akustyk

same here. and I live another time zone to the east

hi all Sharks fans and enjoy endless bashing and whining about suspensions when you play our stars harder should be a great series with two quality teams!

not gonna talk about Game 3 which I haven't seen, but in Game 4 Flames were clogging blue line all the way with 1 guy up front and 4 manning their zone. and the refs gave them 5-on-3 when necessary which virtually sealed Wings fate. that was definitely not a game lost because we sold to their style of play. we sure didn't have it easy to break into zone with 4 Flames defending the net. quite a simplification. we're not gonna be able to pepper every West team with 40 shots. most certainly not Stars and Ducks who, unlike Flames, do play some defense and not rely on goalie pulling a Jesus Christ. right. if we play our hockey we are able to win it with all teams in West. but I don't think we will be able to play our game all the time. every opposing team will try to bring us out of that, and you can't expect Wings to be able to do their job all 60 minutes, at home and on the road. we need to be able to play different than usually. Babcock made Wings play dump'n'chase in Game 1 (rather than usual puck posession) and it stunned Flames giving us an easy win. and we need such trumps to have a good chance about other teams. not our game, but a hockey we still can hold our own.

Wings will not survive massive runs if the other team decides to play it tough and on the verge of penalties. Flames were missing depth and discipline and could not afford it but Sharks are a different story. they can do it and if they pressure us all the time we won't look as good as against Calgary. I sure enjoyed the way Wings played against Flames, but Sharks are not the same story. they are different league than Calgary in pretty much every department. and they definitely know how to play tough. not to sound like an ass spoiling party, but physical toughness will not be our advantage if we play Sharks.

the problem is, Sharks are not a single line team like Flames are. we would have to put Nick against 2 lines and that could wear him down in 5-6 games. for Sharks we will definitely need strong 2 defense lines and Hasek doing wonders. on the other hand, their goaltending is good, but not that good as Kipprusoff. which would be our chance here. still, Sharks are more complete team than Dallas. they had some lay-off now which could presumably hand us an easier win in Game 1, but that would still be a long series. as for Stars... not to take anything of them, but Turco is not the guy. and we match up nicely against them. they are hot now and gaining confidence, but so are Wings... having said that... if Canucks choke, there'll be no bad team in the West left. on paper Ducks are the best here, but anything can happen.

let'em think what they want. I'd rather play Stars, but if it comes out that we face Sharks then we'll have to bring A game, and I'm not convinced we'll be the losing end here. at all. there was a certain Huselius who whined about Hasek being overrated and Wings being old etc. as you can see, ******* managed maybe 2 significant actions in whole 6 game series against Wings, and is now packing his golf clubs and booking a flight to his Swedish mommy

right. my point was just that he's not at the level of Markov and even (gosh, I can' believe the day has come to write this ) Pain Train. I am perfectly aware this comes from the fact that he did not play with the team as much as others and didn't have chance to find chemistry. still, this is a valid point if you consider whom to put on the ice. if I had choice Lebda comes before Quincey as safer choice. which doesn't mean Quincey played any bad. as you said - coming to hostile environment and playing good, without making mistakes is a remarkable thing

Quincey was fine. not that good as Lebda but he didn't look lost and made OK plays. nothing fancy, but also no mistakes

Hi Jiggy, thanks for cheers and see you next time! was a good series and watching it together while arguing about it (in civilized atmosphere) was nice and we hope to see you here again. I guess many Wings fans will keep some bad feelings towards your team for some time, but once we get over this, we'll definitely share memories of this series. good luck and enjoy the rest of NHL playoffs even when your team is gone!

absolutely. I'm tired of zebras trying every single call to get Wings off their games only to give these crappy Canadian teams some chance and pretend they are competitive. thanks god there's a fair chance there'll only be Canadian team left in the East. that is, if the Stars keep rolling

I agree with Cleary call, but Schneider and Nick are really close here. and Datsyuk + Zetterberg + Homer deserve a lot of credit here for generating gazillion scoring opportunities despite being shadowed by their best D-men. I'd also like to point to Pain Train. he played like a legit top 4 defenseman, logging a lot of minuts (including special teams) and making some really smart plays and moves, while maintaing his cool against lousy (at best) zebras. this guy deserves a lot of credit for this. he's been the biggest improvement for our team in this playoffs. way to go, Pain Train! EDIT: yeah, and granpa Chris is also here. not even mentioning his SH goal, but his effort is definitely worth noting. he's been our D-ass for most of the series, taking a word or two with their goons while staying out of the box and being tough on them on the ice. nice job EDIT2: now to the Flames... for his play Kipper definitely steals the MVP here. I hate his whining and the s*** he's been doing to Homer or Franzenstein only to then cry like a baby about their work... but he's held this series 6 games. but among other Flames I'd give my vice-MVP to Rhett Warrener. he's been one of few Flames D-men who played clean and efficient, while not joining the bad-ass attitude other morons on his team showed. Lombardi and Giordano are also on this list, and despite his crap on Lebda, Langkow has been a factor for them and a significant presence.

for sure. as soon as Calgoons scores they start clogging with 4 guys on blue line

fu* zebras kill the momentum for Wings because of phantom call. way to go Don VanCouver, *******!

Lang is lazy and he sucks

easy... we're not any bad, we'll just have to put more pressure

can someone translate to me what these 2 guys at CBC are talking? I mean one of them looks like he sees Wings trying to kill Kipper every corner, while the obvious Flames crap "miraculously" escapes his mind... ahhh... screw them. the negativity seemed to fuel Wings in Game 5. if this is to continue I'm fine with that

I'm not speculating about what suspension would be better for the WIngs here, but about what would do the justice. Playdirty is the ultimate guy responsible for the crap and it's him who holds the blame. as for Calgary players... McLennan is pretty obvious here, the rest is not and it's better that the league didn't hand any "weak" suspensions. I hope that the bad rep Igoonla and Langcoward gained will carry to Game 6 and the refs will have an eye on them. this would be the best punishment from my point of view

if there are rules allowing it - suspend Playfair. make Flames play with two assistant coaches behind the bench, one of them being temporarily promoted to main coach. a lot of s*** in recent years (just to recall Bertuzzi accident, as well as most recently Sabres-Sens brawl) is caused by coaches who stir things up and goon AHL-level players on opposite stars. this is the ultimate weapon in playoffs and Playdirty used it with all cynism in Game 5. if there is any chance league can handle this (and I mean handle, not impose a fine which is laughable) - do it! if your team is playing like a bunch of undisciplined goons - it's your fault because you either heat it up or have no control over the situation. as for the players - sacking Noodles is about the only right thing under current NHL policy. which only shows how inefficient the policy is and what a joke this league is when it comes to fighting against bullish behavior.

a backup goalie who has little chance to appear in playoffs comes out and does nothing prior to the incident. then he chops on Franzen as retaliation for what he has seen from the bench. acted on his own, right? give me a f* break!!! if I was in Noodles shoes I'd be trying to show myself from the best perspective to convince my coach I am able to take the job if no 1 goalie was down for some reason, or needed rest. what does he do instead? exactly what his pansy coach had told him to. make short apearance targeted on pissing Wings off and heating the series prior to important game next day. he's dependable and his coach knows pretty well that eventual suspension is not gonna affect his team in any way, but will most certainly heat the other team up and possibly put it in PK trouble next game. in pro sports you don't do s*** like that if you're not told by your coach or your name is Avery (and even that has changed). you simply don't put your team into the hole whit your stupidity. period. I want Babcock to tell Quincey to take a run at Kipper and do some real s*** that will chase this whiner off the series. I guess Calgary fans will then realize what does it mean to do s*** and throw dependabilities to do crap that goes unpunished because the league has no tools and no balls to do the justice. Noodles was a tool, used by Playdirty to heat things up. nothing more and nothing less. oh... and he is a blind ass who can not distinguish 93 from 96

Sens will choke big time, as they used to for years. Lou is not dumb and his team is very capable of shutting down Ottawa. and I'm most certainly pulling for Devils here as for Rangers - Sabres... Rangers have lay off and if Sabres jump quickly on this series they'll be 2-0 and the pressure will be on NY. and I'm not putting my money on Lundqvist sustaining the pressure, and most certainly not on Jagr.

why is it that most of the league (including most of Canadian fans too) is calling Flames a disgrace, but their own fans seem to only see how Wings crashed Kipprusoff (obviously, never being pushed) and chepshotted Flames players. and obviously, what their team did in final minutes was just "sending a message". get f* real and take your homeric glasses off for a while!

gotta agree with you but... suspension to Noodles who is utterly insignificant to the series and was only used by Playdirty as a tool is BS. it only displays how the league is unprepared to handle such matters. fine will do nothing to Flames. they'll pee on that. throwing out McLennan does not affect the series in any way as long as we don't kill Kipper. now cowarding and letting the Flames away with the s*** they've been doing is a message from Campbell that this is tolerated and that they are to continue this. and we can expect a lot of s*** in tonight's Game 6. truth being said, the suspension is coherent to what NHL has done before and we can't expect more (even more in playoffs where such calls should be extremely analyzed). whatever. I want Wings to start focused and play their game, forgetting about yesterday. kick their asses and send them golfing, which is all this bunch of sissies deserve

like what message was it exactly? that you can put your backup goalie who is completely irrelevant to your playoff run and make him chop opposite player and have him fined and that's all? a fine for Playdirty is reasonable because it was this ass' job to run his goons on our players and it was him who put Noodles only to stir things up and for no other reason. league has no balls. or is not prepared to handle matters like this. it virtually let's the crap unpunished and sends a clear message that as long as you put your irrelevant players to stir things up you're fine whatever, Wings win it and f* these Calgoony Pansies. did you honestly expect something gutsy from Campbell? oh puhlease...

I have no doubt about that. McLennan is a tool and this ***** Playfair in his all cynism (and firm belive league is not gonna do a s*** about that - which he's rigth) used him to anger Wings. I see no real justification for what he has done. he had no reason to slash Franzenstein other than an order from Playfair to do s***. a suspension to McLennan, although likely, is a stupid solution. it's Playfair's fault and he deserves a punishment not his tool. you don't punish a gun for shoting someone down, but the human being behind the action, right?

we need to start rolling and delivering checks tomorrow. as soon as Wings score first and use the anger to fuel their focus and will to win it, they will be fine.