RedWingsFanatic

I love Karen Newman.

I hate shoot-outs. Just thought I would throw that out there. Five-minute four-on-four, three-minute three-on-three and THEN a shoot-out and I would be fine with it.

That was maybe the most boring, non-existent period of hockey I have ever seen.

But, see, you are completely missing the point. You can't sit there and tell me that you think the Red Wings are perfectly fine after witnessing them lose to Vancouver and Calgary....again. Look, I don't know how to explain it other than the fact that teams like Vancouver, Calgary, Anaheim, San Jose etc. are grittier and faster than the Red Wings and, when it counts most, they seem to amp it up to another level while the Wings remain at a plateau. Why is it so much more obvious on the road? I have no idea. But it doesn't really matter. What matters is that, up to this point, the Red Wings have been unable to beat the Western Canada/California disease that has attacked them throughout the regular season and playoffs for the better part of the last decade. I realize that there are injuries and I realize maybe the officiating could have been better, but stop pretending like it was "only one game," because it wasn't. The loss tonight and the loss on Saturday have continued a trend that, if not stopped, will the the Red Wings downfall.

I said going in to these two games against Vancouver and Calgary that they were to be much bigger tests than the home-and-home with Nashville. The Red Wings failed the test. Anybody who isn't worried about the Red Wings in the playoffs really just isn't looking at this clearly or hasn't learned this lesson already. Talk about injuries and talk about officiating all you want, the Wings are not currently in the position to win a seven-game series with a team like Vancouver or Calgary.

The Red Wings are in trouble, guys. Deep, deep trouble.

Am I the only one that hasn't had a huge problem with the officiating tonight? I would say that four out of the five Red Wings penalties have been valid, and I haven't really noticed anything blatant that should have been called against the Flames. Just because the power plays are 5-0 doesn't mean that the referees are doing a poor job.

There's no need for that. The Wings haven't been bad. They are bound to get a power play at some point in the third, and they will need to take advantage of it.

The first period wasn't that bad at all, you guys. It certainly wasn't great, but take away the cheap goal, and it's a pretty solid first period on the road against a team like Calgary. They will need to stop taking ridiculous penalties and things might be okay.

This is a big test that the Red Wings must prove they can pass. Talk all you want about injuries and playing a team fighting for a playoff spot, it just comes down to the fact that the Wings need to prove to the hockey world and, more importantly, themselves that they can win against teams like Calgary on the road.

The thing is, though, I think it's more psychological than anything else. It's as if they go into a city like Vancouver and expect to lose. Which, obviously, is the wrong approach to things. They haven't played well in Western Canada or in California for years and years now, so it's not an isolated incident by any means. Through different coaches and different players, nothing changes. It's really strange.

But the Canucks are really in the exact same situation as the Red Wings. Both teams are in dogfights for their repsective division titles, and both teams will fall lower in the standings if they don't win it. It's not as if the Red Wings didn't have motivation to win last night. They just simply become a different team when they play in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Anaheim and San Jose. Four of those five teams will make the playoffs, which makes it virtually impossible for us to not play at least one of them if we want to make any sort of Stanley Cup run. Whatever the problem is, it needs to be figured out fast.

I tend to rag on people for overreacting to losses. In most cases, a loss can be attributed to the team playing a lazy game, which is bound to happen throughout the course of an 82-game season. Blame the officiating, blame the coaching, blame the players, blame whoever. It happens. Tonight, however, was not a case of that. No, tonight furthered a trend. The Red Wings are still unable to play well and sufficiently enough in Western Canada. They become sloppy, they get anxious and it becomes incredibly aggravating to watch. Why does it happen? Well, to be honest, I think the Canucks are, on most nights, a better team than the Red Wings. I think the Central Division is extremely lopsided, and I fail to believe that Nashville and Detroit are the two best teams in the league. But, yada yada yada. The most important thing is this: the Red Wings need to find a way to play better in places like Vancouver and Calgary. These games against the Canucks and Flames are a more important test than the games against Nashville last week. So far, 0 for 1.

I think this is a bigger test than either of the Nashville games. We need to be able to prove that we can win on the road against a team like Vancouver. It's interesting that the visiting team has won the three previous meetings already, so hopefully that trend continues. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. The Wings are still depleted, the Canucks are not. Should still be a fun one nonetheless. I'm hoping for another unlikely victory tonight as the Spartans take on North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. A Wings win and a Spartans win would make this a very nice St. Patty's Day.

I LOVED that song "Bring It On Home!" Oh, memories.

It is a little alarming that nobody really seems to know what is going on.

I'm pretty sure it is official because I swear I read it on the season ticket playoff order forms. I could be wrong, but I'm almost 100% sure on this. The slogan this year should read: "Let's Get Out Of The First Round!"

The official playoff slogan is "Join The Red Wave." It's not that bad, I guess. The only past one I can think of off the top of my head is "Turn The Red Light On," which really upset me because of the wording. Quite obviously, it should have been "Turn On The Red Light," but maybe that was too Police for their liking.

The thought of Budd Lynch encouraging 20,000 people to bang their sticks together has really made this night even better. Personally, though, I think the handing of pom-poms, thunder sticks, towels, tamborines, etc. is a little too expansion team for me, especially during the regular season.

I give the First Star to the towels.

I never really respond to opposing fans on here, but I think I'll take a shot at this one. You seem like a very intelligent guy, and I also realize that the majority of the residents of Nashville aren't Toby Keith. Stererotypes are tired and useless and stupid. But, seriously dude. It's a Red Wings fan board with Red Wings fans who are excited about winning two big games. If you don't like it, just leave. Your opinions are very much appreciated, but nobody is forcing you to post here.

That second period really was sort of a coming out party for Filppula. He didn't score, he didn't even have a point, but he showed that he can play with the big boys. Really nice to see.

I haven't browsed through all the posts since the beginning of the game, but here some thoughts on the first period... -Tootoo plays like a goon. Bootland needs to do something about that. -Chelios made a ridiculously bad play on the sequence that led the the Preds goal. Not good at all. -Ozzie played well, and got a couple of nice breaks along the way. Overall, it wasn't a great period from the Wings, but I always say that I will take an even score after the first period on the road, especially in a game like this. They need to severely pick it up, though.

I enjoy giving Barry Trotz the nickname of Scary Trotz. Because, you see, this is funny.

I swear I thought that exact thing earlier today.