Detroit Red Wings

22 straight and counting. Wings-Ducks first round starts next week

 

strong finish by the wings, well-earned playoff berth. 14 goals allowed in the last 11 games, and finally starting to score again. howie pitches back to back shutouts to close it out.

great job, guys.

glad your TV survived, mo

 

ok, ok, not back to back. but i like my version better

 

Me too. My other TV inexplicably stopped working about a month ago. If the one I'm using now had an unfortunate meeting with my remote tonight I would be without one for a while.

 

Way to go wings! Wasnt expecting us to ride the strong play of howie into the playoffs but it happened. Good time to get on a roll. Thank god this will be the last year of 10:30 games-unless we get to the finals

 

Jim Nill is leaving to replace Nieuwendyk in Dallas. great move for the Stars and now our beloved overrated GM is gonna really be exposed for what he is. atleast the drafts were good and that was in large part to Nill with him gone and Kennys crutch for many years Bowman gone hes on his own. with Nill and Bowman you had the FA part taken care of by Bowman and the draft by Nill, that was as solid of a combo as their was in the league.......this is not good

 

I'm curious to see what Babcock does with the lines now that Bertuzzi and Samuelsson are both healthy enough to play. They were healthy scratches again last night but I don't expect them to sit out in the playoffs. Who gets scratched on Tuesday/Wednesday?

 

excellent question, mo. one of the many reasons i'm glad i'm not a coach or a GM. my gut reaction is that tootoo is the first scratch - but the ducks is probably the team he can be the most valuable against, because he's so damn irritating, and they're prone to be stupid. next in line would be emmerton, i guess? personally, i'm not sure i wouldn't prefer them to let sammy sit.

 

I'd be okay with Samuelsson sitting, but Bertuzzi won't be scratched. I wouldn't bench Tootoo in this series at all, even if Bert and Sammy both get in the lineup. Andersson would probably be my first choice, then Emmerton. It'll be a tough choice regardless.

 

Babs has said he will be going with what has got him there . Bert and Sammy will not start game 1 .
I dont agree with that . I wouldnt sit guys with that much experience over some who will see their first playoff game . Especially when there are so many of them .

 

Id play Sammy and defintely Bert. we need their size( and I never thought Id say this) but their experience in the lineup. they have one more kick at the can if their healthy they should play. Tootoo is in too, hes our 5'1 enforcer/agitator. to be honest hes pretty useless but he brings more to the table than Emmerton - and thats pretty sad. if you want to scratch someone I know a preseason Norris candidate that should have bed sores by the time the first series is over if I had control over it

 

lol cutter, pretty sure that same norris guy has been a healthy scratch the last month running now

besides, that doesn't free up a spot for a forward. i'd agree that emmerton would be the first forward i'd sit.

 

it's no secret (at least i hope not) that stats and i are not best friends. at the beginning of the season, however, i told myself that if the wings scored more goals than they allowed, they'd make it to the dance. that rule of thumb almost held up across the board. in the east, the isles were dead even, and in the west, the wild held off the jackets (-5 to +1). every other playoff team had a positive differential., and all other non-playoff teams besides columbus were in the red.

a strong defensive streak to end the season, coupled with a resurgence of goal scoring, is a good thing.

 

I can already hear Lulz telling Datsyuk to jack his PIM total up.

 

hell yes. if i had a parrot, the first thing it would learn to say is "Datsyuk needs MOAR PIMs!"

 

sit Anderson for the other spot, and Tootoo if Helm ever comes back

 

the catch there is that andersson's a center - but i see nhl.com lists both nyquist and brunner as centers too :/

 

if we make it past the ducks, i can see sitting Toots more easily.

 

Lulz damn near every forward we have is a natural center. outside of Bertuzzi their all pretty interchangeable

 

lol ok - in that case i'm good with sitting joakim next after emmerton.