OK, so the pre season of hockey is here. This item's purpose is
to discuss, report and to pick apart the latest from the NHL and to ponder
the notion of a back to back Stanley Cup for our beloved Red Wings, the only
team with Win built right into thier name.
     We enter the 97-98 season missing a few, Vernie is now gone, and Vladdie
is still unable to play, but most of all the other guys are back, and it is
hoped that the other Russians will come to terms with thier contracts.


  In that spirit, gentlemen, I hereby open the discussion, and let us never
lose sight of the end goal.... STANLEY.

51 responses total.

The loss of Konstantinov will be a heavy blow to the Wings' repeat chances.
Detroit's defense has made the biggest difference, as long as there's solid
goaltending, which there should be with Osgood.  Last season should convince
people that Stanley Cups, for better or worse, aren't won in the fall or
winter, so just have patience...

I have nothing to add to Kevin's comment, except to muse, sadly, that 
the Vladinator is not likely to play ever again. I just wish for him 
recovery to the point where he can have a normal life.

The Wings can repeat. I will be rooting for them. Defense is key.

The Wings opened the season on a positive note by defeating the under
talented Flames at Calgary last night in a workmanlike 3-1 effort.  Osgood
looked sharp in goal, although he probably would have liked to not let in the
one goal he did.  It's really different not hearing Mickey Redmond admire a
crunching blow by Konstantinov; other players are going to have to take up
the slack, and there was evidence that they did/will.  The offense looked a
little flat, especially in the 3rd period (an empty net goal with 30 seconds
left doesn't count ;-).  They need to get Federov back.  No more Russian 5
 :-(  Brent Gilchrist looks like he'll be a nice addition.

  I watched the banner raising ceremonies and all that before the game and
it finally hit me, WE HAVE STANLEY. Now it's official. Ted and Gordie were
there as were the wives of Vladdie and Sergei. I didn't watch the game, but
they won and that's the most important part.

  I got today's Freep and there is a nice picture of the arena during the
banner raising, as well as a panoramic shot of the arena. It's not the
Olympia, but it will do. I wish I could have been there, but....

Where exactly IS Federov? A 5-1-1 start for the Wings (I may have missed a
game in there somewhere.) NOt bad. :)

Sergei was probably off on a beach somewhere with his 14-year old 
girlfriend, tennis star Anna Kournikova.  

The Wings wont repeat because last year was a fluke.  The Flyers 
*lost*, the Flyers choked like dogs.  The Wings werent tested.  The
Cup was given to them on a silver platter.  They didnt earn Stanley.  They
won it because they were at the right place at the righttime, watching an
opponentgo up in flames.

Im pulling for the Rangers (we call'em the Broad Street Blue Shirts)
Even though captain Mark Messier defected back to Canada.

You don't even want to know what I think of the comment you just made...and
you REALLY don't want to know where I'd like you to stick it.
Fluke my ass...that's all I'm saying.

But it *was* a fluke..the Flyers played as bad as any team ever 
has in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Maybe the Wings would have won 
against a Flyer team playing as it should have, but we'll never 
know because the Flyers laid down.  This is the year the Wings 
prove themselves.  They have to repeat to show they really are 
worthy of Stanley!

Okay now I *will* say it. Shove it up your ass.

Richard is just jealous.

The wings were worried about how strong a start they were having. 
Everyone knows that teams that start the season strongly never finish 
with the cup.

Well, it is *almost* always true. The last time a strong starting team 
won the cup was during the Edmonton Dynasty.

We are seeing the second year in the Wing's Dynasty. Theyare indeed 
5-1-1, and without Fedorov. Aaron Ward and Mike Knuble are two U-M 
hockey players who are now on the team. They evern brought the STanley 
cup to Ann Arbor for the U-M - Northwestern football game, so it got 
explosed to about 106,000 fans (not counting television). Well done, 
guys.


THey are playing the Blues tonight and appear a little lackluster. They 
gave up the first goal with the defense out of position. The they tied 
it on a pretty play which was claled bac because a small portion of one 
skate was on the line defining the crease. We have *got* to do something 
about that rule. I am all for protecting the goalie, but the current 
rule is stupid.

So it is 1-0 Blues after a period. Gotta go back to the TV. 

The Wings and Blues skated to a 3-3 tie last night (October 20, 1997).

I have to apologize to Richard, I was a little harsh. I was just in a bad mood
this weekend and bad-mouthing the wings isn't usually the *best* way to get
on my good graces. =P But again, I apologize.

yeah Im just trying to see how sensitive you wings are...they might
win again...unless Federov gets arrested.  The NYPD saw him and 
his (14 year old) gf at the US Open and said they'd pursue statutory
rape charges if they saw them again and had more evidence.

well I guess french kissing isnt evidence though.

Richard is just a total idiot - aren't you glad he's returned to grex? 
Federov's flame is no longer 14.  Meanwhile, the flukey Wings have only
managed to win 9 out of 11 playoff series the last 3 years, so yeah, they
don't deserve Stanley.  This season's edition are at the tops in scoring and
near the tops in scoring defense, sounds like a good combination to me.  Which
will only get better when Maltby & Federov return to action.  I think Nick
Lidstrom should keep the assistant captain A even if Federov returns.

 <omni flips richard into the dead squid zone>

  You asked for that, Richard.

  The Wings ain't no fluke. They outplayed the Flyers. It's as simple as
that. Did you even watch the games? In the games I saw, I saw solid
goaltending, solid offense, and good defense. Blow it out your ass, bud.

The Wings won their tenth game of the season. The Blues also have ten 
wins, but the Wings are the only team in the NHL with but one loss. They 
have the best record in hockey, but as long as the Blues are in the 
Central Division, it will be a very tough division.

They beat the sharks at home to win 4-3. That's 12 victories over the 
sharks at the Joe without a loss to them. It was a night of mixed 
feelings for the fans, who warmly welcomed the sharks new goalie back to 
the Joe. Mike Vernon played tonight under the banner that he help raise 
and against the team he helped raise it for. The fans still love him, 
but most were glad to see Yzerman score against him on a great pass from 
McCarty to tie it in the second period. They won on Larry Murphy's goal 
at the beginning of the third, scored while Draper was partially in the 
crease after having been dumped there by a defenseman, invoking the rule 
that allows a goal under those circumstances.

Next game - the Kings at the Joe, Friday at 7:30

At this rate that translates into 50 or 60 wins in the regular season.  As
long as that carries over into the playoffs, it's fine by me!  :-)

They are 11-2-2. thats 24 points out of 30, or 80%. Out of 164 total 
points, that is 131. Of course we all know that it is possible to finish 
with a zillion points and still get knocked out of the playoffs, but 
lets keep the horse in front of the cart.

It's almost two months later, and no one has commented on how great the wings
are playing. 

Last weekend I watched them sweep a home-and-home vs Toronto. THey played
really well. Then again Toronto is so hapless, it was like taking candy from
a baby.

The highlight of the broadcast came when Mick was discussing the extent og
rebuilding that the leafs were going through, and they decided that the best
answer to

"How close are the Leafs to a good hockey team?" 

was

"About 200 miles down the 401."    <yuck, yuck, yuck>

New year's eve (tonight) they just beat the Blues, a much stronger team than
the leafs, and looked great doing that too., Keep it up, wings. 
We want to keep Stanley from another year.

OTOH, the Wings just sleepwalked thru 2 lackluster performances to start out
1998, losing 2 in a row for the first time this season, 4-1 to San Jose and
the Joe, and 3-1 at Chicago.  Both games ended with empty net goals for the
opposition, so things were closer than the scores indicate.

wont last long...wings are looking to trade Federov asap (he wants too
much money)  wont be much w/o sergei.

Well as we all know, Sergei's back, and back in his old form. He's even looked
more physical in the games he's played.

The Russian 5 is back, sorta, kinda, not really. Well, there's a new "-ov"
on the team. The forementioned Mironov looked great in the 3-2 win over
Chicago yesterday, with a goal and two assists. 2.8 seconds left and Shanny
scores. :) What else can I say except I LOVE THAT MAN!!!!

Anyone else catch the duke-em-out Wednesday between Roy & Osgood?  What a
hoot!  :-)  The April 18 rematch at Colorado (which closes out the regular
season) ought to be spirited.  I fear there's little chance of it, even as
well as the Wings are playing right now, but they still would like to finish
1st in the Western conference, as as not to have to face Colorado in the 2nd
round...

That's all they've been talking about on the sports talk shows all 
weekend. No one can figure out what Roy was trying to accomplish. Most 
conclusions are that he didn't accomplish anything good for the 
Rockies.

It was pretty evident that Roy was the one "itching" for that fight.
Maybe he won the fight, but I didn't think it was decisive at all.

Yeah the rematch will be one to watch for sure.

Actually Osgood won. :) He got the cleanest blows in and was on top when he
and Roy fell to the ice.

I heard them on the radio saying Osgood lost. then I watched a replay 
and I have to agree with you.

Hey what a streak for the wings. 6 game win streak with 3 games to go, all
on the road. They're getting hot at the right time, especially with Dallas
somewhat in neutral.

Then they went on this road trip. They lost 2-1 on two third period 
goals in Phoenix. They left Yzerman and Larionov behind, both could use 
the rest as they recover from injuries/strains etc.  Now tonight they 
are in the process of losing to the Stars, who managed to put their team 
in gear for at least this game against the wings. 

Looks like third place is sewed up. Scotty admitted he is going to be 
resting his best players now, so that the team is really ready for 
the playoffs. I just hope the Wings don't go into neutral.

Almost certainly Wings vs. Coyotes in round 1.  That should be a good matchup
for the Wings, assuming they have all their players healty.  Pretty sparse
offensive output the last 2 nights...

One doubts they were really trying, to be honest.

Disappointed with the final regualr season DET/COL matchup. Very subdued,
unspirited game on both sides. Wings fucking blew it. Should've at least
gotten a point out of the deal. At least they managed 3 goals, better than
the last two games.

The Wings were/are banged up big time.  Yeah, the allowing the Avs to come
back with the winning goal after having just tied it up was disappointing.
But the outcome of the game was known ahead of time to have absolutely no
effect on standings, playoff pairings.  The worst-case scenario played out,
with both Draper and Brown getting injured.

Come on! It's into the second round here and no-one is posting! The boys need
our support.

Looked very very good in GAme 2 yesterday against St. Louis. They skated much
better and got much better shots off on Fuhr than they did in the previous
game.

I look for St. Louis to come out firing the next game, especially if Pronger
is unable to play. (He got hit in the chest with a slap-shot and needed to
be taken to Henry Ford Hospital.) The same things that bring a team down
initially can be an emotional pick-up later down the line.

And Ozzie looked much better in net. Let's hope he has a few more of these
Vernie-like games.

Yep, it'll be interesting to see if the Wings can sustain the kind of
dominance they displayed in game #2, when things resume tomorrow in St. Louis.

Well a late red-liner by MacInnis almost caused me to throw my TV across the
room. Thank God for Shanny.

Ozzie: wake up.

Shanny: you rule.

Red Wings: get back to Detroit with 3-1 lead.

WHERE IS EVERBODY??? We're one win away from Stanley once again. Let's RAISE
THE ROOF!!! whoop whoop whoop whoop!!!

Sorry, I dropped out after the first round. (Go Cheif!<aka, Chris Simon!!>)
So it looks like a sweep. The only reason I'll be happy if the 'Wings win
is for Vlady. Beyond that, I'm ready for a new champ. =)

  I watched the first period of Game 3, and after seeing Yzerman's/Holmstrom's
goal after just 38 seconds, I started to believe that the roof was about fall
in on the Caps. I knew it moreso when after the first period when the shots
on goal by Washington were still in single digits.

  I think the Wings can and will sweep. It would be nice to see.

BACK2-BACK BAYBEEE!!!!!!!!!!! How sweet was it to see the guys and Vlady
skaiting that Cup around together once again. :) See y'all next year for the
Three-peat!

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