprised when McNabb was calling games at the Torino Olympics - they needed someone who could bring the Forsberg love at an exceptionally high level! Do a google search on altitude hockey announcers and you will find many poor comments about these clowns. I have Fox sports Detroit so I can watch the wings games (next day of course) and it is always a pleasure to hear Micky and the boys talk about a game. Even if the wings are sucking it up, they are fair about it.

The more I think about it the more I am becoming concerned about keeping the horizontal stripe on the bottom of the jersey. With the old style jersey with the bottom hem being the same length front and back the bottom horizontal stripe retains the same amount of space between the stripe and the bottom hem of the jersey. With the new style of jersey, the back of the jersey is longer than the front, and the transition from bottom front to bottom back is done on a curve (look at the pics of the new Florida jerseys) and that would cause an even amount of space between the bottom of the stripe and the bottom hem of the jersey - more white space on the back of the white jersey than on the front (and more red space on the back of the red jersey). Anyone with photoshop skills want to take a crack at it - I do not think this will look too good.

Bert is hurt. Look at the way he is skating - very vertical, very stiff. Outside of the drive towards the net at the end of the 2nd period, where he actually leaned into the defensemen he is very stiff. His back is not 100%, and that is limiting him in what he can do. Anyone who has had a back injury will tell you that it takes a long time to heal. And Bert has not healed yet. Again, just look at the way he is skating - very rigid, not fluid, coasting alot, and straight up. And skating straight up definitely affects his shot as well.

Hey - off topic but interesting as well. On Snuday nights our NBC affiliate here in Denver always reads some viewer compliments and complaints. On Sunday night some guy phoned in to complain that there had been no hockey playoff coverage on the 6pm and 10pm news. His rant was along the lines of "Do you realize that the hockey playoffs have been on for almost 2 weeks and you have not said one word about them"! Typical for Denver. Always has been and always will be a football town. I watched the final Avs game a few Sundays ago and the local announcers (McNab and Haynes - total losers) tried to tell viewers to watch the playoffs despite the Avs being out of them because they are so exciting. Not to the local NBC affiliate I guess.

In regard to Iginla being an ass, I remember him doing the same gooing at the end of game 7 of the finals a few years ago when it became apparent that the Flames were going to lose the cup. So sad - so much talent and a pumpkin for a head.

In regard to the "flashiness" of goalie saves, when I played high school hockey, our goalie (and my best friend) was called "TV" because he was always trying to make a save like the pro goalies - in a spectacular fashion. Needless to say, he was benched our senior year in favor of a sophmore because the sophmore was a real basic guy who could actually keep the puck out of the net.