teckaholic 0 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 This will be the first time I have been to Detroit since 2003! Are there any good bars or anything fun I should do while I am down there on Sunday? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8 Legged RedWing 367 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 I am going to game 1 Friday I just found out! I am so pumped. GO WINGS!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheSupafly 50 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Personally, I think the wings will expose the lack of depth on the offensive end of the ducks. Outside of the Perry/Getzlaf/Ryan line, they aren't deep. Selanne does the bulk of his scoring on the PP. Ducks have a great group of D guys, but the wings can roll more lines that can score consistently. Wings will take the series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cern 0 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 God, comment-makers on cbcsports are some of the most retarded people on the planet. I just encountered someone who claimed, and I quote, "I'm going to state it as fact, [the Ducks have] the best defense in the league hands-down." This statement pained me greatly, for I laughed so hard it made my lungs rip clear out of my ribcage. I think San Jose essentially laying down on the ice and dying last round has gotten to these guys' heads a bit too much. My view on the series? It's the most undisciplined team in the league vs the best penalty kill on the league. Even if Hiller is Brodeur's bastard child and Pronger exposes himself to gamma radiation to become Hulk Pronger, the Ducks are going to be crucified on special teams, particularly when it's key components of their defense that are taking a lot of those penalties. So long as the Wings keep to their game plan and the injuries that seemed to plague Oz in game 4 last round I see them pulling through. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cusimano_brothers 1,655 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 On yesterday's edition of TSN's "Molson That's Hockey", Gino Reda interviewed with Coach Babcock. Reda stated that statistics show that Hudler was the best "fourteen minute" player in the league this season and, along with Holmstrom, is the best "fourteen minute" player in the first round of the playoffs. Reda asked the question "Is there any chance he could become the best "eighteen minute" player? Coach Babcock's answer: "Yes, if he goes to another team". He followed this to explain how Hudler, like everyone else with the DRW, is part of the "system" and is used where he is most effective. Coach Babcock is a very wise man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vladifan 680 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Personally, I think the wings will expose the lack of depth on the offensive end of the ducks. Outside of the Perry/Getzlaf/Ryan line, they aren't deep. Selanne does the bulk of his scoring on the PP. Ducks have a great group of D guys, but the wings can roll more lines that can score consistently. Wings will take the series. I hope you're right. As someone wrote recently, if our first line can just neutralize the Ducks' first line, our chances are already excellent. The other part of that winning equation has got to be that our other three lines - especially #2 and #3 - have to score. Period. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lars1970 1 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Personally, I think the wings will expose the lack of depth on the offensive end of the ducks. Outside of the Perry/Getzlaf/Ryan line, they aren't deep. Selanne does the bulk of his scoring on the PP. Ducks have a great group of D guys, but the wings can roll more lines that can score consistently. Wings will take the series. That is what the Sharks thought too and they got lit up by Getz/Perry/Ryan. This will be a great series. I say Ducks in six only because I am rooting for them, but my hockey sense tells me Wings in 7. As an aside, I am not surprised everyone thinks the Wings will win, this is afterall a Wings site. However, I am a bit surprised at all the "Wings in 4" and "Wings in 5" predictions. I would be stunned if this series was that short. Not that it isn't possible, but I see it as unlikely. The Wings can definitely roll four better lines, have a playoff proved team and coach but so do the Ducks. These two teams are no strangers to playoff hockey and neither team will fold after a loss, bad goal, change in momentum, etc. Just my two cents. So go ahead, let me have it!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shoreline Report post Posted April 30, 2009 One thing that's weird is many Wings fans are not only underrating the Ducks defense, but overrating the Wings offense. The Wings had an immense amount of firepower in both 2003 and 2007, and their offense was rendered useless. They got off a lot of shots but they were the same type of shots the Sharks got on the Ducks. Shots from the outside rendered harmless, and shots that the goalie could see -- they will allow 40 of these shots a game and make it look easy any day. The Sharks (again, like the last two series' the Wings had against the Ducks) made it way too easy for the Ducks. Someone suggested a while back that the Wings tend to make opposing goalies look better than they really are, and this is entirely true. This is because the defense in front of that goalie needs to be on their game, and this veteran Ducks team knows how to get it done, and thusfar has been sorely underrated. If the Wings get content just firing the puck from the sides, they won't get s*** and this would end up a very short series for the Wings. If the Wings are going to win they will HAVE to capitalize on their power play and do what they've done best during the season, which is, first, solve their stifling defense, and secondly, be effective on the PK, which hasn't looked much better at all than the regular season. Anaheim is a crash-the-net and cycle-along-the-boards team, since they're big, and the Wings will need to effectively box out to prevent good chances, and especially second chances/garbage goals. I have every bit of faith the Wings can get it done but I've also seen how this team can fold against that same type of team. I just hope we get the team that is just ruthless against the Ducks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Opie 308 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Go back and look at the 2007 to 2009 rosters, look at the D corps. Kyle Quincey, Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja, Nick Lidstrom, and Danny Markov were the starting D-men. This year it looks like this: Brett Lebda, Jonathon Ericsson, Brad Stuart, Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Lidstrom PP 1 07 ZDH Lids Markov pp2 Lang, Bertuzzi, ??? (I can't remember) ??? Who cares they sure as hell weren't Kronwall and Sammy. 2009 pp1 ZDH Lids Ralf 2009 pp2 Hossa, Mule, Hudler Kronwall Sammy 2007 2nd line that was horrible Bertuzzi, Lang, Cleary 2009 line that has been extraordinary this year and more than likely will face Ducks line 1. Zetterberg Mule Cleary Top offensive players 07 Dats, Z, Lang, Bertuzzi, Cleary, Holmer Top offensive players 09 Dats, Z, Hossa, Mule, Cleary, Holmer, Flip, Hudler Ducks offensive players 07 Selanne, Penner, MacDonald, Kunitz, Getzlaf, Perry, Pahlsson Ducks offensive players 09 Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne Detroit top Defensive players 07 Lids, Markov Detroits Top Defensive players 09 Lids, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall Biggest subtractions from 07 Red Wings Lang, Bertuzzi, Schneider Ducks Penner, Pahlsson, Moen, MacDonald, Kunitz Key additions to 09 Red Wings Rafalski, Stuart, Hossa, Mule Ducks Whitney, Ryan, Hiller ( which I would argue he still has not done what Jiggy did in the playoffs in 07) In 07 the wings had exactly 0 forwards in the top 50 in the league, now they have 3 that are easily in the top 25 in Hossa, Dats, and Z. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broken 16 381 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Go back and look at the 2007 to 2009 rosters, look at the D corps. Kyle Quincey, Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja, Nick Lidstrom, and Danny Markov were the starting D-men. This year it looks like this: Brett Lebda, Jonathon Ericsson, Brad Stuart, Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Lidstrom PP 1 07 ZDH Lids Markov pp2 Lang, Bertuzzi, ??? (I can't remember) ??? Who cares they sure as hell weren't Kronwall and Sammy. 2009 pp1 ZDH Lids Ralf 2009 pp2 Hossa, Mule, Hudler Kronwall Sammy 2007 2nd line that was horrible Bertuzzi, Lang, Cleary 2009 line that has been extraordinary this year and more than likely will face Ducks line 1. Zetterberg Mule Cleary Top offensive players 07 Dats, Z, Lang, Bertuzzi, Cleary, Holmer Top offensive players 09 Dats, Z, Hossa, Mule, Cleary, Holmer, Flip, Hudler Ducks offensive players 07 Selanne, Penner, MacDonald, Kunitz, Getzlaf, Perry, Pahlsson Ducks offensive players 09 Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne Detroit top Defensive players 07 Lids, Markov Detroits Top Defensive players 09 Lids, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall Biggest subtractions from 07 Red Wings Lang, Bertuzzi, Schneider Ducks Penner, Pahlsson, Moen, MacDonald, Kunitz Key additions to 09 Red Wings Rafalski, Stuart, Hossa, Mule Ducks Whitney, Ryan, Hiller ( which I would argue he still has not done what Jiggy did in the playoffs in 07) In 07 the wings had exactly 0 forwards in the top 50 in the league, now they have 3 that are easily in the top 25 in Hossa, Dats, and Z. This... This years team isn't even close to what the Ducks faced last time. Not to mention that we have effectively swapped Dallas Drake for Marian Hossa (sick) and Ericsson for Lilja. Not to say that Detroit will walk through this series, but if they are clicking on all cylinders... Pronger and Niedermayer will be returning each others jock straps on a regular basis. Datsyuk owns Niedermayer. Niedermayer isn't used to looking silly and Datsyuk seemingly does it to him at will. Niedermayer gets pissed because he just looked like an ass and does something stupid... rinse and repeat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Opie 308 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 This... This years team isn't even close to what the Ducks faced last time. Not to mention that we have effectively swapped Dallas Drake for Marian Hossa (sick) and Ericsson for Lilja. Not to say that Detroit will walk through this series, but if they are clicking on all cylinders... Pronger and Niedermayer will be returning each others jock straps on a regular basis. Datsyuk owns Niedermayer. Niedermayer isn't used to looking silly and Datsyuk seemingly does it to him at will. Niedermayer gets pissed because he just looked like an ass and does something stupid... rinse and repeat. This is just based off of what Duck Guy said but I wager the losses of Pahlsson, MacDonald, and Moen will far outweigh the addition of Whitney and Hiller (because Hiller is not much of an upgrade of the 07 Jiggy, that is not saying Hiller is not playing out of his gourd right now, But 07 Jiggy was NUTZ!) BTW I think adding Whitney at the deadline was quite possibly the best move they could have made, he will be a very very solid NHL blueliner for a long long time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyMountainWingGal 108 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 That is what the Sharks thought too and they got lit up by Getz/Perry/Ryan. This will be a great series. I say Ducks in six only because I am rooting for them, but my hockey sense tells me Wings in 7. As an aside, I am not surprised everyone thinks the Wings will win, this is afterall a Wings site. However, I am a bit surprised at all the "Wings in 4" and "Wings in 5" predictions. I would be stunned if this series was that short. Not that it isn't possible, but I see it as unlikely. The Wings can definitely roll four better lines, have a playoff proved team and coach but so do the Ducks. These two teams are no strangers to playoff hockey and neither team will fold after a loss, bad goal, change in momentum, etc. Just my two cents. So go ahead, let me have it!!!! The Wings aren't the Sharks. SJ let their 1 seed get to their head and didn't take the Ducks seriously - and for alot of other reasons that don't need to be listed here - the Sharks are perennial chokers... However, I think Wings fans are spoiled by winning the last 5 PO series and seem to think it will be somewhat easy to beat the Ducks - which I think will be a very tough task - tougher than any series last year. I am confident the Red Wings will show up and play good tough PO hockey, unlike the Sharks. If the Wings stick to their gameplan, I like our chances... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Opie 308 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 The Wings aren't the Sharks. SJ let their 1 seed get to their head and didn't take the Ducks seriously - and for alot of other reasons that don't need to be listed here - the Sharks are perennial chokers... However, I think Wings fans are spoiled by winning the last 5 PO series and seem to think it will be somewhat easy to beat the Ducks - which I think will be a very tough task - tougher than any series last year. I am confident the Red Wings will show up and play good tough PO hockey, unlike the Sharks. If the Wings stick to their gameplan, I like our chances... Especially if Babs shows up looking like your avatar! If so Game over, Series over, no one beats Babs in that hat!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tazzer82 0 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Just found this little tidbit interesting as I was reading on Mlive, mentions that it was Sean Pronger that added his 2 cents into who he thinks will win the series: And his brother wraps up the third round of our previews as Mr. Sean Pronger wraps up his first-round picks for NHL.com: And, not surprisingly, Mr. Snarky Pants picks his brother's team: Anaheim vs. Detroit -- Anyone want to guess who I'm picking? That's right! You guessed it ... DA Ducks in 6! Here they are: Even though Ozzy has won a Cup or two, Hiller is playing better right now. I think the Ducks' defense can handle the Detroit forwards better than Detroit's defense can handle the Ducks' big line. http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/04/a_...ngsducks_s.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broken 16 381 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 This is just based off of what Duck Guy said but I wager the losses of Pahlsson, MacDonald, and Moen will far outweigh the addition of Whitney and Hiller (because Hiller is not much of an upgrade of the 07 Jiggy, that is not saying Hiller is not playing out of his gourd right now, But 07 Jiggy was NUTZ!) BTW I think adding Whitney at the deadline was quite possibly the best move they could have made, he will be a very very solid NHL blueliner for a long long time! My biggest fear is that we light up Hiller and Jiggy comes in to save the day... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duck Guy 86 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 so is z still sick? any updates on that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vladifan 680 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 so is z still sick? any updates on that? Yeah, and is Babcock feeling better? And hopefully no one else has gotten it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8 Legged RedWing 367 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 My biggest fear is that we light up Hiller and Jiggy comes in to save the day... That would happen... Especially since you just said it lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heroes of Hockeytown 694 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 One thing that's weird is many Wings fans are not only underrating the Ducks defense, but overrating the Wings offense. The Wings had an immense amount of firepower in both 2003 and 2007, and their offense was rendered useless. They got off a lot of shots but they were the same type of shots the Sharks got on the Ducks. Shots from the outside rendered harmless, and shots that the goalie could see -- they will allow 40 of these shots a game and make it look easy any day. The '03 and '07 series aren't very analogous at all. For one, if Lucky Luc doesn't hit the crossbar I'm convinced that series would have been very different , but more importantly '03 was all clutch-and-grab, and a much better Wings team playing more or less as you described -- relying too much on overwhelming skill to win. Not to pile anything onto the much-maligned Cujo, but he wasn't very good either (which wasn't too much of a problem the year before when Hasek had a terrible quarterfinals, but two years in a row is asking for it). That '07 team had guts and heart to spare. They went to the net hard, got good goaltending, but didn't get the breaks. That's not to take anything away from Anaheim -- you need breaks. Detroit got breaks when they won their Stanley Cups, and so did Anaheim. I was kind of taken aback at how much more depth the '09 team has compared to just two years ago. That amounts to f***all if they don't score and win, but on paper this team is way better on all fronts. 2009 pp1 ZDH Lids Ralf Nitpick: It's Homer-Datsyuk-Hossa and Hudler-Zetterberg-Franzen on the PP units. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dabura 12,232 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 The defense -- or lack thereof -- was the problem with our offense in the '07 run. Take away two guys from the top 4 and suddenly the entire system is destabilized. There was that 5-0 blowout, though. No one seems to remember that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Question How does having the last line change at home allow a team to dictate matchups? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ilmickeyli 40 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Question How does having the last line change at home allow a team to dictate matchups? they obviously can put whatever shutdown line out against first lines, or their first line.. can cause mismatchups, etc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dabura 12,232 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 Question How does having the last line change at home allow a team to dictate matchups? Having the last change allows the home coach to size up what the away coach has put out and then ice a unit in light of the away coach's choices. The away coach is, of course, locked in; he can't make that "extra" change. He's basically serving his guys up to be inspected. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bobbyryan Report post Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) You Reds will wilt under the hard checks and goonery that we throw at you. Prepare for some super-slow motion puck cycling, extremely dirty plays, and plenty of no-calls. This series will be hard to stomach for you. Edited April 30, 2009 by bobbyryan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ms_Hockey 0 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 so is z still sick? any updates on that? Z was back at practice the next day and is expected to be in game 1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
