Nightfall

Yea $240 is a little steep but I may have pulled the trigger. I was ready to buy. Now that I missed my opportunity, I don't feel so bad.

Bad news: I tried to buy Game 5 tickets and failed to get any. Was on right at 10am and they were sold out by 10:05. I tried 3 times for best available and couldn't secure any. Good news: I saved about $600, get to watch it at home on my HDTV, and I don't have to deal with standing in line for 20 minutes to use the restroom or buy snacks. Oh, and the snacks are cheaper.

Just the fact that our defense shut down Chicago. Will they do the same to Crosby and Malkin? We shall see.

Look at what happened to Kane and Towes. They were scoring at will in the first two series. In this series, Kane scored his first goal in the 5th game. Towes scored 3 or 4 I believe, but the point is the Detroit D grounded the hawks. They will do the same to Crosby and Malkin.

Best post in this thread. No excuses Red Wings fans. The Wings are in the drivers seat for this series. They have the depth. They have the talent. The only way the Pens win this series is if the Wings play like they did in Game 3 and Game 6 in Anaheim. If they play lazy for 2 periods and then decide to flip the switch, they will lose games. The Pens are going to be coming with everything they have for every game. If the Wings don't match that tempo, they will not win the cup. If the Wings bring everything they have every game, then they will win in 5-6 games.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news/...s-experts-picks He picked 7 of 8 correctly in the first round. He picked 3 of 4 correctly in the second round. He picked 2 of 2 correctly in the conference finals. Its not like he is horrible at this predicting thing.

Not the point. There is no break. If your team goes 7 games and your opponent sweeps, your opponent gets the benefit of extra rest. Thats the way things have been for years. Seems that Wings fans want an exception because they are banged up when this kind of exception has not happened. Heck, if the league won't give them that rest, then the league is out to get them and the refs are out to get them and the league wants the pens to win anyway. Its such a crap excuse which is what I am hearing here. Ah well, I made my point.

Last time I checked, just because your team has injuries or is banged up doesn't mean the cup finals should be delayed 1-2 weeks to allow the team that is banged up to rest. Yes, the Pens are much better than that Carolina team, but that isn't the point here as you said. This is playoff hockey, not a take home test you can take anytime in the next 1-2 weeks when you are rested and ready. The best teams learn to rise up to the challenge. The Wings have the depth and the players to do that. This series is theirs. There is no doubt in my mind we will be lifting the cup in 6 games. Thats only if they keep the pedal to the floor and play tough hard nosed hockey EVERY game.

I agree to your first statement. As for the second, Gonchar is just as important to this team as Lidstrom is to the Wings. Yes, the wings are hurting more, but that is why its the playoffs and depth is important. Its not like teams in the past got an extra 1-2 weeks of rest between the conference finals and the cup finals. The team finishing their series in the longest amount of games got AT MOST 2-3 days. That is what we are getting here for finishing in 5 and the Pens finishing in a sweep. Look at back in 2002 when the Wings beat the Avs in game 7 and played right away 2 days later against Carolina. No one bitched about the Wings reduced rest in that series. The Wings have that depth to succeed. If the Wings want this series bad enough, it should be over in 6 games. If they play like they did a few games in Anaheim and game 3 against Chicago in the first period when they gave up 3 goals, then the Wings will lose in the finals. The Wings HAVE to keep the pedal to the metal in every game this series because you know the Pens are going to bring everything they have.

A disadvantageous position that you can't point out in anything other than just saying it. Have any stats to back that up or are you just pulling that statement out of your ass? As i said before, you are setting it up so if the Wings lose this series then its the leagues fault or the refs fault. When will anyone point the finger at the team? They are in control of their own destiny here.

You could say the same about the conspiracy theorists who said that the Twin Towers were detonated by the government. Seems that new theories come out about that every month or so. The latest being detecting explosive compound in the wreckage of the building.

Its obvious that we both have a different opinion here. I just don't think its that big of a disadvantage. The only argument I can hear about how it is a disadvantage is....well.....the league is screwing us. There just is no valid argument for it or against it. Both teams are banged up. Both teams have little to no rest coming into the game on Saturday. It isn't like the Pens have been sitting on their ass for a week. The Pens have to travel to our rink to play on reduced rest. It just seems to me that the people complaining about this are setting the Wings up for losing the cup and using the scheduling as a convenient excuse. Make no mistake Wings fans.....if the Wings lose in the Cup finals it will not be the scheduling or the refs fault. The Wings will be to blame.

I love the Wings fans that are already making excuses about how they are getting screwed by the league. Its the conspiracy theorists all over again. If it makes you sleep better at night, go ahead and do it. The Wings are going to win this series in 6 games. The team that wants this series the most is the one that is going to win. I trust in the Wings drive and determination.

Ask Gonchar the same question.

Fri, Oct 24 Atlanta W 5-3 5-1-1 C. Osgood M. Hossa, G: 2, A: 1 46-33 1-4 6-7 Sat, Oct 25 @ Chicago W 6-5 SO 6-1-1 T. Conklin N. Kronwall, G: 1, A: 2 44-41 2-3 6-8 Wed, Oct 29 @ Anaheim L 4-5 OT 7-1-2 C. Osgood H. Zetterberg, G: 2, A: 0 38-34 2-7 5-8 Thu, Oct 30 @ San Jose L 2-4 7-2-2 T. Conklin M. Hossa, G: 1, A: 0 27-33 0-2 1-2 Thu, Nov 13 @ Tampa Bay W 4-3 10-2-3 C. Osgood H. Zetterberg, G: 1, A: 1 39-18 2-5 3-4 Fri, Nov 14 @ Florida W 3-2 11-2-3 T. Conklin M. Hossa, G: 2, A: 0 32-27 1-4 3-3 Fri, Nov 28 Columbus W 5-3 15-3-4 C. Osgood M. Hossa, G: 2, A: 0 35-16 2-5 6-6 Sat, Nov 29 @ Boston L 1-4 15-4-4 T. Conklin H. Zetterberg, G: 0, A: 1 30-19 1-3 1-1 Fri, Dec 12 @ Dallas L 1-3 19-5-4 T. Conklin J. Hudler, G: 0, A: 1 38-24 0-3 3-3 Sat, Dec 13 @ Phoenix W 5-4 SO 20-5-4 C. Osgood J. Franzen, G: 2, A: 0 38-28 2-3 3-5 Fri, Dec 26 @ Nashville L 2-3 23-7-4 T. Conklin M. Samuelsson, G: 1, A: 0 40-31 0-3 2-3 Sat, Dec 27 @ Colorado L 3-4 SO 23-7-5 T. Conklin T. Holmstrom, G: 1, A: 2 44-32 2-5 3-6 Sat, Feb 7 Edmonton W 8-3 34-11-7 T. Conklin M. Hossa, G: 1, A: 1 35-26 2-5 3-3 Sun, Feb 8 @ Pittsburgh W 3-0 35-11-7 T. Conklin T. Conklin, SV%: 1.00 29-25 1-3 4-4 Fri, Feb 20 Anaheim W 5-2 39-12-8 T. Conklin H. Zetterberg, G: 1, A: 2 34-26 2-5 3-4 Sat, Feb 21 @ Minnesota L 2-5 39-13-8 J. Howard T. Kopecky, G: 1, A: 0 37-29 0-5 2-3 Fri, Feb 27 LA Kings W 2-1 41-13-8 C. Osgood C. Osgood, SV%: 0.97 41-31 0-2 1-2 Sat, Feb 28 @ Nashville L 0-8 41-14-8 T. Conklin J. Franzen, G: 0, A: 0 30-23 0-2 2-3 Tue, Mar 3 @ St. Louis W 5-0 42-14-8 C. Osgood C. Osgood, SV%: 1.00 36-22 2-7 3-3 Wed, Mar 4 @ Colorado W 3-2 43-14-8 T. Conklin T. Conklin, SV%: 0.93 30-27 0-2 1-1 Sat, Mar 14 @ St. Louis W 5-2 45-15-9 C. Osgood C. Osgood, SV%: 0.94 27-32 0-4 4-4 Sun, Mar 15 @ Columbus W 4-0 46-15-9 C. Osgood C. Osgood, SV%: 1.00 30-23 1-5 4-4 Mon, Mar 23 @ Calgary L 3-5 48-16-9 T. Conklin J. Franzen, G: 1, A: 1 33-27 0-1 3-4 Tue, Mar 24 @ Edmonton W 3-2 49-16-9 T. Conklin J. Franzen, G: 0, A: 2 44-26 0-4 3-4 Sat, Apr 11 Chicago L 2-4 51-20-10 T. Conklin J. Hudler, G: 0, A: 1 23-26 1-2 4-4 Sun, Apr 12 @ Chicago L 0-3 51-21-10 C. Osgood J. Hudler, G: 0, A: 0 37-23 0-5 2-3 Final tally: 15-11 in back to back games. Won both games 4 times Lost both games 3 times I fail to see the advantage or the disadvantage here. Maybe you can point it out to me.

I would rather have the games played back to back this weekend than waiting a full week until they play the first game.

This post fails. Pens haven't had that many days off either since going 7 games against Washington. They are also banged up. Gonchar is on one leg right now and he would have benefited from more rest. As for the back to back games, I really don't see that as a big disadvantage or advantage for that matter. I think you are already setting up the Wings for failure in your mind. Either that or for an lolconspiracy.

Wow, great goal.

Then you aren't looking at it truely unbiased. Attend a live hockey game between two teams you really don't care about and record the amount of penalities you would call in comparison to the refs. Then you have a truly unbiased situation to compare it to. As it is right now, you are trying to objective, but since you love the Wings you will side with the fact that the Wings are getting screwed.

I routinely watch every Hawks/Wings game with a variety of friends. Some of them Hawks fans, some Wings fans. Through the entire game, I probably get about 30 comments from BOTH sides at various times of the game pointing out a bad call or a "missed call". You say "screw the wings out of 3 or 4 calls a night". Hell, the Hawks fans have been saying "screw the Hawks out of 3 or 4 calls a night". So who is right? It lies somewhere in the middle.

Even after game 4, the Hawks fans were bitching about the calls the Wings got even though they were blatant. Most Hawks fans that I talked to said that the refs screwed them in that game which is why they lost. My take is that there is no pleasing the fans of the side that lost, but I do have to agree with you. The refs make calls and miss them. The missed calls are always viewed as horrible to the fans who are watching slow motion on their HDTVs. Course, don't let me even get into that. I have watched every game in this playoff round with 2-3 hawks fans and 3-4 Red Wings fans. I can't get out of a single period without hearing both sides ***** about "missed calls" 10 times each. I actually enjoy the commercials because it shuts both sides up.

For being human, they are pretty good. Calling everything the right way involves a change to the system as a whole. Getting the refs off the ice, giving them access to every camera angle, slow motion replay, and so on. That also means a change to the game because each call would have to be evaluated quickly and fairly.

Fixed it for you. Seriously though, if you think about it, only the team that lost has the fans that are doing the vast majority of bitching. The Wings fans bitched about game 3 when Hossa's goal was called back. The Ducks fans rejoiced. On the flip side, the Ducks fans were crying when Cleary was in the crease and Helm put a shot home. The ducks fans bitched cause Cleary was "interfering with the goalie". The Wings fans rejoiced. Really, there is no pleasing anyone when it comes to reffing. Could the game be called better? Absolutely. I say either call the small crap or don't call it. In the end, the losing team's fans will be doing 95% of the complaining when the game is over. I have to agree with an earlier poster when it comes to really evaluating games. I watch a lot of NHL hockey on my center ice package. A lot of games I don't have a vested interest in, but I enjoy the sport. That being said, the calls that are being made are good calls as I watch the play. Sure, when they show the slow motion replay, there is a player that may have dove or embellished a little. That is the way the game is reffed though, and its a shame people dive all over the place out there. Oh, and even the Red Wings do it so lets cut through it. Years later, I watch the Wings but I don't ***** about the calls very much. I watch the games a little more objectively, but I am still a Wings fan. At the same time, I am a realist. If I see the Wings doing stupid stuff, I don't blame the refs, I blame the player. So, I think the game will be officiated fairly just like it has been all series.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=279927 It sounds like he wants to play with his brother Fedor. Either way, I wish him the best.

Poor Canes can't find the back of the net. So many chances, but they just can't cash in.