gcom007

Love this time of year! I think Wings can take game 1.

Wow. Ugly for Chicago.

Dumb play, minor penalty, absolutely. It's absolutely absurd that he got 5 and a game for that. 100% completely absurd.

If they do find a way to dial back into their level of play earlier in the season, they are going to shock a lot of people over the next couple months.

I don't want to be negative for the sake of being negative, I just don't want to pretend that the team doesn't have issues when they pretty clearly do. I'm happy and excited and I'll be cheering them on like a diehard until the end, though I've accepted that the idea of us winning against Tampa is a long shot this year. Is that gray area?

I'd love to be positive, and I still feel positively about this team long term, but I think they're still a bit too young and inexperienced to get the job done. They supported that line of thinking as the season went on. I also don't think the defense is nearly good enough. I feel good about Mrazek but I'm not expecting too much out of a rookie because frankly, I don't think it'd be fair to. But I want them to win, and if they can play anything like they were playing earlier in the season, I think they definitely can win this series, and maybe more. They have a lot of the talent, but they've got to get back to operating like they did earlier in the year when they were in "best case scenario" mode to make that happen at this point in time. It's possible, and I'm hopeful, but I can't ignore the fundamental problems this team still has right now on defense and the overall lack of experience. It's simple as that.

I don't think many people at all thought the team looked like a playoff team in July. I don't even know if Holland would say that in July. And you're assuming Holland has no say or influence on the roster? He most certainly does. As someone who thinks Ken Holland deserves a middle finger now and again, I'd love to say that's what this is, but I don't think that's the case at all right now.

Mrazek isn't Manny Legace in any way, shape, or form. Legace was a career backup who overachieved for a minute and got in over his head. Mrazek is a rookie with tons of upside who was supposed to be in the AHL right now. Mrazek has got all the makings of a strong starter. I don't know if this is the right decision, but this is nothing like the Legace situation. Legace was and is a joke; Mrazek is the real deal, though he may not be quite ready yet.

I've got to say, I'm really surprised at this development. I'm not shocked, but I am surprised. I'm rooting for the kid, I like him a lot, and I think he was bound to take Jimmy's job in the next 1-2 seasons, but I'm not expecting a miracle this year, and the way he's played down the stretch, it'd take a miracle for him to work out his consistency issues for the playoffs. Those are 1-2 year starter's workload issues if you ask me. He's confident enough to not be set back by a rough outing in his rookie year though, and I'm assuming that's why they're taking the gamble on him. A goalie who was less tough mentally wouldn't be getting this chance at this point in his career when you have Howard on your team.

Proxy. I use Netshade on my Mac and AirPlay it to an Apple TV. Also worth noting, you only need to run the proxy to start the stream. Once it's streaming, turn off the proxy server if you're having quality issues and t should improve.

I barely even care if they make it in or not at this point. It's pretty pathetic that it has to come to this the way this team played most of the season. We looked lousy against a terrible team for too much of the game tonight, and it's fitting that we're in no better shape than we were before the game started. When you can't come out with a better effort against a team like the Hurricanes at this point in the season when we're in the position we're in, it's just sad. What a frustrating finish to what should've been a much better season. I obviously want to make the playoffs, but the way this team is playing lately, I really don't expect much out of this team. It's funny that a win is about the low point of the season for me, but it's just been such a lousy stretch lately and this team found a way to still look terrible for far too much of a game against a terrible team. It's pathetic any way you shake it.

No doubt about the rest of the team, but Z is still not the player he was. Not even close. I love the guy, I'll support him to the end, but he's not the dominant player he was. My point wasn't to s*** on him; his issues are clearly out of his control. He's still an incredibly important and valuable player, he's just no longer the player he once was, and I don't think it's fair to judge him against his former self at this stage. Simple as that.

He's not done. That's absurdity. He's just not going to be an elite force on anything close to a consistent basis anymore. Doesn't mean he doesn't still bring value. Doesn't mean he doesn't have heart. Doesn't mean he's not a great leader. He's just been through too much at this stage in his career to continue to be a dominant force for this team at either end of the ice. It is what it is. Newer, younger guys need to rise up and help carry the load. Edit: As far as I'm concerned, the most important player on this team at this point is without a doubt Datsyuk. He can still turn a game on it's head almost singlehandedly, and you can count on him to do so far more often than Z. He's not the type to wear the C, but from a heart and soul and "engine" standpoint, Dats is the leader of this team.

Z is a shell of his former self, that's just the reality. To suggest he's not trying though I think is absurd. Given all that he's gone through, he's just not going to be able to be the player he was before his ongoing back issues really dug their claws into him. It's sad, it's unfortunate, it flat out sucks, but I can't run off and drop the "he's playing uninspired and doing a poor job of leading by example." I would bet he's doing all he can, but I would bet that just isn't close to what we're used to from him, and it likely never will be again. I don't like it, I wish it were different, but I'm not going to sit here and s*** on the guy. There's way too many guys on this team who are in far better shape who aren't kicking into another gear. That's the problem right now.

No words.

I'll never criticize Dats. No one gives more on this team than him if you ask me. If he's not playing, there's probably a damn good reason.

Did everyone miss the fact that Ottawa has been one of the best two or three teams over the last couple months? I'm not saying I like how we played tonight at all, but it's not like we lost to the Oilers or Sabers here, and we got a point out of it. This team has problems, no doubt, but it's important to have some perspective.

Can't believe he didn't go out 3rd the way he's been scoring lately, especially on the breakaways.

I don't think Mrazek is the savior of this broken team, but on a night when he basically singlehandedly earned us the point we got, this seems like a very silly comment to be making.

At least we have a prayer in the shootout with Mrazek. But what the what? This game... This game... I gotta hand it to Mrazek though. I honestly wasn't expecting much because we've already seen him get streaky with rough games this year and he's a damn rookie, but he's been outstanding tonight. Either way this one goes, this guy earned the only point/points this team deserves.

I just don't know what to say about this game.

"How do you not call a penalty on that?!? Stupid." -Mick

Wow, just wow. Pain and anguish...pain and anguish...

We were on a power play? I didn't notice... And it's over like that...

There's the break we needed!