b.shanafan14

Pang is by far my favorite analyst in national broadcasts. Really enjoyed him between the benches today, he's so even-keel, Pierre always seems exaggerated, putting on a performance.

rest up Ozzy, Wings are gonna need you in top form for the rest of the run, not going to be anymore opportunities to regroup.

So what? I think you could consider the last pick in pretty much any draft as Mr. Irrelevant, so rare one works out in any league. I've always liked the term and I like it even more when regarding a great young player like Ericsson.

Helm is here to stay. His energy, speed and physicality is tremendous. Its really hard to mess with a winning lineup, period. Draper returns at the expense of Kopecky or Maltby.

To win the cup the Wings will need to keep playing like they have been, regardless of who they play. I think hoping for a certain opponent if anything is bad luck. Ducks are playing damn good right now, and whether they win and we play them or play the Canucks, the team is going to be tough to beat and have plenty of travel to worry about. We still have two wins left in this series, lets focus on that.

Keep this up Ozzy! Team is playing great, goaltender is playing great! I've always believed Ozzy, ever since '05-'06 wishing he wasn't injured for playoffs. Crashing his crease a lot now, but he is standing tall! GO OZZY, GO WINGS!

Helmer is a hitting machine right now. Wings are physical top to bottom after one. Keep pouring it on boys.

haha Gary Bettman.... the trick is to time being the worst team in the league right when you have the opportunity to pick up Malkin, Crosby, Fluery, and Staal. That the model Bettman has for his struggling teams, thats the model of Bettman's NHL franchise. Not drafting smart and winning games.

Nah, lets them know you're there. Its not like throwing a beer or anything, and even though the other 29 teams and Bettman hate it, its good, "clean" team spirit, no malicious intent.

Ozzy, give then hell! Show them now is your time! Step up and shut up the nay-sayers. We all believe Ozzy.

terrific article!

Well thats the requisite 3 good goals disallowed.

hahaha "but she's so pret....." hilarity ensues

Well, its either Columbus and their hot goaltending or Anaheim and their travel and goonery. Not particularly great choices, but if the Wings truely have that extra gear or two needed to win another cup, it shouldn't matter either way. PLAYOFF TIME FOLKS!

Cap hit is based on average salary per season. He could make $10mil in his first season of the contract but as long as the average is only $4mil, the cap hit every season with by $4mil, not $10mil.

God damnit, brand new pants, RUINED! Or it could be two Czechs and a Slovak just having some chow.

The main problem with who to play that I'm worried about is first round travel. I think it was huge to last years run that they didn't have to jump 2 time zones in the first round. Otherwise, I'm with you there mysterious stranger, give me Anaheim, then the Blues, and definitely not Columbus. Let someone else deal with a hot tender. Anaheim's only real upper hand is the looming threat of goonery, which hopefully yields plenty of PPs for the leagues best units and no injuries on the Wings side.

Awesome news if true and the cap hit is less than $4 mil. It does make me a little nervous that we'll be signing possibly 3 players for the next decade (hoping Hossa gets done the same way). Could be a great 10 years that sees the cap jump and the players continue to reach new highs. Or is could see a cap drop and the players fall off from the play that earned them the contracts, making them immovable and killing the franchise. In Ken We Trust, I suppose.

QF F! T. Ozzy has been through more s*** and broken glass in his career than most. He has played for a winner at the expense of his own pride, which is a high price. The guy wins, he better thank his lucky stars, the guy loses and its all his fault. There has to be some disconnect there. The Detroit system calls for money spent places other than goaltending, causing the misconception that even the most mediocre goaltending should yeild a cup parade come June. Yet Joseph, Legace, and Hasek had all failed in the time between the 2002 Cup and the 2008 Cup. I for one have faith in Ozzy IF the team plays to their capability, which they really haven't this season. Ozzy knows he hasn't been great, but neither has the defense around him, and yet, here they are, the 2nd seed is theirs fallin' off a log. Imagine if (when) they get it all click when the chips are down. Does it kill us as fans to believe, to give a s***? Or are we better served as cynics, expecting the best and yet expecting the worst ("cup is ours to lose, we'll lose it"). I for one will take my chances. There are teams with less proven playoff tenders, believe it or not, one is in Columbus and the other is in Vancouver.

Pretty good article. Unfortunately when talking Hart, I think the voters always go for top offensive production weighed against the skill of the rest of his team. Rarely, if ever do they look at +/- or defensive body of work, which is a shame. Ovechkin is the leagues best goal scorer and a hitting machine on a team that is VASTLY improved from last year. Malkin is a point producing machine on a team that has two. The argument on Pavel is that he is surrounded by so much other talent, but what does it say when a player is far and away the best player on such as team, as Pavel has been all season. Take away 3 minutes of ice time per game from each of Crosby, Malkin, and Oveckin and switch about 2 more over to PK and put them out against the other teams best line where they are asked to play defense against elite scorers and the big three lose at least the 10 or so points Pavel trails them. Really is remarkable that a whole dimension of the game seems to be excluded when considering MVP. Kinda how Mike Green is basically a forward playing the point and he is in line to win Norris based on offensive output alone. Either way, Pavel deserves it just as much as Oveckin. At the very least he better be a finalist. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/20...yuk_builds.html

This is my argument as well. QFT. -Pav plays less minutes overall, less on PP, more on PK. -Pav is matched against the best offensive players of the opposition. Like you said, how many points is Selke caliber defense worth..... I'm still holding out for a Pearson with Pavel.

bump to prevent repeat.

Terrific hit. Lesson learned.

This is an absolute tragedy..... so sad....

Doable and I hope he does it, team needs a spark right now.