Nightfall

Hrm...its possible. Look at how hard teams play when its a jersey retirement night or special guests are in the audience or being honored. Maybe the Wings were trying to impress him. However, I think that they were just playing to win the game and have this series over and done with. Having him around had nothing to do with it. If it really did, then the Wings should pay him to stick around for the next month.

There are proponents of long rest and opponents of it. As a hockey player, I hate the 1 week between games. Especially when my teams are in the playoffs. Even if you are banged up, you really want to play and you have a high level of energy because of the adrenaline. However, having time off really allows you to rest up. In my mind, it comes down to the coach and the policies of the club. Regular practices to keep your skills and hockey sense honed are key IMHO. Babcock won't let these guys just sit around and watch American Idol. They will be ready physically and mentally.

Brunnstrom is going to do what he wants. The blowout won't sway his decision one way or the other. I am sure he was looking at the class of the organization, coaches, ownership, and so on. If he was at the New York/Pitt game last night, and was in the ownership box of the penguins, I think he would have been turned off by the slewfoot move of Malkin that got him a 10 minute minor. Those kinds of classless acts are probably the things that would sway his decision to move away from a city instead of to it.

Sorry man, its a very true statement. Just take a look at both of these teams and just how good they really are. To fear both teams no matter what the outcome of the series is the stance I am taking. Oh, and if you haven't been playing attention to the playoffs, you aren't in a position to answer the question. Especially with the way you worded it. Oh, and the momentum you have from winning a previous series means nothing in the next series. I am sure that some Avalanche fans thought that Theodore was the second coming after he slammed the door on the Wild in Game 5. The "momentum" the Avalanche had really had nothing to do with what happened in the second round. That momentum can or cannot carry over to the next round. Not trying to be combative here, just merely explaining my stance a little further. Glad we at least agree that my answer isn't a bad one.

I understood the point of your question. You just didn't like my answer. Just because I fear both of these teams equally doesn't mean my answer is invalid or incorrect. If you got the impression I was pointing you out as someone who didn't watch any of the games, it wasn't meant as a personal attack. Just an observation that most armchair hockey fans who are picking teams they fear the most really are overlooking the fact that all these teams are so close in talent level. To "pick your team that you fear the most" is a misnomer. Both of these teams should scare the crap out of you. Not one over the other. Given EITHER situation. BTW, nice clarification edit on your OP. You should have typed that in the first place.

If it makes no sense to you, then you obviously haven't been watching the playoffs, so I won't even bother explaining it. You asked which scares me more, and I answered that question. Both of them.

Yea, its a tossup. I saw this Rick Nash goal on my nhl center ice package when it happened.

Both teams scare me. If one team scares you more than another, then you obviously haven't been paying attention to the playoffs this season. Both SJ and Dallas have the tools and talent to win the cup this year. When either one of them meets up with detroit, it will be a battle. The winner will be the one that outworks the other one, gets a lucky bounce here or there, and can find the back of the net. This deep in the playoffs, there is no team you would rather play. You just want to start playing the games.

This game was over when the Wings arrived at the Pepsi Center tonight. The Avs were crushed after losing game 3. You can tell they didn't come prepared to play tonight. Unlike the Rangers who came to compete when down 3-0 to the Pens. Unlike the Sharks who came to compete against the Stars when down 3-0 in the series.

I hope so man. If the score stays the same or gets better for the Wings, I am going to go to bed early and let the DVR record it. I have to get up tomorrow morning for work. The wings are leading 21-7 in shots right now with 12:14 left in the 2nd. If they lose this game, then I won't know what to think.

Why does this prediction looking accurate as the game goes on?

2 goals for the avs, 2 redirections. Unlike when Hasek was in net, I can't fault Osgood on either of those goals. If Osgood continues to play solid enough to not let in shots unless they are deflections, we are in good shape.

Just for clarification.... We are allowed to start thinking next round. The players are not allowed. They should be concentrating on winning 2 more games before thinking about the 3rd round.

I have never, and will never, choose our next round opponent. When you pick your poison, its usually the team that beats you. I have heard it for years, the armchair wings fans wanting to play a certain team only to get beaten by them. Edmonton when they were the 8th seed for instance. Fans on this board were foaming at the mouth for the opportunity to play them. Yet, they beat us rather soundly. If Dallas and Detroit make it to the conference finals, it will be a hell of a series. Dallas is riding high right now, winning the little battles, and Turco is playing awesome in the playoffs. He did great last year in the playoffs in fact. Dallas just didn't have the firepower last year to make it past Vancouver. When you finish the playoffs last year with a 1.29 GAA and a .952 save percentage, as a goalie, I think you have to know you did your part. In order for the Sharks to win this series, they now have to win at least 2 games in Dallas. That is a tall order.

Bounces count: Wings: 1 Avalanche: 0

They didn't need him to make the playoffs thats for sure. The Wings had better take advantage of this opportunity.

In all my years of playing hockey, especially in tight divisions, I have learned not to pick the team you would rather play against. Its that team that usually beats you in the game or series for that matter.

I was floored when I watched this. This kid is pretty funny, but at the same time, you can tell who his role model is.

Sorry about that. I did a search and didn't see it.

The big question is, would we have the cap space for him. He would command at least 4-5 million a season and a long term deal. It will probably be about 5 mil a season. That being said, we also have to sign Cleary. Also, do we dump Howard at this stage? I think he is doing well for the Griffins right now. His save percentage is very good, and if his defense was stronger and the team was better, he would be puting up great stats this year. Personally, I like Howard and I think he will be a good NHL goalie. I just don't think we can turn Miller down if he came to us wanting to play in Detroit. Especially if he took a hometown discount like Rafalski and other Wings did.

On this forum, when Eklund is right it is forgotten. When he is wrong it is remembered. He has gotten a good amount of rumors correct, but they are far outweighed by the ones he didn't get. One thing I have learned is that all these people who post hockey rumors are more wrong than right. In short, I believe Eklund does have some good sources in the hockey world, but they spread more BS to him and other insiders with blogs than truth. Personally, I like the way Spector handles his rumors. He is more cautious and comments on the quotes as opposed to Eklund who takes it at face value. Either way, I have learned to just take these things at face value.

My advice would be to get them in advance. The last two games I went to were Friday and Sat when McCarty made his debut. The line to get tickets on Friday night was out the door literally. When I got through the gates at 6:45, they were announcing they had 500 tickets left to the crowd. Line was like that on Saturday night as well. In short, you can probably get tickets if you get them the day of the game if you don't mind standing in line. Personally, I have better things to do than stand in line for 20 minutes waiting to get tickets. It seems that McCarty has had a positive impact on Griffins ticket sales which is a good thing.

We were sitting in 101, on the other side of the rink but the replays looked good on the big screen. Heck that is all we had to rely on was the replays. Not a single goal was scored on our end of the rink. All 10 were scored at the other end. Crazy game.

It was a decent fight, but not a slugfest. McCarty got some good punches in.

Oh yea. I just wish the Griffins defense and the goalie came to play in that first period. There were a few goals that shouldn't have went in and the D let them have too many good chances. Still, it was good to see Mac have a solid 2nd home game and the fight was a good one. Not great, but good.