Icteria virens

actually yes, when the Pittsburgh Penguins organization can consistantly draft players in the 3, 5, 6 and 7 rounds of the NHL draft that turn out to be stars then I'll be impressed. See Datsyuk, Zetterburg, Lidstrom, Federov, Franzen, Osgood, McCartny. Heck, we haven't drafted above about 28 or so in the first round since I can remember. They've got 2 number 1 overalls, 2 number 2 overalls and a 5th overall in their lineup. they got those picks by sucking for 5 years. They've been a good team for 1-2 years, when they've done it for 15 years like the Wings have then I'll be impressed. Any team can do it for a short time, what happened to TB, Car, ANA, Buf Edm, and Cal? I would think Wings fans above all should know this. Konstantinov was 212 overall. granted the Wings didn't know if he'd ever play in the NHL , same for Feds but still, give the DRW organization credit for taking the risk, any team in the NHL could've had those guys. Same with all the others listed. there's no denying we've drafted well, consistently, for well over a decade. We've done it in the non-cap era, the cap era. Who's won the Presidents trophy 2 of the last 3 years when all I heard was the new era Wings were going down, wouldn't even win their division let alone the Prez. trophy. Pitt hasn't done it, 10 years from now if things stay the same I'll be impressed but not now. They haven't earned it.

this is a great post and I don't see why more ppl don't get it. Look, they're good, they deserve to be in the Finals, but they've been good for one or two years. When they've been good for 15 years and won 3 cups and pos. a 4th in 11 years like Detroil and have had to draft 30 overall in the first round how many years in a row I'll be impressed. any team can do it for a year or 2, see Tampa Bay, Carolina, Anaheim. also see Edmonton and Cal-gary. People can chide us for early PO exits but 2 of the 3 years the team we lost to went to the cup finals, at least one of those teams lost in a game 7. Tell me a Toronto or Chicago fan wouldn't want 3 cups in 11 years in exchange for a few early exits. The decision to draft Crosby andMalkin could;ve been made by a chimp.

your whole post is 100% accurate but the above really rings true. It sums up little eddie o perfectly, I noticed this too, all the time. It was always about what Dallas had to do, never about Detroit. and the thing that really bothers me is if you don't like the announcers or studio crew on VS you don't get a substantial change when the game is on NBC save for Pierre "the monster" Maguire or one extra person like that. It's essentially the same crew for EVERY broadcast. Could anyone imagine if the NFL or MLB had one basic set of announcers and studio crew for every game, irregardless of network? So if you don't like the broadcasts in America and don't live in Detroit or Buffalo to get the CBC you're screwed. Of course the media bias was always going to be against Detroit, you had a choice between the Pens and Sid the Savior or the Philladelphia Comcasts , the Flyers are owned by Comcast which owns VS. Ever wonder why so many Flyers games were on during the season?

my!!! what a little ball of sunshine you are. You're obviously not the person you portray yourself to be, all chill-out Hawaiian and stuff. And considering you left ass cheek has forgot so much about hockey makes sense to me as that is where brain is located. Right on. singning your post "*****" is quite appropriate, was that your right or left ass cheek talking? Mahalo

it's a chick, nuff said, If she had to fight thru Luekemia twice, she'd have more respect

there was never a problem with Lidstrom playing in the NHL, Sweden was no communist country, re: the others you're right, (of course many players were defecting) but why don't you as a red wing "fan" give your favorite team some credit for being proactive and drafting from Europe , both behind and in front of the iron curtain? The DRW organization has always been very proactive in Euro scouting, whether that be Russia, USSR, Czech, Sweden etc. so give the team some credit.

"We haven't seen a team boast this much world-class talent down the middle since maybe Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg were in their prime in Colorado. " end quote enough said, no cred ... at all

actually sweetie, that's not a fact, that's your opinion. Wings in 5

come on boys and girls, Sidney Crosby and Malkin were 2 of the most can't miss prospects to be drafted in recent times. It was a no brainer who they'd take. And having those 2 makes FA's want to come to your team thereby making it easier to build a team. If they can be this good the next 15 years I'll be impressed. (you know, like the red wings have been over the last 15 years) It's amazing this line of reasoning is coming from RW fans who've seen their team be consistently good for so long under both systems. Geesh, I wonder how many of you guys are really RW fans. You sure don't act like it. It is more impressive to get to the conf. finals after having finished so poorly like Philly did last year. Sorry,, it just is. Who in the hockey world wasn't predicting SC greatness for Pitt. since they got crosby and malkin? Again, when they can keep it up for 15 years, now that would be impressive, look at your own teams success first.

I'm worried, ................... no I'm not.......... mercy goal

DET 8- Col 1 LMAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barry Melrose is that you? Please tell me you're joking, you're joking right???

no offense but you're Swedish, and I've found that most Swedes, even some that are RW fans, are biased for Forsfairy. thanks for posting the vid because looking at the close up replay there's NO WAY you can say that wan't intentional from Forsfairy. He completely comes across with his stick at face level, he knew exactly what he was doing and that he'd make contact with Sammy's face. That movement wasn't connected to the lifting of the stick, it came after and was completely seperate. And the only thing you can do is critisize how Sammy falls down. As far as I'm concerned he's lucky the league doesn't fine or suspend him. Is it a natural movement to slash somebody's face with a hockey stick? and Forsfairy calling anybody a diver is really hypocritical. LMAO

this is so true

yeah, I really hate the whole 187 seconds left in the second, wtf is that? I'm sitting there going 60 into 180 is 3 plus.... oh whatever in general the 'talk all over the run of play' style we here is a typical American broadcast. I do generally hear a difference when I see games on the CBC. I also watch soccer games from England (I know soccer ) but there is a real emphasis on the game. No gimmicks. When the color guy makes a comment it is short, concise, and to the point. THe comments are related to the style or strategy of play. for those complaining about VS or NBC, well, this was the same under ESPN, in fact, it was worse. They even have a name for it, "storytelling play-by-play". I remember alot of games on ESPN where the color guy would literally talk non-stop for 2 or 3 minuets at a time with absolutely NO play-by-play. Darren Pang was won of the worst. So was Brian Engblom. Another char. of the american broadcast seems to be it's complete focus on certain individuals. they will go on and on about one or two star players. I remember watching a later game this year on VS, it was a CBC broadcast and Harry Neale was the color guy with a younger PBP guy. He was so awsome! He would make the most informative comments about the game and then let the PBP guy do his business. The emphesis was on the game. This is one of the reasons why I've heard some Canadians say Pierre Maguire is perfect for the American market: b/c he's loud and abrasive. However, this thread prooves some of us do want a simpler, more stripped-down broadcast.

I've been hoping for the Stars b/c they play a similar game to us, I think we match up better against them. I also like how this year's PO's have worked out regarding travel. Nashville, Col, and hopefully Dallas. THis is much better for the Wings than going out to the west coast to play. There have been some PO's where we were out there from round 1, I feel it has an effect on the team considering it's 3 time zones away. I hope it's Dallas for a couple reasons, plus Turco isn't always the greatest in the PO's. He could loose his mojo aginst us.

Stevie gave it to him but Franzen didn't really explain why.

I had that as well, when versus is on does anybody have a problem with the volume of their voices rising and falling during the boradcast? I'm constantly adjusting the volume during VS games because of this, been that way throughout the PO's.

Divesberg, LOL yeah, the "rivalry" is like 8 years old and non-existent but oh well, Forskin's biggest impact is in the showers after his teammates 'blow' a big game.

because he's Swedish

sometimes simplicity is best I don't care if their top 6 are more talented, we consistently roll 4 lines as much as any team in the league and cert. more than the Dives. when they make a rule that you can only play 6 forwards that becomes valid. Theodore is an unproven quantity in the PO's everybody just hates the Wings, it's ok. we're under the radar

you beat me to it. and yes, they are East Coast biased, no doubt about it.

he clearly say F - you, watch him skate behind the cage and face the glass right when he says it, he was clearly saying it to the fans. Most ppl don't care about this as it was to Philly fans, most likely the worst in all of sports.

he's always been biased against teams with lots of Euros on them, has been as long as I can remember

how is this happening? over 50 shots and they don't have their top 2 pivots??????? OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 on a sidenote: Christine Simpson : meow