Dabura

This I can agree with.

I feel like Hossa alone gives us an edge. I mean, really, does anyone here honestly think he'll allow the Wings to lose against the Pens? He'll carry the whole team on his back if he has to.

I question your use of "easily" in this sentence.

I really, really wish the Wings were in the EC.

Maybe in peewee. It becomes much less enjoyable the higher up the ladder you progress. A lot of people don't realize this, but a "good" fight at the NHL level is brutal. That's why I don't get on a non-hockey fan's case when he/she gasps at the sight of a fight. We, as hardcore hockey fans, are numb to the fact that a "good" hockey fight is basically two grown men trying to beat the s*** out of each other. Either your face is going to be smashed or you're going to screw up your hand(s). Maybe both. Ask Joey Kocur. It's easy to yell, "ZOMG *****!" from a living room armchair.

I want the 'canes to win this series, so, uh, yeah.

A body which he uses, and uses effectively. He's not going to throw down anytime soon, but he's far from being a pure sniper a la Brett Hull. As for the topic: the Wings' MVP right now is Ozzie.

Clearly.

I'm pretty sure it's going to take a lot to dissuade the Powers That Be from giving it to Crosby or Malkin, even if the Wings take the Cup.

QFT

Do you ever get tired of being like this?

I look at that more as sweeping a problem under the rug. "Nothing to see here," that kind of thing. Do I think a fine is warranted against any of the refs the Wings have had to deal with in this run? Eh, not really. But there's absolutely a double standard at work, and it frustrates me to no end. I understand that sticking by the officials is "good business," but...at what point does it become bad business? Again, though: not defending Q.

"Gutless" was, imo, an absolutely terrible word choice. It's just so mindblowingly far from anything resembling accurate that all I can do is laugh. For that hit to have been "gutless," Kronner would have had to have done something cowardly. What The Turtle did to Draper, that is gutless. But drilling Havlat to the ground like Kronner did? That's hockey, folks. Puck was there, Havlat had his head down. Moreover, everyone knows that sequence is Kronner's bread and butter. Hell, this was, what, the third time in the series that Kronner had bulldozed Havlat?

Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin

I'd like to see a ref get slapped with that kind of fine from time to time. Not really defending Q, but come on. Watson can pull a disphit move like his Hossa non-call and get off scotch free, but if someone says something negative about officiating that someone has to cough up $10,000? Hurray for double standards.

I drive cross-country back and forth between school and home. Done the roundtrip dealy three times. Stayed in a lot of hotels, but never found Versus on any of their TVs. And some of these are very upscale, like in Vegas. It saddens me.

Yeah, punching him in the face would've made much more sense. Mule was just trying to get under Kane's skin, not prove he could beat the crap out of him.

Well I'm glad we all signed up for an online message board devoted to hockey talk.

I was just about to make this point. The Pens are not nearly as deep as the Wings. And in the postseason, depth counts for a s***-ton. Maybe not against the Flyers and Capitals, but certainly against teams that are legitimate contenders -- e.g. the Wings, who, as you said, just proved that they can be the best team in the league even without two of their top players. And that's because they don't rely on 3-4 players to carry the load like the Penguins do. Whether they want to admit it or not, the Pens -- and their fans -- know that if any of those 3-4 players start feeling the heat, their team is in trouble. The Wings don't work that way; they are a bona fide team, as opposed to a few stars and a supporting cast. Hell, the Wings' checkers and role players have arguably been carrying more of the load than their star forwards throughout this run.

No, they need some talent first.

Even being down three goals isn't insurmountable. I thought these were the "Comeback Kids"?

Flip and Hossa have chemistry. It looked like they'd been linemates for years yesterday. They stay together, imo.

I don't deny that possibility. What I deny is this notion that merely one season from being dismissed from the SCF, the Pens are suddenly and miraculously not only on par with the Wings, but superior to them. In terms of assets, if there's one thing the Pens have that the Wings don't, it's two scoring machines. Beyond raw scoring ability (in the EC), the Wings have the Pens' number in just about every category. Do you honestly think the Pens' depth at forward stacks up against the Wings'? The Wings' third line could be the first or second line on more than a few teams, and damn if it hasn't been getting the job done lately. The Wings' D -- the blue line and overall team D -- is unmatched. That's not homerism. Just about any hockey analyst would tell you the same. To a man, every Red Wing is committed to defense-centric play and capable of playing it very, very well. And, as we saw last season, defense wins championships. The Penguins are an offense-oriented team, and no matter how much they've grown from last year's heartbreak, they're not even close to the Wings' level of defensive play. Much of that owes to the difference between the WC and EC. Specifically, a team needs to have one hell of a defensive game if it's going to amount to anything in the WC, whereas the same really can't be said of the EC. The Pens had to go through the Flyers and Capitals. The Wings would have swept both, maybe gone to five against the Caps. Why? Because those teams simply suck at playing defense. Suck at it. The Ducks pushed the Wings to the brink because they play an unbelievably strong game of defense and boast the most dominant line in the NHL. And they're bigger, stronger and nastier than any team in the East. The Ducks matched the Wings almost blow-for-blow because they have the tools to do it. The Pens have two scoring machines -- who, as I recall, didn't exactly looking like scoring machines in last season's SCF. Take away Hossa and last season's SCF doesn't even go to six games.

Why, Sidney Crosby of course!