Red Wings Take Beating, Walk Away With Win

[Guest Canadian Wings]

http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/nhl/index

So thats the title of tonights highlight pack on the right side there. Where was this beating we supposedly got? At one point in the highlights the one dudes like, "So why did Detroit win", or something along those lines...and Melrose was like "they were Detroit, they played physical" or something, then a split second later he changes his tune and says how it didn't matter if the Ducks won it was a statement game?

What a 'tard.

[Dabura 12,207]

Maybe it's because I'm drunk, but Melrose's commentary made me laugh.

I mean, his point is right-on. But seriously, at least try to sound like you don't hate the Wings with every ounce of your being.

[Scoobus777 0]

I was there and it most definitely was NOT a beating. It was some good, physical hockey...and the better team won.

[Reds4Life 51]

They think that Ducks are uber-tough team that is gonna "POUND" soft Wings and "hit everything that moves" in a playoff series, but they do not count with what can the Wings do..they played back2back game, were missing Z and still beat those fumb ducks. I am so happy.

Edited January 24, 2008 by Reds4Life

[seeinred 1,488]

f*** ESPN. God forbid a team full of old guys and Europeans stand up to the big bad Ducks and win.

[Cicada 4]

my god Melrose is a TOOL

[yakub 0]

Ya it was a statement game for the Ducks... It clearly said that even on their home ice the knew the couldn't compete with the Wings. So they better try to hurt them instead. I cannot believe what a punk Pronger is, next time he should try to go with Hudler to show just how tough he is. From watching that fight I wish he would of fought Downey. Downey would of owned him.

[Yemack 1]

classic Melrose

I'm begining to think that he does it to get some reaction out of us.

If he were my buddy I would ask him one thing,

" Just what kind of message did Ducks send last night? They are gonna goon it up on us? Well let me tell you something, If there was anyone that was sending a message that was Red Wings. That we will beat you no matter how you play us. We are REALLY looking forward seeing you this Spring"

[DEVILSWATERBOY 10]

Melrose what an @#@, he is such an idiot ever since Mlerose left the Wings Adirondak team to coach the Kings he

has done nothing but bad mouth the Wings but boy Berry Smelrose they sure have accomplished alot in the last 18 years!

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

With Melrose's past, how can this surprise anyone. Just take it with a grain of salt.

After all, the Wings are the ones who skated away with two points.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Ya it was a statement game for the Ducks... It clearly said that even on their home ice the knew the couldn't compete with the Wings. So they better try to hurt them instead. I cannot believe what a punk Pronger is, next time he should try to go with Hudler to show just how tough he is. From watching that fight I wish he would of fought Downey. Downey would of owned him.

How about a little perspective people?

Yes, the Wings played back to back so they should be given mad props for this entire WC swing. And Z was out so kudos for the team stepping up.

Yes, they stood up physically and fought back. However, and here's where some perspective comes in.

1 fight was with Downey. Is he going to see any playoff time? You know O'Donnell is.

1 fight was with Cleary and he had to leave the rest of the game. Pronger didn't and eventually scored.

Look at the score. 2-1. Take away the lucky goal by Flip. And yes, Beauchemin's stick breaking was luck. If his stick doesn't break he doesn't waffle that pass right into Flip's lap and the play never happens to begin with. It was a pretty finish though.

Removing that goal, the score is 1-1 and our only other goal came 5 on 3.

So in 60 minutes of play we lost 1 forward, scored 1 5 on 3 goal, couldn't do anything with our powerplays 5 on 4 and scored the eventual game winner due to a broken stick.

The Ducks still cycled at will in our zone. We had stretches where we did great in their zone and likewise they did the same s*** they did in the postseason. They cycled and we couldn't get the puck off their big guys and they got chances.

Faceoffs were 27 to 26 in favor of Detroit = push

Hits were 23-15 in favor of Anaheim

Shots were 33-25 in favor of Detroit. I throw this stat out because we outshoot everyone and have for years and we've lost lots of playoff games despite racking up 30-40 shots.

Takeaways, blocked shots, almost everything was a push between these 2 teams.

What we saw is the same thing we saw in the postseason, two teams with different styles but just enough of a mix to make the games very close. Again the question remains can we do it for a full 7 game series.

This game was dangerously close and anyone who says we dominated I ask you to stop because your blind homerism is making me vomit all over my office and its starting to smell really bad.

[lfd250 1]

Let's see one of our non fighters went after one of the top fighters sticking up for our goalie, Cleary "turtled" because he knew he was inj and why risk making it worse by continuing. (SP) Smart Play. Weight sucker punched Lebda and then wanted to go. Kroner had a sweet open ice hit (again) but this was a statement game for the fledglings because they hit us. Statement: we took your s*** and still won!

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

The bottom line is that we need more tougness on this team when we play Anaheim, because you know they're going to take advantage of the biggest asset they have over us. Downey must play in the playoffs if we play them, but I still think we need to get tougher. As for Melrose, why was anyone here even watching espn? I thought you guys were hockey fans.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Let's see one of our non fighters went after one of the top fighters sticking up for our goalie, Cleary "turtled" because he knew he was inj and why risk making it worse by continuing. (SP) Smart Play. Weight sucker punched Lebda and then wanted to go. Kroner had a sweet open ice hit (again) but this was a statement game for the fledglings because they hit us. Statement: we took your s*** and still won!

all I can say to this his huh?

it was a tough, physical game that was decided by a broken stick. We scored on a 5 on 3 and got nothing else.

Dom played out of his mind and yeah, cleary manned up. But if manning up means Cleary has to leave the game and Pronger scores a goal later, I don't think I like that trade off very much.

This game could've gone either way. Just like any potential series between us and them can go either way. Can we fight and hit back pound for pound for a seven game series? I have my doubts. You know the Ducks can do it. We also know they can keep games 2-1 or 1-0, even against the mightiest of offenses.

[cap20066 0]

the thing i couldn't get over was that in all the coverage i saw of the game, which was mainly focused on cleary and prongers fight to begin with; never did anyone mention the fact that pronger is a half-foot taller than cleary.. and that until the very end dan put up a very even fight.

i mean..

good job pronger?

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

The bottom line is that we need more tougness on this team when we play Anaheim, because you know they're going to take advantage of the biggest asset they have over us. Downey must play in the playoffs if we play them, but I still think we need to get tougher. As for Melrose, why was anyone here even watching espn? I thought you guys were hockey fans.

GMR, you are completely right.

What are the chances Downey sees playoff time though? Put Z in and you have to take out Ellis or Downey. Bring Drake in and Downey has no shot at seeing the ice.

Then you look at Anaheim. Come playoff time you can be guaranteed that Pronger, Beauchemin, Moen, May, O'Donnell are all going to be on the ice.

Not too mention that little s*** Kunitz. People don't realize it but he's nearly as good a hitter as Dustin Brown is.

Getzlaf is not only their best player but could probably beat up anyone on our team except for Downey.

The problem Wings homers have is they see Cleary fight Pronger and they're all "yeah, Cleary is a badass and such and such" I agree, I couldn't be more happy that Danny boy manned up.

However, Dan Cleary couldn't beat up Chris Pronger if he had 10 tries at it. Pronger is too acustomed to fighting and is far too tall for Danny to fight effectively.

The bottom line is we lost Danny for the rest of the night and Pronger didn't miss a beat. That's not a good trade off.

We need to get tougher with guys who can actually play. What I wouldn't do to have a Jamal Mayers or Travis Moen.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

We need to go after McGrattan. There's been rumors for the last 2 years that Ottawa has wanted to part ways with him, and he'd be perfect for us. Of course, this will never happen, but if we want to truly stand up to a team like Anaheim, we can't do it with Cleary and Lebda fighting. Those guys don't know what they're doing, and besides, they're only going to get themselves hurt.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

How about a little perspective people?

Yes, the Wings played back to back so they should be given mad props for this entire WC swing. And Z was out so kudos for the team stepping up.

Yes, they stood up physically and fought back. However, and here's where some perspective comes in.

1 fight was with Downey. Is he going to see any playoff time? You know O'Donnell is.

1 fight was with Cleary and he had to leave the rest of the game. Pronger didn't and eventually scored.

Look at the score. 2-1. Take away the lucky goal by Flip. And yes, Beauchemin's stick breaking was luck. If his stick doesn't break he doesn't waffle that pass right into Flip's lap and the play never happens to begin with. It was a pretty finish though.

Removing that goal, the score is 1-1 and our only other goal came 5 on 3.

So in 60 minutes of play we lost 1 forward, scored 1 5 on 3 goal, couldn't do anything with our powerplays 5 on 4 and scored the eventual game winner due to a broken stick.

The Ducks still cycled at will in our zone. We had stretches where we did great in their zone and likewise they did the same s*** they did in the postseason. They cycled and we couldn't get the puck off their big guys and they got chances.

Faceoffs were 27 to 26 in favor of Detroit = push

Hits were 23-15 in favor of Anaheim

Shots were 33-25 in favor of Detroit. I throw this stat out because we outshoot everyone and have for years and we've lost lots of playoff games despite racking up 30-40 shots.

Takeaways, blocked shots, almost everything was a push between these 2 teams.

What we saw is the same thing we saw in the postseason, two teams with different styles but just enough of a mix to make the games very close. Again the question remains can we do it for a full 7 game series.

This game was dangerously close and anyone who says we dominated I ask you to stop because your blind homerism is making me vomit all over my office and its starting to smell really bad.

QFT

The Wings by no means dominated the game as a whole. When you add *all* the factors together it was a very close game and as GS&T said, these are two teams with completely different styles but just enough of a mix to make the games very close.

This is how its going to be in the playoffs if these teams meet up again, and the Wings (and Kenny) need to be prepared for it. In other words, that big nasty defenseman we've been discussing is becoming a major need against a sizable team like Anaheim that cycled at will down low in our offensive zone. It's becoming more and more clear how important it is to have that big cannon at the point for the PP. While Pronger is a ****** (and he is), he has one hell of a shot, and continues to score timely goals from the line. Those are huge goals in the playoffs because they're a hell of a lot more common with how tight defensively those games can be.

I'm glad the Wings play them before (Feb. 10) the trade deadline because it will give Kenny even more perspective on what pieces need to be added to the puzzle in order to help lengthen the post-season run.

[Reds4Life 51]

all I can say to this his huh?

it was a tough, physical game that was decided by a broken stick. We scored on a 5 on 3 and got nothing else.

Dom played out of his mind and yeah, cleary manned up. But if manning up means Cleary has to leave the game and Pronger scores a goal later, I don't think I like that trade off very much.

This game could've gone either way. Just like any potential series between us and them can go either way. Can we fight and hit back pound for pound for a seven game series? I have my doubts. You know the Ducks can do it. We also know they can keep games 2-1 or 1-0, even against the mightiest of offenses.

Yea..we scored 5 on 3..we had that chance(s) because we forced Ducks to make dumb plays. We were missing guy, who has the highest PPG in the league..guess who. Ducks can hit and fight, but they are no offensive threat at all. One good line. Thats all. Best defense though. But they still did not score at even strength. Red Wings also played back2back games and they sent message to Ducks imo. And we did not dominate, but won. Ducks did not dominate Wings last year but still beat us.

You can stay pesimistic and have your truth if we loose to them in playoffs though. But I belive Wings are capable to beat any team if our players stay healthy.

Edited January 24, 2008 by Reds4Life

[edicius 3,269]

it was a tough, physical game that was decided by a broken stick bogus penalty.

Oh wait, that was the playoffs last season. It goes both ways.

As for the goal that the Ducks scored, they never should have been on the powerplay there. That penalty called against Filppula was ridiculous - I thought holding penalties actually required some degree of actually "holding".

Hockey is about skill, yes. But it's also about luck. How many times last playoff did we run into problems due to a broken stick? It happens. Whining about Beauchemin's broken stick is just as annoying as us whining about the bogus penalty on Datsyuk last season that turned the series (and yes, I fully admit to being annoying and whiny ).

Who's to say that Beauchemin's clearing pass wouldn't have been intercepted even without the stick breaking? Who's to say that if it did clear that it wouldn't have resulted in more chances for the Wings overall and changed the whole look of the game?

The bottom line is that we won the game, we were physical and we stood up to the Ducks, despite countless cheapshotting attempts (Weight, Niedermayer, Beauchemin, Giguere, etc.) and the like. What's better is that it was 1) on a West Coast swing, 2) the tail end of a back-to-back and 3) a game in which Zetterberg and, for all intents and purposes, Cleary didn't play.

If Beauchemin's going to get a "bad luck" pass for a broken stick, I think we can trump that with the aforementioned points.

[seeinred 1,488]

How about a little perspective people?

Yes, the Wings played back to back so they should be given mad props for this entire WC swing. And Z was out so kudos for the team stepping up.

Yes, they stood up physically and fought back. However, and here's where some perspective comes in.

1 fight was with Downey. Is he going to see any playoff time? You know O'Donnell is.

1 fight was with Cleary and he had to leave the rest of the game. Pronger didn't and eventually scored.

Look at the score. 2-1. Take away the lucky goal by Flip. And yes, Beauchemin's stick breaking was luck. If his stick doesn't break he doesn't waffle that pass right into Flip's lap and the play never happens to begin with. It was a pretty finish though.

Removing that goal, the score is 1-1 and our only other goal came 5 on 3.

So in 60 minutes of play we lost 1 forward, scored 1 5 on 3 goal, couldn't do anything with our powerplays 5 on 4 and scored the eventual game winner due to a broken stick.

The Ducks still cycled at will in our zone. We had stretches where we did great in their zone and likewise they did the same s*** they did in the postseason. They cycled and we couldn't get the puck off their big guys and they got chances.

Faceoffs were 27 to 26 in favor of Detroit = push

Hits were 23-15 in favor of Anaheim

Shots were 33-25 in favor of Detroit. I throw this stat out because we outshoot everyone and have for years and we've lost lots of playoff games despite racking up 30-40 shots.

Takeaways, blocked shots, almost everything was a push between these 2 teams.

What we saw is the same thing we saw in the postseason, two teams with different styles but just enough of a mix to make the games very close. Again the question remains can we do it for a full 7 game series.

This game was dangerously close and anyone who says we dominated I ask you to stop because your blind homerism is making me vomit all over my office and its starting to smell really bad.

Do you just say things like this to be different and get a rise out of people? You can't just arbitrarily say "take away this goal, because in a perfect world that one wouldn't have happened." That's the way hockey works, sometimes you get a good break, sometimes the refs bend you over and... well you know. And the point about Cleary has nothing to do with team toughness. There's absolutely NOTHING you can do about getting scratched in a fight. To use that as an indication of how the playoffs could play out is just ludicrous.

[Yemack 1]

I think some people are getting offended by hearing we played great game.

[Jwo 7]

Wonder why they went with the FSN Detroit feed?

[DEVILSWATERBOY 10]

How about a little perspective people?

Yes, the Wings played back to back so they should be given mad props for this entire WC swing. And Z was out so kudos for the team stepping up.

Yes, they stood up physically and fought back. However, and here's where some perspective comes in.

1 fight was with Downey. Is he going to see any playoff time? You know O'Donnell is.

1 fight was with Cleary and he had to leave the rest of the game. Pronger didn't and eventually scored.

Look at the score. 2-1. Take away the lucky goal by Flip. And yes, Beauchemin's stick breaking was luck. If his stick doesn't break he doesn't waffle that pass right into Flip's lap and the play never happens to begin with. It was a pretty finish though.

Removing that goal, the score is 1-1 and our only other goal came 5 on 3.

So in 60 minutes of play we lost 1 forward, scored 1 5 on 3 goal, couldn't do anything with our powerplays 5 on 4 and scored the eventual game winner due to a broken stick.

The Ducks still cycled at will in our zone. We had stretches where we did great in their zone and likewise they did the same s*** they did in the postseason. They cycled and we couldn't get the puck off their big guys and they got chances.

Faceoffs were 27 to 26 in favor of Detroit = push

Hits were 23-15 in favor of Anaheim

Shots were 33-25 in favor of Detroit. I throw this stat out because we outshoot everyone and have for years and we've lost lots of playoff games despite racking up 30-40 shots.

Takeaways, blocked shots, almost everything was a push between these 2 teams.

What we saw is the same thing we saw in the postseason, two teams with different styles but just enough of a mix to make the games very close. Again the question remains can we do it for a full 7 game series.

This game was dangerously close and anyone who says we dominated I ask you to stop because your blind homerism is making me vomit all over my office and its starting to smell really bad.

When you have 2 good teams 90% of the time the game is decided by a bad bounce a broken stick a or bad penalty example( post season last year overtime Lillapus made a bad clear Salami pick the puck and scored) that was the defining moment of that series had he made a better play the Wings may have been in the finals the Ducks by no way dominated the Wings inthe postseason last year I highly dought they will this year go Wings screw Melrose his opinion is like a diaper

usualy full of crap

[donfishmaster 62]

IF there was any "message" it was that the Wings would not back down physically form PrickPronger and his group of (to quote my hero, Al Swearingen) dirty cocksuckers.

I mean, WTF? It was THEIR home game, played at THEIR regular time in a manner more consistent with THEIR style of play and WE came out with a W.

IF WE would have lost because of a 5-3 or a broken stick, wussy little whiners would be saying we just didn't have the toughness to compete and we needed to get some more goonies to fill the roster!