Hank

QUOTED FOR TRUTH!!!! I like Schneids too but I don't think we should resign him with Quincy, Meech and Ericsson chomping at the bit and NHL ready. I also hope we resign Calder and Bert if it's in the budget.

Hahaha! I love it! After I talk about how horrible our PP is and how Bab's should be shaking things up Kelly Hrudey just said on CBC how the Wings need to get Sammuelson off the PP because he's not doing anything out there. I love Hrudey!

Yup. What really pisses me off is that Giggy will get praised for another win (or Heaven forbid a shutout) when he hasn't been worked at all. The Ducks have an unbelievable D in front of him and they've done a great job of clearing out all the fat 8-15 foot rebounds he allows on routine shots. In the end, the Ducks have thoroughly outplayed the Wings tonight and their PK hardly looks like they're down a man.

I agree. To win the cup you need some luck and things to go your way. There haven't been too many teams that won the Cup with as many injuries that the Wings have had. But in the end, our PP totally deflated our chances to win this series. It started with the Wings failure to score on that 5-on-3 in game 3 when we were tied 3-3. We score on that and this series is over. But instead, they kill it, they score on their own PP and that was it. Our PP looks absolutely pathetic this game. It seems like our players are more proud of themselves if they can keep it in the zone for more than 20 seconds let alone create any chances. Did anyone else see how on our last PP, Zetterberg had 3 guys around him in the corner? How does that happen? We're the team with the man advantage and yet he got outmuscled by 3 players. Somehwere, there's a 4-on-1 available but our PP has been beyond horrendous. And it's kind of disheartening to see that Babcock and his coaching staff were unable to right that ship after Game 3. Ce la vie. Good series Ducks and good luck. Although I think the Sens are going to win it all this year. The good news is that Lang will be gone forever in about 1 month's time. That guy was completely useless for us this entire playoff and I find it amazing that we were able to make it to the Conference final and 2 games shy of the Finals with having so many injuries and our "2nd line centre" play like a pile of garbage. Here's to next year with guys like Filp, Quincy, Hudler and possibly Grigorenko playing larger roles.

I've heard several players say it's like playing on the moon. There's even been rumours that it's one of the reasons why Kariya left.

Man does our powerless play suck. I'm convinced it could be a 5-on-1 and we still wouldn't be able to keep the puck in for more than 10 seconds. The PP Is all about creating odd man rushes. Try to get as many 2-on-1 situations in the offensive zones you can. And yet, how many times did we see a puck battle where it was 2-on-2 or 1-on-1? We need to get this thing going. That was a huge opportunity for us to go into the 2nd tied at 1. And we really, really need Lang to start doing something. I know he's a popular whipping boy but he's playing like a 4th line player. The only thing I've seen him do is draw a linemate offside twice by making an extra move at the blueline. Come on Wings. I'm tired of making Giguere look better than he is. He's let out some HUGE rebounds that we have to start capatilizing on. On one play, Bertuzzi just fired a lazy wristshot at Giggy and he couldn't even hold on to that as a short 3 foot rebound came right out front. Cleary almost go there and if he had one extra step it would have been a slam dunk for him. LETS GO WINGS!

"I"m Nick Lidstrom *****!"

"F*CK THE DUCKS!"

NO DEAL!! A thong is one thing, but prancing? NO!

If the Ducks do manage to sqeak out another win, they're going to be destroyed by the Sens. Look at what the Wings are doing to them with half of their lineup banged up? Even if you stuck Kunitz back in the lineup does anyone really believe that this series would still be going on if we had a healthy Schneider, Kronwall, Lebda, Calder and Bertuzzi? No way. Not even close. I think the only team that could give Ottawa a tough go is the Wings. Giggy's pads won't get away with kicking out one fat rebound after another against the Sens.

Well Brad, if the Wings win 5-1, I want my inbox to be full of pics of your gorgeous wife making muffins with nothing but an appron on.

In past years I might have agreed with this. Against the Flames and then the Oilers, when we were down 3-2 a lot of people thought we still had a chance. But the way the Wings were playing in both of those series had me believe that we were lucky to have even 2 wins. We played sloppy and without a lot of heart and desire. This year it's been completely different. The Wings looked brutal for the first 2 games and after the OT loss in game 2 I thought the Wings might have run out of gas. But they have only gotten stronger since then. If the Ducks had thoroughly outplayed the Wings yesterday I might be inclined to think that we were done. But this team has shown a butt-load of resiliancy and I don't think they are going to give up at all. In fact, I think we're going to come out storming and throw everything at them for 60 minutes. If the Ducks continue to play like like they have over the last 3 games while the Wings continue to do the same, I have no reason to believe we can't win the next 2. Hasek is the equalizer, not Giggy's pads. Sooner or later, those giant, fat rebounds that Giggy gives up in the middle of the slot are going to stop rolling over our players sticks and they'll be in the back of the net. Game 6: Wings 5, Ducks 1. (And yes, we will score on a 5-on-3).

I don't think the majority of people here are saying that the Ducks suck. I think they're a great team. But the last two games the Wings have made them look anything but a #2 seed and a Cup favourite. The Wings deserved wins in the last two games and any Anaheim player or fan would be delusional or lying if they told anyone that they were the better team in games 4 and 5. In the end, Wings fans here have a right to pipe off and show their frustration. If what some people say sounds disrespectful or childish so be it. Afterall, this is a Redwings message board.

You know what they say "Skill brings good luck". But it's hard to agree with that mantra when you look at how well the Wings have played compared to the Ducks. Before this series began everyone and their dog talked about how much bigger, faster and more skilled and physical the Ducks were. But if you knew nothing about hockey and watched the last 3 games it would be the Wings you'd assume that statement was made about. The Ducks looked terrible for 59 minutes of game 5. The Wings owned them and there wasn't anything the Ducks could do about it. Then Franzen has a brain freeze and Neidermayer gets off a shot that deflects favourably for him. That's all she wrote. I hope that the Wings leave nothing to chance in Game 6 but it would be nice to get a couple of those bounces. We got them in game 1 so we're due. But it seems like only 2 games out of the 5 have gone for the team that outplayed the other. The Ducks and their fans should be extremely grateful for getting back to back wins in games they had no business winning.

The reason why Lilja made that mistake isn't entirely all his. The Redwings have played a puck possession style for many years now. A style that is loathe to give up the puck in any situation. When he carried that puck out and tried to dish it off, it's because they practice and execute that play 1000 times a year. I've seen him and all the other Wings dmen make that same play over and over again. But in this case, he fanned on the pass. What the coaches need to do (and have been doing slowly) is get the players used to making a safer play in certain situations. In OT that play should never be made by anyone not named Nick Lidstrom. Everyone else should be firing it off the boards and simply lifting it out of the zone. Mike Babcock has been trying to get the team to make safer plays for a couple of seasons now, but it's a work in progress. As far as Franzen, yeah, he F'd up bigtime. But he's a very inexperienced player still. You could make an argument that he shouldn't have been on the ice with such an important game on the line. Ce La Vie. Mike Bossy said this morning on XM204 that in all intents and purposes Detroit should have finished this series off last night. But a series of unlucky bounces, a few bad decisions and the inability to capatilize on countless 5-on-3's have them down 3-2 instead of heading to the Finals. I hope that Babs and the crew can settle this team down and maybe get the 5-on-3 working. That alone should be the reason for all the fans and players disgust at this point. And if I'm Hasek I'm really steaming about that more than the Lilja giveaway and Franzen brainfart.

Thank you! I love NHL fans. When you lose it's never because you f'ed up or didnt' play good. It's always the horrible reffeing. We had a chance to seal this game twice with less than 4 minutes left in the game. On our PP and then on Franzen f'ing around with the puck when he had it on his forehand and an open clearing attempt. And I'm sure it wasn't the refs that told Lilja to F around with the puck 8 feet in front of his goalie. We lost this game because we made two collosal errors. The Wings had plenty of opportunities to put this game and the last away. If we lose this series it's our own fault.

Yup. I'd be more concerned if it was the Ducks style of play or tenacity that caused these gaffs and turnovers. But that wasn't the case at all. Detroit just took a big dump last night. They'll rebound well. Even though we lost I didn't have a feeling of panic at all. We're better than Anaheim and I'm starting to suspect some of the Ducks think so too.

Hahahaha! Too funny. The best sign I've seen at Ford Field was "We can't A-FORD to keep Millen!". Security was running after this guy to grab the sign. As soon as they'd close in, he'd throw the sign and another fan would grab it and start running around with it. It looked like a freakin' Benny Hill episode.

True on all accounts. But at the same time, I don't know how anyone can say he's wrong regarding the size of goaltending equipment today. Or the fact that Giggy lacks any kind of athleticism and relies solely on his bulk and sound positioning (taught to him by one of the greats).

I'd have to watch the replay again, but from the initial view and replay I thought Getzlaf did a small toe-drag to avoid hitting the defenders legs/stick before shooting. It certianly looked like he knew what he was doing and he does have an incredibly hard and accurate shot. I'm not taking any credit away from him. He's been great in this series.

You would too if you were as Leaf-centric as the CBC crew is. Look at the Ottawa-Buffalo series. Harry Neale and Bob Cole can't say enough about the Sabres and you can almost see them cringe when they're forced to say something half complimentary of the Sens. And even when they do, it's always an offhanded remark. Instead of saying "Great save Emery" they'll say "Emery makes a stop - one that he should have had". As Leaf homers you have to root against any team that is an enemy of Leaf Nation. The Wings and Sens are at the top of that list. Regarding Hasek, I have no problems with him at all. Like a previous poster pointed out, the dude brings his AAA game after a bad one. And look at the positives here; we've put up 3+ against Giggy's pads in 3 of the 4 games. We've proven we can light the lamp. I don't see us losing 2 of the next 3 with how our offense, defense and Hasek have been playing. We're only getting stronger.

Al Strachan is an assclown but on this subject he's bang on. While Giggy's equipment is legal in the NHL sense it's still rediculous. Look at how badly he's played in this series. Every single save he makes is with his belly. He hardly ever makes andy dramatic kick saves and his blocker and trapper are basically on vacation. If it weren't for his bloated equipment he'd be pumping my gas every week. Just look at that Chelios, offside, long shot he watched hit the post in game 3. Heck, even last night, if the puck moved a little to each side of him or came flying off the boards he looked like a clumsy robot out there. He almost had a goal go in off his leg pads that came off the end boards. He's brutal and he'd be nothing without his defense or if the NHL forced reduced equipment. Mark my words, the NHL will be making the nets bigger in the next 5 years. This next season some team is going to give Giggy a huge contract and they'll regret it before it expires, because by then, the nets will be bigger and he'll be lit up like my uncle at a Christmas party. He has ZERO skill outside of grazing the envelope on equipment size and playing angles. He's been severly outplayed by Hasek in this series despite Dom's wandering ways and poor performance last night. Hasek can win you games, Giggy won't. If you had to compare them Hasek is Peyton Manning and Giggy is Trent Dilfer. If he has a good defense in front of him, he can do enough to secure wins, but he's certainly not going to steal any games for you. All 3 goals he let in last night would have been stopped by almost every other playoff goalie.

I know this is going to sound very tree-huggerish but I have really enjoyed the last 2 games. That's the kind of hockey this conference final was supposed to be like. End to end action with great hits, saves, defensive plays and goals. Love him or hate him, Ryan Getzlaf has been a treat to watch. That PP goal he scored in the 3rd was awesome. Not too many guys are going to score that goal. And boy has Filpulla really impressed me. It seems that ever since Babs gave him more icetime and top 2 line linemates he's really come on. How many times have we seen him undress Neidermayer? That's a rookie doing that to a first ballet HOF dman. Wow. I think we need to consider putting him out there on a 5-on-3 instead of Lang. Can't wait for game 5. The Wings are a veteran club and they won't look at this game as a 'blown opportunity'. They'll strap on the boots on Sunday and pound out a win.

CBC's talking about how now that Perry and Selanne scored they'll have renewed life and will be much better as we go along. I have to disagree with this. Both players scored goals in the first and were basically invisible the rest of the way. If those goals were to give them a boost we would have seen them more the rest of the game. Selanne showed more jump than usual in the last half of the game but at the same time I am never worried when he grabs the puck. The only forward that worries me in the offensive zone is Getzlaf. Meanwhile, Wings like Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Filpulla and even our grind line seem to be giving the Ducks fits.