StaticWithABeat

I wonder what the most commonly-worn jersey number is these days...19 has to be up there.

The same could be said for the majority of the Wings roster...everyone's wondering why there have been all these "uncharacteristic turnovers" lately, it's because the Sharks have a lineup full of 6'2 220-pound monsters shoving our 5'11 180-pound guys off the puck every time they try to carry it...It's no mystery why the smaller players (Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hudler, Filppula, etc) have been all but silenced in this series. I say let Ellis and Ericsson play a game or two...a little size and physicality could do us good.

Eh, I'd be more comfortable if it were a 1 year deal...although Maltby is still one of the best in the league at skating around looking pissed off no matter what's going on, an area in which the Wings would be sorely lacking if he left.

The Paralyzed Snow Angels would be a great band name.

If I were a Canadian politician I'd be desperate for something to make a big deal out of too...the country runs so smoothly there's nothing interesting to talk about. I hear their Parliament meetings mostly consist of games of hide & go seek and violent arguments over who would win in a fight between Mats Sundin and Daniel Alfredsson.

Not much that can be done about that...they could modify the schedule to have the East make more road trips out West to provide a little more total travel parity, but that'd be unfair for teams in unfavorable geographic locations, like Tampa Bay. With the current unbalanced east/west spread of teams, there will always be big discrepancies between travel time...just part of the game.

I'd want to play the Wings over the Ducks if I were them too. They've been waging divisional war with Anaheim all year, they know how tough they are. Meanwhile they beat the piss out of us earlier this year and don't think we have what it takes to roll with them in an extended series.

Glad he found time between naps to finally show a little resolution out there.

It's true...Pronger was little more than a big, mean, ill-tempered bastard in his Hartford / early Blues days, not unlike Phaneuf. He gets caught up in the emotion of the game too easily, has committed some bad turnovers, and not been terribly effective on offense...but he's 21, it's only natural that he'll go through a playoff year or two like this before he learns how to maximizes his effectiveness. Hopefully after tomorrow he'll have a nice long offseason to go over what he did wrong.

I don't think you will find a single person on this earth, save Samuelsson himself and maybe his mother, that would object to scratching his worthless ass in favor of Hudler. It should've been done long ago.

The main difference between the Wings and Flames is that they actually know how to capitalize on their opportunities, especially on the powerplay. Calgary will drive to the net with authority and bash away until the puck is forced across the goal line, while the Wings perfer to take unscreened shots at Kiprusoff from the outside because no one has the balls to go near the net. Having 2 or 3 players pick up their games on any given night is not good enough. Everyone on the team needs to get their s*** together and stop accepting this "losing-to-inferior-teams-that-outwork-us" bulls***, it's a humiliating repuation to have and it's infuriating to watch. I still think the Wings will take this series, but if they played like they should it would be over already. Also, the fact that Hudler is scratched in favor of Samuelsson is enough to drive me to homicide. As much as I would miss his thrilling wrist-shot-from-the-blueline style, I think Hudler can contribute a bit more than his worthless ass.

Not a Mellanby fan after his s***-talking Blues days, but he definitely deserves props...he was a good example of everything a hockey player should be.

Just look at Phaneuf the instant before Cleary hits him...one skate on the ice, hunched over, skating backwards...he's going down even if he gets lightly bumped. It should've been a relatively routine hit but he was in a really bad position, which is why he got rocked like he did. It was NOT a malicious hit, Phaneuf just received the puck at an ill-advised time and wasn't in a position to take the check. There, now we can stop bickering and move on with our lives.

I like the Sharks, they're an exciting offense-oriented team who could go far if they get hot. I'd like to see them beat Nashville, but as far as matchups go I think we'd all rather see Nashville/Detroit since the Wings have had their number all season...plus they won't have to travel across the continent to play games.

I was not a big fan of the glowing puck...but it's still better than having to watch those stupid cameras moving across the top of the glass like they were doing earlier this year.

One abnormally long OT and all of a sudden it's time to do away with them to "protect the players?" Oh my dear God. On a related note, can anyone tell me what the legal consequences are for beating someone to death with a stack of their own columns?

If the Wings win a game in Calgary, this series is over. Tuesday is the Flames' Gettysburg - It's going to be an intense game.

Don Cherry has a raging hardon for any Canadian player who shows toughness. If Neil was Russian and Datsyuk was Canadian, he'd show the Drury hit and preach about "typical dirty Russian tactics, no respect, blah blah blah" while simultaneously showing a Datsyuk highlight reel and saying how he's the most skilled player he's seen since Bobby Orr.

A good wrist shot doesn't mean much when you're playing at the blueline on PP's...I agree he can be an asset if used properly, but with shooting accuracy like his, that means not taking shots further than 15-20 feet from the net.

Too bad anything they touch will turn to s***...BIll Wirtz has to be in the top 5 worst owners in pro sports. I'm no Blackhawks fan but it's still sad to see a once-proud franchise get driven into the ground and made a laughingstock of.

There's going to be heads a-rolling in Phoenix soon...good move to jump ship before the inevitable coaching staff purge.

I don't hate the Flames...they're actually pretty high up on my list of teams to root for when the Red Wings aren't involved. What I do hate is when a team with the skill to go all the way (see every Wings team since the '02 Cup) rolls over and dies because 95% of the team has no passion, hunger, or balls to speak of. There's been enough roster turnover since 2002 that playoff hunger should start returning, so I expect a half-decent showing out of the Wings this year. At the very least I expect first round victory.

In all fairness to the Avs it's not like they've fallen into oblivion like some teams, they had 95 points which will get you into the playoffs most years, had a fantastic charge to end the year, and will continue to contend for the playoffs, at least until Sakic retires.

I don't think this is a good matchup for Nashville...SJ is a major under-the-radar team that I expect will go at least two rounds deep. If they get hot - especially their top two lines - they will run the West. Not to mention they have the best 1-2 goalie combo in the NHL.

I wish there was a way both teams could lose...I guess I'll just hope for an entertaining series.