Eastern Conference

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Western Conference

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Wow, I've been out of the hockey loop for so long, I have no idea who we are playing based on that graphic.

I love the effort MoTown, but you should NOT try and be a hero.

I still laugh my ass off at the fact Detroit's in the Western Conference.

Wow, I've been out of the hockey loop for so long, I have no idea who we are playing based on that graphic.

lol Same here. I try but it's tough when you don't get to watch the games and it's not covered by ESPN or anything on TV. That would be Nashville though.

I still laugh my ass off at the fact Detroit's in the Western Conference.

We used to have some good rivalries back in the day. Now we play San Jose, etc. WTF?

The Wings have a tough road to the Stanley Cup. They need to have Colorado pull the upset in the first round so they don't have to play the Ducks and then the Sharks.

Not looking good for the Wings this year. At least their healthy so far.

Wow, I've been out of the hockey loop for so long, I have no idea who we are playing based on that graphic.

That's the Pasadena Killer Rabbits.

LOL

Very nice gee

Bodog has the Wings at 1 to 1 to win the West and 3 to 1 to win the cup.

Depends on how far Hasek's groin will take us, unless Osgood turns back into early season Ozzy

Hasek looked solid in yesterday's game. I'm looking forward to this. I'm hoping for a WCF of Detroit and Colorado so I can go boo the avs in their building.

I want to see the Avs/Ducks in the WCF so Downey can beat the shit out of George Parros again...

I want to see the Avs/Ducks in the WCF so Downey can beat the shit out of George Parros again...

???

shit my bad...Wings/Ducks lol

I'm going to wear my predators Jersey on thursday. That ought to curse em real nice.

I can name 5 Predators...

Dan Ellis, Gelinas, Legwand, Tootoo, Dumont.

Man that's the hardest thing I've had to do all day.

I'm going to go with Great White Shark, Red Tailed Hawk, American Golden Eagle, South American Boa Constrictor and a good old fashioned African Lion.

Would a Michael Jackson suggestion be out of line?

Would a Michael Jackson suggestion be out of line?

Not if the Wings can get Chris Hansen to play defense.

I can name 5 Predators...

Dan Ellis, Gelinas, Legwand, Tootoo, Dumont.

Man that's the hardest thing I've had to do all day.
Beat me, all I could think of were Legwand, Tootoo and Dumont.

Just a reminder, the Wings are on FSN tonight at 7.

K, so the Tigers are on FSN+ then. Thanks.

Franzen's still en fuego.

Fast paced game so far.

Wings not looking too bad so far. I like how they've been throwing some unusual lines out there to mix things up.

This game is a whole lot more physical than I thought it would be.

Wings are getting a ton of scoring chances. Haven't been able to cash in any of them though.

We need a goal here stat.

Damn I'm good.

1 down, 15 to go.

Can't wait for them to be on the tube.

Good game by the Wings (and the Preds). This is going to be tight series.

Can't wait for them to be on the tube.

Do you get VS? They were on VS and I think every game this series is on VS or NBC.

They were on FSN. That's what channel I watched the first 2 periods on before I had to leave.

I do get VS. Never thought about that channel. It was blacked out on FSN. I bet it was on VS though. thx

They were on FSN. That's what channel I watched the first 2 periods on before I had to leave.
Maybe in Cleveland. VS had the game nationally.

FSN blacked it out? Must just be in the Detroit metropolitan area, I got it in Toledo and friends back in Dundee were watching it on FSN.

Its dumb as fuck. Its like when i can watch the Tigers live on FSN, but the replay is blacked out on FSN. Haven't figured that one out yet.

I just checked VS and I'm watching the Ducks and Stars. I bet the Wings was the early game.

Wings were on at 7

Watching the Dallas vs Anaheim game:

If Dallas can keep playing like this the rest of the series (up 4-0 halfway through the 3rd), Anaheim doesn't stand a chance.

I hope we play Dallas. The Ducks have good defense depth and a goalie that can stand on his head at times. You know a little more what you'll get from Dallas. Plus, the travel is less to Dallas.

I hope we play Colorado. If they can beat the Wild, we won't have to face the Sharks, Ducks or Stars until the conference finals. Let those teams duke it out.

Oh yeah, they re-seed in the NHL don't they?

My preference would be Colorado then Dallas.

Agreed. I completely forgot they reseed after each round. I kind of like that concept.

It's good except it would be better if they reseeded after the first round based on record. They do it based on seed, and the winner of each division gets the top 3 seeds. That often screws over the #1 seed (The Wings) who would have to play the #4 seed (The Ducks) if no upsets occur. The Wild had a much worse record than the Ducks, but Anaheim is in San Jose's division.

I thought they went on record. That blows.

Oh yeah, they re-seed in the NHL don't they?

My preference would be Colorado then Dallas.



I'd rather play both of those teams over Calgary...

assuming they get by SJ

I hate playing in the Saddle Dome, that's a tough place to win

Yea, they reseed

^ That was supposed to be a ZM type of joke.

Anyway...Wings are on.

Eddie Olczyk...I used to hate that guy...in Bill Laimbier sorta way. Chicago I think. Now he's an announcer.

McCarty with an early goal. Get an early lead and add to it.

Get an early lead and add to it.

That sounds like good strategy.

Have you coached before?

Yea, I have that keen scense of the obvious.

Keep the pressure on cuz if we score goals than they do, we win the game.

PP put one in the net here.

Hasek perfect in the first period.

Hasek perfect in the first period.

Now if he can go out there and do that 2 more times, we might be okay.

2-0 Wings!

Shitty bounce on that puck. Hasek maybe should have stayed put though.

2-1 Wings

2-2 off the face off. FUCK!

3-2 Wings. Fun period so far.

I guess Tahoe is the only one who's watching.

i choose to watch a winner

4-2 Wings Holmstrom

4-2 final.

The Preds scored their 2 goals in less than a minute. We had a let-down. 1 game does not a series make but I don't think these guys can hang with the Wings in a series.

It wasn't even a letdown. They had two lucky bounces in 8 seconds.

I'm guessing whoever wrote this is from Nashville.

The title on ESPN.com reads "Detroit Luck City."


Lidstrom, Draper help Wings take advantage of Preds, claim 2-0 series lead
Red Wings Top Predators, Lead Series 2-0

DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Red Wings took advantage of all their breaks.

Kris Draper's tiebreaking goal went off an opponent, Nick Lidstrom scored when one of his teammates could've been called for a penalty and Detroit beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

In Game 1, the Red Wings took advantage of what appeared to be good fortune when offsides wasn't called just before they scored the game-winning goal.

Nashville general manager David Poile was critical of the officiating in both games while talking to reporters on Saturday between the second and third periods.

The eighth-seeded Predators can only hope the calls and bounces go their way Monday night at home in Game 3 against the NHL's top-seeded team.

Detroit's Dominik Hasek made 25 saves and Dan Ellis had 34 for the Predators in the second playoff game of his career.

Darren McCarty added to his comeback story, putting the Red Wings ahead 1-0 early in the game by scoring off a rebound.

Lidstrom gave Detroit a two-goal lead in the opening minute of the second period when Tomas Holmstrom appeared to have a skate in the crease and could've been called for goaltender interference.

Nashville erased the cushion in an 11-second span when Alexander Radulov and Jordin Tootoo scored in the third minute of the second to make it 2-all.

The Predators fell behind again 2 1/2 minutes later when Draper pushed the puck to the front of the net and it went off a Predator's skate and into the net. Holmstrom gave Detroit another two-goal lead when he scored off a rebound midway through the third period.

While the Red Wings took advantage of some breaks, Nashville hurt its chances by getting called for penalties when it was on the power play -- as it did in Game 1 -- and by going to the penalty box in the final minutes while trying to rally.

Game notes
Faces in the crowd included NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Kid Rock. ... Tootoo scored Nashville's only goal in Game 1. ... The Red Wings didn't have a fan in every seat during their two home games, but did draw much larger crowds than they had last postseason when several rows in some sections were empty.

They fail to mention that both Nashvilles goals came off flukey plays.

It wasn't even a letdown. They had two lucky bounces in 8 seconds.

I stand corrected. You are right.

j/k

Anyone watching the Wings game? Great goal by Draper, waiting until the last minute for the goalie to drop and putting it over him. Very nice assist by Hudler too.

I missed the goal but a nice penalty 4-3 penalty kill at the end of the 1st.

I agree it was nice, but it also showed the lack of great offensive talent in Nashville. The had a couple of decent shots but not one real quality chance.

Great hit by Kronwall.

He just crushed him. And pissed them off enough to get them to take that stupid penalty on Zets.

PP goal. 2-0.

#74 which turned into a goal

The Predators are just playing stupid hockey. Yes, you have to be physical to take the Wings off their game but it's a means to an end. They keep taking themselves out of the play and ultimately out of the game. Which is fine with me, of course.

Anybody notice that Hudler is leading the team in points so far?

The Predators are just playing stupid hockey. Yes, you have to be physical to take the Wings off their game but it's a means to an end. They keep taking themselves out of the play and ultimately out of the game. Which is fine with me, of course.

Physical play seems to be the formula for beating the Wings over the last few years. So you are saying the Preds are playing stupid physical play or are the Wings getting a lil better at countering the physical play?

2-1 Wings.

Wow that looked like a crappy offsides call on us.

A little of both. The Wings in last years playoffs showed they could play with physical teams and play physical hockey. But I mean mostly that the Preds are only trying to be physical and have on quite a few occaisions taken themselves out of the play.

Well, that didn't last long.

And just as I wrote that they show how good physical play can lead to good chances and goals. I'm shutting up now.

That was a dumb play by Stuart on the Preds goal.

Datsyuk!!!

Datsuk with a beauty. That might have gotten by Sawchuk.

Huge goal to start the 3rd.

Stuart nearly sealed the deal there.

You're fucking kidding me....

Dom.................

He was a bit screened on that one (EDIT: Talking about the 3rd goal). Wings should have tried harder to put the game away (without getting caught) and not sit on a one goal lead.

I fucking hate when they try to sit on a lead. They're smart enough and veteran enough to keep the pressure on without giving up stupid goals. A one goal lead in the playoffs is not something you can try to sit on for 20 minutes.

From the look of things, the Red Wings choked. Agree/Disagree?

Agree.

What is it with the Wings giving up goal in pairs?

If there is a team that shouldn't get rattled by a goal against, its the Red Wings what with all their experinece and all. But for some reason they just seem to give up goals in quick succession.

That's what happens when you sit on a lead. You give the other team momentum. After 15 minutes of just coasting at the other guy with one hand on the stick instead of trying to put a body on him you let them get going and bad shit happens. Man, am I pissed.

It sucks that the Wings lost, but to put things in perspective, I didn't see a sweep. I thought Wings in five. Put it behind them and win on Wednesday, then this game didn't matter.

We HAVE to win on Wednesday though.

From the look of things, the Red Wings choked. Agree/Disagree?
100% agree.

It sucks that the Wings lost, but to put things in perspective, I didn't see a sweep. I thought Wings in five. Put it behind them and win on Wednesday, then this game didn't matter.

We HAVE to win on Wednesday though.

You couldn't be more right about this. It just pissed me off that they didn't go for a crushing 3-0 lead in the series and sat back and let Nashville get back into it. That and I was tired and pissy about the game, missing the Tigers comeback and the thought of having to work today on 4 hours sleep after that debacle.

From the look of things, the Red Wings choked. Agree/Disagree?

Yes, but it was only a few players that choaked. Hasek let in two pretty weak goals for his abilities (goals 3 and 4). Lilja made two defensive miscues that lead to goals (one of the first two and the 4th one). Stuart also made a blunder that lead to the 3rd goal. Other than that I thought they were still playing well for the most part outside those 3 players.

I woner if Lebda should be playing over Lilja. I've seen quite a few miscues by him in the playoffs so far. And I haven't seen any good plays either. Kronwall is out hitting him and Lilja has a lot more size.

I can only partly agree with you on the 3rd goal. There was a miscue and Hasek's angle on the shot was bad and in the playoffs he has to make that save. But at the same time he had one Predator pretty much all alone in front of him while another was allowed to skate in over the blue and tee it up. That's a complete defensive breakdown of the entire line out there and indicative of very tentative play.

And again with the giving up goals in pairs. Just incredible.

*sigh*

We're playing like we don't even want to be here.

I couldn't agree more. There's only one team skating right now.

That's the worst part, we're not even skating hard. Babcock better motivate them in the locker room or we're screwed.

There was this Free Press article today about how Babcock isn't as much a fire and brimstone guy now because he doesn't need to be. Fuck that, I say. He needs to rip into them for that effort.

Damn right he needs to be. Just because they're a somewhat veteran team doesn't mean they won't get complacent. Give them a kick in the ass, and NOW.

That's a beautiful shot by Dats.

Too bad we got 0 momentum from it. Time for a goalie change. Hi, Mr. Osgood.

9 seconds later, the Preds score.

This fucking blows.

I know momentum is important in every sport in the playoffs but I do believe that hockey is the one sport where momentum can actually trump talent. We're watching it tonight. One team showed up. And we've seen this before. The worst thing that can happen is that they start believing they can win this series.

Yeah, only in the NHL playoffs does it not matter if you're the #8/lowest seed imo.

these announcers are Wing H8ers

^ Anouncer said "All ?? did was give draper a lil shove and Draper cross checked him in the kidneys twice"

All 3 looked like love taps to me.

It'd be nice to get one here on the pp

Our 2nd PP unit can't even enter the zone without turning the puck over.

these announcers are Wing H8ers

That's the other reason I love the Slingbox over the signing up for league or playoff passes. I got all the Detroit announcers off Detroit TV.

In 2004 I had to deal with Lakers announcers and I was ready to fly over there and just smack those bastards.

Our 2nd PP unit can't even enter the zone without turning the puck over.

We haven't been able to gain the zone pretty much all game. Even a man down they've decided to stand up guys at the blue.

This sucks. We're playing like they should just hand us the win and we shouldn't have to do anything. Dare I say, elitist?

Come on, fellas. Get a little dirty. Mix it up! DO SOMETHING!!

Time to lay down, watch the third, then pass out since I have early classes tomorrow.

Filppula is so fucking useless.

In this series or overall? I agree that he hasn't done jack in this series, but he flashed a lot of potential during the season and he's still a young guy. I have hope for him.

DATS!!!

FUCK YES! This is our chance to crawl back into this thing. Only down by 1!

Count to 30, if Nashville hasn't scored we may have a chance.

Datsyuk is going to have to score all our goals this game.

Finally working the puck down low. HUGE goal.

Nice to see they've finally showed up to play.

I don't see Hasek a Wing next year.

In this series or overall? I agree that he hasn't done jack in this series, but he flashed a lot of potential during the season and he's still a young guy. I have hope for him.

This series in particular.

But I think that Filppula gets over-rated by Wings fans (especially when compared to Hulder). Everyone seems to think he will be a 70 point 2nd line center when he hasn't shown anything more than Draper-like skills.

God, I hate those Tootoo whistles.

I agree with both of you more or less. I think they need a couple of bigger and faster players for the top two lines and let Filppula develop a bit more on the 3rd or 4th line.

Edit: Though he has some pretty good size for his speed and skills.

Our passing is awful.

Good 3rd period, but too little WAY too late.

I can't believe we are fucking tied with the Nashville Predators. The same Preds who lost Kariya, Timonen, Hartnell and Vokoun in the offseason and replaced them with Radek Bonk and Greg de Vries. [smilie=banghead.gi:

I was talking with my dad the whole game (gotta love skype) and he had a good point though. As bad as this situation is, it's still not the Edmonton series two years ago. If they stay aggressive and attack the Predators zone they can dominate any game.

Babcock has to go with Osgood in game 5 IMO. Hasenk just doesn't have it right now.

And I hope he plays Meech instead of Lebda too.

I agree with that. Especially giving Ozzie a chance.

Hasek has looked shaky since game 1 I think. About half their goals he had no chance to stop, but about half of them he had opportunities to carry the team. You can't expect him to make all those saves, but you do expect your goalie to steal a game or keep you in a game you had no business winning (because the rest of the team was outplayed). He hasn't looked like he's going to do that at any point.

I think you're right, but I also think you can say that on both the game winners of the last two games he should have saved those. They weren't horrible gaffes but they were shots you have to stop to win in the playoffs.

To win the cup you pretty much need your goalie to win you a game you got outplayed in at least a couple times during that run. We've had the Ducks and Flames do that to us with hot goalies in prior years. There's no reason Hasek can't steal a game. He just played average.

Blame Holland for building yet another superteam with a weakness between the pipes.

Once Hasek gets pulled, I'm not sure you can put him back in. He'll be way to shaken, its just how he's always been (during the regular season), as far as I can remember. When you yank him, he comes back a little weaker until he has time to regain confidence. You don't really have that time in the playoffs. I had a friend reaffirm that when we were talking during the game, so I'm assuming its right.

Blame Holland for building yet another superteam with a weakness between the pipes.

Well in all fairness we couldn't afford a better goalie in the cap system. I'm more mad we still haven't given Howard a fair chance. I don't know where all the goalies were drafted, but there has been a lot of stanley cup runs backed by young goalies lately. In the past you always had Hasek, Broduer, Cujo, Roy, Vernon, Richter, etc battling it out. Then the last few years a lot of young goalies have stepped up.

Howard gets his chance next year, guaranteed, unless some superstar goalie comes to us somehow. Ozzie signed a 3 year extension, Hasek's contract is up, Howard will come take Hasek's place and split time with Ozzie for a season before stepping up and taking over the year after with Ozzie as his veteran backup.

Hasek has been pulled, as per foxsports.com.

I'm ok with this. The Wizzzzzard shut them down after he was put in, I'm more comfortable with him right now (as I have been all season). Then again, I've always been a big Ozzie fan so I'm biased.

No Arnott or Legwand tonight for Nashville.

Nice to see they came to play! Nice goal.

Good to see Flip on the scoreboard.

Bad penalty on Hudler.

Nice to see they came to play! Nice goal.

Playing great but only 1-0 to show for it in the 3rd.

Wings aren't getting any breaks tonight.

47 shots on goal so far.

PP with 3 minutes to go. A insurance goal here would be nice.

FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Wings played as good as they could play through three periods. The Preds lucked out. And that's bad news, because one more lucky bounce and we're headed to Nashville down 3-2.

How the fuck do we lose when Nashville is missing Arnott and Legwand?

And why does every no-name goalie turn into a star when they are playing against the Wings?

FRANZEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That whole play was set up by a great play by Filppula.

He had a great game.

Rock on.

All I need now is the Stars to knock off the Ducks tonight.

I'd like to play the Avs next round... and I'd like the Wings to close it out on Sunday.

Sucked giving up that goal, but we won a close one. I'll take it.

Man, I love Dallas' PP.

I had a friend that was at that game. Said it was amazing, loved every second of it (other than the part where the Preds scored).

I don't get a chance to follow a lot of hockey but that was an exciting start to the game. No scoring but tons of hits and shots.

Mega energy and excitement in the 1st. Both goalies were pretty strong too, each team should have 1 or 2 goals. Detroit was bringin the wood too.

Filpula definately should've filled the net on that one play.

Holy shit that was a weird SH goal.

And now a friggin 5-3 for the Preds...just after we take the friggin lead.

1-0 Wings

I'll go out on a limb here and say ...let the 2nd round begin.

2-0 Wings

Great shot by Hudler.

Kronner with a nice hit.

Rafalski ends it with an empty netter.

who do we play next?

Either Calgary or Colorado.

^ I'll start watching that series.

Huge props to Ozzie!

WOOOOOOO!!!! That was as exciting of a game I've seen all year. I think the Wings laid out as many guys today as they did the whole series. Time to chew up round two.

I hope that the Lidstrom goal leads to the same result as it did in 2002.

It would have been a sweep if Ozzie was in goal since game 1. Oh well, now it's on to round 2.

Who would you rather see, Colorado or Calgary? I think I'd rather see Colorado.

Colorado by far, but I don't want to see the Sharks.

The first round has gone well so far for the Wings. If San Jose loses, the Wings have no excuse for not at least making it to the Stanley Cup.

Is it too late for me to give up on watching basketball and start watching hockey?

Never too late, Swami. We take all comers in the NHL forum.

Colorado by far, but I don't want to see the Sharks.

The first round has gone well so far for the Wings. If San Jose loses, the Wings have no excuse for not at least making it to the Stanley Cup.

Yeah, if Calgary can pull it out then all the underdogs would have won except Nashville.

I wouldn't mind SJ winning though as long as Dallas takes them out in the 2nd round. I'd actually prefer Colorado then Dallas instead of Calgary then Dallas.

I don't want to play Calgary. We dominated Colorado during the reg. season, I'll take my chances with them. Theodore is hot though, either way it's going to be a tough series.

Dallas doesn't scare me at all either by the way, in my perfect world, we would get them in the WCF. Turco is a choke artist. And no Zubov or Bouchard will catch up to them eventually...

Well, isn't Calgary basically the same type of team as Nashville? Maybe with a better goalie, but I thought Ellis played very well in the series anyway. Better than Hasek, that is for sure.

Well, isn't Calgary basically the same type of team as Nashville? Maybe with a better goalie, but I thought Ellis played very well in the series anyway. Better than Hasek, that is for sure.

Uh oh!

I don't know if Kiprusoff is that great. He's better than Dan Ellis, but he's not a top 5 goaltender in the league.

He's probably about as good as Ozzie. One good thing about us playing Calgary would be that many of their top scorers are in slumps right now, all of their scoring Vs. SJ has come from secondary player like Owen Nolan...

guys like Huselius, Iginla, and up until Sunday--Langkow were in a nasty slump...maybe thats a credit to SJ's defense, I'd rather have Nicklas & Rafalski than Campbell & Rivet...so maybe Calgary would be a better draw


That Saddledome is one tough place to play though...

I'm fine with either one really. I think that either team's going to give us a great series and I'm looking forward to it. Especially since I've been in Detroit the last couple of days and got to watch game 6, a great win, with my Dad at home.

(Of course some other Detroit team ruined the high the Wings gave me).

(Of course some other Detroit team ruined the high the Wings gave me).

Yeah, the Lions can damper your spirits 365 days a year.

Yeah, the Lions can damper your spirits 365 days a year.
It's a leap year, you know. Just saying.