Heroes of Hockeytown

A day at the Minnesota Wild office: We need to draft more MONSTERS with ACTIVE STICKS and BIG BODY PRESENCES, OK GUYS?! Yeah, we got it, Pierre. *Stands uncomfortably close to Asst. GM* I see you there, Pierre. Feel-Poo-Lah (in faux Finnish accent) That's nice, Pierre.

Correct. He hasn't been on the ice for a power play goal in this series.

Stuart has played the PP before in San Jose, Boston, and LA. When he came to Detroit, guess who had and kept a power play spot ahead of him?

I haven't read anything. Babcock says if he isn't ready to go (ominous), then Meech might get the start, which is just wonderful.

I don't know why you assume that, but pertaining to the OT winner:

There's no way they did through two periods. I can't think of a time when they had the puck for more than two consecutive seconds after two except for the power play. They were lucky to get to the third just trailing by one.

Well, bottom line, Wings have to win one of the next two games. That doesn't seem unreasonable. I am hella taking a nap, that game was exhausting.

Well, that sucked. The Ducks controlled play for 50 minutes, then the Wings for the next 50. But I had a growing sense of dread as each second passed and the Wings didn't score; they had the puck the entire time, but it was inevitable the Ducks would get one if the Wings didn't close the deal. Marchant's goal wasn't very good either. Ughghghghgh, I am tired.

Some of the hella old ones are ridiculously good and valuable.

Return all cards you formally owned to your hand.

It was very close, but I think the Wings started pretty slow and rusty after a week off. By the third period they had finally gotten their legs and decidedly controlled play to the tune of an 18-7 shots advantage. This is a different game of course, nobody knows the way it's gonna be.

I hope Pavel and Hossa can get on the scoreboard, although as the long as the team is winning Kopecky can be scoring all the goals for all I care. Other things that need to happen: Kronwall or Stuart need to line up and demolish some Ducks.

I assume this brought a tear to your eye and a longing for a simpler time.

If Hudler had a concussion Brown would be gone. Rightfully or wrongfully, intent is not as important as the result to the league.

The Wings only had two power play goals last night -- on the brilliant individual play by Franzen, and then later when Stuart and Lidstrom were on the point. At no point was Samuelsson even close to being involved with something positive with the man advantage.

On the Franzen-Hiller hit:

That's basically the collective point of the entire Red Wings fanbase by now. Nick and Schneider did a pretty good job for a few years and they were both lefties(!!!). Bottom line: Sammy doesn't do s*** on blueline during the PP. Babcock may as well have Maltby out there if he's so concerned with handedness. Stuart has experience playing on the power play before (and has been pretty effective in very limited action), and unlike in San Jose he's not "the man" in Detroit, he can just do his job and let Nick do the QBing. Ericsson seems like a viable option as well. Hell, put Cheli out there, he's not afraid to shoot the puck. It's all moot, anyways. Mike loves him some Sammy.

I don't think fizziks is really an excuse for delivering a head shot. He's in control of his own body, he was either aware of the danger or reckless, and in any event some penalty was deserved. I was angry originally but after looking at it again it doesn't seem too bad, other than the blow to the head being something that the league has taken a stand on.

Sonnuvabitch. Cheli had a good night, but this is still a big blow. The power play is a whole lot better with Nick and Rafalski than Nick and Sammy...

Well, that game was more intense than all four Columbus games combined. Even in Game 4 when it was tied, I felt no pressure. That was a cakewalk, this is playoff hockey. Very intense game. To echo others... The Wings weren't that good, especially early. They caught on in the third, though. I saw some of you guys complaining about them not driving the net and all that but I thought the Wings did a great job all night of going to the net and getting traffic. On both of Nick's goals Hiller had a guy in his grill making life difficult for him. There were lots of missed chances and a few goalposts on both sides so... it was much too close for my liking. In closing, I would really love to just hug Nick right now.

Spare yourself the grief and just pretend it never happened?

Yes. The roster size is unlimited, the salary cap doesn't apply, and players can be recalled at any time.

Wings are about win the Pronger series 4-2. He got tricky and avoided the sweep by changing teams every year, but now they're wise to his game. No more Mr. Nice Guy. >

Scotty Bowman up in the GMs box bitching about Campbell being a f*** up. He traded Coffey and he'd trade that scrub too.