calfan

My vote brought the Pens in a tie with the Wings. What a bunch a homes y'all are. Pens aren't impressive because the Sens were a joke? How about the Avs with the number of top line players they have injured? I haven't seen much of the Stars/Sharks so I don't know whether Dallas has been that good or the Sharks have been that bad. What I have seen is the team from game 6 in Calgary. Pisses me off that they stepped up that much for game 7 just to come out and suck in this series. Have to admit, Dallas has looked like a strong veteran team, kinda what I expected out of the Rangers. My second round picks were Rangers, Wings and Sharks (but I picked the Sharks to be very close). Pens have been the most impressive. No losses. They win playing defense, they win playing offense and they win being outplayed. I thought the Rangers would start to pick them apart. It hasn't happened. Look out, Sid the Kid's gonna hoist the Cup.

I was watching a rerun of the Flames/Habs 89 final game the other night. Fact is, with his helmet on, Chelli doesn't look any older today than he did 20 years ago.

penalty shot in MTL coming up

are they holding a funeral at the Joe? its dead silent there compared to the Bell Centre right now

That's a big "if" bud As for the posting format. I figured I better keep it short - you don't read too fast.

Why? He/she got it right.

Not everyone: Det 4-2 SJ 4-2 Mtl 4-3 NYR 4-2

He didn't say dominant, he said tougher which I take to speak more to style of play and the fact that it is a lower scoring division (and possibly he was also referring to the greater physical abuse players in the NW take). In any case, there are more stats for a defenseman than points and plus minus and Phaneuf fairs as well or better than Lidstrom in some of those categories. Hits, time on ice, shots, etc. Having said that, I personally think Phaneuf has a long way to go before he can be considered an elite defenseman and he will not win this trophy this year.

You bet. I spent the last 5 minutes of game 4 yelling "get Phaneuf off the ice!" and the last 5 minutes of game 6 wondering why the hell they kept sending him over the boards. The Dion is not my favorite player. If it was me, the moment the Flames had a lead he'd be nailed to the bench. His plus minus isn't all that bad, but the guy was on the ice for all 6 goals scored against the Flames in games 3 and 4 and 70% of the goals against in the first 4 games. He'd make a great left wing.

Games 4 and 6. I took my mother to the game last night. It was her first ever NHL game - needless to say she had a blast! Ten years ago she didn't even watch hockey, now she's a huge Flames fan and watches every game she can.

Nicely done - editing a previous post to make me look like an idiot. Take 2 points out of petty cash.

Nice try - but you can't dodge your responsibility. WTF are the results? As for the nerves, not yet. Those will start tomorrow. Course I should have nerves, the winner of that game will be one of the WC finalists.

OK, now you're late :flamingmad:

It's been 15 - why can't you ever be early

Ray Emery was and is available.

I haven't been able to watch the Wings' games from start to finish - something about spending time with wife and family and the DND sign I hang out when the Flames are playing. So I can't claim to have seen enough to judge how they are doing at winning the battles, but I thought Datsuyk was doing a good job of going to the tough spots last night and he's the one I mainly think can't take the rough stuff. He's improving. Some times winning the battles is an ebb and flow type of scenario. Look at the Flames/Sharks. Two gritty teams, yet one moment one's dominating on the boards and then next moment the other is. Foote may look good against the Wild, but he's going to have trouble with fast skaters. I think Stuart fits in better with the Wings than he would. For whatever reason, I've never been a big Cooke fan. Decent third liner I guess. Don't know if I've ever seen Malone play. Fedorov (please - I'm not going to bother with this suggestion), Lapointe - don't think you could have gotten him in any case, Fedetenko would fit in well, but not sure he adds grit and Holik is too old and too expensive to bring in. And don't forget, who they could go after, who they did go after and what they could get are all different things. Still don't think this can necessarily be laid at Holland's feet. Course, it ain't over till its over either and y'all may well have to sing a different tune if the Wings go all the way.

Technically yes, realistically know. The Wings played with more desperation after they went down 3-2 and spent more time in Nashville's end. Wings outshot the Preds badly after the goalie change. I didn't see all of Ozzie's time in net, but what I did see didn't suggest he stood on his head repelling wave after wave of Nashville scoring chances. A number of his "shots" were little more than dump-ins.

Sorry but, who should he have signed? Who was actually available that was going to make a difference. Did you ever consider that if the avg fan knows what the team needs, then likely mgmt does as well. But, whereas you can make any trade you want on NHL 08, mgmt actually has to live with a budget and GM's who don't want to trade their players and with the prospect of ensuring the team continues to be competitive for the foreseeable future. So you wanted a grittier team with better goaltending. Gee, why didn't Holland go out at the trade deadline and acquire Iginla, Doan and Kiprusoff. Then the Wings would have the team to beat in the playoffs. Oh, wait a minute, the Flames and Yotes weren't willing to trade those guys. Maybe you could've gotten Iginla out of Calgary for Lidstrom, Homer and a couple of guys on the farm. Do you think they should have made that deal? Hossa was traded. How do you know that the Wings weren't in the running but couldn't make the economics of the deal work. Would Hossa have fixed the "problem" in any case? I don't. Brad Richards was available. Of course he sucked after one good game. He's doing ok in the playoffs so far, but again, not sure he was the answer or was worth the economic hit. At his salary he should be leading Dallas in scoring, not tied for 4th. Who of the 07 UFA's and RFA's that changed teams would have made a significant difference on this team right now? Drury? Didn't exactly shine in New York. Brier? They boo him in Philly on a regular basis. Maybe the Wings tried and these guys wanted the great life in NY or in the east with less travel. So, continue to sit in your (and I don't necessarily mean you specifically Hank, you just provided the available comment) armchair and whine. Or actually step up and demonstrate who was available and why the price made sense. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you didn't make. By the way, I'm not a big fan of the "not gritty enough" argument. Its not about stocking up on Chris Simon, Fedoruk and Derek a la the Wild. Its about going to the difficult places on the ice to score the goal and once you're there,actually having the hands to do so. I don't think the Preds are exactly knocking the Wings out of the rink.

He's prone too bad/weak goals at inopportune times. He benefited from a well planned approach to team defence. I didn't see much of him in the regular season, but I think its fair to say he wasn't relied upon to steal many games. My point remains, as the Wings go on, the edge in goaltending will usually lie with the other team.

Long-winded monologue alert I should probably go with the short answer , but here goes. Why would you be? Firstly, there's your record in the playoffs since 2002. Secondly, this is (supposedly) the era of parity. Thirdly, the majority here get all bent out of shape when the talking heads don't give the Wings the respect you feel they deserve - don't you think that just maybe they might have some clue what they are talking about? Fourth, didn't the Preds win some of the games against the Wings this season? Having said that, GIVE YOUR HEADS A SHAKE. YOU'VE LOST TWO GAMES. BIG FLIPPING DEAL! You were in exactly the same position last year in the first round, won the next two and eventually lost in the WCF to the eventual Cup winners. Hardly time to panic. I can't believe the content on the site today - "would you be surprised", "should Holland be fired" "do we need a new captain". Disney couldn't control the queue for this bandwagon. Some myths that need bebunking: Despite having a great statistical year, your goaltending is not world-class. Those stats say more about the team than the goaltenders. They are (both - sorry OsGod) weaknesses to be exploited. Most of the teams the Wings are going to face in the playoffs have better goaltending. You're just struggling with Dan Ellis currently. In the wings (no pun intended) are Kipper, Nabby, Giggy, Price, Brodeur, etc. And yes, I mean in the wings because I don't see the Preds moving on. "we're way more talented" than the Preds/rest of league. Really? Hands down you have the best dman in the league - and then you fall off a cliff. You may have seen these guys all year and have an appreciation for what they can do, but the majority of the fans on other teams in the playoffs would be hard-pressed to name your next 5 let alone concede they are better/more talented than their own team. You have 2 of the top ten scorers in the league, no doubt. Too bad they play best as a single line. You have 4 of the top 100 scorers in the league. Same number as Nashville by the way. Once I get past Zets, Dats and Lids, who is the "talent" how are they way better than say Tanguay, Nolan and Conroy, or the second line for Pittsburg or the Ducks or the Canadiens? Now, put it all together and you have the number 1 team in the league and a team that was top 3 in most of the important categories (except PK). There is no doubt the Wings are one hell of a TEAM. The fact is that the regular season and the playoffs are completely different games. For most of the regular season teams jockey for position, but with an eye to saving it for the playoffs and playing at a pace that suits 82 games. The playoffs are 4 games. You have to win the next 4 games. After 4 have been played you have to win at most the next 3 games or 2 or 1 and then you have to win 4 games again - or shoot lower than your handicap. As a result, a lot of players and teams step up their game. They're faster, hit harder, etc etc. They do what it takes to win. Other players and teams don't get worse, they just don't elevate their game as much or they don't do what made them successful in the first place. Individual players start trying to do too much (hello Dion Phaneuf) instead of just playing their role on the team. It doesn't take much for one player to negate everyone else on the ice. The confident pass on the tape that is suddenly in the feet, the failure to keep that perfect spacing as a unit going up or coming back. The forward who in his eagerness to thwart the rush goes deep with the puck carrier creating the open slot for that killer pass to the open man. I think that is what is happening to the Wings. They are not playing that complete team game they did through the regular season. They need to refocus on their individual roles on this team and stick to that role. Calm down, play the killer team game. To me the reason for the Wings success is that their style leads to impatience on the part of the opposition - impatience leads to bad decisions and bad decisions lead to Wings goals. Stop worrying and just enjoy the game. I don't think the Wings will win the Cup, but I think they'll beat the Preds. There's lots of hockey left to play. I'm outta here. :burnout:

The better question is whether Holland will stay in any case. There's a rumour (isn't there always?) he could be a shoo-in for the job with the Cannucks. He lives in BC in the offseason, Stevie's about ready to fly, it's time for a change, blah, blah, blah.

AND - its only 30 seconds long. AND there are a bunch of regularly scheduled TV timeouts which last at least 1 minute. Timeouts are best saved for sketching that one play on a key faceoff in the offensive or defensive zone in the last minute of a game.

Tootoo is doing exactly what he needs to do to stay in this league and at this rate, he's going to have a long career. The other team's agitators are never popular - in fact the more unpopular the better. Luckily the Wings won't let Tootoo get them off their game as much as all y'all are off yours. All this focus about pounding on Tootoo. Perhaps you should be more worried about how to stop him offensively. So far in this series, Tootoo has 2 minutes in penalties. The Wings have 4 players with more than that and 10 players with as many or more. Me thinks Tootoo is doing his best to stay out of the box. Tootoo has two goals so far, which would lead the Wings in goals with Draper and Zetterberg. He's plus 1 which would tie him for third on the Wings and his team has lost two games. And he's done this with only 11:42 avg TOI. Fourteen players on the Wings have spent more time on the ice. It's early and with Jordin you never know what he's going to do next, but I have to think his coaches and his mates are plenty happy with his playoffs so far.

Surprising then that Nashville has more penalties in the series if the Wings are being called, but Nashville isn't.

Mac - I was about 6 feet, or 150 feet or 11 miles from the hit depending on whether I measure the distance from me to my TV, from the camera to the hit or from my house to the Dome. Sadly I was not there in person. I have the tickets to games 4 and 6. The guy I share the seats with took the tickets because the game fit better into his life and I was indifferent. Did I mention he's a Wings fan? Just another reason to hate y'all.