RockyMountainWingGal

I always just assume to start with the the first 4 seeds will win - like last year. In that case the Wings have a very good probability of playing the Ducks in the second round. Personally, I don't see Wings, Ducks, or Sharks losing in the first round - but you never know (esp as a Wings fan - yikes ) Yes it would be nice if a #5-8 seed won - then we would potentially avoid Sharks or Ducks until the WCF. I see the best chance for an upset with someone beating the NW division champ at the 3 spot - they're likely to play vs. each other in the first round and they are all so evenly matched... Our playoff road will be tough no matter what though - have no idea who the opponent will be with just a week+ left! Could be 6 teams - likely Avs, Nucks, Preds, or still possibly Stars, Flames, Wild. Crazy end to the season - at least the wings took care of their business early!

Normally, yes, Luongo would scare me. But I've been watching the Canucks and he's been VERY human and beatable.

Nothing to be scared of - the Canucks suck. Ooh-ooh Floppa with 3 assists - he's such a shell of the former player I don't even know where to begin. When Cody McCloud scores on you, that's when you know the hard times are on hand....

Absolutely agree that Babcock should at least be considered for the Jack Adams trophy. It's absurd that Red Wings' coaches are not considered because it seems like we are actually expected to win our division, conference, Pres trophy every year. Don't forget we are now in an era of parity. Babcock does not have 9 HOFers on his team and an unlimited payroll . He has kept his team on a level above that of the rest of the league - pointswise comfortably above the competition in the division (yeah i know it sucks but so does the SE and their coaches are considered) and the conference. It is ridiculous that this trophy seems to be indeed reserved for the "crappy team that made good this year - must be the coach."

The Canucks are HORRIBLE. I want the Avs to stay in the 8th spot. Vancouver will go to 8th if they lose. Of course the way they are playing they could get knocked out entirely. Wouldn't mind playing them except for sparing the Wings the long road trip. Don't fool yourselves, the Avs are not a great team - we match up great with them and that would be a good series match-up.

Well he wound up with a hat trick, so they didn't exactly shut him down! At least the Yotes won in OT. I think the Wings can take Nabokov.

Sakic: the only guy that it truly scary on the Avs in the playoffs. Team has played much better since their C came back Forsberg: outside chance he's a force in the POs - but personally don't think he can last through a long series R.Smyth: Hasn't been that impressive with the Avs - but could make some noise Hedujk: streaky player - won't do much vs. the Wings P.Statsny: young and playoff inexperienced - doesn't worry me at all M.Svatos: out for the season anyways Brunette and Wolski? not Theodore = entirely beatable Coach Q: Babcock owns him - so do the Wings

I don't like it when players get run into the boards from behind - it's hard to just outlaw that from the game though because it would soon lead to no hitting at all - period. It's how Nick got hurt - and alot of other guys get hurt. It looked like it was unnecessary to lay him out like that - but hard to say if he should get suspended. If Foster had not been hurt - we'd think nothing of the hit. Sucks for the Wild - hoping they can still win the NW division. Screw the Avs........

Well I'm just happy he got canned for 8 games, since it was seemingly looking Friday morning like he would get nothing. One thing I sincerely hope for sure - this should be this guys LAST warning. When he pulls some cheap bush-league sh*t in the playoffs - and we all know it's a matter of when not if - he should be out for the rest of the season, period. I'm just sick that Pronger's been getting away with this stuff for this long - elite player my a$$. No player that's truly elite gets suspended this many times. No class at all. What a loser.

The fact that he's the captain of the Ducks kind of says it all about the Ducks organization. I think the Ducks have alot of great captain-worthy players and Pronger is NOT one of them. Unfortunately he reflects poorly on their whole organization. They don't seem to care - this is the third+ suspension he will receive since arriving - you'd think they would get tired of it eventually. If a player like that were on the Wings - I wouldn't want him EVEN if it meant a better shot at the Cup....

I can't read this whole thread - at work. Can someone post the updates as they occur? - NHL radio said they already decided NO suspension but now I see he might have a hearing. Don't have time to comb the whole net - have to get some work done.

You need to take off you Duck glasses for a moment. This guy has a history of having a violent mean streak in him. He is an absolute disgrace to the game. If was on any other team but your own, you would hate him. I wish they would allow restreaming of the NHL live show - you should listen to those guys - talked about Pronger the whole time - tried to get Campbell on the show - but I had to miss the second half so no sure if they did or not... Both guys were calling for suspensions for him - and were in absolute disbelief that it didn't happen. It doesn't matter that the guy's leg didn't get badly hurt - he TRIED intentionally to injure him. The NHL is a joke - this ******* has a history of offenses yet still gets away with cheap crap all the time - hell he's 10x worse than his teamate Bertuzzi. If the Ducks make it to the finals I will have to put an asterisk by it, because of the unethical salary cap and player resignings mid-season, but mostly because the league allows this goon on the ice. I'm ashamed to be an NHL fan today.

Thanks for the detailed info! The VLC player was the key - testing on the Ducks game. When I go full screen it's not too bad. Usually via yahoo, NHLN, and VS I can watch a number of the games - but not all, so this will help!

If Hasek had been badly outplayed by his backup - Babcock wouldn't leave him as the #1 goalie. Love him or *dislike* him Hasek give the Wings the best chance to win in the playoffs. He can rest a few games now if need be. We're lucky to have a solid backup goalie just in case. Of course it's a concern at his age whether he can withstand a long playoff run - but I would venture to guess it might be his last so he'll give it his all.

Unless your name is Selanne or Niedermeyer - then you took a vacation for over half the season and you're not as banged up as the rest of the guys. WHICH, incidentally, should be made illegal in the NHL, barring medical reasons, because it's an unfair advantage over the teams that put all their players in the line-up all year.

Unfortunately, the way SJ is playing, they are spoiling the Sharks-Ducks dream matchup for us. (maybe we ought to toss Dallas a point on Thursday ). Yeah it's tough to pick your poison because it could backfire on you. However, starting out the postseason flying back and forth to the West coast would be bad (good for me because of the time zone but tough on the team). Therefore, I would pick Nashville, Colorado, or the Wild also. I would rather not play Calgary again in the first. I think if the Wings are playing at the top of their game they can beat any of the lower 4 seeds no matter the final order. We have to hope the Ducks win just enough to keep them in the 5th spot too. While our schedule is a snoozer for the rest of the season, it is fun to watch the other divisions battle it out and have the standings change every single day....

I've never gotten it to work. I downloaded the player and can find the link to the Wings game - but it's just a bunch of fuzz and lines. I heard there are add-ons that must be downloaded also - but have not been able to find those. I haven't bothered to check any sopcast forums - maybe they have advice on how to get the player to work. I also don't see the links posted on the game day threads - that would help but not sure if they are allowed to announce where to go... For now if the game is not on NHLN or yahoo, I just go for the 97.1 the ticket audio feed.... p.s. i'll check out that forum above and see if it helps any of us....

Yup. "Groin" could easily = "ankle". They did have back to back games and he hasn't played for almost a year - so maybe better to keep him out. Supposedly he will play tomorrow night in Atlanta but I'll believe it when I see it.....

1. Steve Yzerman 2. Gordie Howe 3. Nick Lidstrom 4. Sergei Fedorov 5. Bob Probert (6) Terry Sawchuk yeah all Wings what can I say! p.s you should make it a poll to see what the averages are....

You're probably about my age because that is when I became a dedicated fan for life. I remember the life size poster of the "new draft pick guy" Stevie Yzerman on the wall of the bar I was sneaking into in East Lansing. One of my Uncles would sneak off into the basement during all holidays - to watch the Wings - and I would join him! Bought my first jersey around '85 and wore it to Europe where I gave it to a die hard hockey fan as a gift. Bought another one when I got back - but has no name on the back (had no cash back then)- still have it. Actually paid for "PASS" sports in college at UM so I could watch all the Wings games - most of which they lost. Would get a quart of cheap beer with my roomate and watch Bob Probert kick the s*** out of someone. Listened to the "Dead Things" score on the morning radio for years - with no hope that they'd ever win anything - but I still watched. Moved to Colorado where I had to follow the Wings via newspapers and bars for several years before - as luck would have it - the Avs moved to town and became their biggest rivals. Kind of renewed my fervor for the Wings. Through all that - never been to the Joe for a hockey game. Get to see the Wings 1-2 times per year for the last decade in Denver though....

Forsberg out with groin problem - Avs not revealing the extent of the injury. (said he would play earlier today) Foote out for a few games. Salei hurt - orbital bone maybe. Nothing definitive yet. Leopold hurt - big surprise - he's always hurt. I was hoping to catch one more reg season game with Forsberg in the line-up - so will make a difference around here for ticket sales. Then again, they just need to sneak into the playoffs and gamble with what they've got then... Me thinks their little post-trade deadline nostalgia-driven winning streak has come to an abrupt end....

Uh-huh. Did you notice all the people here freaking out when Lids went out and we couldn't buy a goal or a win? I'm not a Ducks fan at all - Doesn't mean we cannot have sympathy for Duckguy. I'm not going to write the Ducks off because of one injury and two bad back-to-back games. They will still make a very formidable foe in the playoffs. I will take no team lightly that the Wings play either.....

That's so ironic - I spent late last night you-tubing videos. Especially reminiscent for me were some old Probert videos - ah the good old days when all out brawls were common place - for those of you that were too young to enjoy - check it out - a Wing for the ages - but in a far different way than most historical players you think of!!!

Any mention of the Lions can only bring bad karma to those who utter it and the other teams they support!

I'll start to worry a little more when he stops winning the Norris Trophy hands down every year.......