Echolalia

So can I trade in my Kopecky jersey for a Shea Weber jersey?

He won't be 100% until he has surgery, unfortunately, which is scheduled for the off-season.

VAN/LAK: 4-2 STL/SJS: 4-2 PHX/CHI: 4-1 NSH/DET: 4-2 NYR/OTT: 4-0 BOS/WSH: 4-3 FLA/NJD: 4-1 PIT/PHI: 4-3 WC Champion: Detroit EC Champion: pittsburgh SCF Champion:Detroit

Hawks in 5 is my prediction. The Coyotes really need to win a playoff series, though, given all the crap they've withstood. The Hawks offense will overcome their defensive/goaltending weakness in the end. I just hope Doan goes crazy playoff mode on all of them and wear down the Hawks players for round two.

Bring on the Preds. If we're gonna win the Cup, we gotta go through somebody. Might as well be the Preds so the travel isn't working against us.

Hahaha Why not throw Semin and Miller in there too, if we're playing Bizarro EA Sports Hockey Dream Land?

I rate the statue of liberty as being one of the most influential moments in playoff history. The series was pretty tight at that point, with the Avs holding onto some good momentum. That play doesn't happen, and Colorado could have easily ended up hoisting the Cup that summer, with how that series was heading.

I agree with what your saying and understand that refs miss stuff all the time and its only natural they do, simply because they are human. I just want to bust your chops a bit It's tough to say that they would catch this 98 times out of 100, because right now they're 0 for 1 in as long as I've been watching. Also, I may be mistaken, but didn't the refs catch the Pens on that 6 on 5, and actually yell at someone on the ice to get off for like 20 seconds before they did? That seems to be my recollection, and part of why it was so controversial.

It's much more likely to occur today than in any era before, simply due to the parity that the salary cap brings. We've seen plenty of bottom seed teams make deep cup runs lately, it's only a matter of time before one of those teams breaks the wall down.

Wings (4) v Nashville (5): If Wings win and Preds lose, in ROW. Wings (5) v Nashville (4): If Preds win. Wings (6) v LA (3): If Wings lose, or win in SO, LA wins, and Phoenix earns 2 of 4 points or less. Wings (6) v Sharks (3): If wings lose, or win in SO,, Sharks win, and Phoenix earns 2 of 4 points or less. Wings (6) v Phoenix (3): If Wings lose and Phoenix wins both of their games. I'm not sure who will have the tiebreakers between LA, Phoenix, and San Jose, it will depend on whether their games go to SO or not.

According to the Detroit news link, "Babcock said Sheahan will not get a look with the big club, so late in the season." I can't check out the Holland interview, but I imagine Sheahan's first NHL game won't be this year.

As much as I would love the Sharks to miss the playoffs entirely, I'm beginning to wonder whether it would benefit the Wings in the long haul if the Sharks won the 8th seed. They've always been like the postseason tornado. They just destroy whatever is in their path early on, but they fizzle out pretty quickly and seem easy to weather deep in the playoffs. If the Sharks get the 8th seed, they'll be up against Vancouver, and I see the victor of that series limping away wounded. I don't know that Dallas has the capacity to upset the way the Sharks do.

the Wings need to play hard tonight, if not to win, than certainly to attract Parise to our organization.

Stay healthy my friends

Actually I wasn't all that impressed with him tonight. Well, aside from the two goals of course, but I'm still waiting to see that tenacity where he grabs the puck and never lets go, plows through a couple players from the corner and earns his scoring opportunities, instead of the gift-wrapped pucks that Datsyuk fed him tonight. I will admit he had a spark to his step after the first goal, and he looked a bit more confident in himself. Hopefully it translates into what we all know he's capable of in the upcoming games, but as it stands, this game wasn't Franzen being Franzen. Even if he did pot two goals.

I'm sure you know this but some blades have a "brake" installed on the back that is applied to the ground when you lift your toes off the floor. I personally don't like the protrusion on the back of my heel, so I deal with momentum changes in other ways. Growing up I would always just take a turn. It doesn't stop you, but it does change your momentum from the direction you want to stop going. It never really hurt my game all that much. As I got a little more experienced I learned that I could do a similar stop to the traditional on-ice hockey stop, by changing the angle that my rollerblade touches the surface, so a lot of the chassy that holds the wheels, and even the boot slide across the surface. The boot ends up almost 90 degrees sideways from what it normally is. This always created enough friction for me to stop, but it was more difficult to control. It was beneficial mostly as a mechanism to try to lose people who were right behind me, and not so much for stopping myself from running into a player or a wall. If I recall, one of the better players on the young Mighty Ducks team didn't know how to stop either.

I have never used any blades that simulate ice skates, and I would be skeptical as well. There are different types of wheels that grip the surface differently, but nothing really mimics the feeling of skating on ice, and honestly I don't know if it's worth it to even look for something like that. Just get some average roller blades, understand the limitations (or advantages, perhaps) that come with inline or street hockey blades, and just have fun with it.

Oh my god enough. Both the Blues and the Wings are going to play this game with all the importance that it should be. Wings not only want home ice advantage, but they also want to reesrablish their game since certain key members went down with injury. The Blues also need to pick up their game, because it hasn't been very Blues-like recently. The Wings will be a good test for that, as well as to get the young Blues team a good look into what they can expect in a week from now. Hitchcock gave em an extra long practice, so at the very least he is expecting both teams to bring their A game. Finally, us as fans may undermine it, but pride is significant, and there is a lot of that on the line for both teams. The wings are being dethroned right now and they're playing to avenge that. The Blues want the Wings and everyone else to know that they're legit, especially after being at the bottom of the standings for much of the past decade. Both teams will play hard tonight. It will be a good game to watch.

The power play is bad for the same reason that the Wings have a lot of other problems. There's no desperation or passion. I don't want to blame the coaches, although its an appealing avenue because two of our coaches are brand new and the issues popped up just this year, but the Wings have consistently been poor with winning the small battles, and investing energy to get that tip in the slot, or to come up with the puck in the corner. It certainly doesn't help that the go-to guys for these situations have been nursing injuries, ie Eaves, Cleary, Zetterberg, now Helm. I think Filpulla has been the only player who has really stepped it up and taken on a larger load when it comes to playing with passion and heart. Hopefully the postseason is inspiration enough to get everyone in the right mind.

I don't mean to be a downer, and I sincerely hope that Holland pushes hard to land Parise or Suter(even if it means paying a bit more than he would like *gasp*), but if you look at the free agent pool this summer, there is Parise, Suter, and a bunch of moths flying around. Most of the other big names aren't expected to sign with a different NHL team. That gives you 20 to 30 teams looking to grab a list of talent you can count on one hand. Holland prefers not to be aggressive in these scenarios. Consequently I don't have high expectations of landing Parise or any big name this summer.

I'll take the traffic cone or the monkey, but please not Jason Williams

It's almost a guarantee he'll score against us.

This game will determine who gets the final playoff seed for the Western Conference for the time being. Both teams only have four games to play besides this one. San Jose played and lost in Anaheim last night. Phoenix is well rested. Under the circumstances, I can easily see this one going either way. PS the Sharks upcoming schedule also includes two games against the Stars and two games against the Kings. All really significant games, especially considering how close these teams are.

Phoenix is a couple minutes away from a win and the 8th seed in the Western Conference.

Tell it like it is girl!