Dabura

This is the jumpiest, nerviest I have ever seen the Wings. Thankfully we're headed to the PP.

Outchancing them 56-0.

The Hurricanes get it: don't give us any time or space in our zone.

Bolts score. I swear, if we lose this and the Bolts win...

We had to try really, really, really hard to come out of that period down by two. This is a continuation of a very bad trend that's reared its ugly head over the past few games: handing control of the game over to the opposition. It's not that they're doing anything better than us. We're beating ourselves. Want a free power play? Have it. Want a free power play goal? Have it. Want a juicy rebound? Have it. Want your goalie to feel like a brick wall? We're on it.

Holy s***, tighten it up boys.

I'd like to see Jurco on the top line and Abdelkader or Franzen with Helm and Alfredsson.

1-0 Carolina. PPG. Our PK is hot garbage.

Ovechkin puts the Caps up 1-0 early in their tilt against the Blackhawks. Power play goal, from his sweet spot. #51 on the season. You have to admire it. "I'm gonna stand right here, and I'm gonna score. You've got a pretty ok PK. Your goalie's pretty good. You and every hockey fan in the world knows what I'm doing. But none of that matters. I'm gonna score. From right here. *taps spot with stick blade* Right here. I'll even call for the puck for the whole two minutes - doesn't matter. You have no chance."

Babcock and Holland On The Radio [WIIM] Good stuff. Check it out.

I'm thinking Trotz in Toronto might make a lot of sense.

Wasn't it Murray?

I forgot - Clark actually played for the Wings, lol.

I keep forgetting we can't get the Rangers. This system is a bit stupid.

You know what? I kinda want the Bruins. We're finally finding our post-Lidstrom identity. We like being an underdog with clout. We get up for games where we can make a statement, topple a team we probably have no right toppling. I think the seeds (pun?) were sort of sown last season when we realized we could beat anyone in a best-of-seven without being *Elite*. The Ducks were supposed to crush us. The Blackhawks were supposed to sweep us with ease. We weren't supposed to make the playoffs in the first place. Our time was supposed to be over. It's the Zetterberg way, no? Making Crosby and Malkin cry. Making Getzlaf and Perry cry. Making Toews cry. Making Don Cherry cry. Making Gary Bettman cry. Making the best and brightest and clearly-better-than-us look silly. Owning the hockey experts. All of this, and, secretly, loving it. That, I think, is the Zetterberg way, and I think this season has been about becoming the Zetterberg Wings. Cleary, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson - they were standing in the way, holding us back. Holland hating kids, Babs hating kids - no good, had to change. The Hockey Gods saw that we had the potential to be pretty awesome but in order for it to happen, this season had to be a crucible. That's the perfect word for it. Crucible. Our crucible has made us way, way better. It's given us an identity. It's made the future blindingly bright. It has that we-might-have-something-really-special-here buzzy feeling about it. If we beat the Boston Bruins? Well, at the very least, I think Mike Babcock gets his Jack Adams.

Red Wings Name Wendel Clark New Club President

Basically, the potential problem I'm seeing is that they've pushed all their chips into the middle for a veteran core. A forward's prime years are 25ish-30ish. Parise is 29. Koivu is 31. Pominville is 31. Moulson is 30. Vanek - since everyone's so sure he's headed to Minnesota - is 30. They have good young talent, but with all of their leaders having already played their best hockey, I'm kinda scratching my head here. To me, this looks like about a five-year window of opportunity, Cup-wise, and that's assuming they make some incredible progress in the ultra-tough West. Something in me says that's not at all what they were going for when they signed Suter and Parise and traded for Pominville and everyone said, "Oh s***, these guys are building the next Wings. They'll be competitive forever." (OK, maybe no one said that. But you get my point.) You can say that we wouldn't make the playoffs in the Western Conference. (Personally, I think we would.) But how does that validate the Wild? We're in a transitional stage; just making the playoffs is a pretty big deal. The Wild? They want the Cup. Relative to their expectations, a first-round exit = abject failure. I just find it weird. Like...this is it? This is the Minnesota Machine that everyone's been raving about? This is the team that's going to be a contender for years and years and years to come?

They were just rhetorical questions. Pulkkinen will be 23 next year, with a full (and very impressive) season of North American pro hockey under his belt. He's leading the Griffins. He made the AHL all-rookie team. He's a RH sniper with a cannon of a shot. But the only way he gets serious NHL ice time next season is if we lose a couple guys to injury. If we're arguing that our most promising kids need to be getting serious NHL ice time pretty much as early and often as possible, why is no one worrying about Pulkkinen? (Rhetorical question.) Or how about Sheahan? First-round pick. Big and strong. NA hockey's all he's ever known. And yet, very few seemed to care that he hadn't come anywhere close to serious NHL ice time until very recently. Why is that? (Rhetorical question.)

What I find interesting is that no one here seems to mind that Pulkkinen only has a couple games of NHL experience. If we're saying that Nyquist (24) and Tatar (23) should've been getting serious NHL ice time when they were 20, well, Pulkkinen is already two years past that mark. Why are we not wringing our hands and gnashing our teeth over this? Isn't this Nyquist and Tatar all over again?

Obviously you were drunk off your ass.

If he doesn't win the Jack Adams this season, he probably never will. And I think there's something wrong with that.

Guy's pretty good.

St. James says we're likely to seed as a wild card. http://www.freep.com/article/20140409/SPORTS05/304090105/detroit-red-wings-pittsburgh-penguins Good to know.

99.9%. The world could be destroyed by an asteroid.

"Whoever we get, we're going to be a tough out." - Babcock http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140409/SPORTS0103/304090114/1128/rss16