WingsCaptain

What a difference a year makes. Hossa is a no-show in the very Finals he wanted to be in, and now he gets a $5.2M (avg) a year. And I still think Chicago overpaid. FFS, it's the best chance of your life to win the Cup and you disappear? The Kopecky signing must have been blackmail by Hossa. $2.4M for Kopecky?! Congratulations, 'Hawks! That guy was worthless! And good luck Mr. Tallon when it comes time to sign Toews & Kane later on. Detroit can pull off the hometown discounts because the organization is first class. But the 'Hawks are not the Wings. Not even close. ~ Z

Um, Hossa aside, we didn't really lose anything. Kopecky ... worthless. I liked Conklin, but he's just a perennial back-up goalie. So, we either keep him (and he wouldn't stay for his current salary of $750k, let's be real here) and lose Howard on waivers for nothing, or let him go. So, in goes Howard. I'm sure Holland knew all of this long before the season ended. As for McCarty and Downey, I like them both. I remember the McCarty from his better years and Downey is a gamer through and through, but there's no room for either in the cap era. ~ Z

Sign Pahlsson, forget Neil. I'd rather have a good penalty killer. As for "losing a ton of goal scoring with Hossa," he was a no-show in the finals when it counted most. In the regular season, 40 goals was great, but the euro-twins were fine without Hossa the year before when we actually won the Cup. I'm not a Hossa-hater at all -- I hate to see him go -- but the Wings will be fine without him. I'm quite happy to see space made available to showcase the young talent: Helm, Leino, Abdelkader. And good riddance to Kopecky. Chicago must've been blackmailed by Hossa to agree to a $2.4M with Kopecky. He was as worthless as a screen door on a submarine. ~ Z

Wow ... Wings need to snap out of it. Pens are all over them. Playing flat like they're out of gas. Meh ...******* poor effort so far but there's still time. ~ Z

I'm here. But I'll be watching the game at home in High-Def on a 61" screen and drinking free beer. Sorry to be a party-pooper.

What is narotic? Babcock is a class act, and all coaches have to toe the line between saying what the really think and getting a fine, and saying the cliches. I lol'd last year at Therrien's post-game press conferences. Guy looked like a bully had stolen his car, kicked his dog, and then slept with his wife. He was seconds away from absolute sobbing. At least Bylsma doesn't mope. ~ Z

You Pens fans jump on everything the guys on NBC say, as if it's gospel. I heard their comments too, but I actually watched the plays and they were wrong on both counts. l2hockey, because right now you = fail. ~ Z

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=424883 Game time decision and it's up to Pavs. My gut says he plays. ~ Z

Depends on if you're a Pens fan or a Wings fan. I was over it the second no penalty shot was awarded. The Pens fan I was responding to ... apparently not. See, that's why quotes are so darn useful on a forum board.

Now this post had me rolling. Seriously, that's some funny sh*t. ~ Z

I DVR'd the game and watched it again the following day after seeing the uproar that Hank had covered the puck in the crease with his hand. At no point did ANY camera angle shown provide evidence to what you're saying. He DID bat the puck towards Osgood's back, but that is not illegal because he never covered the puck. In one of the top-down camera angles, it shows this quite well and you can see the puck laying in the middle of a triangle of Wings players -- but never covered. I know Pens fans keeping harping on this, but it's like the non-existant Hossa slash. Upon further review, it simply did not happen. It was blatantly apparent, however, that the Pens were the beneficiaries of a 20+ second 6 on 5 power play in game three. I have no conspiracy theories on the series. I think it's been called reasonably well, with the whistles mostly put away, but the refs should either call 'em all or don't call 'em. Giving the Pens a PP on a B.S. interference call at the 10 minute mark of the third period of a close, 2-2 tie game is crap. Let 'em play instead of deciding the game through officiating. ~ Z

The supposed Hossa signing is being mentioned all over NHL Home Ice on XM as well. They're just quoting that SI journalist that was linked on page 1, though. Kenny Holland has always maintained the stance that he does not discuss contracts with agents during the playoffs. Hope it's true, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'm thinking if Hossa finally gets his Cup ring, then perhaps he takes a big hometown discount. Time will tell. ~ Z

The forum nazis only exist in Pittsburgh. Usernames getting banned left and right over there. You should speak to your people. Tell them to relax a bit. ~ Z

Okay: "Zetterberg didn't swipe at the puck with his hand after Crosby hit the post." Crosby's first shot hit the left post, went across the crease, and came out the right side. Crosby gathered the puck (again) and fired into a prone Zetterberg who did not cover the puck with his hand. But you are allowed to bat the puck with your hand. We all know the rule by now (if we didn't previously) -- "67.4 Penalty Shot - If a player, except a goalkeeper, while play is in progress, falls on the puck, holds the puck, picks up the puck, or gathers the puck into his body or hands from the ice in the goal crease area, the play shall be stopped immediately and a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team." Referee Devorski was there at ice level, and according to the director of officiating Stephen Walkom, he's assuming that the interpretation was that Zetterberg was simply trying to bat the puck off of Chris Osgood's back. One thing to remember though is that the crease extends upwards, so if Zetterberg did cover the puck with his glove, then a penalty shot should have been called. It was an interpretation call, and Devorski thought that Zetterberg was trying to bat the puck, not cover it. Zetterberg isn't a rookie. He knows you can't cover the puck in the crease. Next!

1. teacher arms: Upper arms that have loose, freely swinging flab in the triceps area that hangs from the elbow to shoulder, so-called because female schoolteachers often flash said flabbiness when they wear short sleeved or sleeveless tops and then stretch out across the blackboard. It is too be avoided. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?...=teacher%20arms Also known as "bingo wings." ~ Z

Last I looked, this is a web forum and not ENGL293. But what do I know? I am just a Communications Studies graduate. To quote the link that you yourself posted, "According to the literal (and more common) interpretation, the poem is inspirational, a paean to individualism and non-conformism." I'd say that very much applies, when you consider that Hossa took less money to come to Detroit to win the Cup (non-conformism and individualism). Most players take the money and run, and lament when they finish their career without a Cup win. Now back to the regularly scheduled topic . . . ~ Z

True, true. But as a consolation, each time we beat someone in the finals, we get to take a couple of their players, so it's all good.

Bah, more press for Cindy -- the league-appointed "future of hockey." I'd rather have fist full of Cup rings and Stevie Y walk up and tell me "good job," than the Messier leadership award. ~ Z

Z never covered the puck with his hand, or his body. Watch the replay sometime -- puck was laying in plain sight. But let's call it even -- you got to keep Malkin for game 3 after he instigated, didn't have his fight strap snapped on, and started the fight with his stick. You can tell he's new to fighting. Oh, and Miro Satan was the third man in. Where was that call? I hate the excuses I'm already seeing from Pens fans. Learn to lose gracefully. You're going to be doing it for awhile. ~ Z

Three reasons why we will win the Cup again this year: 1. Lidstrom, Stuart, Ericsson, Rafalski, Lebda, Kronwall > Pittsburgh's D (i.e. best D lineup in the league) 2. Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Hossa, Holmstrom, Helm, Abdelkader, Leino, Hudler, Cleary, Samuelsson (or Draper), Maltby > Pittsburgh's O (i.e. depth) 3. Osgood > Fleury (i.e. our so-called "weak link") Pittsburgh has matured and is better than last year, no doubt. But they still don't know that it takes experience, skill, and most importantly WILL to win the Cup. Wings in 5. ~ Z

I'm happy for Hoss. Prior to coming to Hockeytwon, he was one of the few players outside of Detroit that I liked. Him coming here made my year. So, he takes less money, gets to the finals, isn't expected to carry the team, and will finally get the Cup. So Pittsburgh, boo all you like. Last time that caused him to score a goal. Yeah, go with that. ~ Z

Okay, for starters, the Church Lady reference = priceless. Second, I believe that when we hoist the Cup again, we get to choose who we take from Pittsburgh, just like last year. I vote for Staal. With 29 Staal brothers playing in the NHL, at least one of them should be on a winning team. ~ Z

Jake, in order to come across with a coherent and logical argument as to why you think Holmstrom is a liability and not an asset, you would do yourself a favor by not referring to him as "Ninety-SUX" (which makes you sound dumb as you're resorting to name-calling), and by also bringing up more valid points. Not saying you are dumb -- that's just how your posts are coming across. To highlight a couple things I read, 'missing an assignment' in Game 3, does not make him a bad player. He may not have even known that Lidstrom broke his stick. Hard to say. But who really missed their assignment on the play? Read on ... Arguing that he doesn't race from one end of the ice to the other is misleading, but this point brings me to the last argument: the centerman typically goes down low on his D-zone assignment (along with one of his own D-men; the other D-men covers the net), and wingers typically stay high to cover the opposing team's D-men unless they are the first forward back in their own end. Since Holmstrom isn't the fastest forward, he ends up having to cover either the weak side slot area OR the strong side point. So as a LW, Holmstrom is typically near the blue line anyways. I didn't see a camera view showing that he missed his assignment, but if he did so what? Everybody had collapsed the net trying to freeze the puck and a Blackhawk managed to get a great pass over to his teammate for the score. That's hockey. It happens. Get over it. Anybody that knows hockey will tell you the basics: ALWAYS protect the net area, always stay in between your opponent and the net (defensive side positioning), never give up a second scoring opportunity, team work is key, etc, etc. The Wings, as a team, failed on several points there which it could be argued started when Lidstrom's stick broke. We could throw stones at him for breaking his stick, but today's sticks are terrible, and Lidstrom is arguably one of the top 5 best D-men to ever play the game. Poor argument there. But resorting to calling out Holmstrom makes no sense either. Each player has strong and weak points. As a team, the Wings compliment each other very well and some of the players such as Hossa, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Lidstrom, are just wicked good at all aspects of offense and defense. But having a role player such as Holmstrom blocking the goalie's view, whether at even strength or on the PP, particularly when he's arguably the best in the league at what he does, makes him invaluable. But don't take it from me -- consider the fact that Scotty Bowman, Mike Babcock, and other head coaches (past and present) have praised Holmstrom for the role he plays. Is he getting long in the tooth? Sure, it's inevitable. But he's still very much of use to the Wings. ~ Z

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/wingsbl...php?blogid=2854 I can't see this streaming video since I'm at work. Supposedly Babcock comments on the injuries to Pavs, Lids, and Drapes. ~ Z

Do you have flash player installed? Ah, nvm. Thought you meant it wouldn't stream for you at all.