Replies

  • They all hope he'll attain his former greatness. Personally, for me, just one more reason to hate the Red Wings.
  • I know. But it should be pretty obvious that he won't. He didn't with Florida. He didn't with Detroit. He didn't with Anaheiim. He didn't with Calgary. So he's not going to do it this time either. He is what he is now. A 3rd or 4th line grinder with offensive ability who isn't as tough as he looks and kills you defensively.
  • How old is he now, and how much did it cost the Wings?
  • Bertuzzi is 34 and it's costing them 1.5 million. Not a lot of money. But money that could have been better spent elsewhere, even if that meant saving it 'til the trade deadline when a better player might become available.
  • Agreed. I would much rather see a team bring someone up on the upswing of their career to get them some experience, than bringing in a failed retread.
  • The Western Conference match-ups are all set for the first round.

    #1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Colorado Avalanche
    #2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #7 Nashville Predators
    #3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 Los Angeles Kings
    #4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

    Who do you think will win?
  • And the Eastern Conference match-ups:

    #1 Washington Capitals vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
    #2 New Jersey Devils vs. #7 Philadelphia Flyers
    #3 Buffalo Sabres vs. #6 Boston Bruins
    #4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Ottawa Senators

    Who do you think will win?
  • Just watched the rangers lose to the Flyers (thru the magic of Tivo.) My wife has rubbed off on me, and for once, I was rooting for the Rangers. And now... I guess I'm rooting for my hometown Flyers again.

    Chris Fluit said:
    And the Eastern Conference match-ups:

    #1 Washington Capitals vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
    #2 New Jersey Devils vs. #7 Philadelphia Flyers
    #3 Buffalo Sabres vs. #6 Boston Bruins
    #4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Ottawa Senators

    Who do you think will win?
  • #1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Colorado Avalanche
    San Jose. I know that the Sharks have a reputation for being weak in the playoffs but I don't see any way for them to lose this series. The Avalanche stumbled into the playoffs (going 8-10-3 since March 1) and their starting goalie, Craig Anderson, is a career back-up who was showing a lot of wear and tear down the stretch. On the plus side, the Sharks showed a lot of fortitude, reclaiming the division and the conference leads from Phoenix and Chicago after losing them briefly a couple of weeks ago.

    #2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #7 Nashville Predators
    Nashville. I'm going out on a limb and picking the upset here. Maybe I'm just looking for excuses to not pick Chicago. After all, they score more and allow fewer goals than the Predators. And, after a slow March, they put together a six-game winning streak in April. But I think that Nashville has the goal-tending and the depth to pull off the upset while Chicago is facing questions of pressure, health and goal-tending that could shake their confidence if Nashville wins one or two early.

    #3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 Los Angeles Kings
    Vancouver. Another team fighting a "can't-get-it-done-in-the-playoffs" reputation vs. a team scuffling to make the playoffs. The Kings were slightly better than the Avs at the end (9-7-5 since March 1) but their goal-tending is in even worse shape with some fans calling for a goaltending change before the playoffs start. As for the Canucks, Luongo has now shown that he can play big in big games (see: Olympic goal medal), the Sedin brothers are a nigh-impossible to stop first line and there's enough secondary scoring (Kesler, Burrows, Samuelsson) to bury the weaker Kings.

    #4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings
    Detroit. A month ago, I was worried that I was going to have to pick against the Wings in the first round but they really poured it on and avoided a first round match-up with the big guns of San Jose and Chicago. The Phoenix Coyotes are no slouch. They are well-coached and have great goal-tending. But they were also lucky (leading the league in winning one-goal games). Detroit's healthy line-up and huge edge in experience should be the difference.
  • Looks like I was wrong. Bertuzzi didn't return to his earlier dominant form. But he did become a very good secondary player, working on a wing with center Pavel Datsyuk and even carrying the Wings for a little while when both Dats and Zetterberg were hurt. We got a lot more out of Bert than I had expected.

    Chris Fluit said:
    I know. But it should be pretty obvious that he won't. He didn't with Florida. He didn't with Detroit. He didn't with Anaheiim. He didn't with Calgary. So he's not going to do it this time either. He is what he is now. A 3rd or 4th line grinder with offensive ability who isn't as tough as he looks and kills you defensively.
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