Heroes of Hockeytown

DAMN SON

That's OK, man. I've had enough mental exercise for one day, hypothetical scenarios or otherwise. You win, and take care.

Hopefully they can get their legs here and play some hockey in the second. Joey Mac was pretty good; Wings seem to have a tough time giving him a break. Boy, Mick sure got a kick out of Schneid's elbow. He also knocked Stempniak on his ass earlier, so a nice tough period out of him. He looked goofy flailing around in the shoving match, though.

Ouch. I think Andreas is the one who's going to be on IR after that one.

Oh la la. I knew that's what I wanted to do in the GDT today... so I just started fitting it together. Only took a few minutes.

I don't understand a lick of what you just wrote. Nor do I care to. Carry on.

Oh, don't be such a sourpuss, toby. For one, you've got it straight from the horse's mouth: done by design. If you look at the replay, he takes his stick off the puck as he turns the corner and lets it slide a little bit away from the net before regaining control. He does this because Cujo comes flailing over to that side looking for the pokecheck. The timing is absolutely beautiful; JUST as Joseph slides his stick, Hank dangles the puck away.

Really, we should get ourselves prepared for this one, Of course, the Blues will try to push Joey Mac to the limit, But I have a feeling he'll hang in there, or Else we could be in for a long night. Road warriors is something that we've associated less with the Wings this season, True, and we are a little banged up. Last time we played St. Louis Nick got the job done, And Manny called us lucky, whatever. Now someone else has to step up. God knows who'll get it going tonight.

God, Hank is just chock full of win.

No, because Zetterberg's goal is dependent on Datsyuk's goal. If you take away Datsyuk's goal, there is no Zetterberg goal. The Wings don't score any goals. Do you understand the concept of pulling your goalie for an extra skater? You only do that if you're trailing.

Strategies would have been different? "Try to score so we can get back to one" is the strategy, genius. The only thing that's guaranteed is that Hank has the winner. What the hell is wrong with you? I'll put in as plain English as I can: ZETTERBERG CANNOT SCORE THE EMPTY NETTER WITHOUT DATSYUK'S GOAL. There is no empty-net situation if the opposition is not down in the score. If Datsyuk does not score to give the team a one goal lead, Hank will not have the opportunity to hit the empty-net for a two goal lead. Seriously, don't be ******* dense, dude.

You misunderstand: in scenario #2, if your team had not scored the empty-netter, then the game would have been tied by the opposition's buzzer-beater. Therefore, hitting the empty-netter prior to the other team scoring makes it the most important goal scored; otherwise it's off to OT with an assured victory having been averted for at least regulation.

25 goals doesn't impress me when we've got Mikael Samuelsson who can basically do the same thing (in the regular and post season). First round pick and Rex, for maybe a decent post season run? That isn't supported by anything he's done since '03? Pass.

That stands to no kind of reasoning that I can grasp. Scenario #1: your team is leading by a goal. You nail an empty-netter. Game ends, no further scoring. Most important goal: GWG. After all, there is no empty net situation without the GWG before it. Scenario #2: your team is leading by a goal. You nail an empty-netter. Game ends, after the opposition has scored a goal. Most important goal: GWG. After all, you're right back where you started in this scenario (a tie game) unless you've hit the EN. The most important tally varies depending on the final score. I don't see why that's hard to understand.

So what? That's not relevant to this game: they didn't score with three seconds left. Yous said this: "Zetterberg is credited with the game winning goal, but I would say Datsyuk's goal was more important, as it gave the Wings the extra insurance they needed in the event Phoenix scored in the closing seconds." Scenario: your team is leading by a goal. You nail an empty-netter. Game ends, no further scoring. Whose goal was the most important? The guy with the GWG. I don't care how many hypotheticals you come up with.

What makes you so sure? He was having a bad year before the incident in '04. He had a bad year in '05. Compound that with playoff no shows. Suddenly he doesn't look so enticing.

I wouldn't really know anything about that. Good point. However, Lang was also leading the league in scoring when he was acquired. What has Bert done recently besides become injured, underachieve, and brain a guy on the ice?

Both goalies record shutouts, and all the stats that those entail (0 GAA, 1.00SV%).

Good catch on the PIMs, though it is worthy of note that 20 of those 60 minutes were in game misconducts. Overall, he led the playoffs with 20 minor penalties (7 more than the runners up).

I don't really see how an EN goal could ever be more important than a GWG in a situation like this. Pavel could have just as easily missed, followed by the Wings denying Phoenix the blueline for sixty seconds for the win. Meanwhile, there is no empty-net scenario if Hank doesn't score earlier.

Jeremy Roenick, ever the good sport, took a run at him while he was trying to clear the puck on a PK. He caught Markov awkwardly and defenseless; he left for the dressing room (precautionary) and did not return. I haven't heard any word on his current status...

Choo choo! Here comes the Pain Train, headed by one Todd Bertuzzi. Look out, he's a force! Six Count 'em, SIX playoff goals in 24 games. Hank managed to equal Bert's entire playoff goal totals in a single run last spring. I know he had that big season four years ago, but it may just be that that's potential he no longer has.

Yeah, let's stick him on a line with Pavel in the playoffs. Maybe they can score some Negapoints, redeemable for Unwins this spring.

Hank had a guy in his face and half a sheet of ice to go for the empty-netter... a pass to Pavel was a sure fire finish... and yet I still think he shoulda went for it.

I would love to see Josh Langfield lay the lumber on JR in the last few seconds of the game... give him the suspension, no worse for wear.