therock48880

The Wings also had a fighter on the roster this year and they didn't win the Cup. Or does the correlation only work one way?

I never said having a fighter guaranteed a cup. I said the last four times the wings won a cup they had a fighter on their roster during the regular season. There's a big difference there.

Btw, May played less than half the season in Detroit this year.

Someone mentioned that it does no good to have a guy on the fourth line that only plays five minutes a game. Several times this past year a fourth liner, who wasn't a fighter, played VERY sparingly during a game. It's not uncommon for a fourth liner to play 5-10 minutes a game. Personally, I'd rather that person be a big person that scares people than a person like Maltby.

Give me a roster that has toughness up and down the lineup over a single 4th line "enforcer" who glares at players he never matches up against and who fights other enforcers.

Aka, when talent starts to falter, make up for it in grit, which would be a good mindset for Kenny in the coming years.

I agree.

Although I'd like that one big scary guy just in case.

You can't have a player who just sits on the bench for all but 5 minutes of a game anymore.  Everyone has to contribute.  If a guy can fight, but chip in some goals and assists, every now and than, bring him on, but if all he does is fight, there is no room on the roster.  You wouldn't want him to be in every game, because he wouldn't always be needed.  And, you can't always predict exactly which games he would be needed.

Like it or not, the last 4 Wings' teams to win the Cup all had a fighter on the roster during the regular season. As Babcock says, "they keep the flies off" the stars.

There's a part of me that's sad that Philly doesn't get to beat on Crosby and Pens for seven games in a row. Although, I'm still thrilled that the Pens lost. I think Philly is becoming my favorite team from the east.

Isn't that the same thing? I dunno I just prefer to think star players get calls because they work hard to be in a position where calls are drawn. In the case of a player like Crosby, every penalty he has ever drawn is immediately labeled as "star treatment". This is because everyone has subscribed to that way of thinking and not because it is actually true. Draper has has drawn soft calls, zetterberg has drawn softs calls, everyone has drawn soft calls! But if Crosby gets a soft call everyone calls "star treatment". (I'm not singling you out, just people in gerneral)

I don't think the wings get favourable treatment either, I was just making the point that non wings fans think we certainly do. No wings fan will think that though. Go read lets go pens and you will find they too are critical of officiating. Remember the 07/08 finals and all the complaints about the wings getting away with obstruction? Pens fans dont think their team gets star treatment, wings fans don't think their fans get star treatment, yet both fans accuse each other of getting star treatment.

The officiating is extremely inconsistent and at times incompetent. However, I think that is due to the ridiculous nature of the rules in the new NHL. Most penalties called in any game are going to be soft and unnecessary. Every team has been on the recieving end of these calls, I dont think any one team is given star treatment.

Just my opionion.

I'm on letsgopens at times too. I have the same username but rarely post there. I find it fun to read their perspective on occasion. Yes I remember their complaints about obstruction. I also remember Datsyuk with the puck on his stick at center ice about to ice the game into an empty net when he was tripped and had the puck taken which led to the Hossa almost goal. There is no possible way the every ref on the ice missed that play.

It's really not worth debating. There once was a time when I felt the exact same way you do. Maybe in a couple of years you'll have converted over to my way of thinking. Actually, I'd prefer that the NHL do some thing about the horrible officiating (something I think everyone agrees on) and this concept would just fade away. However, I don't think that will happen and I beleive that certain teams will get the benefit of the doubt more than others will, just like in every other sport.

Yes, and my point is that the penalties I mentioned were both momentum sapping penalties when they were called. In fact Montreal had 2 consecutive power plays to start the game. If they were truly favouring the pens then they were doing a horrible job at it.

As for the NBA thing, I don't watch it so I can't say. I just refuse to believe the refs are told to favour certain teams. Perhaps you could make a case for one particular ref being corrupt or something like that, but there is no way the entire league brass has sat down and said they want X team to get favourable treatment.

Do you think Detroit gets favourable treatment? I can guarantee opposition fans think we do (We don't obviously). It's just the way it is.

No, I never said refs were told to favor anyone. I doubt that happens, but there isn't a doubt in my mind that certain players and teams get star treatment. It happens in every other sport and I think it'd be naive to assume it doesn't happen in hockey.


No, I don't think the Wings get favorable treatment in any way (especially in the playoffs). It seems odd to me that they went from the second least penalized team in the regular season to the most penalized team in the playoffs.