akustyk

Phaneuf seems exactly on the way to Norris trophy. he's picked up his game this year and especially in playoffs has risen to the bar. though, you can't say Chara is a bad d-man. for me that would be: Nick, then Zdeno then Dion. though, I'm expecting this to change next season or at most in 2 years. Phaneuf will get his hardware sooner than most of ppl think

the most important thing is about being able to make the other team play your game or be efficient when not playing your game. I'm not sure about Habs. they look too much like Sens. they're ripping it off when they're riding the wave but when they hit the wall they collapse. they're a decent team but just seem to miss the mental toughness

there's always buyout option. he's making $1.2M so the buyout would be, if I'm correct $0.6M. I'd rather keep him for those $0.6M and rotate him with Abdelkader(sp) or Hartigan/Helm but if we get desperate about roster spot this is an option

I think you're missing the sole fact that skill wise this Brunnstrom kid is supposed to be ahead of everything Wings have past their 1st line. period. the point here is whether it is worth taking the risk of taking a guy who's not been developed for Wings system. which would mean: can we risk bringing a guy who did not learn Wings team-first approach and who could potentially disturb the chemistry between the players? is it worth it? if Brunnstrom is that good and Wings fare well this playoffs I'd most certainly consider this option. good playmakers with complete skill-set don't exactly grow on trees and Wings team that always draft around 25th spot have basically no chance of fishing one. if Brunnstrom is available and has brainset that doesn't say "me| and "now" he's definitely worth taking. the other point here is, however, whether Wings stand a chance of landing him. there's a number of GM's in this league who'd love to fetch this kid and they'll promise him islands on Pacific Ocean, free topless hostesses for rewinding his video tapes and hectolitres of champagne might not be up to Kenny to decide on this, right

oh yeah... a captain being first to jump off the sinking ship... he left Vancouver heading into mediocrity and now leaves Ducks which'll need serious reconsideration to be kept on top (if not in playoff picture) next season. way to go, the very best GM in NHL now. wait... not.

concussions or even just injuries are weapon in playoff series. if your team has players who have something injured you'll put all the effort to not let the other team learn what it could target. by a simple rule: you let'em know your player X has injured finger - they'll go for his hands and do "innocent" slashes by every chance. NHL teams are pretty pathetic about the issue of injuries and concussions. I understand it requires confidentiality during and shortly before playoffs. but I can recall i.e. Wings last year when they had multiple "lower body" and "upper body" injuries in the middle of regular season. when every fan basically knew they're just giving rest to key players and putting Griffs youth on NHL ice for tryout. I understand a broken nail (just to name an example) already qualifies as "upper body injury" but it really is dumb. and quite unfair to fans who come to the game to see team's stars not AHL pick-ups.

Go Caps, that's for sure. as for Habs and Bruins... I pretty much dislike Habs and would like them to be eliminated. but on the other hand Bruins are just a Blues type of team - they always manage to blow it up after playing some good hockey. maybe it's their year but I just don't see them being a legit threat in Round 2 to any team. I'd rather see Montreal because they at least bring some mental toughness and skill

I was about to write the same. the difference between Sammy and Zetterberg is that the later not just shots but also has quality chances. Sammy simply fires at the net and fails to bring enough stamina and/or desire to put more effort into the game. skill-wise he might not be the worst guy out there but he simply looks uninvolved way too often

Burke will whine like little boy about this. and you know, it's just so good to see this. first whiner's bunch of goons is schooled in Round 1 and then Scotty "All Star" Niedermayer gets fined for part-time hockey. that's really priceless. enjoy your golfing, Brian!

but... but... but... wasn't Burke the best GM in the league? I mean: the very, very, very unbeatably best among all the others? that's what ESPN's saying and TSN has been treating Brian as second coming of Jesus Christ :D just watched the highlights on TSN. the face of Burke seeing how his team get spanked - priceless! for everything else it's MasterCard

that's wicked thinking. that's not "no problem" but actually 2 problems. a team which would put more bodies in front of Ellis could burn him with 4-5 goals a game. so yes, those rebounds are issue and the other issue is Wings being unable to put the puck which Ellis didn't catch. they'll need to be able to get this done when they head against some Sharks, Ducks or Stars.

Hudler Kronwall Zetterberg Ellis pick one. by contrast Ellis could win this but in general I'd pick Zetterberg here. he'd some bad luck to not put the pucks in but was generating a lot of offense and playing a lot of minutes wearing down Preds D-men

yes it was an issue. a rebound is always am extra chance for the other team. credit goes here to Preds defensemen who were able to cover up for some of those rebounds. there's also the problem of Wings not putting enough men around Ellis to poke those rebounded pucks. but you don't have this comfort if you play a fast team which should be the reason why Wings didn't capitalize on those rebounds. frankly, this is a problem for a goalie somehow, yes. the injuries and the overall shortage on skill compared to Wings. Ellis himself was obviously better than Preds average but saying he's the best goalie Wings could meet in playoff is gross overstatement. which was my point

Go Stars!

I liked Hudler and Mac this series but Cleary's been quite unproductive so far and Sammy has been absolutely brutal.

not necessarily. he made a couple of good saves but he's also let a huge number of rebounds which Wings were unable to capitalize. Ellis was good but there are goalies out there who could be much worse to Wings. like pissed Nabokov, like Giguere in good shape, like Kipper whatever you want him or even Marty Turco if he suddenly decides to not collapse in playoffs

Stuart had some serious lapses in Game 3 and Game 4 and I'd rather see more of him to judge it. he hasn't been bad this series but at the trade deadline I though we were getting a better player than what I see in this series. hope he picks it up, though. his injury certainly didn't help the case I guess you're either 16 or never been maried. those of us who have a number of years living with female(s) in same house know perfectly who is the boss and who just follows her requests (read: orders)

I think this fact had to do with Hasek problems but I also think Dom and our defense were not as sharp as they used to be. the goalie swap had mental influence on the team. the Wings started playing hard and fighting for this series win not just trying to escape with lucky bounces. Wings in Game 5 and Game 6 were a completely different team than one we saw earlier this series. it's not Dom's fault that they had to regroup and burn the fire after his benching. truth being said I like Oz more. he's less prone to collapses and also worked hard to get this spot. and he's been absolutely outstanding in those 2,5 games. just compare him to Ellis who let out a huge number of rebounds every single game while Oz caught basically all pucks fired at him

I'd rather have Avs but am far from saying they look like an easier foe. if Flames did overcome Sharks lead and advance to Round 2 they'd be one hell of an opponent. Dives on the other hand have Theodore who seems to be finally getting it done. and I'm most certainly not a big fan of hot goalies. in the end I pick Dives. they're a little bit bigger offensively than Flames but not that physical and goonish. and most important - they're no Canadian team so we're supposed to see less idiotic ref calls. and less traveling

I'm having an impression that every single quality free agent since I don't remember when has been at some moment linked with Maple Leafs and just wanted it purely from his heart to go to a team that simply sucks. I mean... honestly... if the NHL existed back in 20 A.D. the very Jesus Christ would be rumoured as willing to sign with Maple Leafs. give me a break from this pro-Canadian crap. Brunnstrom might be a bit selfish to look for playing minutes rather than quality team to play for but he should at least have the brain to not touch teams like Sens, Blues, Leafs or Hawks who have one thing in common: waste any potential they have and blow in spectacular fashion

Oz has 1 goal against in 2,5 games way to go Oz! off to the second round!

Dats almost...

honestly, this guy's been on Sweden roster when the team won Olympic gold. for some reason he made the team. I'm also curious what was the reason because Sammy's recent play has been absolutely brutal. but he's been on a winning team and is now a Wing getting a lot of ice time. I'd really like to understand this phenomena

I get the picture. at this moment I'm mostly going with local Amstel and Heineken (don't tell it to any real Dutch - it's normally either one or the other, never both ). but back in Poland where I lived for 29 years I used to get a lot of Czech and Slovak beer. my favourite is Zlaty Bazant (Slovak) but I also like Budvar (the original beer which Budweiser is mimicking(sp)). am not a big fan of Urquell but it's one of those "specific" beers which not everybody likes. in Czech Republic you can often buy these beers being 3 days or a week old. they are lovely

that's it. everybody partying Wings win better shut up and wait until it's over. holy cow... what was this crap Sammy just did?