Detroit Red Wings & the NHL

[SeanB]

Just don't call him by his real name...you'll get the silent treatment for awhile. ;-)

[lineygoblue]

He doesn't like being called Clint Eastwood?

[lineygoblue]

Well, Bettman got what he wanted. The Wings out of the playoffs.

Still, a gallant fight by the guys with the winged wheel.

[Jamie H]

Don't think you can blame the refs on this one. Yeah, I thought Holmstrom should have drawn a penalty when he got clubbed in front of the net, but what it just came down to was the Wings couldn't get that 3rd goal.

The biggest mistake in the game was the giveaway by Zetterberg that led to San Jose's 2nd goal. I think without that play the Wings win. Oh well, winning 4 in a row is damn tough.

[Jamie H]

Oh BTW Howard was outstanding. Far better than I expected.

[Hannibal]

The giveaway by Zetterberg was a big one and the 3-on-2 goal that they gave up in the 3rd period was a critical error by Kronwall as well.

I'm impressed that they made it a series but it's still hard to take. The worst part about watching the Wings lose a series over the past decade is wondering whether it's the last Stanley Cup contender that they will have. Just about every impact player on the team is on the wrong side of 30. The dominant depth that they used to have has vanished. What ever happened to their secondary scoring? Salary cap hit some of it, but guys like Filppula and Hudler who were around for the Cup run need to score more. One of these days, we're going to have an average hockey team in Detroit for the first time since 1991, and it will suck.

[WingsFan]

Sucks now, Hudler was an embarrassment tonight. I trust Ken Holland for the future, as league revenues go up, so will the salary cap, which means Holland should have more money to play with over the next few years, or other teams like the Nashville Predators, may have more space to resign a player like Shea Weber.

[Optimus Prime]

Just blowing off a little steam, traveling a ton and with regret have been missing a ton of playoff games! :(

That very true Hannibal and was the difference in the series. Sharks Logan Couture, still a rookie, even though it's his second full post-season, steals the puck from Henrik Zetterberg, puts it up top, stakes the San Jose Sharks to a 2-0 lead.

They've got the young guys becoming big players (Setoguchi, Couture) and then you have Ryan Clowe, Joe Pavelski, and some other guys in terms of that supporting cast. This is a very deep team up front.

With each passing year it's gotten less about the big names in San Jose, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley, and more about the supporting cast, and especially the young guns.

[Mike]

San Jose is the best team left in the playoffs. I expect them to dispatch Vancouver with relative ease.

I'm rooting for Boston the rest of the way.

[SeanB]

Hockey in Florida seems weird, but I'll be rooting for Yzerman and his TB Lightning the rest of the way!

[SeattleLionsFan]

No problem with me Optimus. I just felt like I was missing a piece of info.

[Optimus Prime]

No way, my money is on Vancouver especially if the Sedin Floaters begin to contribute. Conn Smythe front runner (American born) Kesler leads the way.

It didn't come easily, but the Vancouver Canucks are advancing to the Western Conference Final after taking out the Nashville Predators in six games.

With two more assists in the clinching game, Canucks centre Ryan Kesler put an exclamation mark on a sensational performance that included 11 points in six games, while leading all Canucks forwards with nearly 25 minutes of ice time per game. He also won 70.9% of his faceoffs in the last two games.

How important was Kesler to the Canucks' cause in this series? He was the only Canuck with better than a point per game and in the last four games of the series, Kesler had ten points on 12 Vancouver goals.

Kesler's utter dominance allowed the Canucks to get through the series even though Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin didn't exactly thrive, combining for seven points and a minus-10 rating in the series.


He was involved in 11 of 14 goals Vancouver scored in the series and that's absolutely remarkable.

There wasn't any facet of the game that he didn't dominate, whether it was face-offs, penalty killing, power play, shot-blocking or using his speed.

[WingsFan]

Im going with Vancouver also (now), I love Stevie and he's my favorite player of all time, but just can't cheer for a (Bettman) Florida team. Plus it will X out Montreal name as the last Canadian team to win the Cup. :-)

[Jamie H]

Setoguchi killed the Wings. Every time he shot I winced, because it seemed like his shots just had something on them the rest of the Sharks didn't.

Even if the Wings had won, the injuries were starting to pile up. Franzen was gone for who knows how long. Bertuzzi blew out his shoulder in the 1st period. Cleary was in bad shape after that head hit. Datsyuk couldn't even take faceoffs with his bad hand. They were running out of bodies to throw out there.

[Optimus Prime]

Packy , you had to apply that "boot to the nutsack" regarding my Canadiens?!?

Now all that is left is the crying, let's checkout the Game 7 BoxScore Summary, shall we? Here's a different kind of Canadian:

San Jose

G - Devin Setoguchi (CDN)
A - Joe Thornton (CDN)
A - Dan Boyle (CDN)

G- Logan Couture (CDN)
Unassisted

G - Pat Marleau (CDN)
A - Devin Setoguchi (CDN)
A - Dan Boyle (CDN)

Perfect Canadian night, no ?

Cheer against them but don't bet against them.