OT - Official Post-Game Red Wings Discussion

The sky is falling.

My official statement on this FUBAR situation is: poop.

...need to retool.  History indicates they will.

I got a bottle of mission street blonde ale from trader joes.  really good beer actually, and only 6 bucks for a sixer.

what are the rest of yall drinking to deal with the pain?

I can't complain in a year I knew would be an off year going to the 2nd round with a rookie goalie.  Tough series to lose, losing 4 games by 1 goal, but they were a better team.  We will retool, cut some lard and come back next year ready to dominate.  Our guys need somewhat of a break too.  Hopefully this early exit accomplishes that.

Say what you want about making game-losing mistakes or plays in general, but yet again, it happens on the resulting play of dispicible officiaiting. No dfferent than the 2006 football season really. Just because Ohio State and us got got beat bad in our bowl games doesn't excuse the fact that immensly unjust subjectivity on the part of human polling is what caused those match-ups in the first place.

Not that I'm surprised by things like this anymore. I'm a Michigan fan and a Red Wings fan, after all. That still doesn't make it suck any less. But at least I have shaved my hideous beard now, and I can take comfort that we didn't get screwed, nor are we likely ever to be, as hard as Michigan was in the tournament this year. If I ever meet that referee, he's going to need hearing aids when I'm done with him.

Maybe one of these days I will be given the off-season closure of a series in which I can honestly say we were beat fair and square. No uncalled blatant and intentional cheap shots, no bogus penalty shots, etc. You can never expect the officiating to be perfect, but maybe one day we'll lose a series where it didn't potentially cost us the cup.

Trade Bertuzzi to Tampa Bay for a cheerleader and a hot dog.

Let's go Penguins!

You guys who think Bert needs to go needs to think again. He had a pretty good darn year, and when all the injuries happend he stepped up during the season. And he didn't have a horrible playoff either. The penalties he was called for were marginal at best. Look at the one tonight. That was a horrible call. I believe he wants to be here next year as does Holland, and he'll come back at a cap friendly number. Williams is gone for sure. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Maltby. I think he'll have to have a 2 way contract or something to be with the team. I'd have to believe they'll re-sign Eaves and Miller. A lot will have to do on what Lidstrom does. I think he'll give it 2 more tries to see if he can go out on top. If he takes an Yzerman like contract, 1 mil a season, or something close to that, it will give Holland a bunch of room to work his magic. And if Lids wants to win 1 more cup I think he may take a million dollar contract.

What do they do in goal? Obviously Howard is their starter. He had an up and down playoff, but he sure did have a good night tonight. Osgood is signed until 2011, but do they bring in someone else. Are they still confident in Osgood. I see him playing 30 games next year, but is he up to the task? It'll be an interesting off season for sure, and to be honest, one that the Wings truely deserve. 4 seasons in 3 years is a lot of hockey.

I don't think you're going to see Bertuzzi go anywhere. He wanted to stay after 2007, but the Ducks offered him enough to get him to go. He's three years older now, and nobody's going to offer him a ton of cash on the open market. He really likes it in Detroit, and Holland is fond of him. That and, as ominous as it is to say, he's the nuclear deterrant.

I don't think the Wings will be active on the market, personally. Mostly because they won't be able to. All bets are off if Lidstrom retires, obviously, but my guess is Lidstrom comes back for one more year and takes a paycut so the Wings can fit Hudler's salary in and re-sign the guys they want. Abdelkader and Helm are locks to be re-signed, Homer is too if he wants to come back. Ritola and Kindl have to be up with the NHL club next year, and I really hope Miller and Eaves are back, they were awesome for us this year.

Like I said though, that all gets thrown into flux if Lidstrom decides to hang em up. Big void at the top of the defense that would have to be addressed.

Losing all 4 games by one goal. A few bounces the other way and the Wings sweep or at the very least are much more competitive in the series. Luck is a cruel mistress I guess. Ah well, looking forward to football.......

I agree with the youth movement on D.  I don't know what the Draft looks like, but I feel like we need to add some scoring punch to complement Z, Pavs, and Mule.

It was a tough way to go out, we could've packed it in mid-season.  That resilience tells you a lot about this great franchise.

My hat is off the the Sharks; they played a great series and perhaps their guys and goalie have learned from the past couple years of defeat and are ready to win it all. I do think they were the hungrier team. The Red Wings have nothing to be ashamed about, a couple breaks here and there -or perhaps no break, as in Lidstrom's stick which led to the odd man rush and goal in game two- and we could well be the team moving on. Do changes need to be made? Nick isn't getting any younger, and perhaps some of the guys could be upgraded, but I'm willing to bet the Wings will be ready to be back in the playoffs when the puck drops next year.

It was a tough series, but this team probably needed the rest and will benefit from being out-worked by a team that probably wanted it a bit more.  The Wings have played 303 regular+post season games the last three years, plus 10 or so Olympic games.  This team needs to have any extra month to recover and refocus, and I fully expect them to come  back  next year on a tear.