Hank

I agree with your assessment on some of the weak calls. Modano's 'hooking' penalty was a joke. But so was Lidstroms. What made Lidstrom's even more infuriating was the complete non-call that happened 10 seconds before 200 feet down the ice involving Robidas. He basically hogtied Filpulla. How do you call hooking on Lidstrom and Modano (when no hook was involved) and yet let Robidas not only interfere with Filpulla's path to the puck, but literally grab him and throw him to the ice? I loathe complaining about referees as hockey is the hardest sport to officiate but the consistancy needs to be there. Whether the league or refs want to admit it, they're human nature gets in the way too many times. They say they'll call every penalty no matter what stage of the game it's in, but that's not true. They're still swallowing their whistles if one team is getting penalised a lot. And I'm sure Modano's weak call played a big role in Robidas getting away with his Greco-Roman tactic.

I was way more bothered by Glen Healey's comments regarding how this series was over and the 2nd period hadn't even concluded yet. Dallas will be much better in Game 2. But if the Wings win, I think it's over in 5.

If you took the 6 Canadian teams out of the NHL, there would be no NHL. 1/3 of the revenue comes from those 6 teams. Putting teams in Anaheim, Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, Florida haven't helped the NHL in it's national exposure in the least. I have no problems putting teams in cities where fans actually care about the sport. It's why I was glad Montreal lost the Expos and why I'd like to see Hamilton get an NHL team. P.S. Keeping a team in Green Bay (pop 90,000) sure has hurt the NFL hasn't it?

And from what I read the Nordiques made a NET profit up until they sold the team. Their owner at the time said that he could see where the salaries were headed and knew he'd be in trouble so he wanted to sell before it got too bad. When the US dollar was worth less than the loonie every Canadian team went out and bought as much US currency as they could. They then store that cash in a seperate account to pay the players salaries. That way, if the US $ ever rises to where it was before, they'll still be paying a ratio of 1:1 for many, many years to come. Teams are still buying up the dollar for this exact reason. I have no reason to suspect that a team in Quebec City would be fine again. And to be honest, I'd love to see the Habs-Nordiques rivalry restored.

Yeah, it was rumored that Bowman was going to clean house from GM's to coaching staff. But Richard Peddie blocked it. Bowman will never go to the Leafs because there's too many roosters in the henhouse. That's why you're seeing a lot of GM's turning Fletcher down. Their best shot would be to get the coach and GM from the Chicago Wolves. They've done an outstanding job and being as young as they are they'll take any NHL job that comes their way. But in the end the Leafs are screwed. As long as Peddie is in office they'll never accomplish squat. Why? Because Peddie and the BOG on the MLSE board don't want them to.

I agree. I don't like the idea of European teams for logistics alone but I think I could stomach a team in Stockholm over New Mexico. I actually don't mind the idea of Las Vegas. I think it could do well there and would give the NHL much greater exposure compared to other non hockey markets. But if there were to be expansion again, I think they're going to put a team in Kansas City and Portland. If that happens, the Wings MUST be moved to the East where they belong.

It depends on where you put the team. Winnipeg could support another hockey team but their new arena only has 40 luxery boxes. In today's market you need at least 100 so they'd have to renovate the rink. Also, you could put a team in Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and a 2nd team in Toronto and all 4 teams in the area would sell out every single game. I'd guarentee it. And I have proof to back it up as 15,000 seasons tickets were sold for Hamilton in less than 24 hours. How can anyone interpert that as poor support. The US dollar is horrible right now and I don't see it ever getting back to where it was before. Canadian teams will be fine for decades because of it. I don't think anyone who hasn't lived in the GTA or around it really fathoms how much southern Ontario loves NHL hockey. It's far greater than Texas' love for football. Seriously. The NHL needs to give up on expanding the interest of the sport. It's already been proven that it hasn't helped. Our TV deal has gotten worse since expansion and Cup winning teams in Tampa Bay and Anaheim have resulted in a whopping 35,000 fan turnout for their parade/celebrations - COMBINED. Or how about Phoenix and Nashville. Both have had considerable problems filling their rinks and despite being told, flat-out, that you'll lose your team if you don't get x amount of fans in the building, Pred Nation couldn't come close to making that number. You can put an NHL team in every single city in the US and it's not going to matter. Just like you could put a MLB or MLS team in every city in Canada and it wouldn't matter. The Islanders had a good thing going for maybe 10 years out of 40. They built a dynasty, the Oilers trashed it and it's never been the same. Also, California has more people in it than Canada combined and yet look at the ratings for a Ducks game compared to an Oiler game. The population difference is staggering and yet the Oilers will pull in 10x more viewers. It doesn't matter about the TV market. Look at LA? THEY are the largest TV market and yet they don't have an NFL TEAM. Why? Because people from LA, aside from the Dodgers and Lakers, don't care about sports. China has 1B people. Should we put an NHL team there? No. Why? Because they don't like hockey. Put teams where people want them. THAT's how you grow a sport. Green Bay has a poplution of 90,000 and I don't think anyone in sports will tell you they're bad for the NFL - the biggest league in North American and one of the biggest in the world. EDIT: Sorry for the long post, but I had one more point. Ratings across North America (Canada and the US cominbed) have shown that HNIC brings in better ratings than the NBA does on it's big night. Why does anyone think that expanding more teams to a country that wholeheartedly supports it is a bad thing? Or can't handle it. Putting a team in Albequrque, that plays in front of a nightly crowd of 8,000 would make the league look far worse than putting a team in Saskatoon to sold out crowds.

I can't wait. It'll be fun to hear how the Leafs are going to get every single executive and coach available - under contract or not - as well as every single UFA and RFA who hits the market July 1st. But there's something you can count on even more from Leaf Nation; they will miss the playoffs, the board members of MLSE will bury their heads even further up their asses and the ACC will be sold out every night. This franchise has absolutely no chance of succeeding. NONE. The only way that happens is if the team is sold to one owner or if fans stop coming to the rink. And we all know that ain't gonna happen. The board members know that they can throw 12 retarded monkeys on the ice at the ACC and as long as they have Leaf Jersey's on, the place will be sold out. Why on earth would they give a piss if they aren't winning? The only reason why they want that is to make that sweet net profit the playoffs bring. But make no mistake. There isn't one person on that board that actually gives a crap about winning the Cup. None whatsoever.

This series will be tough. Dallas has very good defense and goaltending. But I like how TSN doesn't bother to mention some of the suspect goals that Turco has let in throughout these playoffs. In the end, most of the analysts on TSN don't like Detroit because they're all Maple Leaf slappy's. It would be no different if it was Ottawa rolling through the East. They would find new and exciting ways to knock them down as well. Leaf homer-ism will always play a role on the TSN hockey panel. My prediction is the Wings win in 6 very tough, close games.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/20...for_game_4.html Basically, the kid didn't want to bother getting in shape to be an NHL player. He's making a tonne of jack doing nothing in the RSL. He's fat, lazy and couldn't care less about playing in the top league in de vorld.

I was more upset over the fact that this guy is on the competition committee. How can you have a goalie representative that is built like Urkel, yet looks like The Hulk in pads, give an unbiased opinion of what needs to be done to help the game? If the topic of inflated goalie gear ever gets raised, all of the members argueing for a reduction in pads can just point to Miller and say 'Exhibit A'.

Not only that, but I've been in situations like that where you're trying to line up a hit and when the guy moves, you have a knee-jerk reaction (pun intended) to stick out a body part to get a piece of him. But in this case there was no intent to hurt at all as I didn't see where this phantom-knee attempt occured. Sakic is a mini-Yzerman - all class.

That and the fact that Yzerman and Sakic were still very young before they won a Cup. It wasn't like Stevie and Joe were in their late 30's without having tasted a Cup and on teams that sucked really hard. Still, I like how Sundin's been loyal. He owes nobody anything.

Send that explanation to me as well. I just don't get it. I can watch pretty much any other sport, but not that one. Watching 40 rednecks make 2000 left turns isn't entertaining to me in the least.

Thanks for posting that NFM. I was floored by that article. Never have I read an article without any hint of subjectivity. The guy might as well take a picture with Avs pom-pom's. Since I read mainly Detroit papers and online publications like SI, CNN and ESPN, I have no idea if columnists in other cities are similar to this. But in my mind, how can anyone hold a job where they write as if they are a teenage drama-queen jealous of the new girl in school. If this guy can be a professional journalist then surely anyone else can be too. I'm a big Wings slappy and yet even I don't go onto message boards slamming other teams with such unbiased venom let alone a major newspaper. Furthermore, I like how quickly he's selling out his team. They have some very good talent there. Guys like Wolski and Stastny aren't even close to their prime yet. And guys Smyth, Hejduk and Liles still have a lot of hockey left in them. When healthy it wouldn't be an insane comment to make that the Avs have just as much chance to win the Cup as 9 or 10 other teams in the West do. This guy needs to take a Midol and find a new job. He's far too emotional to be taken seriously.

Especially when these same guys call Crosby out for embelishing certain calls. Although, Umberger is starting to become an Oscar worthy diver.

Totally agree. Although, I think he's the best passer in the game. If he would only shoot more I think he'd be even more dangerous. Dmen and goalies almost always know he's going to pass.

IMO, Sid Crosby is the best offensive player in the game. The only negative on him is that he doesn't shoot enough. But I haven't seen anyone with his kind of vision since Mario. He can find guys and thread passes that he can't even see. And his stength, determination and desire to get into high traffic areas is also something special. Malkin had a fantastic year, no doubt, but in my mind, Crosby is still a cut about him. And he's only 20 years old. He's only going to get better. AO is also an immense talent. I think he and Crosby are close in talent but if I was building team I'd still pick Crosby over anyone else. I'm still amazed that he was able to turn Andy Hilbert into a point-per-game guy two seasons ago. Watching him on center ice, all Hilbert had to do was keep his stick on the ice and he'd get goals/points. I have a feeling that if Crosby can remain healthy for the majority of the next 10-12 years, he could get 2000 points before his career is over.

If Dallas beats the Sharks I don't see it as them doing us a favor. The way the Sharks are playing I'd prefer to play them over the Stars. Every game will get harder and if the Wings are going to win the Cup it'll be because we outworked the other team and we didn't have as many injuries. That's basically how every team over the past 10 years has won. If the Stars finish the Sharks off they won't be an easy task as I'm sure the Eastern champ won't be either. But who knows? The Habs had a relatively easy road to the Cup in '93. Everything seemed to fall into their lap. Hopefully the Wings have the same luck this year.

Honta Yo baby!

By far the biggest difference was Ranford. We were in total control of that series. Stevie was on a scoring tear and we were actually getting compitent goaltending. But then in game 3 Ranford completely collapsed and we never recovered. I can still remember Hunter's 60 foot slapshot that sailed through Billy. We would have won the Cup that year if Ozzie wasn't hurt. This is nothing like that series. We'll split in Colorado and win it in Detroit on the weekend.

Well I guess that's where we'll have to part ways. He's been playing with two of the best centres in the league for 3 seasons now and outside of his first year, he's looked anything but a 2nd line player. Sammy scored 11 goals and 29 assists in 73 games while averaging 16:15 of ice time a game. That includes 2:43 on the PP per game average. Jiri Hudler played 81 games, scored 13 goals and 42 points while averaging 3 less minutes. Tomas Kopecky scored 5g, 7a in 77 games, but played nearly half the minutes, and under 30 seconds of PP time per game. And that's on a line with checkers. Kirk Maltby scored 6g and 10 points in 61 games while averaging 4 less minute a game than Sammy. And again, with far inferior linemates to what Sammy had. The stats don't lie. Other than Homer and Franzen, Sammy gets the best minutes of any winger on this team. And yet he still can't produce. There's a reason why he was on the 3rd and 4th lines on Florida - a Florida team that couldn't hold this teams jock strap. It's obvious Babcock loves Sammy and that's the reason for his ice time. I don't see how Chelios could do any worse than him on the PP and certainly Hudler could do better than him on the 2nd line. Probably Maltby and Draper too. Sammy works hard. I'm never going to deny that. But he has extremely limited offensive skills and awareness. He's constantly making bad choices in the offensive zone and if he doesn't hit the goalie square in the chest he's firing it into the webbing. I can't tell you how many times I've seen him waste a shot and force a stoppage rather than simply hitting the goalies leg pads looking for a rebound. He's a very good checking forward but he shouldn't be anywhere near other offensive players. He's terrible in that role. 11 goals playing 2 minutes less than what Crosby averaged, while lining up with Zetts or Dats most of the year is atrocious. McCarty scored 19 in less games while playing with Shanny and Larionov. If McCarty can do that, then certainly a 'true' second liner should be able to eclipse it.

We all know that you can't have twelve 50 goal scorers. But I have to wonder what a 10 goal scorer is doing on our 2nd line and 2nd PP unit. Maltby, Drake and Draper would do no worse with his kind of quality minutes. Sammy is a great, maybe even a perfect 4th line player. We're just questioning why he's being treated as a top 6 forward. Tell me about it. How many times did he try to go D-to-D only for him to pass the puck out of the zone?

I've never been a huge fan of Sammy's but my disdain for him continues to grow. Last night, both he and Filpulla were horrible. I'm still not sure why they're dressed let alone on our 2nd line. I sure hope that Sammy's dealt next summer and I won't shed one tear if Filp is traded for a big, physical winger. He looked incredibly weak on the puck.

That was you with the blue horn!?!?!?!? Weren't you blowing it every time the Wings scored? You were in Sec 203A then right? I was sitting in 202B row 22. P.S. Man was the Joe rocking last night! After Karen Newman rounded out the anthem I thought the roof was going to pop. And then when Al swung the octipi over his head (in the Zamboni entrance of course) it got even louder! I haven't heard the Joe like that in years!