Round One: Columbus @ Detroit

refs are setting a tone that they are not going to let anything go

osgood has looked very sharp tonight

asq2 wrote:

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:i think this is going to come down to how the goalies do for their respective teams especially detroit osgood has not been very good

I'm not sure you can just ignore the massive difference in calibre between the two teams' skaters.

That's because the difference isn't 'massive'.
cool)

Remember how the Oilers beat the Wings in '06.



BTW Justin Williams--who now plays for the Jackets--was on the Wings team that was upended by the Oilers.

Mike Peca and Raffi Torres--who now play for the Jackets--were on the Oilers team that beat the Wings...as was Ty Conklin.

And remember NO team has won back to back Stanley Cups in ten years.

Finally, remember in hockey--especially playoff hockey--the only absolute is the score at the end of the game.

BTW the Jackets have more than gone toe-to-toe with the reigning Champions so far in this game, yes?

this is a very fast moving fiesty game

detroit gets one 1-0 hudler scores

columbo gets it back right away 1-1 courtesy of umberger

2-1.

Hudler and Filppula combine on goal #1. Two future stars for the Wings right there.

Whoop. 3-1.

osgood has been playing stellar from what i had seen

4-1.

asq2 wrote:4-1.

Good job of scorekeeping...are you watching the game?

A demonstration by the Red Wings of why they are the benchmark for other teams.

The two quick goals in the second period were the turning point in this one.

An excellent home win by Detroit...but no means easy. Hitch will be reminding his troops they need to be harder on the puck and not let Detroit take the game away from them. No team can compete with the Wings in terms of puck possession.

Chris Osgood appears to be back on his game again.

davetherave wrote:

asq2 wrote:4-1.

Good job of scorekeeping...are you watching the game?

No TSN2.

So I watched the first half, but the online streaming didn't work too well.

asq2 wrote:

davetherave wrote:

asq2 wrote:4-1.

Good job of scorekeeping...are you watching the game?

No TSN2.

So I watched the first half, but the online streaming didn't work too well.

Yeah, the online streams were really crappy...

I had to keep switching over to catch the TSN2 feed when the online stream went down.

One of the keys was Osgood's four saves vs. Nash.

Great start to this series...

PS I wasn't trying to push back on you for taking the position that the Wings are a truly elite team...just making the point that differences between teams--especially in the playoffs--are very close indeed.

Antoine Vermette did an excellent interview on Team 1200 the other day and he remarked one of the things that surprised him was how many really good players the Jackets have that most people never hear of, much less talk about. He mentioned Chimera, Umberger, Voracek, Torres and Modin.

So basically, what I am saying is that the Red Wings win, not so much because of the 'quality' of their players, but more because they have developed a WAY of playing that the TEAM buys into. If you watch or read Babc0ck's interviews, he always talks about 'Red Wing Hockey'--in other words, an obsessive dedication to zero defect execution.

That's a reason why Ken Hitchc0ck says things like "when the Wings play they way they can, teams are lucky to beat them".

Talent is one thing. Systems and execution are as, if not more, important.

Hope you're watching the Hawks-Flames and Ducks-Sharks later...

Cheers

:D:

disappointing. Hopefully Nash and his BJs can improve in the next game.

davetherave wrote:PS I wasn't trying to push back on you for taking the position that the Wings are a truly elite team...just making the point that differences between teams--especially in the playoffs--are very close indeed.

No worries. I'm not trying to hide the fact that I'm incredibly biased.

It's just so nice to watch after a season of Sens-intensive (maybe that's the wrong word) hockey.

Personally, I think the Wings are worse this year than last. Lidstrom fell to only semi-deity status this season for a while, and the D behind the top pairing regressed quite a bit. Not to mention the goaltending was a major head-ache.

Hopefully Osgood can continue this stellar play.

asq2 wrote:

davetherave wrote:PS I wasn't trying to push back on you for taking the position that the Wings are a truly elite team...just making the point that differences between teams--especially in the playoffs--are very close indeed.

No worries. I'm not trying to hide the fact that I'm incredibly biased.

It's just so nice to watch after a season of Sens-intensive (maybe that's the wrong word) hockey.

Personally, I think the Wings are worse this year than last. Lidstrom fell to only semi-deity status this season for a while, and the D behind the top pairing regressed quite a bit. Not to mention the goaltending was a major head-ache.

Hopefully Osgood can continue this stellar play.

Ha ha...good on you for that. Nothing wrong with bias...your points are always excellent!

And you're right...watching these games shows you just how GOOD hockey can be!

Cheers
:D: