Babcock Pulls Datsyuk for Game 1

It’s a rematch of last year’s final with Hossa switching teams and reversing his number 18 to 81 as he joins the Red Wings in their march to a second straight Stanley Cup champagne shower, but they will have to win Game 1 without Pavel Datsyuk. After the morning skate, Datsyuk said he felt great and was ready to play, but once Mike Babcock heard the Russian talking with reporters, he pulled him aside and later released a statement that he would be “unavailable” for tonight’s game.

The Wings hope to repeat as champions just over a decade after they performed that same feat in 1997 and 1998. Datsyuk’s practice “did not look comfortable” according to reporters, most importantly, “lacked mobility”. Datsyuk suffered a foot injury on May 22nd and has been listed as day to day since. He may not play tomorrow for Game 2 either, but he will be listed a game-time decision. Jonathan Ericsson will be joining the club tonight, as well as Nick Lidstrom, but Kris Draper will sit it out to nurse his strained groin for another night.

Ruslan Fedotenko, who has come down with a mild flu, is listed as a game-time decision for tonight. The Pens would love to keep him in the lineup and continue his great chemistry with Maxime Talbot and Evgeny Malkin, but if he is not ready to play at 100% the Penguins are better off keeping him out of the lineup.

I will be liveblogging tonight’s game with Ryan MacIntyre of HockeyJackass.com. He will be taking you the way with the play by play while I chime in with the colour commentary. Hope to see you all there for a fantastic start to this year’s Finals as it truly has come down to the two best teams in the league.

Micheal Aldred
michealaldred@hotmail.com

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Wings vs. Sabres LiveBlog Tonight

The Buffalo Sabres are on their last legs.

The team was sitting pretty in the Eastern conference for most of the season until star goaltender Ryan Miller went down to injury. Over that period, the team struggled to find wins, recording a 4-7-2 record and handing over their playoff spot to the surging Pittsburgh Penguins.

Miller is back now and Buffalo has returned to their winning ways however, they still sit 4 points back from the Panthers and the Rangers for that final playoff spot in the East. The good news is that they still have a game in hand, and that game is tonight.

The Red Wings on the other hand are in the midst of a goaltender controversy. Neither goalie has stepped up to show that they are ready to take the reins and lead the defending Stanley Cup champions into this year's playoffs. The team snapped a three game losing streak yesterday with a big win over the Wild however, Osgood still had his shaky points.

Despite rumors that Conklin was going to get the start tonight, Babcock has advised that he is going to stick with the vet for the next two games. Trying to instill some confidence are we??

I'll be play-by-play liveblogging the game tonight on theScore.com. CLICK HERE for a link to join me for coverage of the game and for some intermission playoff talk.


Ryan D. MacIntyre
thejackass@hockeyjackass.com

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Devils & Penguins: Liveblog Tonight

If you were tuning in here a couple of weeks ago, I would have been talking about how the New Jersey Devils were destined to take over the top seed in the East and possibly represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.

It has been a bit of a rough go since then however.

The Devils have now lost five games in a row and over this period, they've only scored one powerplay goal while giving up seven. The worst part of it all has been that the majority of the recent losses have been against potential first round opponents.

Tonight, they will be facing another one of these teams in the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens have continued to roll, winning 5 of their last 6 games, and have let the rest of the conference know that they are to be taken seriously.

Yours truly will be play-by-play liveblogging this one for your viewing enjoyment at theScore.com. Feel free to come and join me and to chip in your two cents.

Click here for a direct link.

Ryan D. MacIntyre
thejackass@hockeyjackass.com

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Best Team in the East?

Just in case you were wondering, the Bruins are still the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Wasn’t sure if you remembered.

There are a lot of people around who have been talking about how the New Jersey Devils are actually the team to beat in the East. Even the Devils themselves must have been thinking that they were destined to take over the number one spot.

That was until they faced the Bruins last Sunday.



Boston handed Marty Brodeur only his 2nd loss since his return to action on February 26, outscoring the Devils 4 to 1 and exposing holes in the Jersey defense.

For Boston it was a big morale boosting victory. For New Jersey, it was a segue to another key loss the following day to Philadelphia.

Boston has now stretched its lead over New Jersey to 5 points with only 9 games remaining. More importantly, the team finally has something to feel confident about. If you had taken a quick glance at the standings prior to last Sunday’s tilt, you would have noticed that over the prior ten game period, Boston was tied for having the worst record in the Conference.

Not exactly a confidence booster for the number one seed going into the playoffs.

Now the Bruins have close to a week to enjoy their big victory. They don’t play until the weekend when they’ll be taking on the Leafs on Saturday, and then the suddenly surging Flyers on Sunday. Yours truly will be play-by-play liveblogging that one at theScore.com; feel free to join me.

The break for Boston may be a blessing in disguise. Many of the team’s young guns, including Krejci, Wheeler and Lucic, have been slowed as of late as they continue to adjust to the hectic 82 game NHL schedule. The break also doesn’t hurt the team’s starting goaltender Tim Thomas, who has been known for showing signs of mental fatigue during the team's previous stretch runs.

Either way, Boston sent a message on Sunday and let everyone know that they won’t be just giving away the Conference lead.

If you want that number one seed, you’re going to have to come and get it.

Ryan D. MacIntyre
thejackass@hockeyjackass.com

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