BlueMonk

Matt, I think he's by far the most hockey-informed of the various hosts. My problem with him is his overall presentation. He tends to try to find a way to agree with every caller, it seems, which bugs me. And sometimes he takes a stab at an argument that really doesn't hold up and just won't let go long after he should have moved on. Just some personality traits that grate on me, I guess. Most of the things he does that bother me are not even during hockey discussions, come to think of it.

One of the worst power plays I've seen in the NHL this year. Wow.

Nice work by all three Detroit forwards on that goal.

You need to deal in reality. Here's his fight card. Find me the Boogaard and Laraque fights, please. Thx.

This is flat out untrue. How long have you been watching Maltby play?

OK, you were doing ok until you posted this. I follow the fights pretty closely, and I'm pretty sure Tootoo has never fought Laraque or "Booregard" (sic), let alone beat them. Post links to fight clips, please.

You're allowed to hate Tootoo as long as you despise Maltby even more. Otherwise, you have to go back and delete this post.

Tootoo is a force. Would love to have him on Detroit.

I don't recall seeing home cooking like this in the prior 5 games between these teams. Hopefully the Wings start to get paybacks in the 2nd period to make up for this. The officials are having a nightmare and they can't wake up. Surviving that kind of one-sided whistle blowing 1-1 is a plus.

Lamiorello is far and away the best GM in the league if you ask me. And it's not even close. I don't have a problem with ranking Holland high up there, even though I'm a critic of his from time to time, because he's continued to ice a winning team. The playoff failures suck, but look around the league and the other teams have failed at least as badly as the Wings.

I guess I'm in the "they'll lose in the first round" camp, but I hope to be proven wrong. Sean Baligian is really bad at what he does, but any hockey talk is better than none at all, I suppose.

He's playing very well, to the point that I'm happy to see him on the ice. It's too bad the rest of his teammates are nearly as small as he is. If he ever gets a banger or two to work with, he could produce a ton of points.

Draper has, and has always had, terrible hands. But at least he works hard out there and fights for the puck in the corners or uses his speed. Maltby looks lost most of the time. And he doesn't play with an edge anymore. Without McCarty to back him up, he plays much softer.

People keep saying this, but has it been different than any other game he's struggled in? I remember thinking he's looked a bit slow in some of his other shaky performances. I'm really not that worried about it being related to an injury, although maybe I should be. The story of this game was a desperate Boston team needing two points to have any chance of making the playoffs, and playing like it. There were some missed calls that could have decided the game as well, and a couple of really lucky bounces. No team wins 82 games in a season, and it's partly because goofy stuff like this can happen on any given night. Also, matinee games are bullsh**. I would never want to see an important game played at 12:30 PM. Weird stuff happens. Let's hope the Wings were looking ahead to the Nashville home and home. I'll be at the one in Detroit on Wednesday. Can't wait!

Wings are getting outmuscled. They're going to have to start skating and moving the puck. Just standing around, the Bruins will kill them with their size. Also, Hasek's stick side is a big concern for me. 90% of the goals he lets in seem to be up and on the stick side. Watch. It's disturbing.

Competition is huge, but I don't think the kind of competition the fans crave comes just from two evenly matched teams. You need something extra. The Colorado rivalry was a perfect example. That kind of hatred breeds from hits and fights and physical play. Just watching two teams stickhandling isn't going to bring out the passion from the fans. It's pretty to watch, but it's not going to really fire up the fan bases of the teams.

The stuff he says about Wings fans is absolutely correct. There are other reasons for declining attendance, and it's everywhere, not just Detroit. But does the lack of any hitting (I'm talking meaningful hits, not some flimsy attempt at a body check by Jiri Hudler) detract from the enthusiasm of the fans? I believe so. Fans get fired up about the hits and fights, especially when they've seen what a really physical hockey game can be. We had that for a long time around here, but it's not an element of this team. It's hard to have a rivalry with any club when they're the only ones doing the hitting. There are a ton of other factors, but that's a very legitimate one and I'm glad Cherry brought it up.

Or maybe root for a different team? Funny that the "motorcitykid" has a Vancouver goaltender in his avatar and posts from an IP address that resolves to Toronto. Just sayin'

That was a beautiful goal. Once again, right after they score, L.A. takes control of the puck, something they couldn't do for the past 15 minutes. Gah.

Wings aren't working hard enough. Lots of shots, almost none of them good scoring chances.

Kronwall is terrible out there. He hasn't looked good for weeks now. I wonder if he's toughing out an injury because they're so shorthanded.

They get the puck in the offensive zone at the end of the PK and Draper is waiting behind the net waiting to pass to a teammate. How many of the Wings go to the net? That would be zero. They all skate into position along the perimeter. It's so frustrating to watch something like that.

Hudler is just a little boy out there among men. He's so tiny.

Make sure to check out the McSorley fight (an all time classic) and the first and second rounds with Domi when he played for the Rangers. Look for Domi holding up the championship "belt" after round 1 and Yzerman mocking him after he lost round 2 to Probie. Also, Probert's KD of Scott Parker when Probie was with the Hawks. Detroit had the best one-two punch (pun intended) in the league at that time, with Probert and Kocur. And there were other guys willing to go besides them, too. Wow, have things changed.

I really don't buy into the "bad publicity" thing. Controversy and violence attracts more viewers than it repels. In sports and in every other form of entertainment. This was uncalled for by Simon and warrants a suspension, obviously. You can't swing a stick at a guy's head. Just drop the gloves and beat the crap out of him.