YoungGuns1340

Haha. No Im one of those people that either stands up or move to the edge of my seat and watch even closer if Im nervous. Im still stunned. I only found out about half an hour ago.

I like the Sabres better than the Sens, but Im rooting for the Sens. I really want to see 2 Euro Captained teams in the Stanley Cup Finals. Im sick of hearing how a European Captain cant take his team to Stanley Cup Glory. f*** that. Go Swedes.

I was just thinking about this, actually. In order for the Wings to win this series, I really feel they are going to need Bertuzzi to be huge for them...in more ways than one. So far, people have more or less written Bertuzzi off in the playoffs. Think about it. How many analysts have you heard mention Bertuzzi as being a factor against the Ducks? Not many. Its almost as if everyone has forgotten he is a Red Wing. Luckily for us, hes only been getting better, and his physical presence has really become a bigger factor each game so far. I think Babcock mentioned something to Bert about how Detroit needs him to be more of a power forward and less of a skilled guy, and ever since he and Babs had that talk, Bert has picked it up physically. I have a feeling this is going to be his biggest series so far.

Seriously? The St. Louis Pronger? Did you seriously just become a Ducks fan when they started making the playoffs last year?? Al MacInnis, Dough Weight, Keith Tkachuk, Chris Osgood, Pavol Demitra, Cory Stillman, Scott Mellanby, Val Bure, Barett Jackman, Dallas Drake, Jamal Mayers, Scott Young, Turgeon, Conroy, Handzus, Courtnall. Do you even know who half these guys are? St. Louis was a very solid team for many years. Why do you think they made the playoffs for some 25 seasons in a row? They were filled with great goal scorers, great role players, and a good defense that, contrary to popular belief, was headlined by Al MacInnis for a while even with Pronger on the team. As for 5 on 5 play concerning Lilja, he has been a stud there to. Fact of the matter is, hes been all you could ask for in a defensive defenseman. Hes playing the best hockey of his career right now. As for the last playoffs, that was the worst playoff team Detroit has iced in a while, starting with the goaltending. I dont care who faced Detroit last year in the playoffs, we wouldve lost. EDIT: Let me clarify that saying this do not mean that Chris Pronger isnt a great defenseman. He definitely is the best the Ducks have, even with Niedermayer on the squad - it showed when Pronger was out of the lineup - but to say he was is a bona fide Wings killer has yet to be seen.

Wow. I would be ******* pissed if I were Julia and I got that response. Shes talking about her familys ******* LIVELIHOOD and this ******* concedes that is a "fair point" and then goes on about other issues. I swear people outside of this state are ******* insensitive morons. Its not a game, its not a media ploy, its a game of "lets kick em when theyre down" and its downright embarassing that those outside of this state cant put two and two together in that the auto industry is tanking and because of that, much of Michigan is too.

I had to sound condescending, but are have been an NHL fan for longer than a year? Have you watched ANY wings games this postseason? 1) Pronger is NOT a Wings killer. Quite the opposite in fact. The ONLY time he has performed well was last year. Prior to that, the Red Wings wiped their asses with his jersey most often in the playoffs. 2)Guys 8-12 wont be much a factor, in which you list Lilja, Quincey, and Lebda. Lilja is an AWESOME PKer and has been an absolute rock providing steady play, eating up minutes, and playing forwards physical, no matter if their name is Thornton or Iginla. The fact that you put Quincey ahead of Lilja speaks volumes about your kknowledge of him, let alone Quincey himself, whos mistakes you could probably count on one hand. As for Lebda, well his blinding speed is always of major importance to the Wings. 3) Nobody is going to be surprised by Penner, Perry, or Getzlaf. (And just out of curiousity, why do you have Perry centering that line and not Getzlaf?) The majority of people here actually know about more players on opposing teams than just the big names.

Whoever wouldve gotten elected wouldnt have been able to do a damn thing about Michigans economy. Rectifying the auto industries mistakes is where it starts for turning this states economy around. Sadly, it doesnt matter whos tenure we're talking about - it wouldve happened to anyone.

Now, Consider that these facts are from earlier years, and Michigans economy is now WORSE than ever. http://www.freedomworks.org/informed/issue...p?issue_id=2352 o Michigan has had an unemployment rate around 7% (the current rate) for more than 2 years. (Free Press, 5-17-05) o Michigan is currently worst in the nation for unemployment. (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, May 20, 2005) The national unemployment rate is 5.2%, Michigan’s is 7.0%. Michigan has a 36.4% differential above the national average. o Michigan had a net loss of 46,500 jobs in 2004. According to the most recent data, Michigan and South Carolina are the only states with net job losses from March 2004 to March 2005 with Michigan losing 30,600 and South Carolina losing 6,800 . (Joint Economic Committee State Employment Statistics) o Michigan was the only state in the nation where employment fell between fourth quarter 2003 and fourth quarter 2004. (FDIC State Profile) o Michigan has lost 1 job every 10 minutes , 24 hours a day, seven days a week, totaling more than 150,000 jobs lost. o The Detroit area has lost more jobs in the last 12 months than any other metropolitan area in the nation , recording a loss of 21,600 jobs, nine times more jobs than second-place Baton Rouge, La ., the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. The Lansing metropolitan region ranked sixth (-1,500), behind San Jose, Dayton and Bloomington, Ind. • Economy o “Seventy-six percent of metro Detroit executives believe the business climate is weaker today than five years ago  a 41 percent jump over 2004 polling.†(Crain’s Detroit, 5-30-05) o Michigan ranks last among the states in economic momentum, according to an analysis published in the State Policy Reports newsletter, a project co-sponsored by the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Michigan received a -1.45 on the index. Nevada, which ranked first, received a score of 3.66. Only Michigan and Alaska (-1.29) scored below a -1 on the index. Illinois (-0.76), Ohio (-0.72) and New York (-0.64) rounded out the bottom five. This put Michigan a full 1.5% behind the 49th worst state. o Michigan was last among the states in employment growth between January 2004 and January 2005 with a -0.3 percent decline, compared to a national average of 1.4 percent. o Personal income grew in Michigan by 3.29 percent between March 2003 and March 2004, placing Michigan second to last among the states. The national average was 5.15 percent. • Budget o “Since 2001, Michigan has had cumulated deficits in excess of $7.8 billion. To offset them, the state has gone through $3.8 billion in fiscal reserves, increased fees and taxes by $1 billion and taken $3 billion in spending cuts.†(M-Live, Booth Newspapers, 5-31-05 ) o The FY 2003 Budget (Engler’s last) was $39.4 billion o Granholm’s budgets: FY 04- $38.6 billion; FY 05- $39.7 billion; FY 06 (projected)- $41.2 billion. The estimated funding gap is $773 million for 2006. o FY 2006 Budget proposes $112 million in increased taxes and fees. FY 2004 Budget proposed $250 million in increased taxes and fees. • Taxes o Michigan has the most burdensome business “income†tax in the U.S. and the 27th highest personal income tax burden. (Tax Foundation, Anderson Economic Group)

Please guys, ANY goal could be the turning point of the series. What if Datsyuk doesnt score that goal in game 2? What if the Sharks win in OT? What if Homer didnt bat that puck in to make it 2-1 with 5 seconds left to go. What if Sammy...you get the point. You cant award the guy the Conne Smythe for one play or one goal or one save, but a combimation of things. Lets all just agree that there couldve been many outcomes for this series, but because the Wings played as a TEAM, they are still here today. Haha, not picking on you HC, but its funny that Lang, Cleary, Lidstrom, and Hasek so far have all been credited with the season-saving event.

I think if the Conne Smythe were decided to day, it would be Chris Drury's.

wow Im jealous of those ticket prices. Its very possible that ticket prices are this high because of the new arena/renovation coming up for the Joe. Illitch just hired some new hotshot Dana Warg who is in charge of overseeing Class A facilities, so it looks like the new arena is coming up fast. I hope thats the reason. Its also very possible that Ilitch had the prices planned out for the playoffs much earlier than the actual playoffs began and because of budgeting issues couldnt change them. How much do you think it sucks knowing that you have the chance to go, that the tickets are just waiting to be bought, but you cant *afford* to buy them. Think about that.

As for the matchup itself, its no surprise that Duck fans and the press are so cocky....and basically for one reason. Their blueline boasts Niedermayer and Pronger. Thats impressive, however, their standouts are equal to our depth. Lilja, Chelios, and rookie Quincey have been studs so far. Both teams have weaknesses, both have strengths, both deserve to be in this round - which makes me happy considering, IMO, the top 2 teams in each conference are in the finals. However, Im saying Wings in 6. Not because "OMG da Wingz r sooo ammazing and will dominate the ducks like whoa" but because I have no choice to believe in my team, I made a bet with my buddy that the Wings win every series in 6 at the start of the playoffs, and because I would love love love to see a Wings-Sens SCF knowing that FINALLY a Euro Captain would win the cup and put all that bulls*** and prejudice to rest. No problem. Ive wanted to go off on plenty of these guys so far...

KPs not really an ignorant fan. Its just that this bulls*** has been happening on our board for the past three rounds, and honestly Ducks fans have been the worst so far. We had some real honest, funny, classy Sharks fans come on here and talk hockey with us, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. But so far, the board has 1) been absolutely flooded with Ducks fans more than fans of any other team and 2) been inundated with their posts of complete ignorance and lack of class, like you suggest KP is doing here. However, if you compare the majority of KPs posts and Ducks fans posts theres really no contest. Honestly, as has been proved in the past, if you come in here and dont go on about "Ducks in 3, 5 at the most" or "Beauchemin got robbed of a Norris Nom" then you will be treated with respect and class, however, the bad has far outweighed the good and its getting hard to keep track of which Ducks fan is which.

Two possibilities: 1) sarcasm 2) Drunken posting in which I generally try and find the good in all Wings players.

Haha how do you invest AT someone?? Just throw dollar bills in his face? Only kidding, I agree. It would be nice to see Jimmy in the lineup, but that depends on Dom. Osgood played really well at the end of the season. He might still have it in him to go 50 games.

I don't think its possible. Bert will likely go for about 4M and Smyth will likely get at least 5M, or so seems to be the consensus as of now. What worries me most about those is the length of the contract. Like it or not, Detroit is going to be in need of #1 Dman pretty soon, and having a lot of money tied up in Smyth, Bertuzzi, Datsyuk AND Zetterberg after next year doesnt sound like a good idea.

If you dont expect him to throw thunderous hits, then its a good signing. People have ALWAYS expected more out of Maltby than whats been his role. No, he will not ever fight so get over it. And whats more is that its not a big deal that he doesnt fight. So many people get hung up on the reasoning that Maltby is a pansy because he doesnt drop the gloves when a guy gives him a face wash. Consider for a change that he takes that crap and more often than not gets a PP out of it for Detroit. I, for one, always prefer players that play the game using their smarts. Hes a great PKer, good forechecker, and great defensively. No, he wont put up points, but how often do you see the guy give up the puck or leave his man open? Not often. Fans never appreciate what theyve got. Fact of the matter is there are a lot of teams out there that would love to have a sub-1M elite penalty killer.

Somebody already mentioned it, but ill put it here in full:

If we win, its Lidstroms, no contest. Being a stud on defense when you dont have your regular #2 and #4 guy in the lineup is something impressive.

Dude, I dont know if youre aware, but COST OF LIVING =/= STATE OF ECONOMY. Thats a completely different story.

Really? Ticketmaster says differently. I didnt know that $71 for the cheapest ticket in Anaheim was the same as $99 being the cheapest ticket in Detroit. As for the Ducks fans bitching about attendance, not you FUUFNF, they can kiss my ass. The Ducks had a non-sell out or two in the 1st round of the playoffs last year.

Wow. You have absolutely no idea what the economy is like. Lets see, Michigans economy is 49th out of 50 states. Hmm, yeah, it might just be a little bit worse than California.

Amen. To be honest, the Ducks fans here are just making all Wings fans think that the entire Ducks fan base is clueless, which is definitely within the realm of possibility. I gotta give it to the Sharks fans. Outside of samadelphia, there were some pretty classy Sharks fans on here. Maybe that simply because they were mature and knowledgeable which hasnt been the case so far with the Ducks fans. Heres to Duckette getting some classy Ducks fans over here.

last year when everyone was ragging about him only getting 3 assists in 5 games. The guy had a charley horse so bad that blood had to be drained out of the back of his knee. He came back cold, right into the playoffs, and was still injured. Yet, of course, people dont let that get in the way of the "Datsyuk is a choker" argument.

A lot of people dont realize how (excuse my langugage, but) ******* insensitive this s*** is about how Detroit isnt selling out playoff games. Dont even come in here bitching about how Wings fans arent loyal fans because they dont attend games. Given a choice between paying your bills and going to an overpriced hockey game where parking alone is $15, what would you do? Do us all a favor and do a little research on current events. A little search on Google News will tell you all about Michigan's economy, so save us the trouble. ..and this isnt directed at the original poster, who seemed pretty polite, but the others who keep on bringing this up.