What team beat writers are saying this afternoon:
Stanley Cup Final
- Pavel Datsyuk will play tonight but Matthew Barnaby thinks he’s having trouble turning. Starting him on the wing is a good move from Babcock. Protect your star until he proves he can handle more responsibility.
- Daniel Cleary is questionable for tonight’s game. His attributes aren’t easily replaceable, especially his net presence, so his loss could really hurt.
- Has Niklas Kronwall been better than Nicklas Lidstrom in the Final? Kronwall has been this good for a while now, so it’s nice to see he’s finally getting some credit.
- Mike Lange’s goal calls from Game 4. Scratch my back with a hacksaw…
- Elliotte Friedman examines something I asked yesterday: Should the Wings start shadowing Malkin? Well-written piece.
- Kevin Allen says the Wings need to do these five things to win today. I think Hossa is the key from that list.
Everyone else
- Karl Alzner is expected to play in Game 3 of the Calder Cup Final tonight. That’s certainly going to be a nice boost to Hershey’s chances, as Alzner is a very good defensemen, with excellent puck-moving skills.
- From this morning’s Bergen Record, Tom Gulitti says Brent Sutter has had enough time to decide his future. I feel like he isn’t going to return to Jersey. (Thanks to reader 95Crash for the heads-up)
Other stories
- Jonathan Willis chimes in on the reported discord from the Oilers’ locker room this season. It will be interesting to see how many roster changes we see from Steve Tambellini this off-season. He has already put his stamp on the team with his coaching hires, so you’d have to expect a few roster changes as well.