BlueMonk

The real horror story is not how the Red Wings looked tonight. No, the real horror story is that a hockey stadium is named, "Jobing.com Arena." What next? Vagisil Stadium? Softsoap Park? Corporate sponsorship makes me want to throw up.

I'm not completely clear on why they made the move. Roenick has made no bones about how much he respects Wilson for giving him a chance, and he's clearly played hard to earn the trust Wilson had in him. Maybe this is Wilson giving a chance to another vet and hoping he'll be rewarded by getting something special out of Lemieux. I can't quite wrap my head around the idea that this is about Lemieux's virtues as a hockey player, though. Last time I saw him in the NHL, he was killing the Dallas Stars, taking dumb penalties against the Ducks in the 2003 playoffs. I have trouble believing that 6 years away from NHL hockey have improved his game. So the logical conclusion seems to be that they're bringing in Lemieux for his veteran leadership and experience winning at the highest level. Well, that's a double edged sword. It could certainly send the message to Joe Thornton, in particular, that the team doesn't believe it has the leadership it needs to win in the playoffs. I dunno. This team is on fire. Why tinker with it at all? As much as he's revered as a winner, Lemieux has had his problems even with his own teammates throughout his career. I'd leave well enough alone. The guys on that roster have gotten them this far. Dance with the one who brought you there and what not.

I wouldn't be shocked, but I'd be surprised if Detroit and San Jose meet in the playoffs. There are no sure things in the NHL. The top two seeds meeting in the conference finals... how often does that happen? The Wings will be vulnerable in the first round. They are every year. The Sharks would struggle to beat Calgary or even Anaheim in a series. It's all about matchups. The league is not geared towards the best teams in the regular season going the distance and meeting in the late playoff rounds. It's romantic to think that, but it's not realistic. Granted, these seem like the two best teams in the west right now, but I'm not convinced we'll see things the same way in 3 months. The Sharks have played out of their minds but without facing some adversity along the way, they could easily crumple if they get down in a series. The Wings have question marks of their own with the defensive breakdowns and unreliable goaltending. I hate to be the party pooper, but this talk is extremely premature. I hope the Wings and Sharks do meet in the WCF; that would be a series for the ages. But don't count on it.

Guys, they put the two guys together to argue. One of them has to be the contrarian. Pierre drew the short straw, that's all.

I'm as big a proponent of fighting and the role it plays in hockey as anyone, but even I didn't take away from last night's game that the difference was Detroit's failure to dress a fighter. San Jose is a bigger team, and maybe a faster team. That creates problems. But that's a separate issue. My real roster gripe is the same as most other people's: The 4th line is not good enough. A real energy line that can change momentum in the game would be nice. Maltby and Draper need to play better. The Wings usually make smart personnel decisions and there may be good reasons for leaving some of the guys they have in GR where they're at, but I have trouble believing Darren Helm wouldn't be an upgrade over any of the three 4th liners they're dressing now.

Could be but I'm not sure yet. Legace had already demonstrated that playoff pressure overwhelmed him in the 2004 playoffs. Conklin hasn't had a chance to prove himself either way. The one thing they do have in common is the league-wide perception that they're career backups (even if Legace has gone on to start for a bad team now). That's usually fairly telling and suggests that Conklin may not be a guy you can make a run to the Stanley Cup with. I think the likely scenario is Osgood starts the playoffs, providing he's healthy. If he stumbles early, he'll probably get the hook. The big problem with the 2006 run is Babcock didn't make the switch. Last year, he was smart enough to do it, and I think he's smart enough to do it again if he needs to.

I really don't see it finishing this way, though. The schedule favors Detroit in the 2nd half. They've played more road than home games while the Sharks have played the majority of their games at home. The Sharks probably can't play any better than they have while the Wings really only have played good enough to win most games. I'm not sure about the Sharks, but the Wings will have finished all their tough, west coast road trips after this one. The chances are pretty good that Detroit passes the Sharks in the regular season.

I think what he was saying isn't that the blame for the loss should be put on Datsyuk not finishing that breakaway. What he meant is the game was up for grabs and came down to a couple of plays that easily could have gone either way and changed the outcome of the game.

Yow, huge rebound there.

The penalty killing isn't good.

Big goal by Z! He's had a good game so far tonight.

They don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Nabokov is an average goaltender at best, but he's coming up pretty big for the Sharks in this period.

Well that sucked, but it could have been worse.

The Sharks kill Detroit on the PP in this building. Ugh.

Pavel Datsyuk is ridiculous!!!

Yeesh. Crazy action in the crease there.

Nice one timer!

Ya think?

Ozzie is playing because Babcock wants to see what he's got. Ozzie has finally been playing better of late but Conks has gotten most of the big games. Tonight, he wants to see how Ozzie handles the challenge of facing a top team in a real battle. He hasn't looked great so far, but it's still early.

I think it's a fair assessment. When the Wings have played a "measuring stick" game, they've made some big statements recently. It hasn't been that way for the Sharks. I think it's a bigger game for San Jose.

I'm of the opinion that you spend your money on, and build your team around, skaters, not goaltenders. I wouldn't break the bank for a goalie; any goalie, even Luongo.

I think the Sharks will be more desperate in this one because I think they need it a bit more. I expect that, plus home ice, to be the difference in the game. Hopefully, I'm wrong and the Wings play their asses off. Should be a good test for Ozzie, regardless.

Conklin looked great tonight and it was nice to see the normally brutal 4th line contribute. All the defense pairings were decent most of the night, too.

Great save by Ozzie! Nice win for the Wings in Anaheim, a place they haven't had too many happy moments over the past few years. They completely took the game over once they had the one goal lead. A reminder that they play at about 60% most of the game. Which is scary if you're a fan of another team.