VeeshanVault

But the Wings got PWNED!!!

GO FLAMES GO!!!

I don't know what to say.

I think teams like the Red Wings are a dying breed. A team of skilled passing players seems to be going the way of the dodo in the NHL, while the clutch-and-grab-while-we-obstruct-you-through-the-neutral-zone teams seem to be the ones advancing through the playoffs.

Yeah, the Wings didn't play as well as they could and should have. Injuries were a part of that. I think think Calgary's hunger and drive to win were part of that. But I also think the type of game they play was a large part of it. It's a grinding game. Drop the puck in deep on the offensive zone, then chase it down. That seems to be what the 'new era' of NHL teams is learning towards. Gone are the days when a team could move the pass through the neutral zone and pass it into the offensive zone to set up scoring chances.

I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, but I much prefer some skill to be shown in the game rather than the same thing up and down the ice every time with people slamming into each other and trying to hold up the other team so you can throw the puck at the net through traffic. I guess all teams are guilty of this to a point but I think that teams like Detroit only engage in that type of play because their opponents (Nashville, Calgary) force them to do so.

[url]mms://wm.nhl.na-central.speedera.net/wm.nhl.na-central/comp/in_action/may/IH_NHL_2003_2004_236_3_300K_continuous.wmv[/url]

So you can relive the moment over and over and over and over again.

I like seeing stacked teams lose, dont really care how they go about doing it. If a few teams couldnt play like they are aloud to now would there be many more then 4 'skilled' teams?

Trek wrote:I like seeing stacked teams lose, dont really care how they go about doing it. If a few teams couldnt play like they are aloud to now would there be many more then 4 'skilled' teams?

If they would implement a salary cap and crack down on neutral zone obstruction like they said they were going to this year, then sure - there would be plenty of skilled teams and different teams would be competing in the playoffs each year, just like the NFL.

Unfortunately, the players union is very much against a salary cap because they might only make 4 million a year instead of 8 or 9. Boo hoo.

thought it was an intense and exciting game last night. One of the best goaltending duels i can remember since Game 4 of like 1996 Cup Final when Roy faced up against Vanbeesbrouck. Beezer had like 63 saves in that triple OT game!

I respect your feelings on this Xou but the Flames won for 1 reason: they skated harder and worked harder. That has been a key in professional sports for decades. Calagry utilized more team speed than Detroit, and while they may not have had the puck control/finesse talent of Detroit, they adapted a strategy based on that speed. These weren't trapfests. There was a lot of end-to-end and fast breaks. The Flames forwards made guys like Derian Hatcher and Brett Hull look like pylons. In fairness Hatcher missed most of the season with a knee injury (which may not be fully recovered, thus explaining his lack of skating ability) but what are the excuses for guys like Hull, Datsyuk and Zetterberg? The big guns didn't do their jobs.

One thing I really hope Detroit fans and media are fair about, is the effort put forth by Curtis Joseph. The guy gave up 11 goals in 6 games in this series. He was definately not what was wrong. You look at the winning goal last night: he made the first save but shitty defensive coverage meant Gelinas was all alone when the rebound came his way. I was watching a wrap up of it and to quote Craig Button on it (who was fired as Flames GM last year and was providing some commentary), "when a team doesn't score any goals, you can't blame their goaltender for losing".

Nope, Joseph played superb the entire series - if anyone faults him I'll decapitate them irl. (Vary tired of CuJo bashing from Detroit fans.)

Calgary is fast, yes - and they did get a lot of odd man rushes due to defensive lapses. That doesn't change the fact that they play an ugly (although apparently very effective) style of hockey. As I said, I don't know that there is anything wrong with it - I just think it will become the ONLY style of play in the league in the next few years and it'll get old fast.

No excuses for Hull and Shanahan. They didn't play well this series at all. Datsyuk performed decently I thought, although he should have taken more shots on goal instead of trying to pass all the time. That comes with experience, though. Datsyuk and Zetterburg were rendered useless pretty much by the muggings they kept getting along the boards whenever they tried to skate past someone. =P

Haven't the devils won all of their cups in the last few years by neutral zone trapping and without any real thrilling individual players (except Brodeur)

it should not be a strategy a championship caliber team is not prepared to face.

Voronwë wrote:Haven't the devils won all of their cups in the last few years by neutral zone trapping and without any real thrilling individual players (except Brodeur)

it should not be a strategy a championship caliber team is not prepared to face.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. It's not a matter of facing it, it's a matter of countering it which is extremely difficult.

It was a sad night in the Adelrune household as well. I actually saw Estheria flip the TV the bird when the Flames scored and told me to turn it off.

Now, I am just hoping to see the Avalanche fall tonight.

Yup, neutral-zone trap was reborn in Jersey when Lemaire was coaching...ugggggggg.

Remove the red line and the neutral zone trap is gone. for teh international hockey. No touch icing too, and mandatory visors cuz I hate great players not playing due to stupid shit that can be prevented.

And fucking hang people who take two handed shots to the face of another player.