Drake_Marcus

First of all, I'm glad you didn't take my rant personally Second of all, I lay a huge amount of blame on Green's feet. He utterly failed to distribute the puck correctly. Sure he was an atrocity defensively (I'd go so far as to say he's the anti-Lidstrom) but he's always at least half bad at the fundamental aspect of his position. Where he really failed the Caps was the PP and passing. Lots of time Ovi was the guy trying to QB the offense instead of shooting. He's normally a QB, yeah, but Green's supposed to do that too. Throw a competent offensive d-man back there alongside Corvo and Ovi's free to get in dirty areas again. Tonight it just looked like Ovechkin was trying to do too much. He was trying to carry the team on his back but Halak was much more dominant.

He couldn't have hurt man. With all the Wings injuries that series was far too close for comfort. It still kills me that the Wings squandered that opportunity to repeat. Our big guns really failed us in that game 7. It was great to see them do just the opposite yesterday.

I know, right? He like totally set up the only Washington goal, but aside from leading his team in scoring and points what did he really do for them? Sure one could point out that Green was pathetic and Semin completely disappeared, but let's blame the guy who actually did his job. I can just guess who you think is better than Ovi. Captain clutch himself-- the man with a combined 6pts in 13 Finals games (AMAZING!) and who failed to register a point in any of the elimination games during the Olympics this year until Iginla set him up for a redeeming but not history-erasing gold medal winner. Sure he's been a ghost in the finals but hey-- he sure can score on Brian freaking Elliot! Woopie! He scored 14pts vs the worst defensive team in the playoffs! Let's ignore the fact that the Sens were actually a minus team entering the playoffs and played pathetic hockey. The Saviour himself stepped it up vs pathetic opposition-- sounds like his regular season. Go look how many goals/pts he scored against the Islanders. Look at his record vs the best teams. Marvel at his amazing home play vs his ghostly road play. Truly astounding! Where would he be if Malkin hadn't carried his team to a cup last year. Or do you forget who actually killed us Wings fans? It wasn't the golden child's dagger-like 3pts in 7 games and 0 points in game 7. Of course, if you're not actually a Cindy slappy like Carman please ignore my rant.

He's a terrible playoff coach. He honestly thinks Green's defensive effort is acceptable, which is as telling as anything else. Are you talking about Carman or the blogger?

I think so. Babs seems like he studies his opponents well and is good at adapting to other coaching schemes. It's possible that Bylsma's lack of NHL experience made him more of an x factor. Datsyuk was still a point per game player in the finals even though he had two leg injuries. But Hossa has no excuse for disappearing as epically Crosby. And I'm still pissed that Babs didn't reinsert Abdelkader after things went south. On top of his goal scoring, his hitting and enthusiasm was great. I know he wanted Maltby for his defensive play, but why not switch out a clearly injured/slumping Samuelsson?

Are you high? If the Sharks could temporarily switch Boyle for Lidstrom tonight they'd do it without hesitation.

That's pretty scary because the Sharks just got through the first round in 5 games on the backs of their complementary players alone. If any of their big three wakes up they're going to be pretty fearsome.

Your coach's familiarity with Babcock is disturbing for me. Babcock is a great coach but he can be out couched by the young guys (see the finals last season) in the right situation. Still, you guys won't win unless Marleau and Thornton wake up. If the Sharks do beat the Wings they'll be favourites to win the cup, though, as it would be that last step towards shaking off their own self-doubt. I'm still calling this series as Wings in 6.

Datsyuk is going to looovvveee playing against Blake's concrete feet.

Hyperbole for the win.

Smart.

Has Carman come in to troll yet?

Brilliant. Brilliant.

Nill's been there done that in terms of being a GM. He seems to like his position with the Wings. I'm betting Nill gets a HUGE raise from the Wings. It's already speculated that Nill is paid more than the most GMs... Also, I'm not sure why people are so concerned about Stevie leaving the organization at this stage... Yzerman is a hall of fame hockey player and will always be an iconic Red Wing. But that has zero bearing on his capacity to manage. Nill and Holland are hall of fame quality managers. I'd love Stevie to stay in the Wings organization but I'd never sacrifice Nill or Holland to keep him here.

What a farce. The Canucks and s***hawks have had two and one more day, respectively, off compared to the Wings yet they start Saturday instead of our bulls*** Thursday start? Retarded. And don't tell me that the NHL won't start the Wings on Sunday (since apparently the HP Pavilion is booked on Friday/Saturday) because the NHL started the Hawks/Predators a day later than the other 7 first round series.

I actually thought Marleau would step up this year... but alas, he's still being play-off Marleau.

I heard that about the Friday concert too. I haven't heard anything about Saturday but you could be right. I wish we knew more.

If the Blackhawks get another late start and we have to go Thursday I'll lose me freaking mind. That's beyond retarded. Both Chicago and Vancouver are rested enough to play Thursday or Friday. If anyone has an argument against having to start Thursday it's the team that played Tuesday.

Happy Birthday to a living legend. Here's to continuing your legacy!

The Coyotes were a really tough 1st round team. They deserve lots of credit and should able to build on their success this season next year. Good luck to them in '10-'11.

And so humble too!

Life is awesome.

While I think the idea of renaming the NHL's trophies is completely asinine I do like to see Lindsay get some recognition.

Agreed. Boston is basically a Western team that plays in the East. They've got the tools to dominate defensively and shut the Pens down.

People still go to Eagles concerts?