YoungGuns1340

Big games from Sammy, Cleary, Hossa, and Raffi. Lets see it, guys.

What route? The route of playing like an AHL team? Can't argue with that...

Neither has Hossa...

Wow. Thats nuts. The only thing that could have made it better is if it were "Hattricking Marian"

"Sidney Crosby brough in Billy Guerin and Chris Kunitz to painstakingly go over every shift that Sidney Crosby was on the ice, including those in which Guerin and Kunitz were not"

Where's the jaw drop emoticon? Did anyone look at those numbers? 3.75M for 3 years? Thats a great deal. Many folks were projecting Krejci would get 5M per, and it was speculated he was going to be a huge target for offer-sheets. 23 years old 20+ goals 70+ pts 8pts in 11 games in the post-season 15% shooting +37 1:46 on the PK Defensively sound Offensively talented Just a great deal all-around.

Has anyone considered the thought that it might actually be how much we change our PKing forwards on the PK? It seems to me that when opposing teams clear the puck, most of the time, their PKers stay out there. They end up stacking the blue line and waiting for the Wings to retrieve the puck, and bring it back to the offensive blue line, where we have trouble entering the zone. When the Wings are on the PK, however, every time we clear the puck, our forwards go for a change. This results in the OUR forwards still having to get back into the play while THEIR forwards are in the process of bringing the puck up the ice already. The result is a clean entrance and set-up in the zone. If you look at Pittsburgh's PK, for example, they basically use 4 forwards on the PK. The difference between their #1 PK forward and their #5 PK forward is 1:35. The difference between our #1 PK forward and our #5 Pk forward is 55 seconds. We have 7 forwards who play more on the PK than does their #5 PKer. If you ask me, the fact that we use so many PKing forwards may actually be our downfall. PKers get into a rhythm and they get familiar with the other forward they play with. Babcock uses a smorgasbord of forwards, and he switches them up constantly. Apparently, he favors fresh bodies over good PKing bodies. If I'm not mistaken Pittsburgh's 1st PP goal last night was scored with Franzen on the PK. Franzen averags 0:24 seconds on the PK. Thats not accpetable when Pittsburgh's 2nd unit feature Malkin and Crosby just as the 1st does. I'd like to see Babcock choose 4 forwards, and go with mainly those guys. No more Hossa on the PK. No more Franzen on the PK. Just because those guys backcheck doesn't mean they know the technicalities of the PK like the back of their hand.

I have a couple reasons I think could be the reason why we suck so bad on the PK, but at the end of the day, I'm not an NHL coach, and I can't imagine that I'm picking up on anything that they aren't. BUT SOMETHING needs to be done to address the problem. And this is what bothers me most. This has been a problem for nearly 100 games. I understand not being able to rectify PK (or PP) problems if you dont have the personnel to do it, but we do have the personnel to have a dominant PK. So, sorry to say, but I gotta blame the coaching staff on this one.

He's a Pittsburgh fan. Hes not used to hockey fans that have the capacity to talk about a variety of things related to hockey.

"Two minutes for interfering with the NHL's revenue stream!"

This is huge, and for two reasons in particular, among others: 1. The emotional factor. Everyone in Detroit's locker room knows that Datsyuk was their best player in the regular season. Everyone in that locker room knows what hes capable of defenisvely, as well as offensively. Everyone knows hes a quiet leader, a game-changer. I think this sends a boost of energy through the enter lineup. 2. The physical energy factor. I love Helm, Abdelkader, Maltby, Leino, Hudler, Homer, and even Sammy, but those guys can't log a ton of minutes without at some point becoming a liability. Draper can log more minutes than almost anyone in our current bottom six, and Datsyuk can log more minutes than anyone in our entire lineup when healthy. And when not at 100%, hes still going to be logging more minutes that over half of the guys on our roster. My favorite part about Drapes and Datsyuk getting back is that you have two rested bodies who are awesome defensively, and can keep the minutes down for the tired bodies. My biggest concern for this series has always been whether or not we're going to have enough gas left in the tank, and with Datsyuk and Draper coming in as fresh bodies to take some of the weight off the other guys, I just can't help but feel stoked about our chances.

Thats what I'm wondering. Filppula and Hossa somehow decided that the object of the game was to hold on to the puck as long as you can, and only take a shot when you had no other options, or a piss poor chance to score. Seriously, Zetterberg can't do everything every night. He scored a goal, he assisted on a goal, and has the biggest offensive assignment of the night. My biggest worry is that Hank is going to run out of gas, and we'll s*** the bed because no one else knows how to step it up.

Good pick up. If Hossa shows any consistency, at least we can count on 2 goals for on Thursday.

Thats whats worrying me. We're getting on by the skin of our teeth in the goal scoring department. It was good to see Franzen and Hank capitalize tonight, but like I've said before, it drives me ******* stir crazy that we can never have all of our big guns going in 1 game. Its a rarity that Hank, Hossa, and Franzen are ever dominant offensively in the same game. Hossa is really starting to piss me the f*** off, honestly. This is your former team. This is your chance at a cup. You're a ******* goal scorer for christ's sake. SCORE A GOAL FOR YOUR TEAM WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST. Hossa has GOT to start becoming a difference maker in this series.

Quoted for proof.

Honestly, I dont think hes been doing too much different than what, say, Kronwall has been doing - minus the real physical stuff. But I wouldn't mind seeing a replay of the Orpik hit on Helm. Seemed like a clear elbow to the head, if you ask me.

If we can't win the cup with the roster we have right now, then we can't win it with Datsyuk.

I'm concerned about the Wings goal scoring. Tons of chances this game, but a lot of futilitiy in the goal scoring from pretty much every player. Hossa needs to show up on the ******* scoresheet for once. Thank god the next game is Game 4.

Just like the NHL. Call a game the same way for 50 minutes, until it becomes clear that Pittsburgh getting a PP could put them over the edge...

Nice headshots. TWO on Helm. Orpik has his ELBOWs up, the Cooke with a hit to the head.

What a ******* joke. I can't believe that s***. Thats been let go 80945092384523490580 times so far. And they call it then....

Its amazing how Hossa could own our defense last year, yet can't buy a goal against the Pens D this year.

Haha, Crosby barely gets touched and falls to his knees...that was funny..

Thats a good point..

This game desperately needs Hossa's pair. (you see what I did there? )