Dabura

The Rangers would have been eaten alive by any of the original 8 in the West. Moreover, I don't why I should be the one being scolded for being partial, when you're the one who made the wholly false assertion that the Wings haven't faced any tough playoff teams. You want a tough team? How about one that takes down the Ducks and the Sharks, wins one against a Wings team that's firing on all cylinders to stave off elimination, then wins another one in Detroit's own building, making the Wings look like -- for at least one game -- a bunch of morons on skates. That's a tough team.

Babs: "I mean, I don't -- [shakes head in frustration] -- you know, he's ready to go. Just gotta get the OK."

I'm not in a tizzy. I just think that line of reasoning is wack.

Self-destructive Sens team, perpetually incomplete Rangers team, Flyers team missing its best d-men -- sorry, but the Pens' path wasn't exactly brutal either. Dallas could go toe-to-toe with any of those aforementioned teams, including the Sharks -- who, lest we forget, they beat in 6.

Agreed.

Yelling at an opposing coach isn't necessarily indicative of good leadership skills. As crappy as JQ's track record is, he's an infinitely better head coach.

So basically...Cleary cleared to destroy.

iawtp

Oh, I would. It's a big reason why so many people have been riding the Sharks bandwagon in recent seasons. Teams like that -- and the Pens -- are sexy, "hip," fresh, exciting. The Wings...the Wings just win. Ho-hum.

Did I say "man"? I meant "god."

You want to get the Wings off their game. You do that by getting under their skin, roughing them up, rushing them whenever they have the puck, etc.

Yes, they do. The Pens are a media dream, both for their on-ice product and for their "story" (franchise in ruins, Golden Boy Sid to the rescue, hurray for Canada, etc.) The Wings are old news. I hate to say it, but you all know it's true.

It's a moot point; if you get Kronwalled, you, by definition, will go flying because you're being caught completely off-guard. But if we're going to talk about being surprisingly strong on your skates, I suggest taking a look at a man by the name of Pavel Datsyuk.

Good stuff.

I was referring mostly to the fact that he almost always leaves his feet. He walks a very fine line in doing that.

There's an interview with Babs up on TSN. He says it'll probably be Kronwall and Stuart against Malkin. Then he says, "Lidstrom-Rafalski," but he doesn't finish his sentence. As for the forwards, I say power against power: ZDH against Crosby's line. If/when Mule returns, Mac sits.

This, this is booze-worthy. :beerbuddy:

Where's Bobby Lang when you need him?

If by "atone for his horrible calls against us" you mean "keep an eye on that Kronwall guy's elbows," then yes, I'm sure it has.

Are "we" seriously debating the use of "we" in reference to a sports team? Saturday night can't come too soon. oi

...Good luck with that.

Also worth considering is the Pens' lack of experience with the kind of puck-possession game the Wings play. It will throw them for a loop, and it will force them off their collective game. I expect Malkin to be spending more than few shifts running around, unsure of what to do...then maybe he puts his head down for a second because "ZOMG! I FINALLY GOT THE PUCK!"...then you know what happens next.... :judge:

Cry me a river. I came back because I wanted to talk about Brendan Morrow with people and logged in and posted without even thinking about my "hiatus." While, no, I hadn't posted on these boards during the postseason run up until that point, I was still following the Wings, watching every minute of every game. People keep saying I gave up on the team. I'm sorry, but there's no truth to that whatsoever. I was upset with Holland and needed to cool off -- i.e., take a break from these boards (not stop being Wings fan). I was also due for surgery, so I would have ended up taking time off regardless. People also complain that posters "like me" are "arrogant" and what have you. There may be truth to that, but the people doing the finger-waving are, ironically, just as guilty by virtue of their finger-waving. So please, Opie, give it a rest. You're tired of fans like me? Well, I'm tired of LGW's morality police. Moving on....

And just for the record, I'm not actually going to respond to any of these hypothetical PMs.

No, no I wasn't. I was blaming Holland for being Holland and needlessly handicapping this team (see our secondary scoring). However, I never once said, "This team absolutely will not win this year. Bank on it." But as you've shown in other threads, you're not too sharp when it comes to that stuff. I didn't bother reading the rest of your post. If you have a big problem with me, which seems to be the case, send me a hate-filled PM or something.