As usual, the Wings had the best road records in the league this year and they usually go into the other team's venue focused on the job at hand. To be honest, I am usually more worried about them taking care of business on home ice during games 1 and 2 than I am about their play the road during games 3 and 4.Detroit scores in OT- they're up 2-0, but let's be careful- look what happened with the Caps.
Going up 2-0 in a NHL series is no sure thing.
As usual, the Wings had the best road records in the league this year and they usually go into the other team's venue focused on the job at hand. To be honest, I am usually more worried about them taking care of business on home ice during games 1 and 2 than I am about their play the road during games 3 and 4.
In any case, the Chicagoans had their "A" game today. It should be a good series if they can match their level of play while at home.
I don't think they looked bad...instead, I do feel they looked sluggish, which brought about some sloppy play and the fact they sometimes appeared to be skating with concrete skates.How is it they looked pretty bad? That was tough game. the D look great, and Ozzie was very very good. Not sure what game you were watching.
I just wanted to mention there was finally a nice article about Ozzie today at ESPN. You know, this guy is Top 10 in regular season wins, Top 10 in Playoff victories, has an outstanding career GAA, is looking to win his 4th Stanley Cup, and will probably wind-up his Hall-of-Fame career in the Top 5 in career wins...yet, this guy gets so little respect in the media. All the opposing goalies get (many without 10% of Ozzie's credentials) are showered and praised by the pundits, and all Ozzie gets are the victories. Go figure!How is it they looked pretty bad? That was tough game. the D look great, and Ozzie was very very good. Not sure what game you were watching.
this guy is Top 10 in regular season wins, Top 10 in Playoff victories, has an outstanding career GAA, is looking to win his 4th Stanley Cup, and will probably wind-up his Hall-of-Fame career in the Top 5 in career wins...yet, this guy gets so little respect in the media. All the opposing goalies get (many without 10% of Ozzie's credentials) are showered and praised by the pundits, and all Ozzie gets are the victories. Go figure!
In Ozzie we trust!
I don't recall the specifics, but I believe having three quality goaltenders (Manny Legace) after acquiring Hasek create a problem. I don't think it was fair to Ozzie to have him playing backup to Hasek. Again, I don't recall the specifics but Paul, Jimbo, DetFan or satjay should know.And they STILL let him go briefly in 2001.
I don't get it- the last few seasons, he and Hasek were the two goalies; why didn't they do the same a while back?
How is it they looked pretty bad? That was tough game. the D look great, and Ozzie was very very good. Not sure what game you were watching.
I just wanted to mention there was finally a nice article about Ozzie today at ESPN. You know, this guy is Top 10 in regular season wins, Top 10 in Playoff victories, has an outstanding career GAA, is looking to win his 4th Stanley Cup, and will probably wind-up his Hall-of-Fame career in the Top 5 in career wins...yet, this guy gets so little respect in the media. All the opposing goalies get (many without 10% of Ozzie's credentials) are showered and praised by the pundits, and all Ozzie gets are the victories. Go figure!
In Ozzie we trust!
How is it they looked pretty bad? That was tough game. the D look great, and Ozzie was very very good. Not sure what game you were watching.
They couldn't clear the puck from their zone, bad passes, gave up 37 shots, looked tired etc...
I'm a bit of a hockey elitist so I look at things a lot more critical than the average fan.
I don't recall the specifics, but I believe having three quality goaltenders (Manny Legace) after acquiring Hasek create a problem. I don't think it was fair to Ozzie to have him playing backup to Hasek. Again, I don't recall the specifics but Paul, Jimbo, DetFan or satjay should know.
Exactly. One of the NHL Network analysts mentioned the Wings looked too tentative and didn't force the play during many stretches of the game. I wanted to slap him and tell 'em the Wings played tired last night. Anyway, I expect the Wings will come out flying after a couple days of rest and a short trip to Chicago. Those trips out to the west coast are brutal...on players and fans alike. How nice will it be having an 8pm starting time for an away game?It was obvious from about 5 minutes into the game that the Wing's were a very tired hockey team. Chicago out skated them and outplayed them the whole game until the overtime winner.
I though the same thing going into this series...but I recorded an episode of NHL on the Fly on NHL Network prior to the series and one of their senile older analysts couldn't shutup about why he felt the Blackhawks should take the series in 6-games. I was absolutely "stunned" at how a "professional analyst" could completely dismiss all the Wings favorable qualities, while crowing the Blackhawks as Champions of All Time when they youngsters really haven't done anything outside of beating a mediocre Calgary team and an aging Vancouver team. Anyway, I noticed this knucleheaded analyst hasn't been seen on the NHL Network after Detroit's wins.It's been a good run for Chicago, but the conference finals are not "serious Cup consideration", the Stanley Cup finals is "serious Cup consideration", and it won't be this year, for Chicago. The writing is on the wall.
I agree! I would love to see the Blackhawks mature and become an annual rival (especially since we all hate staying-up for those 1am West Coast games) but they are still a couple years away from possibly dethrowning the Wings. PLUS, there is always that pesky Salary Cap and keeping their young players together when they are offered the "Big Bucks" to go elsewhere won't be easy.Just the same, with all that youth, I can see these guys PLAYING in the Stanley Cup finals in two seasons.