haroldsnepsts

Plus they had a lot of other guys who would scrap like Snepsts, Lee Norwood, Mel Bridgman, and probably a few I'm not thinking of. Half that team would drop the gloves.

Agreed. Eberle's was a great goal, especially for his first in the NHL. Datsyuk's was nice, but I feel like I had seen even crazier goals from him this year. Maybe they're sandbagging him at TSN? Or maybe I'm just getting spoiled from watching him play. Moves like that suddenly seem ordinary for him.

Because few players get more love here at LGW than backup goalies. They play well for a few games and it's time to make 'em the starter!

Agreed. It's one thing to pick up star players later in their careers when they're UFA's and may be willing to change teams for a shot at the Cup, but we're talking about two young defenseman who are RFA's and the cornerstones of their respective franchises.

The Kings locked up Jack Johnson until 2018. I can't imagine they plan on letting Doughty go anywhere. A team would have to make an absurdly high offer for LA not to match.

Agreed. As I said not too long ago, he was a huge part of the Wings system because of his great passing. And his long bombs helped keep other teams honest. Assuming Rafalski really retires, doesn't that leave Eaves as the only right-handed shot on the roster?

I was a big Gallant fan growing up watching the Wings. A gritty player who would could score. In his prime he could put up 70-90 points and 200+ PIMs.

What the frick? Raf is retiring?! Wow that's a big hole in the lineup it this turns out to be true. And that guy mentions on his twitter Rafalski playing without an ACL, but didn't he say in an interview recently he hasn't had an ACL in that knee since he was 17? And we're not getting Weber or Doughty! They're both RFAs, and franchise players for their teams. He's not the same type of D-man at all, but this makes me a lot more interested in Brewer. Let us have him Stevie!

He did only play 21 games. I think he got get concussed about a month into the season, then injured his shoulder and finally decided to have season ending surgery. If I were an Avs fan (I just threw up in my mouth a little) I'd be worried about Quincey's health problems more than anything. Concussion problems. Back injury. Shoulder injury. Well that and why they insist on thinking he's a top pairing D-man. Move his minutes down to #3 and I'd bet he'd look a lot better out there.

To me it's kind of like St. Louis fans hating on the Wings like it's this huge rivalry, when from a Wings fans perspective, we didn't even know there was one. Had I not seen it talked about on hfboards, if Vancouver wins the Cup I never would've had the thought "Canada won!" And certainly if any of the other three teams won it wouldn't be like the U.S. won. It's not like when Chicago won last year Wings fans were saying "the Midwest won the Cup!"

Honestly though I've found the Sharks fans to be mostly pretty cool. If anything a lot of them are harder on their team than any outside fan. As for California hockey fans, my experience in southern california has been that the ones who follow hockey are actually knowledgeable. Well, except maybe for some Ducks fans. It's like the sport doesn't exist at all to the general public, but the hockey fans are pretty hardcore (and a lot of them are transplants from hockey cities). But the series has pretty much been a dive-off. It's hard to pick who I want to lose more, but I guess I'm less annoyed by Sharks fans and have contempt for fewer Sharks players.

Agreed. I guess the hatred for the team that's knocked the Wings out twice is stronger for some people. Since they both can't lose, honestly I'd probably prefer the Sharks win for most of the reasons you mentioned, especially the sense of entitlement and incessant lecturing from Vancouver fans about how great their teams is and how unbiased their perspective is, but barring another meltdown by the Canucks, it ain't happening. Add to that a lot of canadians apparently root for whatever canadian team is left so Canada can win the Cup (???), so it becomes an inferiority complex on top of an inferiority complex, with all the annoying side effects that go with it.

Ericsson apparently has a bomb of a slapshot, but his windup takes friggin forever. He just can't get it off at the speed of an NHL game and hasn't really adjusted it. Even if his slapshot loses some power, he needs to figure out how to get that thing off fast and through traffic. There's plenty of guys on the team to help him with that, namely Lidstrom and Rafalski.

I don't either. Honestly I think Hudler was working his ass off out there. Trying to play physical. Ultimately I think he's just too damn small and slow. Maybe he'd be okay if it were one of the two, but not both. I held out hope he'd be this crafty little sniper, but he hasn't done enough to justify his salary. Maybe he will be somewhere, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen on the Wings.

They need to take a long hard look at their top three for sure. Thornton has been good overall. Marleau has turned it around this series, but Heatley has been invisible. It's like the three of them take turns disappearing. I wasn't liking their chances with Niemi either. I know he's got a Cup, but if it was against a team with decent goaltending, Chicago probably doesn't win. Though maybe it's just not needed as much anymore. There don't seem to be any elite playoff goalies right now. I don't think they need to blow it up, but they need to make one big change maybe to try and alter the chemistry and culture of that team. Do they have any Cup winners in their lineup other than Boyle? Maybe they need more veteran presence with guys who have been there before and know what it takes.

Yup. I don't think holland will get great trade value for Hudler, but even a salary dump trade could free up the money to be put to better use.

They were both hacking and whacking. Of course Clowe is going to come after Kesler when the game is over. He actually has something to gain from it. Kesler could've easily skated away or gone to congratulate his goaltender. It's not like I'm justifying what Clowe did. He was gooning it up because his team lost. but that doesn't change Kesler collapsing like he'd been shot. I know he's tougher than that. It's just one minor play. Mainly I'm just bummed by the amount of diving by both teams. This is the Western conference finals. It should be playoff hockey, instead it's embarrassing. I feel like I'm watching soccer.

If you weren't watching the games where Chicago was blowing out the Nucks and how Vancouver players reacted, there's really no point in me telling you. But calling out the sharks for being sore losers against Vancouver is kind of like the Sharks calling out Vancouver for diving.

You'd have to ask him. Force of habit? Like I said earlier, I'm a Kesler fan. I've said several times he should win the Selke this year, and probably should've last year. It's not just blind hate. Though this series has made it harder and harder to continue to like him. But if he's jawing with Clowe like that and doesn't think he could get popped, he's an idiot. Even on hfboards they were pointing out how none of his teammates really checked on him. And how he popped up to congratulate Luongo seconds later. If his jaw is that tender, he probably shouldn't be sticking it in Clowe's face at the end of a game. It's not surprising that Clowe would do that.

Agreed. It's like night and day. I don't know if it's the less diving or luck of the draw that they got better refs, but the games are generally much better managed by the officials.

I guess you've forgotten how the Nucks reacted in the Chicago series.

Is there any way we can make the Eastern Conference finals the Cup finals?

Kesler with one final dive. I'm revising my opinion on him. Looks like the old Kesler is returning.

someone with too much time on their hands should put together a highlight reel of dives from this series.

San Jose decides to start playing once it's well into the 3rd period. It's like they've been watching the Wings or something.