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Icesurfer

The Blues are in the driver's seat

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You can have all the hunger in the world but if you don't have elite talent you won't win the Cup. St Louis's only elite talent is goaltending

No one is saying St. Louis is going to win the cup. What I am saying is St. Louis is in a good position to win the division which will decrease the Wings' chances of winning the cup dramatically. At least St. Louis will give their opposition in the playoffs a very very difficult time and probably go the distance in a series. Although, I wouldn't mind the Wings playing St. Louis in the playoffs.... at least the travel is less and it would be a very exciting series.

You can also have all the elite talent in the world and get eliminated by the second round in the playoffs. The Wings of the last two years are a prime example. They were beaten, battered and exhausted and the Sharks were licking their chops. Hence, the three elements and in case of the Wings it is FOUR elements.... number four is travel.... which is why it is a cr@p shoot.

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Guest stinky fish taco

it's going to be very, very difficult for detroit to beat st. louis for 1st in the central.

the blues don't seem to take nights off.

the wings appear to take nights off quite frequently, and are just a very average team without datsyuk.

st. louis still has a huge road trip left, but there's also a lot of weaker opponents in there. the time for the blues to potentially drop behind the wings was during their recent road trip, and they ended up going 5-1.

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I think we are very fortunate to have one of the best goalie duos in the NHL right now, unfortunately so does St. Louis. Halak has been flat out dominant in the last few weeks, and it's intimidating. I wouldn't go as far to say we are pretty much out of it if we don't win the division because we continue to be among the elite teams in hockey and can stand up against anyone.

I don't really understand why at this point, sitting at the top of the standings for weeks, Howard being a potential Vezina candidate and breaking an NHL record for consecutive home wins, there would be any doubt that we can get through any opponent in the playoffs and win the cup this year. What else do they need to prove?

and i don't understand why, when we broke the record of 62 wins in a season, we didn't win the cup that year?

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it's going to be very, very difficult for detroit to beat st. louis for 1st in the central.

the blues don't seem to take nights off.

the wings appear to take nights off quite frequently, and are just a very average team without datsyuk.

st. louis still has a huge road trip left, but there's also a lot of weaker opponents in there. the time for the blues to potentially drop behind the wings was during their recent road trip, and they ended up going 5-1.

Strangely enough, the Blues have had to be dominant to even be in the discussion.

Says a lot about how well the Wings are playing all things considered.

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Both teams, will lose games and slip up. It will just come down to who does it more. I'm going to assume we won't even have an idea about where the division might be until another 10-15 games obviously and I wouldn't be surprised if the Preds take a shot at the division too.

I will admit we are in a tough spot with our injuries. The good thing is lids shouldn't miss more then one more

Game. Howard hopefully won't miss more the. 1 or 2 and I'm hoping for the same with Datsyuk. I also believe currently have a d of

Lids - white

Kronwall - Staurt

Smith - Quincey

Will be a great D to finish out the season and the best. Lineup we could possibly put on the ice..

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Both teams, will lose games and slip up. It will just come down to who does it more. I'm going to assume we won't even have an idea about where the division might be until another 10-15 games obviously and I wouldn't be surprised if the Preds take a shot at the division too.

I will admit we are in a tough spot with our injuries. The good thing is lids shouldn't miss more then one more

Game. Howard hopefully won't miss more the. 1 or 2 and I'm hoping for the same with Datsyuk. I also believe currently have a d of

Lids - white

Kronwall - Staurt

Smith - Quincey

Will be a great D to finish out the season and the best. Lineup we could possibly put on the ice..

I have to agree, Kindl and Ericsson (when healthy) will be in the press box watching come playoff time. Not a bad problem to have though. Smith is too good to be not playing at this point.

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As things stand now, poor 4th place Detroit would face Nashville in the first round, while the mighty St.Louis would have to play the Sharks. You know, I think I prefer this to being in 1st. :P (The Sharks have 2 games in hand on Dallas and are very likely two make up the 2 pts they need.)

Edited by sibiriak

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St. Louis has just finished a long 6 game road trip (5 out west) and won FIVE of them. Needless to say the Blues are hot and playing very well on the road. First time since February 2009 that they had won 4 in a row on the road.

The Wings are not playing well on the road and they have 8 games left on the road. Blues have 9 games left on the road. Who has the advantage now?

So for those who thought the Wings were going to win the division because their schedule is easier..... think again. IMHO, the Blues have the advantage simply because Detroit is hurting and still have not corrected the problems on the road.

Detroit's season is over, IMHO, if they don't win the division. The Wings' trip out West coming up next week may be the turning point.... one way or the other... although the game against the Blues in St. Louis on April 4th will probably determine who wins the divsion and each team has won outright their home games against each other this year.

You can spin things any way you'd like on how we are screwed (and conversly people can spin things the way the want to say we will win), the injuries lately stink but to say they are done with 15+ games left when both teams are right on each other in the standings is absurd, in addition to pretty much no playoff series these days being a guaranteed out regardless of if it is 1-8 or 4-5 matchup. (EDIT: And to be honest even with all the injuries lately they haven't been playing all that bad)

Where were you when the Wings were barely losing and the Blues hit a brief snag a few weeks ago? Wings were probably in the drivers seat then (Yes I get that a season isn't 60 games - my point is all teams have bumps in the road, etc.). Were the Blues in absolute deep trouble trouble then?

I'd rather the Wings win the division obviously but I'm still likely feel good about their chances for a deep playoff run (assuming getting back to full health) regardless of if they were 1st/2nd or 4th, given how they've been dominant most of mid-season and with no series or matchup being a guarantee.

Neither team is a slam dunk, yet, to win the division and it likely won't be that way until the last few games of the season. Again you can spin things all you want with how we are in trouble beyond repair but you don 't know that with plenty of season left to be played for. I certainly don't know that. Nobody in here does.

Edited by SouthernWingsFan

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Guest Crymson

As things stand now, poor 4th place Detroit would face Nashville in the first round, while the mighty St.Louis would have to play the Sharks. You know, I think I prefer this to being in 1st. :P (The Sharks have 2 games in hand on Dallas and are very likely two make up the 2 pts they need.)

L.A. and Phoenix are directly on the tail of the Sharks, and L.A. seems poised to make a jump after acquiring Carter.

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The Blues look unbeatable. I think I changed my mind about wanting the Wings to face them in playoffs.... LOL.

Well if it happens then it happens and I believe the Wings could come out on top but in the aspirations for a long cup run I probably wouldn't want the Blues in the first round. Ideally, that is. They are young and running on piss and vinegar. Beyond the first round though is fine with me.

Why are people afraid of playing Nashville in the first round? If we can't beat them, then who are we kidding about a possible Cup run?

I'd rather play them over Chicago or San Jose.

Chicago is a far more ideal first round opponent. It's the San Joses, St. Louises and the old Anaheims that aren't so ideal early in the playoffs.

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Why are people afraid of playing Nashville in the first round? If we can't beat them, then who are we kidding about a possible Cup run?

I'd rather play them over Chicago or San Jose.

I just think that Nashville is a pretty physical team and even though I think Det would win, not sure you want to get out of 1st round battered and injured to face next opponent. The 4 rounds is a game of attrition to see how many healthy players you have left at the SCF. Look at how banged up we are now, looks like we have a hard time taking Columbus into overtime.

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Why are people afraid of playing Nashville in the first round? If we can't beat them, then who are we kidding about a possible Cup run?

I'd rather play them over Chicago or San Jose.

I agree, with our full squad healthy and working hard we shouldn't be scared of anyone, especially Nashville.

I just think that Nashville is a pretty physical team and even though I think Det would win, not sure you want to get out of 1st round battered and injured to face next opponent. The 4 rounds is a game of attrition to see how many healthy players you have left at the SCF. Look at how banged up we are now, looks like we have a hard time taking Columbus into overtime.

In the passed 20 years we have played lots of physical teams. Cue the cliche here but if we are on our game no one can beat us physical or not. If we are moving the puck well it doesnt matter how physical teams try to play. If anything I think we force teams to play less physical when we are on our game because teams know we aren't going to get into the stupid s*** and if they want to put the Wings on the power play all night it will come back to hurt them.

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Guest Hatethedrake!

I don't know why so many people are worried here. Playoffs is all that counts. Every team starts 0-0. I don't care which team the Wings play in the 1st round. If the Wings are healthy then they can beat any team. If a team is worried about another team then they are not good enough to win the Cup anyway. You can respect your opponent but you can't fear them. I don't care if St. Louis wins the West. It means nothing. Everyone talks about home ice being so important. Is it really? The last 2 Game 7's at home in the SCF were won by the road team. Pens in 2009 and the Bruins in 2011. The Wings lost to San Jose in Game 7 at the Shark Tank. However not having a healthy Franzen played a larger role in that loss than anything else did. Also losing Cleary and Bertuzzi in that game did not help matters. My point is Blues fans can shove it up their ass. I am so sick of hearing how important these regular season games are. Even if the Wings were healthy and running away with the West, I'd still feel the same way. You can't win a Stanley Cup in March. Just relax and look forward to the playoffs. The Blues are not going to win every game the rest of the year anway so who cares? The Wings are not going to lose every game either. Hopefully the Wings can play the Blues in the playoffs and beat them in the games which actually mean something. Until then, I look forward to seeing what this Wings team can do when healthy. If they can get the power play going then that would be nice too. Also, home ice is nice and most Wings fans seem to think that we need it to succeed in the playoffs. Any team which wins the Cup has to win on the road as well. The Wings are not going to win every home game in the playoffs anyway. None of the Cup teams from 97,98,2002 or 2008 ran the table at home in the playoffs. They all won key road games which played pivotal parts in their Cup runs.

Edited by Hatethedrake!

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The Blues have everything what it takes,but the lack of Playoffs experience could be decisive factor

..just my 2 cents

Haven't followed them too closely, but I've heard a lot of people talk about how St. Louis lacks defensive depth. If true, that will cost them in the playoffs.

Honestly, the Wings are one game out of 1st in the league, I'm not too concerned yet.

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Why are people afraid of playing Nashville in the first round? If we can't beat them, then who are we kidding about a possible Cup run?

I'd rather play them over Chicago or San Jose.

Everybody is going to have their preferences, I just basically want a high seed as possible moreso than ever this season since the Wings have barely been beatable on home ice (not using these recent games as much factor due to injuries), and less travel to a lesser degree.

Other than that, doesn't matter who they play. If they are healthy and can match the other team's work ethic, they win more often than they lose.

Of those three you mentioned, they've beaten them all this season at various points, bring any of them on.

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And here I am living in St Louis. Blues fans act like they've been up there with the elite for years and have been battling for the division and have been making the playoffs for years.

Before they went through their rebuilding period, The Blues were elite or at the very least, very good, for a long time, challenged for the division often, were always in the playoffs, won the President's trophy, went to the conference finals, blah, blah...they just could't get over the hump in the playoffs.

Some of you think the Blues came into the league in 2005. Blues fans have just been waiting for this.

Blues fans are excited about their team's return to respectability...and they should be.

They are playing some great hockey, and they have the best goaltending they have ever had...maybe the best goaltending duo in the last 40 years (haven't looked it up though). They are playing a great system and have a balanced attack. And they are doing it without one of their best two-way players in Alex Steen.

They could win the West and/or the division. Their 7 game road trip they have coming up will play a big part in where they finish. Their last road trip was 6 games and they went 5-1 on it.

The 4 vs 5 matchup is going to be a war with Nashville...so whoever finishes 4th is in for a dogfight. Winning the division is a big deal.

Looking forward to the home stretch.

St.Louis is a good team, but at the end of the day they're not the Red Wings :thumbup:

No, they're not. They are two points better. ;)

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Before they went through their rebuilding period, The Blues were elite or at the very least, very good, for a long time, challenged for the division often, were always in the playoffs, won the President's trophy, went to the conference finals, blah, blah...they just could't get over the hump in the playoffs.

Some of you think the Blues came into the league in 2005. Blues fans have just been waiting for this.

Blues fans are excited about their team's return to respectability...and they should be.

They are playing some great hockey, and they have the best goaltending they have ever had...maybe the best goaltending duo in the last 40 years (haven't looked it up though). They are playing a great system and have a balanced attack. And they are doing it without one of their best two-way players in Alex Steen.

They could win the West and/or the division. Their 7 game road trip they have coming up will play a big part in where they finish. Their last road trip was 6 games and they went 5-1 on it.

The 4 vs 5 matchup is going to be a war with Nashville...so whoever finishes 4th is in for a dogfight. Winning the division is a big deal.

Looking forward to the home stretch.

I realize that but leading the league with a month to go does not excuse a decade of irrelevancy. If they're excited then more power to them, it's great for the game. However, they need to stop it with the "Detroit sucks" and saying Vancouver is s***ty when they really have no room to talk.

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We are missing 4/6 player from our typical starting lineup (Pav, Bert, Lids, Jimmy) and 2 steady defensemen in Kindl and Ericsson ... and we are ONLY 2 points back of St Louis. Within a few games well be getting our starters back (if Jimmy is a little longer fair enough - groins on a goalie can be a career altering injury if recurring). A 1st or 2nd seed would be nice but a 4th wouldnt break my heart. If San Jose and Chicago end up 7/8 I could see either of those teams being a huge pain for whoever they face ... a healthy Detroit vs Nashville isnt a matchup that has me that worried.

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The Blues have everything what it takes,but the lack of Playoffs experience could be decisive factor

..just my 2 cents

At first glance, you'd think they didn't have much playoff experience.

But that's not really true.

Arnott and Langenbrunner have loads of playoff experience and are very vocal in the locker room.

Halak took Montreal to the Conference finals a couple years ago.

McDonald has won a cup.

And most of the Blues roster got a taste of the playoffs a few years ago when they were bounced by Vancouver in the first round.

They may not have a vast amount of playoff experience from top to bottom, but the veteran leaders on this team have a lot of playoff experience.

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