Drake_Marcus

Ah- finally they'll be able to remove all that terrible weight that numbers and lettering add to a player. I'm sick of seeing players struggle under the weight of their massive surnames.

I completely agree. But as much as I love Feds (and I do- he was my first hockey hero) I have to fault him for his lack of 82 game effort. However, he was NEVER a slouch in the playoffs. His playoff numbers are simply amazing. If Fedorov put as much effort into every game as Datsyuk he'd be up there in the top 10 scorers of all time (you know- where Stevie sits ). So, if I had to pick one guy for 2 or 3 years of play in their prime? Fedorov. If I have to pick one guy to build a franchise around it'd have to be the more consistent of the two and the better leader- Datsyuk. And for the record- I hope and pray that some day Fedorov has his number retired at the Joe... but it doesn't look terribly likely due to the wounds that were left during contract talks and his eventual departure.

And yet Garth Snow made Yashin disappear.

I have to agree. That's mostly posturing, but obviously can't be ignored by Kenny. Based on Ville's play at the start of the season and especially in the preseason and camp, we can be sure he'll make the team when we're not up against the cap. I also suspect he might get some shifts on the third/fourth line in the playoffs ala Helmer.

Haha- yeah my girlfriend definitely febreezes the hell out of that shirt whenever I'm not paying attention

To be fair, missed calls are part of every sport. For every missed call against the 'yotes they could probably point out a missed call against the Wings. Last night the Red Wings got as many points as they deserved. When a quarter of your team shows up for the game you're not going to win it.

First of all, Kira- you can burst my bubble any day of the week. Second of all, I think I know who you're talking about (as I've alluded to back when you made the original remark about his plans for the game). But I still wanted to make a half-hearted attempt at a joke. (umm... as you can see it's a bit of a habit of mine) You know me Kira. I'm just some dude who wears the same Datsyuk lucky shirt for each game without washing it until the playoffs are over. Gross, eh? I started that tradition after we blew it games 3 and 4 of the Nashville series... I assumed they lost because I washed my Dats shirt. I didn't wash it after game 4 and BAM! We're back on track. We end up molesting the Aves and I'm thinking- damn this shirt is lucky. Haha. Sorry, I thought I'd justify to the interwebs why I smelt bad during the game

Oh man, I so would be freaking out if we were talking about the first two games in the playoffs. Am I happy? No. Have I seen crappy, crappy, CRAPPY back-to-back games played by the Wings before? Yeah- I've seen them play this badly for 11 games right before winning a Cup. This is all par for the course in an 82 game season. I'd love to see 82 games of perfection mixed with decent play. Hell, I'd love if at this point the Wings had had the kind of season the Sharks are having so far. But in the end all I give a s*** about is where we stand in mid-June.

It's the Wings' fault. 23 players and a coaching staff all deserve the blame. Separating the Defense and Goaltending is pointless. One must be there to back up the other.

For shame! They were fine, young, upstanding men who were accosted by villainous sea creatures!

That attitude and culture is the biggest difference between the Wings and the Sharks. The Sharks were the best team in the league after the All-Star break last year- they were the hottest team walking in to the playoffs. And they Sharked the playoffs. Right now they should be playing with a chip on their shoulders if they really want a Cup. As a Wings fan I gladly welcome my opponent's overconfidence. Let the Wings focus on playing better and not on being the reigning champs. That's one of Babcock's best qualities as a coach- he understands and drills into his players that the game you just played means jack s*** when it comes to winning the game next day.

It sicken me... why did TSN have to show me that. *sigh* A one goal lead is fickle, however, even in Bobby's hands.

*sigh* Meaning he'll be trying to peddle his wears to either the Flyers, Predators or the Nordiques.

Is this a Russian tabloid posting under a disguised account? Seriously though- why does everyone flip out when Z is -4 in one game? A bad game does not a bad season make.

Umm Kira. It was you who told us, not Rabia. Lidstrom would argue with you about that but he can't hear you because his Cup rings are in his ears.

Well I heard that... um... Osgood tried to kill himself after the SJ game. He jumped in front of the bus! Luckily the bus went right between his legs. A cabbie told me that joke the other night on the way home from the bar, except it was about a certain Leafs goalie.

Hey- you only get to play the Osgood martyr when he steals a game in front of a lazy defense! (you should have posted that reply about 15 times last season!)

Huh? Ralfi looked fine tonight. He had some great defensive plays including a critical blocked shot. He wasn't outstanding, but he certainly wasn't awful.

Dude- he literally disappeared in the third. That's what I said. He was gone to the locker room from the fifth minute in the third until the moopy Wings came back looking like Charlie Brown's bummed friends. Edit: to avoid another reply to me to argue a point I already made: Datsyuk's play carried us in the first two. When he got hurt it exposed the sloppy efforts of some of our other players.

Please sit out on the All Star game Dats. Please- the fans won't mind! We know that a meaningless game, while fun, contributes nothing towards the 12th Cup.

I know. In all honesty, Pavel looks more and more like the future Captain. He's extremely consistent, almost always the best player on the ice, almost always the best player over the course of the season and once again is mentioned in some circles as a potential Hart candidate. If he could talk to the media like Hank or Lids he'd be the heir apparent to the throne. As it stands, he continues to dominate on the ice- where it counts. I'm a huge Hank fan- I love him, but he's always been streaky and injury prone. If he wasn't he'd definitely be competing with Pavel for team lead in points every year. Hank will explode for a ton of points some time after the break- that's his thing, I'm just saying that I find Pavel's constant dominance far more comforting. It should also be noted that Hank's being the good soldier right now and playing fewer minutes and taking up more of a shut-down role in his contract year. That kind of stuff makes him a natural leader. I'm just trying to point out that Dats has leadership skills that are usually overlooked- he's always the leader on the ice.

Before the draft? It'd take someone significantly better than Hank in the short term and with more upside in the long term. In other words- it'd take someone who wouldn't hurt us in the playoffs OR three years from now. Not very likely.

Hell, if the PK crew decided to show up for even 10 mins tonight I think we might have squeeked by. The horrible, horrible, horrible PK on the road will surely be the source of many bag-skates over the next week. Oh, and I'm glad Zetterberg hasn't looked very sharp lately- it makes contract negotiations slightly more favourable for the Wings and just might help a little bit to keep the team together.

Until he disapeared. Datsyuk's absence was definitely a factor in the terrible play in the third.

Oh I have no problems with Hockey in the South- I always fight on the behalf of hockey fans regardless of geographic location. I think the whole "if it snows here we deserve a team first" thing is absolutely asinine. The Lightning has a large and very loyal fan base- good for them, they deserve it. And I think Vegas would be a perfect location for an NHL team- no way they wouldn't fill the arena every night in Vegas. Full arenas in the south make me much happier than struggling franchises in "traditional" locations. EDIT: That "good for them they deserve it" quote sounds kind of snarky- it's not intended to be so. The Lightning really did do great work growing and maintaining their fan base at the beginning.