Early Predictions Wings out in First Round

[Shaman 713]

Of course they do. But Luongo is still good enough to carry a team, and if the Wings scoring all of a sudden goes south (like it has at various times this season), he could easily shut the Wings down.

Hey, I've expected it every year since the Calgary series in 2004. Sorry if that bothers you, but that's just the way I am. As far as the Wings are concerned, we've seen this movie before. The Wings have a great regular season team, but they collapse in the playoffs against more physical teams that play the neutral zone trap. And, given recent history, you can bet that their first round opponent will more than likely play the trap, or some style similar to it.

Last year was an obvious exception, so don't throw that at me. But still, I don't feel all that confident about the Wings going into the playoffs. It's the way I've felt about this team since the beginning of the season, and if you don't agree, than tough s***. This is an internet forum, and everyone has their own opinions.

Well I really dont see why everyone is so hot on Luongo, I would say hes top 5 goalies, but, hes not the best, and, even if our scoring goes south, I dont see theirs even matching a subpar red wings performance. If we play them wings in 5.

My support Vancover GF/GA 186/180 and away record 16-15-5

Edited March 16, 2008 by Shaman464

[Kp-Wings 3]

Dude..live in the now..you are talking about stuff that happened 2 years ago...different team, different circumstances. One loss in a row and your fairweather clown attitude is coming out, no suprise.

Haha, yeah right. "Fairweather clown"? Good one!

If you read back on my posing history, you'll see that my opinion of the Wings has been the same all season long. That's far from being fair weather fan, even if it's a somewhat negative opinion. At least I'm consistant, unlike many of the people on this forum.

Edited March 16, 2008 by Kp-Wings

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

It's called a prediciton people. People make predictions all the time. Some people predicted we would be upset in the first round against Vancouver in 2002. This is nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.

[Rice 42]

Why is that such a ridiculous prediction? Luongo is about a trillion times better than Dwayne Roloson, yet he shut the Wings down only two seasons ago. Or has everyone already forgotton about that?

It's a pretty common misconception that Roloson pulled a Giguere in that series and stole it by himself. He didn't.

The Oilers outworked the Wings and limited their quality shots. They outshot Edmonton a lot but the majority of the shots were from bad angles. Plus, they exposed the Wings' defense with all of their speed. The system has changed since then and Babcock has groomed the team so that they will not be outworked.

Remember last year when Kiprusoff stood on his head during the Calgary series? The guy looked unbeatable at times yet the Wings didn't really have a problem beating the Flames.

[Kp-Wings 3]

It's a pretty common misconception that Roloson pulled a Giguere in that series and stole it by himself. He didn't.

The Oilers outworked the Wings and limited their quality shots. They outshot Edmonton a lot but the majority of the shots were from bad angles. Plus, they exposed the Wings' defense with all of their speed. The system has changed since then and Babcock has groomed the team so that they will not be outworked.

Remember last year when Kiprusoff stood on his head during the Calgary series? The guy looked unbeatable at times yet the Wings didn't really have a problem beating the Flames.

Oh, I agree with you. But when you consider what that Oilers team had, who shouldn't have been the playoffs if you ask me (yes, the made it to the SCF, but they still sucked), whose to say that the Canucks aren't capable of that as well? The Oilers of that season were the cinderella team that, for all intents and purposes, sucked throughout much of the season, and only just barely made the playoffs. The Canucks of this season share many of those same qualities... you know, just sayin'.

It's called a prediciton people. People make predictions all the time. Some people predicted we would be upset in the first round against Vancouver in 2002. This is nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.

Thank you.

Edited March 16, 2008 by Kp-Wings

[Rice 42]

Oh, I agree with you. But when you consider what that Oilers team, who shouldn't have been the playoffs if you ask me (yes, the made it to the SCF, but they still sucked), whose to say that the Canucks aren't capable of that as well? The Canucks are a team that have a lot of the same qualities as the Oilers of 2006; not a lot of scoring, but 4th line depth guys that can put away the Wings with physical play. That's what the Oilers did in 2006, isn't it?

I agree with you; it's not totally out of line to pick the Canucks over the Wings. I was just pointing out that Roloson didn't steal that series by himself. The West is wide-open. Every playoff team will have a chance. There are obviously favorites but the elite defensive/physical play along with great goaltending in the West means anything can happen.

[Shaman 713]

I really dont see how the wings cant be the favorites, 2 #1 goalies, the best defense, a dynamic offense, I mean, if they play a good tight game and limit the other teams shots, they will have a great chance to go all the way.

[Guest LivingtheDream]

At least he had us going 7 games lol. Seriousley though, this guy is a tool and doesn't know anything about hockey.

What fool would pick the Wings to lose in the first round after leading the league, President's Trophy, 100 point season to a low talent aggressive west coast team with a hot goalie!

[YoungGuns1340 1]

The only thing thats worthy about creating a thread on in terms of that predicition is that he calls Luongo the best goaltender in the NHL. Its Brodeur, followed closely by Nabby, and after that, its not even close. That intimidating Anaheim offense got Luongo yanked. Im really not worried about him.

And as for whoever said Vancouver is aggressive, theyre far from what Calgary or Edmonton were.

[Guest LivingtheDream]

And as for whoever said Vancouver is aggressive, theyre far from what Calgary or Edmonton were.

True Dat! And yet, we took care of that monkey on our back (Oilers and Calgary) last season! This wanker writer is just stating the worn out easy pick. It is the non thinking man's prediction. I had it out with a guy I work with who said the same stupid kind of thing, a fricking Rangers fan, who said, "The Wings always lose in the playoffs." I shut him up with, "Yea, well they have only been in the God Damn playoffs 16 years in a row and in that time won 3 Cups and at least 3 conference finals besides that, so would you trade that playoff record for your sorry ass piece of s*** blue shirts playoff record or what?" Yea, shut the ***** down with that. Feel me?

[hillbillywingsfan 792]

Of course they do. But Luongo is still good enough to carry a team, and if the Wings scoring all of a sudden goes south (like it has at various times this season), he could easily shut the Wings down.

Hey, I've expected it every year since the Calgary series in 2004. Sorry if that bothers you, but that's just the way I am. As far as the Wings are concerned, we've seen this movie before. The Wings have a great regular season team, but they collapse in the playoffs against more physical teams that play the neutral zone trap. And, given recent history, you can bet that their first round opponent will more than likely play the trap, or some style similar to it.

Last year was an obvious exception, so don't throw that at me. But still, I don't feel all that confident about the Wings going into the playoffs. It's the way I've felt about this team since the beginning of the season, and if you don't agree, than tough s***. This is an internet forum, and everyone has their own opinions.

are you going to take your ball home with you then? with comments like "and if you don't agree, than tough s***" you sound like a 5 year old. yeah it is a internet forum and yes you can have you own opinion. im not the one jumping on people for having one.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

I find it hilarious that he also put the ducks winning over the stars... However with ANA having it's current injuries and penalties if the game was played right now Dallas would skate circles around them.

If the stars and ducks meet in the first round (which I am hoping will happen) it would be a much closer battle than it would be right now.

[clutchngrab 12]

I don't think Vancouver is the team to do it, but someone will beat the wings before the conf finals. I just think there are too many passengers on the bus that don't contribute much - epecially at forward. Our top players are fine, but we all know cups are won when everyone contributes.

On the flip side, I don't see many other teams in a better position, so perhaps it will be goaltending that gets a team into the SC finals this year.

[rage 24]

The Red Wings need to get Cleary back sooner rather than later. I think we as fans will be surprised how much he brings to the table. Flip needs to be hitting a stride come playoff time as well.

Of course Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Homer, and Hasek all need to be healthy for us to make it four rounds.

I really think Rafi and Stuart will make a difference this year. All year I thought of this season as a Cup year and I am sticking to it. That being said, DEPTH Scoring and Goaltending are going to be the most important important part of this years Cup run.

[Vincanni 1]

I actually prefer going in under the radar, didn't think it was possible after our record setting first half, or considering we've been #1 in the league practically since out of the gate. I Guess our recent injury problems and uninspired play has really clouded the minds of how good we were earlier.

However picking us to lose to a team that's still in a pretty tight race to even make the playoffs seems a bit odd. Besides we're the Wings, MVP calibre goalies don't scare us, it's forces like Jason Bacashihua, or Dan Ellis that cost us games.

[zombiewing 3]

yeah because its a better feeling for a wings fan to go into the playoffs thinking we are going to lose in the first round. give me a break.

i agree with an earlier poster claiming that an underdog status is preferable. it creates more esprit, and edginess. attitude one needs.

remember that the lindros flyers were picked to win the cup and...detroit zambonied them.

[VM1138 1,921]

i agree with an earlier poster claiming that an underdog status is preferable. it creates more esprit, and edginess. attitude one needs.

remember that the lindros flyers were picked to win the cup and...detroit zambonied them.

I prefer going in as the underdog, too. Really, it doesn't hurt anything to have everyone count you out. Underdog is the best place to be, really.

It's good to see that as the years go by, some hings never change (i.e. Detroit is always the underdog, no matter how amazing they do)

EDIT: And while the "hot goalie" issue always haunts the Wings, let's not forget that this season we've got two great goalies and we're keeping other teams to virtually no goals. So even if our scoring craps out, we should still stand a decent shot. If our scoring doesn't falter too badly, we should be blowing out some games in the playoffs eventually. But I'm predicting a more realistic, low-scoring game. And let's all not forget, this is the playoffs, and the Wings of the past two seasons have shown they know how to play clutch, regardless of what they do in the season. A lot of teams can't say that.

Will we lose a few games in the first series? Sure. We'll probably need to be woken up, but we've seen this story before. In 2002 we were down to Vancouver and came back.

Don't fret. The Wings will win the Cup, or at least, stand the best chance of any team.

Edited March 16, 2008 by VM1138

[dallas27 7]

It's not a ridiculous prediction. Luongo can take over a game. If the Wings fail to put out any offense on the ice they are going to be in trouble against him. And you know he's going to be hot going into that series as most goalies are when they play the Wings in the playoffs. That can spell trouble for them.

[58Miles2Joe 12]

...as long as the Sedins don't activate their wonder twin powers.

/form of... defensive responsibility

[zata40 3]

...as long as the Sedins don't activate their wonder twin powers.

/form of... defensive responsibility

The sedin twins are nothing compared to the euro twins!

[Jedi 1,865]

The guy brings up an interesting point though. In the playoffs, a hot goalie can carry you over a vastly superior team. And Luongo definitely has the talent to do just that...

It's not too outlandish to think it could happen. Especially if Luongo catches fire late in the season, and carries the team into the playoffs on his back. Momentum like that has a habit of carrying over into the first round of the playoffs, which could make life difficult for whichever team he plays.

When it comes to which teams I'd rather see as our first round opponents, Vancouver would be lower on the list rather than higher...

[BeeRYCE 2]

Fresh off a 10 of 11 game losing skid, it's not really a stretch to predict playoff disaster. Fortunately though, I have faith..

[Guest Hatethedrake!]

I believe the Wings will win the Cup this year. My only concern is the Ducks. I'd much rather eliminate them in the 3rd round than the 2nd round. Once the team is fully healthy I think we'll be ready to eliminate any team we play. It won't be easy. But I think most fans including Red Wings fans really underestimate this team. I think the best is yet to come with this group. None of us really know what will happen. That's why they play the games. That being said, I can't wait for the playoffs to get started and cheer on the Wings to winning their 4th Cup in 12 years. I think that most of the people who count the Wings out are scared s***less of playing them in the playoffs. I would be too. Who would want to play the Wings?

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

I think we'll beat Vancouver, but I wouldn't want to see us play them for many reasons. As I've mentioned earlier, we've lost to worse goalies before than Luongo.

[/qute]

Same. Nashville, Colarado and Minnisota are are far more desirable than vsing Roberto.

[Cern 0]

Can you believe that this yoyo is predicting a loss to Vancover?

LINK

1. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Vancouver Canucks

The best team in the NHL against the best goaltender in the NHL. Looks like somebody is primed for another postseason fall. Prediction: Canucks in seven.

Just like last year when we lost to Calgary then San Jose...

I can't hear his opinion over the sound of Vancouver's cripplingly nonexistant offense. Not to mention a severely-reduced blue line squad. Van proved last year that you can't win a stanley cup purely on your goalie's shoulders. Hell, does Vancouver even really HAVE a first line?