akustyk

it took me whole 2 seconds to figure him out. just to give you the clue what I'm talking about: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=2588 these aren't bad pick, though both Flyers over Habs and Dives over Wings are rather bold. but it's playoffs and anything can happen

correction: their power play was capable against the Wild. how this translates into success against the Wings is yet to be seen. there are reasons to believe they'll fare well but a lot here depends on the quality of defense they faced and their actual quality vs. luck

how can you ask "why?" if this is perfectly obvious. he didn't pick Wings. he's an a*(peep)* and knows s*(peep)* about hockey. right? Panger is actually OK guy. it's his guess and he has every right to see it this way. and in fact, knowing he was a goalie and now rates Theodore high is something to worry about for a Wings fan. hope Theodore is not that good agains us

Pang has some right and he's actually a smart guy. but the the argument about our top 6 and their top 6 is not legit. they may have a bit better talent up front but Wings have defense to contain this top 6. on the other hand, Avs defense isn't as bold and is likely to not contain Wings top 6. as for Theodore vs Osgood... the more I hear is how Theodore is another hot goalie who we need to face to win it. is he for real? and is it sufficient to stop Wings from scoring? don't think so. but we'll see...

that's obviously right and I'm not even gonna recall last year WCF to justify the argument. I should actually have been more specific, because I was refering to the depth in terms of skills not in terms of number of healthy and contributing players. in this definition depth is not so important for a single playoff series but obviously becomes important as you advance into further rounds.

it's quite strange to see Hurricanes getting 1st vote in the TTR column: "TTR (Title Track): Titles already won or expected -- soon" I don't quite get this. but then I had a good laugh seeing Leafs almost dead last. those Knicks must really, really suck...

let's go then what about power forward capable of scoring goals with his sheer will and having the body to go into the net. also excellent in selling penalties (thanks to refs) and unfortunately also extremely efficient in playoffs? edge: tie. because of Floppa's age and health what about year long captain who delivers leadership and scores timely, very timely goals? edge: it's still Zet but only if we're talking about personal skills not team incentives not to take anything from Flip but there's no discussion here. Stastny is huge talent Smyth also brings leadership. and unfortunately for Homer he's been too known for what he does and refs are having eyes on him making Tomas less efficient. it's tie unless Homer becomes really efficient this time oh puhlease.... that's ridiculous at best. Hejduk is not entirely his old self but we're talking about a guy who put 50+ goals a season and has excellent hands. this is by far the biggest edge for Dives in your comparison. edge Cleary? wake up... pull the red glasses off don't know about Brunette's effort but Sammy is brutally invisible. he simply puts no effort into the game. Void Deveraux wins competition with him Wolski is by far more talented than Hudler and has better frame. this is actually another Dives edge although I still find such comparison useless. without any practical meaning

Chelli actually looks young on this animation. he's not some god damned high school guy now, huh?

Kolzig may sign with a team like Blues, Kings or Tampa where there's always shortage on bodies in net ( see: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues...0000402008.html or http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues...0000362003.html ) he could teach some youngster to develop in dependable minders and then get back to Caps as goalie consultant or scout

depth means usually s*** when it comes to playoffs. skill-wise Sharks were head and shoulders above Flames but it took them 7 games to advance in what should be at most 5 games long. Ducks didn't exactly look worse than Stars, and on the defense they were actually head and shoulders above. so what? I'm not even gonna mention 2006 Wings and Oilers. not a number of other series where deeper teams were prematurely sent golfing go figure!

holy Christ, why did I know the very first idea to come up in this thread would be to get Kolzig? can we finally lay to death all those "bright" ideas of shopping for aged players way past their primes but with big payroll demand? thank you no to Kolzig. keep Oz as starter but give some good minutes to Jimmy Howard. if this doesn't work shop for good goalie at trade deadline. I honestly don't want to see another Ranford, "Regret" Wregget, Essensa, etc. this simply doesn't work

let us however first use our brains to think about actual match ups. does Sakic compete head-to-head against Zetterberg? uh... no. comparing rosters makes zero sense if you do it position by position. it's about how forwards lines (and combinations of certain players) match up against defensive pairs, etc. and how PP goes against PK of the other team and vice versa. spending hours on discussion whether Z is better than Joe or Dats than Floppa makes absolutely zero sense. it's just dumb babbling. let's better focus on discussion about our F against their D (and vice versa, again). whom can they put against ZDH and against our PP, and what defense pair do we put to stop their vets and their young guns? what about our PK? these are the right questions. it's not computer or card game to dwell in stats. we actually have the tools to stay out of the box and tame their scoring. it is likely to not require wonders from Oz in the net. the question is here how real is Theodore and if their D-men support him enough. and whether our defense is able to hold position and stop Avs breaks and not commit give aways. I don't see Wings losing this series if they keep composure and put enough effort. question marks are in goal whether Oz and Theodore keep their hot streaks. a lot of the series depends on this

the animation up there on Dives forum is nice and the Datyuk and mom is cool, too. but other pictures are rather lame. or very lame above all.... calling Datsyuk a diver? by people who have Floppa on their favourite team? give me a break...

so... they no longer sing the "Almighty Sharks" tune? huh? in absolute terms Avs actually get 4th spot of the remaining playoff teams in West. Wings, Stars and Sharks are all stronger on talent than them. the point is it's not just about talent but also about teamwork and especially about matchups. nobody cares if you're better than Stars (for now) if you play Wings Avs have a number of good assets which make them difficult team to beat. be it hot Theodore, be it Sakic and Forsberg, be it Ryan Smyth who'll be a beast in front of Oz, be it Wolski and Stastny, finally be it Joel Quenville who's among most experienced NHL coaches now... they have plenty of tools to give us hard time. the thing is we have easilly as many tools and we match up well against them. at the same time, Sharks failing to bring enough mental power to match Flames (I'm not even saying to beat - just to come out strong and challenge) is of no concern to those "analysts". they just read to much paper documents and don't think about what they see. Wings did undergo some problems against Preds. that was mainly about focus and composure. but they played two excellent games afterwards and I'd rather use this as an indication of what this team is capable. because they look like heading in the right direction. the analysts choose to dig on those 4 awful games to the start of the series. fine. hope they don't awake too soon and continue underrating us all the way to the finals if this influences the mindset of other teams I'm 100% happy about us being underdogs. we were last playoffs and came short on reaching SCF

we seem to match up well against them and the 11-2 differential in goals, with 2 of their goals coming in 1st game (then 3 shutouts) bode well for the series. sure, playoffs is different animal and everything can happen but this looks like the best Wings could get in Round 2. I'm far from calling it an easy road because this series may easily last 6 games and prove to be a tough one, especially with Theodore looking able to steal a game. but in the end Wings are better and those dumb loses in Nashville taught them to move their asses and put the effort there. I'd say Wings in 6 is realistic. but it obviously is not going to be an easy series. whoever thinks this way is simply blindsided and needs to get his/hers red glasses off. Dives are a solid team. what they may lack on skill they compensate with teamwork. Burnside is actually a fine guy. his hockey sense is (almost) TSN guys level and when he writes it is his honest opinions - like it or not. he might at times be wrong, but who isn't? I like Johnson more but Burnside comes second along with Bucci here. they're all head and shoulders above Mullet or Frei. truth being said ESPN coverage of hockey is now a shadow of what they did 5-6 years ago. but if you want real idiots and homers - sportsnet.ca and read how Sens are supposed to beat Pens and Flames are head and shoulders over Sharks... etc... I mean... honestly.... this is the guy who comes up first with his analysis and does it properly by matchups. he says Wings in seven because he saw Theodore and I'm definitely in agreement that hot goalie may be a huge problem for Wings. Burnside goes the pessimistic scenario (for Wings) that Theodore holds. which is likely. there's also the optimistic version that he collapses and we finish them in five. Osgood question mark is also valid. I can see Oz holding the job and backstopping us all playoffs long but it may as well happen Babcock turns to Dom. you can't say for sure

I think I'm gonna sleep. it's 1:00 through 5:00 in the night local time and staying that long usually means physical collapse the day after for me. I better keep my stamina for Wings games I think I get a nap and wake up to photograph some nice Dutch windmills one needs to have different hobbies, right

and a centipede has way more legs than elephant does. centipedes rock! I mean... let's not get ridiculous babbling about things that are of secondary meaning. numbers are just what they are: numbers. you can't compare players just by looking at more or less artificial coefficients. people play not digits we're talking about two different D-men. Lidstrom who's playing smart game by positioning and vision and Phaneuf who's physical presence with scoring touch. the advantage of Lidstrom here is that he does his job great and has no holes in his game. Phaneuf used to be good at hitting but so far lacked some dependability and reliability. he is on the way for his Norris some day but it doesn't yet seem to be coming now. the margin is narrowing but it's still Lidstrom's superiority. truth being said Chara isn't necessarily the 3rd man here. he's carried his team through the season and showed a lot of edge. we'll see what the voters decided. it should be Lidstrom yet but who knows if he repeats next season. Phaneuf showed good strides towards maturity this season. and frankly that's pretty quick for a D-man. I mean... if he won Norris at the age of 24... that would be something

I'd also like Caps. they haven't been that good in this series as I hoped they'll be but basically every team gets my support if it beats Flyers. I think I'd even root for Ducks if they faced Philly. yes, I'm negative guy here as for SJ/Calgary... I'd rather see Sharks win. they seemed weak enough mentally to loose it in second round anyway, and I'd rather play Dives than Flames with confidence boosted right after beating highly touted Sharks. they already scare a lot of me and with extra mental edge they could as well be able to send Wings golfing in just a week

actually the same goes to Sutter in Calgary whose team is always a threat in playoffs and is real competitor then. that despite a big shortage on talent up front. was it not for mental letdown in 2004 they could've as well won the cup against Tampa. so even if Sutter doesn't have the ultimate prize he is still close enough to Burke's level of achievements to give him consideration Holland might not be the best reference here because Wings haven't been the best team in playoffs recently. but after those painful post-lockout years they seem to emerge with their developed talent and may as well be around the playoff top for next seasons. Burke does deserve some of the credit but there's other GM's who do their job as good as him and stay unheralded. but then, everything you hear from media is Burke this, Burke that... yes, I'm refering specifically to TSN crew who have all noses deep in Burke's you-know-what and have him online by every single opportunity... anyway... it's all a little bit premature. he hasn't left Anaheim yet and we'll have to see how Ducks perform next season. logic says they're in worse shape talent-wise, but as a team they may actually make some strides back to what they've been. who knows if they don't come up big next season. I can actually see this happening I'm not gonna try to convince you I'm big fan of Burke. but my Calgary analogy does stand the ground. we're talking about GM who operates in a place where it's more difficult to scoop players (in the end, it's Alberta forgotten by gods - just ask Kevin Lowe ) is economically weaker than SoCal and also has stronger, tougher on players media environment. they still manage to stay in contention and come playoffs they ice a team that wins or loses in good style. I'm not saying Sutter is better than Burke but it's certainly not a gigantic gap. yet, you won't here Sutter getting a percent of that praise which goes in Burke's direction. maybe it's better if I used the word overhyped for Burke. overrated still applies as ppl tend to praise him for everything including other's achievements (it was not Burke who drafted Perry, Kunitz or Penner), but overhyped is probably better to describe my impressions

the scariest thing about that is that Bertuzzi might even be had for Boyd Deveraux. now rewind the time to 2004 and tell Wings fans they could have had the Thug for Void

with the skill package Sharks have and the number of years since they're touted to go for big prize - a first round loss, nevermind the circumstances, will be a choke. Sharks were supposed (at least from media perspective) to rip it off since 2004 if my memory serves well. they managed to suck year after another but it doesn't prevent NBC, TSN, CBC, etc. guys to pick them to win the cup. same goes to many hockey fans. so yes, any loss here is a choke. choke that many people can foresee, because it's Sharks in the end and this species doesn't fall far from Blues or Sens. but there's a number of ppl who called Sharks cup winners even before playoffs started and expected them to fend off Flames in 5-6 games. instead it looks like Flames are perfectly able to win it here. a team severely lacking scoring depth behind Iginla and Huselius and which defense, at least on paper is well behind what San Jose brings on the ice...

let's get serious... I'm the last person to jump on Wings scapegoats and have been defending Lang for long time after he got his "Lang is lazy and he sucks" label for good reason. but Sammy just misses motivation and seems uninvolved. he sure does handle the puck but it's also about giving this puck to other Wings players at the right time. he does the opposite: to the other team's players and at the wrong time. he does it in offensive zone so our D has time to cover up for this but it can't just stay like that. a forward is supposed to generate something when he has the puck - let the rest of the team get to position, let the line change, shoot the puck at goalie and make him freeze it, draw a penalty, ... Sammy just goes and loses it. that's dumb I'm OK with Hudler who developed into reliable player who stays under the radar of other team and does his job. but Sammy needs to pick up his game. I'm not saying he's worthless but at this moment he's not generating anything valuable. his roster space seems to be only justified by the fact that Babs doesn't want to put unexperienced players who may collapse in defensive zone.

good move. despite the pest Preds sometimes are and this Tootoo guy this is a strong team, and that because of Trotz good job. he fully deserves this acknowledgment. and some more GM support in making the team stronger talent-wise. even for the Wings it'd be good to have strong, physical and close competition in Central.

technically speaking, you can give it to Burke for being able to develop a team based on good draft picks from previous GM into a nasty pack playing over the edge and escaping with this strategy because NHL and its refs don't have balls call a penalty what is a penalty and tends to pamper its super-stars (Pronger) and let them escape with what nonstars are whipped. Burke is not a bad GM but gets waaaay too much credit. let him run the Ducks for another 5 years and we'll all see what he's worth. I mean: people often say Holland won cups because he had Ilitches money and good draft core left to him. but this guy kept Wings on top of the NHL despite lockout (which was a severe blow to Wings future) despite huge shortage in draft talent supply. Lamiorello is similar story, and have also to give it to guys like Sutter in Calgary who run a team that simply is for real when it comes to playoffs. but despite all this all we hear is how wonderful Burke is. yeah... at screwing NHL rules and using his old friend at offices to cover up for this. I want him to go to Toronto and have sick relation with MLSE (which he'll surely have if nothing changes there). they might finally make it to playoffs but I really don't see this becoming a true story. which would only show the real value of overrated Burke