b.shanafan14

Combined for 11 minor penalties through 2 periods. 6 on the Wings, 5 on the Preds. 22 minutes of PP through 40 minutes. This is the most shameful officiating I've seen in a long while...

Wings are one of (if not the best) teams in the league 5-on-5... if we ever get to see it.

Another PP passing us by... (too subtle?)

White sweaters, white ice. Apparently, they can't see the Wings being hooked and held at every turn, despite their apparent crackdown on obstruction. I suppose when the Preds are flopping their asses off like the damn 'Nucks, and wearing that obnoxious yellow, it looks like a penalty flag in football. Well put by Babcock, knowing he can't out and say the officials are s*** without it costing him $20k.

My... god... Howard.... *deep breath*.... f***! Two fluky goals, two s***ty officials, and two terrible linesmen...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Hook on Quincey let go, leading to a phantom holding call.

Fisher all over Pavel and....... nothing. At least the level of minute-to-minute consistency has held from the regular season officiating...

UGH, s*** ice blows open cage for Cleary.

These penalties are half-legit/half-flop, and trending towards the latter. Then again, they are skating on slush.

Is there any language in league rules as to the required quality of the ice surface? How can professionals be expected to play on this swampy, chippy bulls***?

Hudler is a better Holmstrom than Franzen

ZATA!!!!! ....thank god...

Thoughts through 20 minutes: - Officiating is ridiculous; call it the way it should be called in 1-82 and you won't have to call EVERYTHING to set a tone come playoffs - Wings desperately need their PP going (Mr. Obvious) with the officiating going all screwy - Freak injury to Helm is huge - The ice is s***. Pure s***. - Shaping up to be a nerve wracking series, going to be all lucky bounces, and Nashville has the first one - Our shot selection remains awful; high, wide, logos, or shinpads.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120411/SPORTS0103/204110425/1128/rss16 Didn't see this posted yet in this thread. Focuses on Helm's return and whether or not Babcock will play Nyquist or Emmerton (should be a no-brainer, but few things are these days ). However, there is a bit about Cleary that says he is healthy enough to play. According to Babcock, he talked to Cleary about his 50% comments and Cleary told him he is good to go. Not sure what to think, since what he basically says is "I told Cleary if he was 50% he wouldn't be playing, and he told me he was OK now". "'Tis but a scratch... I've had worse... I'M INVINCIBLE!"

Hahahahahahahaha! I almost peed myself, thank you...

While I agree that this MIGHT work out for both teams, there is one little hitch: would Rick Nash really waive his no-trade clause to jump from one bottom-feeder to another bottom-feeder with a bit better prospects? Also, if the argument against the Oilers taking Yakupov is that he is a right-winger and they could use more help on defense, goal, or center, why add another right-winger in Rick Nash who is older, has a big cap-hit, and questions about his production ceiling? They would be better off taking Yakupov at an entry-level contract. But either way, the chances of Nash waiving his NMC to move out of the frying pan and into a bigger frying pan, is miniscule at best.

Quebec Nordiques also won 3 years straight from 1989-1991, winning the Cup 5 years later after moving to Colorado. Interestingly enough, they made more hay from trading the players they picked 1st overall than they got from the players themselves. Their 1st overalls from 1989-1991 were Mats Sundin (traded to Toronto in 1994), Owen Nolan (traded for Sandis Ozolinsh in the franchises first season in Denver), and Eric Lindros (who forced them to trade his rights, nabbing them Peter Forsberg, Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, Steve Duchesne, and two 1st rounders), respectively. Those were CRAZY days! (Too young to remember them, but yay internets!)

Sucks to be the Blue Jackets. Oilers definitely building the same way Pittsburgh did, and its a bit irritating to watch. Play s***ty enough for 3 years, and you'll be a contender in 5 years (unless you have equally s***ty lottery luck ). I don't know what the alternative is, but kind of silly to think that the worst teams in the league - which ironically are there in the first place due to poor drafting and development - will always have a brighter future than bubble teams who compete and tread water. Could the lottery be expanded, with similar scaling of odds, to include teams finishing 30-20 in points? That way, at least a bubble team that had a good showing, like Colorado or Winnipeg, can have a slim shot at obtaining a franchise-changing player that could propel them from mediocrity to contention in a single year, instead of allowing a team like Pittsburgh or Edmonton to go belly up for a half-decade, stockpile high picks, and be granted the 180 degree turnaround by default.

2008 Red Wings had a injury slump as well, but were far and away the best team in the league all season heading into the playoffs. Their depth was 2nd to none and Zetterberg and Datsyuk were both coming off of career years (which they have not met/surpassed since). The 2008 Red Wings were surgical. Same players or not, the 2008 Red Wings would make the 2012 Red Wings look like the 2008 Avalanche.

Similar on paper maybe, but the level of execution has not been there consistently since 2009. Also, big difference in level of play from 2008 hold overs, which you touched on briefly: + Filppula: Upgrade, has developed into a dynamic playmaker, coupled with steady defensive play = Datsyuk: Arguably better, but he was also healthier in 2008 and coming of 97 pts = Zetterberg: Dip in production, due mostly to nagging injuries; competes equally hard = Lidstrom: Older, but equally as effective defensively. Not as dominant on the PP as he was = Kronwall: About even, more years of development have improved his offensive output. = Stuart: About even, paired with Kronwall with some nights dominant, other nights turnover prone. Still a reliable stalwart = Hudler: Producing more, but equally ineffective in physical playoff match-ups ? Helm: Improved but health will be a huge question mark, given a guy who relies on speed coming off of knee surgery ? Franzen: From invincible in 2008 to invisible in 2012. The biggest question mark of them all. - Holmstrom: Big drop off; no longer Top 6 player. PP specialist on a poor PP. More penalties than goals - Cleary: Night and day drop off due to injuries. No longer versatile scoring/checking player. So in my mind, if we were to call every new player a wash (despite Rafalski being worlds better than White, Samuelsson being a bit better than Bertuzzi IMO, and Drake being much more useful in physical, grinding playoffs than Nyquist at this point in his career), that still sees the Wings with only one big improvement in Filppula. Datsyuk Lidstrom and Zetterberg have all seen their share of production-diminishing injuries, as well as 4 seasons worth of extra miles, so at best I would call them even; same with the tandem of Kronwall Stuart and Hudler. Helm would be improved if it wasn't for the injury, which may see him significantly tuned down for a while. Finally, the huge minus lie with three players who were critical to the last cup and were used to a similar purpose. Holmstrom can no longer play Top 6 and contribute like he was in 2008; nowadays he is WAY too slow, and takes too many penalties (deserved or otherwise). Due to Cleary's injury woes, he has no resemblance to the versatile forward he was in 2008. And Franzen has not played like the Mule he was in 2008 in a good while. He has the ability to execute, but its unreliable at best. Even at his best, he'll never be the player he was in 2008. This years team is worse than 2008, and in my opinion, a good deal worse. They still have the tools on some fronts if the execution is there, but the depth is lacking and the 4 years separating the teams have put miles on the players always called upon to carry the load.

Not sure what my opinion is right now. Its good to hear he's committed and all, but as others have said, it would have been better if he had been just sitting out getting healed up instead of dragging ass all season just to get to playoffs at 50%. I wish we could replace him, especially since its now common knowledge that he will be little help due to his injury, but the team can only stand to have so many AHLERs. As much as it sucks to have these injured or otherwise useless players in, I can understand managements apprehension to replace them.

Also, the Blues didn't end the season playing their best hockey, winning only 4 of their last 10, while the Sharks have been fighting for positioning, winning 7 of their last 10 against similar opponents. This is going to be a great series, whoever moves forward is going to be in rough shape.

All national pundits I've seen have Detroit going down in 6 or 7. One of the guys on the NHL Network preview show said Wings in 7, but that's about it. GOOD. I prefer when the Wings aren't favored by the talking heads. Hopefully the diminished pressure gives the Wings that chip on their shoulder which they really need to succeed, and the perceived lighter pressure allows them to get on their game. The Wings can play in STFU-mode, while the Predators get to experience something new and scary: the weight of high expectations. Don't know exactly what its called, but its just the basic NHL-produced championship DVD, same as they did for 1997, 1998, and 2002, with Chelios' buddy who played Dr. Cox on "Scrubs" I didn't end up getting the box set with the Finals series in it.

I believe most were speaking of when Helm returns, which is projected to be Game 2. That would see Abdelkader sliding down to center the 4th line, as one of the above posters showed. Even so, other than taking draws and defending, its hardly inconceivable for a winger to slide to center, especially given the fact that Emmerton plays like an empty sweater, gets caught watching the play in his own zone, and only takes an average of around 3 faceoffs per game. That said, bringing in Conner is hardly the panacea. I think he'll provide good energy, but should do so on the 4th line. In a perfect world, we would be able to reunite Miller-Helm-Abdelkader, but I do think we need a legit center on all lines (not Emmerton): Miller-Helm-Cleary Conner-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Who's that guy? Johan Franzen? There's a Johan Franzen on this years team, but I don't think its the same guy. Hmmmm? (You forced me to go back and watch the 2008 championship video, so thanks )