BlueMonk

I would have paid money to see the fan react if the glass came down and Torts had a clear path to him

Okay, someone with photo shop should find a good way to work "Broom, broom (party starter)" into this

I didn't want to say it, but that sounds pretty plausible. Unfortunately.

Thanks, guys. Wow, that sucks. Well, this round isn't going to be over any time soon. I guess he'll have some time to heal up.

I missed the game on TV, had to catch it on the radio driving home from the airport. What's this I hear about Ozzie being hurt? Did Ken and Mickey comment on it or was it just something people were seeing in how he moved?

Does anyone have a feed for the Ducks-Sharks game? My Gamecenter Live is blacked out.

Man, what a weasel Sean Avery is. He was not only his usual jackass self, but he wasn't even effective tonight. Went to the box by himself and didn't really add anything to his team.

I sure didn't. I thought the Ducks would give the Sharks a lot of trouble, but not to the tune of going up 2-0 in the series. The thing is, the Sharks haven't played bad hockey. They're out there battling, dominating the puck, taking lots of shots and doing a lot of good things. But they can't get the puck past Anaheim's excellent defense or their amazing goaltender. The Ducks are definitely being outplayed, but that fact isn't doing the Sharks much good right now!

It's one of the more delusional fan bases, year in and year out. Although I admire the passion and enthusiasm and the belief in their team.

What a completely satisfying beatdown of a win. That was a solid, 60 minute effort. The Wings dominated all over the ice. Great things to take away from this game: Defense and PK were excellent (albeit against a Blue Jackets team not known for its PP). Chris Osgood was EXCELLENT. He's been great in both games. The Wings were plenty physical and answered the bell. Stuart, who was the defensive goat so much of the 82, with a tremendous effort to block a shot on the breakaway chance by Columbus early. The Blue Jackets were undisciplined and totally overmatched in this game; they had no idea the playoffs were played at this high a level and appeared to be shocked by it. The crowd was outstanding! I expect a very different Columbus team for these two games coming up in Columbus. The Jackets will feed off their crowd and it will be tough for the Red Wings to keep rolling like this. But winning games one and two at home is critical, and I love how the Wings ferociously pursued that. They did it last season in every series and now they've done it in this one. Let me just say that it looks like Mike Babcock is STILL a major obstacle to Mike Commodore's success.

The Rangers are a much better team since the coaching change. That's not a slam on Renney, it just comes down to the fact that change is sometimes needed to shake a team up and get them going again. Goalies don't impact games nearly as much as they're usually given credit for, but Henrik Lundqvist is one of the few who really makes a difference back there.

I really enjoyed the Sharks-Ducks game. Lots of hitting, very physical play from both teams. The Sharks played a good game. They took a ton of shots and hit some iron. But the Ducks were able to deal with their forecheck probably as well as a team possibly can. The Ducks' defense corps is really big and good. Pronger draped a cloak of invisibility over Joe Thornton tonight. Hiller was really impressive, too. This should be a long series.

What a relief this game was for me. Despite a rocky first period defensively (penalties and CBJ forwards getting behind the defense a couple times), Chris Osgood was a f**king beast out there and held the team together until they got rolling. By the final 8-10 minutes of the first period, the Wings had assumed control of the game. All the things I wasn't sure the Wings could just "flip the switch on," they did. Great goaltending, solid team defense, shot blocking, excellent PK (though the brutal CBJ PP is not much of a litmus test), physical play, secondary scoring, winning battles to loose pucks... they really put it all together. Great game, and a great start to the series.

Hell yes, very cool. I wasn't expecting to see that.

Hehehehe, awesome stuff, as always. I love this time of year!

He's one of the great coaches of his generation, as far as I'm concerned. People blame him for the advent of defensive hockey, and he did do more for the trap than any other coach. But people also forget he coached a high powered offensive team in Jersey that wasn't nearly as boring as some of the later editions of that team that came after he left. He never had elite talent in Minnesota but he always kept the team in contention. He had total buy-in to his system from his players, which is pretty remarkable. He'll land a job elsewhere. It's hard for me to imagine him NOT being the head coach of Montreal by the start of next season.

Same here. I keep sending channel requests to them to add Versus HD. I hope they eventually do it. My emails alone might just be enough to get it done

This was my second choice of a first round opponent (Blues were first). If the Wings can't win this series, they would have lost to any other team as well. It has the makings of a perfect first round matchup; minimal travel and very little physical wear and tear. The Jackets are solid defensively and Mason is a good goaltender, but it all boils down to how hard the Wings work. If they play to their potential, they'll handle the Jackets pretty easily. If not, they'll lose this series. I'm hoping for the former. I have to say, the matchups league wide are just fantastic. So many good matchups and rivalries in round one, can't wait for the games to begin!

Go Blues! (I'm going to take a shower and scrub my skin raw with abrasive soap and sandpaper now)

I'll remember this. I'll give you credit if you're right. If you're wrong, I'll rub it in your face. Just sayin'.

Sure, it might be a bad sign that they're losing these games. Then again, in 2002, the Wings won only 1 of their last 10 games and went on to win the Stanley Cup. The point is that how a team finishes a regular season isn't necessarily an indicator of how they'll perform in the playoffs. I'm definitely not confident about this team's chances, but the fact they're losing a game where they didn't dress some of their best players is not part of the reason why.

Another reason you have to initiate physical contact: You get the benefit of the whistles that way. The Wings aren't doing it and the Hawks are getting away with obstruction because of it.

The creative camera angles are usually much worse than the normal ones. Not just that one, but the strange views they show in NBA games, too.

It's been kind of relaxing watching games where neither the team, nor myself, cares about the outcome. The Wings look like garbage and it doesn't really bother me.

That's okay. Less regular season hockey minutes = good.