NeverForgetMac25

I was talking with my brother about this last night. The Wings have now killed off all 4 of their 5-on-3's and IIRC, all of them were over a minute (except the first one, which I believe was 0:45). Puzzling is an understatement...this is straight-up Riddler type of s***.

I completely agree with you that the first priority is Defense. I'll never waver from that philosophy. That being said, I disagree that its not what's currently being asked of them, because it is...and rightfully so. These guys (Dats and Hossa) are paid the salary they are to do both. I'm not downplaying the job they're doing on defense, but they are being asked to score. As for being tired....that could be one explanation, but I wonder why they didn't look this way last postseason or even up until the start of the playoffs. Sure the playoffs are a grind and a totally different beast, but you gotta think mature competitors like Dats and Hossa would step it up regardless. TBH, I think both of them are simply over-thinking every offensive move right now. The second Dats finds the back of the net or has a multi-assist game, I think we'll see the Pavel we're all used to. Edit: No worries about the first comment...I knew you weren't referring to me.

Since when did anyone decide the Wings got to be apples and the Ducks got to be oranges? Yes, and its wonderful that they won. It's still cause for concern though if our depth stops putting the puck in the net. That's my point. It wasn't me that made that comment. I know you can't ride a one-line team to the cup. We all know that. That has nothing to do with what I'm saying. The Wings are getting balanced scoring from their 2nd and 3rd lines currently. What happens if all of a sudden that 3rd line cools off and a shut-down line is then successful against Z's line? This is why I want to see Dats' line start to click. It's another bullet in the gun in case one line starts to cool off. Not currently. That's honestly all I've been saying. I'm not one of those fans you're referring to that's calling for Dats' and Hossa's heads. I'd just like to see them pick up their game on the scoreboard as well. It's not about apples and oranges or having your cake and eating it too....to me atleast. To me, its about firing on *all* cylinders at the most important time of the year.

As long as the goals keep coming, I'm not worried either. It's if they do stop, and the top line doesn't step up.

I agree with that (and the rest of your post for that matter), but I'm not looking for the Wings' top line to be putting up normal playoff top-line numbers *on top* of what the depth is doing. I'd just feel more comfortable if they would put the puck in the net a little more than just once in a while. So far, that really hasn't happened.

What does that have to do with the Wings' situation? Apples to oranges...the Wings have depth, the Ducks don't.

This is very well put micah. Great post, and it sums up what I was saying in the Dats thread as well. The fact of the matter is that the Wings' depth is what's gotten them as far as it has so far this postseason, but I'd feel alot better knowing if that went away our top line would help pick up the slack. Right now, no one can say they're confident that would happen.

Doctor? Doesn't he need 7 Cups to receive the PhD of Clutch? That being said, he's almost got his Bachelors Degree in Clutch. Luongo and Kipper are still on the Waiting List just to see if they'll get accepted to the University.

Osgood or Lidstrom Cleary or Franzen in a dead-locked, close third.

I'm assuming this is a PK-centric move. Giving up a PP goal in 11 straight games is not only unacceptable, its downright pathetic given this roster.

My wife calls him: Ab Locator My brother calls him: Applicator I have no name for him, but feel like I should.

Ozzie was spectacular last night. This was the first game he was practically solely responsible for the win. I hope the extra day off and Babs kicking their asses a little bit helps bring a better effort, because the Wings looked pretty lethargic most of the game. The beauty here though, if the Wings looked that sluggish, the HDH again didn't score a goal and still found a way to win...what message does that send to the Blackhawks if they decide to "play" Friday night? Here's hoping. Jesus. :nonono: QFT I wondered if he was gonna get shafted with the third star due to Toews' 2 goals and Sammy's game winner, but the fact that he's not even one of the three is ridiculous. Ozzie stole the game last night for the Wings.

Just an assumption, scheduling conflict at Mellon Arena.

Yeah, there's no argument from me regarding the missed interference calls. While some of them are borderline, there are plenty that aren't and I certainly wonder if some refs are simply swallowing their whistles to prevent being the one that's deciding a game. The truth of the matter is though, by them not making a call they're actually deciding the game for the other team. Nice discussion with you as well.

Alright, you and I were talking about two very different things then. I completely agree that there have been blatant missed calls (Pronger wrestling Hossa to the ground is just one example). I'm not downplaying the implications of it, you and I were talking about two completely separate types of penalties. I'm not exactly sure what you expect to be done about them though. It's just as baffling to me some of the calls that are missed, but do you really think they're missing calls on purpose? Bottom line is that each ref calls interference slightly differently and especially at different points of the game. I think the way the rules are being enforced now is the reason the refs used to allow obstruction to the extent they did pre-lockout. As for post-lockout, the interference is one of those things that I agree is way overlooked. Point and case: the Anaheim series.

I took the following statement of yours to be referring to something of the sort: I'm not saying they need to be retrained on what is a penalty and what isn't, obviously they should know that. Again, you're saying they are *selectively* not calling penalties. Unless we're in that ref's skates, we can't make that assumption regardless if it *appears* they are looking right at the play. Clearly, they are missing things we all think we see.

Ah....thankfully, I had no idea what you were talking about. It's kind of like when the NHL All-Star game a few years ago was at the same time as the Season Premiere of American Idol. There were so many people here blasting the league for putting the game when it had no chance to compete for ratings. My response: I don't want people who watch American Idol watching hockey anyway.

Unless this is a joke I don't get, I used the correct word. Conceivable: capable of being conceived; imaginable Inconceivable: not conceivable; unimaginable; unthinkable

This is why I'm always happy to see McCreary reffing any Wings game. The guy is as consistent as they come and rarely misses a call. That being said, if you're so concerned about refs supposedly missing blatant calls, I don't think training is going to fix that. Every ref in the NHL knows every single penalty by the book. Their reasoning for not calling what you and I might think is blatant, is that they just didn't feel it was a penalty. Like you said, they aren't blind.

I'm not downplaying a single thing. I'm stating that when human-error is involved, as is the case in reffing there is always going to be mistakes. Do I have an explanation for missed calls when a ref is looking right at the play: No, other than they either (a) didn't get a look at the infraction that we all believe they did or (b) they are taking their personal "feel" on what they saw as a borderline call and they aren't going to call that type of stuff going the other way either. Of course I'm upset when blatant infractions of the rules go unpunished, but you and I going back and forth about it unfortunately isn't going to make it go away. I was simply trying to show you a reason why it exists, nothing more. That doesn't mean I'm happy about it. As for Bettman and the way he handles the league, that's a whole other discussion if you *truly* don't believe there's a reffing conspiracy.

I'm not overlooking your point. Just pointing out that it wasn't the OP's. While I tend to agree that there has been extremely spotty reffing up to this point, unfortunately its a product of a few different beasts. First, there's the human error side of things. Any human can't be expected to make perfect calls in a game where they don't/can't see all the fouls (or lack there of) clearly due to positioning and the fact that each mind views to what degree a penalty is differently. Secondly, while the league likes to show its refs examples of what penalties are, there's always going to be different interpretations of some rules and different levels of leniency based on individual minds. In a perfect world, each and every ref would call a game the exact same way and a good portion of the questionable calls would go away because players would know what they could and couldn't get away with. Obviously we don't live in that world so there's always going to be varying viewpoints on questionable calls. While I'm not about say "its no big deal because every team gets screwed" as you put it, I do realize the varying personalities reffing the game and would be ecstatic if the one thing they could accomplish was consistency within a game, not so much within the different refs (because that's impossible). To me, a penalty should be called (or not called) from the moment until the puck drops until the final whistle blows. That'd would be enough of a start for me.

Again, I don't think he was looking for sympathy. Just pointing out that bad calls are made against the Penguins as well. That idea seems lost a bunch of members here. Agreed with everything else in your post.

I don't deny the fact that calls were missed yesterday....I watched the game. Howerver, I truly do not believe the league is catering to the Penguins the way so many here do. Far too many fans of every team think there's a conspiracy against their team and the league favors specific other clubs over others. Do you realize how many people not only feel this way about the Penguins, but the Wings as well? I don't believe the OP was looking for sympathy. He was here during the finals last year and heard the enormous amount of bitching LGW made about the refs favoring the Penguins. I think its pretty conceivable that the OP was just pointing out that bad calls get made both ways.

His entire contract would count against the cap if that happened since he'll have signed the deal after he turned 35.

Perhaps his point was that the majority of LGW feels the league caters to Crosby/the Penguins and how could this possibly go overlooked if Bettman & Co. only want Pittsburgh to win?