To the surprise of absolutely no-one, the best defensive forward in the league was again nominated for the Selke.  Per NHL.com: 

Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings and Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks have been named the finalists for the 2013 Frank J. Selke Trophy.

Here's the league's blurb on Datsyuk: 

Datsyuk, 34, was a point-per-game scorer while managing a plus-21 rating, and he accomplished it all by averaging 20:10 in ice time per game, the most he's played since the 2009-10 season. He tied for the League lead with 56 takeaways, and his 30 blocked shots were second among Red Wings forwards.

Pretty crazy to think that Datsyuk's second on the Wings in blocked shots. 

Bergeron and Toews are great players, but if you ask any player who's the best, they are going to tell you Datsyuk, no matter who is picked by the idiot sportswriters.

Remember the last time these two met? 2009 WCF? 

I do.  It gave us some great memories. 

Like Franzen treating Kane like the child he is:

And Helm showing the world how you kill a penalty. 

Hit the jump to see why that series has a special place for NOHS: 

Another game 7 against the Ducks; another glorious finish. As the Ducks went through the handshake line, you almost expected the teams to throw punches over the grueling series, but they're all professionals and wouldn't stoop to such nonsense. Besides, that's what social media is for.

Satire after the jump:

This game had it all. Extreme highs, matched with heart breaking lows. I may have even cried at times. We saw Zetterberg pull this team up on his shoulders and lug them down the ice into the offensive zone. As much as I hated to see this game almost go down the toilet in the 3rd, there is no better feeling than seeing Zetterberg rocket a shot past Hiller in OT while the Ducks skated to the locker room with their heads down.

Jump to it

With Josh out of town I figured I'd take a shot at a Movie Poster. I don't have the skills as our resident photochopper, but here goes...

Click the jump for the poster

This could be it, friends. This could very well be the last Red Wings game played as a member of the Western Conference. This could be the last game of an all too short season. This could be the end of our stress and the beginning of our summer-long depression. Hockey is a funny sport in that the harder working team can lose. A sport where a degenerate thug like Corey Perry can do whatever he wants to whomever he wants and not sit. A sport where a young kid can make the biggest mistake of his life, then be a hero 48 hours later. We just don’t know.

But there are some things we do know:

What do you think about this?  From Drew "I Hate the Fans" Sharp: 

Coach Mike Babcock is contemplating lineup changes for Game 6, perhaps opting for a little more veteran experience on the blue line. There have been more than a few occasions in this series where their green defensemen — Brendan Smith, Brian Lashoff and Jakub Kindl — have handled the puck in their own end as if it were radioactive.

But could adding Ian White or Carlo Colaiacovo into the lineup really provide that dramatic of an improvement?

You’ve gone this far. Don’t stop now. Let the kids learn from their mistakes, even if it ultimately contributes to another early playoff exit.

I haven't said much about it, but I'm not convinced that Lashoff is really doing anything positive back there the blueline. Provided he hasn't already thrown his skates away, I'd like to see White in there.  He wasn't playing great at first, but I certainly thought he was a top six guy overall.  I figured he must have slept with Babcock's wife or something in there, because he's been stuck in the doghouse since March.  

Hit the jump for more: 

Frustrating game.  Chances were there for both teams.   Ducks made it happen at the end. 

Here's the recap. 

FIRST PERIOD

And here we go - a huge game. 

After the break: 

FIVE

Tonight is game five.  I'm tired, you're tired... but you know who isn't... THE ROOKIES.  Hit the jump for a preview of tonight's game.

Holy crap, what a game.  We saw the team fight through confidence issues and some terrible puck luck these games and hustle their way to 49 shots in the 3-2 OT win.

As Brunner said after the game, they deserved this win.  

Marvelous game from every freaking player on the team.  That includes Cleary, Filppula, Smith, you name it.  

Here’s the recap as I watched it during the night.  

First Period

On Bertuzzi’s first shift, he faced the absolute worst interference I’ve seen lately.  Even the CNBC announcers mentioned it.  No call of course. 

Completely rookie mistake by Smith on Anaheim’s first goal.  First he loses the puck in front of Howard, second he doesn’t attack the Ducks player as he kept whiffing on the puck.

We have a Kronwalled!  I smiled. 

Howard looks clumsy so far this period and really, this playoff series. Pucks are bouncing, he’s falling, things just look awkward.   Now he’s certainly not the reason we’re down right now, he is being outplayed again in the playoffs. 

Star of the first period – the crowd at the Joe.  The “Todd-Ber-tuz-zi” chant followed up by “You Got Kronwalled!”  Nice work guys. 

And end of the period, Johan gets a penalty for half what happened to Bertuzzi earlier.  Crap is what that is. 

End of 1st 1-0 Ducks

Second period and on, after the break: