Starting with the Ottawa Senators fans and team, it is good to see a Canadian team in the finals.  The finals will be worth watching to see if the Cup will go to a Canadian team.  I would like to see the finals with Detroit versus Ottawa just so I get to see in my lifetime a Canadian team fight for the trophy with the Red Wings.  If it is Anaheim then Senators all the way. 

     About game five so the Ducks won.  And I read that this is a seven game series.  We have known that but Ducks fans seem to think the series was won then.  That the Red Wings have nothing left.  But there is some good defense being played by the Red Wings right now in the second period.  It will be interesting to see the Wings come back to Detroit in game 7 if they win tonight.  Right now the Ducks are ahead by one goal.  A short handed shot from Pronger deflected off Rob Niedermayer.  Hasek and Gigeure have played to the highest level of skill that has been demanded from each goalie.  The Wings did this against Kiprussoff and Nabokov and won.  Yes in six.  But if the Wings win this series it will have through three rounds in these playoffs of getting past three amazing goalkeepers.  If the Ducks win the same can be said of Hasek when so many people wrote him off for the bus to the old folks home instead round three game six against the Ducks.

     Dominik Hasek has gone against Jerome Iginla, Joe Thornton and Jonathon Cheechoo, Teemu Selanne now will he have the chance to keep Daniel Alfredson out of the goals scored column.  Time will tell.  Some team will be playing golf.  Now it is 2-0.  It looks like the only thing preventing the answer here is time and plenty of hockey left to be played.

     If I had to pick a player from Anaheim to be MVP it would be J S Giguere for Detroit Dan Cleary or Dominik Hasek.

     San Jose is travelling down the right and left boards to the tback of the net in game five so far.  Live action was thrilling if you are a Sharks fan.  I am surprised that the Red Wings have not forced the Sharks to the middle.  Especially Joe Thornton.  There he would be forced to shoot.  Detroit then should send two forwards to clog the middle and force a turnoover.

     Also Detroit needs to get to the rebounds however after the shooter has taken his shot all the other White and Red jerseys are standing and watching the puck not going to it to put the puck passed the goalie.  Nabokov threw some juicy rebounds out for the Red Wings no put back only standing players on the Red Wings side during the first period.

     Last night when the Wings won they displayed the fighting attitude of Joe Louis.  When the Mathieu Schneider goal was scored it was the left hook that the team needed on the road.  When Robert Lang tied the score it was the extra jab that Red Wings needed to set up the knock out punch, the series is back at the Joe Louis Arena.  Tomas Holmstrom delivered the first big blow the the nose of the Sharks before the second intermission.  To leave the fans fearing the Red Wings flight rather than the jaws of the teal Shark. 

     Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary have been important at times.  Last night Chris Chelios was the player who won the fights.  IN every push on Joe Thornton and poke check on the puck he kept the Sharks away from the blue crease.  Todd Bertuzzi need to ramp up his play and Dan Cleary needs to keep doing what he has been doing.  And the Wings in game six on the road need a game that the Sharks will not expect a winning punch the San Jose will not see hitting them. 

     A confident Dominik Hasek is a key to this.  Confident in his style and confident that he will dominate the Sharks and the series. Not being intimidated by the Sharks as I have seen Hasek allowing the Sharks to do.  For example the jitters and shaky play in the first two games and in game 4 in the first period.  Ken Holland signed Hasek for the domination goalkeeping.  Dominate the Wings net and the puck.  We believe!  The Wings will land the Joe Louis string of punches that will end the fight in a stellar series that was hard fought to the last second in the last game of the series. 

     When the Sharks come up this type of Red Wings team (a must on the road in this series and the following ones) the opponents will find them selves only when it is to late to recognize it, on the canvas staring at the fingers counting for them to get up.  When the count is over the series will be over in Detroit or in the shark infested San Jose?  It is up to the Red Wings to decide when and where.  I am not in charge of that only this opinion.

     Will this series be worth the staying up late when the Wings play at the Shark's home in San Jose?  It will be for this first reason to see how the Red Wings are going to defend Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo.  This series will have great defense against tremendous offensive skills and puck possession.  The test on the road for the Red Wings will be to generate offense from the defense.  Now this will not assume that the Wings will not score on their chances around the net of San Jose look at Dan Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg after the face off.  These two Red WINGS are good enough without defensive take aways.  The first reason as to why the Red Wings and SHARKS will be good watching is to see how the Wings will matchup and contain the first two lines throughout the seven game series.  Doing this on the road is a must for Detroit.  Otherwise it could out of hand and the Red Wings will have to win all four at home.  This will be another reason for the Shakrs and Wings being a series you will not want to miss.

      The second reason to turn on the television and watch this series is that I think the Sharks will take one when they are the Joe.  I am not going to give away the strategies that I think each team will use to win games on the road, I am not a coach.  But the team who wins two or more games on the road will win the series.  Propelling the team closer to the Stanley Cup.  Now after that I think that the Sharks are tough to beat and the Wings proved that they are to when they they had to better than good against the goalie in the last series against the Calgary Flames.  San Jose will not be shooting at a Red Wings net with Manny Legace but Dominik Hasek.  This is the second reason why hockey fans will want to watch the Sharks in Detroit, for them they will have to play better than good on the road.

     The third reason is to see when Todd Bertuzzi is going to have his game breaking goals and hits.  The other player on the Wings is Dan Cleary.  He shows up, plays tough and he moves the puck to score and that is it plain and simple he is a play maker.  Disagree? Tell me why.  But he was the best Red Wing in the series in Calgary, he is one reason why the Wings closed the series with a win on the road.  And if the Sharks think all they have to do is to take care of Dan that would be only be a small start.  But like Red Wings being tested in reason one the Sharks defense will be tested with four lines who shoot the puck and are not afraid of getting angry around the opponents net.

      Game on and watch Thursday.  It will be worth staying up late for.

  Robert Lang

 Dan Cleary

  Kyle Calder

   Have you seen reports or read about the possibility of Robert Lang not being in a Red Wings jersey next year because of not contributing?  Will stop right there with that nonsense.  Robert Lang and his line had a fired up and energized Dan Cleary on before he went down eight games ago with injury.  Now Robert Lang is in a way posting some personal statistics and he has on his line another player who was written off by some as an "under achiever", this would be Kyle Calder.

     Kyle Calder and Robert Lang have only combined for more than 15 points in the nine games that Calder has been a Red Wing.  This line will be only more potent when Dan Cleary is back from injury before the playoffs and when the time comes to put a contract before Lang next year his ability to bring has beens like Cleary and Calder back to being the type of players people inside the game expected, the Wings organization will want to keep Lang around for a while.

     Now this brings us to Kyle Calder and the line with Robert Lang and Daniel Cleary.  It will be potent with passing and shooting the puck.  These guys all three are determined, hard working players with drive to win.  That cannot be beat and checked out of them.  They will work harder then to puck in the net for a score.  They do not care about personal production first, they do, only after team success is meant and that is more important goal than the combined points for each player at the end of the season.

     As people did not think that either Dan Cleary and Kyle Calder would have personal success to begin with, so this has only come to be present in the Red Wings playing the type of hockey that most thought was lost when Shanahan went to New York.  The Wings have proven they are still the tough domineering team they once were. 

     When Todd Bertuzzi wears the Wings jersey for the first time in a game it will be on the Zetterberg line with Pavel Datsyuk the other forward. 

     The revived Robert Lang line has made sure of that.  They are tough enough.  Look for the Wings to have four very strong lines when each player returns from injury and come playoffs they will focused and driven together as a team that no one expected would be tough and domineering at this time of year and doing the unexpected that a few NHL "insiders" did not have them doing at the beginning of this season, being in the playoffs and potentially winning those tought games.  Thanks to the revived Robert Lang line this is a reality.