chrisdetroit

Actually, that's not true. This year he had a 0.881 save percentage but last year he had a 0.929 save percentage in the playoffs which is outstanding and was his second best playoff year.

THREE Stanley Cups FOUR Vezinas FOUR Jennings one Calder TWO Olympic Gold Medals Are you kidding me?

But it isn't just this playoff that he sucked. It is damn near every year. His CAREER points/game regular season 770/832 = 0.925 playoffs 91/120 = 0.758 This is a HUGE difference No excuses of being injured can explain away 10 years of poor playoff production. Now we have the curse of Ville Leino. 2 SCF losses in a year playing for 2 different teams.... Can he make it 3?

They do it every year. Last year Pittsburgh won the cup and we heard about that dynasty. They lost in the 2nd round...

If they had played a team with a good goaltender in the finals, they would have lost. Niemi gave up 22 goals in 6 games (3.67 GAA) but he was better than Leighton/Boucher who gave up 25 (4.17 GAA). This was the worst goaltending I can remember ever seeing in a finals. Niemi finished with a .910 save percntage but in the finals he had an .877 save percentage. Yes .877 This must be a record but they still won because they scored over 4 goals/game. Lucky? Yes.

Put anybody on wing with Crosby and their game will improve. 1 good playoff year. So what. You have to look at all the playoff years. Hossa's ppg average in playoffs is SIGNICANTLY lower than his reqular season numbers. I am glad we didn't re-sign him.

I'm with you. The goaltending in this series has been terrible. 6-5 2-1 4-3 5-3 7-5 Chicago has given up 20 goals in 5 games 4.00 GAA and Philly has given up 21 goals for 4.2 GAA. As far as Hossa, the Hawks are stuck with him for the rest of his career. Nobody wants a career playoff underachiever.

Well said. The Hawks only have 16 guys signed for next year and less tha $1M of cap room left. They will be dumping salary big time this summer so they will not be as good as this year. As far as Hossa, he is not a playoff performer so I'm glad that we didn't re-sign him. He has 9 goals and 30 points in his last 46 playoff games. 91 points in 118 playoff games over his career - 0.77 pts/game 770 out of 832 in the regular season - 0.93 pts/games Obviously those numbers are telling. He disappears in the playoffs.

Bulls***. They are marketing him because he is Canadian. Datsyuk has 4 straight Lady Bings, 2 straint Selke Trophys and 2 stanley cups. But he's not Canadian. Lidstrom has SIX Norris Trophies, FOUR Stanley Cups an Olympic Gold Medal (he scored the winning goal) and a frickin Conn Smyth. But he's not Canadian. Do I need to continue...

Not interested, If we add somebody it needs to be a goal scorer. Our 3rd and 4th lines of draper, Helm, Eaves, Miller, Williams amd Cleary didn't score this year and that IMO cost us the most. Williams gets replaced by Huds and my guess Miller gets replaced by Ritola/Abby but other than Huds, these guys aren't goal scorers. We don't need another huge hitter who can't score.

I started watching the Wings in 1995 when they went to the finals and lost to Jersey in 4 games. That was 15 years ago. Does that make me a bandwagon fan? I think not. If a fan has followed the Wings since the 1990's they are no longer "bandwagon" fans

Both Keith and Pronger were signed to long term contracts so as to minimize the AVERAGE cap hit. Pronger's salary for next year in $7.6M, Keith will make $8M next year. Lids was signed for 1 year. Your post is just plain wrong. nhlnumbers.com

Exactly. Over the past few years, Lidstrom is one of the top players in the league (certainly in the top 5) and he could easily be making the maximum salary which I believe is $10M but he is playing for $7.45. There are many teams that would have signed him for $10M a few years ago without a moments hesitation. So he already is taking a discount. Whatever number he wants, he will get. I'd give it to him. So forget all this BS about him taking a ridiculously low amount. I'm good with whatever he wants. He's worth it.

hahahaha You're nuts. Nobody that knows anything thinks that we are not at least a contendor for the Cup. If Howard doesn't let in that soft goal at the end of game 3, we go back to San Jose tied 2-2. Far, Far away? What were you watching?

Uh. We got Franzen back too. Did you forget that he was gone from the 3rd game until the middle of February. Franzen is a 40 goal scorer and Huds is a 20 goal scorer. That's 60 goals. They didn't suck from mid February to the endd of the season.

He's paid to put up points - goals and assists and he's not doing it. He has 0.76 points/game which is 60th yes 60th in the playoffs. The 2 goals in 17 games is pitiful. The only thing that he is doing well is playing defense. His +/- is 2nd in the league just behind a guy whose last name begins with Z. I am glad that we didn't sign him. Some guys elevate their play in the playoffs - Franzen, Zetterberg, Lidstrom and some guys wither - Hossa, Joe Thorton... The Hawks are paying him alot of money and he isn't getting it done in the playoffs. To date he has had a total of 2 good playoffs and one of them was when he played wing with Sydney Crosby. Kenny is a very smart man.

Niemi has been pretty good with a .916 save percentage but that's not setting the world on fire. What we saw last night were two poor goaltending performances. Will it continue? We will see. I don't remember seeing 11 goals scored in a Stanley Cup Final game before. I want to see goaltenders standing on their heads not this crap...

Mario and Wayne have zero in common with Pronger who was suspended SIX times or Kane who was arrested for beating up a 60 year old cab driver. I hate them too. Actually, I should say, I have no respect for them. Better?

So the team whose goaltender sucks the least is going to win the Cup. Wow. What I saw last night was not Stanley Cup hockey on the part of the goaltenders. That said. Philly more than held their own. I'm thinking that this could go either way. If Neimi plays like that for the rest of the series the Hawks will not win. Unless Leighton/Boucher play like that...

Marleau? Jesus H Christ. Marleau is a perenial playoff choker. He had 1 decent playoff and it was only 2 rounds. His team got swept in the 3rd round. 1 decent playoff does not make up for 5 or 6 terrible ones. Remeber that Hossa guy? 2 goals in 16 games this year...

Yea, and then there next top pick was who? Nobody. Nada. No more top ten picks since. I think Kronwall was about #20. Not a good comparison...

They built their team with first round draft picks. Next year they tank because they have overpaid to many guys and have to have a fire sale. Everybody not named Kane, Hossa, Keith and Toews are gone. They overpaid for Campbell and Huet and are stuck with them. Huet is sitting on the bench collecting $6m per year and Hossa doesn't score in the playoffs. Contenders for years? Sorry, but this is a one year wonder.

Marian Hossa has disappeared in the playoffs AGAIN. He has a total of 2 goals in 11 games. If the Hawks win, it will not be because of him. The real curse is that teams waste so much money on a guy that disappears in the playoffs. Now Chicago is stuck with him for the rest of his career. I don't mean to say I told you so but I told you so...

The Wings lost 4 games to the Sharks all by 1 goal. In 2 of those 4 the Sharks scored either the tying or winning goal while on a 5 on 3. The Sharks never had the lead going into the 3rd period. The Sharks got the breaks, the Wings didn't. Are the Sharks better? Not IMO. The Sharks won games 1 and 2 at home courtesy of 5 on 3's. The Wings gave away game 3 when Howard let in the tying goal at the end of regulation and Lids broke his stick in the OT. Game 4 was an absolute beat-down by the Wings. Game 5 the Sharks won by 1 goal after being tied going into the 3rd. The series could easily have gone eitehr way.