The end of hockey as we know it...

[Guest blueadams]

like the nba, the nhl is well on its way to becoming nothing more than professional wrestling. david stern killed basketball, and his prodigy Gary Bettman IS going to kill basketball. It is no longer about the love of a pure game, but business...its not about "the best man shall win," its about "the most profitable events shall occur."

tonight was a perfect example. it could be argued that last year's series was as well. if detroit goes up 3-0, no one's watching game 4. the penguins are probably giving up, its a blowout, a 4 game sweep, and mr. casual hockey fan says how boring and tunes into the WWNBA.

#1) goal #1 - i thought ozzie was interfered with just prior to the shot.

#2) goal #2 - six men on the ice for 21 seconds!?! you have got to be f-ing kidding me. Even ESPN and Bary Melrose are saying the wings got robbed (which won't happen anymore once hockey gets put back on espn...see cleveland cavs commentary). should've been a power play for detroit, probably go into the 3rd at least 2-1, instead its a power play for pittsburgh and they go into the 3rd tied.

#3) goal #3 - bullcrap penalty on pittsburgh. power play shouldnt have happened.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY because ITS OVER NOW. as in basketball, we'll probably all end up having to watch less talent at the college level to see a pure game.

[MississippiWing 14]

I don't know if it's that dramatic but there are some very disturbing signs that show the same transition as the NBA. Mainly the lack of publicity for teams that play defense for the sake of the teams that have high scoring offense. i felt so bad at the all star game last year in the nba when poor yao ming was the only guy playing d. No one told him the nba is all about how cool you can look scoring.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

Hurry everyone pile on the bandwagon and leave this guy behind.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

stop whining f***.

whipe your tears. they missed a too many men call. 3rd period call was as text book as you can get!

[Guest blueadams]

stop whining f***.

whipe your tears. they missed a too many men call. 3rd period call was as text book as you can get!

right...like that ericsson interference call in the 3rd........after the referees had made it clear that the rules didnt apply to oprik?

[crotty99 302]

Please,please,please stop these threads!

This forum is always having a go at the opposition for these kind of excuses so we cant turn around now and say things like this. Yes sure, be angry at missed calls, but dont go and turn it into a league wide conspiracy/end of hockey discussion, its just ridiculous. The fact that 99% of the time these same discussions happen on EVERY teams board should tell you that everyone feels like they are the ones who have the rough end of the stick. Its not all as one sided as we like to think.

[PavelIsMoney 0]

Ref's did all they could to give this game to pittsburgh, just as always there was NO love for detroit.

Oh not to mention our third period was equivalent to sweaty balls.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

right...like that ericsson interference call in the 3rd........after the referees had made it clear that the rules didnt apply to oprik?

For the last time, the Ericcson interference call was an obvious, text book call.

[Guest blueadams]

For the last time, the Ericcson interference call was an obvious, text book call.

YES - like the 3 or 4 oprik no-calls that were "obvious, text book calls."

[wingsdiehard13 33]

YES - like the 3 or 4 oprik no-calls that were "obvious, text book calls."

If you think it was an obvious call then stop complaining about it. We lost one game and you are panicing. Tell me something, before this series started what was your projected outcome of the series (Who wins and in how many games)?

[Guest blueadams]

you don't seem to be that smart...so i'm not going to bother getting into an argument with you. fyi - the general idea of "fair play" is that the referees should call it the same both ways. this means that something is wrong with ericsson is being called for one thing and oprik is being allowed to do that very thing several times over.

...its not in all-out WWNBA mode just yet, but its well on its way.

[skacore 2]

you don't seem to be that smart...so i'm not going to bother getting into an argument with you. fyi - the general idea of "fair play" is that the referees should call it the same both ways. this means that something is wrong with ericsson is being called for one thing and oprik is being allowed to do that very thing several times over.

...its not in all-out WWNBA mode just yet, but its well on its way.

honestly you're an idiot just stop posting... you're whining after 1 loss and it's embarrassing

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

right...like that ericsson interference call in the 3rd........after the referees had made it clear that the rules didnt apply to oprik?

ericsson played cooke who didnt even shoot the puck in. he NEVER had the puck to begin with. right when he interfered i said to myself..."f***", i KNEW it was going to be called.

orpik could have been called with about 2 mins left for a cross check from the back but wasnt. it wasnt as obvious as ericssons.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

you don't seem to be that smart...so i'm not going to bother getting into an argument with you. fyi - the general idea of "fair play" is that the referees should call it the same both ways. this means that something is wrong with ericsson is being called for one thing and oprik is being allowed to do that very thing several times over.

...its not in all-out WWNBA mode just yet, but its well on its way.

I don't seem to be that smart, yet you're the one who doesn't start with capital letters after his periods. And if you're not talking about general IQ, and talking about hockey knowledge, then I feel bad for your complete arrogance.

Bottom line is you are panicing after one loss. You make a thread about it because for some reason you weren't smart (Gee there's that word again) enough to post this in one of the 10 other threads (which have been merged together once already) complaining about anything from this series a conspiracy to the refs are lazy and they suck.

When the Wings win the cup you will do one of two things, either pretend this thread never happened, or never show up on this board again.

[NHLrules? 32]

Our PK has been horrible this year.

Blame that. 4 penalties is not much in a game.

Most of the year there were 7-10 a game.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Ohhh this thread will go over swimmingly with the locals and visitors.

Bravo!

[Guest blueadams]

#1) this isn't a thread about the officiating in THIS game...it is about the course of the NHL in general since Bettman took over; as it is eerily similar to that of the nba since david stern took over. Its not panic. I said this before, during and after the playoffs last season. I still think we'll win. It's nothing more than a commentary on the course of the NHL as an organization. When you have a business man (and not a hockey man) running a hockey organization...it is bound to be more about profits than the purity of the game.

p.s. - not using capital letters in a casual sports forum makes me dumb? thats hilarious. fyi - im a masters student at the uofm...hope you like working for me in five years.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

#1) this isn't a thread about the officiating in THIS game...it is about the course of the NHL in general since Bettman took over; as it is eerily similar to that of the nba since david stern took over. Its not panic. I said this before, during and after the playoffs last season. I still think we'll win. It's nothing more than a commentary on the course of the NHL as an organization. When you have a business man (and not a hockey man) running a hockey organization...it is bound to be more about profits than the purity of the game.

p.s. - not using capital letters in a casual sports forum makes me dumb? thats hilarious. fyi - im a masters student at the uofm...hope you like working for me in five years.

Do you have a #2?

P.S. You're the one who personally attacked me by calling me dumb. I'm fairly sure it's well past your bed time.

[Jon22 0]

#1) goal #1 - i thought ozzie was interfered with just prior to the shot.

#2) goal #2 - six men on the ice for 21 seconds!?! you have got to be f-ing kidding me. Even ESPN and Bary Melrose are saying the wings got robbed (which won't happen anymore once hockey gets put back on espn...see cleveland cavs commentary). should've been a power play for detroit, probably go into the 3rd at least 2-1, instead its a power play for pittsburgh and they go into the 3rd tied.

#3) goal #3 - bullcrap penalty on pittsburgh. power play shouldnt have happened.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY because ITS OVER NOW. as in basketball, we'll probably all end up having to watch less talent at the college level to see a pure game.

While I don't want to get into the ugly part of this thread, I have this to say:

For the most part, the refs have been letting these two teams play. Fans at the Joe had several opportunities to "boo" the refs when calls weren't made against Pittsburgh. After a while, people settled down and realized that they were going to be somewhat tolerant and let these teams hash it out.

#1 - Fedetenko circled around the net, from Ozzie's gloveside to the stickside. When the shot was fired, he was coming from the behind the net, and just hit the stickside of the net when the goal was scored. When was he interfered with?

#2 - A horrible, horrible penalty that is a must-call was missed. Sometimes highsticks to the face that draw blood are missed. Maybe the refs look back on those high sticks and say, "Oh s***, how did I NOT see that?" Believe me, they are going to hear about missing this call. True, it won't change anything for tonight's game. But you can't say that it lost the game for us. Detroit coming out and playing as if they had a 5 goal lead in the 3rd - that's what killed us.

#3 - As far as I can see, the call on Ericsson in the 3rd was made because the Pittsburgh player did not play the puck at all, the puck passed both he and Ericsson, then Ericsson hit the Pittsburgh player. THAT is why it was a penalty. As to why Orpik wasn't called for interference, I guess I'd have to watch each clip you're talking about and analyze it.

I understand your frustration, but I think it's important to try to remain rational about all of this. I was at Game 5 last year with the triple OT. I tried to blame everything on the refs and whatnot. When it came down to it, Fluery had some 55 saves and the game of his life. Maybe the game was influenced, maybe it wasn't. One thing is true, out of all the shots that the Wings took at Fluery, they didn't get enough in.

Edited June 3, 2009 by Jon22

[Guest blueadams]

#1) I just watched the replay again. I thought Malkin slid into ozzie at the time. It looks like he didn't, but still, he took out a defender. That's how he got open to give the one-timer. I'll admit that I was wrong there.

#2) It wasn't just a bad call - most in hockey are claiming that it is the first time in their lives that they have ever seen anything like it in the NHL. Six men on the ice for almost half a minute!?

#3) It was a penalty, but it wasn't much of a penalty, and most in hockey seem to be surprised that it was called given all the crap that pittsburgh was getting away with.

[crotty99 302]

#3) It was a penalty, but it wasn't much of a penalty, and most in hockey seem to be surprised that it was called given all the crap that pittsburgh was getting away with.

But it was called and they scored, who cares lets move on and win game 4. No use arguing over this.

[hockeysattva 8]

But it was called and they scored, who cares lets move on and win game 4. No use arguing over this.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a forum where people would talk hockey instead of just complaining.

[maltbymaniac 13]

op,ITS THE GOD DAMN TRUTH,and you would have to be blind not to relize this.

[crotty99 302]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a forum where people would talk hockey instead of just complaining.

don't be silly

[HOCKEY MATTERS 167]

Is anyone really surprised at the outcome? This kind of stuff has been going on for a very long time. Do you really think the refs can "make sure" the Pens hoist the cup? Going with that theory, didn't they try their best last year to hand it to Pitts? What was the result?

The Wings can, have, and will rise above the 10 on 5 hockey that only ever happens to the Wings (this is sarcasm) as they have in the past. That's what make them the great team that they are. If the penalties are glaringly lopsided, say 6 Pens pp to Detroit's 2, you have an argument. It's not a perfect world. Or a perfect game. the Wings are making the Pens rely on the pp to even stay in the game. Without Datsyuk. Doesn't that say something to you? It's pretty unrealistic to expect that the Wings will have a perfect game with no bad calls and win 3-1 every game of every series. That would be boring and no one but Wings fans would be watching.

Folks today seem rather spoiled. Like there's this sense of entitlement that the Wings should never face adversity. Myself, I think this is exciting hockey. I don't know for sure how it will turn out, but I hope the Wings come out on top. Hope and faith seem to be what a lot of Wings fans are lacking. Shut up and enjoy the roller coaster ride, for s***'s sake! Geez.

Edited June 3, 2009 by HOCKEY MATTERS