CopenhagenWing

I'm surprised he got four games. The hit was late and you could argue that it was an unnecessary hit to make but at least 50 per cent of all hits are. That said, Horton has got to protect himself better.

Clowe's next contract is going to be in the the same ball park salary-wise as Franzen's current one, if not more due to the attributes you mentioned. He's been fairly healthy until now but the style of play he practices tends to wear more on a player as he gets older. Who knows how his health is in three years. Comparing Shanny and Clowe...

Elbows were up but if that call had been made against the Wings, we'd all be screaming bloody murder..

Thornton hacked Zetterberg on the ankle a little earlier after losing a faceoff, too.

I think he'll play. Babcock had him out there after he took the penalty.

EUZ, I understand you love Hudler, but sometimes you've got to call a spade a spade. At 2.9 per, Hudler has been a disappointment this season. Yes, he had a nice stretch of games but a lot of other players experienced similar hot streaks, even HoS. The reason why Hudler sits before every other player you've mentioned is because the coaching staff feels they are able to contribute in a way Hudler isn't, specifically on the defensive side. I know you're going to claim that Hudler is an above average defensive forward, but the Wings coach and most other will disagree.

Howard came up huge tonight. He kept the Wings close while they were badly outplayed. Nice to see some secondary scoring creeping back on the score sheet.

Weber's stick is obviously up but the referees have seen that scenario so many times, I'm surprised they keep falling for that trick. It doesn't matter that much in the regular season but this could prove very costly for the Preds.

Yeah, and together they form one of, if not the deadliest penalty killing combos in the league. 13 shorties between them. I'm just pimping a fellow Dane right now, but Frans is a decent player.

I think the majority of the posters just want consistency. Penalties are penalties no matter the score or time of the game.

So...can the Wings petition the league to play all of their playoff games (in case they make it) on the road? I agree with crash. An ass-kicking like this might be just what the doctor ordered.

You got Luca Brasi's phone number? I doubt it's going to happen, but it'd be a wake-up call to all players if the Penguins imposed their own suspension after the league suspension ends.

"It's Steve Ott, might get a freebie here." Heatley made sure everybody saw the elbow, too. The more skilled practitioners of the art are more subtle about it.

Going into last season, I had the feeling that the Wings were going to have a bit of a down year. They'd played more hockey than any other team the previous 3 seasons. Starting this season, I was confident that they'd challenge for the Cup again. Nothing's really changed throughout the season even though they seem to put up a poor showing almost every time I get a chance to watch them. They've had rough stretches every season after '95-'96. December of 2001 they couldn't buy a win for approximately 3 weeks. The Wings have the all the tools to win. It's just a matter of putting them to use. I still believe that if the Wings play their A game, no other team in league can match them.

While I have the utmost respect for what Lemieux accomplished on the ice during his career while battling some bad injuries as well as cancer, he's come off as a big baby before. Whining about and retiring for a couple of seasons due to the clutch-and-grab era soured my opinion on him because every other elite player, while voicing their dismay, adapted and played through it. Your coach got his suspension rescinded. Talbot wasn't suspended for his hit on Comeau, which I'd categorize as a blindside hit. Had the NHL stepped in there and suspended Talbot just for a game or two, Friday's "debacle" could have been avoided.

From the footage I've watched, Haley was skating straight towards the box. Looks like Johnson started chirping at him. And what happened to Bob Errey? Can't see the difference from when a player (Okposo) is pushed into the goalie or bowls him over intentionally? Maybe it's the other commentator rubbing off on him.

Except Cherry thought Marchment was a good guy.

The enforcer issue would be solved immideately. I sincerely doubt this would happen as Emery is a bit of a head case.

Are you going to keep playing that card? Yet, other goalies have had the same workload put on them and still managed to have postseason success. Maybe Nabokov's weakness is mental strength.

One unnecessary remark deserves another. The fatigue/starting too much issue was already mentioned in my initial response. We're not disagreeing here.

Somebody needs glasses.

Yeah, that's why the phrase FATIGUE was included in the post.

Nabokov was a part of the problem for those teams. Blame it on fatigue or whatever, he hasn't proven that he, personally, is able to step up his game in the postseason. I doubt he'll clear waivers anyway.

I'm assuming the author is Canadian. How about he spends his time bitching about the plethora of Canadians that cannot muster enough strength to go play for their country at the World's after their NHL season is over. At least, those games have meaning.

Lebda is a servicable 7th D when signed to a contract worth less than 1 million. Once that threshold is passed, expectations increase and his skill set can't keep up. But Lebda already fulfilled a dream by making it to the NHL.