Nightfall

They need more shots on this PP.

Penguins are passing and moving the puck very well. Better than the first two games in Detroit thats for sure.

Homer should stop hitting Fleury after the whistle. He is going to get called for that eventually.

Ok, that looked offside to me, but I am not out there on the ice. Homer has got to tighten that chin strap.

The ref talked to him as well after that play. Rewind your DVR and watch.

He was exhausted. He went right to the bench.

Two calls, both legit. It won't turn into a battle of special teams if both teams want it like that. So far, both calls were undisciplined.

Incredible save by Osgood.

Nope, Franzen had his free arm around the guy. Good call.

Why would I be worried? I am not playing the game at all. Seriously though, if anyone should be worried, its the Penguin fans. Detroit is in the drivers seat and the Pens have to answer back. The Wings are a professional team and will bring their best effort tonight. That much is certain.

No, I wasn't implying that. Merely stating for those of us who have not played hockey before or maybe a new fan of the game. Not everyone on this board knows the game inside out and backwards. That being said, I have played for years myself, and still play today. Not as high in level I am sure, but still at least I am not an armchair fan. I wasn't trying to start an argument when I asked, "If we picked Hossa up, would we be playing in the finals?". Just a question to pose to the people out there that say that we should have snagged him and denounced Kenny as a moron for not doing it. As you said though, with all the nuances and intracacies of the game, who knows how we would have done. Maybe we would have went through the playoffs only losing 2 games instead of 4. Maybe we would have been beat by Dallas in the conference finals. The people who can look at the picture like that and make the call to get a player makes millions more than I make thats for sure.

I loled

I have a laundry list of apologizing to do as well. I intend to make a thread for everyone to apologize in after the Wings carry the cup around the ice.

As every true hockey fan knows, winning a championship goes far beyond the skill that you have on the team. You have to factor in the breaks you get, injuries, and so on. Chemistry is the most important element though. If we picked Hossa up, would we be playing in the finals? Thats hard to fathom because we may have had to give up Hudler and/or Flip to get him. No one can say for sure how things would have worked out. You can call it dumb luck, or you can call it a tactical plan by Ken Holland. Either way, he made the right move by not making any HUGE changes. He got Stuart for 2 draft picks which will end up being a great move for him in the end if the Wings make it. If this does end in the Wings winning the cup, there should be some apologies given to the Red Wings management. After years of fans saying that Ken Holland and the rest of the management were morons for not getting scoring or some other player, they make the right moves this year. The least they can do is give him some credit. Winning the Stanley Cup is a very hard goal to achieve when you take into account all the factors.

Yea, statistically speaking, this series is over. As a goalie, I have been on both sides of a comeback and I can say its possible, but very improbable. I just choose to look at the big picture. When the horn sounds signaling the end of the game when Detroit wins the Cup, then I will say mission accomplished. Thats just the kind of guy I am.

I can't see it any other way, nor did I say that we needed a trade in order to compete. In fact, if you look at the Ducks last year, they didn't make a deadline deal that helped them win the Cup. I know ESPN looked back on the deadline deals and found that a majority of them didn't result in the team doing it winning a championship. As for the OPs point on apologizing, I intend to see a lot of apology threads here on this forum and I expect a lot of people to admit they were wrong. Heck, these are the same people that have said, "Told you so" after every playoff upset we have been a part of. You can't win a championship every year, but when everything works out and you win it all, the least the fans can do is be supportive and apologize.

Last I heard, his leg was still not 100%, but maybe he is ok and I misheard something.

Embellishment is always going to be around in sports. It happens in all the major sports, especially the ones that are full contact. The MLB is the only one I think that has far less of a problem with it. This is where the human aspect comes into it. Human referees call the game as they see it. As long as you have the human factor in that case, people will dive and embellish what happens to try to get their team an advantage. So, while it would be nice if players didn't do that, as long as people who do it are rewarded in most occasions, it will continue to happen.

I agree with what you quoted. I can see Osgood carrying the cup around with him on the ice already. However, as a hockey player, I just can't count my chickens before they hatch. I have been on the flip side of a comeback and it hurts bad. In short, lets hope the Wings make it 31. As for atoning, I hope that everyone on this board comes out and admits their wrongdoings. You can call it a confession of sorts.

If I were Stuart, I would sign as fast as possible. There are very few teams in the league he could play for that he could fit in with as easy as he can with Detroit. He isn't a #1 or #2 defenseman which is what he was touted as when he came into the league, but he has the skill to be a #3 or #4. E.J. Hradek is spot on with his analysis on his ESPN blog.

The series isn't over. Lets save the "apology threads" until the Wings win the cup.

This entire community could use to apologize to at least one or two members of the Wings squad or management if they win the cup this season. Apologizing now before the job is done is a little too soon IMO.

If Cheli was even 80%, he would be in the lineup. Lilja is playing well for being a 3rd line defenseman.

As I said before, someone on the losing team will mention the reffing or not getting calls just about everytime. I haven't seen a press conference so far where the losing team hasn't said something like that. The only difference here is when the Penguins do it, they are whiners. When the Wings do it after a loss, the refs screwed them and they can ***** about it. Oh and Bettman is at fault too. I am not saying the Pens have a legit beef here, just mentioning what I have seen over the last 10 years. Same damn story in hockey (where were the calls?), baseball (he should have been out at the plate), basketball (I was fouled), and football (he was out of bounds when he caught that pass).

Sorry, ******* tired right now.