The Wings will face Edmonton in the 1st round of the playoffs.

The Wings have never beaten Edmonton in a Playoff series.

On the season the series is 2-2. With the two losses coming on OT.

GO WINGS!

Edmonton papers

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjourna...rts/index.html

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/home.html

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Wings ready to begin their main quest
by PAULA PASCHE

In this first season of the new world of the NHL, absolutely no one knew how it would all shake out. The initial year of building a team with salary-cap limitations put more pressure on the general managers. Some, like Detroit's Ken Holland, figured it out, while at least a handful of GMs are likely to get the ax this week. Two - the Islanders' Mike Milbury and the Bruins' Mike O'Connell - didn't even make it to the end of the season.



Red Wings Bulletin

Oilers get their wish

A first-round playoff matchup between the Red Wings and Edmonton was made official late Saturday night when Colorado gained a point in its overtime loss to Vancouver.

Oddly, even before knowing for sure they'd be playing Detroit, some Oilers were saying they'd rather play the Wings than meet Dallas, who they faced six times (losing five) in a span of seven seasons from 1997 to 2003.

I was surprized and not surprized to find Hasek on the shelf. He sounds like he's almost ready to go.
So what is playoff hockey like now? How did the new rules shake out. I know fighting was much reduced.
Hasn't the Prez Cup been an enigma for the Wings? If we win it we fail in the playoffs?

We have won the President's Cup 5 times in the last 11 years, I think. We won one of those years, and 2 other years we didn't get it, so... who knows.

As far as I know, playoff hockey will be much like it used to be. Less holding and interference, but other than that, it's pretty much the same. (other than, no 2 line-pass and the icing "penalty")

The shoot-out is not active in the playoffs.

I think fighting was reduced because the new NHL places a premium on speed, and many of the power grinder/fighters are not the most fleet of foot players.

I expect the usual drama and excitement. The great thing about the NHL playoffs is that no low seed is a push over. There is almost always a significant first round upset.

Edmonton. They were relieved to get the Wings instead of the Stars. Now it's time to make them pay.

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

I know Edmonton was relieved to get the Wings, just because the Stars have knocked them out of the playoffs so many times lately... but it may have been a mistake to state so publicly.

Time to make them sorry they got the Wings.

(1) DET vs. (8) EDM
Game 1: @ Detroit
Fri., 4/21, 7 p.m. ET, OLN, CBC


Red Wings are 'Lords of the Rink'
By Larry Wigge | NHL.com columnist

Everyone is always looking for a prediction before the first puck drops for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Most of the time, you pick your favorite stat and try to make it a trend and run with it. It could be a regular-season matchup between the playoff teams that is lopsided one way or another. Or the way a team finished the regular season. Maybe a hot goaltender down the stretch.

I'd like to introduce what I call the "Lord of the Rings" theory ... as in an Olympic equation. And while it's true no one country has dominated in the last three Olympics -- the Czech Republic winning the gold medal at Nagano, Japan, in 1998, Canada winning at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Sweden capturing the gold at Torino, Italy, earlier this year -- there is truly a "Lord of the Rinks" from 1998 and 2002.

It's the Detroit Red Wings.

[read more]

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

I couldn't believe how many shots the Wings had compared with the Oilers tonight. Glad they got the win. It's never a lock in the NHL for the No. 1 seed to get by the No. 8 seed as the Wings have shown over the years. If you run into a hot goalie, you never can tell. Hopefully, the Wings broke a little of Edmonton's spirit with that tough first game.

Wooohooo!

What a game. When the second OT started, I was ready to pass out. Thankfully, Maltby scored.

What was up with Datsyuk?

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao