b.shanafan14

Starting to wind down the longest, least productive day of work ever.... back and forth between TSN.ca and NHL.com... going insane, its like Christmas was put off every year since 2002 and it Christmas eve and we're promised 6 years worth of crap. GO WINGS!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen: I present to you the face of the new NHL on the biggest stage in hockey.... ...disgraceful... I read the transcript and the reporter didn't bring up anything regarding that and he continued to ***** and moan about obstruction AGAIN... this team feels entitled, them not performing has nothing to do with them.

I love Shanny as much, if not more than the next guy. But times have changed, and he's no longer what he once was. He is still a great guy and helped the Wings have the success they did, and no one can argue either of those points. That said, the team is better off without him and I'd rather remember him in the winged-wheel as he was the second he left, 40 goal-scorer. I would hate for him to come back and be the new Lang or Samuelsson, unless he took Samuelsson money and position, neither I see happening.

Thats what I thought too, Crosby could touch a puck already trickling across the goalline to claim the goal and it would be replayed without tire. But Franzen takes on the entire Pens' team and a second later you would never know it happened. 60 terrible hours of Crosby hype remaining before the Wings have a second crack at it. They better play much better.

I'm ill from the overdose on the word Crosby. Crosby gets shut out, its about Crosby, Crosby scores, its cause he is the best player ever. Crosby scores a goal and FIRST DAMN thing they go back to is Crosby better than Lemieux?? Is he the best ever?? Look everyone, the welcome to the Crosby intermission show. The Wings better be less cute next game. Batton down the hatches everyone, we now have an extra day of Penguins propoganda. Get ready for ESPN, TSN, and NHL.com to have multi debates about who loves Sindy better.

Grapes is funny at times, but most of the time he is obnoxious and has no intention of hiding biase against Europeans. When Roberts jumped Pav and Pav started beating on that ass, Grapes played Pav off as a *****, of course thats cause the "coach" was raving about Roberts as a difference maker and he only showed up as a goon. He also keeps down playing Hank's OBVIOUS domination of Crosby, who is the "Canadian Idol", eventhough all Hank has done was shut down the supposed most powerful line in hockey while still producing offensively. He made some comment about how the Pens need to follow Pav and Hank "to the ladies room if they have to". On a side note: if the domination continues, can we officially say that not only is the West far superior to the purely offensive East, and to a more specific extent, that Pav and Hank are better all-around players than Crosby and Malkin?

Hey all, I ain't in Michigan so I don't have FSN Detroit and I really wanted to see the Spotlight on Dats. Does anyone have a link or anything where I could watch it? THANKS

The fact that Ribeiro skated through Ozzy's stick to run one of the Wings' star defensemen after the horn had sounded is not the same as a two-handed slash to the chest of the opposing goaltender after the game is over. Whether Ozzy intended to hit Ribeiro or not, which to me looks like Ozzy oculd have easily just been reaching to slow up Ribeiro with his blocker hand and accidently caught him with the stick, which seems more likely, either way, nothing justifies using the stick as a weapon the way Ribeiro did. VS. crew argument: Ozzy started it, Ozzy should be suspended if Ribeiro is, Ozzy has pads. There is no doubt Ozzy sold it, but every goaltender in the league would have. If you counted Ozzy's stick as intentional, which there is no way of knowing, that still doesn't compare to what Turco was doing to "protect his crease" at the other end. But one thing is for sure: Ribeiro did swing lumber, intentionally, at the end of a game. Final verdict if the NHL higher ups were unbiased: Ribeiro gets McLennan/Simon treatment and is booted for intent to injure using the stick as a weapon after the game was over. What is more likely to happen: Ribeiro gets the Chris Pronger treatment, maybe gets one game or a decent fine.

E.J. Hradek seems to be the only one in the media that wants to give the Wings any credit. Problem is he is always playing second fiddle to Barry Melrose, who's philosophy is "I'll take whoever the Wings are playing to sweep" (nice Dean Martin suit in the recent preview btw, he is slowly thinking he is Don Cherry). I think that everyone knows that the Wings are being purposely avoided as the pick to win and then the experts feel its better to make excuses why the team they picked didn't win instead of point out the obvious reasons why Detroit did. I was listening to NHL Live XM on the new NHL Network feature on NHL.com between rounds 1 and 2 waiting for Lidstrom to be interviewed and a caller asked why the Wings were always snubbed when the so-called-experts picked, and Hradek explained that he had picked the Wings for the obvious reasons, whereas other analysts like Melrose, etc. would rather make what they see as the "smart guy" pick, in other words not picking the favorite and citing intangibles or glimmers of brilliance as reasons. I, too, am sick of always hearing about how vulnerable the Wings are and how they seem to just be lucky the other team never shows up. At what point when a team is constantly on the better end of shots on goal and shots IN goal do you finally take a point against your original predicted winner and give credit where credit is due? Oh well, I like the Wings better underappreciated than favored any day. The first game of the series went exactly how I have predicted. The Stars are a great team and beat two tough opponents, just like the Wings did last year. That said, this match up doesn't work for the Stars and I don't think it ever will, unless the series proves otherwise. The Dallas Stars and the Detroit Red Wings plays a similiar fast paced style, the only difference is that the Wings are far better at it, and god knows I love Marty Turco, but I don't see him breaking his curse with the Wings enough to pull this series out. I realize its only been one game, and I don't mean to get ahead of myself, but I'm hoping/foreseeing things going similiar for the Wings-Stars throughout this series, at least at the Joe

That is definately my concern too, just because of how things have been this whole year. Just kinda how Babs seems to be leaning towards Hasek all season and at times I feel talks up to Dom's ego and down plays Ozzy's role in a win. That said, I hope Osgood continues to be solid, you can't argue with his play and his numbers are speaking to confirm that. 1 goal allowed in the slot with an extra skater in two and a half games. 98.1% save percentage. Period. And the biggest thing for me has always been Osgood's character and his ability to remain calm after a goal. After the series became 2-2 in the manner it did, Osgood between the pipes has seemed to have a tremendous calming presence on the ice. In my opinion, I thought Ozzy was the better goaltender all year, I didn't feel comfortable with Dom in goal due to his down time and inconsistent play, and my fears there came true in the form of two quick goals not once, not twice, not thrice, but 4 times. But now that the series is over, I think it happened in the best way it could, Dom losing the job, Osgood taking ownership of the net through strong play, a series behind us and a more solid goaltending situation out of it.

Pierre McGuire is a complete tool, and not in the "tools are useful" sorta way. He is extremely biased against the Red Wings, much the same ilk as Melrose. They both seem to be completely gagging on words when the Wings come up and I agree, yesterday after the game he seems to say everything with this look on his face and hook in his voice. The look was just a constant grimmace and his voice reminds me of the skinny drunk kid who speaks half sarcastically, not doing anything to warrant an ass kickin' but enough to see he is acting a bit big for his britches. I think its hilarious when he gets all ME, ME, ME and has to try and talk over everyone and gets extremely excited and sheds the guise of unbiased reporting and reverts to THE RED WINGS' OPPONENT ARE TOO MUCH FOR THEM mode. Anyone else notice how after his interviews with Red Wings yesterday he didn't even bother to step off camera or anything before losing the half grimmace smile dropping the mic from his face and yelling "doc!". On top of all that, he is one of the guys that asks questions about references or preferred opponents that they know no NHL player is gonna answer and just asks it and asks it and seems frustrated when they don't devulge it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoyicAEYhJg "We will not go quietly into the night, we will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on, we're going to survive! Today we celebrate our independence day!" (USA!USA!USA!) EDIT: Pullman looks like Babcock slightly

Hasek has been good a lot of the time, and even great at times this series, but has probably let in around 3 softies so far at least. I'm not a fan of Hasek, but I'm not going to blame him. His defensemen have been caught sleeping countless times this series. I don't blame Dom much for letting in a softy here and there, though I'm not estatic about it, but when you are looking to win the cup your goaltender needs to hold on tight and rob somebody. I'm not calling for Ozzy by any means, though I would prefer number 30 in goal, but this seems to be situations where Osgood would be more suited. As far as goaltenders go, Ozzy bounces back from a goal as good, if not better than anyone. He forgets about it once the horn goes. I'm thinking that no matter how badly our team plays, your goaltender should be solid enough to get one of the two in those 2 minutes, those 11 seconds, those 9 seconds. Asside from the goal in game one and the empty netter last night, the Predators goals have come in pairs. The Wings haven't been good enough, and Dom hasn't been good enough to help that.

Exactly. To be honest, I didn't expect a sweep, so a loss was expected. But 3 times now the Predators have gone from nothing to in a game or tonites win because of stupid mistakes. Last game I excuse the ridiculus bounce off the boards for the first one. But since then they have all been caused by defensive breakdowns. 2 goals in 11 seconds, 2 goals in 2 minutes, 2 goals in 9 seconds. If you're allowing teams to win like Nashville did tonite, there is something seriously wrong. I hope this was a huge wake up call and they start to hustle more and start playing smart. Way too many D-men out of position. Stuart going for the bump when he is supposed to be deep man, Lilja out of position half of the time. I could go on. And for anyone that says its just one game, I hear you loud and clear. But no one on this board can argue that the way they lost is acceptable by any stretch of the imagination. One more for the people in the back..... 2 goals in 11 seconds, 2 goals in 2 minutes, 2 goals in 9 seconds

wow, that was.... wow.... some people are such homers and grit-nazi's that they are basically blind to appreciating anything they don't understand. I love his argument that Lidstrom is a ***** and it took one hit to put him out and that Zubov is head and shoulders better. Its hilarious. And its just the one guy who keeps posting over and over. Guy needs a hobby, maybe he can start actually watching hockey. I do think most Stars fans are smarter and the majority are defending Nick, so thats good. Oh well, they can't all be smart, otherwise we wouldn't have Gary Bettman. PS- Their board doesn't read nearly as well as this one.

Both of them are absolutely unbelievable talents. Can't wait to see the rest of their careers in the Red and White. Pav has become an unstoppable two-way player, whereas Hank was always a two way player but is now coming on more offensively. You also have to take into consideration that Hank missed time due to injury this year and I think may even have a better Pt/Game productive than Pav. But you can't argue with the takeaways and the +/-. If the league voted MVP more on the overall two-way mastery of the game, I honestly think Pav or Nick should win Hart, but its hard to stiff AO this year, especially since that prick Crosby has already won it. Final Verdict: Thank god I don't have to choose. Pav and Hank are the most dynamic 1-2 punch in the league. BAR NONE

We have already seen two different versions of the ultimate hockey player: Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan Now we see the final draft: Alex Ovechkin AO has Steve like movement and Shanny like release and charisma Of course, the Steve-Shanny mix that is AO will never be equal to the sum of its parts

Thank god, i was wondering when someone else was going to pick up on that... With a conference this tight and how different teams match up, its much more likely that one or more of the higher seeds drop in the first round, as long as it isn't the Wings, I feel confident about the first two rounds, and part of me wants to see the Ducks just to feel absolute Joy in getting them back for last year. Of course, as others have said, them getting knocked off first works for me too

Agree completely. I like Babcock, think he is great coach for a team like the Wings. That said, there are some instances where I think he goes with an old stand-by instead of making adjustments according to the play on the ice. Samuelsson especially. How can a guy that fails to produce and if anything, wastes a spot on a line with Hank continue the whole season playing poorly and still getting top two line minutes. He abandons the point randomly on the powerplay with no one to fill his spot, he goes deking around down low, and even if he does stay at the point he has a hard time keeping the puck in the zone and can't hit the net to save his life. But no matter how poorly he plays, he is still on Hanks line. His poor play sticks out like a sore thumb on Zata's line and his goal production is pitiful. Same story in goal. I understand we have two aging goaltenders that are both reliable, both deserving by merit the rotation. But when one goalie is hot, you have to ride them, not continue switching off. Earlier in the year when Ozzy was hot in goal, couldn't lose, he still got just every other game, going Hasek struggles, but don't worry, we'll win the next one cause Ozzy will be in goal. That shouldn't happen. Better, hotter glove should play. And its become the same problem as the season has gone on til the end. Ozzy lost most of his games during a stretch when Dom was injured, the Wings were half staffed, and even when he would play out of his mind in goal, the team wouldn't provide offense. So, at risk of starting up the goalie debate we are all sick and tired of, someone please explain this senario to me: Hasek starts out the season slow + Ozzy starts out hot 50/50 Hasek gets injured + Ozzy plays great Hasek returns and gets 60/40 to get him back going Hasek plays great + Ozzy loses the hot hand 50/50 Hasek gets injured again + Ozzy plays great while the team plays like crap Dom earns playoff call and will play the majority of the season when he isn't injured Why did we stick to 50/50 in the spots we did, and how does an oft injured, old Hasek who hasn't earned his spot, get the playoff nod over a steady Osgood? This is where Babcock's coaching is called into question when those who don't earn, continue to recieve ice time. Do we really want to ride an injury prone goaltender who may or may not be in the mood to play, but still wants to be called the starter going into the playoffs?

Cleary/Zetterberg/Franzen Filppula/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Bruunstrom/Hudler/Kopecky Maltby/Draper/McCarty Downey Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Ericsson/Chelios Lebda Quincey Osgood Howard I think if we somehow shop Samuelsson for whatever bargain bin pick we can get and give this Bruunstrom guy a place to bloom We'll be set with our forwards. Hopefully Bruunstrom doesn't turn out to be another Grigorenko, all hype and no return. Hopefully for Mac's sake he can get back a sliver of the old form and fit back on the Grind Line and we can say 'no thanks' to more Drake. I would keep Downey at the price/pay/play we have him if he is willing to be our grunt, he seems to like it here, then again, he seems to be a generally great guy. On the back end, I like how Stuart has fit in to the system thus far and he is only getting more and more comfortable. He seems to jump deep into the play ala Kronwall but hasn't been caught deep yet that I've seen. I love this Ericsson kid, big body, seems to move well, overall really impressed with him. And Chelios is an old staple by now, cheap great stay at home guy, another good character in the lockroom. I like most people see Dom retiring and Ozzy becoming number 1 with Howard getting his first full year in the NHL. Hopefully Ozzy can play like he did earlier this year, and personally he just got caught in goal more often during the Wings slump as a whole when Dom was injured. I think Howard is ready to take over at least a 40% role on the team.

I don't know why I'm surpised, after all the crap Pronger gets away with, the cheapshot artist gets away scottfree on a play identical to Simon's stomp earlier this season which set the precedent at a 30 game suspension. Only difference is that Pronger is an All-Star defenseman who is yet to seriously injure anyone of comparible star power, so he'll continue to get away with this kind of crap. Only way the league is going to finally crackdown on the NHLs premiere goon is if he ends someone of all-star caliber. Until then, its just a ticking time bomb for the career ending injuries.

haha it would be the most cartoonishly dirty fight ever with random incidences where they both turtle i can see it now, Tootoo and Lemieux both throw a handful of dust in the others eye simultaneously, upon being blinded, both hit the turtle, upon recovery both execute a nut shot, again, both turtle, managing to get to their knees, they both rear back with gloved hands and connect with one on the others chin, bloodying both, resulting in instant instinctive turtling and then, shock!.... Tootoo: Dad? Lemieux: SON?! Tootoo/Lemieux: I LOVE YOU!

I agree, I've never watched and re-watched an empty netter highlight as much as that one. Just classic Dats making a grown man look like a little kid by stealing the puck nearly effortlessly. You can see at one point the Blues player starts to move up ice and its like Pav smells blood and just attacks... Datsyuk for Selke for sure

enough said, right there... we had money in the off season to spend to give a guy like Markov the meesly $2m he wanted, or bring someone else in, but we held onto it. We need depth and secondary scoring, both which have been sorely lacking as of late. I'm not going to "panic" or speak doom, but if this team doesn't get healthy sometime soon, and I mean REAL healthy, they are never gonna have a prayer at the cup. I try to stay positive, and I definately didn't want to give up much and make a huge deal for a rental, and I'm certainly not going to be one that says "f*** Kenny, he sucks, fire him", but if you weren't disappointed that the Wings didn't pick up someone to provide secondary scoring, you're a fool.

i really hope we don't have to lose flip, especially if its for a rental