SEOUL (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS), South Korea’s top automaker, on Thursday reported a better-than-expected 43 percent fall in quarterly net profit as a weak currency helped cushion the blow of the global recession. South KoreaHyundai, the world’s No.5 car maker along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS), posted a net profit of 225 billion won ($166.5 million) in the first quarter, beating a 205.0 billion won forecast by 11 analysts in a Reuters poll.That compared with a 392.7 billion won profit a year ago.The maker of the Elantra compact car reported a 153.8 billion won operating profit, below a forecast for a 206.4 billion won profit. Its overall profit margin dropped to 2.5 percent in the first quarter from 6.5 percent in the year-ago quarter as the recession pressured automakers to step up marketing and reduce prices.Hyundai and Kia are expected to benefit in the months ahead from continued weakness in the local currency and South Korea’s steps to boost domestic car sales, but neither will be immune to the industry’s worst-ever downturn.Reflecting the company’s resilient outlook, shares in Hyundai rose 40 percent in January-March, beating the wider market’s13 percent gain.(Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) South Korea. “In the crease!?!” “What the !# %& are you talking about!?!” “Look at the replay!”Those exact words could be heard all across Hockeytown, and no one can blame the fans for saying it.In looking at the review of the “non-goal” from Wednesday night’s game, it was clear that Tomas Holmstrom was not only out of the crease, but never even came close to Dallas goaltender Marty Turco. However, the call was still made.”Goaltender interference,” cried the referee, and Detroit fans from far and wide had their underwear in a twist.But let’s take a closer look, go past that one play. Were the Detroit Red Wings really out there to play or what?Go do that voodoo that you do so well…Except for most of the first period, Detroit never seemed to be in the game.
It almost seemed like the Stars and the Wings switched jerseys just to see what would happen. The 5-2 victorious Red Wings from the other night seemed to be the ones chasing Dallas instead of the other way around.Call it bad mojo in their Gatorade, or bad Karma, or whatever, Detroit was sluggish before the bad call and afterward. Did anyone notice that, or just the ones who watched how they actually played?Look at the highlight reel Out of all the Wings, the one shining star was Chris Osgood. He kept Detroit in the game for as long as he could, but it was just too much for him.Allowing Dallas to score three goals on Osgood is like Jeff Gordon allowing someone to pass him in a NASCAR race to win a trophy. These things just don’t happen easily.Osgood has been extremely solid for Detroit, winning nine straight playoff games, and to blame him would be tragic The whole Red Wing team collapsed in on itself last night.
Don’t believe it? Then let’s take a look.We’ve got lowlights for you…For almost two full periods, the two teams battled back and forth from one end of the ice to the other. This should have been an indication to Detroit fans that the Red Wings weren’t up to snuff.Dallas finally broke the scoreless tie with less than 30 seconds left in the second period. Loui Eriksson, who, by the way, was in the crease, scored to make it 1-0.Then it was Detroit’s turn. Coming out for the third period, they seemed to have some life in them and less than a minute into the period, Henrik Zetterberg tied the game at one.That was it for Detroit As quickly as they got some life in them, they faded again. The Stars came back, scoring two more times in the third, ending Detroit’s nine-game winning streak.Dallas “stars” Mike Modano scored on a power-play and captain Brenden Morrow scored to put the game away.
Even at the end, when Detroit had a five-on-three plus an extra attacker, they just scrambled around and looked disorganized.On the bright side, the Stars win gave their fans a much needed victory. It allowed them to watch their team be victorious in their last home game. And for “true” Detroit fans, yes it’s sad to see the Wings lose, but it goes down easier when its not at home.We’ve just had our glitch for this mission…Except for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, no one person or team is perfect Wait, don’t forget the Titans They had a “perfect” season. And just like the crew of Apollo 13, Detroit will survive this loss and come out on top.The only question remaining is, how many games will it take for Detroit to put the Pittsburgh Penguins away to win the Stanley Cup? The Pens will take on the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:30 EDT (6:30 CDT). Pittsburgh is up 3-0 and should either end the series tonight in Philly or Sunday at home.Is that too much confidence? No, it’s not That’s just how good the Wings are. If you look back to February, the Red Wings had a horrible month, losing more games than they won. They eventually came back and won the President’s Trophy and from what is being said through the grapevine, they will win it all.Five games and out would be good.