Ahira's Hangar

I can see the problem that Winnipeg fans with the move! And many of us here in Detroit would as soon spit on Bettman as look at him. He is financially ruining the sport with his bizarre emphasis on moving/expanding teams to unnatural hot climate places like Florida and Arizona. If he has to have US expansion ( ) why not try northern cities in places like Wisconsin (Milwaukee comes to mind immediately - they would have an instant and very natural built in rivalry with the Blackhawks that would sell tickets) or Seattle (which is close enough to Vancouver that again, a normal and natural rivalry might start up which would sell tickets)?

And we won't even talk about the bizarre rulings coming down from the league offices. Like not suspending the Hurricanes player that sucker punched one of the Bruins in their playoff series and broke bones in his face. And of course, that is the same Canes player that scored in overtime of game seven to end Boston's season -a guy who should not even have been out on the ice because he should have been suspended for dirty play.

If you think my complaint is not valid stop and ask yourself - if the punchee had been Sidney Crosby instead of Aaron Ward don't you think that the puncher would have been severely punished?

And we will not even talk about how games are mostly carried in the USA on a tiny little cable station called Versus which is unavailable in many markets rather than ESPN or another big channel nearly everyone with cable has access to. Way to promote the sport, Bettman.

If the team were in Michigan or another rust belt city/state you could blame the recession, as it started here years before it hit the rest of the country. But the Phoenix area has only been in the toilet for the past few months. You cannot blame the 2005 or 2006 and probably even the 2007 losses on a recession that had not yet started in that part of the country.

Excuses, excuses, just like every other bit of asshattery that comes out of the NHL offices.

Wings lead the western finals against Chicago 1-0, with game two tonight in Detroit. Both western teams have better records than both eastern teams, so whoever wins this series gets home ice advantage for the Stanley Cup finals.

In the east, the Pens lead the Canes 1-0, with game two to be played on (I think) Thursday.

Wings now lead Blackhawks 2-0 in the western series. Game three will be in Chicago Friday night - and I expect the Hawks to play like it is game seven.

As I thought, Chicago came out charging, and I am very pleased that my Wings played tough enough to take it to overtime - especially since Pavel Datsyuk was not able to play with a foot injury. Wings lead the series 2-1.

The Pens lead their series 2-0, but that might well change with the series shifting over to Carolina's home ice.

As the series stand:

East Pens 3 Canes 0

West Red Wings 2 Blackhawks 1

The Wings' tough series against Anaheim is really starting to show with a bunch of injuries. Datsyuk, Kolpecki, and Draper are all out, and everyone believes that Hossa has been playing with a secret injury as he has not been himself at all for two rounds now. Even if they get by the Blackhawks, unless they get some of their injured players back into form, they probably stand no chance against the Pens. Ah well. Luck of the draw.

While driving into work this afternoon they said on the radio that Nicky Lidstrom is injured and would be unavailble for game four today.

I nearly cried. How could my team ever possibly win without two centers in Draper and Datsyuk and now the best blueliner of his generation?

Man, did I ever get excited when I found out the Wings put a major beat down on Chicago 6-1.

Wings lead the west 3-1, coming back to Detroit.

A 6-1 rout by the Wings? Wow! Looking very good for your team, duchess. Well, minus the injuries...

Looking forward to a Stanley Cup showdown between Detroit and Pittsburgh if that happens.

We did get to see them play our local OHL team, the Plymouth Whalers, a couple of months ago, and yes the Spitfires are a good team.

Well Duchess, your wings are in the finals......again....
I have to say, I'm not a huge Red Wings fan & with my wife being from western PA.... Go Pens!!!

Should be a good series, two outstanding goaltenders.

A comment on the previous conversation of moving a team to southern Ontario:
Bettmen is a slug & will probably knuckle under & allow it, which would definitely hurt Sabres game attendance, mostly because you can't hardly get a ticket for leafs games, so hockey fans come to B-lo to see games.
I think the team would still be supported, but what would a move like that do to rivalries?
Bettman is a jerk who still knows nothing about hockey.
Earthy

It's universal! We all hate Bettman!

I think it will be the year for the Pens, Earthy. The Red Wings are simply too beat up and have too many injuries this year. One of our defensemen, Lilja, has been out for months now with post-concussion syndrome. We are missing two of our centers in Datsyuk and Draper. And the biggest loss is the peerless and irreplaceable Nick Lidstrom.

The Pens are on fire and it would be extremely hard to beat them with a full roster and a healthy team. When you have to replace the best blue liner in the world with the pushing-50 Chris Chelios (who has a willing heart but has lost more than one step)...well...

BOO BETTMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Young Red Wings defenseman Ericcson is not injured per se, by the way, even though the article says he is. He actually had to have an emergency appendectomy - so he is out, but not due to an injury. Yes, the Red Wings have been dropping like flies. The very physical Anaheim series followed by a semi-physical Blackhawks series killed us).