Red Wings 3, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Is it just me, or did it seem like the Wings were breaking sticks on every single shift tonight?  And when they were broken, it wasn't a quick change; the player was stuck in the defensive zone for excruciatingly long stretches of time before they were able to get off the ice or replace the stick.  Do they keep stats for things like that?  I'm going to start.  We'll call it the Mickey Redmond Memorial Statistic.  Well, not "memorial" maybe.  That makes it sound like he's dead.  I suppose it's possible that all of the broken sticks tonight might've killed him.  I'll look into that.
• Bert coming out and fighting Weber early on was perfect in every way.  Someone needed to step up and it really seemed to spark the team.
• If the Wings hadn't gotten the PK sorted out of late, these two games would've had pretty ugly scores.  The fact that they've managed to completely shut down Nashville's powerplay this series without Lidstrom ever setting foot on the ice shorthanded is quite remarkable.
• Weber's goal was not received well at the bar I watched the game at.  There's something about a guy who should've been sitting out the game scoring a key goal that really seems to rile up Detroit fans.  Wonder why.
• I love it when lucky bounces like the one that led to Franzen's goal go the Wings' way.  It's a lot more fun than the alternative.  It's always nice to feel like the Hockey Gods are smiling upon the boys.
• Jimmy is back to top form.  That can only mean good things for the Wings.

Red Wings vs. Predators Game Two GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Predators 1

A scary looking octopus:

What we learned from Game One:

• EVERYTHING is a penalty.
• Puck luck is key.
• Jimmy Howard is back in top form.

Exciting things about Game Two:

• Nyquist is making his playoff debut.
• The Wings are angry about the cheap shot at the end of Game One.  They tend to play well when they're riled up about something.
• After it's over, the series moves back to Hockeytown.

Terrifying things about Game Two:

• If the Wings don't win, this series is all but over.
• We have to wonder if the special teams can be as effective as they were in Game One.
• Life without Helm.
• Pekka Rinne.

Who will have a good game tonight:


Henrik Zetterberg.  I know...choosing him is kind of a cop out because, well, he's Henrik Zetterberg, but I think he's going to have a good night tonight.  I keep harping on it, but he tends to be at his most dominating when he's feeling feisty.  And he should be, after Weber's cheap shot that went unpunished for all intents and purposes ($2,500 from a multi-millionaire is like telling me that a speeding ticket is going to cost me $1.)


Something to lighten the mood:

Dance party!

Red Wings 2, Predators 3: Post Game Snipes...

Hello, world; it's been a while.  I thought that moving back to Michigan would reignite my motivation to blog about the Wings, but I still wasn't feeling it.  It took the start of the playoffs to get me back in the swing of things.  I'm not sure what it was, but when I set out to pick up a friend to go watch the game tonight, I had all kinds of ideas running through my head.  So here we go.  I'm back -- at least for a little while.

• I'll be honest.  I didn't have a great feeling about the game all day.  Truth be told, I don't have a great feeling about the series in general, but that's how I've felt about every Wings playoff series ever.  Well, except for that time the Wings steamrolled the Avs in the second round a couple of years back, but I think that one was more of a surrender than a playoff series anyway.
• All those things we were worried about coming into the game (namely the penalty kill, powerplay, and defense) actually kind of worked.  Somehow the Wings still managed to lose.  If we're looking for positive things to take away from the game, these successes are pretty heartening.
• In a moment of weakness in the third period after one of the Wings' glorious open net chances that, according to every law of physics should've gone in, and taking into account Nashville's first two goals, I determined that the Wings weren't destined to pull this comeback off because they just didn't have any luck tonight.  To win in the playoffs, you need a lot of skill.  You need the drive and endurance to battle through every game.  You also, however, need a little bit of luck.  You need those fluky bounces to go your way.  The Wings just didn't have it tonight.  That can change, though.
• Goals like Nashville's first one are the number one reason why NHL playoff overtime is the most terrifying ordeal in sports. 
• I couldn't hear much of the commentary at the bar, but I'm assuming that there was a lot of "just like Modano" talk after Helm's injury.  It sounds pretty ugly.  I wish he'd sat out an extra game instead of rushing back from the knee injury for the opener.  I can't imagine him being back this season.  That's a huge loss for the Wings.
• The pre-game conversation in the referees' dressing room, at least in my mind: "Wow, these were the two least penalized teams in the league during the regular season; it's probably going to be a pretty boring night for us out there...  Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we called them for a dozen or so penalties?  Each?"  "Yeah, it would at least give us something to do out there.  Plus, I noticed this really hot chick sitting behind the scorers, so going over there to announce penalties all night will give me a chance to check her out."
• I hope Hank comes out mad in Game Two.  He usually dominates when he's all riled up.
• I doubt Weber will get suspended.  He probably deserves a game, but these are the playoffs and this is the NHL, and Zetterberg (we think) wasn't injured.  It'll give us something to bluster and rage about for the next couple of days, and if we're lucky, it'll light a fire under the Wings and give them some extra motivation, but I'd be shocked if any supplementary discipline came out of it.  But if Shanny wants to bench Weber for a game or two...I wouldn't complain.
• During one of the Wings' crazy powerplay chances, I slammed my hand onto an empty chair behind me and I was pretty sure that I broke a bone for a couple of minutes.  I'm fairly certain now that it's just fine, but it wouldn't have been the first time I've injured myself while watching playoff hockey.

Thousandth Goalie Falls Victim to Tomas Holmstrom...

Instead of writing about the Wings' dramatic victory at the Joe tonight (Have you heard that they're on some kind of winning streak?), I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute to one of my most beloved Wings of all time: Tomas Holmstrom.  I remember watching him as a rookie when he couldn't skate to save his life, and his version of stick-handling involved repeatedly chopping the ice with his stick sort of in the general vicinity of the puck.  Despite the fact that not much has changed over the years, Homer managed to carve out a niche for himself and ended up being the best in the league at what he does.  I can't exactly quantify what it is that he does, but it generally involves getting the pulp beat out of him, annoying opposing goalies, serving as a human wall, and deflecting pucks into the net.  I think there's a name for that, but I can't come up with it in any of the languages that I speak (I'm American, so that's only 1.5.).

One thousand games is impressive for anybody, but especially so for a guy like #96.  I look at it like car mileage.  The condition of a car with 80,000 miles on it is going to vary depending on whether those were highway or city miles.  I promise you that Homer didn't have 1,000 games of highway miles.  He joined a bunch of elite Wings in the 1,000 game club, but I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that he had the most brutal route to that milestone.

Homer's had his struggles over the years, but it's impossible not to admire the effort he puts out every single game.  He's fearless, and no defenseman, no matter how big or strong, has ever been able to intimidate him or discourage him from going back to the front of the net.  The abuse he takes in his "office" is so bad that he created extra layers of padding to soften some of the blows.  He still heads straight to the front of the net.  He and the Wings have had a ridiculous amount of goals disallowed because of reputation calls made against him, but that's never stopped him from heading out there to do his job.  Despite never being the most talented guy on the roster, he found a way to make himself valuable.  He found one thing that he excelled at and gave it his all night in and night out.  I think there's something pretty admirable in that.

Here's to you, Homer, and to a thousand sleepless nights that opposing goalies have spent tossing and turning due to nightmares about you and your rear end.

Caption Fridays Volume Seven...

Caption Fridays disappeared for a while because I sort of ran out of pictures.  I don't get to go to games now that I'm not based in Detroit, so my stash was running low.  Luckily, I got to go to a game when I was home for Thanksgiving, and our seats were perfectly positioned for me to get some good caption fodder shots.  This one is my favorite:

Red Wings vs. Coyotes GP...

Red Wings: 16-9-1

Coyotes: 15-9-3

Season Series: 0-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Thoughts on the Realignment...

Now that I've finally had a chance to look at the realignment plans, I'm developing a deep sense of confusion. I actually feel like the NHL might've done something right. That doesn't happen very often, so it's going to take me a while to get used to that fact. It's not exactly what I would've drawn up in a perfect world, but it's a heck of a lot better than the current system. At least for the Wings and Columbus. It doesn't seem like it affects other teams nearly as much.

(Sidenote: All of these news articles are describing the decision as “radical.” Is it really that radical? The new Conferences don't deviate a whole lot from the way things are now.)

I think the thing that bothers me the most is the fact that the Florida teams are grouped together with the northern teams in the East. It just doesn't make sense to me, and things like that tend to annoy me forever. Also, through my Wings-fan goggles, it seems an awful lot like pandering to teams like Pittsburgh, Philly, and Washington. On that note, funny how the coddled little Eastern teams ended up in the smaller divisions, eh?

I'm also not super excited about having to see the same old boring Central Division teams over and over again, but that has a lot to do with the current quality of competition. A couple of years down the road, those teams could change a lot and make life interesting. Well, maybe not Columbus, but you get the idea.

Mostly though, I like the fact that the Wings' travel is going to be cut down significantly. This makes the biggest difference in the playoffs. I've said for years that there would be at least two extra Stanley Cup banners hanging in the rafters from the last decade if the Wings had been in the Eastern Conference. Think about how much easier all of those long playoff runs would've been if they hadn't included multiple trips to the west coast. I've always secretly enjoyed the west coast roadtrips because I like staying up for the late games, but I recognize that I'm kind of strange in that sense.

I think my favorite part of the plan is the potential reseeding after the second round of the playoffs. It opens up a whole array of Finals match-ups that could never happen in the current format. Imagine if the Wings had been able to face the Avs in the Stanley Cup Finals during the rivalry years when they were the league's two best teams by a mile. Imagine the possibility of a “Subway Series” with the Rangers and Islanders matched up in the Finals. (That one was a joke, ok?) The league's top two teams should have the ability to play for the Cup in the Finals, even if they both happen to be from the same Conference.

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

Red Wings: 16-8-1

Blues: 14-9-3

Season Series: 0-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

This will never, ever get old.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche GP...

Red Wings: 16-7-1

Avalanche: 12-13-1

Season Series: 2-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Sabres GP...

Red Wings: 15-7-1

Sabres: 13-10-1

Season Series: 0-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Complete with Stevie fighting and goalies throwing punches.