Red Wings

[Newbomb Turk]

11. is that Beaver in your pick ?

[jaadam4]

Man that chick is smokin

[jaadam4]

3. Why didn't Wings sign Hossa?

The Pens traded for Hossa they didnt sign him. If I remember right they gave up some very nice prospects and players for him. They paid a steep price and he's a FA at the end of the year. The problem for the Wings is we can't sign him. We have to lock up Z to a longterm deal. Holland cant add another bigtime contract after that.

The problem now is (and its sure a nice one to have.. i guess) is that Franzen is showing HUGE skill as a power forward and he's a FA at the end of next season too. He'll command a lot of loot which means we'll be cutting it really close at the cap. We don't have much wiggle room.

On top of that we just extended Cleary cuz he was showing promise and now that money couldve went to Franzen. Uhhhhh.. I guess you cant have to many PF.

[Rocky Bleier]

11. is that Beaver in your pick ?

It ain't Wally.

[gjdodger]

Wow, Mrs. Cleaver...you really look nice today!

[Tom]

Am I crazy to think the Wings might sweep Pitt? I've never seen Pitt play but I know their stars are very young and I have a hard time believing that such an inexperienced team won't be picked apart by the Wings' puck possession style. That said, they could be uber-skilled and end up skating circles around the Wings...

[FCRhodes]

You aren't crazy. If we take the first 2 at home, who knows how the young stars will react. They haven't been down in any series yet (neither have we). However, they have been playing so well that if we let them take the first game, they could very well sweep us.

[Rocky Bleier]

Malkin was 2nd in the league in scoring behind Ovechkin. Crosby is the best all-around player in the league, and would have been 1st, 2nd or 3rd in scoring if he hadn't been injured. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was a #1 overall pick. Hossa and Gonchar are also very skilled. Too much talent to be swept. Both teams were built through the draft, but the Wings were drafting much lower than the Penguins. Amazing. How they were able to do that without Brian Burke, I'll never know.

[jaadam4]

We need Franzen back for this series.

[The Cat]

We need Franzen back for this series.

I don't think anyone would have said that about Franzen six weeks ago Jaadam.

[Rocky Bleier]

Officiating will be huge. They gave the Stars many questionable calls last night to get them back in the game, and they let Morrow cream Lidstrom long after he'd gotten rid of the puck. But the two most intriguing aspects will be what they call on Homer in front of the net and if Crosby's whining and diving will sway them.

[chemiclord]

Maybe it's because I'm used to watching Peter Forsberg campaigning for the Oscars on game night... but I don't think Crosby's "diving" is really all that bad. He's actually pretty tame as far as "superstar" players go.

And I never say any team has too much talent to be swept. Who woulda thought the Wings in '95 would get swept out? Or the Flyers in '97? Any team can get broomed if they don't bring their best every night.

[L-kxng]

Its hard to say how good Pittsburgh really is playing in the East, if like last year it showed they are much weaker than the West.

[jaadam4]

The Pens have a pretty darn good team. It just depends on how Fluery holds up. I haven't seen him play that much this year but I dont think he's been tested anywhere near how the Wings will bring it.

[Malto Marko]

Questions and Concerns:

1. Lilja will be playing for Chelios. Ugh. Losing Jiri Fischer still hurts.

2. When will Franzen return, and will he be the same player?

3. Why didn't Wings sign Hossa?

4. How to stop Sid the Kid & Malkin.

5. Will Ozzie stay hot?

6. Is Marc-Andre Fleury ready for the pressure?

7. Will Sammy Wilson and Dan Cleary contribute anything?

8. What will be the key? Goaltending? Special Teams?

9. Will Don Cherry watch a Stanley Cup Final minus a "redneck" team?

10. Doesn't Pittsburgh owe us for hosting their recent Super Bowl win?

1. Agreed on Fischer. This brings out again my point on why Cheli will not be with the team next year. If you can not be there in the critical games to win a cup, your value to the team is significantly diminished. He is a warrior but if the warrior can not fight, he should not be paid to go into battle.

2. He will skate in the Finals but, he will not have the impact you saw in round 2.

3. Hossa was a trade. Wings were not willing to give up what they wanted for him.

4. Answer: Backcheck, Backcheck, Backcheck.....

5. Yup he is seasoned and know there are only 4 more games to stay focused for for eternal glory.

6. We will soon find out. Wings have the capability of turning the best Goalie inside out and making bad goalies look good. The real question is:Which offensive Wings team will show up.

7. I expect to see life out of Cleary, can't say much about Wilson.

8. Goaltending, no doubt. I think the wings have the edge with Ozzie.

9. Hmmmmmm seems to me he got into trouble calling the Wings a "redneck" team. It has a different meaning to him than most of us.

10. LOL! Maybe we can get Goddell to call Bettman and explain to him the virtues of properly controlling the outcome of a game.