Drake_Marcus

Definitely-- Brygalov has been their MVP by far. If Holmstrom can get into his head early we're golden. We really need Holmer to have his mojo going because he's the guy who can completely get a goalie of their game.

They're a pretty clutch team this year and they seem to find that clutch goal at the last minute. That makes me worry. I've watched a few of their games and they never seem to actually be out of it. Somehow they can find a goal with a minute left. It's kind of how the Wings have been lately... remember that string of games when the Wings had multiple last second winners? The 'yotes have been that way for half the year. I'm not terrified of them but I definitely think they deserve respect.

Remember that we're friends... eh? I totally deserved a 20 this week except the ah... the hockey gods failed me. Yeah, that's right.

It's important to note that the Wings are God's team. (and the Pens are the Pope's team)

It's even more interesting that Jake Ryan was nearly right. Jake ******* Ryan. Exactly. Which means he actually thought we'd be in 4th! Holy s***-- he was even closer.

Surprisingly close. He was only off by 2 places which is shocking considering when he made this comment. Oh and Phoenix is the scariest team of these three. They have a great mix of veterans and youth plus they're well coached and have the best goalie in the West.

He's got the same number of points as your boy Crosby and one less goal in 9 fewer games? yeah, I thought so. Ovechkin's ppg is 1.51. Crosby's is 1.35. Ovechkin has a +45 and Crosby has a +15 on a team that only had 4 more goals against than Ovechkin's. Think about that-- the Penguins let 237 goals in and the Caps let 233 goals in. Yet Crosby is only a +15 compared to Ovechkin's +45. It's actually hilarious that you would say Ovechkin's not in the top 3. Hilarious.

I think it's also a testament to the consistency of this franchise. Over 20 years of playoff runs you're bound to have many different starters (obviously New Jersey is a special exception ).

The playoffs are the only part of the season that matters. If Val can set new career highs in pts/goals this playoff run then he can call this a successful season.

We should build a frigging statue to Howard. He's really saved this season with his fantastic play. Easily the best rookie season we've seen in Detroit in a long, long time.

I guess Bettman is saving the back to back games for when we're against his favourite team AND injured. Too healthy to waste that trick on us now. They probably did but it won't change anything now. No biggy, this team is rolling forward with a murderous 16-2-3 record. No need to mess with a good thing.

Hmmm... I feel like I recognize a set of disturbingly white teeth.

All I know is that the Coyotes are a very good defensive team that's well coached and has a goalie who's a legitimate Vezina candidate. No one should take them lightly. Go Wings! Oh, and this type of conspiracy thinking is going to be impossible to ignore since the NHL owns the Coyotes and they employ the refs. That's why it's not ideal for the league to own a team-- it's a clear conflict of interest. Whether they do something wrong or not people will still have suspicions.

This is correct.

Someone should make one with a picture of the arena that says "Phoenix Coyotes: Tickets Always Available" At least there will be a bunch of tickets for us Wings fans to scoop up. We better turn their first two games into Red Wings home games.

I'm just teasing you. We all do but it wouldn't be the same here without ya. Man those were epic SNL sketches

Hey now, don't pick on Mindfly-- you know he's a sensitive young man. P.s. Chicago can suck it. Suck it long. Suck it hard.

Agreed!

Ovi is a proven performer in the post season. Green on the other hand was terrible during their run last season.

This! It's funny how many people forget Fleury's earlier play after he played amazing in games 6 and 7. Yeah he deserves credit for that (and he got it-- it's a cool ring covered in diamonds), but that doesn't mean he's immune to criticism for s***ting the bed on other occasions. For example-- Crosby had one point in elimination games at the Olympics. He scored the OT winner but he didn't help them enough on the way there. He should've been Canada's mvp but he wasn't even their best forward. Iginla was infinitely more important to our gold because he showed up for all of the elimination games. And before Carman screams "BUT HE SCORED THE GOLDEN GOAL!". So did McCarty-- does that mean he was the Wings' MVP that year? The list of guys who scored championship winning goals is long and doesn't necessarily include all of the best players on those teams.

This.

I disagree on the "hell of a lot" part. Smith has the most offensive potential of any Wings d-man drafted since Lidstrom. Smith's got the kind of offensive instincts you can't train. Aside from that he's painfully raw. He's just a big ass kid with insane offensive upside. What becomes of him remains to be seen. Lashoff looks really good too. He's looked very good in both his stints with GR. I'm excited about him. Logan Pyatt is pretty good too. He's had a better season in GR than Kindl but he's Rafalski sized so he doesn't get a whole lot of buzz.

So you think Yzerman is retarded? Nice.

Good news! Fleury has also been brutal for the last two regular seasons. Know what the difference between the Sharks and Caps is? I'll give you a hint-- he had the best point per game rating in the playoffs last year (1.5 frigging points per frigging game!) and he's easily the best offensive player in the league. Also he's Russian and his name rhymes with Movechkin. And he drives a sweet car.