BlueMonk

It's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that there are a lot of Wings fans who have absolutely no problem watching our goalie have to stand up for himself in a situation like that.

Lebda knocked his man into Ozzie. They're not going to call that interference, the guy was sliding on the ice face down, he's not going to be able to stop.

Hehehe, Kopecky is done with us LGW haters!

When the Wings allow a goal and I look to see who's on the ice, wondering if I'll see the Kronwall-Stuart pairing is like turning on the faucet and wondering if water will come out.

When the Wings allow a goal and I look to see who's on the ice, wondering if I'll see the Kronwall-Stuart pairing is like turning on the faucet and wondering if water will come out.

The Calgary fan contingent on HFBoards is just particularly poor, that's all. All the fan sites have their village idiot fans, but for some reason a disproportionately high percentage of Flames fans on HF are, um, intelligence challenged. Some of the dudes there couldn't spell "cat" if you spotted them the c and the t. It's not like that with most of the other fan bases there, though. One fan base in particular that I'm impressed with - based, admittedly, on just a handful of personal encounters - is San Jose's.

Yeah, I feel the same way. They've had a few marquis matchups, like the Sharks games and the home and home with the Winter Classic against the Blackhawks. But mostly, they look like the rest of the regular season is just insufferably boring right now. Good, bad or indifferent, that's what I'm seeing in their play. And because they don't take most teams seriously, we get efforts like this one. Which, honestly, diminishes my interest in the regular season and makes me reluctant to shell out the money to see a game live. I attended the Penguins game and I've gone to the Joe less this season than most because I'm no longer confident that I'll see them give a solid effort and don't want to spend my money watching them putz around out there. And despite that, they lead the Western Conference in points as of this morning. Really, what it comes down to is they're on top of the league despite playing staggeringly below their ability. Whether that's a good (peaking at the right time) or bad (can't "flip the switch") omen will be determined in a couple months, I guess.

As unfortunate as this loss was, it was somewhat offset by the methodical dismantling of WhiteOut by the gang after his hilarious first post on this thread. One member after another taking him to task and picking him apart, point by point. I was impressed; so many different people chipped in and just humiliated him. Dude got pwned.

1st shot of the 3rd period!

I'm here for ya!

Fixed.

The Wings took a ton of abuse in that period and only have a 1 goal lead to show for it. They'll be killing a few penalties now after all the PPs they got. Fights can be a pressure release valve in a situation like that. Fight Phaneuf for the hit on Cleary and there's a good chance things settle down. Instead, it escalates into the players all still being pissed off and there's lots of lumber being laid, cheap shots and a sucker punch.

TKO win for Belak! Belak is having a fine season. Wins over Janssen and Boogaard and now this. Impressive!

They FINALLY clear the puck off the glass like they're supposed to and... it hits a stanchion and stays in the zone. Criminy.

The idea that a great goaltender can bail out a poor defensive team is more myth than reality. The problem with the Red Wings is inconsistent defense from all over the ice, not just in net. On some nights, they look every bit as good as they did last year. Then they have nights like the past two Saturdays. If they play like that in the playoffs, they're not going anywhere, regardless of who is in net.

I don't think finishing 1st vs. 2nd in the Conference means that much. All the teams fighting for the last few playoff spots are equally annoying and capable of upsetting the Red Wings in round one. As much as it gets discussed, the odds of the Wings and Sharks actually meeting in the playoffs are not nearly as high as they seem. Home ice in a series against San Jose would be nice, but both teams won on the road the last time they played in a series.

Not sure about the save % stat, but I can tell you that the only team that comes close in the past 30 years was the 1992 Pittsburgh Penguins. They were 20th in a 22 team league in team GAA and still won the Cup with the #1 ranked offense. Other than that, hardly any team that didn't finish in the top 10 of GAA went on to win the Cup. So it's a pretty bad omen.

A lengthy post about Downey/fighting/the Wings. Even if you don't think dressing a fighter helps your team win hockey games, there's no doubt that hockey fans in Detroit miss the physical violence that characterized some of the earlier editions of Red Wings teams. The fans here love the tough guys. You need look no further than the popularity of Aaron Downey for proof. The guy wins the FSN player of the game voting (admittedly, not the most scientific poll, but still) every game he plays, for playing 5 minutes and whether he fights or not! It isn't like Downey has had a great career with Detroit. He's not like McCarty, who was involved in epic and historic team moments. But the fans are so starved for anything resembling grit that they're completely taken by him. Toughness is an underappreciated part of what made fans fall in love with those 90s Wings teams. The rivalry with Colorado was special not just because it was about the two best teams of the time, but because it was filled with bad blood and violence. The most memorable game from the rivalry wasn't even a playoff game; it was the regular season bloodbath at the Joe when Mac beat up Lemieux. Some of the criticisms of the current Wings squad are that they're boring to watch because they play without emotion, like robots just executing flawlessly. I think that's an overstatement, because the execution itself is really beautiful. But there is a missing element of aggression, and it diminishes the excitement and hinders the development of new rivalries. Look at the game tonight: When they were down by 4 or 5 goals, the Wings didn't even get angry. They just skated around with their heads down and went through the motions until the final horn. It could be that this is really the best thing for them the way their roster is constructed. The arguments that they're better off not engaging other teams physically at all because they're not built to handle the rough stuff that will follow may very well be sound. Even so, I find it depressing. As a fan of the Red Wings, I want them to win, and if that means purging their game of retaliatory emotion, I'll take the Stanley Cups. But as a fan of hockey, I think we all lose. Hockey, at its very best, is a game that rewards the warrior. Being able to hand out and take punishment is part and parcel of your success, and fighting has been inextricably woven into that part of the game. If you want to get near the net, you get the crap kicked out of you. If you can take the beating you get, then you win; if not, you lose. Push too far, or take a cheap shot at someone, you could get punched in the face. Bully the other team, you get the advantage. If they give back just as good as they get, then it evens out. Intimidation and the threat of getting your ass kicked are always there, even if they aren't front and center. If you can't appreciate the simple beauty and crystal justice in all that, I guess I'm surprised we both like this game. Because that's such a huge part of why I love hockey and if you don't relish that part of it, it's hard for me to understand.

Christ, after watching this game, I think I need someone to hold me, too!

As ridiculous as that commercial is, I bought a Filet-O-Fish the other night for the first time in probably 15 or 20 years and I never would have if I hadn't seen that ad.

That was a bad goal, too.

Downey's first goal as a Red Wing. Too bad it had to be under these circumstances.

Yikes.

Nobody's playing on this team tonight. Makes me wonder if there's a flu bug going through the dressing room, or maybe they had a team dinner and the drink was flowing And just then, goal! At least no shutout.

Most highly acclaimed goaltenders are overrated, but not this kid. He's really very good.