livediehockey80

The only way Detroit moves East is either: 1. NHL expands again with cities in the Western US. If the league adds say Salt Lake City and Kansas City, then there is a chance that the Wings might shift to the Northeast Conference. The odds of the NHL expanding to 32 teams in the near future doesn't look good though. 2. Relocation of existing franchises. Even though the Pens are locked into Pittsburgh now, there are other NHL franchises that continue to struggle financially. The Atlanta Thrashers and Florida Panthers are in big trouble with gate receipts and overall income from merchandise sales and local TV revenue. If the Thrashers and Panthers head West...the Wings might move East along with Columbus. The Washington Capitals also bear watching because this franchise has almost the lowest attendance (paid seats) figures in the NHL. Don't rule out the Caps leaving DC some day too.

Goddamn right! There's a helluva good chance that Anaheim will be getting the Campbell trophy on Tuesday night. Wings fans have to face that possible outcome. Losing a playoff series sucks but such is life.

Beating the crap of Anaheim 5-0 is the way you get back at Pronger. Winning will beat down Pronger more than a fist-i-cuffs on the ice. One positive thing about the Pronger/Niedermeyer cheap shot...if an Anaheim player so much as taps a Wings player above the chest area...penalties will be called. Last night, the refs were punishing Anaheim with legitimate and ticky-tacky penalties. I am sure Babcock and Lidstrom had some side chats with the refs to send a message to the Ducks thuggish players. Message went through very effectively.

They finally made it! Finally. After many years of early playoff exits, the Senators have reached the Stanley Cup Finals. I know Ottawa fans are passionate about their team and they must be pumped right now. I think many Leafs and Habs fans are secretly pulling for the Sens just out of national pride. Whatever team that comes out of the Western Conference Finals...that team will have their hands full. Ducks or Wings fans should not take the Senators lightly. Holy crap, this team has tremendous depth and talent. Definitely more than Anaheim that's for sure. I hope we see a thread called "Tell Me Why I Shouldn't Be Concerned about Ottawa". But I have to tell you that the concerns are near infinite... Alfredsson Spezza Heatley Redden Fisher Neil Emery Only TWO playoff losses to this point. They basically demolished the President's Trophy winners in the conference finals. They pummeled a perennial powerhouse called the New Jersey Devils. They silenced the Great Sid the Kid and the upstart Penguins. 5-on-5 or special teams: I don't see how the Wings can match up with the Senators. I honestly don't. Anaheim would be better competition but I think Ottawa could dispatch the Ducks in 5 or 6 games easy.

Or the Senators have been really good in the playoffs. So here's what you are posting: Because a Western Conference team has to go through the obstacle course from hell to reach the SC Finals...that makes the Western Conference Representative "better" than the Eastern Conference team. Dude, I hate to break this s*** to ya' but the results are what matters. The results tell me that an Eastern Conference team has hoisted The Cup in victory during the last three finals. It's not the road that matters...it's the destination. If the Western Conference is more talented then a western club should win the Cup every year despite the tough playoff match ups and travel lengths.

So when the NUMBER 1 Seed NHL Franchise of the Universe...Detroit Red Wings...gets knocked out in the first round by number 8 teams, that shows how weak the Ducks, Flames, and Oilers were in the Finals? I seem recall the "inferior" Ducks, Flames and Oilers taking their opponents to the brink with Game Sevens across the board. They didn't "blow it" in the Finals. Losing 4-0 in the Finals is blowing it. The Eastern Conference is more balanced against the West than you think.

Ah, yeah...funny because Carolina in 2006, Tampa Bay in 2004, and New Jersey in 2003 didn't get that memo about how superior the Western Conference is.

And what are the odds of an NHL team coming back 0-3 in a series?

Congratulations to the Senators for reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time! Uh yeah...I am calling this series over. When Buffalo drops two big ones at home...there is no way the Sabres (or ANY hockey team) can recover. Tough luck for the Sabres and hopefully we will see the Sens in the Finals.

Yeah and you Ducks fans were posting before the series that Detroit was slow, old, injury-ridden and the faster, younger, more skilled Ducks would steamroll the Wings. Here's my take: Luck, Grit, Heart, and A Goalie Standing on His Head: 1 Speed, Youth, Size, Pronger & the Niedermayer Brothers, and Big Mouth Andy McDonald: 0 Round 1 goes to Wings...deal with it. We'll see what happens in Game 2.

Kiprusoff is better than Giggy for a few reasons: 1. Calgary is a mediocre hockey team. Anaheim is loaded with serious All-Star caliber talent. 2. Compare the weak blue line defense of Calgary against the Norris Trophy studded veterans in Anaheim. 3. Related to Number 2 reason, Kipper has to face a gazillion shots every game while Giggy gets on average about 20 shots...hardly enough to work up a sweat. 4. Yeah, I won't let this go: Giggy has more body padding than Kiprusoff. However, because Giggy is puffed up, his reflexes and side-to-side reaction is slooower than Kipper's. 5. You can make an argument that Calgary is in a tougher division than Anaheim. Colorado and Vancouver were scoring machines during the regular season. Minnesota was no pushover either. Meanwhile, the Ducks only had real competition with the Sharks--and the Stars to a lesser extent. The LA Kings and Phoenix Coyotes were bigger cream puffs than the worst NW Division team--the Edmonton Oilers. I would still rate Giguere as a top-tier goalie in the NHL right NOW. Better than Dom even.

The Ducks horn is so weak. btw...when did the horns get introduced at NHL games? I find them annoying because as a fan I know when a goal is scored. I see the red light come on and that's enough for me. Another rant: I am so sick of crappy heavy metal rock played over the speakers at hockey games. There's no need for that crap. Simple organ piano music works for me.

I love all of the juicy smack talk between Wings and Ducks fans. Everyone in this forum has NO CLUE how this series will shake out. Wings and Ducks fans better be prepared for a series sweep either way. They should also be prepared for a possible grueling 7 games series. Role players will likely be heroes. Goaltenders will come up big in some games and make huge mistakes in others. Lucky bounces and phantom penalties will happen. If the Wings go down 4-0 in this series...I wouldn't think less of them. If they win 4-0 in the series...it's time to celebrate. Time to drop the puck already.

The Edmonton Oilers goal horn still haunts me a year later.

Since the Disney Corporation sold off the team formerly known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the new owner chose a new color scheme and logo. I can tell you that I miss the old Anaheim uniforms. I thought the purple & green with the masked up duck logo looked cool. The new logo is so bland, lifeless. The brown, black, and orange color scheme is horrible. If I were a Ducks fan, I would still wear the old Number 9 Kariya Ducks jersey. btw...They play in the Arrowhead Pond...not the f'ing Honda Center.

San Diego is a s***hole. I would rather hang out with the rich kids in LaJolla.

Duckette...are you an Angels fan? Dodgers suck ass, right? I visited the LA Kings board. I would say 99 percent of the Kings fans would rather swallow a gallon of terpentine than cheer for the Ducks. Wow, there is some serious hate there. I think Angels and Dodgers fans can't stand each other too. There's some real nastiness between the LA and OC people. OC people think LA is all ghetto. LA people think OC people are a bunch of rich snobs. And I thought SoCal people were so laid back.

I don't buy that fact that Giggy is a BIG player. Olaf Kolzig is 6'4" and 225 pounds. His leg pads look big but he has slight padding in the upper body. Giggy takes more top-shelf room because his wide upper-body padding despite Olie's height advantage. In fact, opposing players will tell you that Olie Kolzig is vulnerable over the shoulders. Sorry Duck fans. I will keep beating the dead horse on this one. The league should measure Giggy's equipment.

Nothing against Ottawa but I am pulling for the Sabres. The poor fans of Buffalo need a winner. At least through the ECF round. We'll see after that.

Melrose picked the Ducks. OMG...Anaheim is so f#cked now!

Calgary fans were cordial. San Jose fans had more moxie but they were OK. You might recall "SamAdelphia". Ducks fans are across the board between OK and ass holish. Some are trash talking because they are confident about the Ducks chances. I say fine...let them pump up the Ducks and s*** all over the Wings. I will note this...if the Wings are up 2-0 in the series...I guarantee Ducks fans will avoid this board like it was a porn site for super fat 50 year old women from the trailor park. Here's a tip. Ignore them. Who cares what they think.

Red Wings fans don't like to admit this fact: hockey is losing its popularity in Michigan. The Red Wings are has beens next to the Deeeeeeeetroit Basketball Pistons and the Tiggers. The Wings were a hot commodity back in the late 1990s when the Pistons and Tigers were sucking up the joint. Not so much anymore. The Detroit Free Press and News devote more coverage to the Tigers and Pistons despite the Wings recent playoff triumphs. What does that tell you? On sports talk shows in Detroit: more people care about the draft situation with the Lions than the Red Wings in the playoffs. What does that tell you? The fact that sports fans in Detroit are going into cardiac arrest over Joel Zumaya's finger injury and they could care less about Matthieu Schneider's playoff-ending wrist injury tells you something. It tells you that Michigan sports fans could give a s*** about the Red Wings and that's the cold truth. Listen, the NHL has managed to turn away fans from hockey and the Red Wings in particular. I bet there were many casual fans who went to Red Wings games before the lockout and they were starting to get hooked. After the lockout...those fans said "f*** This" and never bought tickets to a Wings game again. The NHL lockout did some damage to the Red Wings here. Wings fans in this forum will slam for this post but it's the truth.

Look at Giggy. Either Giggy is eating too many pizzas and he got fat OR he has illegal body pads. I mean this guy is the Incredible Hulk of goalies:

Wings in 7 Sabres in 5

That's funny because I recall San Jose Sharks fans posting the same over-confident garbage on this board about two weeks ago. You know: "We are faster, stronger, bigger, and younger and we are going to kill the Red Wings". Hmmm...how did that series end again for San Jose?