AUWingsFan

I too am tired of hearing about Crosby and his greatness....I wonder how many of his teammates feel about it. I know they are happy to be winning, but don't you think they all believe (and rightfully so) that they have contributed to the team's making it to the Cup Finals as well??? Also I'm glad I am not the only one who thinks Crosby's "crustache" is disgusting!!

When I saw the play in real time I thought for sure it was interference, but watching the replay I was just looking to see if Roberts was making contact when the puck went in....so I can't say whether or not he bumped Ozzie but I wouldn't be surprised if Roberts did bump Ozzie out of position...... I'm glad I'm not a coach because during my press conference if I was Babcock I'd say something like "I guess this is the part where I complain about the officiating in the hopes that we can get a few calls to go our way next game"......but thankfully Babcock has more class than I do! Go Wings!

I am upset about the game since we lost, but really as some have already mentioned we only lost by one goal and I don't think we were ever really "out" of the game. I honestly hate the coverage.....I understand that the league wants to promote certain players, but shoving Sidney Crosby down my throat all the time even when he doesn't score is annoying....I refuse to watch the post game because I have a sneaking suspicion that the coverage will once again be Crosby-centric...... I feel confident that the Wings will rebound, I think we have too much talent, experience and good coaching to let another one slip away.....Go Wings!

I jumped up yelling and screaming at the TV when I noticed that it was Pavel throwing punches during the scuffle..... I am happy to see him sticking up for his teammates and we saw it twice last night, once after Zetterberg was run into the boards after the whistle and toward the end of the game with Roberts....I have heard people rave about Roberts for his toughness, but going after a guy like Pavel doesn't earn you toughness points in my book.... Go Pav! Go Wings! Also that picture of Franzen about to bring the pain on Malkin is great!!

I admit I'm still anxious for the game, mainly because I put way too much of my life's happiness on the shoulders of the Red Wings........but I've really been thinking about it over the last few days and the Wings haven't really seemed to bring their A game the past two games so I shouldn't be too worried.....if we bring it then we should be fine....after all Turco is only human and I believe that a few ugly goals by the wings to give us a quick lead would go a long way in deflating the Stars' confidence... Go Wings! P.S. Would someone please take care of Steve Ott....that's one huge reason I'd love to see Downey in to agitate and annoy Dallas like they've been annoying our guys or at least me!!!

I like these lines....at first I was all for not having Downey in the lineup because he wouldn't bring much offensively, but now it seems his energy might be something we'd need since no one is really producing from the fourth line except Hudler who is most likely on his way up the lineup.....I think it'd be worth giving Downey a shot this game, as well as Abdelkader because the way the past two games have been it wouldn't help to shake things up and get some "fresh" guys in.... but if there are only line changes and not a change in who is playing I'm cool with that as long as the effort is much better because it honestly looked like the Wings were on cruise control the past few games and only stepped up at times (I give Dallas part of the credit, but we didn't seem to have much "push back" in trying to answer their level of play).... Go Wings!

Ok, so I was watching NHL on the Fly Final and they mentioned that the number of the official rule which says a player can't interfere with a goalie making a save (I'm not exactly sure what the number was).... I obviously didn't agree with the call on Holmstrom....my question is this: Why wasn't Dallas' first goal disallowed as well as their player hit Osgood with his stick while the puck was still rolling around in the crease (and I believe the player was in the crease) and when the player (Eriksson?) actually put the puck in the goal he was clearly in the crease, so how is that not interference as well? I was not as angry about the goal that was disallowed when Turco slid into the net and the puck crossed the line as the first one we had taken back and the first one Dallas got. I was just wondering if anyone knew the exact rule and wanted to know how many of you'd prefer that this type of call be reviewable? (I for one would...it'd eliminate problems for everyone because no one could say they were ripped off) Go Wings! Also the rule seemed a little vague because what exactly constitutes interference if physical contact isn't necessary to make a call like that?

I honestly can't believe that the first goal of the game was called off....the NHL should make those calls reviewable, it'd only take a few minutes at the most and it would keep each team from having to worry about losing momentum. The goal in the first game put the wings up 3-1....at home, the one tonight would have put the wings up 1-0 on the road so I honestly think that the goal tonight was much bigger in terms of momentum....unbelievable. I wonder if Babcock will mention it...but I have a feeling he won't use it as an excuse and complain about it like some other coaches we know.........

Well the thing people need to remember is it's a leap year...my belief is leap years throw a wrench in sports "patterns"....for a great example the Red Sox broke their World Series drought in 2004....a leap year.......so I don't put much stock in the 33 years thing coming true (besides the fact that it has only happened twice which hardly makes it a pattern).... Go Wings! Let's close this series out tonight!

hopefully he'll get well soon! I agree though that rest might be what he needs......I am a firm believer that just being able to spend a few days being "lazy" and just relaxing can work wonders for your health....I can't tell you how many time's I've been run down while sick and how much just being able to relax and get some sleep has helped me improve......hopefully we can take care of business again tomorrow night and the entire team can get some rest along with the Mule!

I've always been a huge Pavel fan! This playoff season I've been very impressed with how hard he's been working...he always works hard, but he really seems to have taken his "hustle" to another level..... Now my big wish for the off season is for the Wings to get Pav and Hank some secret boxing lessons so they could surprise some folks and pummel people who try to harass them.....

I'm glad to see that the Wings are letting him get the time off.....hopefully everything will be alright for the mother and child. As most everyone has said there are more important things than hockey...even more important things than your job in general. The Wings and Stuart are doing the right thing. So does anyone know if the plan might just be for him to miss both games 1 and 2 so he'd already be out west so he can just meet up with the team for game 3 or is it a sort of one game at a time thing? Regardless I hope he'll be back sooner rather than later as it'd mean there weren't any problems which would be great...hopefully Lilja's play will be elevated after being out of the lineup for awhile. I've never questioned his desire or physical play it's just the turnovers, so hopefully he'll be on top of things!

I want to play the Avs, but I'd like to see us renew the old rivalry with both of us going for the conference championship (and shot to play in the Stanley Cup finals). I'm just glad to get the first series win out of the way so we can go ahead and start concentrating on winning twelve more games in these playoffs without having to worry about people saying how we are the same old wings losing in the first round..... I want to play the Avs at some point because the last game we played them in the regular season was fun to watch with the coaches yelling at each other like the old days (and us getting angry because that was the game Lidstrom was injured).....so I think a playoff matchup between these two teams would be what the rivalry needs to get things heated back up....but I think it'd be more dramatic to have our first playoff series with the Avs since 2002 (has it been 6 years?) in the conference finals instead of the conference semifinals......but that's just me. Go Wings!

Maybe we should get something worked out where one octopus will be thrown onto the ice just before the game, Al can come out and pick it up, and then he'll venture to center ice and the lights will dim and as inspirational music plays he take a knee and lifts it into the air as a single spotlight highlights our eight legged wonder. He wouldn't be swinging it but I think this scenario might be pretty effective at letting the league know what we think while getting everyone fired up. as for the online petition....hopefully it will work. Maybe we should take a play out of the Jericho fans' playbook and mail the NHL a bunch of octopi. now we'd have to decide if we'd mail toys or real octopi, but I'm guessing toy ones would be the best alternative since we could request they be donated to a children's charity or animal hospital or something.....does anyone know how much the plush toys are? overall i think this is ridiculous.... by the way...although i can't stand him i was impressed to see tootoo bare hand one of the octopi thrown on the ice last night.......

Ok so I am not in the Detroit area so my center ice has been blacked out for the playoffs so I can't hear mickey and ken (and larry murphy) anymore. I was just hoping someone could share what they've been saying about the games (especially tonight after the wings allowed the preds to climb even in the series). Sorry for starting a new topic but I was hoping someone could let those of us who are without the FSN broadcast know what the guys who watch the wings all the time are saying......thanks in advance for your help!

ok thanks everyone! I was just curious as to what they were saying as I like hearing their input because they are around the team more than most and watch every game.......I appreciate you all sharing with me! Go Wings!

Surprised...no. Disappointed....most definitely. Also very depressed! If I've come to learn one thing being a wings fan over the past few years (and an Atlanta Braves fan from back in the day when they couldn't make it to the world series or would make it and lose) its that sometimes the better team doesn't win. I think we saw that last year with the wings losing to the ducks...i definitely think we were the better team, but we just weren't able to get things going our way. So I won't be surprised if we lose, but I'll be extremely disappointed because its another great regular season followed by a greatly underachieving playoff run. I'm realistic enough to know that we can't win the cup every year, but I like to see the Wings play into may every now and then.......

I really don't think he would be because it's not really his fault that the players aren't performing well..... As was mentioned I do wonder about Babcock. I personally hope Babcock is able to stick around, but someone will most likely have to take the fall. After the 2-0 start tonight for nashville and the quick goal right after our goal I was feeling sick to my stomach, but once ozzie was in net the players seemed to be more relaxed and focused and to be honest I felt better as well. If we could stop giving up goals two within a few minutes or less of one another we might be alright. it's just a pain to try to come back from down two goals against a team like nashville who can play the "prevent" defense so well....... I'm still trying to keep the faith that we'll turn things around. They did it a few years ago against nashville so they can do it again (granted it is a different team, but anything is possible).

What a bummer for you. I am in Alabama and have Charter cable....i was able to get the game on versus, but it was listed as being on FSN south, but since it's a regional thing they hardly ever show the hockey game when they are supposed to (which happened tonight). Does the federal government set the regulations about blackouts? If so I think that it is about time that they get rid of blackout restrictions....or networks at least allow people to stream things online because there's nothing that'll ruin your day like looking forward to watching a big game on tv and finding out just as the thing is starting that you are blacked out and no one really knows why or can do anything about it......... Sorry that you were blacked out! Hopefully next game you won't have problems since they won't be joining in progress (and maybe it'll be an actual versus feed instead of CBC feed)....

ok i know i'll get some crap for saying this, but it is times like tonight when I wish the NHL had a tv contract with ESPN. The good thing is they have several different channels (like ESPNU and ESPN Classic) so when a game is still going on when the next is supposed to be starting they can direct the ones who want to watch the 2nd game to one of the other channels instead of people just missing out on their game. I shouldn't complain, because all I missed were two goals being scored against us, and at least the Wings are on tv more than others (at least so far in the playoffs), but something needs to be worked out. I have the center ice package but I'm getting blacked out of a lot of playoff games and was again tonight because the game was coming on versus 30 minutes after the opening face off!! P.S. Boy am I glad the rangers-devils game didn't go to OT...then I would have been really mad (because I bet Versus would have kept their studio guys talking during the entire intermission instead of showing the wings game for at least 15-20 minutes)!! Bottom line...joining in progress is horrible....but still better than no tv at all...but not by much!

I really would like us to be able to keep some folks out of the lineup, but the most practical thing due to the limited amount of bodies available would be to just go ahead and limit the ice time of our key guys. Do we get to expand our roster before the playoffs or has that already happened and we just keep getting guys injured? Honestly if we keep losing forwards what I'd like to see us do (which we won't) is to call up Ericsson and let him play forward. I know he's been converted to a D-Man and will play that position in the future, but I personally would love to see him be able to get a call up to play a little forward. It'd definitely give us a large body that might create some matchup problems. But hopefully the injuries will stop with the Kopecky one and everyone who is out of the lineup will get healthy because we are going to need all the bodies we can get (even Samuelsson's). In all seriousness though, I for one haven't been his biggest fan, but at this point with the injuries piling up I'll be glad to see Samuelsson in the lineup because I hate having to put guys who haven't had much NHL playing time in. If I could rest someone, it'd be Lidstrom, Z and Pavel...also as someone else mentioned maybe letting Kronwall get some rest would be beneficial, but I'd do it just because of his luck with injuries. Also, for what it's worth, I'd try to get guys like Mac, Cleary and Holmstrom as much ice time as possible (within reason) so they could get some more game time experience since we have a golden opportunity to get them needed game speed experience before the playoffs. My only worry with Homer is that he might get reinjured, but hopefully he's been out for such a long period of time as a precaution and he'd be able to play through his injury if needed during the playoffs. Boy I wish the playoffs would hurry up and get here!!

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see them upset, only for the fact that it seems about time that someone besides the Wings ran into a team that has a streaking goalie and has had to play their rear off to get into the playoffs (although if we finish as the top seed we'll most likely get a team that fits the description above).....but more importantly I believe the unbelievable streak they are on right now has to end and it seems to me like the first round of the playoffs would be a fitting place for it to end. I could care less whether or not they get upset....just as long as our guys keep winning and eventually knock out the sharks if we have to.

Ok, so I tried searching for a specific thread for this discussion, but couldn't find one (if there is one please feel free to move this to the appropriate area)...... Let me start by saying I know he is still suffering from a rib injury and he must earn his playing time, but I just wanted to get everyone's honest opinion on who he might replace if he gets inserted into the lineup. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing Drake, Downey and McCarty on the ice at the same time to makeup a heck of an energy line which just might happen to get some goals (but regardless could wear down the opposition). The question of who sits has really bothered me since we reacquired McCarty because I really don't want to sit Downey because I honestly believe he is working his tail off every shift and love how he sticks up for his teammates. Who do you all see taking a seat when McCarty is inserted into the lineup? Will it be someone like Drake or Downey, or could it even be someone like Kopecky or Samuelsson? Also when he does return does McCarty get put on a line with Draper and Maltby (reuniting the Grind Line) or will it be with someone else? I really like the options that having McCarty back presents. We can juggle our lines and put grinding guys like Mac on a line with Zetterberg and Franzen, or even Dats and Filpula (obviously on a temporary basis). I was just wanting to see what you all think will happen when McCarty does return to the lineup. Since I'm in the South my sources of information are limited to what is on the internet (Freep, Detroit News, MLive) so if anyone has heard anything on local radio or what not on who he might be paired with or who he'll replace please feel free to share. Thanks!

I really am interested to see who gets the nod come playoff time. As was already mentioned Cleary coming back will bump yet another forward off the roster as well....... Ideally, Mac will be in good shape to play at an NHL level, then we can afford to rest players with nagging injuries throughout the playoffs......I really don't envy the coaches having to make the decision, because no matter what I still like all our players (even Sammy). I do wish Kopecky would use his size a little more (he's 6'3)....not necessarily saying he should be fighting all the time, but using his frame more to get to the net, etc (like they are encouraging Franzen to do). I'm anxious to see how it all turns out....regardless I think the depth will be a positive come playoff time!

All very good points! I am probably one of the few on here that apprecaites what Drake can do....I think he is really solid defensively and he's been great on the PK. I think you all are right that we'll see either Downey or McCarty and not both. I hate that, but I trust that Babcock will make the right decision. Honestly, I would like to see Samuelsson sit at least a few games soon so we can see how Mac plays with Downey in the lineup. With Rafalski back and the addition of Stuart do we really need Sammy on the point for the PP? I know that he's probably just in a slump, but at some point, I'd like to see what one of the guys sitting around can do, I mean if a guy isn't pitching in any goals and the replacement brings a physical dimension to the game, what have you sacrificed?