Does This Feel Different?

[Jake Ryan 1]

I've been discussing this with some people on another board, and I want to know if I'm the only one that feels this way.

I don't have the same level of anxiousness and concern about this series that I usually do. I think deep down inside, I feel like this should be a cakewalk for the Wings, even though I know it won't. The lack of concern for me is actually making me very worried about the series, if that makes any sense. I just feel like that on a basic level on paper, the Wings are better than last year and the Pens are worse. I'm not overly confident and expecting the Wings to sweep by 4 blowouts, but I honestly just can't see the Wings losing. I don't have that same nervous energy that I've had before every other series ever, and I hate it.

I understand this is probably convoluted and doesn't make a lot of sense most likely, but does anyone get what I'm saying?

Honestly, this makes me feel like 1980 Soviets vs. USA. The Wings are the Soviets and are going to win 95 out of 100 games. I would be nervous if it were a 1 game series, because we all know what happened in 1980. But for the Penguins to beat us 4 times is a HUGE stretch. Even if all 7 games were in Pittsburgh.

[Echolalia 2,961]

This year is the first year the Wings have made it to the Finals and I'm not 100% confident that the Cup is in the bag. Granted, the Pens lost a huge chunk of their roster last year, but they're still dangerous, and what they lost in pure skill they more than made up for in pure hunger. They have experience now, which is something they painfully lacked in the first two games of last year (the next four, you may recall, after they gained their composure were split). Crosby and Malkin are playing like Helm right now (and applying that kid's drive to two of the most offensively-minded players in the league scares the s*** out of me), which makes up for the fact that they aren't as deep as the Wings.

If Detroit is going to take home another Cup, our stars are going to have to step up their game. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Hossa, in particular, not only to shut down their two big guns, but to also score for the Wings. I'm not worried about our second, third, and fourth lines, but I am worried that their goal differential over the Pens 2nd, 3rd, and 4th won't make up for what Crosby and Malkin do, especially in a penalty-riddled game.

On the plus side, comparing the Penguins to the Ducks, IMO, paints the Ducks as the superior team. I believe the Getzlaf Perry Ryan line was hotter than Malkin and Crosby both defensively and offensively. At the very least our players won't be bowled over when Crosby gains the zone, and our defense can push him to the outside. The Ducks defense may possibly have been better than our own, which blows the Pens out of the water, no compitition. MAF is definitely the better goalie, however, but hopefully our guys will have more room to work with down low. Because the Wings beat the Ducks I feel that in the end the Wings will repeat, but I think it will be much closer than last year. Especially if our guys are tired, like the media is portraying them to be.

[BigWinston 15]

If you imagine yourself as Hossa and you can choose today which team you play in the finals for with a view to obviously winning the cup - he isn't choosing Pittsburgh!

[theman19 47]

I know how you feel. When the Wings won a game during the series last year, nobody talked to me and I did no rubbing it in. I subscribe to the Steve Yzerman "Say little when you lose, say less when you win" idea. When the Pens won Game 3, I had people coming from EVERYWHERE "Hey how about those Wings huh?!" Wanting everyone else to shut up is a good reason for wanting your team to win.

Don't even get me started,....I have a friend who's a massive pens fan. When the wings were playing the stars and were on the cusp of advancing he remarked somethinge: "yeah, good luck with the pens your ass is going to get swept." I bet him 50 bucks not only would the wings not get swept, but we'd beat the pens rather convincingly.

I didn't hear from him for three months after last june.

This year he's a bit more tempered, he hasn't talked any trash, just optomistic his boys will win. Time will what will happen if the pens win this if he's as graceful as i was.

[Theophany 110]

No, it doesn't feel different than the rest of our series this year to me.

Well, definitely not the Hawks or the BJs.

Anaheim was worrying to me because of their defensive depth and how hot Hiller was.

The CBJs and Hawks didn't have the defensive depth to stop us, and we won those series easily.

The Pens have even less defensive depth (nothing on D really other than Gonchar, as opposed to Seabrook, Campbell, Kieth on the Hawks) than Chicago; the only way they can possibly make up for it is by scoring 4-6 goals a game and having MAF stand on his head, which simply won't happen when they've got a pathetic 1.06 GDIF and we have a 1.56 GDIF.

They may get lucky calls and lucky goals to take a game or two, but I can't see it going past 6 games without some serious injuries.

[NKYWingsFan 4]

I'm not worried, but I'm not over-confident either. This is going to be a fun series to watch.

That said, I really hope that if the Wings win this, that they win it in Detroit - just so the fans at the Joe can give Bettman a good and proper "welcome". Dear gawd I dislike that twerp.

[HkyTwn 5]

I feel like the Pens have a better chance this time so I am more nervous. I also have this sick feeling that Hossa will get owned two years in a row.

This one I'll agree with. Of course I know all about the teams and how the Wings play and whatnot, but I'm still more nervous than last year because I know that even though the Pens still aren't anywhere near the Wings' calibur, they are still better than they were and therefore stand more of a chance.

What makes it worse is I'm so sick of the Pens and their fans and their hype that I want to win this series even MORE than last years. Stupid Pens.

[rwfan007 18]

The Wings are unlike any team the Pens have seen this playoff season. We hold on to the puck infinitely more than the other teams that the Pens have faced. The Penguins rely on the opposing team to chip the puck into the zone and wait for the D or goalie to go get it and start a fast break back out. Not with the Wings, we take the puck into the zone, hold on to it, pass it around, cycle, and shoot. Crosby and Malkin are going to be gassed just trying to get the puck back from us, while in earlier series, they waited at the top of the circles for the D to get the puck to them so they can scoot down the ice again.

I just don't see how the Penguins can win this series. We have 2 shut down D-pairings witch will significantly limit the Olson Twins' offensive capabilities. Add onto that our Selke boys, and the Penguins are up against a real test this time.

I am supremely confident in this Wings team based on their superior depth and dominating defense... and of course because Ozzie is a playoff freak.

[SuperNovaXll 124]

I dont feel as nervous as I felt last year, just for the reason we won it last year... however....

I feel the Penguins are going to be even harder to beat this year. Cindy and Malkin have been playing out of their minds this playoffs and we all know who is going to get the calls this series.

I feel like our best chance is going to have to be with Ozzy really stepping it up and our PK figuring out how to properly kill a penalty. Its been brutal all season.

I'm praying that the Wings find a way to win this series, cause you all know that if the Penguins win this, we are going to be seeing pictures of Cindy holding the cup and skating around for the next 5 years with the Red Wings in the back ground...

Even with all that said I have faith that we will find a way to pull this one out. Wings in 7.

[Stiffy 0]

Just a thought, if you are nervous or doubtful, think about how our guys played, especially the last two games. Think about our beating the Ducks and how we did it. Think about our forwards amazing capabilities to play defensively and shut down opposing lines, whether they produce or not recently... These are all good things and the press is almost oblivious to them. If you read the papers or news online, it's all doom and gloom, hype and a stacked deck. That is why they have to play the games!

[T.Low 1,011]

I think the first goal in this series is huge. Monufrikinmental. Ginormous.

[swedishconnection 36]

I've been discussing this with some people on another board, and I want to know if I'm the only one that feels this way.

I don't have the same level of anxiousness and concern about this series that I usually do. I think deep down inside, I feel like this should be a cakewalk for the Wings, even though I know it won't. The lack of concern for me is actually making me very worried about the series, if that makes any sense. I just feel like that on a basic level on paper, the Wings are better than last year and the Pens are worse. I'm not overly confident and expecting the Wings to sweep by 4 blowouts, but I honestly just can't see the Wings losing. I don't have that same nervous energy that I've had before every other series ever, and I hate it.

I understand this is probably convoluted and doesn't make a lot of sense most likely, but does anyone get what I'm saying?

I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way. However, I take a que from Babs and just keep thinking about how tough the series will be. I just dont like this in-between time before the game. I think after game 1 we will have a much more accurate understanding of the matchup.

[EuroTwin 240]

It's not that I'm not nervous, I am.

It's just that, after beating the Ducks... nothing terrifies me like they did. My nervousness about this series is nothing compared to the gut wrentching, vomit-inducing, hair-pulling horror that I felt when I realized we were going to face the Ducks.

Kind of like in 2002, after the Avs series... it felt like we had already won the Cup, even though we still had to beat Carolina.

I'm not saying we've already won the Cup or anything, I just think that the Ducks were a more difficult team than the Pens will be. Obviously they play very differently, so it's hard to compare, but we play better against a Pens-styled play rather than whatever the hell it is that the Ducks are doing on the ice.

[T.Low 1,011]

But the Ducks were up front and in our face; we knew what we had to do to win. The Pens style is more guerrila warfare; they're going to hide in the bushes along side the boards and off to the side of the net and snipe little goals in bunches.

So even when we contain them for 55 minutes, they can snipe 3 goals in no time.

If Ozzie can continue to save the bacon at key times, he will be Conn Smythe guy.

Edit: Ha! Ray Ferraro Team 1040 Vancouver just said that if he had to pick a Conn Smythe at this point in the playoffs, it would be Chris Osgood.

Edited May 29, 2009 by T.Low

[C-TownWing 0]

I never feel confident about any series. I'm completely serious when I say that the last time I went into a playoff series thinking "yeah, we got this" was Edmonton in 2006. That worked out well.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

It only feels different because I convinced myself that Anaheim was the toughest team we were going to face. So in terms of nervousness - I have about 0.

[PenaltyShot 96 521]

"It's not just about Sidney Crosby this year. It's about Crosby and Evgeni Malkin."

Ohhhhh! It's not JUST about Crosby anymore, it's JUST about Crosby and Malkin. I see the difference For some reason this line of the article just stuck out to me as funny.

I also kind of feel after Game 7 against Anaheim - and to a degree, Game 4 & 5 against the Blackhawks without several key players - that this series is the Wings to lose. If they all finish their checks, forecheck and backcheck, and generally play like Darren Helm on every shift, they will keep winning. That being said, hopefully the "good karma" thread cancels this one out

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

This year will be tougher for several reasons.

1. We have tons of injuries, and to our best players also. That's the biggest reason it will be tough and nothing more needs to be explained as to why.

2. We're finally playing a team in the Finals that isn't happy just to be here. That was the case the last several SCF appearances for the Wings' opponents. This team actually has the potential to be hungrier than the Wings, although that remains to be seen.

3. Malkin was useless and out of gas last year. This year he didn't look tired at all by the end of that Carolina series.

4. I expect the officiating to be biasedly against us, much like it was last year, especially during those last 2 games.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

I have to admit i don't feel as confident as last year, basically because of the injury situation.

Although i feel much better with Lids and Ericsson playing in game 1 for sure.

[MidMichSteve 1,115]

I've got pretty much the same feeling. The Pens are a worse team on paper, and I'm feeling almost complacent.. just hoping the Wings aren't feeling the same way.

The first game should be a good indicator.

[titanium2 867]

It's not that I'm not nervous, I am.

It's just that, after beating the Ducks... nothing terrifies me like they did. My nervousness about this series is nothing compared to the gut wrentching, vomit-inducing, hair-pulling horror that I felt when I realized we were going to face the Ducks.

Kind of like in 2002, after the Avs series... it felt like we had already won the Cup, even though we still had to beat Carolina.

I'm not saying we've already won the Cup or anything, I just think that the Ducks were a more difficult team than the Pens will be. Obviously they play very differently, so it's hard to compare, but we play better against a Pens-styled play rather than whatever the hell it is that the Ducks are doing on the ice.

The Ducks still scare me. With them it was like the best at one identity versus the best at another identity? The nice guy versus the *******. Sometimes the nice guy wins and sometimes the ******* wins. But with teams like Chicago and San Jose (and yes, maybe Pittburgh) who are trying to have an identity similar to the Wings, it's like 1A versus 1B. Not as intimidating, but intimidating nonetheless.

[titanium2 867]

It's also tough because there might be some factor that we haven't seen that can come out of the woodwork. Who on here thought Cleary or Sammy would be so clutch? Who on here thought that Kunitz and Guerin would be so valuable? We're only basing our opinions on what we've seen so far but this DET v PIT match up will bring a whole new dynamic that will undoubtedly make us adjust our perceptions and opinions.

[Dabura 12,232]

I think the injury factor is being overstated. Nick has, let's face it, probably just been resting. If anything, that's a good thing. The same could very well be true of Dats. Lilja's iffy. Big Rig's iffy. I fail to see the cause for alarm, especially considering the Pens are far from a deep, physically punishing team.

I'd be much more worried if we were talking about the Bruins.

[Konnan511 1,736]

The cup is never half full or half empty, the cup is always twice the size it needs to be.

This time it does feel different. I thought last year's SC was going to be a cake-walk and it was, this year I'm feeling a 6-7 game series.

[Konnan511 1,736]

It's also tough because there might be some factor that we haven't seen that can come out of the woodwork. Who on here thought Cleary or Sammy would be so clutch? Who on here thought that Kunitz and Guerin would be so valuable? We're only basing our opinions on what we've seen so far but this DET v PIT match up will bring a whole new dynamic that will undoubtedly make us adjust our perceptions and opinions.

Sammy is very clutch, we found that out last years playoffs, especially against the Pens.