Red Wings

[Newbomb Turk]

right now, it isn't........

so relax and enjoy. geez, do you worry about the price of oil during a blow job, too ??

[DanO]

"the Wings are rolling, and I don't thing the Wings giving up a PP goal in 14 straight games means shit when they are 10-4 in those games........ "
----------------------Yep.

GO LIONS "09" !!!!!!!!!

[chemiclord]

right now, it isn't........

so relax and enjoy. geez, do you worry about the price of oil during a blow job, too ??

Wrong analogy. This is more worrying about future blowjobs ending badly because I've demonstrated I can't control myself.

And I worry about it now because the goal isn't to win the Western Conference. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup... where this penalty kill could be a problem against a Penguins team that is just as skilled as Chicago (if not more), and is more battle tested. What the Wings are getting away with against the Blackhawks won't fly against the Penguins.

[DanO]

So you say. You also said the game was over yesterday when you found out Lidstrom and Datsyuk weren't playing. Nice call. Pittsburg may look good right now because of the competition they are playing. They looked good last year too. I think the Pens are similar to Chicago in style. I think the Wings defense can hold down Malkin and pretty boy.

GO LIONS "09" !!!!!!!!!

[chemiclord]

As for yesterday, when you saw the injury list, you cannot tell me you thought it would be a 6-1 rout. You'd be a liar. Fortunately, Hossa picked that time to pick up the slack, and Kronwall surprised me with his discipline and really filled the void left by Lidstrom exceptionally well. I won't underestimate this team's depth again, I can assure you.

As for Pittsburgh, Similar in style, not similar in talent and experience. Kane and Toews are great players, but they aren't quite Crosby/Malkin level.

A big reason the Wings won last year was because Crosby got next to nothing from Malkin, who was largely invisible most of the playoffs. That doesn't look to be the case this time around.

Yeah, the Pens looked good last year. They pushed the Wings to 6 games, after all. They're better this time around. Can you say the same about Detroit? I can't.

[SeattleLionsFan]

As for yesterday, when you saw the injury list, you cannot tell me you thought it would be a 6-1 rout. You'd be a liar. Fortunately, Hossa picked that time to pick up the slack, and Kronwall surprised me with his discipline and really filled the void left by Lidstrom exceptionally well. I won't underestimate this team's depth again, I can assure you.

As for Pittsburgh, Similar in style, not similar in talent and experience. Kane and Toews are great players, but they aren't quite Crosby/Malkin level.

A big reason the Wings won last year was because Crosby got next to nothing from Malkin, who was largely invisible most of the playoffs. That doesn't look to be the case this time around.

Yeah, the Pens looked good last year. They pushed the Wings to 6 games, after all. They're better this time around. Can you say the same about Detroit? I can't.

Last year, Malkin was 5th in playoff points with 22. That's hardly next to nothing, although it is significantly less than this year.

But perhaps a big reason he was not memorable to you, is that Hossa was 3rd in playoff points. And they certainly don't have Hossa this year.

[chemiclord]

Last year, Malkin was 5th in playoff points with 22. That's hardly next to nothing.

But perhaps a big reason he was not memorable to you, is that Hossa was 3rd in playoff points. And they certainly don't have Hossa this year.

I think he had all of one goal in the Final that year. That was a misspeak on my part... that should have read the Final, not the whole playoffs.

[DanO]

No I didn't think it would be a 6-1 rout but that's not the point. I still thought they had a shot to win. You gave them none.

Ya I can say the Wings are better. They have Hossa this year. They didn't last.

GO LIONS "09" !!!!!!!!!

[DanO]

"I think he had all of one goal in the Final that year. That was a misspeak on my part... that should have read the Final, not the whole playoffs."
-----------------Maybe that was due to the better defense he was facing as will be the case this year.

GO LIONS "09" !!!!!!!!!

[SeattleLionsFan]

I think he had all of one goal in the Final that year. That was a misspeak on my part... that should have read the Final, not the whole playoffs.

1 goal, 2 assists. So he was involved in 3 of 10 goals for the Pens. I don't know that that is really "next to nothing"

(btw, for comparison Franzen had 1 goal, 2 assists in last year's final.)

[FVD]

As I said yesterday, the Wings are much better equipped to absorb the loss of players such as Lidstrom and Datsyuk than the Blackhawks were able to absorb the loss of Khabibulin.

Everybody always talks about the depth of the Red Wings when it comes to rolling out 4 lines, but the luxury of letting players develop in the minors and not have to rush them up is often overlooked.

Nick is one of the best defensemen of all time, but its easier to replace a defenseman than a goalie, especially one of Khabibulin's stature.

That's what you failed to realize chemi, you only looked at who the Wings were missing without seeing who Chicago was without. .

[chemiclord]

Khabibulin isn't that irreplaceable. Where I was wrong was thinking Huet could hold the fort. The dude was hideous last night.

And in the regular season, when Lidstrom was out, the Wings had been horrible in that stretch, iirc.

It was not unreasonable to see the injury list and think, "Yeah, see ya Game 5." They surprised me.

Jesus fucking Christ.

[FCRhodes]

If Khabibulan is irreplaceable, why did Chicago try to replace him before the season even started?

[FVD]

First of all, I never said Khabibulin was irreplaceable.

A top line defenseman plays, on average, 25-30 minutes a game. Its a lot easier to compensate those minutes lost with 6 other defensemen than it is for one goalie to replace the 60 minutes a goalie is on the ice, first of all. That alone makes a goalie more valuable and harder to replace than a defenseman.

Is Khabibulin the greatest goalie ever? No, but he's playoff tested and light years ahead of Huet. It wasn't so much how good Khabibulin is, its how mediocre Huet is.

[chemiclord]

If Huet had been mediocre, Frank... I think they would have been fine. A lot of Chicago's meltdown occurred because they gave up a goal near the end of the first. It just started piling on after that.

Huet was garbage. I mean, even Osgood shook his head on Franzen's goal and wondered, "How the fuck did he fan on that one?"