hamip1998

That's next for young Sid. Honestly, he is one of the best young players in the NHL. Is he what the media and the ass-clown commish make him out to be? NOT YET. Does he have the potential to be? Yes. Therefore, he is overrated for now. Also, statistics don't tell the whole story. A player may put up fantastic numbers, but be overrated in other ways. Thorton may have multiple 100 point seasons, but I personally don't see him as being much of a leader - at least not by example. Same for Iginla. Great player, but the way that he conducts himself (07 playoffs come to mind) on the ice sometimes is questionable. You don't start cheapshotting at the end of a game because you are clearly going to lose. That's not toughness, that's immaturity. Don't give me that "sending a message" crap either. And Yes, I would take Iginla on the Wings in a heartbeat.

Actually, some of their staff does. I do enjoy reading Buccigross. He is a very entertaining writer and a hockey nut at that. Just because the sport doesn't get respect from a bunch of the other talking heads, who cares? People, yes even media people, like to jump on bandwagons and take the safe and popular things to say in a lot of situations. Having the honest and unpopular opinion about something, especially in the workplace, isn't always the easiest thing to do. Put yourself in a highly visible corporate position where you are one of the faces of the company and you are successful and financially secure. Now, openly disagree with your boss in front of customers, investors, etc. A lot of people don't want to do that, especially in a highly competitive business. Not saying that is true in every case with all of the ESPN anchors, but how many of these reporters and anchors truly give a crap about hockey one way or another? They probably don't really have an opinion and don't really hate hockey, but the safe thing to say is "hockey sucks...who cares?...blah, blah, blah". Why do you think everyone loves Crosby? He is a great player, sure. But non-hockey fans can pronounce his name and he is who the league is pimping at the moment. Does it get under my skin sometimes that there are players who I feel are just as or nearly as good who don't get the recognition that they deserve? Yes. But, let's remember, casual fans need a name. Heck, I don't watch NASCAR - I really dislike the "sport", in fact. However, I do like Jeff Gordon. Why? Because it pisses off most of those people who really love NASCAR and I have something to say when people talk about racing. It's sort of the same thing with some people and Crosby. People just want to have something to say and be heard even though they don't really know anything about the sport.

Awesome email Outsider. That pretty much sums it up.

QFT I used to get annoyed at Preds fans until I figured out that some were just ignorant. Pittsburgh has had successful professional franchises in the past. The fans should know better, therefore I cannot discount them as being ignorant. The only other explaination is that they all jumped on the bandwagon once Sid was brought to town. They like to bash Detroit. Sorry guys, having spent time in both places, those hulking empty steel mills are pretty depressing. While I didn't hang out in the mean streets of Detroit, downtown was not bad at all and left a lot better impression on me than Pittsburgh. Growing up about an hour west of the PA border may be skewing my opinion, but for me, they way that they present themselves as sports fans point to only one thing: an absolute lack of class on any level. They obviously feel so bad about themselves and the toilet that they call home that they drag everyone else down at all costs.

Hockey is coming along in Northern Ohio. Bowling Green has a good program, and OSU is slowly building a decent team. My kid plays for a Cleveland Youth Hockey Association travel team and the enthusiasm for the sport is encouraging. One thing I am proud of is that for the most part it seems to be a good experience for the kids and the parents. Most of the teams stress teamwork, positive attitude, etc. Not a lot of t-ball / soccer / hyper-suburban win at all costs attitudes. Yes, we lost the Lumberjacks / Barons. The Lake Erie Monsters (Avs AHL team) played their first season in Cleveland last year. I went to a couple of games last year that were VERY entertaining with a good turn out. They just need to learn to promote themselves a little more. They did well with their grass roots movement (we got a bunch of discount tickets for the team and lots of t-shirts). The word is getting out there slowly but surely.

Good luck. Stay positive, strong, and determined. I echo everyone's sentiments here: you will be in our prayers. You will feel better soon and be able to enjoy watching the Wings finish this run.

Uh, no. Scared (not s***less, but pretty damn scared) was seeing Fisch almost die on the bench. The possibility of seeing a kid who really hasn't paid his dues in the league but to who carries himself as if he is entitled to win the Cup break down and cry because he isn't getting his way is joy...pure joy.

Neutral Zone Trap Going out on a limb here, and maybe I am wrong, but: The Wings may trap from time to time, but the vast majority of the time they don't (it may be a variation of a trap, a la the "left wing lock") but not always a true trap. The key to our defensive success is the quickness of our forwards coming back to play defense. Having the defensive talent that we have doesn't hurt either.

Well said and much respect to you. Thanks for the well thought out response. Personally, I accept that Sidney is a kid who worked his tail off to get to the level that he is at and is an amazing player who is a good face for the league to have the casual fan identify with. I really don't blame him at all for the hype machine that the NHL has built around him. Seriously, the NHL should market Sidney. However, it just pisses me off that there seems to be nothing but a focus on Crosby by the media in this series. For example, I think Ryan Malone is a hell of a player but I really don't know much about him. How about spotlighting him? This isn't about the poor Wings not getting any love, it's about disagreeing with how the NHL is presenting itself and getting tired of only hearing about one player or one team. I simply feel that they should market AO, Nash, Iginla, Hank, Pavel, etc with the same level of intensity. They should be celebrating HOCKEY, not just one player or team.

SWF, I want to apologize up front. You really do seem like an intelligent and likeable person. You typically step up and are the voice of reason when it seems like most posters are either panicking or wearing their homer glasses. But really, do you always have to be Mr. Contrary? If that's really how you feel, that's fine and I respect that. Maybe it just stands out to me so much because of some of the knee jerk reactions by other posters to all things that don't go the Wings way. Hockey is the ULTIMATE team sport. This isn't the NBA where you can have a team made up of one superstar, a second above average player, and the rest of the roster be average to mediocre and make a championship run. Bettman pimping Crosby is like the NBA pimping Shaq or Jordan. It's VERY tiresome. One more way Bettman is attempting to market hockey like it is the NBA. There are FANTASTIC players throughout the league. BOTH teams in the final have some outstanding players whose names don't sound anything like Crosby or Malkin. The casual fan has a hard time identifying with someone from Europe who doesn't speak the language without an accent. It also doesn't help that most folks didn't grow up playing hockey. The league really needs to work on playing to all of it's strengths (passion, intensity, speed of the game, the toughness and skill of the players) and simplifying the game for newbies. When you hitch your cart to one horse - i.e. If for some reason you lose Crosby or if he doesn't live up to the hype, then the wheels wil come off of the bandwagon and those casual fans will go away.

Yes, but only with hockey players and coaches. The word has far too many syllables to be used by football, basketball, etc. players. It may be that I only notice it with hockey players because I watch hockey more than any other sport.

Has anyone considered that the Wings' MEDICAL INSURANCE company could deny coverage if he plays without doctors clearance? This puts the Illich's in an ugly spot. What if Mule plays, becomes a vegetable (extreme and highly unlikely scenario), and his next of kin decides to sue them for every piece of pepperoni that they own on the grounds that the evil Hockeytown empire strong-armed poor Johan into playing before he was medically cleared to play?

I told my wife the same thing during the 3rd period. Remember Calgary last year? What a disgusting display that was... I personally don't feel the animosity towards the Avs that I used to (except for Forsberg). They showed that, in spite of the team's general health or lack thereof, they weren't going to make excuses and play hard to the end. No cheap shots or intent to injure...just play a good, hard, clean game. Classy...very classy. Here's to Super Joe. I hope he isn't ready to hang them up just yet. A good as an ambassador for the game that there is right now. Oh, and to Peter Forsberg, good luck. I still don't like you as a player but you were fun to root against. Have a good retirement.

Ok. I understand what is being said about perspective and I agree. The guy isn't an axe murderer (as far as we know). Maybe he is a nice guy, helps old ladies cross the street, etc. If I met him in person, I would probably come away with a different attitude but until then: As a hockey commentator / analyst he is an unprofessional turd and a lowlife who probably got lunch money stolen blah, blah, blah. http://ihatepierremcguire.com/

When he yelled "Welcome to Smashville baby!" about 15 min into the period I about vomited. I thought that these guys were supposed to be somewhat unbiased and not outwardly pull for one team or another? He is an unprofessional turd and a lowlife. I'll bet he got his ass beat and his lunch money stolen a lot as a kid.

Full 60 min. boys. Knock 'em down and don't let the dirty b@*tards up off of the ice. Hopefully the change in net sparks the team. GO WINGS!!!

Great post. I am quite sure that this team WANTS to win the cup. They just need to get their heads out of their collective behinds and play the way that they did for most of the season. This is a better team than last years team over all. The difference? Last years team didn't sit back and let the other teams dictate the pace. They hit everything that moved. They won the battles in the corners and they TOOK IT to the other teams that were bigger and more physical. They also had a goaltender that had something to prove. Dom isn't playing with the same fire as last year. He needs to be watching from the bench for a while.

Count me in as a minority member as well. There wasn't anything intentional. That piece of garbage was just trying to stay in the play, not stomp on Drapes. As much as I hate to give 2-2 the benefit of the doubt (and not to derail the thread either) but I seriously don't think that he feels that he does anything wrong. I truly think that he feels that it's ok to come into a scrum and start punching people with his gloves on from behind without squaring off. Either that or he has some issues with controlling his temper and is REALLY impulsive. I don't know. He does play with a lot of passion, but not with much control or respect for competition or the game. I have got to give him some props for how he has been playing during this series though. Apparently he can play a relatively clean game. All I know is that I wish he would get laid out or get a major a** beating by one of the "soft" players in the Winged Wheel that doesn't like to be hit.

From Canton, OH home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (not to be confused with Canton, MI) GO WINGS!!!

As much as I hate to admit it, I have gained some respect for the Preds after they way that they have fought through all of the adversity this season. The Wings should take this team, but it could be a tight series. Even if we (God forbid) get bounced, I can't conceive that the Preds would make it past either the Sharks or the Ducks if it came down to it. I honestly, at this point if it wouldn't screw so much with team chemistry, would like to see some of the kids dress rather than Hudler or McCarty. I love D-Mac as much as anyone, but I haven't been impressed. This is about winning, not nostalgia. If we are strong between the pipes, we take it in 5.

Sorry to start something here, but... If those women are really his sister and her friend, I am Mickey Redmon. I also have some beachfront property in Kansas I would like to sell to the highest bidder.

I actually like Tortorella...not because he is a stellar coach (which he is NOT), but because he is as blunt as a 2x4 with the press which can sometimes be very entertaining. 1. Crawfish 2. MacTavish 3. Ron "Hanta Yo" Wilson 4. Joel Quenneville 4a. Carlyle 5. Keenan

I agree. Dano reinvented himself here. When he got his shot here, his career was nearly over. He is probably one of my favs of the post-Captain era Wings and I would hate to see him go. While it's easy for us to say "jeez, don't get what you think you are worth and stay" and take the salary hit, this has got to be a tough decision. I made the mistake once of taking a job for the money, and I was miserable and lasted about 10 months before I couldn't take it anymore and moved on. While it's not quite the same - we are obviously talking about millions of $$ at stake, you can't put a price on being comfortable, happy, and in this case successful. He is still young. He would be smart to take a decent one or two year deal, further refine his game and prove his consistency, and see what options are out there when the time comes. IMO, he still has something to prove before he can demand the big $$.

First - great game. Second - like the chippy stuff. But, to the above poster, if you watch the replay, Sammy dropped his gloves first... I have no beef with what Dandenault did. Someone SHOULD be helping out their captain. I have a real problem with the way he did it...I don't see this as the same as Bert / Moore, but something Tootoo would have pulled (and to whomever posted earlier, Cleary wouldn't have pulled this s***). It was reactionary, and understandable, but stupid. You don't blindside someone like that. This is supposed to be ORGANIZED sport, not a bar fight where anything goes.

Couldn't agree more. I always liked Hextall and how he played on the edge, moving around instead of standing there like a giant mattress on skates. Say what you want about Dom, but when he was in his prime he was damn entertaining to watch as well. I also think they need to get rid of the trapezoid...let them play the puck!