Justified or not, Joe Thornton has become the poster child for postseason futility in the NHL, leading to the creation of TradeJoeThornton.com (be careful what you wish for).
In his 11-year career with Boston and San Jose, Thornton has yet to play beyond the second round of the playoffs, while his production hasn't quite matched his lofty regular season totals. Despite his perceived postseason struggles, he stills cracks my top-10 as one of the elite players in the NHL.
One poorly-timed screen could have been costly for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Surely, defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Bill Guerin weren't trying to stop Marc-Andre Fleury from seeing an early second-period shot by Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart. But that's exactly what they did. The Stuart shot found the back of the Penguin net, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead and, seemingly, all the momentum.
What happened after that could turn into a defining moment for this underdog Pittsburgh team.
Penguins 4, Red Wings 2: Recap | Box Score Series tied 2-2
For Marc-Andre Fleury, this year's Stanley Cup final got off to a much better start than last year's seeing as how he didn't trip and fall when coming onto the ice. Unfortunately for him, that's where the good news ended. Two of Detroit's goals in its 3-1 win took odd bounces off of Fleury from bad angles on their way into net, as the Red Wings managed to take a 1-0 series lead on Saturday night.
Brad Stuart started it for the Wings midway through the first period when his slapshot took a bounce off the active Joe Louis Arena boards and deflected in off of Fleury's backside, reminiscent of the game-winning goal in last year's series-clinching win for Detroit. After Ruslan Fedotenko tied it later in the period, Johan Franzen was credited with his 11th of the postseason, and the eventual game-winning tally, when his shot from behind the net bounced in off of Fleury's leg.
Red Wings 3, Penguins 1: Recap | Box Score Red Wings Lead Series 1-0
We're a little less than 24 hours removed from Friday's Red Wings-Blackhawks game, which saw Chicago claw its way back into the series with a 4-3 overtime win, while a lot of the debate has been centered around Niklas Kronwall's devastating hit on Martin Havlat.
While Havlat was knocked six ways from Tuesday, Kronwall was issued a five-minute major and a game misconduct for interference which set off a firestorm of discussion around the hockey blogosphere and message boards. Was it interference? Was it charging? Was it a legal, clean hit? We asked the NHL for comment.
DETROIT -- This was more like it when it comes to a Game 7.
The second-seeded Red Wings and the No. 8 Ducks continued their hearty battle in the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday here at Joe Louis Arena, and Anaheim very nearly pulled off an upset of the defending champs, two weeks after knocking off the top-seeded Sharks.
Instead, it was hard-nosed Dan Cleary, not one of Detroit's marquee players, who willed the Wings into the conference finals by hammering the puck past Jonas Hiller with three minutes to play, giving Detroit a 4-3 victory over the tough Ducks. Detroit will meet the Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of Original Six teams for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Surely, NBC executives were grateful for the work of Anaheim Duck Todd Marchant. After all, they were one period of extra-time hockey away from having to pre-empt the start of prime-time programming. Being that this is May, a major ratings period in television, this isn't exactly a wonderful proposition. Even the biggest hockey fan has to admit that there isn't a huge number coming to you when you air a hockey game.
Those who were watching, though, were treated to a classic. The Ducks and Red Wings gave us our first multiple-overtime game of these playoffs, and one can only hope it's a sign of things to come in this hotly-contested series.
Two years ago, a much more heralded Anaheim Ducks team took out Detroit on their way to a Stanley Cup. This time, the Ducks enter a series against the Red Wings as perhaps the most-feared eighth seed in NHL playoff history. That said, they're still an eighth seed, and a decided underdog. Is this the end of "Cinderella"?
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they don't boast similar defensive depth. Instead, they tend to lean on their puck possession and scoring to mask some flaws along the blue line and in goal.
As a result, news that veteran puck-moving defenseman Brian Rafalski will miss Game 1 of the Wings' Western Conference semifinal series against Anaheim is not good. It's not a death blow -- as an injury to Nicklas Lidstrom would be -- but it's not a good way for Detroit to start this series.
The Detroit Red Wings are having their way with the Columbus Blue Jackets in their Western Conference Quarterfinal series, jumping out to a commanding 3-0 lead thanks to a 4-1 win on Tuesday night. Speaking of which, midway through the second period, Detroit's Brad Stuart dished out a crushing (and clean) hit on Columbus' R.J. Umberger.
In hockey, the home team gets the last line change before a faceoff. This typically means the coach of that team will be able to pick the line-on-line matchups throughout the game.
For a team like Columbus, one that only has one really lethal line, this can be a major deal. While Rick Nash was shut down in the first two games against the Wings, the Blue Jackets get to play at home Tuesday night. That means Ken Hitchcock picks the matchup for Nash. That's a good thing, right?
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 9 is San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton.
For 
Surely, NBC executives were grateful for the work of Anaheim Duck 
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they don't boast similar defensive depth. Instead, they tend to lean on their puck possession and scoring to mask some flaws along the blue line and in goal.
In hockey, the home team gets the last line change before a faceoff. This typically means the coach of that team will be able to pick the line-on-line matchups throughout the game.
