b.shanafan14

Sooo sick of penalties! Is this the only series getting called like this??

f***... ANOTHER penalty??

Why is the referee right next to the play never the one to call the penalty? And they keep calling him JOHAN Ericsson... and Bertuzzi in the dressing room... s***...

FLOP!!!! Piece of diving s***

I can't believe they allow them to play on such a swampy, chippy surface. Last game was the same way, 3 or 4 empty nets whiffed because the puck was bouncing and floating like a whiffle ball.

Great start. Take it to this scrubs boys!

Stay on 'em, boys! Good start!

HOLY s***! I'VE SEEN EVERYTHING! EMMERTON FOREGOES THE PASS TO NYQUIST AND SCORES!!!!

Don't mind Bertuzzi playing with snarl

JEEEZE, WTF WAS FIL THINKING!?

WHITE!! HUGE!! Wake up boys, time to jump on it!

Bert proved me wrong. Not a good showing, but good to see something. Stupid play by Franzen. You know they are cracking down. Quit being butthurt and play.

Pisses me off too, but with Zetterberg successfully freeing the puck along the boards, half the team probably didn't even see it when it happened. On top of that, who was on the ice that could have done jack? There are really only a handful of teams in the league that have a big snot-rockin' guy on the same unit you put on the ice to tie a game late. Bertuzzi was really the only one on the ice who could have done anything, and to his credit, he was trying to get at Gaustad for trying to start s*** with Datsyuk. I agree with your sentiment, but there really wasn't anything that could have been done in that circumstance at the end of last game. The real frustration is the unlikeliness of something coming of it tonight when they would have a chance.

Kostitsyn: "What's wrong, Shea?" Weber: *sniffle* "Oh, nothing... I just feel sooo bad about this Zetterberg thing. Its weighing heavily on my mind..." Kostitsyn: "I know, buddy. But thanks to that fine, you'll know better next time. And it goes to a fund for head-smashed players, so chin-up" Weber: *sniffle* "Thanks, buddy. Can... can you just... hold me for a bit? I don't want the guys to see me so upset" Kostitsyn: "Sure thing, comrade"

Yeah... when I heard that I was filled with a mix of disgust, anger, and embarrassment. He's 100% right, of course, but its pretty damn sad...

FOTO:

Z and Dats haven't been on the same line except on the powerplay. The Wings do have a decent amount of depth at center when you look at the roster. Filppula, Hudler, and Franzen can all play center. Filppula is too valuable to be centering the third line, they need him with Z. Hudler is far too small to compete and be useful at center on a lower line. Babcock will never demote Franzen to the Bottom 6. One could actually argue that, aside from the Helm injury, the lack of legitimate, pure scoring wingers in the Top 6 is the biggest issue with the 3rd and 4th lines center position.

This. Same reason why Emmerton is ALWAYS in over Jan Mursak, center versus winger. Darren Helm truly does make the entire Bottom 6. Without him, you have Abdelkader forced to center and rely on Emmerton in the 4th slot; far from ideal. Lest we forget, the third line with Abdelkader-Helm-Miller was one of our best for a good stretch of the season, before it was disrupted by the brief Franzen demotion and injuries forcing players to be dispersed throughout the lineup.

Man, these teams are going to run each other ragged. Whoever wins will do so barely and will likely be too spent to compete come next series. I love it

No one ever told Gary Bettman the "sticks and stones" mantra. More likely to be punished for speaking your mind in this league than causing bodily harm to another player outside the bounds of the rules. The leagues priority is to keep the high-end players in the game, no matter what. Malkin jumps Zetterberg with a swinging stick and gloved fists, earning automatic suspension? All of a sudden its not in the "spirit" of the rule. Orpik knees a player for the 3rd or 4th time? Look everyone, over there! Tortorella is fined for making comments to the media! Weber pulls one of the most blatant cheapshots I've seen with clear intent to injure? We fined him the "maximum"; next time he'll be in BIG trouble; no injury, no foul; I think his glove might have softened the blow; Zetterberg hit him first; "playoff hockey"? Only players that can be suspended are 3rd-4th line players, with the rare exception.

But we don't want to have to give a roster spot to someone who can't play more than 5 minutes. We want guys who can play outside of just being a pair of fists. Like Emmerton... [/sarcasm][/fanningflames]

Ask and ye shall receive. The top screencap is from after Zetterberg's goal in the 2nd Period; bottom screencap after the turnbuckle move. From pristine Warrior helmet, complete with logo, to no logo, noticeable chunk out of the helmet (possible damage to the number 40 on the top, but could be reflection).

http://video.redwings.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=-6&id=171946 Babcock forced to censor himself due to $20K fines for coaches speaking out against the establishment. Eerily similar to this: And for more Babcock hysterics:

I wish I had the time/energy to compile a montage video of hits that went un-suspended ala Lucic on Miller, Orpik's knee on Stephan, and Weber's shot to Zetterberg, versus hits that did result in a suspension, ala Smith's 8 games for an open-ice hit.

Watch the longer replay video again: near the end when Zetterberg is skating off and the NBC scoreboard is up on the screen, there is clearly a chunk taken out of the front-rightside of his helmet, above the visor.