motorcitykid

OK. We can nitpick this series to death; and our team. To me, it's simple: when your PP and PK SUCKS - you will NOT win. You simply cannot win a series [or at the least go very far] with special teams as pathetic as ours right now. Quit blaming Hasek. A s***ty goal happens in a series all the time. Ask Kipper. The difference is you rebound and make teams pay the price. So far our inability to score on the PP or stop the Flames on a PK is killing us. Babcock? He continues to play Samuelsson and Lang, and has done squat to improve our special teams. I think it's time for him to take a long, hard look at making some changes. Win Game 5, yes. We're home. But keep this s*** up, and no matter if we advance - this team will not be standing here in June.

#51 should center the 2nd line. PERIOD.

But now everyone is gonna think "Lang? Langislazyandhesucks, Lang. In his sig?" Matt: great work, and as said, just another reason THIS SITE KICKS ASS !!!!!!!!!!!!

CBC's schedule is 7PM PIT@OTT & 10PM DAL@VAN. If you live in Windsor or Alberta you'll see the Pittsburgh game then at 9:30 they'll switch to Detroit's game.

Win this one, and take the series at home Saturday. Lose and we might have to take this to 7 games. Either way, i'll say it again: play our game, quit the dumb penalties [not that the refs have been great for either team], and Playfair will soon be looking for work. GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All great points. Again it's one game. Not too worried. Don't mistake Pavel and Hank's no-show on the scoresheet for getting checked off the puck. They played as well as the rest of the guys. Markov was noticable, and for the wrong reasons. Bertuzzi is not game ready yet - and i'm pissed Sammy wasn't sat instead of Huds. The lineup, minus maybe Draper and Cleary didn't play well. And we lost by a goal. Calgary IS beatable at home, and if we can only work on this damn PP and PK, we'll be fine. I can't wait for tomorrow's game. Like I said, Game 4 is the one where we see just how "different" our team really is this year.

You're a homer, so your opinion carries little weight. How about the elbow Dion layed into Pavel ealier this series? Was THAT intent to injure? And let me see if I got this: Lidstrom had a very rare bad game, the team itself didn't play well, our defense was too loose, Dom lets in a goal you can say was either a goal scorer's goal or a stinker, we lose by just a goal, and now you're talking smack? After ONE GAME? Hilarious.

1-Refs sucked in Game 1, but were better in Game 2. Hopefully we get a decent crew working Game 3. I'm all for the rough stuff and banging [has anyone else seen NSH/SJ or OTT/PIT?? ], let's just hope the calls are fair and balanced. 2-Calgary simply is not the same team they were when they last knocked us out the playoffs. In order to score all those goals this year, they have taken on a different look this season. These sure aren't the same 1-0 games we're used to seeing from them. I figure they'll be better at home, but IF we keep doing what we've been doing and don't start fearing the hard nose tight checking, we'll be OK. 3-For all his talent, Bertuzzi is not the same guy he use to be. Physical is a dimension he brings for sure. And i'd love to see him manhandle some guys out there. But so far, we haven't been missing that element much. Our speed is countering that somewhat, mixed in with our great puck possesion. Dare I say it? We don't seem much fazed by the physical stuff - again, not yet anyway. If Bertuzzi is fine, I sit Sammy. Huds has deserved the ice time, and has not looked out of place so far. Sammy? He hasn't been awful, but he also hasn't done alot. 4-Kipper can singlehandedly win a series, but as long as we're GOING TO THE NET, I just don't see him stoning us for a full 60 minutes. With the Sea of Orange coming our way tomorrow, I fully expect the Flames to be buzzing early, but as that old saying goes - score the first one and ... Either way, i'll say it again - if, IF we continue to play smart, fast and fearless - Calgary simply will not win this series.

Robin Regehr will play today. GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Bertuzzi is ready he is gonna play. Unfortunately, Sammy isn't likely to sit - it's gonna be Huds. Either way, it's nice to see ALL guys on our squad bumping and crashing with Calgary. Tomorrow we'll be able to gauge even better just exactly where we're at.

I swore at 7 PM last night no more negative-speak about #44 and all else related. I'm keeping my word. Naslund? Ask me about 'em this summer...

Yup, feeling fine, and medically cleared [for what it's worth]. As for Sammy, I know there a few in here who dig him on the PP at the point, but I wasn't THAT impressed with him last night. To see Huds out for Game #2 would hurt a little, but at least Sammy was banging and hitting with the rest of the guys. All I know is i'd love to see our 4th line a little more. FILPPPPPPPPPUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. Yes. And yes! Check the top of the page everyone - Filppula? Go figure. The kid was dynamite last night. I was so proud watching that game with a few friends and seeing him play like it was his 100th playoff game rather his first. I keep saying 1 game does not make this series but what a start!!!!!!! And imagine that, there wasn't much talk about #51 leading up to this series. Mule, him & Huds were pretty damn close to perfect out there for us.

2 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!! LET'S GO WINGS ... LET'S GO !!!! LET'S GO WINGS ... LET'S GO !!!! LET'S GO WINGS ... LET'S GO !!!! LET'S GO WINGS ... LET'S GO !!!! LET'S GO WINGS ... LET'S GO !!!! LET'S GO WINGS ... LET'S GO !!!! Ok boys .. this is it, the talk, the predictions, the doubts, the expectations .. here we gooooooooooo ..........

Bertuzzi is a bad, BAD man! All my friends .. even non-Wing fans, I told them all that after the puck's dropped at 7PM for Game #1 I won't mention him again in any negative way. I still got a few minutes .... GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh! The memories of all those shots from the side boards the last 3 years. I lost my voice a few times screaming "GO TO THE F'N NET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It better not be a repeat this year.

The problem with that type of injury, is it can re-occur. Let's hope Hank stays healthy and is able to bring his "A" game all series.

Just some added stats, from a few other forums I post at.

Previous playoff meetings : 2004 - Calgary 4, Detroit 2 1978 - Detroit 2, Atlanta 0 Record: 50-19-13 | Home: 29-4-8 | Road: 21-15-5 | GF: 254 | GA: 199 | PP: 17% | PK: 85% | OT Record: 3-5 Goals: H. Zetterberg [33], T. Holmstrom [30], P. Datsyuk [27] Assists: P. Datsyuk [60], N. Lidstrom [49], M. Schneider [41] Pts: P. Datsyuk [87], H. Zetterberg [68], N. Lidstrom [62] Cups: 10 [1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998, 2002] Playoff record: 258-239 [Home 150-107, Road 108-132] Playoff series record: 56-46 Playoff OT Record: 35-44 Roster : Goaltenders: 30 Chris Osgood 39 Dominik Hasek Defense: 3 Andreas Lilja 5 Nicklas Lidstrom - C 22 Brett Lebda 23 Mathieu Schneider 24 Chris Chelios - A 45 Kyle Quincey 55 Niklas Kronwall 95 Danny Markov Forwards: 8 Matt Ellis 11 Daniel Cleary 13 Pavel Datsyuk 15 Josh Langfeld 17 Kyle Calder 18 Kirk Maltby 20 Robert Lang 26 Jiri Hudler 28 Tomas Kopecky 33 Kris Draper - A 37 Mikael Samuelsson 40 Henrik Zetterberg - A 44 Todd Bertuzzi 51 Valtteri Filppula 93 Johan Franzen 96 Tomas Holmstrom Hot : M. Samuelsson [2G,3A], R. Lang [1G,2A], J. Franzen [2A], J. Hudler [2A] and D. Markov [1G,1A] the last 2 games; T. Holmstrom [4G] the last 4 games. Cold : None. Record: 43-29-10 | Home: 30-9-2 | Road: 13-20-8 | GF: 258 | GA: 226 | PP: 18% | PK: 80% | OT Record: 2-5 Goals: J. Iginla [39], K. Huselius [34], D. Langkow [33] Assists: A. Tanguay [59], J. Iginla [55], D. Langkow [44] Pts: J. Iginla [94], A. Tanguay [81], K. Huselius and D. Langkow [77] Cups: 1 [1989] Playoff record: 87-102 [Home 49-47, Road 38-55] Playoff series record: 15-22 Playoff OT Record: 17-22 Roster : Goaltenders: 29 Jamie McLennan 34 Miikka Kiprusoff Defense: 3 Dion Phaneuf 4 Roman Hamrlik 5 Mark Giordano 6 Brad Stuart 7 Andrei Zyuzin 21 David Hale 28 Robyn Regehr - A 44 Rhett Warrener - A 49 Richie Regehr Forwards: 10 Tony Amonte 11 Stepahen Yelle - A 12 Jarome Iginla - C 15 Byron Ritchie 16 Jeff Friesen 17 Eric Godard 18 Matthew Lombardi 19 Wayne Primeau 20 Kristian Huselius 22 Daymond Langkow 24 Craig Conroy 25 Darren McCarty 26 Marcus Nilson 40 Alex Tanguay 58 David Moss Hot : S. Yelle [1G,3A], T. Amonte [1G,2A] and M. Nilson [2G] the last 2 games; B. Stuart [2A] the last 3 games; J. Iginla [5G,4A] and D. Langkow [3G,4A] the last 5 games. Cold : W. Primeau has no points the last 7 games.

Wow, all the time you took in creating these snazzy pictures - your jealousy is pathetic.

Same as hockey analysts, usually the best ones are goalies. Wayne sucks as a head coach and he's had time there to prove otherwise. A s***ty team? Tell that to coaches who have done more with less with other teams. He only got his foot in the door because his old agent is Mike Barnett. Resign, bring in someone fresh and step up to GM or similar like he does with Hockey Canada. I can't stand these huge ego guys who you can't get rid of once they grab a position.

Everything points to Hank returning tomorrow. CNN? I'd automatically assume reading it there, it could be inaccurate.

THAT'S playoff hockey. And the unspoken truth. It's part of the reason the spotlight is HUGE on Pavel this series. The ice shrinks, the checking gets tighter and it's take no prisoners. Us die-hards wouldn't have it any other way. I know. F Pronger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!