Red Wings 5, Oilers 4: Post Game Snipes...

• In my GP, I said that I was going to have to buy Hollis a beer next time we all get together. I lied. I’m going to have to buy him an entire keg. This was incredible and amazing and wonderful all wrapped in a blanket of spectacular.
• I got to the Joe early and headed down by the Wings’ bench hoping to meet some of my new favorite people to watch warmups. I got to meet Sara’s little munchkin, and Homer came over and flipped him a puck. I was also amused by Franzen, who was playing hacky sack with a puck to entertain his teammates.
• Then I headed up to the suite. Nicole had a little “blogger station” set up for Drew and me with the banners from SSDD (Really wish I'd gotten around to making my updated banner sooner...) and NOHS printed out so we almost looked credible.
• I also got a bag full of goodies left over from giveaways—the bag itself was one of them, in addition to one of the mini dental kits and a couple more Hockeytown: No Limits signs. I also snagged an autographed picture of Joey Kocur that I’m going to give away as the prize to that contest that I still haven’t gotten around to judging.
• Some of the folks in the suite came in from Florida after they won the tickets. That, sunshines, is dedication. I think everyone had a great time in the suite. I tried to hang back and not get in the way so the people who actually won the contest could meet with the alumni and enjoy themselves. I will, however, admit to snagging the last can of Coke out of the fridge. I was burning up in my jersey.
• At different times, Joey Kocur, Brent Fedyk, Dennis Hextall, and Gerry Abel stopped in to sign autographs and take pictures. I’m told that some of the folks in the suite also tracked Gordie Howe down out in the hallway, but I didn’t think it would be appropriate to chase him down the hall.
• Hextall hung around and watched the game in the suite for quite a while.
• It turns out that my brother skipped class to come to the game. I didn’t know that, and my mom found out he was there from something that I tweeted. I just so happened to be on the phone with her when he walked in the door after coming home. I was not at all sympathetic about inadvertently ratting him out. He ended up sitting really close to Sara. I tried to take a picture of him, but he just glared at me.
• We were having a grand old time when the Wings were up 4-0. When Edmonton got their powerplay that they scored four seconds into, Drew and I didn’t like the call, but figured it wasn’t a big deal since the Wings had a big lead. Oh how that would come back to bite us.
• When Edmonton tied it up in the third period, we were having flashbacks to October. Luckily (very luckily, in my opinion), they managed to pull out two points. And they even did it in regulation, not that giving up a charity point to the Oilers would be heartbreaking.
• The Wings caught a break on Stuart’s goal. I didn’t realize it had been deflected until the replay and I was busy laughing at how silly the shot had made D-D look. As soon as I saw the deflection, I had a terrible feeling that it was going to get called back. I’m almost positive that the only reason that goal stood up was because it was originally called a goal on the ice. If the ref had waved it off originally, I think we would’ve gotten to see overtime. It was close for sure, but I don’t think the video was conclusive enough to overturn the call on the ice. How awesome is it to see two reviews go in the Wings’ favor in such close proximity? It sure beats getting LaRued.
• At least Edmonton didn’t sweep the season series. That would’ve been pretty embarrassing.
• How many glorious scoring opportunities did the Wings blow by hitting the post or missing the net? They could’ve easily scored ten goals tonight. Those missed chances nearly came back to haunt them.
• It was Henrik Zetterberg's 500th game and Pavel Datsyuk's 600th game. How fitting was it that they both hit milestones not only on the same night, but on a night on which I was there representing SSDD, their namesake blog?
  
• On my way out of the Joe, I ran into a mob that was surrounding Larry Murphy. I got his autograph on my old jersey and took a picture with him. And for those of you who were asking, there wasn’t the slightest trace of alcohol. So there.
• Have I mentioned that I really enjoyed the game notes package? I’m going to try to find time to write some stuff up from it.
• I also took a bunch of pictures, which I’ll put up on photobucket as soon as I have time. That will most likely be sometime this weekend.
  

GP Answers:
1. Can the Wings keep up their meteoric rise through the standings by beating the worst team in the league? This is exactly the kind of game that they like to sleepwalk through, which explains why more than one tenth of the Oilers points this season have come against the Wings. (How many times have I written that exact same sentence this season?)
They looked darn good for the first part of the game. The shot differential was exactly the way it should be against a last place team. Then the team decided to make things interesting and let Edmonton tie the game. Sixty minutes, boys. Six-oh. That being said, I guess I can’t really complain about a victory at this point.

2. How is Jimmy Howard going to follow up his birthday performance, shut/shootout victory, and subsequent listing as a top 3 star in the NHL? Please let it be with more spectacular play.
I wasn’t a big fan of Mr. Duff’s goal. Despite playing as well as he has, Jimmy’s given up a couple of softies lately. It’s hard to pin anything on him though, since most of the team seemed to shut down after they scored their fourth goal.

3. Am I going to survive the night, or just explode from pure joy right there in the middle of Joe Louis Arena?
Hey look, I made it. How about that? Seriously though, this was awesome. On my way home, I was thinking about the crazy ride this blog has taken me on, especially in the last week or so. I never imagined the opportunity to do something like this or attend a gathering like H2H when I randomly decided to start spouting my thoughts out into the internet a little less than a year ago. I really am grateful to the Wings organization and especially Nicole who is a full-fledged all star.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Brad Stuart
I still have no idea if his stick was actually below the crossbar, but kudos to him for tipping the shot for the winner and sparing us overtime/a shootout.

Patrick Eaves gets the Golden Facepalm
No really. This is deserving of a couple of these in a row. He totally got Eavesed.

What I Learned:
Greatest organization in sports. Final, period, end of discussion (tm Jeffy).

Red Wings vs. Oilers GP...

Exciting news: I’m going to be covering the game from the alumni suite that the Wings gave away tickets for. I’m told that it will be stocked with former players and plenty of food, and that I’ll have internet access while I’m there. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do during the game (Twitter? Live blog? Pass out from excitement? The possibilities are endless.), but I’m sure I’ll figure something out. This is just another example of why the Wings are the greatest organization in sports (as if there was any confirmation needed after H2H). I’m also forever indebted to Hollis for this, and I’m going to have to buy him a beverage at E2H or H2H2 or whatever we end up doing in the future.

I’m keeping this GP short and sweet because I expect my recap will be novel-esque as it is.

1. Can the Wings keep up their meteoric rise through the standings by beating the worst team in the league? This is exactly the kind of game that they like to sleepwalk through, which explains why more than one tenth of the Oilers points this season have come against the Wings. (How many times have I written that exact same sentence this season?)
2. How is Jimmy Howard going to follow up his birthday performance, shut/shootout victory, and subsequent listing as a top 3 star in the NHL? Please let it be with more spectacular play.
3. Am I going to survive the night, or just explode from pure joy right there in the middle of Joe Louis Arena?

Red Wings 1, Predators 0 (SO): Post Game Snipes...

• I got to watch most of this game from The Emperor’s house which I have named Kukla’s Kasa. Inviting us crazies over was incredibly nice and we definitely enjoyed his hospitality. He grills a mean hamburger too, by the way.
• Early in the game, Baroque predicted a 1-0 shootout loss. Luckily for us, she only got the score right.
• The Wings currently find themselves in 6th place. That has never before looked so beautiful. It makes me sad how excited I am about that.
• I still can’t believe the Wings won a shootout. What is this world?
• It would’ve been nice to have gotten it done in regulation, since Nashville’s one of the teams the Wings are chasing, but I’ll take the two points any night.
• I know we’ve been saying this all season, but the Wings really shouldn’t be that bad at shootouts. Todd Bertuzzi and Nik Kronwall were really the only two guys who could get pucks past Pekka Rinne? Really?
• After Bertuzzi scored his goal in the shootout, we were really hoping Jimmy would make the next save. Not just because we wanted to win, but we also thought it would be the perfect ending to the H2H weekend for Petrella.
• I guess in the end it was a good thing that he didn’t make that stop since it allowed us to see Patrick Eaves’ “attempt.” It’s a lot funnier now that it didn’t cost the Wings the game. I really liked the fact that he got up laughing right away. What’s life if you can’t laugh at yourself?
• I’m willing to nominate the DJ at the Town Pump last night for worst of all time. I know Brian was a big fan of his, but good lord, what was that? Not only was it terrible, but it was so loud that the only way to carry on a conversation with anyone was to talk three inches from their ear.
  

GP Answers:
1. This is one of those key 4-point games against a team the Wings are chasing in the standings. Can the boys cap off a perfect H2H event with another win tonight?
I don’t think it would’ve been possible for H2H to have gone any better than it did. It was wonderful and incredible and amazing, and I miss all of you sunshines already.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Jimmy Howard
You pitch a shutout, you get the baked goods. It’s as simple as that.

An Extra Stick Tap for Niklas Kronwall
By that point in the shootout, none of us could even guess who was going to be taking the next shot. We figured Ozzie was getting ready to make an attempt. I’m pretty sure Kronner’s game winner got Dena pregnant.

Patrick Eaves gets the Golden Facepalm
This one’s pretty obvious:


What I Learned:
Red Wings fans are the greatest people in the universe. I know this is the same as last time, but I can’t say it enough. This weekend was incredible.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

I'm on my way to the H2H viewing party for tonight's game, so there won't be a lot of posting tonight. This is all that matters:

1. This is one of those key 4-point games against a team the Wings are chasing in the standings. Can the boys cap off a perfect H2H event with another win tonight?

Red Wings 6, Wild 2: Post Game Snipes and Wish List Results...

• I wanted to get this up earlier so that I could help those of the 19 who are having a little bit of difficulty piecing together last night’s events, but then I ended up sleeping until 2pm.
• First off: Last night was epic in every sense of the word. I loved meeting everybody, and I’m so excited that most of you turned out not to be serial killers. Everyone was fantastic, and I enjoyed literally every minute of the night/morning.
• Herm was treated like royalty by the Wings organization. The lengths to which they went to make this event happen were incredible. My brother called me and asked if Herm was an ambassador or a dignitary when he saw all of the great things the team did for him.
• At Hockeytown, one of the Wings’ staff, Nicole, informed me that after reading my post about the TweetSuite back in the fall, she had printed it out and given it to Steve Yzerman to read. I just about died. I’m still in awe of that.
• Prior to the game, I had this horrible feeling that there was going to be some sort of disputed goal that would result in the 19 turning into an angry mob and setting fire to the building before hijacking a freighter out in the river and sailing to a remote hideaway in the UP. To the surprise of absolutely no one, early in the first period, such an event almost transpired. The Wild apparently scored a goal that nobody in the stands saw enter the net. The play went to review, and even though I received text messages from home assuring me that the puck did not cross the line, I have no faith in the NHL’s review system. The 19 were getting restless. Torches and Molotov cocktails were starting to appear out of purses and pants. Shockingly, though, the call was reversed and was ruled to not be a goal. I was amused at how stunned we all were in the stands.
• The rest of the first period wasn’t particularly memorable. I was pretty concerned that the Wings hadn’t managed to convert on any of their powerplays during the first, since I figured even-out calls would be on their way.
• During the first intermission Malik got to ride the zamboni. He took one of the Bill-on-a-sticks with him. It was epic.
• Also during the first intermission, Lola passed out tin foil hats to our whole crew. I can only imagine what the people around us were thinking.
• As soon as we donned our hats, the Wings scored four goals. Coincidence? I think not.
• While wearing the hats, I figured out why we use them to cover things that are being baked. My head was on fire. My friend, Gabi, who is best known for getting her foot stuck in the back of the seat at the Joe in December, and I got a lot of questions about our headwear out on the concourse during intermission. I tried to explain, but people’s eyes kind of glazed over when I started talking about bloggers and insults and disallowed goals.
• I really, really, really wanted Franzen to complete his hat trick so that we could all show up to Arby’s together to receive our hard earned free curly fries. Alas, it was not to be.
• As far as I know, all but one of the LGRW chants started in the building last night originated in our section. If there was any doubt as to whether we’re the best fans ever, I think it’s safe to say that it’s long gone now.
• We sang Happy Birthday to Jimmy at least three times throughout the night. I was really disappointed that nobody else joined in, even after it was announced on the scoreboard.
• Several of us ended up stranded under the overhang at Cobo hoping that Hockeytown was sending another round of shuttles. Eventually we made it back to the restaurant, but it took quite a bit of pacing up and down the sidewalk, dodging taxis in the street, and debating about the best strategy to safely return to the Café.
• Herm got to go down to the locker room and meet Darren Helm. He got his stick, some game pucks, and an autograph on his jersey.
• We couldn’t get seated at Hockeytown so after milling around in the lobby for a while, we migrated over to the Town Pump a block away.
• This was the first time I’ve closed a bar in years. Years.
• Once the lights came on, we weren’t done yet, so some folks headed over to Greektown in search of some gyros. We parked in the casino parking garage and managed to get lost on the gambling floor and yelled at for trying to take a picture with the Bill-on-a-stick that I somehow ended up with. Once we found our way down to the ground floor, we got to take a walking tour of Greektown since we were on the opposite side of the building from the restaurant. We were denied entry to the New Parthenon because they apparently close at exactly 2:34am. Even though half of our group had gotten seated a couple of minutes before we got there, they wouldn’t let us in. Lame.
• Instead, we went to the first open restaurant that we found, and ended up at the Laikon Café. We had a fantastic time there, and our waiter was awesome.
• I finally made it to bed at 6am after having been up for 25 hours straight. It was just about 24 hours since I had left for work on Friday morning.
  

Wishlist:

• Todd Bertuzzi scores a hat trick and then winks rakishly at Petrella in the stands.
  No hat trick from Bert, but I think I captured him mid-wink on the way to the penalty box in the third period:
  
  

• My friend who is joining us gets her foot stuck in a chair at the Joe to the amusement of the entire H2H section. Again.
  I offered her five dollars to repeat her performance, but she was not willing to do it. Boo.
  

• The Megamix gets pumped.
  Did they play this? I guess I wasn’t paying that much attention.
  

• No one has to file any restraining orders against the fake internet people they just met. Don’t get me wrong, I’m coming prepared with the paperwork just in case, but I hope it doesn’t have to get put to use.
  No restraining orders. I’m pretty sure I didn’t pick up any stalkers last night. I’ve been checking out my windows regularly all day and have yet to spot anyone.
  

• A reenactment of March 26th, 1997 at the pre-game party.
  No reenactment. There’s still time at the gathering today, I guess.
  

• The people sitting near our group in the stands leave halfway through the game in terror.
  I didn’t notice anybody leaving, but the other folks in the stands had to be wondering what on earth was going on. Between Malik on the zamboni with the Bill-on-a-stick and the section of fans wearing tin foil hats, I can only assume that people thought we were on a field trip from an asylum.
  

• A round (or 19) of toasts for the Chief who is with us in spirit.
  Check.
  

• Finally getting to meet Herm and all of my other imaginary friends.
  This was so much fun. I’m normally pretty shy around people I don’t know well, but I felt right at home with all of you crazies. I don’t know if it was our shared level of insanity or the fact that on some days I twitter more with (former) strangers than people I actually know, but I had a great time.

• The Wingspan crew gets absolutely no footage appropriate enough to air on TV from the pre-game party.
  They actually did manage to put together some clips that were G-rated. So did Channels 2 and 7. Awesome. I even made it into a couple of the news clips, as did my mom.
  

• The Wings win (of course).
  Oh heck yes they did. It was glorious. Herm should be required to take up residence in Hockeytwon.
  

• Plenty of conversation about bacon, euchre, and Man Pocky.
  Check.
  

Cookies and Cupcakes for Johan Franzen
Too bad he couldn’t net that third goal or there really would’ve been pandemonium. Entire Arby’s franchises would probably have gone under if we’d showed up en masse for our free fries.

An Extra Stick tap for Darren Helm
For meeting with Herm and making his dreams come true.

Jimmy Howard gets the Golden Facepalm
Yeah, you know which goal I’m talking about. I was terrified when that went in because it let the Wild back into the game. Luckily, the Wings managed to keep going and put the game away shortly thereafter.

What I Learned:
Red Wings fans are the greatest people in the universe.

Red Wings vs. Wild Wish List...

Instead of writing a normal GP (Let’s face it; that just wouldn’t do H2H justice.), I’ve decided to write a checklist of things that I want to happen tonight. I’ll probably be adding to it throughout the day.

• Todd Bertuzzi scores a hat trick and then winks rakishly at Petrella in the stands.
• My friend who is joining us gets her foot stuck in a chair at the Joe to the amusement of the entire H2H section. Again.
• The Megamix gets pumped.
• No one has to file any restraining orders against the fake internet people they just met. Don’t get me wrong, I’m coming prepared with the paperwork just in case, but I hope it doesn’t have to get put to use.
• A reenactment of March 26th, 1997 at the pre-game party.
• The people sitting near our group in the stands leave halfway through the game in terror.
• A round (or 19) of toasts for the Chief who is with us in spirit.
• Finally getting to meet Herm and all of my other imaginary friends.
• The Wingspan crew gets absolutely no footage appropriate enough to air on TV from the pre-game party.
• The Wings win (of course).
• Plenty of conversation about bacon, euchre, and Man Pocky.
  

Red Wings 4, Blues 2: Post Game Snipes...

• I only got to see the third period last night thanks to work, driving home, my dog pouncing on me when I got home, and the need to hand out souvenirs from vacation to my family. As such, this is going to be the lamest recap ever.
• I was driving down 696 when the Wings scored both of their second period goals. I really shouldn’t be allowed to be behind the wheel of a vehicle while there’s a hockey game on the radio. It’s kind of a safety hazard. They should install some kind of ignition lock that scans the airwaves for hockey broadcasts similar to the breathalyzers they have for drunk drivers.
• Also, remember when 760 used to broadcast the games? We once picked up a faint broadcast from them all the way in Disney World. That’s about 1200 miles away from my front door. I can’t even get 1270 to come in while driving through the Detroit suburbs. Lame. Even more lame? The fact that I forgot to check 97.1 to see if they had the game until I was half of a mile away from home.
• When the Wings scored to break the tie in the third period, I yelled so loud that my little brother cam flying out of his room and down the hall to see what was going on. I’m always cool, calm, and collected. This is a lie
• I’m told that Ken Daniels came within inches of giving a shout out to SSDD on a failed Datsyuk attempt in the third. Unfortunately, I was stuck watching upstairs sans DVR for reasons that have yet to be explained to me (This is probably for the best because I have a sneaky suspicion that it was because of American Idol.) and had been distracted by something else at that moment. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve become addicted to being able to rewind my live TV. I was way more annoyed by the fact that I was just watching a regular old cable hookup and couldn’t do that than anyone really should be.
• See how I spent all this time writing about myself since I really didn’t see much of the game? I learned how to fill space with the best of ‘em in AP English (ahem, Pinky).
  

GP Answers:
1. So who is Jimmy Howard going to beat up tonight?
No one that I’m aware of. And I think that’s the kind of information that would’ve found its way to Twitter.

2. I’ve been hearing that Dan Cleary is supposed to return to the lineup tonight. How much of a difference will having an actual forward playing forward make? Dressing eight defensemen is a little silly.
Ummmmm…it turns out that half-watching the third period isn’t a good way to get material to write a recap. Who knew?

3. We’re down to ten games left in the season, and the Wings are still barely clinging to a playoff spot (this, of course, didn’t deter them from offering playoff tickets for sale, an announcement that made me cringe because I believe in jinxing such things). They have a tendency to fall asleep against teams below them in the standings (See: Edmonton), but they can’t afford to do that tonight. Will they bother to show up to play?
They looked pretty good from what I saw in the third, but my twitter feed has told me that the first period wasn’t pretty. They managed to pull off a win though, and at this point I don’t even care how they look doing it.

4. The last two games have just been loaded with Eurotwin magic. What are they going to do to amaze us against St. Louis?
The dangling and the sniping have been in full force from the boys lately. Zetterberg in particular continued on his roll. This has to strike fear in the teams that the Wings are chasing in the standings. That can’t be a good feeling.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Valtteri Filppula
If only he’d listened to our pleading to shoot the puck sooner.

Jimmy Howard gets the Golden Facepalm
The Blues’ second goal had weak sauce written all over it.

What I Learned:
Listening to hockey on the radio is a miserable experience in every sense of the word.

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

1. Now that he's a local hero, who is Jimmy Howard going to beat up tonight?
2. I’ve been hearing that Dan Cleary is supposed to return to the lineup tonight. How much of a difference will having an actual forward playing forward make? Dressing eight defensemen is a little silly.
3. We’re down to ten games left in the season, and the Wings are still barely clinging to a playoff spot (this, of course, didn’t deter them from offering playoff tickets for sale, an announcement that made me cringe because I believe in jinxing such things). They have a tendency to fall asleep against teams below them in the standings (See: Edmonton), but they can’t afford to do that tonight. Will they bother to show up to play?
4. The last two games have just been loaded with Eurotwin magic. What are they going to do to amaze us against St. Louis?

I’ll be joining this one in progress, hopefully sometime early in the second period. Word on the street is that some early H2H revelers will be visiting the Joe tonight. This is a good way to ease the arena’s staff into the chaos that will occur on Friday. If they don’t pull this one off, I suspect that there will be 672% more alcohol consumed at the pre-game party on Friday. That’s just a rough estimate.

Red Wings 3, Penguins 1: Post Game Snipes...

• It feels like it’s been forever since I wrote one of these. I’m a little rusty.
• First off, congrats to all the folks with DirecTV who finally got to watch their first Versus broadcast of the season.
  
• The Wings looked good last night. After these last few weeks, I finally feel like I recognize those guys skating around in jerseys with the Winged Wheel on them.
• One of the Wings’ powerplays was so good that the Penguins looked like they were a peewee team trying to keep up with the grownups. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up with a puck in the net.
• Versus showed a shot of Ozzie on the bench apparently whispering sweet nothings into Paul Boyer’s ear. At one point, I thought he was going to plant a kiss on his cheek. I guess he’s having a good time, at least.
• The Eurotwins were out in full force last night. Please tell me that there’s a photoshop out there with them in a Captain Planet cartoon combining their powers.
• Hank called Bertuzzi “Ber-toot-sie” in an interview. I realize that it’s technically the real way to pronounce it, but it made me snicker.
• Back in September, if you had told me that seeing Jimmy Howard look like he was hurt was nearly going to give me a heart attack, I would’ve laughed at you. Luckily, he bounced right back and was more than ready to perform some late-game heroics.
• I’ve never once said that Crosby sucks or denied that he’s a talented player. My issue with him is his insistence on acting like a spoiled little brat. His attack on Zetterberg, who did nothing that I saw to provoke anything, was cheap and selfish. Instead of trying to put a puck in the net, he was focused on cross-checking Z from behind. That’s the kind of thing that would’ve had me yelling at the TV if it was coming from a Wing. Not so with Pittsburgh fans as they were quick to rush to his defense. His comments after the game were absurd and just as indicative of his self-centeredness. There really is something to be said for class, and Crosby is completely devoid of any semblance of it.
• Jimmy Howard solidified his place in Wings fans’ hearts when he jumped to Zetterberg’s defense. I kept rewinding the scrum at the end on my DVR and rewatching it, and I laughed every time.
• This is one of my new favorite quotes ever: “I saw Jimmy coming in with his glove and Crosby wasn’t there anymore.’’~Z
  

GP Answers:
1. How close to the final horn are the Wings going to wait to score a goal this time around?
They scored with less than a minute left in the first, but other than that, it was fairly undramatic. The real end-of-game drama came from Gary’s baby.

2. Will any Wings fans even make it to the opening faceoff before wanting to toss their TVs out of the window due to all of Versus’ inevitable Penguin-fawning? This would be an interesting thing for me to try since I live in the basement and I’d actually have to heave the TV up and out of the egress ditch.
I solved this problem by not watching the pre-game show.

3. What great new word or phrase are the Versus announcers going to delight us with tonight? In the past, we’ve been treated to ‘mastodonic,’ and more recently ‘Danglelicious.” I’m eagerly awaiting more of their oratorical brilliance.
Sadly, we weren’t treated to any delicious creativity.

4. Who is Matt Cooke going to try to kill tonight?
It turned out that Cooke wasn’t the one the Wings had to be looking over their shoulders for.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Henrik Zetterberg
There’s very little that you can do to convince me that Sidney Crosby doesn’t have nightmares about Zetterberg shadowing him anywhere and everywhere he goes.

Drew Miller the Golden Facepalm
He missed another glorious opportunity. I don't know what he was up to during the two games I missed, but the last little stretch seems to have been filled with numerous chances that should've resulted in goals for him if he had a little more finish.

What I Learned:
A whole week without hockey is horrendous.

Flying Gremlins and Other Vacation Hockey Notes...

I wrote this earlier and completely forgot to post it. I won't have a game recap up until tomorrow, so I figured I might as well still put it up.

I’m currently on what I’m sure is going to be the most miserable flight of my life. Since I’m traveling alone and have no one to commiserate with, I’ve decided to semi-live blog it:

10:45am CST: I’m sitting in my window seat, minding my own business. I got on the plane 15 minutes ago when everyone was supposed to board. By now, the flight attendants are doing their final cabin checks, and since I know that you’re supposed to be on board 20 minutes before the plane takes off, I’m assuming that I’ve got the row to myself all the way to Detroit. Not so. In comes a woman in a burgundy velvet track suit hustling down the aisle, and naturally she sits down next to me. The kicker is that she has a dog in a carrier. The same dog I’ve been hearing yelp for the last hour and a half in the terminal. Great.

10:48am CST: I’m about 98.7% sure that that thing is a gremlin, not a dog. At first it was making ape-like noises, but now I’m leaning toward gremlin.

10:50am CST: I’m debating telling the flight attendant that I’m deathly afraid of dogs and couldn’t possibly sit next to one for the next couple of hours.

10:51am CST: The only other empty seat on the plane is right across the aisle, still in range of the yelping noises. I would feel too guilty if they asked someone else to move and they got stuck next to the gremlin. Instead, I’ve resorted to trying to catch the flight attendant’s eye with the horrified look on my face.

10:53am CST: The dog’s name is Prissy. What on earth would possess someone to name an animal that?

10:55am CST: This woman needs to stay on her side of the armrest. I have a bubble.

10:58am CST: We’re pulling away from the gate. It’s time to set my watch back to Eastern time. I can no longer twitter. This is sad for me.

12:01pm EST: Woah. We literally pulled away from the gate, turned one corner, and the next thing I knew, we were pedal to the medal. I didn’t even have time to whisper our traditional “lock and load.” This is very different from Metro on Friday where we taxied for at least 15 minutes. I could’ve sworn that we were driving to New Orleans instead of flying.

12:03pm EST: The takeoff seems to have shut the gremlin up at least temporarily. Maybe the G-forces on that sharp right-hand turn we took knocked it out.

12:06pm EST: Oh thank god I can use my headphones now.

12:07pm EST: Now the woman is sending text messages on her blackberry. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t one of the approved electronic devices that they just listed off.

12:10pm EST: More text messages. Nice.

12:22pm EST: I should really be writing my paper instead of doing this.

12:27pm EST: I’m going to try to leverage this into an extra Coke. Delta/Northwest owes me big time.

12:29pm EST: Still nothing out of the dog. At least that I can hear. I’ve got my specially made Louisiana playlist playing on iTunes right now.

12:30pm EST: The woman’s been studying the US route map intently for the last 10 minutes. What could possibly be so interesting?

12:35pm EST: The woman’s asleep now. The gremlin appears to be sleeping as well. Of course, I’m pretty sure it’s just pretending to sleep while it plots death and destruction. I’m keeping my eye on it.

12:34pm EST: Again with the texting.

12:45pm EST: What? I thought we got pretzels and cookies. I hate peanuts. Unless, of course, the peanuts are in peanut butter. In that case, I’m all about them.

12:47pm EST: We’ve initiated a conversation about my desktop picture of Penny. My dog is far superior to whatever creature is lurking in that carrier. For starters, I could kick a field goal with that thing, which automatically disqualifies it from being a real dog in my mind. She once again referred to it as a dog, but I’m still not convinced that it’s not a gremlin.

12:51pm EST: The woman is now baby talking to the gremlin. Someone get me an airsickness bag.

12:54pm EST: More texting. Uh oh, the flight attendant just walked by. The woman made a quick move to hide the phone. Back to texting as soon as the attendant is past us. She's slick.

1:08pm EST: Either the woman is snoring or the gremlin is growling. I can’t tell without taking my headphones off, and I’m not willing to do that.

1:10pm EST: I keep thinking about how my friends and family are going to be rolling on the floor laughing when I tell them this story when I get home.

1:13pm EST: Now she’s reading the Times-Picayune. The front page of their Metro section’s top headline reads “Historic building rotting in limbo” with a picture of a 100 year old building below it. That’s not even news in Detroit.

1:15pm EST: Her phone’s in the pocket of her velvet track jacket, which is unzipped so that the pocket hangs onto my lap. I can feel her phone vibrating. What are the odds of me surviving a jump from 30,000 feet?

1:30pm EST: The gremlin is now on her lap and she’s baby-talking to it. I very tentatively let it lick my hand. I figured it would be a good idea to get on its good side when it inevitably is unleashed throughout the cabin.

1:44pm EST: We’re going through some turbulence now. The gremlin is starting to get restless.

At that point, my battery died and I had to resort to writing in my diary for the last 45 minutes of the flight.

Some random notes from New Orleans:

• I found all kinds of racks of beads for sports teams, but none for the Wings. There were a handful of hockey teams represented, but nothing for Detroit. I did see some Lions and Pistons ones, but my two teams—Wings and Tigers—had nothing. I invented some excuse in my head about how we’re just too classy for beads, but really I know that it’s because there aren’t nearly enough hockey fans out there.
• Saturday night, the friend who I was sharing a hotel room with called another mutual friend of ours from Chicago. He decided to pick a fight with me by insulting the Wings. I, of course, shot back with a logical and well-reasoned argument that debunked all of his points and insulted his intelligence all in one (This is a lie. I actually called Patrick Kane names. We like to bicker like children.). This lasted a minute until my poor friend who was relaying the messages on the phone finally yelled, “I am NOT having your hockey fights for you. Do that on your own time.” At that point, we had little choice but to return to mocking people we used to work with.
• I have to thank the folks who were DMing me score updates during the game on Friday night. It made my life. It was also a step, I think, toward convincing my friends that twitter can be a force for good.
• It’s always when I travel that I wish there was more national coverage of hockey. All I ask is to be able to flip on ESPN in the hotel at night and see some hockey highlights. But no, we have to talk about the stupid basketball tournament. They even managed to bring up football, which isn’t even in season right now as of the last time I checked. At least I like baseball.
• They were playing rap music at the Hard Rock Café. I was confused and annoyed. Combined with the screaming high schoolers, it significantly lowered my dining experience.
• Today’s USA Today has a headline about the Pirates seeking to end a bad stretch over a picture of the Pirates stretching. It was blowing my mind.
• I still haven’t gotten to catch up on the games I missed. I’m so disappointed that I wasn’t around for the back to back buzzer beaters.
• I was not expecting New Orleans to turn out to be as much of a history geek fest as it was. And I didn’t even get to half of the historical places that I wanted to. Guess that means I need a return trip someday.

Red Wings vs. Penguins GP...

I didn’t get to watch either of the last two games, as I’m still in New Orleans. My airport shuttle was kind enough to pick me up from my hotel 4 hours before my flight leaves. I was, of course, the first one on the bus. It turns out that the only food place that opens before 10:30 on this side of airport security only serves watery scrambled eggs, and I haven’t eaten since, oddly enough, the hotel didn’t have its breakfast set up yet when I left at 6:45 am. This is just uncivilized. There’s also a dog somewhere nearby that keeps barking. If that thing gets on my flight, I’m walking home to Detroit. I’m eagerly anticipating getting home to my DVR though. I tried playing the clips of the goals, but this internet doesn’t seem to be able to stream video. It’s free though, so I really can’t complain (about that…the lack of nourishment is fair game).

1. How close to the final horn are the Wings going to wait to score a goal this time around?
2. Will any Wings fans even make it to the opening faceoff before wanting to toss their TVs out of the window due to all of Versus’ inevitable Penguin-fawning? This would be an interesting thing for me to try since I live in the basement and I’d actually have to heave the TV up and out of the egress ditch.
3. What great new word or phrase are the Versus announcers going to delight us with tonight? In the past, we’ve been treated to ‘mastodonic,’ and more recently ‘Danglelicious.” I’m eagerly awaiting more of their oratorical brilliance.
4. Who is Matt Cooke going to try to kill tonight?

It’s been an entire week since I saw a lick of hockey. This had better be good. Geaux Wings!

Red Wings vs. Oilers GP...

I wasn’t going to do a GP today since I won’t be able to watch the game, but I didn’t want my 300th post to be a generic leaving-town-check-back-on-Monday post. As it so happens, I'm leaving town today. In fact, I'm posting this from the airport (Bless you, wireless internet). I thought it was particularly nice that the Wings had three days off before playing back-to-back games on the one weekend that I’m on vacation. I’ll be living it up in New Orleans at the wedding of one of my most beloved Splash Trashers and probably overloading Google’s score texting service checking for updates since I’m about 98% sure that nobody’s ever even heard of hockey down there. I may or may not be up and running in time for the Pittsburgh game on Monday.

1. The Wings have been playing well recently, which has made for a much cheerier bunch of Red Wing fans. Their random West Coast break has the potential to be a momentum-killer though. Can their strong play continue tonight?
2. The word on the street is that Jonathan Ericsson will be making his glorious return to the lineup tonight. Will he make us miss Brett Lebda?
3. Edmonton’s exactly the kind of team that the Wings like to overlook and get embarrassed by. Are they going to bother showing up tonight? Sixty minutes please, boys.
4. What is Tomas Holmstrom going to do tonight to make Wings fans swoon?

The Wings didn’t get any help during their layoff. Calgary and Nashville both picked up all of the points possible during their games. I don’t know what the deal is, but the out of town scores never seem to break the Wings’ way. I guess they’re going to have to do it on their own. The good news is that the Wings now have a game in hand on Calgary and two on Nashville.

Don’t forget to enter the Contest of Insanity. There are a lot of good ones already, but more is always better, so keep them coming.

SSDD's Contest of Insanity...

I know the title's a little dramatic, but it got your attention, didn't it?


A while ago, someone sent me this great Obamicon of Rafalski. Obviously, it's based on the iconic Obama Hope posters from the campaign. It amused me kind of a lot. As such, I’ve decided to open up a contest for the best hockey-related Obamicon. They’re really easy to make, so get your creative juices flowing. Post the links in the comments, and I’ll figure out something to use as a prize. I can promise the winner the fame and glory of having won the first ever SSDD contest, as well as the opportunity to pose a topic/question for me to blog about. There's also an outside chance that baked goods *might* be involved, but I'm not making any promises. I'll leave the contest open until 11:59 pm next Monday the 22nd. Please do bring the funny. I'm going to need some laughs to survive the next two weeks.


This is my lame attempt. I guess it's an example of what not to do.


I'm much prouder of this portrait of my daddy, who, unlike my mom, steadfastly refuses to read my blog...Which is why I can get away with this. I kid, I kid, there's no way I would pass on the opportunity show it to him. Especially when he's rocking the beady-red-eye look. He secretly likes it when I make fun of him.

Red Wings 2, Flames 1: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings didn’t exactly come flying out of the gate last night, but they buckled down when things mattered the most and managed to squeak out an important win.
• I really can’t stress enough how important it was to win that game.
• Kirk Maltby did a good job in his audition for a post-career broadcasting gig. I also thought it was cute that Homer asked about him in his post-game interview.
• The name Nigel Dawes never fails to make me snicker. I should grow up.
• What got into Drew Miller? He had his best game in a while and had a bunch of great chances. He didn’t quite finish any of them, and I was shocked that ‘snakebit’ wasn’t used to describe him on the broadcast. This was good because it should really be ‘snake-bitten’ and that bothers me.
• I was terrified on that penalty shot. However, since Jimmy Howard made the save, it ended out working out pretty well for the Wings. They got to keep their powerplay and went on to do good things with that. I really thought Jason Williams (Who?) was the one who got called for the penalty shot, but according to the box score, it was actually Zetterberg. (UPDATE 3/16/10 8:31 PM: I finally got to watch the replay just now, and it was clearly Williams. I'm not sure what the deal with the box score saying it was Zetterberg is. He wasn't anywhere near it. I still say it was a weak penalty shot call, though.)
  
• I still haven’t figured out what Z was doing on that play when Z made the turnover that led to the breakaway that led to the penalty shot.
• Datsyuk’s goal came courtesy of a classic Holmstrom screen. It was sheer beauty.
• When Brian Rafalski took that four-minute penalty in the third, I thought in my head that whoever was successful during that penalty would win the game. If Calgary scored, they’d go on to win, but if the Wings killed it off they’d end up on top. Of course, I didn’t dare say that out loud and I quickly banished those thoughts. Luckily, I turned out to be correct.
• Holmstrom’s goal was on a classic deflection right in front of the net. He was in picturesque form last night.
• Don’t overlook the play Brad Stuart made to keep the puck in the zone right before Franzen took the shot that was deflected in. Without that, the goal doesn’t happen.
• It had to be disheartening for the Flames to give up a goal in the final minute of the second period, and then the winner with less than two minutes to go in the game. I mean, I don’t really care, but having watched the Wings do that numerous times this season, I can empathize.
• Winning this game means that Calgary doesn’t win the season series, which is one of the tiebreakers should they find themselves deadlocked with Calgary for 8th place at the end of the season. Of course, if the Wings would just buckle down and play hockey like they have been over the last week, I don’t think we’ll have to be agonizing about trying to understand the tiebreakers at the end of the season.
• I was really amused by how excited everyone on Twitter was about that shot that Jimmy didn’t give up a rebound on near the end of the game. Still, it was vacuum-like.
• I wasn’t particularly happy with the fact that Zetterberg lost two straight defensive zone faceoffs during the final seconds of the game. Obviously, nothing bad happened, but those have to be won.
• The Wings now find themselves an exciting three points above Calgary in the standings and only one point behind Nashville for 7th place. They’re in a position where they can’t be passed during their three day mini-break on the west coast (Seriously, three days off and then back-to-back games? On the weekend I’m going out of town? I’m going to go a whole week without watching a game, which is sad for me.) How much more anxious would we all be if we had to sit idly by during the next three days knowing that the Wings were out of the playoffs again and other teams were pulling away? By the time the weekend rolls around, the Wings will still be in 8th place and have at least a game in hand on both of the teams they’re battling with for the last two slots. What a relief.
  

GP Answer:
1. Those games we enjoyed so much against the Wild and Sabres aren’t going to mean a whole lot if the Wings can’t pull this one off tomorrow. There’s only one question today: will they show up? This season, the Wings have had a stunning inability to rise to the occasion when these big games come up. Let’s hope that that trend reverses itself against the Flames. The big guns are going to have to show up, and the role players are going to have to bring their best game. Losing this one’s not an option.
Their start wasn't particularly impressive, but they pulled off the win, and did it in regulation. You can't ask for more than that, I guess.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Tomas Holmstrom
Homer was doing that thing that he does all night long. I often wonder if the other 29 teams in the league keep a psychologist on staff to help their goalies recover after games against the Wings and Holmstrom’s rear end. It can’t be fun for them. I, on the other hand, love nothing more than geeking out over another superb Holmstrom deflection or screen.

Andreas Lilja gets the Golden Facepalm
That turnover on Calgary’s goal can’t happen.

Henrik Zetterberg gets a Secondary Facepalm
This is twice in one week, I think. I’m kind of shocked, that I’m even doing this. Still, that turnover, the penalty shot, and those key faceoff losses at the end of the game just don’t paint a pretty picture.

What I Learned:
NHL anagrams are fun. Try them. You won’t regret it. Brad Stuart’s is Absurd Tart, just for reference. You also might find out that your little sister’s is hilarious and be able to torment her with it.

Wings vs. Flames GP...

1. Those games we enjoyed so much against the Wild and Sabres aren’t going to mean a whole lot if the Wings can’t pull this one off tomorrow. There’s only one question today: will they show up? This season, the Wings have had a stunning inability to rise to the occasion when these big games come up. Let’s hope that that trend reverses itself against the Flames. The big guns are going to have to show up, and the role players are going to have to bring their best game. Losing this one’s not an option.

Red Wings 3, Sabres 2 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• The first ten minutes of the game looked like a continuation of the Minnesota game. The Wings were in vintage form, and I was as thrilled as can be. Then, oddly enough, the Wings started to sit back and allowed the Sabres back into the game.
• Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was from an incredible angle. I have no idea how he managed to put it in the net from that close to the goal line, with a defenseman in the way.
• Eaves’ goal was the result of straight up hard work. I liked it a lot.
• I skimmed through the last few minutes of the first period because my new housemate who’s moving in tomorrow showed up and we were chatting. I don’t regret anything.
• They managed to play the start of ‘Piano Man’ right at 9 o’clock. I was really amused. If I was in charge of the audio at the Joe, I know that I’d be hoping that there was a stoppage in play right at nine so that I could play it right on the dot. It’s the little things in life that amuse me.
• I really don’t like seeing Jason Williams (Who?) and Todd Bertuzzi on the ice together. It just seems like a bad idea.
• It turns out that the Sabres' tying goal came on a play that should've been blown dead because the puck hit the netting. I had no idea until that information found its way to Twitter via the Salers. FSD pointed it out later during intermission. Based on history and karma, we should expect the Wings to play the Sabres again this time next year and score a goal on an eerily similar play off the netting. At least that's what happened when San Jose was the beneficiary of a missed call like that two seasons ago, only to see the Wings get retribution almost exactly one year later on a bounce like that. See folks, this is why we believe in the Hockey Gods.
  
• The Sabres rang a shot off the post late in the third period that I was 100% sure was in the net. I was so sure that I started yelling at my TV for half a second. Luckily, I was wrong.
• That overtime goal was pure Olympic Rafalski. I’m sure Ryan Miller was wishing that they were still on the same side.
• I was a lot happier to see R. Miller give up an OT goal this time around.
• This game brought the Wings dead even in the goals for/against category. That makes me sad.
  
• All in all, I’d say that this was a pretty typical ’09-’10 Wings game.
  

GP Answers:
1. Miller vs. Miller tonight. I can’t tell you what I’d give to get a chance to take on one of my siblings in an arena like this. Which one will prevail?
Drew wins! Sure he didn’t score on his brother, but I have a feeling he’d rather have these two points in the standings.

2. The powerplay’s suddenly caught fire since Johan Franzen returned. Can it keep going after a having such a rocky first part of the season?
How nice is it that the Wings have a powerplay again? They’ve got a nine-game conversion streak going on right now. In those nine games, they’re 6-2-1. I guess that’s what a real, live powerplay does for a team, eh?

3. Zetterberg had one of his best games of the season on Thursday after having his line shuffled. Can that success continue?
He wasn’t nearly at the level we saw on Thursday, but he was definitely more visible than he’s been in the recent past.

4. The game against the Wild was remarkable in the sense that the Wings displayed a level of effort and commitment to win that has been lacking this season. What are the odds that we get to see a game like that twice in a row? If they play like that again tonight, I might have to call this the start of a trend. By itself, though, the Wild game doesn’t mean a whole lot.
During the fist ten minutes of the game, it looked like we were seeing the same team that dominated the Wild. Then they went and let up. Still though, they’re looking like a team that can go places right now.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Brian Rafalski
You score an overtime goal and you get the baked goods. That’s the way things go.

Jimmy Howard’s rebound control gets the Golden Facepalm
Rebounds led to both goals. This continues to make me nervous.

What I Learned:
Drew Miller and Ryan Miller are brothers. Wowzers!!!

Red Wings vs. Sabres GP...

1. Miller vs. Miller tonight. I can’t tell you what I’d give to get a chance to take on one of my siblings in an arena like this. Which one will prevail?

2. The powerplay’s suddenly caught fire since Johan Franzen returned. Can it keep going after a having such a rocky first part of the season?

3. Zetterberg had one of his best games of the season on Thursday after having his line shuffled. Can that success continue?

4. The game against the Wild was remarkable in the sense that the Wings displayed a level of effort and commitment to win that has been lacking this season. What are the odds that we get to see a game like that twice in a row? If they play like that again tonight, I might have to call this the start of a trend. By itself, though, the Wild game doesn’t mean a whole lot.

Red Wings 5, Wild 1: Post Game Snipes...

• You know what the best thing about this win was? You never felt like it was going to get away from the Wings. Even after that goal they gave up at the end of the first period, it seemed like the game was well in hand.
• They started strongly, didn’t let up in the second period, and finished strongly in the third. It was as complete an effort as this team has given in a while.
• I’m not ready to call it a turning point or a statement game yet, though. We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from this team all season long, but it hasn’t been sustained for any significant amount of time. That being said, the fact that the offense has really kicked things into gear recently (five goals tonight, five against the Hawks, five against the Predators) is a good sign. Over the last few games, they have started to put together bits and pieces of dominant efforts where they looked like the real Wings for stretches, but couldn’t string together a whole game. The fact that they didn’t quit once they had the lead and kept pressing is incredibly encouraging. Maybe, just maybe, they finally got the message. We’ll see.
• Zetterberg certainly turned things around after getting called out by almost everybody.
• Bertuzzi was completely invisible all night except for that part where he took a penalty. That was only the second time all game that I noticed him on the ice.
• I was incredibly uncomfortable when Miller’s goal went to review. It certainly looked like a good goal to me, but this season has killed any faith that I had in the NHL’s review system.
• Dan Cleary had one of his best games of the season, I thought. He appeared to be working hard and doing good things out there. Now he just needs to keep that up.
• Once again, if the Wings had had Franzen all season, we’d be a lot more cheerful around Hockeytown right about now.
• At one point, after some slick passing by the Wings, Ken Daniels called it “pinball wizardry.” Being a big fan of The Who, I liked it a lot.
• Seriously, this is what watching a Wings game ought to feel like. It’s been too long.
  

GP Answers:
1. Can Valtteri Filppula spark Z? I still maintain that he’s not 100%, but I guess that could just be Todd Bertuzzi’s aura dragging him down. Maybe getting some time away from Bert will help get Z’s offense going.
Zetterberg had his best game in a long while. His goal came when he was on the ice with Patrick Eaves and Kris Draper, not his normal linemates, but he seemed to be buzzing all night. Keep it up, sunshine.

2. In the event that the Wings manage to get a lead, will they be able to hang onto it?
Yes. Yes they did. And they looked good doing it.

3. What percentage of the game will the Wings bother to play tonight? I think I’m going to make this like the Lidstrom question earlier this season and post it in every GP until I see a 100% effort.
I’ll give them the 100%. I was going to go with 99% because of that letdown at the end of the first, but I’m in a good mood right now and I’m feeling generous. I’m still going to ask this question on Saturday though. One game of a solid effort doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

4. Can Jimmy Howard get those rebounds under control? They’ve slowly become an issue again since the Olympic break.
There were some shaky rebounds, but nothing bad came of them. Minnesota’s only goal bounced in off of Stuart’s leg, and Jimmy had no chance on it. Hopefully this game will settle him down some.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Henrik Zetterberg
Like I said before, this was his best game in a long time. With any luck, he’ll get on a roll and we’ll get to see dominant Zetterberg more often.

An Extra Stick Tap for Johan Franzen
How can you not love the Mule? I mean really.

Chris Chelios gets the Golden Facepalm
He marked his return to the NHL by deflecting a shot into his own net tonight. I know it wasn’t his fault, but it wasn’t exactly a banner way to start his tenure there. What’s that you say? He’s not a Wing anymore and is therefore ineligible for the Golden Facepalm? Well, I get to make the rules around here, sunshine, and what I say goes. So there.

What I Learned:
I don’t think there are many teams that can beat the Wings if they play like they did tonight. There are definitely only a few out there who could win a best-of-7 series against the version of the team that we saw tonight. Now if we could get treated to that version more often…

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

1. Can Valtteri Filppula spark Z? I still maintain that he’s not 100%, but I guess that could just be Todd Bertuzzi’s aura dragging him down. Maybe getting some time away from Bert will help get Z’s offense going.
2. In the event that the Wings manage to get a lead, will they be able to hang onto it?
3. What percentage of the game will the Wings bother to play tonight? I think I’m going to make this like the Lidstrom question earlier this season and post it in every GP until I see a 100% effort.
4. Can Jimmy Howard get those rebounds under control? They’ve slowly become an issue again since the Olympic break.

Red Wings 2, Flames 4: Post Game Snipes...

• The first period was some pretty boring hockey. Neither team looked like it was willing to take a risk, and play was pretty choppy.
• I was incredibly concerned when the Flames scored first, but the wings actually managed to rebound well from the goal. Too bad they weren't able to do that in the third period.
• Via WingsLive, Brett Lebda announced that he was Single. Get in line, ladies. I know you're interested. To be fair, he said that Darren Helm was also single.
• Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom came out of the Olympic break looking like guys with something to prove. I think that Homer staying home with his injury was one of the best things that could've happened for the Wings.
• The Wings' second goal came off of an absolutely classic Red Wing powerplay. There was tape-to-tape passing, a goal, and a Tomas Holmstrom screen for the ages. I miss seeing that on a regular basis.
• The Wings looked good during the second period, which gave me a sense of false hope for the outcome of the game. Naturally, the third period was a depressing let down.
• I'm more and more convinced every game that Henrik Zetterberg has something nagging that's hampering his play. Too bad there's no cushion in the standings that would allow the team to give him a couple of games off.
• Jarome Igninla hadn't scored on the Wings in his last 19 regular season games. The media made a big deal about this today, which naturally meant that he would break that streak during this game.
• The Wings only mustered four shots in the third period. That's unacceptable. Especially in a game as important as this one was.
• Nashville and Calgary both won tonight. This counts as a disaster. The Wings now find themselves outside of the playoff picture again.

GP Answers:
1. Jimmy Howard has struggled a little since the Olympic break. The layoff seems to have left him a little rusty. Can he hold up in this key game against Calgary?
This loss certainly wasn't his fault, but he's still struggling with his rebounds. They're not nearly as bad as they were at the beginning of the season, but they've become an issue again since the break.

2. Datsyuk and Bertuzzi both missed practice today. Both are supposed to be ready to go on Tuesday, but if I've learned one thing from this season, it's that the worst-case scenario almost always happens. Will their nagging issues affect their play significantly? It would be a shame to see Datsyuk's post-Olympic tear suffer because of a flu bug.
Datsyuk didn't look like his illness slowed him down at all. I thought Bertuzzi had a pretty solid game as well. He wasn't spectacular, but he looked particularly good on the shift after he got out of the penalty box in the third.

3. Over the last little while, the Wings' powerplay has slowly started to become respectable. Will their special teams keep up the good work, or will one of them start to falter? In the recent past, either the PK or the powerplay seems to be strong, but not both at the same time.
Like I said before, the Wings' second powerplay was classic. The others? Not so much.

4. From what I read today, Jonathan Ericsson is going to be returning to the lineup tomorrow. How is he going to respond to his benching? Getting sat in favor of Brett Lebda has to be demoralizing for anybody, but especially a guy like Ericsson with his Adonis-like qualities.
I didn't really notice Ericsson very much during the game. For a defenseman like him, that's a very good thing. He managed to stay +/- neutral in 13 minutes of ice time tonight.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Tomas Holmstrom
Because I love him.

Henrik Zetterberg gets the Golden Facepalm
Yeah, I went there. There was something supremely frustrating about his blown chance early on. I can't quite explain why, and this is really tough for me because lord knows I love me some Z, but...I don't know. That one chance just made me shake my head.

What I learned:
Looking up at the top eight again isn't fun. At all.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

1. Jimmy Howard has struggled a little since the Olympic break. The layoff seems to have left him a little rusty. Can he hold up in this key game against Calgary?
2. Datsyuk and Bertuzzi both missed practice today. Both are supposed to be ready to go on Tuesday, but if I’ve learned one thing from this season, it’s that the worst-case scenario almost always happens. Will their nagging issues affect their play significantly? It would be a shame to see Datsyuk’s post-Olympic tear suffer because of a flu bug.
3. Over the last little while, the Wings’ powerplay has slowly started to become respectable. Will their special teams keep up the good work, or will one of them start to falter? In the recent past, either the PK or the powerplay seems to be strong, but not both at the same time.
4. From what I read today, Jonathan Ericsson is going to be returning to the lineup tomorrow. How is he going to respond to his benching? Getting sat in favor of Brett Lebda has to be demoralizing for anybody, but especially a guy like Ericsson with his Adonis-like qualities.

It’s looking more and more like it’s going to be a three-horse race for the 7th and 8th seeds in the West. Five points separate the 5/6 teams from 7th place, and there are 4 points between Calgary in 9th and St. Louis in 10th. There’s a pack of teams from 10th to 13th that could definitely challenge if they put together a strong run (Anaheim *cough* Anaheim), and catching up to LA, Colorado, and even Vancouver and Phoenix isn’t out of the question for the Wings if they get going, but I’d put my money on the boys fighting with Nashville and Calgary for those last precious playoff seeds. Losing to Calgary tomorrow isn’t an option for the Wings, but you already knew that. I just hope that they do too.

Red Wings 5, Blackhawks 4: Post Game Snipes...

• This game didn’t get off to a particularly impressive start, but it sure got fun during the second period. Anyone know when the last time the Wings scored five goals in a period was?
• Of course the Wings couldn’t just coast to an easy victory by protecting their three-goal lead. They had to make things interesting by letting the Hawks back into the game. I’m sure NBC was thrilled because it was close at the end, but c’mon guys, get things together.
• The Wings managed to bring themselves within a point of Nashville with that win today. We all need to buckle down and root for Vancouver to win tonight. The Preds can’t be comfortable looking over their shoulders and seeing the Wings coming up behind them.
• Don’t look now, but the boys have won four of their last five games.
• Games like these always leave me looking forward to the next game more than usual. That game just happens to be against the Flames, who are only one point behind the Wings thanks to a win against Minnesota today.
• Bertuzzi left the game with what Babcock is now calling a charley horse. Let’s hope it’s nothing more (even though I was relieved to see that it was just Bertuzzi who was hurt…not someone more important).
• How refreshing was it to see a huge momentum swing from a questionable no-goal call go in the Wings’ favor for a change? Shortly afterward, the Wings started to take control of the game and things got a lot more enjoyable.
• I still can’t stand the calls when the refs wave off a goal, but don’t call an interference penalty on the play. It’s either interference or it’s not. Make up your mind. That irritation was compounded by the fact that Homer got called for a goalie interference penalty later on that was every bit as questionable.
• My mom and I had a grammar debate about whether it was “waived off” or “waved off.” Finally we consulted dictionary.com and my victory was confirmed. It’s “waved off.”
• Goalies diving makes me angry every time. Even when it’s done by a Wings goalie, I have to roll my eyes. Cowboy up, gentlemen.
• Today’s boxscore is sprinkled with a little bit of everything. There were some point shots from the blueliners, some secondary scoring, and a little bit of dangle dangle from Pavel Datsyuk himself. That’s what I like to see.
• Lilja was featured on the sounds of the game thing that NBC does. I was amused by the fact that he said something to Ladd after checking him and he sounded vaguely Irish. I was also amused by the fact that he says things while shooting.
• I’m pretty sure my favorite moment of the game was when Johan Franzen was mocking one of the Hawks who dove. When they were showing the highlights at the end of the game, I told my brothers that that clip had better be included. Sure enough, as soon as I spoke, they showed it. I grabbed a clip of it with my phone camera, but it’s not very high quality. I have no idea why youtube does weird things to the sound whenever I upload videos.
• I loved how the fact that Datsyuk’s breakaway was also racing against the clock made it that much more exciting. Jason Williams (Who?), Rafalski, Filppula, and Lidstrom also scored during the second.

GP Answers:
1. A game against Chicago on NBC? What more could Wings fans ask for? How much time is Pierre going to spend talking about Sidney Crosby?
After a little while, my dad said, “Wow, they really do talk about that guy a lot.” He finally figured out why I’m always complaining.

2. One of the best things about the Nashville game was the fact that the Wings’ stars were their best players. Can they continue to lead the boys?
Pavel Datsyuk has been incredible since the Olympic break. Zetterberg was less visible, but as NBC pointed out, he doesn’t look 100% health-wise. That makes me nervous.

3. What is Pavel Datsyuk going to do to blow our minds tomorrow?
Oh just a breakaway goal in the final seconds of the second period. It ended up being the game-winner. He was up to his usual slick moves and pick-pocketing all game too. He could seriously give Neal Caffrey a run for his money.

4. We haven’t gotten to see Olympic Rafalski since the break ended. When is that version of the hometown boy going to show up?
We saw flashes of Olympic Rafalski and flashes of regular season Rafalski today. I guess it’s a work in progress.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
For all of the wonderful things he does.

Valtteri Filppula gets the Golden Facepalm
He pretty much handed Andrew Ladd his first goal of the game. I’m pretty sure that turnover in front of the net came with a bow on top.

What I Learned:
It’s a lot more fun to have goals waved off when they don’t belong to the Wings.

Red Wings vs. Blackhawks GP...

1. A game against Chicago on NBC? What more could Wings fans ask for? How much time is Pierre going to spend talking about Sidney Crosby?
2. One of the best things about the Nashville game was the fact that the Wings’ stars were their best players. Can they continue to lead the boys?
3. What is Pavel Datsyuk going to do to blow our minds tomorrow?
4. We haven’t gotten to see Olympic Rafalski since the break ended. When is that version of the hometown boy going to show up?

This game starts at 11:30 am local time in Chicago. What an idiotic time to start a hockey game. Also, it’s going to feel good to be able to hate Patrick Kane again after those bizarre couple of weeks of Olympic hockey when we were rooting for him.

Red Wings 5, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

• One of my favorite moments of the night was when Bertuzzi took a pass while still standing in the penalty box. It almost made the whole penalty kill worthwhile.
• Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was absolutely amazing. It was Danglelicious in every sense of the word.
• Early in the game, my dad informed me that he thought Helm was a bust. We bickered about it for a while, because that’s what we do when we watch TV together. Helm resolved our dispute by scoring two goals. No only does Helm love children, he also promotes familial harmony.
• I was really hoping for Helm to get the empty netter, but there are no free curly fries in Hockeytown today.
• This is the kind of game that the Wings need to play on a consistent basis from here on out. If they keep that up, getting into the playoffs won’t be a problem. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything this season that has convinced me that this could be a reality.
  

GP Answers:
1. The Wings are currently hanging onto the 8th spot in the West thanks to the teams they needed to lose actually losing for once (Is that a sign of things finally turning their way? I’m guessing no, but it’s nice to fantasize about things like that every once in a while.). Nashville’s managed to open up a 5-point gap ahead of them, and St. Louis and Calgary are tied one point behind the Wings. Only four points separate 8-13 in the West. This is scary stuff. What are the odds that the Wings ease some of our fears in this important game against Nashville? (Yes, I’m still getting used to the fact that we’re now forced to consider regular season games against Nashville “important.”)
I don’t know about everyone else, but I feel a lot better after that game. The Wings have consistently been failing to show up for important games against teams they’re fighting for position, and the fact that they came out and played like a team that wanted to win is reassuring. Of course, I’ll probably be back to banging my head against a wall tomorrow, but it’s always nice to see proof that we’re not all crazy for continually saying that this team can still dominate.

2. How will Jimmy Howard rebound from his less-than-stellar outing on Wednesday? The Wings need him to be strong down the stretch.
Howard was fine, not that he needed to be spectacular. Nashville only had 8 shots total in the first and third periods. They picked things up in the second, but they still only finished with 22 shots on net.

3. What percentage of the game are the Wings going to show up to play? We should start a pre-game betting pool to guess numbers.
I’ll give them a 100% because I’m feeling magnanimous today.

4. Can Franzen keep up his red hot scoring streak? Can a scoring streak be considered red hot after less than a handful of games? I vote yes in the context of this season.
He was actually held to no points for a change. It’s okay though. He’s probably going to exact his revenge on Chicago tomorrow.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Darren Helm
Where did that finish come from? I’d completely forgotten how long it had been since he scored a goal. There aren’t many guys who can electrify a crowd like he can.

An Extra Stick Tap for Pavel Datsyuk
That goal he scored was just beautiful and fun. In fact, fans enjoyed it so much that Gary Bettman is currently working on a way to remove plays like that from the game.

Brian Rafalski gets the Golden Facepalm
On the Predators’ first goal, he made a bad turnover on a poorly-advised pass and then proceeded to get embarrassed as he was walked around en route to the net. Not good.

What I Learned:
Playing Nashville is so much more enjoyable when it’s at the Joe. The train whistle thing they do at whatever their arena’s called now drives me up a wall.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

1. The Wings are currently hanging onto the 8th spot in the West thanks to the teams they needed to lose actually losing for once (Is that a sign of things finally turning their way? I’m guessing no, but it’s nice to fantasize about things like that every once in a while.). Nashville’s managed to open up a 5-point gap ahead of them, and St. Louis and Calgary are tied one point behind the Wings. Only four points separate 8-13 in the West. This is scary stuff. What are the odds that the Wings ease some of our fears in this important game against Nashville? (Yes, I’m still getting used to the fact that we’re now forced to consider regular season games against Nashville “important.”)
2. How will Jimmy Howard rebound from his less-than-stellar outing on Wednesday? The Wings need him to be strong down the stretch.
3. What percentage of the game are the Wings going to show up to play? We should start a pre-game betting pool to guess numbers.
4. Can Franzen keep up his red hot scoring streak? Can a scoring streak be considered red hot after less than a handful of games? I vote yes in the context of this season.

I won’t be watching this one live, but through the magic of DVR I’ll be able to catch it later in the evening. Unless, of course, I get word of another atrocious performance. In that case, I’m probably not going to subject myself to that kind of torture.

Red Wings 3, Canucks 6: Post Game Snipes...

• All that goodwill that Ryan Kesler built up during the Olympics? Gone.
• Sure the goaltending could’ve been better tonight, but the real problem was the guys skating in front of the goalies.
• At one point during the broadcast, Mickey Redmond went to such lengths to set up a jockstrap-in-the-rafters joke that there’s no way he didn’t have cue cards helping him get through it. I think it was worth the effort.
• Mickey was also thrilled when Datsyuk threw a sucker punch and took a penalty for it. He sounded like a proud papa whose kid just did something awesome. He might be hanging a copy of the box score on his refrigerator at home to commemorate it.
• I don’t know why it is, but it always seems like it’s the phantom penalty calls that result in powerplay goals. It’s never the blatant hooks or obvious cross-checking calls that teams cash in on. It’s the calls that make you want to bang your head on a wall in the first place.
• By the second half of the third period, when it had become clear that the Wings weren’t going to recover, all I wanted was to keep Luongo’s GAA down. I realized that I accidentally started him on my fantasy team and I figured that I might as well get something good out of the night. Then Franzen went and scored, and I was stuck trying to figure out if his points were worth weakening Luongo’s stats. I’m still not sure, but every game reminds me more and more how much we missed The Mule.
  

GP Answers:
1. The last time the Wings won three games in a row was in a different century (or at least that’s what it feels like). Can they make it three in a row tonight?
No. And except for a few minutes in the first period, they didn’t really look like they wanted to.

2. Can the powerplay actually keep working consistently after a good performance against Colorado on Monday?
Well, it didn’t much matter.

3. How is Lilja going to hold up in his second game back? This is when his conditioning should start catching up to him.
I didn’t really notice him much tonight. For a third-pair defenseman, that’s a good thing in my book.

4. Just how Danglelicious is Pavel Datsyuk going to be tonight?
He showed some moments of brilliance, as usual, but the Dangleliciousness that we’ve seen recently wasn’t there for most of the night.

5. How many goals are going to be called off because of Tomas Holmstrom’s behind?
Thankfully none. Although that might’ve actually gotten me interested in the game. This one was barely watchable.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Johan Franzen
If Franzen had been in the lineup all season, the Wings wouldn’t be in as bad of a position right now. I guarantee it.

Niklas Kronwall gets the Golden Facepalm
At one point, he had a glorious scoring opportunity, but only managed to step on the puck and wipe out. I got a kick out of it, and was still laughing as the Canucks proceeded to retrieve the puck, carry it down the ice, and score. At that point, I stopped laughing.

What I Learned:
We’re in for an ugly, ugly March.

Red Wings vs. Canucks GP...

1. The last time the Wings won three games in a row was in a different century (or at least that’s what it feels like). Can they make it three in a row tonight?
2. Can the powerplay actually keep working consistently after a good performance against Colorado on Monday?
3. How is Lilja going to hold up in his second game back? This is when his conditioning should start catching up to him.
4. Just how Danglelicious is Pavel Datsyuk going to be tonight?
5. How many goals are going to be called off because of Tomas Holmstrom’s behind?

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

• The Wings looked good in the first period. They had a lot of energy and carried the play. They even had a two-goal lead to show for it.
• All that momentum got taken away midway through the second period when Kerry Fraser waved off a Franzen goal on yet another weak call against the Wings. It just blows my mind how regularly this has happened this season. Maybe it’s because I’m sweating games out more than I usually do, but I can’t ever remember this many obnoxiously bad calls going against the Wings at crucial moments.
• Predictably, after the bad call, the Avs started to carry the play and tied up the game shortly thereafter. As much as I missed the Wings during the Olympic break, I did not miss the NHL one bit. I just wish there was some way the Wings could exist in a fantasy world where we didn’t have to deal with Little Gary and his league of crackpots.
• I think Tomas Holmstrom kicked Fraser’s dog over the break or something. Yeah, that must be it.
• The versus announcers said that Datsyuk had been, “Danglelicious all night.” This could be this season’s version of fabulosity. It’s been over a year since that beautiful quote, and I’m proud to say that it’s still a regular part of my vocabulary. In fact, only West Wing quotes and an insult sequence from In the Heat of the Night are in the same range of television-inspired quotations in my life. Make it stick.
• Some intrepid folks on Twitter have begun cobbling together a Beyonce parody for Danglelicious: I’ve joined forces with @mpetrella, @mserven, and @beanie168. Read and enjoy.
• It was weird to see the powerplay convert.
• McCarty made a good argument in favor of NHL participation in the Olympics during the post-game show. Because I needed another reason to love the guy.
  
• That’s all I’ve got. I’m out of mid-season blogging shape after that long break. I’m going to have to get my game legs (fingers?) back.
  

GP Answers:
1. Are the Wings going to come out of the Olympic break as dazed and confused as I am? Or can they continue playing like they did against Ottawa before the break? (That happened this century, right? It’s been a while.)
They looked stunningly good during the first period. It’s amazing how refreshing that is after this season.

2. How will the Wings’ Olympians fare after their short break? Only Rafalski played yesterday so the rest of the team should be in pretty good shape. Honestly, Sweden and Russia getting knocked out early might’ve been the best thing to happen to the Wings in a long time.
Rafalski looked fine. There was some debate about whether he would play or not, but playing yesterday didn’t seem to affect him at all. I wanted Sweden and Russia to do well for the Wings who were playing for their countries, but since I’m neither Swedish nor Russian, my loyalty to the Wings is much stronger. Those extra few days of rest for the Wings’ big guns could pay dividends down the road.

3. Lilja’s slated to make his long-awaited return to NHL action tonight. It should be interesting, to say the least. How is that going to work out for him and the team? It sure would be a shame to have put Maltby out of action for the rest of the season to make room for the old, turnover-machine version of Lilja.
Honestly, I barely noticed him. The boxscore tells me that he played 9:28 and was -1, but aside from a couple of random times, I didn’t see him do much. Then again, I spent most of the third period laughing about song parodies, so it’s possible that I missed something. Kudos to him for working to get back in the NHL though. I probably would’ve just given up and fallen into deep despair after the first two weeks of constant headaches, let alone almost a full year of them.

4. Can Rafalski bring his stellar Olympic play back to the Wings? If he plays like that down the stretch, things are going to be looking happier around here.
He wasn’t spectacular, but he was just fine.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
He was, of course, Danglelicious.

Tomas Holmstrom gets the Golden Facepalm
A veteran like him should know better than to go out kicking referees’ dogs before important hockey games. Shame on him.

What I Learned:
Nothing compares to Red Wings hockey. For better or for worse.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche GP...

Yesterday, midway through the USA-Canada game, I realized that the Wings were back in action tonight. I’d actually completely forgotten that, which is a testament to how much I enjoyed the Olympics. After spending the last two weeks planted in front of my TV for most of the day watching every second of Olympic coverage, I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with my life. I’d be 100% okay if they decided to have the Olympics every day. In order to fill the void left by the sudden lack of curling, ski jumping, aerials, and biathlon, I guess I’ll have to get back in the swing of blogging.

Before I return to the Wings, though, I have to say that the game yesterday was incredible. The two teams could not have made a better argument for NHL participation in the Olympics if they had brought flow charts and bar graphs. I was absolutely ecstatic when we tied the game in the final minute. Not even I, the ultimate homer, thought that Team USA would medal in these Olympics, so taking Canada to overtime in the gold medal game was incredible. Honestly, the thing that I’m most upset about is the fact that it had to be Crosby who scored the OT winner. He did next to nothing all tournament, but that’s not going to stop him from having statues erected in his honor all over Canada. I would’ve been more than okay if it had been Iginla, who I’ve always respected, or Nash who I have no issues with despite his status as a consistent Wing-destroyer. On the other hand, the shot of Yzerman and co. jumping up in the air after the goal made me feel a lot better. I’m glad Stevie isn’t going to have his Canadian citizenship revoked now.

1. Are the Wings going to come out of the Olympic break as dazed and confused as I am? Or can they continue playing like they did against Ottawa before the break? (That happened this century, right? It’s been a while.)
2. How will the Wings’ Olympians fare after their short break? Only Rafalski played yesterday so the rest of the team should be in pretty good shape. Honestly, Sweden and Russia getting knocked out early might’ve been the best thing to happen to the Wings in a long time.
3. Lilja’s slated to make his long-awaited return to NHL action tonight. It should be interesting, to say the least. How is that going to work out for him and the team? It sure would be a shame to have put Maltby out of action for the rest of the season to make room for the old, turnover-machine version of Lilja.
4. Can Rafalski bring his stellar Olympic play back to the Wings? If he plays like that down the stretch, things are going to be looking happier around here.