betterREDthandead

I was talking about the current roster, not a stacked roster of the best Swedes in the world. I mean, Niclas Wallin? Yikes. Edit for quick update: holy crap, Latvia needs a mercy killing right now....down 7-0 to Canada and it's not even the 3rd yet.

I was thinking, when I looked at the Swedish roster.....there isn't a single Swedish Red Wing who wouldn't make that team.

Ah, that must be why you used Calgary's name for it. (Sea, C, what's the difference?) Let's see - if the Flames invented the idea of everyone wearing red to the game, and then the Wings decided to have everyone wear red to the game....why, I believe that would be considered the same exact thing.

McGuire's fourth-liners really are fourth-liners, so it's not like the list is an all-star type thing. Still, Holmstrom's omission from the list is puzzling, given the apparent theme of the list.

I keep forgetting that these other teams are still playing. I'm spoiled by the Wings having wrapped this up early.

Lemme tell ya something. Everyone picked on Drew Sharp in elementary school. It's why he's filled with bitter rage toward everyone on God's green earth.....sadly, the Freep continues to give him an outlet for his mindlessness.

I'm convinced that Rodney Stuckey will be a star. He already plays like a 10-year veteran. No rookie mistakes - doesn't try to force things that aren't there, takes the play that's given him and makes the best of it. I hope he's still a Piston in 10 years....he'll be an All-Star for sure.

And what if chris chelios started meowing like a cat and braying like a mule while simultaneously pulling a Ned Braden? First off three goals a game is pretty damn good. Only seven teams in the league managed that this season. Second, if the offense was suckin', we wouldn't be looking at eight wins now. No team that ever makes it to the conference finals is missing any one of those three components. The Wings are where they are because they out-everythinged Nashville and Colorado, not just because of defense or offense or goaltending.

If the Wings' focus on the Cup is so little that all it takes to boost their effort is the presence of a potential recruit, we're going to be a sorry and grieving bunch of fans sometime real soon. Fortunately I doubt that's the case.

Doesn't mean I thought white-outs were a good idea either. Certainly didn't manage to get them to work as well as they used to in Winnipeg. Pompoms and thundersticks aren't exactly another team's tradition. Way too widespread. I suppose you could say towels belong to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I wouldn't really have a cow if they stopped showing up at the Joe. But the theme of this thread is, "hey, look how cool it is when Calgary does it, let's do it too." That's pretty specifically tradition-borrowing. Calgary has their C of Red. We chuck octopi. It was dumb when Oilers' fans decided to throw beef, and it would be dumb if we copied Calgary. Doing what the Orlando Magic do isn't any better. I don't see why we can't be happy with our octopi, why we need to copycat other fans too.

Best on paper can be a bit subjective.....but consider, how many clearly inferior teams on paper have won? Since 1993, Canada, Sweden, or the CR have won all but three golds, and Canada sure looks like the favorite again. Sure, another team "could" win the gold, but no way there's anything close to an equal chance.

Yeah, 2004. The one year in the past, oh, 15 or so we've taken home a medal. You can't seriously be complaining about 2004, the way Czech history has gone in this tourney.

Because it's Calgary's thing, not ours. I like to think we have enough traditions of our own without having to rip off someone else. It's beneath us to gank someone else's tradition, especially when we 1) have a much better tradition with the octopus (people, please please please stop spelling it "octipi"!) and 2) we think it's silly that other teams try to copy it. So why copy them?

I wish that were true....if so, the USA would not lose in the quarterfinals every.....damn....year.

Rosters and everything else are at www.iihf.com. The American team looks much, much stronger than in the past. Much better between the pipes with Thomas instead of Grahame. And the Sabres didn't make the playoffs, so we get Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford to skate with Kessel and Kane.

Healthy roster my ass. It's not like the Wings won Game 4 2-1. All of Colorado's defensemen and goalies were both healthy and totally useless. When you give up 8 goals, you don't point the finger at the forwards.

I'd actually prefer that Dallas hurries up and finishes off the Sharks tonight. Want to crank up the next series quickly before the Wings have a chance to get rusty. It's not like that Avs series really took it out of them and they need the rest. That was about as grueling as an Easter egg hunt.

The problem is, you haven't taken a walk around downtown Detroit, so you don't know what you're talking about. Try Greektown or the riverfront. No, it doesn't have to be a game night, either.

Coincidence, I think. I don't think lower seeds being in playoff mode before the playoffs has anything to do with it. Dallas is a 5 seed and is rolling the Sharks; Colorado's a 6 seed and is getting rolled. Much the same is true in the East. No correlation, IMO. I think, in the Wings' case, we've been lucky to be healthy and facing an inferior team that isn't - bad combo for the Avs. The Pens are a juggernaut that drew a dysfunctional team in the first round. The Sharks, who the hell knows what their problem is.

Cleary is still one of our best PKers. He doesn't necessarily have to be on the score sheet to be effective.

Only one in Philly, that's it? Gosh, we just finished two and are working on two more. Sorry our real boxer can beat up your fictional one. But I do think it's kind of silly, overreacting to the practical joke played by the Habs fans. "Desecrated" the statue....all they did was put on a jersey. Surely Philly fans aren't that sensitive to get all upset over it.

Kopecky + Maltby = Forsberg + Hannan + Smyth? No.

That's a quality article. Dater's one of the few (maybe only) Avs media slappy who can also write well about the Wings without feeling like he needs to say a dozen Hail Pattys afterwards. Woody Paige needs to take some lessons.

Personally I think Crosby > Ovechkin. When it comes to Z and Datsyuk, I don't think either of them have the pure blinding offensive skill that Sid and Alex do. Both our guys are more complete players, but they have more experience too, so they should be. Datsyuk's almost 30(!) years old. Crosby's 20. So it stands to reason Datsyuk should be a more well-rounded player. But Crosby at 27, 28, 29.....YIKES. And whether Crosby's better than Ovechkin doesn't matter from a league standpoint.....the debate's the thing. And it should bring the league loads of good pub.

It would be GREAT. Especially in October. Pitching duels are a thrill to watch.