norrisnick

Bruce Boudreau (Washington) and Guy Carbonneau (Montreal) are the other two finalists.

Chelios had zero ice time. Regardless of how little Lilly and Bert are playing, Babcock trusts them more than he trusts Chelios, otherwise Chelios would be playing. Franzen - Zetterberg - Samuelsson Filppula - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Hudler - Helm - Cleary Maltby - Draper - Drake Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Lilly - Lebda Osgood The 3rd and 4th lines probably raise some eyebrows, but Jiri and Helm are playing too well to bury them. Put them with Cleary and give them a couple more minutes, say 10 or 12, they could really take off. Still use Draper's line for defensive draws and matchups, but try to give the kids and Cleary more icetime.

You mean like winning a second game in the Finals before you lose your 4th? That kind of moral victory?

We fired 130 shots toward the net. The Pens fired 60.

How is it that you can't help yourself from being oblivious to obvious hockey plays? Dupuis was well aware of Helm's attempt to stay onside. You see backchecking forwards knock players over the line to draw an offside call at least once a game. Darren was in Dupuis' line of sight the whole way, and Pascal took a nice convenient line to far wall that just "accidentally" cut right through Helm's outstetched leg. Most backcheckers will deliver that bump, but I haven't seen any cut right through the knee like that. Ridiculously dangerous.

http://www.nhlofficials.com/home.asp Look around on here.

There were two. One on Maltby where he actually got a penalty for going after Orpik I believe. Then the other where the Penguin skated right through Helm's leg/knee as he was trying to hold the line to stay onside. Agreed. That s*** needs to be treated at least as severly as a highstick drawing blood.

He brought it on himself?

Z and Oz are a coinflp choice. I just think Z has been a hair more instrumental in getting us here.

We were up 2-0 and even in that 2nd game Dom started s***ting himself. Over the span of 5 periods or so Dom gave up back to back goals on consecutive shots FOUR times. Round 1 is a sweep if Dom were at all competent.

These playoffs have shown fairly definitively that Stuart, or someone of his calibre, is a necessity. I can't imagine a better fit being out there somewhere. Maybe one of our kids in the future, but that's a year or two of 3rd pairing time away. We need that extra guy in the heart of his prime to bridge the gap with Kronwall from Nick and Raf to whoever makes it from the pipeline. I'd offer Stuart, Franzen, and Filppula Kronwall's contract. 5 years at $3M/yr.

Holland said there wasn't a consensus on bringing him back at the deadline and thus their offer wasn't as high as it could have been. Though rumors out of Columbus had the pricetag at ridiculous levels for us. What the Caps sent over was nothing and I can't imagine whatever we offered was less. All it would take now is a bit of money. Since Kenny did call McPhee and made a pitch you can be sure he'll call Fedorov's agent.

Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Howard, Ericsson, Quincey, and Stuart. As for outside acquisitions... Fedorov needs to come home so the #91 can hang where it belongs.

The Wings use loaded dice...

Hakan Andersson, genius super scout extraordinaire, says Holland is the best scout he's ever seen.

Hell, take 2002. The Wings' 1st pick was at #58. They picked Hudler, Fleischmann (traded for Lang), Filppula, Meech, and Ericsson. Sure the BJs got Rick Nash, but I'm more than happy with the 4 guys we have to look forward to.

You can't line up the numbers from past drafts and go with that. I'm going to give the Red Wings scouts as many chances to hit a home run as possible. Hell, the #20 would be the 2nd highest pick the Wings have had in a decade and a half. That #1 overall could just as easily be Patrik Stefan...

"The Enrichment Center is committed to the well being of all participants. Cake and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test. Thank you for helping us help you help us all."

#20 and #30. Easily. A. Because the #30 comes with winning the Cup. B. Give Hakan, Nill, McDonnell and the rest of the crew as many swings at the plate as possible. C. The only thing better about the first option is the 19 spots between the first pick and #20. After that the #30s are all one slot ahead of the following #1s with an extra #20 tossed in for good measure. #1 #20 #30 #31 #50 #60 #61 #80 #90 #91 #110 #120 #121 #140 #150 I take the bolded picks and run.

They didn't score on Lilly's gaffe. Cheli's gaffes have been scored on a few too many times this spring. The Penguins WANT Chelios to play over Lilly. And it's not because they think he's better...

Chelios' time has come and gone. Honestly, I can't think of anything Cheli has done this playoffs that's at a higher level than Lilly has shown. He's slower, weaker around the crease/corners, smaller, less stamina, and he's not even made smarter plays when he's had chances to clear or pass the puck up ice. The knee injuries of the 90's are starting to catch up with him like Stevie's of the 80s did with him.

And yet his numbers are just barely better than the guy on the other side. That keeps him from being the runaway favorite as it puts his numbers into perspective for these current playoffs. Comparing his numbers to previous playoffs is a bit silly as it's all relative from year to year.

If we allow 7 SOG over the final 40 minutes of the remaining games, IMO the Wings can sit on leads as much as they want.

To expand on that. Z personally is +3 on the PK (if we actually assign a - for a PPGA). He's had his hand in 5 shorthanded goals and only been on for 2 powerplay goals against.

Don't forget the guy on the other side. Unless we keep blowing him up, Fleury has ridiculous numbers as well with half the defensive support Oz gets. So it's not as unprecedented as you make it sound. And you mention Franzen and his goals. Z is right there. Sure with extra games but Z has been a force. It's unbelievably close between Z and Oz, but Z has just been unreal in every aspect so far. 17 games 12 goals 10 assists +15 4 PP goals 4 PP assists 2 SH goals 3 SH assists 3 GW goals 92 shots Z will hold the playoff scoring record for the Wings. The last guy to do so beat out Oz for the Conn Smythe...