Kp-Wings

But didn't you here? Goaltending chants aren't classy!!!1 ... I agree with you. I have plans to go to at least one game during this series (eyeing Game 2, I have the day off, and it's Saturday!), and I'm going to chant his name all game long. In fact, I think I'll throw in some "You Suck's!" in afterwards. And, if any sissy fans on this forum have a problem with it because it's not "classy", then I'll give you the proper suggestion now: start watching golf. I swear, when I seen that thread during the Nashville series about people bitching about the fans chanting "Ellis, You Suck!", and bringing the whole "classy" debate into it, that just about made me throw up. I'm not saying we should throw beer and trash at the other team, but what's so bad about a chant? I really hope this fan base hasn't gone as soft as some seem to indicate to me. I'll get a goalie chant going (if I go, decision is still up in the air), and I'd certainly hope people would follow along (and not instead chose to sit on their hands, and throw the classy speech at me). Hockey games should be fun and loud; not filled with a bunch of sissy ass tea drinkers, watching the game through their monocles, and giving a two-finger clap any time something happens. That's what sports like golf and cricket are for. Ok, that's enough ranting. Hopefully I've made my point.

If anything, that blowout against the Dives will scare him away, because he won't get the top line minutes he desires (and apparently demands) here, like he would in some loser team like Toronto. On a side note, because it's almost like a LGW unwritten rule, this important bylaw must be stated at least once in this thread: Brunnstrom is lazy and he sucks™ There, that's better.

Drew Sharp, and it's not even close. I hate people like McGuire, Yorio, and Mullet, but the stuff that Sharp writes is about a million times worse than anything than these guys put together. I'd say the only one who comes close to Sharp is Yorio, because she has almost no hockey (or sports) knowledge at all, and she trashes the Wings like shes a long time Blues fan or something. But even she can find a needle in a haystack every once in a while; Sharp, so far, hasn't accomplished that. His aritcles are nothing but unwarranted rants. The only time he's ever right is when he's talking about the Lions, but even that can get overly excessive (not quite as bad as Rob Parker, but that's a whole different subject for another day). On a somewhat related note: what is with all the hating on Grapes? Because is biased towards Canadians? So what? In case you all forgot, HE IS CANADIAN, so it's natural he'll be biased towards the people from his home country. And as far as the whole European hating thing, he's one of these old time guys that grew up during a time period when Europeans, more specifically the Russians, were enemies of the US and, to a certain extent, Canada. You can't expect that he's going to be singing praises for Europeans. Grapes is getting more and more ridiculous as the years pass, but I'm always willing to let him slide, because he's still entertaining to listen to. Much more so than the other media blowhards, in my opinion.

Somewhere in the deep realms of the hockey world, Jeff O'Neill is smiling.

Golf, actually.

Toughness has always been a sensitive issue for me regarding the Wings, because I've always felt they've lacked it, even into this season. I mean, when you're realying on guys like Lilja and Kopecky to be your big hitters, it's, for all things considered, slim pickings (in other words, there isn't much to go around). Given what I've seen so far out of this years playoff run, I am more comfortable. It helps that Anaheim is out of the mix, and it would help even more if Philly was out as well, but that's beside the point. What matters is that it's the Wings players that have taken it upon themselves to make their image of a more physical team. As far as the Wings players are concerned, they have all turned up the physical play to a great level during the playoffs this year. Kronwall has really stepped up. Drake has stepped up. Franzen has stepped up, in more ways then just scoring (he's been more physical in my opinion). McCarty has stepped it up. All of these guys have really become a big part of the team for their physical play, and making the Wings an all around tougher and harder team to play against. I think the only real weakness on this team, and this may surprise some people that I single out this particular catagory, is the bottom pair of defense. I don't know what's wrong with Chelios, but he's really starting to show his age (and giving his critics more firepower). Between the giveaways and defensive blunders, he's not looking good. Lebda has really shown how redundant of a player he is, because he does nothing that helps the team, besides keeping Lilja out of the lineup. ...and as far as Lilja as concerned? You might as well give him to the other team, because it sure doesn't look like he's trying to help the Wings win. The fact that I can single him out and say what an awful, no, make that horrendous game he had during the 8-2 blowout is about as much evidence to that as I'll need. When you hammer a team by that much, you shouldn't have to actually say how bad one of the players on the winning side played, but in his case, it was. Last year Lilja fooled us all into thinking he was a legitimate NHL defenseman with his play during the playoffs (up until the Anaheim series), but this year his true colors are finally being shown. If the Wings actually do re-sign him next year, it'll only be because he has dirt on either Holland or Babcock, and forced (read: blackmail) them into a contract. Holland is a smart man, and if he isn't taking notice of how bad he's playing, then officially paint me surprised. Off topic ranting aside, I don't think toughness is the issue. If the Wings play physical like the way they have been, particularly the players I singled out for their excellent physical play, they should be able to handle anything that is thrown at them. I see something in this Wings team that I haven't see in a long time, so hopefully, they prove themselves and take home the Cup this year.

Let him buy the Ducks. You'll see how quickly their "fan support" will fall off after they suck again.

Just think: if the Wings played in the East, we'd probably have the pleasure of watching the next Oilers/Islanders dynasty. Seriously. The East is so bad. There is really no powerful team over there. Pittsburgh, as much as everyone loves them because they have young talent (and media endorsements), are so pathetically overrated. They are not that good. In the two games that the Rags actually showed up, they couldn't do anything. They were shut out and left in the cold during Game 4, and just barely squeaked by today. They are still a few years off from being as good as everyone thinks they are already (which, their not). If the Wings get past whoever their next opponent is, it should be smooth sailings during the SCF. I'm not saying it'll be a sweep by any means, but the Wings should beat any team they face from there.

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Franzen, Zetterberg, Osgood, and the entire Avalanche roster. This is all in the Wings sake. There are enough people who actually still support him on this very forum, so I can't say that surprises me. Even after his performance during the last game, I'm still not buying anything he sells me. I still don't think Samuelsson is anything more than a crappy filler player, that, if anything, should be playing on a loser team like St. Louis or something. Yes, I hate him that much.

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Q ball wins the LGW Jack Adams award. If such a thing does not exist, it does now. If these reports are all really true, this is absolute blessing. Sieve looked great in the Minnesota series, but should that really be of any surprise to people? This is MINNESOTA we're talking about. They are basically the bastard child cousins of the New Jersey Devils, without the success of course. Who on that team is really going to put any sort pressure or install a sense of fear on an opposing teams goaltender? The name Marian Gaborik might pop up to some people at first thought, but he really proved this year that he's a cream puff. If he couldn't handle Adam Foote, who's no longer in his prime (and hasn't been for a while) then how could he handle a real defenseman like Lidstrom or Phaneuf? And, then, after Gaborik, who's left? Demitra? Mark Parrish? PM Bouchard? That's not much, if you ask me. Sieve had it good against Minnesota, because they sucked. They thrived off of stuffy defensive play, and only that. Once they lost some key defenseman to untimely injuries (Nick Schultz, and a couple of others), they were toast. The writing was on the wall from the beginning. They couldn't score goals, and if their defense goes down, then what? That's been the question all season, something that was never answered. I'm not going to completely discredit Sieve on what some may describe as a "turnaround season" for him, but he's nothing like he used to be. He hasn't shown shades of his Montreal form, and it's been like that for at least 3+ years now. Maybe he can earn himself a spot on a team who needs a goalie (see: Tampa), but he's not the same player he once was, and I think that's been obvious for a long time.

Because Chris Chelios demands it.

If the Sharks are knocked out early AGAIN, will there finally be changes? This all comes down to coaching, and like I said earlier in the thread, Hanta Yo Baby is probably one of the worst coaches, if not the downright worst, in the league. Where is the accontability? Guys like McLaren, Michalek, and yes, even the magical no-fault Joe Thornton have all played like crap so far, and yet, we're not hearing anything about this. Maybe more is going on behind closed doors than we all know, but I really doubt there is. If there was, wouldn't these guys have stepped it up by now? Or do they just not care? I'm so tired of people picking that pathetic team to win it all. They just barely squeaked past Calgary, who is supposed to be 100 times worse according to the media. What do people see in this team? Is it Thornton? If it is, then that's pretty damn pathetic, because Thornton has proven time and time again, and this is going back to when he played in Boston, that he CANNOT carry a team by himself, which somehow everyone still thinks he can. Until he proves he can actually play hockey past April 5th, he will never be that kind of player. The Sharks have more holes than a block of swiss cheese, yet because they have Thornton, people seem to ignore this fact. I guess it must his impressive regular season stats that throws everyone off, but we always hear about playoff ghosts, so why is Thornton never mentioned in this list, even though he has not once shown up for a playoff series in his career? I love to see the Sharks squirm, so this is all fine by me. They are such a horribly overrated team; they haven't proven a damn thing, yet people act like their the next Oilers dynasty. It's pathetic.

I think Hockeytown Authentics in Troy has them. If you don't live in Michigan, though, then you'll probably have to order it online.

You can blame the Rags horrid defense for that (plus Lundqvist was MIA for the last half of the game). Really, though, it's their defense that'll kill them. I think Marc Staal will be a great defenseman in years to come, but he isn't now. And after him, who else is there? Fedor Tyutin? Michal Rozsival? If you're asking those guys to play top-4 minutes, then trouble alooms for sure. That's like asking Lilja to play top-4 minutes; and we all know what happens then. One guy that I'm really disappointed in on the Rags is Paul Mara. I used to think this guy was a great defenseman, and in the past, I was pining for the Wings to get him. He's big (6'5, 220 pounds), and can put up a lot of points on the PP (well, at least he could in Phoenix). Ever since he was traded to Boston and eventually New York, though, his career has really fallen off. He looks really terrible out there, which is surprising, because he played good on a bad team like Phoenix. He's become as much a fan favorite in New York as perennial stiff Marek Malik, who hasn't been in their lineup since trilobites last swam our oceans. The Rags have a lot of offense, but they have no defense to speak of. They need Lundqvist to basically steal this series. Nothing less will help them advance.

Go Rags, and Go Stars. It'd be especially great to see Dallas win again, since I really want to see Hanta Yo Baby's (Ron Wilson) post game conference this time around (I missed the last one). He always looks like a deer in headlights when he does these, and I love seeing him trying to cover his tracks and explain himself for yet another playoff loss. I hope the Sharks keep that idiot around for years to come. Not only is he a terrible coach, who will continue to screw up that team year after year after year, but he's funny as hell to look at when he loses. His face makes me want to burst out into laughter when I see him behind the bench. He looks like a ghost on drugs. He shows no emotion, and he always has that blank, one-directional stare. It's classic! Plus, he also provided all of us with, what I describe as, pure comedic genius - his famous "Hanta Yo Baby!" motivational speech. I hope he comes up with another in this current series against Dallas, since it'll probably get him another 4-game sweep. Whatever the case, it'll be fun to laugh at anyways.

The fight was a draw. For the most part, for me anyways, I was happy to see a Red Wings fight again, and from McCarty no less (whom I expected would have done it earlier, but whatever). I didn't really expect much from him, you know, because he hasn't been in the NHL in a while, nor has he really been a top fighter in the league for years, but I give him a lot of credit for dropping the gloves and answering the bell when the time came. I'd have been even happier if he had fought that little pansy Cody McLeod (who Derek Boogaard had some interesting words about after the Minnesota - Colorado series ended), but I hate McCormick as well, so it's fine with me. The "pests" as their liked to be called are such losers in my book, especially because they act all tough in the trash talking department, but more often then not turn down fights against everyone. The majority of those players in the league need to be eliminated, especially the ones like McLeod and Alex Burrows. The only exceptions for me, as far as pests go, are Sean Avery and Steve Ott. They can both actually play hockey, and both actually fight when the time comes, and plus they both have great personalities. But, this is another subject for me for another day, so I'll stop going into this. I'm happy McCarty gave it a go, and hopefully, we see more of this in coming games. Fights always add an excitement level to the game, especially during the playoffs.

Yes, I think the Wings can sweep Colorado. Granted, it is sort of a longshot. Colorado always makes a series out of things against us, and of course they'll give everything they've got, especially since it's the Red Wings, their "rivals". Plus, if you look back at recent history, the Wings haven't swept a playoff series from a team in something like 8-9 years, when they did it to Los Angeles back in the 1999-2000 playoffs. I still think it can be done, though, and I hope it does happen. I know some people want this series to actually go on longer (for whatever reason, most likely rivalry nostalgia), but I could care less about that. The faster we eliminate the Dives, and send those stupid turnip-colored losers home, the better chance we have of winning the Cup. Rest is very important in the playoffs, especially for our older players, and if the San Jose - Dallas series drags on to (hopefully) 7 games, it'll be even better. The more likely prediction would be for the Wings winning in 5 games, but a sweep is entirely possible, and would be nice (for bragging rights and all). We'll see what happens.

No, I think it's 6:30.

3 games? Come on now. According to Barry Melrose, only the mighty, unstoppable hurricane force known as the San Jose Sharks can win in 3 games.

Dives suck.

I actually liked the Ducks old logo. ... ... *bursts out laughing* ... ... Sorry, I couldn't say that without laughing.

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