clutchngrab

There's this guy Robert Lang (pronounced "Long") who has a real strong work ethic. i.e. He is not lazy and/or suck.

Must....Destroy....Getzlaf....and....survive.

This is addressed to all of the following folks: Datsyuk Bashers Lilja haters Sammie smashers Hasek doubters Allright, Here is your chance to absolve yourself of all those negative posts you've posted throughout the year. Daniel11 "ate crow" in another thread with regards to Datsyuk and found it stringy and dry but edible when accompanied with a Wings series victory. I'll start: Yes, I have at times bashed both Lilja and Sammie. For this, I am sorry and will do penance by saying 10 "Lilja you are not a Pylon" and 10 "Sammie I love that wrister". Ahh, now I feel at peace. (Lang critics are exempt.)

<quote>The Duck has been the best playoff team over the last 4 years. </quote> With how many cups again? It shouldn't be a surprise really. As a generalization, So Californians are some of the most arrogent, obnoxious and self-absorbed people on the planet. Especially Orange County. I lived in that region for 8 years and was happy as a clam to get out.

What a nice polite young man. Hmm, Pronger. Very talented. In the past a bit of a cheap shot artist, but very dominating in the playoffs which is why people hate him. Wings had is number in St. Louis for years. My favorite memory is when Prongs went to cheap shot Yzerman high, Stevie ducked and Pronger blew out his knee. Poetic justice.

From whose ass did this nugget escape from?

OK everyone, now isn't that cathartic? It's not so hard now is it? I forgot perhaps the most blatant: Holland Haters! Wher ya at? Step up and take a spankin

I guess I've managed to hijack my own thread, but that is just ******* hilarious

Here, Here. Exactly my sentiments.

lol. I think I'm gonna rename my cat to Lang. He didn't wake up til noon today.

lol - where have I heard that before? No, Robert Lang is not overrated, he is underappreciated for his efficiency and conservation of energy. He plays everygame with the anticipation that it will go triple overtime, and then when it does he will STRIKE because he has not wasted all that energy in the previous 5 periods by skating to hard. He is a smart man.

All good choices, but I gotta go with the goaltender. Hasek outplayed Nabakov at crunch time..

Sure he hasn't put up the numbers the wings would have liked and maybe he is developing a little slower than they would like, but I just don't see the turn-overs some of you do. He has a tendency to force the offense once in a while, but I think he has been extremelely solid in his own end. Certainly the number of turn-overs would be less than Schneider or Lilja had all year.

On D, the only guy that make me s*** my pants more than Lang is Bert. Bert on the 1st line is a no-brainer from that perspective.

lol... apparetly you are one of the rare fans gifted with the ability to stymie professional athletes paid millions of dollars with the simple exclamation of "you suck". You should somehow market this talent on e-bay.

Cups are won when the big players are big and the role players go beyond. Clears has been awesome. Just like Drapes, Kocur, Mac and Malts were in the past. This year we have Flip, Franz, Clrears and Huds. These guys can be the difference.

Langer has the size and skll to be a force down low, but he refuses confrontation. He either got plastered at some point of his career that makes him gun-shy or he just wants a check and doesn't give a rats ass anymore. He kills me, because he has some sick stick skills.

Jiggy - you rock! I've often wondered the same every year we get bounced.

Ugggg - Our ******* lame ass specialty teams are gonna kill us in this series. Scottie was right... he understood how execution in this area is the difference the deeper you went into the playoffs. We outplayed them 5 on 5 for a huge majority of the game, but because we cannot execute on specialty teams we lose. That's the playoffs Babs - time to take it seriously.

One area where we might have an advantage is defensive break-outs. Calgary didn't get much because the D was so good at moving the pick out of the zone. Sharks are good, but I have watched enough Sharks games to know they are certainly likely to turn the puck over. Maybe Rivet has stabilized them. Let's hope not.

One thing nobody has mentioned is momentum and the change of team personality from the regular season to the playoffs. I've probably only missed a handful of wing games this year and I can say for sure they have ratcheted up their play big time for the post season. It's almost like they have been saving it all season for now - especially when you look at the physicality of the so-called "old and soft" wings. Yes, I am a homer, but I don't see anyone beating us if we play the same way we did most of the Calagary series. I hae that old '97 feeling baby and I remember what the team played like and it ain't much different.

Thorton is an interesting player. He has the size and strength to play more physical than he does, yet is an amazing playmaker much like Datsyuk. Wings will deny him time and space and he will disappear as most playmakers do in the playoffs. Will he step it up and take it to the hole? We'll see, but I doubt it. I'm more worried about the big forwards that grind and can shoot - except for Guerin who sharks fans will discover is a devensive liability.

DET/SJ - Detroit in 6 ANA/VAN - Anaheim in 5 BUF/NYR - Buffalo in 6 NJD/OTT - Ottowa in 7

Luc... Got himself down to about 7 minutes a game on the 4th line in '02. But he was a classy guy and a good player in LA when I lived there plus he has a hot wife - so I'll cut him some slack and won't begrudge him his opinion even though his sorry ass wouldn't have his name on the cup otherwise.

Here is why we shouldn't worry: The Wings have been getting contributions from everyone. I expect Dats, Zets and Bert to only get better as the playoffs go on. We are forechecking, hitting, backchecking and swarming better than since '97. Goaltending is at least a wash if not in favor of Hasek. his will be an even series, but I expect we will win because our best players will be better than theirs.