Husker BigGuy

Is that with or without Pavel Datsyuk?

Well, we should probably stick to this deep subject started: the proffered strategy of Bylsma. I think Bylsma should be more specific in his instructions. Tell Malkin and Crosby to score 3 goals each, and then instruct the other players to each add one. Except Fleury. Tell Fleury not to let any pucks in the net behind him. And, of course, to stay in front of the correct net at the correct time. Now, as a counter strategy, if I am Babcock, and I tell the Wings to score first. Come right out on the ice and score once. THEN, after every time the Penguins score, SCORE AGAIN. Keep this up for three periods. I wouldn't tell Osgood anything in this case.

Post game presser, he said you really only play for the cup after you have three wins.

For the last two years, only one team has actually played for The Stanley Cup, and that's the Wings. Last year they played twice for it. Let's keep the record clean and play once for it this time. Babcock said as much as this in his press conference. I just elaborate here.

So now the question is, "How much of a Pavel Datsyuk guarantees the cup?" Is it 85%? Can the Wings make it a fair series by playing an 18" Pavel? With Pavel, Stanley Cup. No Pavel ...

Got Pavel?

The remarks here that someone thinks Pavel is superman (Yzerman?) or a one-man team must not be watching what's going on. Zetterberg is getting gassed. Even if Pavel was 8 minutes of Z, we win this series. As far as the Pens being all that, frankly, I don't think we beat the Ducks without Pavel, either, if he's out 5 games or so. Hudler can makes some Datsyukian plays at center sometimes. That doesn't mean he can give us 8 minutes of Pavel. If Pavel comes back, and we lose Z, or Lids - or maybe even Hossa - we don't win a cup either. No one is trying to say that Pavel is the face of the Red Wings (or the league). He's our MVP this year, a Hart candidate, and we miss him badly. Badly enough that it can cost us the cup.

If we don't get a healthy Pavel back, we will not win the cup. We need him on both sides of the puck.

I'm not blocked. I will see if they kill legit topics like this board does.

I was watching the game where Helm was turning the puck over and getting it handed to him with forechecks all night. The same game where Ericcson was getting manhandled on the boards. I say they were average, but if you think they were well below average, I'm not going to argue that very much.

Eriicsson, Helm, Abdelkader and Leino all played average to poor last night. Helm was turning over the puck, Ericcson was back to the tentative play he exhibited when he first got the call when Rafalski went down Leino and Abdelkader were just invisible guys last night. The Penguins played Helm hard, and, of course, they can interfere with him and Hossa all they want without worrying about penalties. Last night's game shows that if these guys don't step up, we really, really miss Pavel. These are rookies, and we should expect this play sometimes. I suspect we will see very different play from them Thursday, except we may not Leino at all.

I posted this in another thread, but because they are all becomeing the same I need to point out the obvious here. The Wings would be up 3-0 right now if it wasn't for bad breaks, and some bad officiating.

If it wasn't for a couple of bad bounces, and some bad ref calls, the Wings would be up 3-0 right now.

In the big picture, nobody knows who Sidney Crosby is.

What these videos actually show is that Hossa is perhaps the most heads-up guy on the ice. His play in these sequences is amazing. No wonder the Pens hate him.