Apr. 8 :: Give It Up. It’s Time to Stop Running.
OH. WOW. GEE WHIZ. LOOKY HERE.
Hawks at Wings. 7:30 PM Eastern. Joe Louis Arena. The Wings are chasing the two seed and need to hunt down San Jose like Samuel Gerard tracking Dr. Richard Kimball.
IT’S NOT OVER
It’s the fifth of six matchups between these Central foes, with the regular season finale for both coming on Sunday. The last time these two tangled was on March 28th, where Marian Hossa lifted the Hawks to a 4-3 win in the extra session. Chicago has also won three of the previous four against the Wings.
SAM, THERE’S A GUY ON THE PHONE CLAIMING TO BE RICHARD KIMBALL
Niklas Hjalmarsson. It looks like someone just slammed a bunch of keys on the keyboard and that last name popped out.
WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE’D HE GO?
:: Detroit got blanked in Carolina on Wednesday, 3-0.
:: Chicago took a controversial decision over St. Louis on Wednesday, 4-3 in OT .
WHAT IS THIS, A TRENCHCOAT CONVENTION? (Ed. note: No lines released at time of posting. Best guesses ensue…)
By special request, the TPL Glossary is ready to jailsex your eyes.
Cleary — Datsyuk — Hudler
Franzen — Filppula — Bertuzzi
Holmstrom — Modano — Abdelkader
Miller — Helm — Eaves
Lidstrom — Ericsson
Salei — Stuart
Kindl — Rafalski
Howard
MacDonald
HOW’D YOU LOSE THAT ARM?
Chris Osgood [bergina]
Niklas Kronwall [shoulder]
Henrik Zetterberg [knee]
WE’RE EATING ORANGES AND WE’RE MAKING ID’S
Kris Draper
The TPL Name Game ”Three Stars”
Disch: (Horsecoppin’)
Petrella: Chris “Think Me Up A Cup of Coffee” Osgood
Hollis: Jonathan “My, My, My, My, My, What A Mess” Ericsson
*Now it’s up to you! Think up your best names and throw them in the comments — the best one will be shared for all to enjoy on the TPL Facebook Page. The best of the best will be pitted against one another at season’s end, and the winner takes home a TPL Shirt of their choice.*
WELL, I AM TRYING TO SOLVE A PUZZLE
:: All kinds of playoff ramifications in this one tonight, for both Detroit and Chicago. The Wings can leapfrog SJ for the two seed with a win, while the Hawks are looking to stave off the Dallas Stars. A win or charity point for the Hawks coupled with a Dallas loss means Chicago is in. A Chicago loss and a Dallas win means shit gets crazy this weekend. Let’s hope for the latter.
:: It’s been four wins in a row for the Hawks at Joe Louis Arena. Sure would be nice to put a stop to that, no?
:: Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg have both been ruled out for the rest of the regular season, with Zetterberg questionable for the start of the playoffs as well. It will be interesting to see how the Wings approach these last two games. Do you go for broke to try and snag the two seed or lay back and try and keep folks healthy? Tough call, especially when the two seed may “reward” the Wings with a matchup against red hot Anaheim.
:: The Chris Osgood saga continues to drag on, with Ken Holland giving the apparent “vote of confidence” to Joey MacDonald today for the #2 goaltender spot come playoff time. Osgood sounds hopeful that he’ll be around for the playoffs, but do we really want to see an untested Ozzie between the pipes with everything on the line? I vote no.
:: PREDICTION: Wings 4, Hawks 3 (OT). Detroit gets the win despite surrendering the charity point. Dallas also gets at least a point tonight, meaning Sunday’s season finale in Chicago is potentially make or break for the Hawks.
WHAT WE LEARNED AGAINST THE HURRICANES
Failed to win. Failed to stay healthy. Failed.
Jiri “Are You Saying That I Crushed Her Skull” Hudler
Todd “Running Only Makes You Look Guilty” Bertuzzi
Jonathan “So, He Showed Up Not Dead Yet” Ericsson
Johan “When D’you See Him Last” Franzen
As I see it, these are the possible scenarios in which the Hawks could still miss the playoffs (which I so desperately want):
1. The Wings beat the Hawks twice in regulation, and Dallas gets at least one regulation/overtime win (non-shootout). Even if the Stars pick up no points in their other game, the two teams would be tied in overall points and regulation/overtime wins, but Dallas has the tie breaker since they have a 3-1 edge head-to-head this year.
2. The Wings surrender one loser point in either of the two remaining games (but not both), the same applies from above except that Dallas needs at least one point in its other game.
3. If the Hawks get two loser points, Dallas needs two regulation/overtime wins and gets the 8th seed due to having one more regulation/overtime win than the Hawks.
4. If the Hawks win either game in regulation or overtime (but not both), Dallas needs two regulation/overtime wins and gets the 8th seed due to their head-to-head record.
I can’t believe I’ll be cheering for the Stars this weekend.
Amen, Praying they kick knocked out.
In addition to each of these scenarios, the Ducks need to get at least as many points in their final two games as the Hawks do.
Johnny “Why are you always yelling at me?” Ericsson
Thomas ” We got a gopher” Holmstrom
Todd” I didn’t Kill my wife” Bertuzzi
The obvious, Jonathan “Check every outhouse” Ericsson
Chicago Resident, Huge Wings Fan. dont you guys think it would be best for the wings to get the 3 seed and the hawks to get the 8 seed. If anyones got Vancouvers number, its the blackhawks. If they could get past the canucks theyd then give the sharks a hard time. Playoffs are never easy, but thatd be a pretty ideal scenario for the wings i tihink