Hank

Welcome to LGW Ducks2007! I can understand your opinion on this series and I'm inclined to agree with you. Your top 4 dmen are the best collection in the league. J.S. "The Michilan Man" Giguere is playing very well and your top 2 lines are dynamite. However, I think it's obvious that the Wings are showing a resiliancy nobody has seen since their Cup winning years. On paper the Ducks look better, but the same could have been said against the Flames and Sharks. And I firmly believe that Hasek is the best goalie left in the playoffs. He's stolen more than 1 game for us in each series and I believe he can do the same against the Ducks. Another reason I believe that the Wings can beat you is that Detroit knows how to beat Giggy. He's very prone to high shots and the Wings have exposed him on that in recent regular season games. The other factor is that the Ducks have played 2 relatively inexperienced and offensivly challenged teams in Minnesota and Vancouver. The Wings will bring defense that is just as good, if not better, with a lot more offense to boot. In the end, I think this is going to be another great series that will go at least 6 games. I want to pick the Wings but considering that I picked the Flames and then the Sharks to win and was horribly wrong I don't want to jinx anything. Ducks in 6. (But in my heart I think the Wings will win in 5, very close games).

I still think the Sharks are a terrific hockey club. You have one of the best GM's and scouting teams in the league and you have an abundance of young talent that will carry this team for years. I think it's obvious, but the Sharks are still very young. But these kinds of disappointments can only make you stronger. The Wings had a LOT of disappointing playoff exits before finally putting it all together. Despite Marleau struggling in this series I still love this guy. I think he's a great leader and a perfect #2 centreman on this club and a great representative for San Jose. And Thornton? There's not much else to say about this kid. I knew he was a true leader and he showed it in this series. Keep you chin up Sharks fans. Your future is incredibly bright and I'd be shocked if you didn't make it to the finals within the next 2 years. If the Wings ever face you in the postseason again, I don't think we should count on you taking your heel off our throats when you get an early lead. Those kinds of lessens are usually learned the hard way and I imagine the outcome will be different next time around. Good series and good luck in the future. It's very bright.

I think the Sabres would be a much easier team for the Wings. The Wings have played more physical against two teams that are bigger and more aggressive than them. The Sabres, on the other hand, have shown that their game can be neutralised by physicality. The Islanders and Rangers gave them fits by doing so. The Wings have shown to be far greater physically than either of those two teams and I believe they would dismantle them in 4 or 5 games. Ottawa downright scares me; fast, aggressive, great defensively, physical and have scoring from all 4 lines. Emery is considered the 'weakest' goalie left in the playoffs and yet all he's done is win 8 games while only losing 2. I don't know if anyone can beat them at this point.

I think this will be an easy 5 game series for the Sens. Not that Buffalo isn't a good team but they didn't look that strong against a pathetic Islanders team and they had issues with the Rangers. The Rangers weren't a bad club, per say, but they weren't world beaters either. The Sabres had serious issues using their speed against a stingy Rangers defense. Ottawa's D is lightyears better than New Yorks so I see them having fits against Redden, Phillips and the rest. The Sens remind me of the 97 Wings so much it's scary. I don't know if there's a team in the NHL that can beat them over 7 games. I hope the Wings play them in the finals because it would be very entertaining hockey. But I think the Sens won't lose more than 2 games to any team left.

Leaf Fans=Lions Fans

I understand that. But 3 years is too long. You have to remember that the Cap can go down as well as up. Lets say in 3 years the Cap goes back down to $44 mil or even less. Having a nearly 40 year old Maltby for almost $1M a year is not something that is financially responsible. And I have a feeling that Maltby won't be the guy to be on the ice with 1 minute to play next season or beyond.

I don't know man. At nearly $900,000/year that's pretty steep. Especially when you consider we'll probably be up against cap again next season. Seeing Ellis take his spot for $450,000 looks a lot better. Not only that, but I have a feeling this deal is a sign that Draper will get one similar.

I'm a big fan of Maltby and what he does and has done for this team. But this is a bad signing. I have a feeling this had more to do with keeping players fans recognise than for what's best for the club. We have some excellent players on the farm that can do what Maltby does, or pretty close to, for half this price. It's not like I'm super ticked about it, but I was really hoping that some of the young guys would get a chance to play. Next season there are rumours that players like Grigorenko, Dick Axelsson and possibly even Emmerton or Helm could make the club. But there's no room unless we let Calder and Bertuzzi walk. And I'm not a big fan of that either. We need to resign one of those 2 if not both. But I don't think we'll have the money.

I don't think those two series' could be considered coasting. Sure, they put them both away in 5 but a lot of them went to OT and were decided by 1 goal. What worries me about playing the Ducks is that they have now faced the two, arguably, hottest goalies in this years playoffs and not once did they seem discouraged. Some teams will collapse after throwing 40+ shots at a goalie without bending the twine. Some might give up if they're totally dominating a team only to lose 2-1. But the Ducks have fought through that. They look good. But so have the Wings. If we get past the Sharks it should be another entertaining series.

Not to beat a deadhorse, but salary does have something to do with it. We play in a capped league now. If you're going to spend 15% of your cap on one player, you want to see that player do what he's paid for. If he can't, you'd like to use that same 15% on another player or players who can. For the record, I think Datsyuk and Zetts have played great so far. Dats has shown way more effort this year and I think he's finally grasped the concept of how hard you need to work or how much you need to elevate your game come playoff time. But in the end, if you lose out and one of the main reasons is not enough production, you're naturally going to look at your top offensive players. When you use the following argument: a counter argument could be made that perhaps the game could have been 4-1 or 4-2 if your top players had pumped in more goals. I still think that the main issue with their lack of road production is that they're on the same line and that the other team has the last change. It's too easy for the Sharks to get their top D-pairing and checking line out against them. Zetts should be centering their 2nd line.

Well said. That's all I, and others were trying to say. Cheers.

Well now it's official that you haven't read anything in this thread. Otherwise, you would have noticed that I didn't start this thread. I just noticed how many people were jumping all over the original poster and defended some of the things he was saying. Please get your facts straight before you patronize or insult fellow LGW members.

I don't think anyone here is questioning whether or not he's a devout or avid fan. It's obvious. But when someone simply states that we need to get Dats and Zetts producing on the road, and that person is flamed to no end, there's an issue. There's a huge difference between being an avid fan, and being a delusional, psychopathic one.

Personal attacks are inevitable when someone lacks the intelligence and/or knowledge to present an argument. Can't win an argument? Have nothing more to day? Start name calling and throw out insults. I think it's obvious that WingNutt is a minor or of a very young age. His last post lacks maturity and common sense.

Hahahaha! That's funny that you accuse me of being on someone's balls when you seem to be suckling on Datsyuk's. Bowman said that they need more offense from Datsyuk and Zetterberg. That's exactly what we're saying here. Sure, they're all paid to produce goals but some are paid to produce more. But it's obvious that you're blind by your mad manlove for Datsyuk. You continue to harp that he's one of the best players in the world but at the same time you don't think he needs to be one of the main guys to provide offense. It's obvious to everyone here that you're not going to actually listen to what others are writing here. It's even more obvious that Datsyuk can never be critiqued in any way: LGW Member: "Datsyuk's stick is weird looking" WingNutt: "Waaaaa! Why do you keep piling on Datsyuk! WAAAAAAAAAA! He's awesome! HE's the best! Don't you know you're hurting Datsyuk's feelings by saying this!!!! WAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Get over yourself and your blind devotion to your favourite player. Nobody's saying he sucks or that he's not trying hard enough. But at some point we're going to need him to score on the road. Especially if we lose Game 5.

But what would he say if they lost? Their road record is 2-3 (10 goals, 2 g/gm average). Lets say, for arguments sake, that San Jose wins the next two and Dats and Zetts put up another goosegg in Game 6. After all the dust settles, what would your thoughts be if you were told, the Wings had a road record of 2-4 and lost in the Conference semifinals. In those 6 road games, Datsyuk and Zetterberg combined for 0 points while the team averaged only 2 goals per game on the road. Most people won't ask about effort. Just like they didn't say anything about Yzerman's effort in 1993 when they were beaten by the Leafs and Yzerman had 7 points in their 3 wins but 0 points in their 4 losses. People will ask, where were your top offensive players when you needed them most? Vancouver got ousted in 5 by Anaheim and it had a lot to do with little to no offense. Canucks fans everywhere are blasting Naslund and the Sedin twins. I watched a lot of that series and not one of those players mentioned put in a half-ass effort. But at the same time, you could point out certain situations where they should have shot more. Or tried to drive the net more. Or switch up where they setup. In the end, you still need to score goals to win hockey games. And if you're best offensive players aren't doing that enough for you, you won't go far. In the playoffs, every player is paid to and expected to give 100% effort. That's a given. But certain players earn their paychecks for different reasons. Would you expect Andreas Leilja to score a goal every game? No. But you'd expect him to play solid defense. Is Cleary expected to put up 2 points a game? No, but we need him to bring energy, forechecking and be defensively responsible. Any goals he scores are a plus. If this team was tied 2-2 and we scored 31 goals but gave up 36 in the series, nobody here would say "Datsyuk and Zetterberg need to score more!", they'd be calling for Lidstroms head and Haseks head. In the end, Datsyuk and Zetterberg are paid handsomely and given prime minutes to score goals. That's their job. All some of us are asking is that they do a little more of it on the road. Again, it's not a question of effort. It's about doing your job and doing what you're expected to do. The 12 forwards on this team are not clones. They're not all expected to produce the exact same. That's why some only get 4 minutes a game and get paid $900,000 a year while others get 20 minutes and get paid $7,000,000/year.

Do people here even read what's being written? Or do you just like to jump in to insult and then leave? Where did anyone on this thread say anything about Datsyuk and Zetterbergs effort? I'll wait while you read back through the previous posts. That's right, nobody did. All the origanal poster and people like myself have said is that both of them need to start producing goals on the road. And like haroldsnepts pointed out, Scotty Bowman said the same thing. So I guess he doesn't know hockey either? I think it's funny how you used Glen Healy as an example to discredit the original poster while Scotty Bowman was used to defend those that agree with him. Now who's opinion are you going to trust? My dogs vomit knows more about hockey than Glen Healy.

No harold! This means that Bowman doesn't know what he's talking about!!?!? Only WingNutt has any knowledge about hockey! Having trouble scoring goals? Don't blame your best offensive players. The same players that the same people keep touting as one of the best in the world! "Datsyuk is the best! But don't expect him to score or lead a team to victory!" But I have to give WingNutt credit. He wrote the funniest post I've ever read: Hahahahaha! My kid's not even 4 and he wouldn't say something this corny or delusional. Right now Datsyuk is at home reading these boards with a single tear running down his face. "Why no love for Pasha?" Hahahahaha! Thanks for the laugh WingNutt! If you really did play hockey (and I'm not talking street hockey or pickup hockey) you would recognize how rediculous that statement is.

Well said. And this thought has been repeated several times here. I don't think one person has posted here saying that Datsyuk has played poorly. We're just looking for him to produce on the road. I don't think that's an unrealistic request.

Datsyuk played with them in the regular season but in the playoffs Hull was placed with all 3 other centres shifts at a time. Datsyuk was even sat a few games in the playoffs. And I'm not sure how to respond to the rest of what you wrote, as I'm not sure of it's relevance here. McGratton plays for the Sens and Janssen for the Devils. Pandolfo is not, by any means, an enforcer. He's a PK specialist. He wouldn't intimidate my grandmother. And what does Gomez have to do with anything? I think you're getting way off track here.

Datsyuk has 1 Cup and he played on the 4th line, with almost no TOI in 3rd periods. Basically, he was a non-factor due to inexperience. Goons protect and intimidate during the regular season. If they served such a tremendous purpose in the playoffs you would see them a lot more. It's the reason why Cam Janssen and Brian McGratton got playing time in the regular season and haven't been dressed for 1 second of playoff hockey this year. To say that Gionta has scored 8 goals so far this spring because of goons is a rediculous statment. And to be brutally honest, it makes you sound as if you don't know anything about hockey.

Datsyuk's been in the league longer than Spezza and the same amount of time as Gionta. And goons are a complete non factor during playoff time. Just look how much ice time Cam Jansen and McGratton have gotten. Goons don't help scorers score more in the postseason. They won 3 Cups from teamwork but it also didn't hurt that their top offensive players (Yzerman, Federov, Shanny) all came through.

Considering that Holmstrom played in all 3 road games in Calgary, I wouldn't say he's the reason. First, he wasn't shutdown last game as he setup Cheechoo with a sweet pass (maybe we were watching a different game). And also, we're not complaining about putting up 0 points in one road game, but rather 5. And if you forgot, Thornton has been trashed by NHL fans across the board for years now for not producing in the playoffs. But I think you need to reread this post by haroldsnepts: I think that sums it up perfectly.

Wow! That was perfectly said! I'm not sure how anyone can dispute that.

What Datsyuk faces is no different than every other star in this league. From Spezza to Gionta to Teemu Selanne. And you took my comparison way out of proportion. I was simply stating that if you're team is lacking in offense people are going to look at your top offensive player.