dicksmack

All those who said Minni, Dallas, Calgary, SJ give yourselves a hand... Everyone else: give your heads a shake, and... shake it easy... I think bert will help beat the trap to some degree by scaring the hell out of the hapless D. who's corner we keep dumping into!

If Datsyuk continues the way he's been playing, he'll do fine in the playoffs. He's got Bertuzzi, so ppg sounds reasonable. So, if present trends continue, Pavel=6m dollar man.

True. To speculate that the huge +/- disparity (+33 to -18) is merely due to the respective teams they play for is absurd, IMO.

Thanks Snake, that's what I like to hear...I think they are going to dominate.

Oh fine then, I'll have to do without LGW scintillating prose and wait the video from the game tonight. Fine.

Hey, I need a quick favor--I've been travelling (no highlights) and am busier than a traffic cop in Chinatown--any chance one of ya could let me know about Bert and Pavel last night? Are they starting to gel? what's up?

Yeah, exactly. The Wings have been bounced out of the playoffs the last couple of years by the trap, physical play and superb shot blocking and goaltending. Having Bertuzzi opens up so many strategic options for us.

The Hank/Dats/Homer line was effective in the regular season--I think for the playoffs, though, to beat the trap, having the option for a Pavel/Bert/? line to dump and chase would be very effective. Having Bertuzzi bearing down on a guy on the dump in tends to make the retrieving D think about his health rather than the next pass. And then with Datsyuk being the puck stealing machine that he is makes it that much more deadly. I'm getting pretty jazzed up just thinking about it!

Knee jerk reaction? Don't think you understand the reference or the lack of offense in it. It's type of plant and a mythical figure.

Lang and Sammy for seeing the logo on every goalie's chest as a big bullseye, Hasek for pulling his wandering jew act, and finally Lilja's father for pushing his son into hockey.

What yg's said plus the fact of Babcock showing confidence in his offensive skills like that is a smart move.

Datsyuk beats more guys one on one in a shift or two than most do all game. They take the body in the reg. seassn too--it's easier said than done. That's his game--if he can draw penalties as well as generate chances why not? He does need to use that great wrister more often, though. He'll have Bertuzzi to distract defenders so he needs to do his thing!

I'll be shocked if Datsyuk and Bertuzzi aren't put together. Hank will be put on Lang's line, as he should be . Both latter guys have shown they can score in the post-season--Pavel has not. A great but small offensive player who has not shown up in the playoffs has the best power forward in the game added to his team--think about it: Pav and Bert won't be split up unless there's a clear chemistry problem. I think they'll do great.

Whatever the combos, Bertuzzi will play with Datsyuk--period! For protection (players will be running at him a lot), for creating time and space for Pavel and for being a skilled player who can hang with him. We've seen Hank and Pavel together in the playoffs, they're too small... (and STFU about Hank scoring, the Wings got bounced into golf season)

No Worries indeed. I know the difference b/w being critical as opposed to offensive and really the third paragraph is arbitrarily broken up. Anyhoo... The Wings have potential this playoffs, but they've had that before...

Well that would be being critical and you're right anyways--sorry I'm just trying to get this down and getting back to work.

The Wings chances are hard to pin down right now. They haven't played well lately. But potentially, i.e. if Hank comes back and can regain his conditioning, the Wings could perhaps do some damage. Their five-on-five play is much better this year: we all know the officiating is much looser in the playoffs. The wings are a "we've got the puck" kind of team so having both Pavel and Drapes in the top ten in faceoff win % is important. Hasek and Ozzie can get it done, especially if we can give them goal support. Having Calder and especially Bertuzzi is huge. The way I think we could beat the Nucks, for example, is having Bertuzzi being a multi-faceted threat. First of all, Bert's got great skill: he can score all by himself. He's also big. I've seen Luongo actually looking over top of Homer's head when he's in front. That won't work with Bert. Todd B. can drive to the net on the rush, from behind the net, the corners, anywhere. He can also screen goalies in any of those situations, which is pretty unique in the league; Bert often uses his big body to screen if there's no other play on the rush. Goalies can't stop what they can't see. Put him with Datsyuk and have him go to the net. A #1 pp unit with Hank, Pavel, Bert with Lids and Schneider would be friggin' scary. As far as the down side, as mentioned above, our D. is probably our biggest weakness followed closely by our coaching--I don't think much of Babs' judgment: it took too long for him to counter the Oiler's trap last year and the way he handled some of the back to back games this year was puzzling: he had Hasek start the first game against the weaker team and he ended up getting 1 pt. out of four.

I'd say the more likely and formidable team for us would be the Sharks

He could be a major factor in any (coughs) playoff success the Wings have. He can score those ugly playoff goals and can, as mentioned, cause goals to occur without ending up on the score sheet. He can do it all... But really it's the goaltending, our faceoff success, and to finally be able to put some goals on the board this year that will tell the tale. Zetterberg has to return and produce and we all know what Pavel has to do.

Yeah, Sammy's expendable.

The wings often disappoint in early games... Can't say I'm feeling confident in the Wings heading down the stretch....

Perhaps it was just for his debut game, to be on the top line, and out of respect for Homer. I'm sure Babcock knows their roles overlap too much.

Same to fans who are corporate apologists! Speak up and perhaps they'll cut back on them. They are going to have to--it's embarrassing for the team.

Very promising start for Bertuzzi. He improved as he went along. I think the Wings fans cheered him bowling over Norrena since we've not had someone to respond when our goalies got run or our guys cheapshotted. It's also nice to see one of our guys go to the net like that! He and Homer should be separated on the pp and in general, I think since they both are great screeners. Bert likes to sometimes screen as a moving target and that would give a different type of attack than Homer, who just plants himself. And with Bert cruising through in close, I can see Pavel ripping wicked wristers past goalies who can't even see them. And I also see those guys scoring playoff type goals in general. You get the feeling that Pavel won't get run at down the stretch--I mean the last that tried that with...(nevermind) This guy is the perfect player for the Wings, and I used to joke about that... Imagine Bert/Hank/Pav on the pp...holy s***e, unstoppable!

I'm glad Babs speaks his mind on this one. The margins are too slim this time of year to be giving away freebies. Dom rocks aside from that!