Well. That sucked. Not a very good way to go out, to be honest, though the end was certainly breathless.
Thank you Red Wings for the extended playoff run. Thanks for giving us a chance to hope again. Thanks for fighting through two tough rounds and for making it interesting in the third. Thank you for waking up in the third period and making it a game, long after many of us had given up. Thank you for a great season. I hope it was the beginning of something, that this wasn’t the end of it.
Congratulations to the Ducks. I thought you guys were fortunate to win Games 4 and 5, but you definitely deserved to win Game 6. Good luck in the Finals against the Senators. I have a feeling you’re going to need it. Go Senators!
I’ll try to get a post-mortem up tomorrow night after I get home from work, if I’m not too depressed.
Too many clanks off the goal posts… Too many giveaways at the blue line… Too many 5 on 3’s not taken advantage of… Too many times players not in the correct position for a rebound… Too many guys not hustling… Hasek laying on his back WAY TOO MUCH!… Too many guys playing hurt… Samuelson not hitting the net on too many of his shots…
There, I feel a little better now.
At least they didn’t get shutout tonight which was my biggest fear. Too bad they waited too long to show up tonight. Sigh. GO SENS! (half hearted)
Matt…..
Thank YOU. As a hockey freak, and a regular contributor to XM satellite’s various programming, I would like to extend a HUGE thanks to you and everyone who posts here. Many of us who link to and read this site daily just hide in the background until times like this.
This season, and indeed the last several, have been a huge burden on your time. You have offered amazing insight, tireless hours of recaps and links, and a true passion for the reason he can all hang our heads with pride tonight.
Next season, when the Wings get more applause from the fans than the home team when we play in Chicago or St. Louis or SOOOO many other rinks, we can thank people like you for hanging the title of HOCKEYTOWN on Detroit.
I am proud of my Wings, but equally proud of my friend Matt and everyone here at ONTHEWINGS for standing with me this year. Thank you…thank you…thank you.
We did not lose this round…the Ducks won, and that should be appreciated.
We will be back, and Matt, I count on you for your insight and attention to detail. YOU, Matt Saler, are Hockeytown.
Continued success in your studies!
Thanks Matt, for another great year of Red Wings coverage. You’ve helped make this one of the most exciting years in Red Wings history.
Thank you to the Red Wings organization for another great run at the Cup.
I would have done some things differently tonight, had I been Mike Babcock. Let’s just say that Hasek might as well have been laying down in bed, instead of on the ice. Get a goalie who learns from his mistakes and isn’t so bull-headed, and can stand his ground. I really hope Hasek isn’t back next year, along with Lang. If Lang would have played as hard as he did in the first period tonight, the rest of the series, some better things could have happened.
The Wings just didn’t get enough from the secondary guys when they needed it. And you have to give a ton of credit to the Getzlaf, Penner, and Perry line… those guys can really bring it, and are going to be quite a force in the NHL for some time.
It’s been a great season, and the Wings were the underdog for a change, which really made for an interesting year of hockey for Detroit fans. Let’s just hope Gary Bettman is not in control next year!
GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt, I would echo the thanks for your great blog. I discovered it from A2Y and I have enjoyed reading your blog and will continute to do so. Thank you for your hard work!
Thanks Matt and everyone else who contributes to this site. To tell you the truth, this is a daily site for me to come to. I love reading your posts and will continue to throughout the summer to catch up on the Wing’s offseason signings and trades and such.
The game last night was crazy. After watching the Ducks net 3 amazingly similar goals (Hasek laying down and they bury a rebound?), I thought for sure the Wings were out. I’m glad I kept watching. Can you imagine what the series could have been like if the Wings put that kind of pressure on the Ducks EVERY PERIOD in EVERY game this series? Heck, if they did, they would have won it in three.
Congrats to the Ducks though. They played hard in Game 6 and deserved the win. Even if they were “outplayed” this series, they managed to come out on top, and that’s what counts. I’m sure they’ll play hard in the next round; however, I think the Sens will take it in five, seeing how they eliminated the other two teams I was hoping to go far (NJ and Buffalo).
Once again, thanks for a great season On the Wings!
Well, despite going out on a bit of a downer, I am still very impressed by this team. I do think a few things need to be tweaked, but overall I think this team, just like the past 16 years, will always have a great chance at the Stanley Cup. With the playoff emergence of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, this team can only get better. And with budding stars Valterri Filppula, Tomas Kopecky, Niklas Kronwall, Brett Lebda and Jiri Hudler, this team has a great nucleus. One has to wonder just what would’ve happened had Schneider not been injured.
And Matt, I say it time and time again, thank you for all the effort you put into this blog. You are my number one source for Red Wings news, information and analysis, keep up the outstanding work!
It was a great season for the Wings. Too bad it ended the way that it did. I think the Wings could have won this series, but luck was not on their side. Couple that with some rookie mistakes (Especially in game 5), some injuries, and well… Hmmm… You know the story.
But this playoff stretch was exciting, perhaps because it was so unexpected. The Wings are in rebuilding mode after all. If everyone was healthy… the cup would have been ours!