wings4thecup06

We've beaten the Bruins twice already this season, granted they were earlier in the year, but a win is a win. I wouldn't count us out, not with the way we've been playing recently. That said though, I think we shouldn't get too amped up about this game, win or lose. The ones to be more concerned about are the two on the weekend. If we take both of those then we're in really good shape.

Well: 1) The whole 'crossing over' to the other division within your conference completely mitigates the entire point of having divisions in the first place. What's the point in competing for a spot within that division if only to be told you're playing against the other division? 2) How you could potentially get screwed by the wild card. If you're in a wild card spot and you're 'division' leaders are way ahead, you could have potentially more points than anyone in the other division and still be stuck in the wild card spot. Under the old system, you could get anywhere from 4-8 if you didn't win the division, and leapfrog teams from the entire conference. Now you can only leapfrog your own division. Might as well not bother having a conference 3) What the hell was wrong with the old system?

Am I mistaken in the fact that Division winners were awarded on the basis of winning the division in the regular season and not the playoffs?

And what's worse, is that half the fans don't even get it. Until I actually sat down and literally THOUGHT about how the hell it worked, I hadn't got a clue. It's mental

The last couple of posts really just seriously explain why the whole new playoff format is just a load of bs. Seriously. Everyone knew what happened, and it was clear and obvious. Division winner top 3 seeds, and the rest battle it out for 4-8. Top plays bottom, and then re-seeding in subsequent rounds. How simple yet effective? It just drives me insane that this league seems to seriously just ruin every good thing that comes about. Sorry. Rant over.

While I feel I'd like to see the Leafs be relatively successful (by that I meant, post a winning record/possibly make the playoffs because I think it's good for the league and them), I also can't help but smile smugly at their current demise. This has nothing to do with the Wings at all. I find that, especially from watching 24/7, that there is and has been a certain feeling of entitlement to their team, the players in the locker room and even management to an extent. Everyone knows now that its about drafting and developing your way to success, and that is excatly what Burke should have done when he took the helm. Instead he essentially wasted 2 first round picks, and yes while he fleeced Calgary for Phaneuf, what they really needed was a proper rebuild, but his hand was forced because essentially the crybabies in the media and fans couldn't accept this fact and were too short sighted to see that this would lead to long term success (see Colorado - they bottomed out for a couple of seasons, got some really good first round picks, and now are on the up). I guess I can't help but say they brought it on themselves to an extent.

Realistically I think we've gotta be shooting for 92 points to get in. With 7 games left, and the way they've been playing receecntly, combined with their remaining games against the Stars, Devils, Blues, Hawks and Lightning, I'm not sure the Caps will even get to 92. Does anyone else see them getting 5+ wins out of their remaining schedule? I don't think I do. Personally I just hope we can finish this week with winning 2 out of 3. Maybe then I could relax a little.

hmm I reckon Pavel will be good to go friday, although it would be awesome to get him back in vs Boston, I think friday night vs the Sabres in an easier game might be better for him. Obviously depends how he's feeling though. Who's next to sit out when he comes back? Andersson?

That's precisely it. He would wind up being like Pulkkinen. Someone who brings a lot offensively possibly to the table, but unless he gets the minutes, isn't going to do anything. And we know Babs like to make guys earn it first, especially rookies. As for Glendening, he's not in the lineup to score goals. He's been tremendous in a shutdown role. While Andersson isn't exactly tearing it up, he's good defensively and excellent on face-offs. But yea, I thought, with the truckload of injuries we've had, that they would have slot him in somewhere. Just wasn't meant to be i guess.

This so called 'blockbuster trade' for defenseman. 1) not going to happen. 2) the guys that are 'available' because the market is so thin will only be acquired by giving an arm and a leg. I'm sorry, but we've got Almquist, Marchenko, Sproul and possibly Ouellet who could step in next year. With continued improvement from DeKeyser and hopefully Smith, I think we'll be fine on the back end. Feel free to disagree with me though.

I think it's more of a question of who else could kill the penalties, once everyone gets healthy and you want to keep all the kids in the lineup. If you've got: Z-Datsyuk-Franzen Nyquist-Legwand-Alfredsson Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco Abdelkader-Helm-Glendening Who's going to be doing the PKing? Glendening and Helm, then who?

And seriously, where on earth was he going to play? with what ice time? Couldn't have seen him get more than 7-8 minutes a night. I doubt he'd have 5 points in 6 games with half the amount of ice time

I frankly couldn't give two hoots what happens to Jarnkrok. Star or bust. Whatever. And actually, come to think of it, if he does become a star, then that means the Wings scouting guys have still got what it takes. And KH needs to be taught a lesson? Really? This isn't Mike Milbury we're talking about. It's not like we did a Brian Burke and gave up two first round picks for Phil Kessel. Legwand was never and never will 'blow anyone away' but he is what he is. A proven two way veteran who adds a hell of a lot more to a hockey club than an unproven 22 year old jock who thought he was better than everyone else and didn't want to work for his chance. I think the only reason we are seeing Jarnkrok have decent success thus far is because he's playing on a team that can just give him a boatload of minutes without him having to earn it. We needed a C after Dats, Weiss, Helm Z were out. I don't care how good the kids were playing at that point, we were toast if we don't make that trade. Trades won't ever please everyone, because there is the perspective and evaluation that everyone has about certain things. And everyone is entitled to their opinions. But seriously, it was 3+ weeks ago now, the team is playing well, we're getting guys back, and we're making a promising run towards the finish line and right now we're in pretty good shape. Don't we think that we'd be best served focusing our time/energy on that rather than moaning about what could have been?

Yea Gudas, while great and physical, could become hated pretty much all over the league (or at least in Detroit) if he keeps flying those elbows around.

Yea somehow Pittsburgh just doesn't scare me as much as the Rangers or Flyers... Also, did anyone really notice Stamkos last night (besides the power play chances)? Just thought he wasn't really a presence on the ice at all.

I can't see how you can possibly break up the kids/send any of them down. They've really carried this team this far the last couple of months and are still going, creating havoc in the offensive zone and still being defensively responsible. We're going to need that scoring depth if we make it into the playoffs (i'm not going to be the one to jinx it!)

A lot rests on tonights game I think. The Leafs have now lost 7 in a row. They're free falling like no other, and if we don;t beat them, I think that might be a pretty big bruise for our team. Conversely, the chance to put a nail in their coffin might just propel us further forward.

Definitely. I've been incredibly impressed with both of them, more so with Sheahan just because of the strides it seems he's made since those two cup of coffees. He's been incredibly consistent and has shown a great offensive touch too. That goal last night on price was a beauty. They'll be stupid if he doesn't start the season with them next year. And the same goes for Jurco too.

This is what I see as potentially possible if the Wings get it together like they did last week: As far as I'm concerned, the ones in bold are winnable games that shouldn't cause the Wings too much problem if they play well The ? ones I could possibly see us winning - for instance we've beaten the Penguins, and since then they've also lost Malkin. Montreal as we saw last night are beatable, as is Carey Price, if we just play our game. Tampa I'm not sure about but I wouldn't rule it out. The scored through ones are games that I think are a write off. I might be wrong, but I don't see us beating Boston or St Louis, even if we get Datsyuk and Abby back right now.

You've got to look at the team effort in this game as to why we lost, not howard. Yes that first shot should have been under all circumstances been stopped. No excuses. But the rest you can forget about. The perfectly executed 3 on 2 after Kronwall turned it over, the two tips he had no chance on, and Desharnais goal was a washout. You could have put a beach ball on net and it would have gone in because of how badly Howard was screened on the play. Only #21, #15 and #26 showed up tonight it felt like. You can't win with one line. Hopefully Franzen gets going after his goal, but that remains to be seen. We need a little help, but the teams around us aren't exactly taking it easy this weekend. Columbus has Pittsburgh tomorrow night, Washington have Boston, and the leafs have Philly and then us saturday. If a few things go right and we take care of TO then it'll be a bit more positive. #13 back would be a huge boost right now.

Personally, I have no qualms about nicknames - just as long as they're noted who they're referring to (unless it's ridiculously obvious of course) Second, I doubt Jimmy is going anywhere. That's a big contract, I don't see it moved. While I respect your opinion, I think that Jimmy has made some huge saves this year at the right times. Yes he's stunk it up pretty good too (i'm not blinded to the fact our goaltending has been poor this season) but recently he's been solid and most of the problem is down to our weak defence IMO. I'm not necessarily defending Howard, but I think it's fair to see he has made the big save when we needed it, just not consistently. Back on topic, I don't see a way how we would be able to move Weiss. It's looking more likely he won't be back this season, and his subpar performance earlier in the year, combined with his absence from the last two seasons virtually, has given him little to no trade value. Oh and then there's the $$.

That's fine, but a little translation for those of us who don't know who 'barbie's is would have been useful. Otherwise we can't appreciate the post fully...

I don't think we'll see Andersson out once Abby comes back though. Bert will probably be the odd man out because Andersson is more defensively responsible, and Abby will end up taking Bert's spot as 'net front presence' on one of the PP units. I may be wrong though, but I think what will eventually drive Andersson out of the lineup is when both Abby and Datsyuk are back, assuming that Jurco has earned his place, which I think he has

I don't think so, might just mean he's not ready for full practices yet. Apparently will skate on his own tomorrow according to khan I think. I wouldn't expect him back until next week anyway, but it's still promising. Abby skated today tho in practice which is very good news. It shouldn't be too long before we see #13 back, just might have to temper our expectations as to when.

If anyone has missed this like I have, there's a live stream of the morning skate on now, with Trevor Thompson providing some audio. http://video.redwings.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=616&id=587588〈=en Jurco is with Franzen and Legwand (per Khan) Other lines: Nyqvist-Tatar-Sheahan Alfredsson-Helm-Andersson Miller-Glendening-Bertuzzi EDIT: Seems they've cut short the coverage and its now ended. Maybe they don't want the Habs to find out what their working on...