Drake_Marcus

Ericsson shouldn't count as a GR person at this point. He's played ~30 straight games as a Red Wing and he's considered a permanent member of the Wings' top 6 d-men at this point. The crazy thing is how well Ericsson is playing after only 30 games as an NHL player. TSN, CBC, NBC, everyone is raving about how Ericsson's played in the playoffs. I'm really excited to see him play a full season next year. He should have an impressive rookie season given that he's already adjusted to the NHL game, something that usually takes rookies half a season if they're a quick learner and a few seasons if they're not.

According to the Detroit News: Last night Mindfly mentioned that a Swedish report said he saw Lidstrom limping down the hall in the Joe. That really freaked me out at the time- it indicated a bigger injury than he could probably recover enough from over 2 days. This report from the Detroit News is a bit more comforting in my opinion. If Lidstrom is walking comfortably then hopefully the injury isn't as serious as it could be otherwise. Could be something like a minor groin pull that heals comparatively quickly when dealt with properly? Anyone here have medical or physiotherapy experience that can shed some light on this?

Scale the stats down from the 80's then- they still had more than 2 elite players... that's what people are getting at. It's no big deal, but you have to understand why people laugh at the comparison to the Oilers.

I'd agree if the back to back wasn't sitting on the Wings' homestand. Ask the players on the Wings whether they'd rather have the back to back in Pits or Det... The Pens want to go home with a 1-1 split in Detroit. The Wings have to take both games.

Thanks Bell!

Ok. I'll give credit where ever it is due. Let the better team win.

I'm not so sure Hossa will be as big a factor for Pits as the media thinks he will. Every single Penguin is a professional athlete-- they're going to be more understanding and respectful of Hossa's choice than fans are. Many of them have probably been in Hossa's shoes. Plus, the Pens as a team wouldn't look like it does now if Hossa was taking up all that cap space, so the guys on the Pens must know that having Hossa there wouldn't have made it just the team it is now plus Hossa. I'm sure the vast, vast, vast majority of their motivation has to do with a shiny silver cup.

Health and timing. I expect the 3 games in 4 days to have an undue effect on how this series plays out.

I'm not sure that's really fair to Crosby. Malkin was invisible for sure, but Crosby had the greatest defenseman since Orr hanging off his ass all game. Oh and he had a Selke winner or two hanging off him if Lidstrom wasn't out there. Crosby's never had to deal with such stifling defense as he did with Detroit- I can't really blame him for not producing as much. After that experience I'm sure it will be tougher than last year to shut Crosby down- it's not like he hasn't been reviewing the tapes and practicing for this all summer. True, but you can't replace a healthy Lidstrom or a healthy Datsyuk with depth. Guys like Draper are easier to replace when you have strong defensive centres like Helm in the system. There really isn't a person on earth that can play the game like Lidstrom when he's healthy... the shear defensive domination combined with offensive savvy and an amazing control over the pace of the game is impossible to replace. Lidstrom's as close as you can get to having a quarterback out there controlling the team. It seems weird if you don't watch him, but just observe how different the team plays around him when he's there. Watching Detroit play last season when Lidstrom was injured for an extended period was just bizarre. Same thing when he was injured for a time this season.

Oh shuuuudddup Peewee!

HAHAHA Oh f*** man. Classic. Even the Pens fans will have to find this one funny.

Ahh I see. Well Holmstrom's back to his old habits and all's forgiven then. Kopecky's fresh for the mocking though...

I know my girlfriend did when she saw it.

The time on the ticket is good enough for me. I feel better now.

Did you subscribe to this thread or something? Shouldn't you be stalking Holmstrom with a semi-automatic rifle?

Hell yeah. I'm partial to the Squiggoth myself, but nothin' wrong with a mega-armoured warboss

Lids is a gym nut One of the girls on here had a picture of him on the beach last season... I think he was cut to all hell

You're right It's a trick of my stupid hair and cracka eyebrows. By the way- I'm glad you went back to your classic avatar (not that I'm adverse to seeing an angry Warboss, I am an Ork player of course).

The thread is called "What about Lebda?"

And he I thought you showed up to defend me against my legions of enemies.

It's no accident that guys who suddenly get to play on the PP or get more time on the PP see their point totals increase. Why do you think guys wanna play on the PP so badly?

I know! I thought they threw the back to back game in the finals thing out the door back in 1955.

Hahaha. Whatever it take to keep shilling the game to a bunch of NBC executives that won't even pay to show the game.

Some day you too can have activity specific garments. Just keep dreaming Jake.