J-Swift

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I didn't see a penalty either way. This is getting ridiculous.

Penalty on the Avs? Certainly there must be some mistake.

Lilja makes it hard to like him sometimes.

Is that not delay of game?

Embarassing....

Oh please. The Wings are half-assing it out there.

Kronwall was on the ice for the fourth goal.

And Pierre McGuire is crushed...

Although I do see what you're saying, I don't think it applies here. Lilja isn't some free agent we plucked off the market and guaranteed a spot on the team, he's a guy we re-signed (and gave a moderate raise) not fully knowing how this summer was going to play out. And I don't think a third-pairing/depth defenceman like Andreas Lilja can expect the same level of commitment as, say, Brian Rafalski when we signed him to a 30 million dollar contract last summer. Although Lilja at 1.2 million isn't that bad of a deal, I feel we can save ourselves around half a million in cap space by replacing him with either Chelios or someone within the system.

So, I'm guessing Lilja's as good as gone. Of all our spare defenceman, he's the highest paid and would fetch the most on the trade market. Obviously this deal seems a little hefty at the moment, but I'm glad we have Flip signed long-term as opposed to a one or two year deal. If he plays all year on the second line (possibly with Hossa), he's probably going to put up some solid numbers, and would cost even more to re-sign next year.

Totally agree. Crosby won the Art Ross, Hart, and Lester B. Pearson trophies in his second season, and proceeded to captain a team to the Stanley Cup finals in his third season. Sure he's been promoted like crazy by the NHL, but the league really needs a new generational talent (like Gretzky or Lemieux) to get back on track, and I don't blame them for banking on Crosby. And the whole "whining" thing is seriously overblown. I'd expect that from any 20-year old put in that kind of leadership position. As for who actually is overrated, I'd have to go with Gaborik. We all know he's got some pretty solid skills, but he's yet to really accomplish anything.

Hudler does get power-play time. He's a regular on the second unit, and he did some pretty solid special teams work during the post-season. I think it's hard to judge Jiri on one accidental high-stick. Though he did take a few penalties during the playoffs.

Sundin's also nearly 10 years older than Hossa and on his way to retirement. If you're not satisfied with how this offseason went, you never will be.

I've never been a huge Kenny Holland booster, but managing to keep our Stanley Cup winning core together and somehow nabbing the best free agent on the market while working under a cap is sheer genius. Kudos to Hossa too for signing such a short-term contract. I'm sure he could've easily had seven years elsewhere.

Although I agree that Stuart was over-paid this season and will probably be over-paid in whatever deal he get this summer, I think the Wings should bite the bullet in order to keep the top four we have now intact. And your suggestion that Stuart doesn't want to play here is pretty much just speculation. He seems to be a somewhat stoic kind of person, so pictures of him not celebrating all that enthusiastically don't mean a lot to me.

Lilja is a known commodity. He is a third-pairing d-man who struggles when given larger roles for an extended period of time. I think that Quincey could take over that role quite easily, and maybe even do it better some day. Quincey's potential obviously isn't sky-high, but we have to start him somewhere or there's no point in keeping him. You forgot Lebda. Not to mention the fact that I'm still holding out some hope that we re-sign Stuart, or some relatively decent top four d-man, because I truly hate the idea of Lilja or Lebda partnering with Kronwall. Anyway, with Lilja re-signed, and Chelios expected to re-sign, I figure our D looks like this: Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart/UFA Lilja-Lebda Chelios I just don't see where the room is for ushering somebody else in.

If I'm not mistaken, Stuart had five points in the Stanley Cup finals (including a game-winning goal) and was a +15 over the course of the post-season. And the hit that you're referring to was more than just "good"; it rendered Crosby far less effective for the rest of Game 6. Not to mention Brad threw some solid hits throughout the finals. Now I'm not saying that Brad Stuart is some dynamic first-pairing d-man, but Lidstrom/Rafalski/Kronwall/Stuart was easily the best top four we've had since '02, and I don't know why you'd want to break up a winning combination. Paired alongside Stuart, Kronwall played his best hockey ever. You don't think Quincey has the potential to be a better player than Lilja? The young defencemen in our system have to be ushered onto the team as third-pairing guys at some point, or there's no real reason for keeping them around. And for the record, I'm in favour of re-signing one of either Chelios or Lilja. But signing them both doesn't make an awful lot of sense to me.

I expect you to back it up when you slam Hasek for what was an excellent performance. And please don't pretend like you merely offered some constructive criticism to Dom's game. Suggesting that maybe, from time to time, Hasek wanders out of his net too much would be an understandable assertion. But what you wrote was (and I quote): And in this one Hasek lover's opinion, Dom did not "blow" today. Quite the opposite, in fact.

If you like Hasek, I'd honestly hate to see what you have to say about players you don't like. Furthermore, none of us are "blinded" by the Wings winning. Some us actually watch a game from start to finish. And this whole "Dom got burned for wandering" argument is pure garbage. Every goalie in the league goes out to stop the puck behind the net on a dump-in. That isn't wandering. It was a bad bounce that went in front of the net. It happens. He'll be alright. If you made this statement in your original post, there probably wouldn't be much to argue about, would there? Right on Anybody unhappy with Dom's play today would be unsatisfied by anything short of a shutout. And even then you'd find something to ***** about.

You don't like Hasek. We get it. You're being absolutely ridiculous. The only reason the Wings came out of the first with a lead was because of Dom. This game could've been completely different. And to compare Hasek's performance today to Legace's in '06 (even though I defended Manny back then) is absurd.

That first goal on Dom would've happened to anyone. No goalie is still in their net by the time the puck hits the boards on a dump-in. Tootoo's goal might've been stoppable, but it was a partial breakaway after a garbage play by Lilja. If those are the worst goals Hasek lets in all playoffs, we'll be okay.

Does McGuire really enjoy sucking up to Tootoo? I'm pretty sure Brad Stuart and Andreas Lilja can hold their own.

What a game so far. Dom's been crazy.

And here I was thinking that goaltending would be our team's weakness. Great period from Dom so far, but the Wings really have to tighten up. And I am disgusted by my lack of faith in McCarty. He's been amazing.

You could maybe make the case that the Preds goal was stoppable, considering where the shot went it. But I think it's pretty clear Dom never saw the puck; Lilja and Tootoo were both directly in the shooting lane and that puck was lucky to get through. You really didn't think Franzen looked good? He almost had another goal midway through the second period.