Franzenmuth

Realignment: The Bigger Problem

2012-01-09T15:20:00.004-05:00

It's probably fair to say that the majority of hockey fans were disappointed last Friday when the NHLPA threw out the realignment plans for next season.

While that definitely is disappointing, there's a bigger problem underlying all of this, and I'm sure it's already hit many hockey fans.

If you watch the CBC Hotstove on Hockey Night in Canada, their whole discussion this past Saturday was on realignment. Elliotte Friedman said it was refused 28-2, the two teams for it being Columbus and Detroit - the two teams that want and kind of really need a move.

And while this refusal is a setback, it really says so much more than that...

The Collective Bargaining Agreement expires this coming September. Eight months from now.

...I'll wait for you to stop spiraling from remembering what happened last time this took place.

I know, I know. We all thought this would come several more years down the road, even with the date set in stone. We thought things wouldn't be so up in the air, and it wouldn't be as hard as last time. Many of us spazzed when Donald Fehr was appointed, too; after all, baseball fans have a few choice words for him.

This realignment refusal business leaves a foreboding taste in my mouth. It feels like this is their way of showing that they're already playing hardball with the NHL. They shouldn't be taken lightly.

Then again, this could all be a total overreaction.

On the more positive front, their reasons for saying no to the realignment are fairly valid, and I can't fault them on it because you do have to look at it from every team's point of view, not just the Red Wings'.

The main problem Friedman said was the playoff format with two seven team and two eight team divisions, ultimately giving a better chance to some teams and not others. Likewise, travel was still an expense issue for nearly every team.

Don't think so? Think about how more often teams would have to cross the border into Canada, playing each team home and home every season. Sure, it works out better for teams like Detroit and Columbus having to only make one big western road trip rather than two or three, but what about the other twenty eight teams?

Okay, maybe you can't complain too much about it to those fans of the easternmost western conference teams, but it's still a big deal for the rest of the league. The NHLPA feels as though their concerns were not answered and this plan was kind of thrown together almost half-assed...at least the playoff format of it.

So what can be done. What will satisfy the NHLPA, NHL, and fans? Will there be an easy solution, or is it going to take months of pounding out every single little detail?

If I had the answer, we'd all be breathing a little easier. Because this realignment problem could just be the beginning of a long, long, long offseason.

And that's the last thing anyone wants.

Franzenmuth Lives!

2012-01-03T13:41:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you may be wondering what the hell happened to me, and your expression is much like Ericsson's in that picture over there.

Well, I was the Red Wings correspondent over at NHLHotStove.com for a year and a half, which is why things tapered off over here. But that place is closing down now; all of the head dudes are off to bigger and better things.

Me? Well, I'm still here, not as often as before, but I'm still alive. I'm sure I'll find a spot as a Red Wings writer on another site, but until then, I'll be back here, posting my random ramblings.

And in case you haven't already figured it out, this is the year of Valtteri Filppula, the guy I've been screaming at to shoot the puck for the past twenty-seven years (or four years, depending).

More epic things shall be coming in the future! Until then, stay put and keep your sticks on the ice.

Epic Comic Things

2011-04-18T10:25:00.007-04:00

April 15 marked the one-year anniversary I started blogging here at Franzenmuth - the night of Game One when that high stick on Lidstrom wasn't called). While I don't blog here as often as I used to (or as consistently), I'm still writing for the Red Wings over at NHLHotStove.com (and loving it) and tweeting like crazy. I still think it's absolutely nuts that I started my twitter a year ago without really caring and now I'm addicted...and have 350 followers. You guys are the best, seriously.

So to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Franzenmuth, I'm giving you two things, both of which are pretty epic (the second one more than the first).

Franzenmuth is expanding!! I don't mean this site - I mean the fictional land in Sweden with mule-drawn carriages (and you guys probably don't know how much of Franzenmuth I have planned/mapped out). Here's how...

My boyfriend was coming up with nicknames for hockey players that would annoy me (he's a pest like that), and somehow he came up with the nickname "Helmalot" for Helm. I told this to Twitter, and someone said it sounded like a medieval land.

Lo and behold, I had to sketch it during one of my classes.
Now, this second thing has been going on for quite some time. And this is a video I made back in December and never posted (you can tell by the Christmas tree behind me, hah). But I think I need to show you guys just because of how amazing it is and I don't know how I've kept it a secret for this long. It could be bigger than "Pavel Datsyuk in: A Case of Dangleitis."

I promise to continue working on it with all my might. It's going to be awesome. (More of it's done than you think, too!)

Babcock's Facial Expressions

2011-04-03T22:22:00.002-04:00

In case you missed my tweet on Twitter, I drew a quick little chart of Mike Babcock's facial expressions. I think it's pretty accurate.

Red Wings Doodles!

2011-03-25T19:33:00.007-04:00

Finally, I have a lazy Friday night where I can sit and draw Red Wings comics.

This semester of classes has been ridiculous. Let me tell you, if you take two online classes at the same time, and one of them is a Public Relations class that has ten-thousand projects in one semester, drop your social life. Seriously.

Anyway. I found myself ready and willing to draw comics on a Friday night where I had nothing else to do. Yeah, I spent a Friday night drawing comics - that's how cool I am (and when you have to get up at 5.30am for work the next morning, you don't really want to go out and do stuff).

All of the comic ideas I had are too intricate. So I asked Twitter what quick doodles they wanted to see. Here's what they came up with.

You guys know the drill - click on it to make them larger.

Homer brought Hudler some food while he was sick...

Party Pavel is not made of Party.

And there was a video on Red Wings TV at the start of Lent asking players what they would never be able to give up. Kronwall said oatmeal and Zetterberg cut in with how he eats it like...six times a day.

Red Wings Valentines!

2011-02-13T23:56:00.003-05:00

Last year, I was extremely disappointed with the lack of hockey Valentines cards put out by the NHL. Hell, I was just disappointed with the fact that the Red Wings didn't put any out. What better way to express your true feelings for random strangers who come into your coffee shop than to give them this:

That's right. I made Red Wings Valentines. Now, I've been super swamped with school this semester, so I didn't get a chance to update any of them. AKA - All of these were made last year. So you'll spot Lilja. And Hossa [even though he wasn't even on the team last year].

So if you can't find that perfect winged wheel-themed Valentine for that special someone in your life, head on over to DRW_Comic at Livejournal and check 'em out.

VALENTINES ARE THIS WAY.

Math Class With Dr. Kronwall

2011-01-12T19:02:00.004-05:00

In honor of Niklas Kronwall's 30th birthday, I'm posting this comic I drew about Kronwall. I drew it in response to meeting him in person while he was wearing his glasses and how they made him look like a math teacher.

Without further ado, here is "Math Class With Dr. Kronwall."

Larry Murphy At Home

2011-01-05T10:05:00.005-05:00

You may have missed me posting this during the Winter Classic on Twitpic, so I can post it again.

On Saturday night during the Winter Classic, the NBC commentators made some remark about hot dogs, and I tweeted something about why they didn't ask Larry Murphy for his opinion (because we all know how much he loves $1 hot dog night at The Joe). Someone replied to my tweet and said he was probably at home eating hot dogs.

And this was the mental image that was produced from that comment.

I still don't think there are enough hot dogs.

Sportscenter Commercial

2011-01-04T16:33:00.003-05:00

If you haven't seen the latest Sportscenter commercial featuring Ovechkin and Varlomov as Russian spies, please do so right now.

Now then, @jediemma told me her life would be complete if there was a part two to this commercial. What she wanted is exactly what is in this latest comic...

Helm's Nicknames

2011-01-02T12:58:00.004-05:00

If you guys will recall the Festivus article written on the Red Wings' Airing of Grievances, Darren Helm made it known that he dislikes Ozzie for always having a different nickname for him every day.

Well, it was excruciatingly slow at work this morning, so I grabbed some paper from the back and went to work at a comic, both to be productive and to keep myself awake. So there's no color to this, save for the highlighters I could scour in the back office.

I was having fun thinking of names this morning...credit to @JennHo for the "Fluffy" nickname.

Pond Hockey

2011-01-01T10:11:00.003-05:00

The Winter Classic is here! Well, it's been delayed by seven hours, but that's what rain will do.

And to get you in the mood for televised pond hockey, I can link you guys to an article I wrote!

You see, my neighbors set up an ice rink every single winter for as long as I can remember/as long as they've lived next door [maybe minus that first winter or two since their kids were tiny]. And since I now have a sort of legit writing job as a Red Wings article writer/blogger/whatever you'd like to call it, I have set my heart on writing an article about the ice rink.

I love the ice rink. So much. It's a way to bond with family and friends and neighbors, and that's not even going into the whole better-appreciation-for-the-sport-and-its-players.

So since the Winter Classic is delayed, I thought I would give you guys some pond hockey coverage to tide you over until the Capitals slaughter the Pens [hey, here's hoping]. And yes, there are pictures and there's even a video with a full-out hockey brawl.

If you like it, I suggest that you RT it or link others to it or something. I want to spread the love of the sport/recreational activity, and let people who have never played pond hockey see just how amazing it is.

Enjoy!

Pond Hockey In Michigan

Bert's Airing of Grievances

2010-12-23T10:27:00.004-05:00

In an article for the Free Press today, the Red Wings celebrate Seinfeld's fictional [but awesome] holiday of Festivus and partake in the "Airing of Grievances." It's hilarious and you can read it here. I'm sure more comics will come of this.

Anyway, they did this last year on Festivus, too, and I couldn't do anything then because I was awesome and in Disney World. This year, however, I bring you the full list of Todd Bertuzzi's Airing of Grievances.

Happy Festivus, everyone!

Dancing Queen, Part II

2010-12-20T12:42:00.004-05:00

#PlacesOzzieMightSingDancingQueen Part II! I was hoping to post this after his 400th victory, but that's okay. I'll post it for the sake of it being a Monday of a holiday week and everyone needs some lolz to get them through these next few days.

So here it is. Part Two. Where Dancing Queen really gets stuck in your head.

[and as a slight off-topic post-comic note, my take on the game last night - and all I am willing to say on #400 is over here at NHL Hot Stove.]

Dancing Queen Pt. I

2010-12-15T13:58:00.004-05:00

#PlacesOzzieMightSingDancingQueen was a hashtag that was around my part of Twitter on Tuesday evening. If you didn't see THIS ARTICLE by Pierre LeBrun, you're really missing out. But for this comic, the article isn't the important part - it's the interview. [But do still read the article because it's awesome.]

Chris Osgood is a [shirtless] representative for ESPN.com and gets to interview Lidstrom. At one point, he asks him the question, "Favorite Swedish golfer [male or female] and favorite ABBA song."

He continues to ramble on and says: "'Cause I love ABBA. 'Dancing Queen' - I used to dance to that nonstop in my early twenties. I don't anymore, obviously..."

Well, he's obviously lying. Because he totally still dances to it nonstop. Here's just a little bit of proof...

[My favorite is definitely the science class frame.]

Many thanks to everyone who pitched in. I'm going to try to get all of your ideas in there. But thanks to @thetinnishflash, @brigid22, @TheTripleDeke, @LolaByTheBay, @bradonweb, @saraneuie, @captnorris5, @sullyosis, @rednuck, @k_lap, @joe55167, @mserven, and @allisonRW96.

Yeah, it was that crazy.

Part II coming soon!

Shadowing Crosby

2010-12-13T21:36:00.003-05:00

Us Red Wings fans know that Zetterberg does a hell of a job shadowing Crosby when the Wings/Pens play each other. You know, he poke checks things away, keeps Crosby tied up, and it leaves the guy pointless and maybe even a minus or two in almost every game they play together.

Well, what if Zetterberg kept this up off the ice, too? The results may look something like this.
[You know the deal by now: click to make it bigger.]

I would apologize for the crummy hand-drawn comic, but the tablet computer-drawn comic is pretty much the same quality.

Wings/Montreal

2010-12-11T13:58:00.003-05:00

My actual recap of the game will be up over at NHLHotStove.com, but over her you get a mini video blog.

And the point of this is to show you guys what the ladies sitting behind me sounded like with their ridiculous Canadian accents.

As a disclaimer, I absolutely love Canadian accents. I could sit and listen to Chris Osgood talk forever and be completely content. But these ladies were just hilarious because it was like...the stereotypical accent. Also, I honestly like the Habs. Just...not when they're playing the Wings.

Patty Kane Cameo

2010-12-04T15:14:00.005-05:00

November was a busy month. Not only was there a lot of epic hockey and a lot of epic hockey encounters, but it was also National Novel Writing Month. This was my fourth attempt at NaNoWriMo, and my third time in a row making it to the 50,000-word goal. If you'd like to look more into what NaNo is, you can look at their website.

My opinion on NaNo: It is hilarious, ridiculous, crack-tastic fun trying to write 1,667 words per day in 30 days for a story. It's 30 days and nights of literary abandon and at the end when you make it to that goal, you feel extremely satisfied. And also drained. I haven't wanted to sit and write since it ended; I finished with a little over 53,000 words in my story, and it is not yet finished.

Summing it up in a nutshell, my novel this year is about the life of an outlaw on the run, and she's on the run for a crime she didn't commit. And the media has given her the uncreative alias of Cassidy Sundance, simply because she used the name Cassidy once. [I swear this gets hockey related...]

But within this month of novel-writing, there are crazy storylines that come out of nowhere. At one point in my story, Cassidy and her sidekick at the time, Jason, get videotaped on Cash Cab. Also, she goes to a Washington Capitals game in DC against the Vancouver Canucks and talks to a Wings fan at the game.

Also, Cassidy has a run in with Patrick Kane. In a taxi cab.

Now, if there are any good-natured Hawks fans reading this blog, I mean no disrespect at all. I swear I'm just poking fun. A special thanks to @alyssa_irl for giving me some background information on Patty Kane as well, since I really don't know much about him outside of the taxi incident.

Background info you need to know for the scene: She's in Chicago [duh]. The Jason mentioned in the narration is her last cohort and he was, for lack of a more appropriate word, a badass. And please remember this is pretty much unedited and crack-tastic.
--------------

She tried not to take taxis, mostly because they were expensive. But leaving a crowded club in what looked to be a bad part of town at three in the morning made Cassidy think twice. She hailed the first taxi she saw, surprised that they stopped when there was a young looking guy in the back seat.

“You sure I can hop in?” Cassidy asked as the guy opened the door and slid across the leather seat to make room for her.

“Yeah, of course, sure, why not?” he replied in a rush, seeming overly elated at Cassidy’s arrival. She got into the taxi and closed the door behind her. In Cassidy’s opinion, he was a scrawny little kid, who looked a little on the dorky side, although she had to admit that his neck and shoulders looked pretty tough. His light brown hair was curly and long, practically a mullet, with several longer locks seeming to wrap around his ears.

“So where are you headed?” he asked. In just these few words, Cassidy got the impression that Jason would have beaten this kid up for simply existing.

“Downtown,” she replied. She wasn’t about to reveal her entire history to this stranger.

“Downtown’s pretty big, hon,” the guy told her. “Care to be more specific?”

She noticed a bit of a slurred edge to his words. Was he drunk? Cassidy shook her head. “Wherever you’re not going,” she told him.

“Oohh.” The guy let out a bark of a laugh. “Nice one, but I betcha you don’t know who I am if you’re saying that…”

Cassidy narrowed her eyes at the boy. Was he supposed to be famous? She certainly had never seen him before and she didn’t really care to find out his name. Well, two could play at that game. “I bet you that you don’t know who I am if you’re being so casual with me.”

He leaned over the invisible barrier between them to ask in a low voice, “You aren’t a cop, are you?” There was a hint of beer on his breath, but it was so faint that Cassidy wasn’t sure if she smelled it or if she was just imagining what she wanted to smell.

“No.”

“Okay good.” He moved back to his seat with a grin on his face. “So you really don’t know me?”

“Nope.”

“Want to see my Stanley Cup ring?” he asked suddenly.

“Your… what?” Cassidy tried to repeat what the guy had said.

“My Stanley Cup ring! For winning the Stanley Cup!” He was holding out his right hand, which had a large diamond-encrusted ring on his third finger; it had an Indian chieftain head in the center with “Stanley Cup” on one side and “Champions” on the other.

“…Impressive,” Cassidy finally said. She didn’t know what to make of it.

“Thanks!” He was grinning at her, looking more like a teenage boy than however old he was. “I’ve got a silver medal from the Olympics, too.”

“…Do you wear it all the time?”

“Just when I think I’ll need it,” he joked. “Tonight, I wasn’t so smart.”

“Too bad,” Cassidy said, sarcasm etched in her tone. “That would have really done the trick.” The guy sat back in his seat and sighed. “So then where are you headed?”

“The United Center,” he replied. “Practice in a bit.”

“Practice for what?”

“The Chicago Blackhawks. This city’s National Hockey League team,” he explained, giving Cassidy an incredulous look. “Are you from out of town or something?”

“Yeah, I’m from Tulsa. I’ve never paid attention to hockey,” she said. “And you do know it’s three in the morning, right? You probably don’t have practice.”

“What?!” he exclaimed. He rifled through his pockets and pulled out his Blackberry. “But Tazer sent me a text that said we had practice! Here!” He held out his phone for Cassidy to read a text. The road was so bumpy that she couldn’t get a good look at the screen, so she just made a noncommittal noise.

“Maybe he’s playing a prank on you?” she suggested.

“Hm… that does sound like him.” The guy sighed and sat back in his seat, looking out the window dejectedly. Cassidy felt a little sorry for him, although she didn't know why. Being pranked seemed perfectly normal for someone his age (or what she assumed was his age; after all, he looked like he was barely sixteen).

"What's your name?" she finally asked, realizing they hadn't exchanged that information.

"Patrick," he told her. "You?"

"Cass," she said. "Nice to meet you, Patrick."

"You, too." He was smiling. "So seriously. Where are you headed?"

"I don't know. I'll just get out wherever you get out."

"Sounds good." Patrick's knees bounced in time with an unheard song. For the remainder of the taxicab ride, they sat in almost complete silence, save for extended moments of small talk. Patrick seemed to be engrossed in nothing but his hockey, and Cassidy couldn't say anything on the subject; likewise, she couldn't tell this random person the truth about her, even if he wouldn't remember the next day since he seemed to be drunk.

"Well, I'm getting out here," Patrick said as the cab pulled up to the United Center.

"You're still getting out here, even if you don't have practice?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah, there's some good restaurants around this area," he explained. "And I don't live too far away. Actually - " He seemed to be off in his own world. " - Tazer doesn't live too far from here. If he's home, I could get him back..."

Cassidy tried not to roll her eyes at his childishness. Instead, she reached into her bag and started looking for the envelope of money she carried with her at all times. Patrick put a hand on her wrist to stop her.

"No way, Cass," he said, shaking his head. "This cab ride is on me."

"I can't let you do that," Cassidy tried to protest, but Patrick was already handing money to the driver. "Thanks, Patrick... I guess."

"Not a problem." He was grinning at her again.

"Excuse me?" the cab driver said to catch their attention, his Spanish accent thick. "I don't have enough change for you."

"...What?" Patrick asked.

"Your change is twenty-five cents," the driver repeated. "But I have no change on me. Not at this time of night."

"So you're shorting me a quarter?" he said, his voice slowly raising in volume and pitch. "I should kick your ass for that!"

"I'm sorry..." he was trying to explain, but Patrick seemed to be blinded by his rage.

"Geez, you're getting upset over a fucking quarter?" Cassidy exclaimed, causing Patrick to look over at her. She hadn't realized she had sworn at him; apparently Jason's foul mouth had rubbed off on her. "You're a professional athlete and you're upset over a quarter? I mean, come on." He was giving her an incredulous look. She was enjoying poking fun at the guy. "You would really beat up a cab driver over a quarter? That's just stupid. Maybe even career suicide." She didn't know the workings of the sport of hockey, but assumed fighting with a cab driver over a quarter didn't make for a pretty headline.

"I hate to break it to you..." Patrick tried to begin, although Cassidy wasn't listening; she had exited the cab and was already walking down the sidewalk. He was hot on her heels. "Hey, wait a minute!" he called after her as she strode down the street.

"No thanks," she said over her shoulder. "I've got my own plans, Patrick, and they don't involve getting arrested for beating up a cab driver for a quarter. Even I wouldn't do that, and I'm almost at rock bottom."

The running footsteps that had been approaching her suddenly slowed and came to a stop. Cassidy didn't dare look back; she had a feeling Patrick had a sad puppy dog look on his face and she didn't want to be sucked into feeling regret.

"Call me?" he shouted before Cassidy rounded the corner. She just shook her head amusedly and kept on, hoping to find a park of some sort to get some rest in for the evening. Perhaps tomorrow would bring better fortune. And better fortune certainly wasn't in Chicago, Illinois.

--------------------

[By the way, having Cassidy call him "Patrick" is just really weird. I'm so used to calling players by their last names.]

Comments? Concerns? General responses?

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T21:59:00.003-05:00

This Red Wings comic is actually from last year, so I suppose I'm cheating, not having drawn one for this year, but too bad.

This is going old school, back before I got a tablet and started doing fancy things, so it's all hand-drawn. And not even colored, because I was lazy.

So if you can recall at this point last year, we had about sixteen of our players injured, including both Kronwall and Franzen. In an article last year in the Free Press, there was the quote of "Johan Franzen plans to cook a turkey for the first time, with or without the help of Niklas Kronwall," that spawned this comic.

I present to you "Cooking Lessons with Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall (Thanksgiving Dinner)."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Franzen meets Franzenmuth

2010-11-15T23:11:00.007-05:00

There's that saying of "it's not what you know, it's who you know." I firmly support this statement. Tonight is yet another testament of its truth.

As you guys can read in that little heading over on the side, I'm known as the craziest Wings fan at Caribou Coffee. Last year, one of the morning regulars who is a season ticket holder gave me his three tickets to the Season Ticket Holder Open House, where you can skate on the ice, tour the locker room, and get autographs from at least three players. That was perhaps one of the best nights of my life.

This year, he gave me the tickets again. Of course, I brought along my two brothers because otherwise they would kill me. And I mean that literally.

Last year, we were all about skating on the ice. We signed up for the first skate possible and were three of ten people skating at that time. It was awesome.

Our goal this year? Get Nicklas Lidstrom's autograph. Skating could wait until later [and it did]. You're assigned to one of the autograph stations and once they rip your ticket, you can go in the "overflow line" for any other table. How the overflow line works: everyone in the normal line [who has been assigned to that table] goes first, then the overflow line goes. So, in essence, if you're waiting in the overflow line for Datsyuk, you could be waiting for an hour.

There were three chairs at our table when we got in line up in the stands. We all took wagers on who would be there. If I may recall correctly, I guessed Filppula, Salei and...either Bertuzzi or Modano.

The lady in the row in front of us asked the person escorting the rows down where players were. The worker pulled out her list and was showing it. My brother got a good look at it and whispers loudly, "We got Lidstrom!!"

I didn't believe him. At all. Number one, he can't really see [I mean, he can, but he wasn't wearing his glasses] and number two, he's looking at the list from a distance and could be looking at a different section.

Player number one at our station: Dan Cleary

Cleary...doesn't seem to like these events. As you can see, his Blackberry is on the table. While the line was backed up, he started texting on it; he did this same thing at the Detroit Economic Club Luncheon - he was on his Blackberry half the time. So I decided to relieve his boredom and ask, "Hey, how are these things usually?" He looked up, smiled, and said, "They're... they're okay."

That's not exactly reassuring, Dan. And if you're actually reading this, I apologize if I'm making a broad statement about you enjoyment at these things. This is just what I perceive.

Player number two? NICKLAS LIDSTROM.

I was in awe. And, not to sound like a fangirl, but he touched my hand twice. Nicklas Lidstrom, unlike other players, took the puck out of my hand, signed it, and placed it back in my hand rather than sliding it across the table. Nicklas Lidstrom is all class. And he is so nice.

Player number three was Joey MacDonald. The picture didn't turn out of him.

So, having our goal accomplished by sheer luck, we were uncertain of what to do. Who should we try to aim for? Datsyuk? Zetterberg? We scoped out the tables. The ones I remember: Datsyuk, Salei, and Helm were at one, Zetterberg was with Miller, Ozzie, Kindl, Franzen, and Filppula were at one, Ericsson, and Salei were at another, and Bertuzzi, Holmstrom, and Kronwall were at another. We were vaguely tempted to get in Bertuzzi's line, but we met Homer and Kronner at this last year.

It was between Datsyuk and Franzen. We opted for Franzen. Despite having already met Filppula twice and having a signed puck and a signed picture of his goal in Game 2 against Pittsburgh in 2008 and getting a hug from him, I was all for it.

And I brought the Franzenmuth picture that's the header for this blog. This picture I made up two years ago after a typing error when I tried to type Frankenmuth. I sent it to someone at the Detroit News last summer in hopes that he would get a kick out of it/show it to Franzen. Which he did, and Franzen was confused by it because he didn't know Frankenmuth.

That was all going to change. Oh yes indeed. [sorry, I get a little carried away with epic things, hah.]

While in line, I had about four security people ask me about the picture. Two ladies thought it was cool, one guy chuckled, and the guy behind Kindl was thoroughly impressed.

Kindl signed my puck. And then it was on to Franzen. I had my brother take a video to document it.

You can't hear what I say at the beginning very clearly, so here it is:

Me: "I don't know if you remember, but someone from the Detroit News showed you this picture before..."
Franzen: "Yeah!"

For the best part about this video, watch it again. But this time, just watch Filppula in the background. [maybe doubleclick and watch it in Youtube since Filppula probably gets cut off because of this layout.]

Here is the finished result. This will be in its own frame on my desk at home. I still get deked out of my pants looking at this signed photo.
Oh and as a side-note, after I explained it to Kindl, I looked at Franzen and said, "So you have an entire city named after you. I mean, it's fictional, but it's still a city!" And my brother told him he should go to Frankenmuth because "it'll be a good time."

Now, you may or may not know that Filppula is one of my favorite players and has been since 2007 or so. This next part just makes my life complete.

I had Filppula sign my jersey since I don't need another puck. And he kept looking at me with that cute smile and kind of glancing at the Franzenmuth picture since I still had it on the table. So I grinned at him and said, "Do you want to see it, too?" since Kindl was super involved before. He answered yes.

I showed it to him and explained the whole thing. He picked it up, looked at it, read, "Fran-zen-muth," sounding it out in his awesome Finnish accent, and started to giggle. And I mean giggle. He handed it back to me and I was entirely smitten.

We ate our free dinner of a hot dog, chips, and pop, and took pictures of the rest of the players. I stopped and watched Ozzie for a full two minutes. I should have asked for a quick picture - his line was going slow enough, but I didn't want to be a jerk.

We skated out on the ice with about a hundred other people and took pictures at center ice and in the penalty box. We opted not to do the locker room tour because the line was about three-hundred people long.

All in all, an extremely successful evening. This was better than last year's for sure, despite me impressing Kronwall last year with my Kronwall bag.

I am thankful for the people I know who give me opportunities like this. I owe them so much more than they can imagine. Opportunities like this don't come up that often and if I sound as though I come off bragging, I'm really not trying to do that. I just want to share my experience with you awesome hockey fans who will appreciate it.

I shall end this as every post should probably end:

Let's go Red Wings!

Brad Stuart's Garage Band Pt 1

2010-11-10T23:30:00.004-05:00

Crazier conversations have probably taken place on Twitter, but during Friday's game against the Oilers, one happened between @SnipeDangle, @JennHo, @nursenitz, and myself. During one of the commercial breaks, there was one of those quick twenty-second interview clips with Brad Stuart. He mentioned playing guitar.

Well, back last season, there was an article I read somewhere that was an interview with Stuart that said he had found out Val played drums and he really wanted to start a garage band. I had planned on drawing it then, but got distracted by a lot of real life things happening and never got back to it.

The four of us hammered out some of the details and this is what happens when you start drawing the reality TV show called "Brad Stuart's Garage Band."

[It will definitely get more hilarious.]

A Response Post

2010-10-24T20:08:00.004-04:00

I had a friend of mine link me to this article over at Yahoo from a freelance writer:

"The Detroit Red Wings: Why I hate this obnoxious hockey team."

Go ahead and read it.

For a split moment, I thought about making a rebuttal at my legitimate hockey writing job, but decided that maybe I'll just do it here instead. All I plan on doing is highlighting points of it, okay? Okay, let's go.

"The Detroit Red Wings are the Stars Western Conference rivals; around here we call them the "Dead Things" or "Dead Wings.""

1. The Wings may be the Stars' WC rivals, but the Stars aren't the Wings' WC rivals. That would be Colorado for the better part of the 90s and 2000s, and lately it's been Chicago. And sometimes Nashville [Nashville usually in the playoffs].

2. We haven't been called "Dead Wings" since the 1980s, at least by the majority of hockey fandom.

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"Mike Modano is a Detroit Red Wing."

Well, yes, he is. And I'm sorry that he had to leave Dallas, especially since he's such an iconic player for that entire franchise. But is it our fault that the Stars decided they wanted to take another direction and had to let him go? Is it our fault that he's from the Detroit area? That he has a hockey arena in the area named after him? That he decided to choose his original home to finish his career?

The answer is no to all of those questions. I'm sorry that you hate us so much and I'm sorry you have to see Modano in a Winged Wheel, but that's something you have to live with because of your organization's choices. And maybe it'll work out.

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"The Detroit Red Wings are the New York Yankees of the NHL."

I've always hated this comparison.

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"The Detroit Red Wings are arrogant."

An excerpt: "They prance on the ice and are smug off of it. Most of the Detroit players are self-important nit-wits. I can't stand watching them play, or give interviews or breathe; they are jerks."

Don't make assumptions about players just because you hate the whole team. I hate Sidney Crosby with a passion, but I've been told that off the ice he is nice and moderately humble. I wouldn't doubt it.

Most hockey players are pretty humble, so assuming that an entire franchise's team is made up of "self-important nit-wits" and "jerks" is a pretty big statement to make, especially basing it off of their play. And come on, have you ever read an interview with Datsyuk? He's freaking hilarious! [And likes to fish. But that's another story.]

I've fortunately had the opportunity to meet/have conversations [or at least interaction] with Wings players. Brett Lebda likes to swear casually and poke fun at his team mates; Brian Rafalski was talking to me about Halloween costumes for five minutes because I mentioned I was Zetterberg for Halloween last year; Niklas Kronwall was ridiculously happy and impressed with my Kronwall totebag [he apparently had no idea they existed and in his words, "It could be really useful, you know, on the road."]; Patrick Eaves was crazy concerned when I told him I fell on the ice while skating; and Val Filppula kept assuring me it was totally okay for me to ask for his signature since I kept apologizing while he signed my puck [hey, I felt bad for interrupting his dessert].

Even walking up to players and asking for a picture, I've never been turned down. These guys don't get bombarded by crazy, rabid fans, which is why they're so lenient and pretty friendly. That may also have to do with their personalities.

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"Detroit Red Wings play boring hockey."

Excerpt: "Watching the Red Wings play is like watching a bunch of boring robots skate around the ice."

WHO TOLD HER LIDSTROM'S A ROBOT?! THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET, PEOPLE.

Apparently she hasn't seen anyone get Kronwalled. Or watched Datsyuk and Zetterberg do their magic thing. I will admit there are some boring games, but that can be said for any team.

-----------

And the last paragraph:

"The Red Wings fans are some of the least knowledgeable, obnoxious, arrogant group of wannabe hockey fans I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. They are more interested in getting drunk at the games than to actually watch the game. I guess if my team was as boring as Detroit's I would just drink instead too. When the fans are good and drunk and want to show their Red Wings some love, they throw Octopus out onto the ice. Sometimes the octopus is alive, sometimes it isn't; either way, it's just another stupid thing Detroit Red Wings fans do. I hate the Detroit Red Wings and their obnoxious fans. The Red Wings have the worst hockey fans and the worst hockey team."

Apparently "tradition" isn't a word in her vocabulary [or Gary Bettman's, for that matter.]

Every hockey team has their drunk fans, their obnoxious fans, their annoying fans. Anyone I have ever sat by in a Wings game has always started talking stats with me and discussing things that are happening in the game or happened in previous games or what we think is going to happen. Rarely have they ever had more than one glass of beer. And I'm sitting in the upper rows of the upper bowl in the cheap seats.

Wings fans know their hockey. Yeah, you get the loudmouth fans who doesn't know anything [like that one guy who was complaining that the person sitting next to them loved Holmstrom], but an entire fan base being like that is pretty rare. I know fellow Wings fans will point at Hawks fans and Penguins fans, but I know better. I know decent fans of both those teams [and some terrible ones, too, don't get me wrong] and heck, the internet isn't the best place to meet thousands of amazing fans of teams you hate.

Wings fans are passionate about their hockey. Really passionate. It's because we're so close to Canada. Those people rub off on you pretty easy. So being overly passionate about our team apparently makes us look arrogant. And that's because we usually know our facts.

You want to meet good, cool fans that know their stuff? Make a comment about their NHL shirt or hat when you see them and start up a conversation. I do that every time I'm in Disney World and it's always so much fun. I high-fived a guy in a Whalers jersey at the Magic Kingdom. I also got some compliments on my Kronwall bag. Hell, I had a guy seating my family at the "Finding Nemo" musical in the Animal Kingdom who said he was a Bruins fan. His response when he saw our Wings attire? This:

"Uh oh. You guys are wings fans. We can't seat you up front even if you DO have an autographed hat! You have to be a Boston Bruins fan. But you're Original Six, so we'll let it slide."

He seated us in the "penalty box," and then put Stars fans next to us and some Caps fans across the row. I love hockey stories from Disney. They always stick with me.

I know the writer of said article was probably looking for a response like mine just to get some attention and normally I don't tend to voice my opinion on anything, but the part insulting the players and saying they're jerks really got to me. To be fortunate enough to meet the players and see that they aren't arrogant like other athletes makes me feel as though I have to defend their humanity to people that assume otherwise.

You know the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? Don't do that. Get informed before you post something for the whole internet to see.

Homer Meets Harrison

2010-10-20T17:15:00.004-04:00

Okay, I'll admit this may be the stupidest comic I've drawn.

Last night at eleven, The Simpsons' episode was "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," my favorite Simpsons episode. If you've never seen it, or don't watch The Simpsons, the gist of it is that Homer's in a barbershop quartet and the entire thing is a huge - and I mean huge - parody of The Beatles.

My favorite part of the episode is when Homer meets George Harrison. And since it's copyrighted on Youtube, I recorded it from my computer. You need to watch it to get the whole joke of the comic [or just to see that part of the episode, if you're a Simpsons fan].

Well, I tweeted that quote last night and my Holmstrom-loving friend thought that "Homer" was Holmstrom.

Naturally, it had to be drawn with Holmstrom in Homer's place because we learned during last season that Homer loves candy. And by default, he probably loves sweets, and sweets include brownies. There. That's the connection.

Another Wings Comic!

2010-10-17T20:07:00.003-04:00

I've been busy this past week comic-wise. Pumping out two in the span of a week is pretty dang good. This one was a birthday present for a friend of mine who absolutely loves Tomas Holmstrom.

If you didn't see the second pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, I'll lay out the scene for you:

Holmstrom and some Penguins player both get stupid off-setting minor penalties. Holmstrom is not pleased at all. As he sits in the box and the refs are converging, he takes the towel in the box and throws it at the glass right next to the ref. The ref gives him a ten-minute misconduct.

Had this been a real game, I doubt Homer would have thrown the towel out of frustration. But since it was a pre-season game, it was hilarious.

So I present to you "Tomas' Towel-Throwing Tendencies."

[As a side-note/error, Homer lost his beard in the sixth frame. My bad.]

Red Wings Comic!

2010-10-14T00:14:00.004-04:00

I swear that I do still draw Red Wings comics. This one takes a little background.

For those of you who haven't checked out "The Comic" over at Livejournal, in its beginning stages before I branched it off into mini-comics, it was centered around a fictional, fangirl-y wedding. Getting around that awkward fact, for the honeymoon, the trip was to Franzenmuth.

Franzenmuth is completely planned out, in case you were wondering. There are rides, restaurants, attractions, etc. One of the restaurants/snack stands is this: [with Val and Ilari standing in front of it]

The friend of mine that got me into loving Filppula back when he first made the team has made Filppula's Fabulous Funnel Cakes into a running joke. We firmly (and jokingly) believe thatVal and Ilari totally make funnel cakes when they aren't playing hockey.

She pointed out this picture to me and said, "They're totally arguing about funnel cakes."

Therefore, it had to be fleshed out and expanded in comic form. [click to make it bigger, naturally.]

And if that wasn't that hilarious, trust me - there's a hilarious Holmstrom-centric one on the horizon.

A Letter to Johan Franzen

2010-10-09T13:22:00.005-04:00

Dear Johan Franzen,

I swear, if you get injured in tonight's game against the Blackhawks, I'm going to scream and scream and scream some more and you will hear it all the way in Chicago. I will also find you when you get back to Michigan, slap you across the face, and then proceed to break down in tears and refer to that joking comment you made last season when you said you would never play a game against Chicago in October again. I took that completely seriously.

Of course, all of this will happen only if you get injured in tonight's game. Just play awesome and you know...score the GWG again because that would really help me in my fantasy hockey league.

Love,

Your passionate fan who has created an entire fictional city in your name

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As a hilarious side-note, I absolutely adore reading Down Goes Brown's posts over at his blog. His latest entry is how to predict how this upcoming season will go. His first prediction states:

"October 9, 2010 - The Chicago Blackhawks raise their Stanley Cup banner prior to their game against the Detroit Red Wings. The moment is marred somewhat when Detroit third-liner Kris Draper surveys the rafters and comments "Wow, Chicago, you've won four Stanley Cups? Me too!""

Truer words were never spoken. Okay, maybe once. It was my friend before Game Seven against Pittsburgh. He said, "Kirk Maltby could have five Stanley Cups. Kirk. Maltby."

Pre-Season Hockey!

2010-10-01T15:51:00.002-04:00

Tonight is the first game of my nine-game pack! Is it just me or does it feel like only a few weeks ago that Chicago won the Stanley Cup? It feels like hockey barely ended. Then again, it also feels like it's been one of the longest off-seasons in recent history.

Either way, I blame Ilya Kovalchuk.

Anyway. With the season quickly approaching, I have realized that I've neglected this place over the summer. Things were crazy at work [and still pretty much are, but at least my schedule is back to being steady] and then I started that other writing job over at nhlhotstove.com [which will continue on, so keep checking for Wings updates over there] and then suddenly BAM I'm in classes again. I also completely neglected my Wings' comic, although if you guys don't mind even crappier drawn comics on lined paper, I'll start posting again [I tend to zone out doodling in classes].

But yes, my first ever pre-season game will be tonight and I am thoroughly excited. I've been holding onto dozens of Red Wings tickets for over a month now and holy shit does it feel good to finally be able to use them! If I get any awesome pictures or videos, I will definitely be sharing them with you guys.

This is just a post to assure you that I am still alive and shall be updating more consistently once hockey starts. Honestly, I need that in my life again.

Ted Lindsay Foundation Dinner

2010-09-14T21:53:00.006-04:00

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to the Ted Lindsay Foundation Celebrity Golf Outing to Benefit Autism Research - the dinner part of it, at least - at the Wabeek Country Club over in Bloomfield Hills. Hey - it's not what you know, it's who you know and I can attest to that.

I went with my two brothers, my one neighbor, and the guy who had the four extra tickets. We ended up getting there super early, so we browsed through the 50/50 raffle prizes and the silent auction items. There was some pretty sweet stuff, but nothing that I said, "HOLY CRAP, I NEED THAT RIGHT NOW!!" ...Maybe the signed Lidstrom stick, but I didn't try.

After an hour of sitting around, waiting for people to show up [aside from seeing Draper leaving in his Range Rover as we were walking in], Ken Daniels walked into the room. Man, that guy is really short in person. By this time, there were a decent amount of people loitering around, having appetizers and drinks.

I swear I saw Henrik Zetterberg out in the hallway while we were waiting. We were sitting at a high table directly in front of the doorway and I'm telling you I saw the Zetterbeard. No one else was paying attention and he never showed up, but I'm telling you it was him! It's quite possible that he just hit the bathroom and left - a lot of the guys did that [Abdelkader for sure].

Then this tall, lanky guy walked in. Like, legitimately lanky. Awkward lanky. It was weird. And I couldn't stop staring at him because all I could think was, I know this guy. He's from somewhere. I should know him. I was staring at him for a good ten seconds when my brother finally says, "Oh hey, that's Mike Modano!" [By the time I finally got the courage to interrupt and ask for a picture, he had disappeared, and in the end he had actually left. I was sad.]

Mike Babcock came out of nowhere. He's always fun to see. And yes, he does actually smile.

Then Darren Helm and Drew Miller came in. My neighbor was freaking out because he loves Helm. They ended up disappearing, but five minutes later, we noticed them loitering at the other end of the hall, talking to each other with no one else around. So my one brother and I trekked over there first to ask for a picture.

They seemed a little startled at first, probably because no one was around them and then suddenly we were there being all, "HI. PICTURES?!?!" ...Okay, not exactly. But you know. Hockey players. You get a little excited to see them, but you play it cool. They were really nice about it.

Thanks for smiling, Helm. [and yes. There are a lot of stripes in this picture.]

Then it was the other brother and my neighbor's turn to go bug them. My neighbor got two pucks signed and was fawning over them the whole night [mostly to make us laugh, but probably for serious, too. I can never tell with that one.]

Right before we all were seated at our actual table, Ted Lindsay finally showed up. My oldest brother has been adamant about wanting a signed puck since we met him at church back in June [best sharing of peace I've ever gotten. Thanks, Ted]. I went over with him because I wanted a picture.

You all know Lindsay's legacy, his image, how he played, yes? He was nicknamed Terrible Ted for a reason. Maybe not as bad as Happy Gilmore trying to stab someone with his skate, but still pretty terrible.

That man is absolutely adorable now. He reminds me of my grandpa, whom I love to death. He's the only player where it doesn't feel weird to call him "Mr. [last name]." Come on, do you really want to say "Mr. Zetterberg?" You call him Hank! But Mr. Lindsay just rolls off the tongue. He deserves it, too.

My brother got a signed puck and when I asked for a picture, he had to shift his hold on the puck. Lindsay was all, "Oh oh! Be careful! That's still wet! You don't want to smear it!!" It was freaking adorable, seriously. And I apologize if I'm saying adorable too much.

As a sidenote, I also saw Ken Kal and Mickey Redmond. When Mickey walked in, it caused my brother to pretend to scream, "WHOO! MICKEY! LET'S MAKE SOME HAY!"

The dinner itself was delicious. And after dinner, they had an auction for four different items: two of them were different paintings of Lindsay that were pretty sweet, one was 32 rounds of golf at courses in Southeast Michigan, and the fourth one I would have bid on in a heartbeat if I had any kind of money.

It was a trip on the Wings' jet to the game in Chicago on October 9. A trip on the Wings' jet with the team.

Bidding started at $3,000. It was up to $4,500 by the time we were leaving.

Anyway. Shawn Burr did all of the auctioneer stuff and he is hilarious. He told a lot of jokes, one of them absolutely terrible that I can't even repeat on here in fear of offending anyone. But it had everyone in stitches for a few minutes afterward.

All in all, it was an unforgettable night. Even though there weren't many Wings players, I did get to meet a few and that is always fun. I can't thank my friend enough for including my brothers and I in these sort of gatherings.

Wings Door, Part II

2010-09-03T09:53:00.004-04:00

I should post the back of my door, too, yes? The back of my door is not as awesome or jam-packed as the front, but it's still pretty decent. And as always, click on the picture to make it bigger. ...Ignore the mess of CDs on the side there...

Okay, starting from the top. There are a few things on the back that are not Red Wings-related. Like this note that my brother put in my lunch once when I was in high school. It's from The Simpsons. And below it is the map of all our Swedes from the Free Press last year.

Oh, Dan Cleary. How much I loved you at that moment...

Next is the last of the non-Wings related stuff...or at least non-hockey. These are both birthday signs from my brothers from a few years back. The top is the two guys from Steely Dan. "Hey Nineteen" is my favorite song by them and I just happened to turn nineteen. And the bottom one is from "South Park." The Guitar Hero episode. I love Stan's dad.

Down the left side of the door now...I have this picture just because Homer looks so ridiculously happy. It's the first thing I see right before I leave my room.

I've always had a weakness for pictures of saves from this angle. Thanks for that save, Jimmy.

Alex Ovechkin may be my guilty pleasure player. What can I say? I like the guy. But I can see why other people hate his guts. It's not like I'm blinded by my love for him. And hey, if he's up against the Wings, I want us to crush his stupid Russian face. Anyway, I have a macro of him on my door. For the lolz.

Now down the right side of the door. Man, Bert, that was a snipe of a goal.

This is the section I have dubbed as "The Ass-Kicking Section." ...Mixed with some more macros.

The "blatant interference" may be my favorite one, only because it's the most relevant because the refs hate Homer.

This is from the "Olympic Game" last season against Ottawa, the one right before the Olympic break. I was at the game and holy crap, all their kids are adorable. I was telling my friend that Homer's kid came skating out and my friend asked, "Did he head straight for the front of the net?"

Corey Perry, this was the weakest shootout attempt I have ever seen. And yet Dom is somehow on his back, splayed out on the ice.

In the middle of all this is my Red Wings calendar. Well...now it's on Rafalski for September.

Below all of this is the Home Swede Home poster from the Free Press.

Two years ago, I went to the Detroit Economic Club Luncheon with the Detroit Red Wings. Aside from Brett Lebda eating at my table and me finally meeting Filppula [and seeing him shove piles of rice into his mouth], we also got one of those giant Hossa flags and this freaking sweet poster.

And finally, the sports section front page from when we won.

And that is my door. We'll see what additions I make this coming season...

Long Absense

2010-09-02T23:02:00.003-04:00

Yes, yes, I'm back from the dead. I'm sure you all have been wondering where exactly I've been. Not that there's been a ton of things to blog about, unless you want to hear more speculation about Koval...oh forget it.

Anyway, I didn't die. Actually, I just moved.

No, not from my house to a new place - I moved on the internet! I am currently the Detroit Red Wings correspondent for NHLHotStove.com! Don't get excited like my brother when he heard "Hot Stove" and thought the CBC. Not that Hot Stove. No, this Hot Stove is all about NHL coverage...but it's not run by the CBC. It's awesome, though, I promise.

How did I get this crazy new job, you ask? Well, it was a cool thing called Twitter. Someone retweeted @NHLHotStove 's tweet of writers needed and I jumped at the opportunity. As of right now, I'm the only Wings writer over there. And it's not as informal as this lil' ol' blog of mine, which I'll probably update now and then with some more opinionated things.

If you're interested, I've had a couple articles posted over there already. Links to them are here [chronologically, by the way]:

-A Look At Detroit's Hometown Boys
-Red Wings Round Off Roster, Sign Justin Abdelkader
-Full Scale Red Wings Offseason Roundup
-Chelios to Wings' Front Office, Kronwall to Surgery

And late tonight/sometime tomorrow, there should be another article posted about Ozzie and Howard. I hope you guys go over there and keep your eyes peeled for posts by me. I love your support here and I hope you take it over there, too.

PS - I got my tickets for the Toronto game in March in the mail today. I almost cried in happiness. Hockey can't start soon enough.

Red Wings Door

2010-08-16T11:40:00.004-04:00

Hockey season is closing in on us, people, and I for one am extremely happy for this. Sure, the weather's going to get cold and bitter and it will get dark at five in the afternoon, and I'll be shoveling buckets of snow, but at this point in the off-season, I am so ready to see a hockey game on my television set again that I do not care.

And I'm sick of the Kovalchuk drama, along with probably about 94% of all other NHL fans. And since the Red Wings are slowing down everything they've done [aside from signing Abdelkader. Come on!], there's not a lot to report on for the Wings.

So let me tell you about my bedroom door. Back in the season after the lockout, I started going through the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News papers for the sports section. For some reason, I really wanted newspaper clippings from the front pages. And since then, my bedroom door has turned into this. [click to make it bigger, of course].

And that's just the front. There has been a lot of rearranging over the years, trust me. It all started with the picture on the right.

From our first shootout [and shootout victory] against Columbus. It shows Datsyuk's awesome skill at shootouts. The one on the left is from Game Seven against Phoenix this past post-season. The similarity between the two pictures is why I hung up the "Dat's All" next to "Shootout." And "Shootout" is the oldest newspaper clipping I have on my door. It used to be in my locker throughout high school.

But let's start at the top of the door.

Ville Leino's first goal. Yeah, I know you're thinking, "WHAT?! LEINO?!" It'll be the first picture to come down for the newest one, don't worry. But you have to admit, his first NHL goal was pretty sweet. And my brothers were at this game in DC!

Next comes the reason I call Kronwall "Kronwall of [whatever he just did in the game]", IE: Kronwall of Penalty Kill, Kronwall of Power Play Assist, Kronwall of Check, etc.

Finally, the ZetterCaptain-to-be. When we signed him for twelve years, I knew I needed the newspaper for the next day.

Next row on my front door. This is actually kind of a lame picture to go with the caption, but since it was Lidstrom's 1000th point, I needed it.

"Captain Immortal" was on my door before "Life Off The Ice." I made sure I had "Life" solely for the similarity of the two pictures. And it's Stevie Y. He needs to be on my door.

Next row! Chris Osgood, the love of my life. Of course he has to be on the front of my door. I don't care how many people say he's not a good goalie; he comes through when we need him the most. I still say that if we had won Game Seven against Pittsburgh, he would have had the Conn Smythe in the bag and BAM. Hall of Fame right there. Don't get me started on Chris Osgood, people, or I'll never stop.

Next to Ozzie is the Datsyukian Dangles.

Next row! Remember his Game Five OT winner against Nashville? That was very Frantastic.

This is from when he did that amazing interview with Mitch Albom. If you haven't read it, read it now.

Justin Abdelkader to the rescue in Game Two, anyone?

Next row! Naturally, you need the 2008 Detroit Free Press sports page from the Stanley Cup win. This is actually super yellowed because my door is always in the sun. But don't worry - I have a poster of it, so we're okay.

I saw this magazine at Borders about two weeks after the Game Seven loss last year. I debated buying it then and decided against it. The next day, I went and bought it. There was a two page article about how Detroit is still Hockeytown, but other than that, there was nothing of importance in the magazine.

The Mule is on my door the most out of all the Wings players. But that makes sense, since it's The Mule and this is Franzenmuth. Oh, Jonas Hiller... [and you can see a Wings pillow to the side of my door and part of a Wings poster.]

Beneath the giant picture of Henrik's face is Marian Hossa. I know most of you think he's a traitor, blah blah blah, but I still like him. And come on, look at how happy he is in this picture. And the caption is awesome, too.

Happy Abdelkader from round one against Phoenix.

Next row! Another Hossa, another pretty awesome caption. This was a pretty good fight anyway.

Oh, Mule and his awesome game-winning goals in the postseason. Man, I miss watching him play.

And finally, the Game Four we all loved. Thanks for the FranzenFries. They were Mule-tastic.

That finishes off the front of the door. I realize how long this post is [length, not overall content/word count], so I'll do the back of the door in a separate post. It's not as epic as the front, but it's still pretty damn sweet.

T-Minus 64 Days...

2010-08-05T00:05:00.004-04:00

Until the home-opener against Anaheim.

Oh hey, things are happening in the hockey world that don't revolve around Ilya Kovalchuk's contract! Maybe I should make a post!

Mike Modano signed with the Red Wings, finally. In the end, I knew it was either here or retirement. And he signed for a reasonable price, in my opinion; $1.25mil. isn't terrible. As a side-note here, my blog is the Wings blog you go to when you want to hear the positive spin on things [or that's how I try to make it, adding in laughs every now and then]. Now, there has been a lot of pessimism about Modano coming here. It comes with any player: Ovechkin to Detroit? We'd have to deal with his ego. Crosby to Detroit? Please, let's not get started. Kovalchuk to Detroit? Sure, if you play for $500,000. Byfuglien to Detroit? Sorry, we have a better Homer - the original one, actually. And a Mule, too.

Okay, maybe those are all mainstream examples. But you get the point I'm trying to make: there's always a pessimistic spin on these things. I'm an optimist through and through, so don't try to tell me that it's a bad signing for us; Holland said from the beginning that he wanted a reliable veteran and Modano was one of the better, reasonably priced choices on the market. And don't give me that "he's too old" crap. The last time we won the Cup, we were the oldest team in the NHL: Chelios, Hasek, Lidstrom, McCarty, Drake. Sometimes being old isn't a bad thing - and Wings fans should know this by now.

And don't tell me the Modano signing screwed up Helm and Abdelkader signing. Who's that on the front page of TSN? Oh yeah, that's Darren Helm, people. Signed for two years, $1.825mil. And that sounds good to me. The next step is Abdelkader, and I don't think that's going to take very long.

While I'm extremely disappointed that the summer is coming to a close and I'll be forced to start going to classes come September 2nd, it means that hockey is coming closer and closer. And boy, do I need that in my life again.

Games this season

2010-08-02T10:43:00.004-04:00

Never before have I bought a partial plan for Red Wings tickets. Last year, I ended up going to nine Wings games [and one Washington Capitals game in DC] because I kept getting the Homer for the Holidays pack and it just worked out.

This year, however, a friend of mine looked into the nine-game package and told my brothers and I that you can make it to four of the five Original Six games [not Toronto, unless you want to count the preseason game]. That sealed the deal right there. Teams I'm seeing: Toronto [pre-season], Anaheim [home-opener], Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, New York [Rangers], Boston, San Jose, and Chicago, and probably the Islanders because they're the New Years' Eve game, but we have to buy that game whenever single game tickets go on sale.

So what you probably don't know about me is that when I go to a Wings game, I bring my camera. And I don't just take pictures: I take videos of every single Red Wings power play or even-strength pressure and try to get goals. Although, there was one game against Minnesota last year where I tried to get pictures of goals instead. It worked out once. [click to make it bigger]

And here's an example of a goal I've gotten on tape. Excuse the crummy quality.

I guess what this post is all about is that I'll probably end up posting my Wings goals here after games, along with reports and such. Well, at least the goals on tape.

PS - Anyone else having recurring dreams about the Wings first game this upcoming season, or is it just me dreaming about Filppula sniping the top shelf of the net for the first goal of the season? Just me? Okay, thought I'd check.

Homer's Literal Office

2010-07-31T14:21:00.004-04:00

We all know that Mickey Redmond likes to say, "Homer's heading into his office..." and that Holmstrom's office is, in fact, the ice in front and on the edge of the crease. So back when we started the season off in Sweden, I said to myself, "What if Homer's office was a literal office?"

Lo and behold, I created this awesome comic movie of Tomas Holmtrom's Literal Office.

["Secretary Lidstrom" still kills me.]

The ZetterWedding

2010-07-23T15:38:00.004-04:00

If you haven't been keeping up with the array of pictures that have been surfacing on the Internet from the ZetterWedding, you only really need to see one to understand this Red Wings comic.

It's this one.

It's the Zetterberg version of "Where's Waldo?" Once you find Datsyuk, you will see that he does not look entirely enthused about the swimwear. Lo and behold, I drew this quick little thing out of amusement.

Pavel Datsyuk Birthday Extravaganza!

2010-07-20T11:29:00.004-04:00

In case you didn't know, today is Pavel Datsyuk's 32nd birthday. The man with the crazy dekeing abilities is another year older, another year wiser, and another year...well, awesome. He may have only won the Selke this year, but that Lady Byng will be on his mantle next year [if he didn't already dangle it away from St. Louis].

In honor of the Russian's birthday, I'll post some highlights of his for your enjoyment. Though I will forewarn you: if you have yet to watch hockey highlights this off-season and have a hard time dealing with no hockey, proceed with caution. Withdrawals may hit you suddenly.

Firstly, his dangling abilities. We all remember the hilarity of this one. Oh, those crazy Sharks. No wonder they're such chokers in the playoffs. [just kidding. but not really.]

Let's stay on the west coast for a second. Enjoy Datsyuk's ingenuity [in a playoff game, mind you] followed by Mickey Redmond having an audible heart attack.

This one is memorable. And jaw-dropping. I'm still sitting here, watching it for the umpteenth time, going, "How does he do that?!" Magic, people. Magic.

We all remember this one. I was in Washington DC, the Caps/Flyers game had just ended, and my friends and I were watching this unfold. When Datsyuk slowed way down at the end, I was thinking, "He's going to do that move the kid in Sweden did." Sure enough, he did.

Plus, Datsyuk is just adorable and hilarious. What does he do when his phone goes off during an interview? That's right - he starts dancing.

And lastly, that ever-famous slip-of-the-tongue by Andy Brickley on Versus.

There is no cure for Dangleitis, people, as you may or may not know. Datsyuk will be stuck with it for years to come. Despite his affliction, I'm sure his birthday today will be as amazing as ever. Happy birthday, Pavel. I can't wait to see your dangerous self back in action on the ice.

Midsummer Lull

2010-07-18T10:19:00.004-04:00

If you haven't noticed, I don't update this thing very often in the off-season. Not that there's a lot to discuss, but I didn't do anything when Eaves or Miller were signed or even all of the Modano rumors. One reason is, well, I have been busy. But the other reason is that once the NHL Awards are said and done, I attempt to shut hockey out of my mind for at least a month and a half; if I don't, I have serious withdrawals. This year I'm smart and staying away from Youtube for as long as possible.

So here's a little post summing up what's left to do. It's not much, but it's something.

-Signing Helm and Abdelkader. Obviously I wanted Holland to sign them quickly so my anxiety could be reduced to a minimum. When they weren't signed within the first week or two, I was panicking. After the third week, however, when we had signed Eaves and Miller, I calmed down - especially when Holland said they wouldn't be signed until August. I'm patient.

-Mike Modano. Ahh, this situation. What hasn't been said about this? This is one fan that wouldn't mind Modano coming to Detroit. Hey - it could be similar to the Dallas Drake situation. And we all know how that turned out. I'll side with Babcock on this one, though I don't think he'll sign for two years right now - he'll take it a year at a time like Lidstrom.

-Laughing at Brett Lebda. Okay, maybe not laughing. When I initially found out, I was cracking up and I didn't know why. Then I went home and read everything he was saying and understood my humorous take on it.
Getting away from the hilarity of it, Toronto is a good fit for Lebda. I hope he does well and I hope Toronto fans don't kill him. He's a fast skater, so that's something.

-Tomas Homlstrom's Literal Office. The next Red Wings Comic movie. It probably won't be as amazing as Pavel Datsyuk in "A Case of Dangleitis" (which Greg Wyshynski on Puck Daddy said he found while he was browsing Youtube), but it will be amusing.

July is quickly dwindling away with August hot on its heels. And after August, there's the start of the school semester, along with the approach of Training Camp and Preseason games. Hockey will be with us soon enough.

Pavel Datsyuk in "A Case of Dangleitis"

2010-07-11T18:58:00.005-04:00

I can finally share with all of you awesome blog-readers the latest installment of my Red Wings Comic! Let me give you some brief background information on why it's in movie-form.

Both my family and my next door neighbors' are huge Disney World addicts. When we went back in 2004, the neighbor kids made us a movie of (mostly) fictional, hilarious, and stupid things they did while we were gone. Since then, we've made movies back and forth (okay, they've been lazy - they've made us two, we've made them five).

In this latest movie, which was presented to them today, my brothers suggested I draw an "intermission movie" for it. The plot was the younger one's idea - I expanded on it a bit. I happily and proudly present to you: Pavel Datsyuk in "A Case of Dangleitis."

Courtesy of Urban Dictionary: Dangleitis (n): In hockey the term dangling is used to describe, crazy, or insane move, someone with dangleitis then is someone who uncontrollably can dangle.

Dangle (n): To use exemplary skill and stickhandling ability to maneuver oneself around the ice. Often displaying a variety of sick moves.

As always, if you want to see more hockey hilarity in comic form, you can go join drw_comic at Livejournal.

Probert's Passing

2010-07-05T21:25:00.003-04:00

Bob Probert was before my hockey-watching time, but in no way does that mean I don't know anything about him. Being a hockey fan, you have to know the past as well as the present. You have to know the legends as well as the current stars. Bob Probert was a well-known star, who died before his time. It shocked the hockey world. News of his death made the "Where in the world will Ilya Kovalchuk sign?" waiting game seem unimportant.

Since I started watching hockey after he retired, I don't have many stories that involve Probert. None, actually. And the one I do have isn't even really about Probert nor is it even my story. I'll tell it anyway because it's a cool story and at the moment, any story is worth telling. You know, as long as it's tasteful.

Last summer, my friend/neighbor graduated from high school. He had a pretty kickass graduation party (moon slide. Enough said.). At said graduation party, I was sitting at a table with some friends of his dad's and let me tell you, pretty much everyone that family knows loves hockey. Somehow, the couple I was sitting with started reminiscing about the early 1990s in hockey. I wish I remembered the woman's name (I know her husband's, but that doesn't help), but I'm stealing her story anyway to post it here.

She was a huge Bob Probert fan. One afternoon in late 1991, there was an autograph session with a bunch of Red Wings players. She stood in line for hours just to get her jersey signed. Yet by the time she finally made it up to get her jersey signed, Probert had left.

And in her words, "So I had to have this nobody player sign my Probert jersey instead of him. It was this nobody defenseman named Nicklas Lidstrom."

I wish I could claim that story as my own because it's pretty awesome. I was glad I could hear it.

Farewell, Probie. Your legend will live on. Hockeytown (and Chicago) (and hell, the rest of the NHL) will never forget you. Rest in peace.

Pre-Free Agency Post

2010-07-01T01:00:00.004-04:00

It's eleven hours before all hell breaks loose in the hockey world. Free agency. The glorious time in this godforsaken summer season when we can focus on the excitement of off-ice hockey for an entire day, sometimes even longer depending on how much we get into it.

And just like last year, I'm stuck working a midshift. I'm stuck constantly updating TSN on my iPhone, waiting for any updates. But this year, I'm not as concerned for the Wings as I was last year. Last year, I was freaking out about Hossa. Last year, I wanted to keep him and I believed that Ken Holland could do it. So when I read where he signed and for how long/much, I literally ran into all of the stores of the strip mall I work in and told all of the hockey fans. It was a sad day for me. Sometimes I do still miss Hossa.

But this year, I'm not as concerned.

Ken Holland has stated that we won't be making any major moves - we need some cheap, solid players for the third and fourth lines and a defenseman for the last pair. The defenseman isn't super important, either, because he's said that he could see Kindl and some of the other Griffins battling it out for that last spot.

We have to sign pretty much all of our RFAs, but I honestly can't see them leaving. Maybe Eaves or Miller, but Miller's back in his home state and Eaves...I can't see him having a better role anyplace else. Or maybe that's just my sleepiness talking at this point.

The only play I think will leave is Lilja. Why? Because everything I've read in the past few days has said that Lils wants a bigger role as a D-man and he knows he can't get that here. I would love to keep him for another year, which I definitely wasn't saying two years ago. I will miss Lilja if he leaves; our relationship with him has been tumultuous at best - shoddy defense leading to weak goals yet he played solid PK, a terrible career-threatening injury because of a stupid fight he didn't need to get into, yet he came back from that and definitely helped our PK and he played good hockey. I realized that I did, in fact, miss him. I'm not sure if I want to see another Swede leave our Swedish ranks.

But despite Lils and the RFAs, I don't know what else there is to say at this point. I hope we can keep Abdelkader and Helm for sure; Eaves and Miller are good bonuses.

Oh hey, weren't we supposed to hear something about The Joe's lease today [technically yesterday]? Did they extend talks because the people running the city of Detroit are idiots? As long as they don't rope Ilitch into a five-year extension. Three I can handle - anything more is pushing it.

Food for Thought

2010-06-24T23:41:00.002-04:00

On the Red Wings Twitter or Facebook page, you can do a survey for a chance to win a signed poster. The survey is all about promotions for the upcoming season. One of the last questions is what stirs your emotions as a fan of the Red Wings. It lists off all the facts we all know: 11 Stanley Cups, 19 consecutive postseasons, the usual.

I clicked "other." It prompted me to explain myself. Obviously, I went on a bit of a tangent, and I liked where I went with it. So I'm going to post it here and hope you readers agree with me. [Hey, it's hockey-related, at least.]

My reason may apply to everything that was an option in the question, so here it goes:

The sheer fact that after almost every postseason where we didn't win the Cup (or even when we do), the media and sports writers continually throw up the "DYNASTY OVER?!" banners and claim that the end is nigh; our core players are getting older, getting slower, getting less reliable, etc.

But every season following the "failure" of a postseason, we play strong. We play hard. We play charismatically. We play overall like our core players are barely into their mid-twenties. Even when we have off seasons, we still finish in the top of the rankings. We still make it into the playoffs. We still have the opposing team shaking in their skates waiting to see what we'll come up with to stump them to give us four victories.

We don't give up, despite the adversity we face. Do we disappoint from time to time? Of course, but what team doesn't? We can have our dull moments. We don't always have to be sparkling. We just have to play when it counts and 95% of the time, we do this. It's why we've been so successful these past nineteen years.

After every "bad" season, we always find a way to bounce back. We silence our critics, at least for a little while. And because of this, we always seem to have a good shot at winning another Stanley Cup to cement our team as a Dynasty in sports. And that is what stirs my emotions, not just as a Red Wings fan, but as a fan of hockey. To see a team be so successful for so long is inspiring.

NHL Awards!

2010-06-22T20:13:00.004-04:00

It's the evening before the NHL Awards, one of the last highlights of the summer on the hockey-front of things. I got to see them two years ago when they had that one kid wearing a Lindstrom jersey when Lidstrom won his sixth Norris, but I missed it last year.

This year, however, I have made sure that I'm not working so I can enjoy one last look at all the hockey players before I try to shut them out of my mind for the majority of July and attempt to suffer through the four long months without hockey. Every year, I wonder how I make it through and every year, it seems to get longer. Ugh. At least the weather's nice so I'm not stuck inside.

Anyway, this is my prediction post about who I think will win the awards tonight. you can tell me I'm crazy, that's fine. I'm pretty sure I'm crazy anyway.

VEZINA TROPHY
Candidates: Ryan Miller, Martin Brodeur, Ilya Bryzgalov
Who I think will win: Ilya Bryzgalov. He's one of the main reasons why Phoenix was so good this year.
Who I want to win: Ryan Miller. He's a strong, key player for Buffalo. And he's awesome.
If Brodeur wins, that would really surprise me, but I wouldn't be super upset. I don't mind Brodeur.

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY
Candidates: Pavel Datsyuk, Ryan Kesler, Jordan Staal.
Who I think will win: Pavel Datsyuk. Look at his competition. In my mind, they don't pose big threats. He should have this one in the bag.
Who I want to win: I'd be an idiot if I didn't say Datsyuk. Why wouldn't I?

LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY
Candidates: Pavel Datsyuk, Brad Richards, Martin St Louis
Who I think will win: Honestly? I don't know. I don't think Datsyuk's play was as Lady Byng-like as he usually is this year, so I can see him missing out.
Who I want to win: Datsyuk. Five Lady Byngs in a row would be freaking sweet. And a record. He's currently tied with Frank Boucher, who won it four times in a row from 1927 to 1931.

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY
Candidates: Jimmy Howard, Matt Duchene, Tyler Myers
Who I think will win: Tyler Myers. He was another big reason why Buffalo was a force to be reckoned with.
Who I want to win: Jimmy Howard. That would be amazing if he won. I would be shocked, honestly. I might even cry. The one thing keeping him from winning this? Shutouts. Look at the past goaltenders who have won this and the amount of shutouts they had their rookie season: Nabokov had six when he won in 2001, Mason had ten. Jimmy has two.
But you can argue the other way: when Brodeur won it back in 1864, he only had three shutouts. We'll see, eh?

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY
Candidates: Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Duncan Keith
Who I think will win: Duncan Keith. Anyone else hope he's still missing his seven teeth so we can see him struggle to say "Norris"? Or that he'll try to be like GOB and get around it. "One condition and one term!" [/Arrested Development reference].
Who I want to win: Nicklas Lidstrom. I think it would be awesome if they just decided to give it to him since he did have a great second half of the season.

MASTERTON TROPHY
Candidates: Kurtis Foster, Jed Ortmeyer, Jose Theodore
Who I think will win: Not Theodore. Brought to my attention by a comment from Andy, I somehow missed out on the fact that Theodore lost his kid [apparently I was more focused on the Theodore vs Varlamov aspect of things and was all, "Pff, why is he nominated?" Totally my bad. Feel free to kick me.]. So I retract my statement and say that yeah, he probably will win.
Who I want to win: I don't really care.

JACK ADAMS AWARD
Candidates: Joe Sacco, Barry Trotz, Dave Tippett
Who I think will win: Dave Tippett. Look what he did with Phoenix. You can't tell me he shouldn't win it.
Who I want to win: Mike Babcock. Look what he did with a half-mutilated Detroit team. you can't tell me he shouldn't win it! ...Wait, he's not a candidate? Damn...

TED LINDSAY AWARD
Candidates: Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Sedin.
Who I think will win: Henrik Sedin.
Who I want to win: Sedin.

HART MEMORIAL TROPHY
Candidates: Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Sedin.
Who I think will win: Henrik Sedin. Hands down.
Who I want to win: Anyone but Crosby. I just don't think he deserves the award this year. That goes for Ovie, too (but at least I like him).

And there are my predictions for the awards. Let's hope they're halfway on the mark so I don't look too crazy.

Two Filppulas

2010-06-16T00:26:00.003-04:00

Valtteri Filppula is my #1 favorite player on the Red Wings, up there with Chris Osgood [and Mule's kicking his way up there, too]. So when I heard that the Wings signed his older brother Ilari, I couldn't really believe it.

Then again, that was about ten minutes ago when I found out, and I am extremely drowsy and not exactly comprehensive right now. Maybe this post could have waited until the morning, but I'm far too excited.

Two Fils on the Red Wings? Sounds like my dream come true. Most of you guys may not know a lot of about Other Fil, aka Ilari. I'm Internet BFFs with Val's biggest fan, so she keeps me up to date on the happenings within the Filppula family.

Most of you probably at least saw this goal of his. Those Filppulas like to score sweet-looking goals. Anyway, back to Ilari. Here's some background info in case you want to know how Filppula II will size up on the team [even if he will probably be a Griffin for most of this year]:

-He plays in Europe [obviously] and is, in fact, Finnish. Which is good, since he's Val's brother and that would pose some strange questions otherwise.
-He won the Jari Kurri trophy for 2010. Other players who have won this trophy: Saku Koivu, Olli Jokinen, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Niklas Backstrom (twice) (the Minnesota goalie, not the Capitals forward).
-This past season, he scored 12 goals, 37 assists for a career high of 49 points in 58 games.

So just think of him as a cheaper Ville Leino that may actually do something when he's called upon to do so. Or, you know, the Philly version of Leino. And he's signed for the league minimum, so I don't think there's anything better you could have done (since Kovalchuk would never sign with us for the league minimum just to be Datsyuk's winger. That's a fading daydream of mine.).

And as a PS, I apologize if this post is crazy. Like I said, I'm a little sleepy.

Meeting Rafalski

2010-06-12T13:13:00.003-04:00

No matter how many times I meet hockey players, I'm always surprised by how gracious, humble, and...well...normal they are. I always forget that hockey players are a different breed.

How did I get this picture of me and Rafalski and his silver medal, you ask? Well, it's a fun story...I guess. You see, working at a coffee shop for three years means that people start to know you. I have one close hockey friend who comes in every day and we always talk hockey. His name is Steve and he's a 68-year-old man from Georgia. Steve's son and Rafalski used to play pee wee hockey together, both on the same team and against each other.

Steve sent me an email on Thursday saying how Rafalski was going to be at a fundraiser for a politician running for Congress and asked if I wanted to go. It was $50 a head, but Steve said he would treat because he hadn't seen Rafalski (aside from watching Wings games, of course) since he left for college.

So we went. We went over to Rafalski and it took Rafs a second to recognize Steve (once he said his name, it clicked). And then I was introduced and shook his hand and said all the usual stuff like, "Oh, I'm a huge fan, blah blah blah." Rafs said that next week he's having the first back surgery he needs to help out the herniated disc. Good luck, Rafs.

After about fifteen minutes of talking one-on-one, we took pictures. He let me hold his silver medal and I made a comment about having to tell my friend interning with Philly, who got to hold Pronger's gold. Rafs laugh and said, "Well, she still one-upped you, though!" It's a sweet medal, not gonna lie. And then Rafs said he was starving and went to get in line for the buffet. Somehow, he was in line behind me, I still don't know how that happened.

Someone made a comment about my Red Wings earrings, so I said, "Yeah, I figured this was good enough. Coming in decked out in red might have been a little intimidating. But the guys at work this morning were surprised by the lack of red on me."
Rafs: "Oh, where do you work?"
Me: "Caribou Coffee. I'm the resident hockey fan there. ...I was Henrik Zetterberg for Halloween.*"
Rafs: "Whaaaat?"
Me: "Yeah. My eyeliner beard threw people off. They thought I was a guy until I spoke."
Rafs: "Well, it was a great costume, then!"

So if anything, he'll remember that one crazy chick that said she was Hank for Halloween. Anyway, continuing on...

The politics of this political fundraiser were actually a little scarce, but I'm not big into politics, so I didn't mind at all. They had a Q&A session with Rafalski and the guy running for Congress. Some lady asked Rafs who she could contact to make the players hold their hands over their heart for the National Anthem. Rafalski handled it totally well (I, however, was all, "WTF, HALF OF THEM AREN'T AMERICAN!" in my mind) and professionally.

The politician asked why the Wings had slumped and then were suddenly good and I facepalmed. Injuries, man. Injuries. Which is what Rafs said, among other things. He also said it's glad to have his defense partner coming back for another season.

At another point, someone asked if there were any hilarious stories about things going on in the locker room. Rafs said there's always something ridiculous going on in there. Keeping everyone anonymous, he said that a player was late to practice once and to make him even later, another player decided to take all of the late guy's equipment and wrap it all up in tape.

I don't know who would have been running late, but I'm banking on it being Draper who did the taping. He seems the type.

Before it was all over, I did manage to get a signed puck and thank Rafs and say it was awesome meeting him, etc etc etc. All in all, it was a sweet experience. I hadn't been expecting much, but going with Steve, who knew Rafalski (and says he still makes the same mistakes he did when he was seven), it gave it more of a personal feel to it.

*Yes, I was Zetterberg this past Halloween. It was awesome. Have a comparison picture.

Post-Cup Ramblings

2010-06-09T23:47:00.004-04:00

So the Stanley Cup has been won. Red Wings fans have mixed feelings on the outcome. I mean, really. We were stuck with Chicago or Philadelphia. It's a tough call no matter what side you choose.

You all know that I was leaning toward Chicago and I still stand by that. I'm one of those crazy Wings fans that didn't hate Hossa for leaving, and I like a handful of players on Chicago. I knew there was no way we could keep Hossa and he was hurt a lot more than us fans were led to believe. I honestly smiled when Toews was shouting, "Hoss! Where's Hoss?!" and handed the Cup to him [which I called]. And his interview with the CBC...I actually got teary-eyed at how speechless he was. That man wanted to win the Cup so much that he jumped ship from so many talented teams in hopes that he would find the right one. This year, he finally did. Next year, maybe not so much. But this year is all that matters to him right now. Third time's a charm, he'll tell you that.

Let's ignore last year's SCF for a bit. Seeing the Stanley Cup presented has to give you the chills. It's the hardest trophy to get in all sports and you know the team that wins it works their asses off to get it [again, ignore last year]. Seeing the players' initial reactions when the final buzzer goes, or when the final goal wins it in OT for them, it's heartwarming. Seeing Gary Bettman enter the ice and hearing the boos follow has to make you cackle evilly, especially since you've been practicing said evil laugh in front of the mirror. It's an experience that you can't find in any other sport, and one that I will never take for granted.

My wrist is bare again. Yes, I kept my "playoff beard" bracelets on throughout the entirety of the playoffs. I was going to cut them off after the Wings lost, but I forgot and when I remembered, it was already the end of the Conference Finals. So I will put on my Zetterberg wristband, my black beaded bracelet, and my newly added penny bracelet [bought in Copper Harbor, MI, if you were wonder], and I'll start to count down the days until training camp starts. Which is at 99. Or 98, since it's past midnight.

But look on the bright side - Toews is now the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup! That means...wait. What? He's sharing that with Crosby? Pardon my french, but fuck that shit! This was why I was rooting for Chicago! This was my justification! [among other reasons, too]. Damn it!

And hey. If you run into any annoying Chicago fans, just point out this little fact: they now have as many Stanley Cups in their 84-year history as Detroit has in their last 13.

And that's all she wrote. Until next season.

What do we look forward to now? We keep our eyes peeled on the Internet horizon for happenings within the Wings and big news around the league. We wait for the NHL Awards at the end of June. We wait for the schedule to be released, which is really early and really weird. And we wait for July 1, when all hell will break loose in the league.

For now, we're stuck with the gorgeous weather that is summer and the monotony of a time without hockey in our lives. I advise you to stay away from Youtube videos of hockey for as long as possible. I made that mistake last year around the end of July, and it was my downfall.

This was a strange year for hockey. Let's hope next year doesn't follow in its footsteps.

Off-Season Ramblings

2010-06-08T20:18:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I died there for a little bit on the blogging-front. But I was also gone for four days this past weekend and missed out on the celebrating Homer's re-signing festivities. I suppose I should do a bit of an overview on all the rumors and ramblings I've heard since the last time I updated.

1. Nick Lidstrom has re-signed for $6.2 million. It's higher than I wanted it to be, but not as high as I was expecting. He gave us enough money to go out and buy a solid third/fourth line guy to fill in some gaps. And he wasn't about to take a massive salary slash like Yzerman did because Stevie did it to keep Hull and Robitaille, which was the right thing to do.

So we aren't losing both our Captains in this off season. And the day Lidstrom re-signed, I worked a midshift and got into an argument with a customer/friend because he hated the fact that we re-signed Lidstrom. I basically told him to shove off and be a bandwagon Penguins fan [no offense to any knowledgeable Pens fans who may stumble upon this blog]. If you can't enjoy the fact that one of the greatest defensemen of all time is staying another year on your team, you shouldn't be a fan of said team.

2. Homer signed! Two years, $3.75 million. What did I say in that one post of mine way back in the day? That we'd sign Homer for around $2mill. I'm glad to see him return. And because he signed a two-year deal, I think Lidstrom will stay another year after this one, unless he suddenly takes a turn for the worse or we totally tank out.

3. I read that we offered Bertuzzi a two-year deal worth a little less than what he made this year (which was $1.5mill). Honestly, I would be happy if Bert re-signed. I know Wings fans are split on him and I know I was angry when we re-signed him last off-season and was flip-floppy throughout the season. But he came up big when we needed him and played solid hockey.

4. Hey Kovalchuk, want to come be Datsyuk's winger for $2mill? You'll be on a team that has a legitimate chance to win the Cup!

But the important thing is that Lidstrom was re-signed, and Homer, too. Sooner or later, I should have an actual blog post of importance on here. Or at least another comic.

SCF Post

2010-05-28T09:30:00.003-04:00

It's been discussed in almost every single Red Wings blog so far: who do we root for to win the Stanley Cup?

For us Wings fans, this is a terrible SCF. Our division rival, whom we have a long history with, or Philly, who has Chris Pronger, among other players we have deemed "douches." One has Hossa, who jumped ship last post-season and made a lot of people in Detroit hate him, the other has Leino, who did nothing while he was here [though Babcock didn't exactly like him] yet now he's super awesome.

So which is the lesser of two evils?

It all comes down to your own opinion.

At the start of the season this year, I said if the Wings couldn't win it, I hoped it would be Chicago. Now that it's to that point, I regret ever saying that.

But I hate Philly with a passion. I hate Chris Pronger. Philly fans are annoying as hell and members of my family can attest to that claim: my brother went to a Wings/Philly game in Philly a few years ago with a friend of his. He wore a Zetterberg hat and no other Wings attire. He wasn't an obnoxious fan and didn't start anything. Yet the Flyers fans around him heckled the shit out of him and pissed him off beyond belief. And it wasn't like the Wings even won the game, so that they felt like they had to be jerks to a Wings fan in their midst.

I hate to say it, but I think I'm rooting for Chicago. I don't want the hype around them. I don't want to have to face them next year and hear the whole "There's a new reign in the Central Division!" jargon. I don't want Patrick Kane to get his thug name on the Stanley Cup. I don't want to have to put up with pretentious, idiotic Hawks fans who think they know hockey.

Why am I rooting for Chicago, then? Because if they win the Stanley Cup, it means Jonathan Toews will be the youngest captain to win the Cup. Not Sidney Crosby. This is the only plus side I can see. And as a coworker of mine said after I told her this, "I like how it always comes back to ousting Crosby. Even when he's not in it this year."

If Philly wins, I won't be angry. This is a Stanley Cup that I'm a little indifferent about. Hell, I might not even be home for the Cup-winning game. Even with the unappealing teams in the Finals this year, I still think it will be a ridiculously good Finals. These are two teams that want it badly. They're going to do anything they can to win and it'll be a hard-fought battle, no matter who wins.

DRW Comic - Shadowing Crosby

2010-05-27T19:50:00.003-04:00

While my computer is sucking and my new computer is on the way, I have reverted to hand-drawing comics. So for those of you who were just introduced to this comic whenever I posted Bertuzzi's Pizza, you have yet to see the old school style!

So as Red Wings fans, we all know that Zetterberg shadows Crosby during games. He's on top of the guy, poking pucks away, holding him pointless, frustrating the shit out of him until Howard comes up and makes him smell the glove.

Anyway. What if Zetterberg kept this up off the ice, too? It might go something like this... [click it so you can actually read it.]

And the Toy Story 3 line is not a slight at Crosby's immaturity [though if you want to think of it like that and it makes it funnier, go ahead]. I'm just super excited for Toy Story 3.

If you like this and think it's an awesome way to relieve the depression of a hockey-less summer, don't worry! I'll be drawing a bunch more. I have a whole freaking list of ideas in a notebook.

Yzer-Memories

2010-05-25T22:55:00.004-04:00

So maybe Yzermemories doesn't flow so well off the tongue like when you add "Zetter" to the front of anything (Zetterfries, Zettercaptain, Zetterbeard, you get the point), but we all have them. We all have those memories of Stevie Y.

My time for grieving is over. It was short-lived. Yzerman was bound to move on sooner or later, and this is just a step that will bring him closer to coming back (or so we all pray). Now I wish him the best. I wish him success. He'll do Tampa Bay some good. And besides, I said from the start if it came down to Holland or Yzerman, I'd stick with Holland. But this post isn't about that. This is to share my memories of Steve Yzerman.

My first Red Wings game was October 24, 2003 against the Dallas Stars. It was 0-0 after the first and I (stupidly) believed that I wouldn't see a single goal in my first hockey game. But we won 4-0. Dominik Hasek had the shutout. Stevie had two goals, the first assisted by a sweet drop pass by Zetterberg. It was a great first game.

April 7, 2006. A game at The Joe versus Columbus. The game should have never gone to a shootout - we had been up 4-1 going into the third. Damn Rick Nash and his spinning abilities to get his first career hat trick to tie the game! The loudest thing I have ever heard in my entire life (this includes loud rock concerts) was when Steve Yzerman stood at center ice to take the second shot of the shootout.

I wish I had had a video camera to show you how loud it was. It was heartwarming, breathtaking, you name it. Yet over the cheering for our Captain, we could hear the puck ring off the post. (Homer ended up winning for us. I know, right?)

July 3, 2006. The day we will always remember what we were doing when the press conference was on. I was babysitting. I made sure the girl was down for her nap by the time the conference started. I sat on the couch and watched it, crying.

This is all part of Steve Yzerman's legacy. The good, the bad, and the ugly, it's all there. His departure may feel like the bad right now, but maybe it'll be for the good in the long run. We'll have to wait and see.

A Letter to Stevie Y

2010-05-25T10:23:00.003-04:00

Dear Steve Yzerman,

Just remember that Hockeytown loves you. We always have and we always will. We won't forget you, now you don't forget us.

Saying goodbye is never easy. We all just pray this isn't the post-season where we lose both of our captains.

We wish you all the luck in the world and hope that you're successful down there in Florida. Maybe we'll see you in the Stanley Cup Finals some day.

Love,

Your fans

Red Wings Comics

2010-05-22T14:46:00.004-04:00

Let it be known that I draw ridiculous (and sometimes stupid) Red Wings comics. This is probably news to you if you haven't read my Blogspot profile or are extremely forgetful.

It all started last April when two friends and I started dorkily planning a "What our wedding would be if we could marry Red Wings players." I was marrying Ozzie, one was marrying Filppula, and the other was marrying Filppula's brother, Ilari. The things we came up with were hilarious, like Babcock officiating and Datsyuk doing the readings, and a cake shaped like the Stanley Cup.

So I started drawing it. If you're really interested in it, you can see it over at Livejournal here, but you'll have to join. Anyway, because of this, it branched out into ridiculous comics, like Babcock's Red Wings GPS Tracker and the new look of the drawings when I finally got a tablet.

I finally finished another comic today. It was inspired by a friend's misread of a pizza company. Therefore, I drew Bertuzzi's Pizza. [You'll have to click on it to see the whole thing bigger.]

As you can see, they're pretty pointless, but can bring some laughs, especially if I'm really in the mood to work on them. And they are drawn crappily. By no means am I trying to be a super awesome artist. I draw them for the lolz.

Do the Red Wings know about this comic? Well, seeing as how I gave Jimmy one about him and Ozzie being BFFs and I gave Filppula one about him being SuperFil the Superhero, I would say no. Because they probably laughed at how terrible they were and threw them out.

Enjoy!

Rumours

2010-05-19T22:42:00.002-04:00

I was going to make this post after the playoffs ended, but then realized that was stupid. Also, I put it off as long as I could manage, and I need some form of Red Wings hockey in my life again.

We're all freaking out about the off-season and whether Nick Lidstrom will return or not. Putting that slight hiccup aside, let's look at the rest of the team. This is my take on what Ken Holland & co. are going to do this off-season and you all probably have this diagrammed out and hanging above your computer screens, but I'll take a stab at it anyway. So don't shoot me if you don't agree.
[side note for this post: nhlnumbers.com is your best friend.]

The RFAs: Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, Mattias Ritola, Derek Meech.
The UFAs: Tomas Holmstrom, Todd Bertuzzi, Kirk Maltby, Jason Williams, Brad May, [Nick Lidstrom,] Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda

The UFAs
Tomas Holmstrom: I've said it before - if Homer doesn't resign, he's retiring. No way in hell is he going to another team. He's a Red Wing through and through. And after the season he just had, he's not going to retire. I say he's back for more around $2mill.

Todd Bertuzzi: Again, this is the player who had my brother screaming, "He's going to have seven points this season!" after the games in Sweden. He was our savior in the middle of the season when we lost our offense. He was flighty for parts of the rest of the season, but he played solid hockey. He and his family have expressed wanting to stay with Detroit. If we can get him for $1.5mill again, I say he's here for at least another year or two.
I know, I know. We want him off our team, but hey. He did what we signed him to do: get 40 points this season and score some timely goals.

Kirk Maltby: Malts, it was said by a friend of mine last year, "I hate Maltby's play during the regular season, but the playoffs come along, and I love him to death." This was also the same friend who, before the fateful Game Seven, said, "Kirk Maltby might have five Stanley Cups. Kirk. Maltby."
Kirk, I love you. But I don't see us re-signing you. Now, we don't dispose of our veterans normally, but sometimes change is necessary. Abdelkader is a good replacement for you. And Patrick Eaves is almost a mirror image of your play right now, slightly cheaper, and he's about fifty years younger, too. ...Or eleven years.

Jason Williams & Brad May: Sorry, guys. You're both gone.

Brett Lebda: Sorry, Brett, but you're gone. You'll always have a special place in my heart since our lunch together, but all you've got going for you is your speed. [and if you're curious on the lunch thing, I was at the Detroit Economic Club Luncheon last year and he was at my table. He's super nice.]

Andreas Lilja: Lils, my laptop is named after you, because I get so freaking frustrated by it. Aside from the second round of the playoffs, since your return, I've actually started to like you. A lot. I say if we can get you for the same price you're at now, $1.25mill, and you promise to work on your play this summer, we'll keep you. Otherwise we're losing another Swede.

The RFAs
It's already been said that Holland's going to try to sign as many of them as he can. Helm and Abdelkader are back, that's no question. And we already re-signed Ritola, who I think will make it into the lineup for a bit next season.

Patrick Eaves will definitely be back, especially if we let Maltby go. Miller wants to stay and he's a good third/fourth liner who can score timely goals. If we can get both of these guys for a similar price, or at least under or around $1mill, they'll both be back.

Meech, on the other hand, is a toss up. I think Meech's position on this team depends on who in the free agent pool of the NHL has interest in the Red Wings. Meech played well this season, I won't deny him that. But he's not a key player.
-------
Maybe closer to July 1, I'll do a post of players we might try to go after. I was going to include my fantasy of Nicklas Backstrom coming to the Red Wings, but he murdered that dream of mine on Monday. Oh well. Maybe in a trade someday.

Ken Holland will work his magic. I have no doubt in that.

A Letter to Nick Lidstrom

2010-05-14T09:27:00.004-04:00

Dear Nicklas Lidstrom,

We're all a little concerned right now in Hockeytown. See, when it was your predecessor's turn to step down, we all knew it was coming; injuries had put an end to his career, among other factors. And while we knew what to expect, that didn't make us any more prepared.

In your case, you're not in the same boat as your predecessor. You still have amazing hockey left in you. You have a place on this team. You have a place as our number one defenseman. Hell, you have a place as one of the best defenseman of all time in the National Hockey League. All of these facts make it harder to try to swallow the idea of you retiring. We can't stand to think of our team without you on it.

You need to come back. You need to get that fifth Stanley Cup. You need to get that seventh Norris trophy. You need to tie [or pass] the league leader in consecutive years in the playoffs [the record is twenty]. You need to be our captain still. We're not ready for the ZetterCaptain just yet. To see someone else wearing the C so soon...it's not time yet.

We stop breathing every time we catch a headline that involves your name. We click it anxiously and grit our teeth and wait for the page to load. It doesn't matter what the news is - we're on edge no matter what. We breathed a sigh of relief when Babcock said he knows you'll be back. We started being optimistic when Holland said he planned on getting you signed within a few weeks. We lost all of those confident feelings when you said you weren't sure what you were doing.

We had heart attacks when you said you enrolled your oldest son in a Swedish school. In Sweden.

Nick, don't leave us yet. It's not like you've turned into Chris Chelios. You're still one of the best defensemen in the league. Sure, you may not be as fast as you used to and you play a few minutes less per game than you used to, but has that stopped you from being amazing? Has that stopped you from continuing to be The Perfect Human? No, it hasn't. There's still a fire left in you - a good fire - and you shouldn't let that go to waste.

Look at what you did yesterday. You threw the first pitch at the Tigers game. And you threw a freaking strike. And then you said you could have done it better if you had a hockey stick to take a slap shot. Fuck, just seeing that picture of you up there in this post made me go into a fit of fangirlish, "HOLY CRAP! LIDSTROM, DON'T LEAVE!" shrieks - while no one was home, mind you. Go on the internet, check out the other Wingnuts' blog posts. See how many of them are about wanting you to stay for another year [or two].That should show you how much we still love you.

We're not ready to lose you yet, Nick. You shouldn't be ready to leave us, either.

With all the love in our hearts and souls,

Your Fans in Hockeytown and around the world

Questions & Opinion-Based Answers

2010-05-09T19:13:00.005-04:00

It seems as though every other Wings blogger on the internet has touched on Game Five, so I'm going to go ahead and skate around that one and barrel right on through to the "what ifs" portion of our season. You know, that part we all thought wouldn't start until mid-June because we'd be back for the Cup for a third year in a row.

I was reading this article over at The Bleacher Report that poses ten questions facing the Wings this summer. I thought I might answer these with my own thoughts.

10. Is Jiri Hudler going to be a factor?
All of my Wings friends are completely split on the prospect of Huddles coming back; half are just as happy as he is after he scores a goal, the other half have the reaction of, "Oh, you again? Ehh..." Like Matt Hutter writes, Huddles' breakout season was projected for this past season, but he went for the money and left us. That fact has left a sour taste in a lot of Wings fans' mouths.

But look at it this way: he was a clutch in the shootouts. Look at how many shootouts we lost this season and think about how many points we could have gained had he stayed on the team this year, not to mention the amount of goals we wouldn't have lost in the off-season. He'll be a factor, but it may take him a while to re-warm up to us.

9. Is Kirk Maltby's time in Detroit over?
In my honest opinion, yes. I really hate to see Malts not be in the lineup again, but we have young players that could use his spot on the roster more than he could. It's not like the Wings to dump their veterans, but I don't see another way. Abdelkader is a good replacement toughness-wise for Malts and Patrick Eaves is a good replacement for the clutch goals and penalty-killing. Plus, Abbie and Eaves are both a lot younger and have years ahead of them.

8. Is Steve Yzerman on his way out?
I say not this year. Not yet. I say he leaves when Lidstrom does, but that's just me. I hate to see Stevie leave, but it's going to happen. And don't do the "Holland or Yzerman as GM?" question because I'll pick Holland. I know what Holland's capable of and what he's put together.

7. Will Todd Bertuzzi be resigned?
At the start of the season, I said no. In the middle of the season when he had a bunch of game-winning goals, I said yes. At the end of the season, I was indifferent. At the start of the playoffs, I said no. This is the same guy whose play in the first game in Sweden prompted my brother to exclaim, "Todd Bertuzzi is going to have seven points this season!"

I didn't like Bert when he was here before and I wasn't very welcoming when he came here in the offseason [I vaguely remember calling my brother at work and yelling about it when I saw the headline on TSN.ca...]. But my honest answer is yes. We will resign Bert. As streaky of a player as he is, he does play solid hockey. He does have his good moments. And his mere presence, his large body, his tough demeanor is something we need on this team.

6. Was 2009-10 the start of perennial battles to make the playoffs?
I say no. Look at the fluky injuries we had the entire season. And look at what we did when we had all of our players back and healthy. Hell, if there had been ten more games to go in the season, we could have conceivably caught up to Chicago. And while Babcock will say this wasn't the case, I believe the Olympics did distract him a bit from the Wings. Look at how well we did after the Olympics [plus the injured players being healthy and rested].

I will say no on this until my team proves me otherwise and I hope that doesn't happen anytime soon.

5. Is a Central Division Championship no longer a realistic goal?
This kind of links up to question six. Like I said: if our team had been healthy eight or ten games earlier in the season, we could have caught up to Chicago. That may not have been the exact case, but it certainly wasn't an impossibility.

Also keep in mind that Chicago has a very, very serious problem with the salary cap this postseason. I've said this whole season, if the Hawks don't win the Cup this year, they're blowing their only chance in the immediate future. If they can figure out a way to keep their big players and keep this chemistry going [and find a good goalie], then maybe the answer to this question is yes. But for now, I'm going to say no.

4. Will all of the RFAs return next season?
I'm going to expand on this one in a later post, probably come June. For now, I'll list the RFAs for this off-season:

Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, Mattias Ritola, Derek Meech, Jakub Kindl.

Who stays, who goes? Who do we try to pick up? Will we get another Hossa-like signing? Again, this will all be in a different post.

3. Is Jimmy Howard ready to continue as Detroit's starting goalie?
I'll pose the same example that Hutter does: Steve Mason.

I think Babcock will be more careful with the goalie situation this coming season [since he kind of really screwed it up this past season, in my opinion]. I think he'll play it more like in 2007-08 with how Dom and Ozzie split things. As much as I am an Ozzie fan and love that goalie to death, next season is the last season of his contract. I think he'll take a backseat to Jimmy. Jimmy's future looks bright and promising - Ozzie's is coming to a close.

Just...don't screw up the goalies next season, Babs. Please. That was the one thing that had me wanting to throttle you.

2. Will Tomas Holmstrom be re-signed?
That rumor about St. Louis going after him is complete bullshit [well, they may have thought about going after him, but they won't get him]. If Homer doesn't re-sign with us, he's going to retire. I firmly believe that after the season he just had, he will be back for at least another year, if not two. And I also believe that if he's back, Lidstrom's back.

Just the thought of Homer in a non-Winged Wheel jersey makes my heart hurt.

1. What is Lidstrom going to do?
That's the million-dollar question. I constantly warned you blog readers to watch these do-or-die games as though it was Lidstrom's last game. I might have been wrong in saying that, but it's better safe than sorry. Sure, Lidstrom isn't as outstanding as he once was. But it's not as if he's suddenly a fourth-line D-man. Screw that. He'll retire long before that happens. He won't pull a Chelios [no offense, Cheli].

I'm preparing myself for his retirement, but honestly? I think he'll sign a two-year deal. Hopefully for a lot less than his current contract is giving him, and knowing our Captain, he knows that he should take a pay cut. Don't hang up the skates yet, Lidstrom. You need that fifth Cup and that seventh Norris trophy.

----

So that's my take on all of this. I don't know if it's very insightful or not, but hopefully it gives you a different take on everything.

Living on a Prayer

2010-05-08T12:46:00.006-04:00

Too many people at work this morning told me the Wings could pull it off and listed reasons as to why they can. And here I am, trying to be pessimistic for once and not get my hopes up so that I'm not disappointed if/when they lose. A lot of people told me I should drink a lot of coffee to stay awake for the game. Screw that, I'll need it tomorrow morning when I'm opening at work on four hours of sleep after staying up for the game.

I told myself on Thursday that if the Red Wings won, all it would do would get my hopes up for a nearly impossible comeback and I would be looking forward to Game Five and we would lose and I would be absolutely devastated. At least I was prepared for a loss in Game Four. Game Five...I'd like to say that I'm expecting failure, but that's a half-lie.

Don't stop believing. It's as simple as that. The song that plays at The Joe when victory is within our grasp. It's a simple enough lyric, an even simpler action. Believing isn't impossible and if there's any team that can pull this off, it's us. Because we have The Mule, who is hungrier than ever. Because we have a core group of veterans who want that fifth ring to make a complete fist with. Because we have those rookies who want to win the Cup. Because we have players who were disappointed that they were just one goal away from winning it against last year.

Every game past Game Four is a bonus game for me, because I honestly believed that we were done. If we win tonight, that's fantastic. If we don't, well, it was a good run, a good season. And the Wings will have done what they were supposed to do: end on a ridiculously awesome win at home and lose on the road. Hell, if you would have told me three months ago that the Wings would make it to the second round playing the Sharks, I would have laughed in your face because the Sharks are playoff chokers and the Wings were sitting in tenth in the conference.

If I may quote myself for a moment, bringing your attention back to the upcoming Game Five: Pray for consistent reffing on both sides of the call. Pray that the Red Wings play out of their damn minds like last game. Pray that Nabokov has an off night and Jimmy Howard looks less like a rookie and more like Chris Osgood when he came in for Hasek in the 2008 playoffs. Pray that the Game Seven Red Wings show up. [Game Seven against Phoenix or Game Seven against the Avs in '02.]

Watch your captain, Wingnuts. Watch Nick Lidstrom like you've never watched him before. Because this could be the last game you ever see him play. As depressing of a thought as that is, it might just be the truth. I never wanted him to have an ending like Stevie Y, but it may have just come to that.

I'll be wearing my Franzen jersey when I see Iron Man 2 at 7:30 tonight [so if you happen to see a crazy girl wearing a Mule jersey walk past, it's probably me]. I'll be wearing it during the Wings game, too. It's 4-0 at the Joe and now 2-0 at my house.

We're living on a prayer, Hockeytown. And sometimes that's the best damn hockey you'll see, when your team is living on a prayer.

Living on the Edge

2010-05-07T10:08:00.004-04:00

It's only normal for a blog named "Franzenmuth" to make a blog post after Johan Franzen pretty much single-handedly defeated the Sharks last night, right? I mean, he is the namesake of this blog, so it seems fitting that I make a post about the game...even if I would do that anyway.

I will admit right now that I missed 2/3 of his hat trick. My brother and I decided that missing the last half of the first wouldn't be a huge deal, so we started watching Community on NBC, which was amazing. But when my cell phone rang at the same time as the house phone, we knew something was up.

The beast has awoken. As my friend said, "He got hungry...for curly fries." [Goals, too.]

Michael Rosenberg makes an accurate point: "In the playoffs, Franzen makes the amazing seem inevitable. He simply overwhelms people. Franzen now has scored 31 goals in his last 49 playoff games. Not one of these goals was a fluke."

Remember when he scored more goals than Colorado two years ago? He had hat tricks in two consecutive games. Someone remind me, who did San Jose play before us? Oh, that's right. From Franzen's mouth: "Yeah, Hank and Bert tried to feed me as much as they could, I think." They don't call it "Feed The Mule" for nothing. Hell, I have a t-shirt that says that. It's what you're supposed to do during the playoffs.

Dear Joe Thornton, Get your hands off of my Captain. I know you're frustrated because one Red Wing is outscoring you personally in the playoffs, but taking cheap shots at someone like Nicklas Lidstrom is an unforgivable sin. And dear non-Red Wings bloggers and sports writers, Stop saying that the dynasty is over. You say that every year since Stevie retired and it's getting tiresome.

Oh hey, Dan Boyle. Thanks for scoring another goal for the opposing team. Keep that up and we'll make you an honorary Red Wing.

Okay, okay, maybe I'm getting my hopes up a little bit too much. I told people yesterday that I honestly expected us to lose last night and if we did win, I knew I would just get my hopes up and when we lose on Saturday, I'll be devastated. And that is exactly what's happening.

Time for me to be a Debbie Downer and point out the reality, as much as I hate to admit it. We've won one game, and we won it convincingly. But if we want to go to the Conference Finals for the fourth consecutive year, we have three more of these to win. I'm pretty sure Mike Babcock is constantly telling his players, "Take it a game at a time, guys," and if they do that, it should work out well. The non-Debbie Downer aspect: if we can steal Game Five from the Sharks at home, we're heading back to The Joe and the pressure is more on San Jose. If we can do this, even if we still lose in the end, we will have given it a fighting chance.

But this is all still up in the air. There are a lot of "Ifs" in the second half of that last paragraph. Have the Red Wings played two dominating games in a row these playoffs? And I mean really dominating. From what I can recall, no. That's another reason why I'm hesitant to jump on the "History Will Be Made" train and be super excited for Game Five.

Even if we go on to lose Game Five, the Red Wings did what they were supposed to do: They didn't get swept on home ice, they didn't lose on home ice, and they ended their season at home with a thrilling victory. And you know what? That's good enough for me if we can't come back and win it.

Enjoy your Franzenfries, people. Enjoy the good times, even if it is pouring rain right outside your window [like it is for me].

Don't Stop Believing

2010-05-06T09:42:00.005-04:00

You know how when you normally put your iPod on shuffle and it's really stupid, but there are those timely moments when it seems like the little machine is reading your mind? Mine is reading my mind right now.

#882/1496 on my top-rated shuffle: Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I don't think there's a more fitting song to start off my day.

I may have resigned myself to the fact that the series is possible [and more than likely] over, but will that stop me from supporting my team through to the very end? Absolutely not. Two nights of sleep after a disappointing loss gives me my optimistic edge back. It's a long way back to the top, people, but the Wings can do it, if they play these remaining games like every single one is a Game Seven.

Don't look at it as a "Oh, we have to win four in a row." Look at it as a, "Oh, we can win this one at home because there's no way we're going to let ourselves get swept at home," and then a, "Well, it's possible that we can steal one on the road," and then a, "Hey, we're back at The Joe! They can win it for us!" and then end it with a, "Well, it's Game Seven and we fought back from a 0-3 deficit to make it here. If we win, sweet, if we lose, at least we fought like crazy."

Now doesn't that sound a little easier and a little more possible? The tricky thing about it? The Red Wings need to think like this. Like Pierre LeBrun said in a video he posted yesterday, if there was one team out of the thirty that could pull this off, most people would say the Wings. But it's easier said than done.

Pray for consistent reffing on both sides of the call. Pray that the Red Wings play out of their damn minds. Pray that Nabokov has an off night and Jimmy Howard looks less like a rookie and more like Chris Osgood when he came in for Hasek in the 2008 playoffs. Pray that the Game Seven Red Wings show up.

Work today will be a test of my patience with people who believe they understand how much I love this sport. They know I'm a little more than obsessed, yes, but for me there's a difference between obsession and love. Wearing my Homer shirt and sporting some Wings earrings, I already know I'll be barraged with the, "So are they gonna wiiiiin?" taunts. And I will smile and say, "If they win, they win. If they lose, they lose. We're allowed to lose in the second round once every four years."

I'll be wearing my Franzen jersey during the game. It's 4-0 at the Joe and 1-0 at my house [1-0 in Game Sevens, mind you. This is sort of like a Game Seven!]. I hate to put this out there, but it's what my brother said to me before Game Seven, "Keep your eyes on Nick Lidstrom, because this could be the last game you see him play."

I sure as hell hope it isn't. We all do.

They Say It's Your Birthday

2010-05-05T10:23:00.004-04:00

Time for some humor to lighten the day!

After sleeping on last night's loss and knowing that nothing can change what happened, I'm looking into the future toward Game Four. And also trying to enjoy my birthday. While last year's was ruined at the last minute by the non-goal on Hossa, this one was ruined from the start and I was expecting to be absolutely terrible. So far, however, it's been okay.

So let me show you a little tradition in my household. It's not entirely hockey-related, but it kind of is. Just bear with me for a second.

In my house, the siblings make birthday signs for each other and they're normally pretty humorous. This year, what with one brother of mine having moved out and the other super busy with school, I wasn't expecting any. But they proved me wrong.

This was hanging in my bathroom. In case you didn't know, Valtteri Filppula is my favorite Red Wings player, along with Ozzie. But unlike Ozzie, I've met Val twice and both times were damn fantastic.

Now for the humor. This one was hanging in the kitchen.

Explanation: There's a joke in my household that Tyler Kennedy from the Pittsburgh Penguins is a living basilisk. Or if you don't feel like clicking on the explanation, he causes people to die with just one look because of how ugly he is. I mean, look at him. You can't honestly look at that picture and tell me he's a handsome hockey player. It's just not possible.

With those two signs [among others, like one from Greg Monforton, whose commercials are always on the Windsor feed of the CBC], I'm pretty sure my birthday will be pretty good. And there's playoff hockey on tonight. Nothing can cheer me up like hockey, that is one thing that will never change.

It Goes On And On...

2010-05-04T22:59:00.007-04:00

Yet another game where we looked tired in the third period. Yet another 4-3 loss. Yet another hole to dig ourselves out of.

I want to post something optimistic about the outcome of this game, but I can't find anything. I will admit that I take Red Wings losses hard; I have for the past three years and that fact is never going to change. My intense love for this hockey team stemmed from my senior year of high school, but none of you guys want to hear that story, so let's come back to the present moment.

The end of our season is looming and while I'd like to believe that a four-game winning streak is entirely plausible from the Wings, I have to look at the reality of the situation and say that I think we're burnt out. I know, I know, you don't want to hear those words. But look at the facts: we worked our butts off to get into the playoffs, we had to go to seven games to beat Phoenix... Maybe a two-game win streak. I mean, we did drop Game Three at home against Phoenix and win Four and Five. I think we could do that against the Sharks, but the Wings have to want that.

We've had a problem holding two-goal leads this entire season. We've had a problem putting our hearts into games and proving that we want to win. Game Three and/or Six against Phoenix, anyone?

Yeah, I could point the blame at bad reffing and blown calls and soft goals, but I won't. The officiating was not as bad as the past two games [though it was still pretty bad]. And I have nothing against the non-goal on Zetterberg. While I don't think he was intentionally kicking the puck, it was more of a kicking motion than the Sedin goal that was waved off in Round One.

My birthday last year sucked, too. Last year's birthday was Game Three against Anaheim when they called off Hossa's goal with 1:07 left in the third that would have tied it up. I didn't think it could be worse. But this year, there are other things going on in my life where I could use a happy Wings victory to brighten some aspect. While my birthday isn't until tomorrow, I was counting this as a birthday game.

This entire post sounds as though the series has ended [and has no coherent structure to it]. In retrospect, most Wings fans know that winning four games in a row is tough in the playoffs, and they're already grieving for their team. I wish I could muster up the strength to be optimistic like usual. I'll end with a ridiculously depressing thought, since that's the theme for tonight, what with the Wings and Tigers losing, and Ernie Harwell finally passing on:

What's the worst thing about being swept in this series? It could quite possibly have Nicklas Lidstrom contemplating retirement.

Lucky Charms!

2010-05-04T09:53:00.003-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, this series is not over. Contrary to what everyone else is saying, this series is just getting started.

With that being said, I'm not taking any chances. I'm pulling out all of my good luck charms for tonight's game. Yes, I think we can win without me doing stupid things that don't actually affect them, but it's those damn superstitions and since I'm a crazy hockey fan, I can't not do them. I know I posted my good luck charms earlier, but I'm going to post some of them again.

1. Andy Capp's hot fries. These babies worked during Game Five versus Phoenix and during Game Seven. I even bought some to help the Capitals during their Game Seven [yes, I like the Caps. Don't kill me], but instead, they helped the Detroit Tigers destroy their opponent. So they only work for Detroit teams.

2. Flying the Wings flag on my car. This hasn't done much as of late, but I'm going to keep it up.

3. Pierre LeBrun will be here. [This doesn't make sense? Read this.] Actually, he'll be at both games. He sent a tweet my way and said, "True, they're 3-0 in my presence this spring. I'm in Detroit for Games 3-4 vs Sharks." So that makes me a little less frightened.

4. I'll be telling my friend that he needs to be wearing his lucky Red Wings socks and make sure that he has a six-pack of beer for tonight's game. That was the trick in Game Seven.

5. I'll be sitting in my usual spot for Wings games. For Game One, I was stuck in the basement and for Game Two, my brother was sitting in my spot. But also for Game Two, we had a friend of a friend over, who was over for Game Seven versus Pittsburgh. Needless to say, he is never invited back into the house for a Wings game.

Pull out your own good luck charms, Wingnuts. It'll make you feel a little better about tonight's game.

Anything is Possible, Apparently...

2010-05-03T10:34:00.005-04:00

It's been touched on by literally everyone already, but the officiating of last night's game wasn't even sub-par, it was just bad. I hate sounding like one of those fans that when their team loses who says, "Oh, if it wasn't for the officiating, we would have won. They made some bad calls and that was our downfall, or else we could have wrapped that game up."

In last night's case [and consequently, in Game One as well], the officiating was beyond bad. Even if you're a Sharks fan, you have to admit that somewhere inside your mind, there's a little voice saying, "Wow. This is just ridiculous."

Ten penalties were called against us in last night's game. Ten penalties against one of the least-penalized teams during the regular season. Ten compared to four against San Jose. Ten, equaling twenty minutes. That's an entire period of hockey, in case you didn't know. Twenty minutes on the penalty kill. Tell me, NHL referees and officials, how are the Red Wings supposed to have a chance to get into the game or keep their one-goal lead when they're playing twenty minutes shorthanded? Like Mike Babcock said, "The reality is that you can't have momentum if only half your players can get on the ice because they are sitting in the penalty box all night long."

And look at some of the penalties that were called. Bertuzzi for goalie interference in the second when he brushed Nabokov's glove. Bertuzzi for holding when he shoved the San Jose defenseman. ...Okay, maybe the most blatantly terrible calls were on Bert, and maybe it's just because he looks like a bear with that beard, but come on, refs. Let us play.

There were some misfortunate accidents, too. Like Lidstrom shattering his stick when he tried to take a slapshot and Thornton and Heatley going down two-on-one to score the game-tying goal. Lidstrom did everything he could to try to stall Heatley, but it wasn't any use. I know Mickey Redmond was at home watching the game and had a massive heart attack at that point. Sorry about that Mick, but I'm right there with you.

Jimmy Howard looked like a rookie at times in net. But he had some major game-saving stops at timely moments. And come on, people, I'd like to see you do better as a rookie goalie trying to fight off twenty minutes on the penalty kill. I can't blame Jimmy for this loss. I won't blame Jimmy for this loss.

So to you Wings fans that are freaking out about the series being over, let me quote Homer Simpson when he's talking to Selma on the phone: "Listen, shut up for a second." This series isn't over until we lose one at home. And Mike Babcock will not let his team do that. The Red Wings won't do that. And if they do, only then will I start to worry.

And PS - They don't play on my birthday this year, so you guys don't have to worry about an "intent to blow the whistle" on a Hossa goal to tie the game up with 1:07 left in Game Three. Worst birthday present ever, refs. Don't do it again this year.

Top-Rated Shuffle: #727/1496: I Won't Be Left - Tegan & Sara

To The Forum! ...Or Game 2.

2010-05-02T13:29:00.003-04:00

It's game-day, people, and you know that means a lot of contemplative blog posts from us Wingnuts on what tonight's game will bring and what set of Red Wings will show up--the ones that played in Game Seven or the ones that fell asleep during the first period of Game One?

This series doesn't make me panic as much as the Phoenix series did, but we're only one game into it. That can easily change after tonight. But even if we do lose tonight, I won't be freaking out.

My Keys to Victory for Game Two in the Shark Tank:

1. Someone at work this morning told me that we're undefeated after we've had two days of rest between games. I'm not sure if this is accurate or not, but I do remember Mickey spouting a bunch of facts about when we're rested and when we've traveled within 24 hours or so.

2. Jimmy Howard. Has this guy had two bad back-to-back games yet? I keep bringing this point up, and no he doesn't. Letting in three goals in less than a minute and a half? Yeah, he's not going to let that happen.

3. Our defense. Letting in three goals in less than a minute and a half? Yeah, Lidstrom's not going to let that happen. Neither is Rafalski, or Kronwall, or Stuart. Most of my hockey friends want to get rid of Stuart, but I don't. Yeah, he's had a few bad games this season, but ignore that and he's been pretty damn solid. He's saved us a lot of goals. Anyway--Kronwall was laying out the hits last game [or at least more than he did in the Phoenix series], so let's keep that up.

4. The Sharks/referees pissed off the wrong Mule and he's going to be out for vengeance for that non-call on a blatant high stick. I'm telling you, this is Franzen's series. This is your time of the year, Johan. Live it up.

5. The Sharks are running on a high from breaking the trend of their first-round exit and the fact that Marleau is coming back for tonight's game. The Wings need to one-up their opponents' high and score a goal quick or at least shut down the Sharks' offensive chances.

6. Babcock wants to win. Which means that he will etch this into the minds of his players, whether they like it or not. Coming back to The Joe in a 1-1 tie would be a hell of a lot better than being down 2-0, even if our good luck charm will be at Games 3 & 4.

6. Power plays are always important. Likewise, penalty killing. The Sharks had, what, two goals on the PP last game? Remember when we let Phoenix get away with three in Game One? Yeah, let's do that again, Red Wings.

If what San Jose brought to the table last game was their best performance, I'm not worried one bit. But I don't think that was the case - I think they just jumped on our misfortune of sleeping during a game and ran with it. Getting Marleau back will help them out.

We haven't been down 2-0 in a series yet these playoffs. Let's not start now, please.

PS - Top-Rated Shuffle: #682/1496 - Pineapple Express - Huey Lewis & The News

What the...

2010-04-30T00:38:00.006-04:00

If I could change anything in that game, minus that one section of the first, I would have called San Jose for that high stick on Franzen.

What? It was Filppula's stick?

Oh no, wait. That was Filppula's stick in Lidstrom's face in Game One of the Phoenix series.

Seriously, refs, I thought you were going to stop sucking at the end of the first round. But my ideals for you guys were optimistically high. In the words of The Beatles, I should have known better... Anyway, onto the game.

Besides that minute and a half in the first period where our team decided to not play hockey as well as the bad officiating, it was a pretty damn good game. I'm really not upset about this loss [except for the blown call]. We didn't let a three goal deficit get us down and battled it out through all of the adversity of fake calls and blown calls. While Jimmy Howard looked like a rookie goaltender for a little over a minute in the first, he made some big saves to keep us in the game after that, so don't start blaming the goalie like Detroiters usually do.

San Jose didn't do anything that we haven't seen before and like we did with Phoenix, we have to test the waters with a team first. Plus, cut us some slack; we were playing a game 48 hours ago and the Sharks had at least twelve days off. Maybe it wasn't actually that long, but it sure seems like it with how much pep they had in their step.

Remember when I said that Phoenix pissed off the rhino, the rhino being Nick Lidstrom? Yeah, well, San Jose just pissed off the Mule. I still stand firm in my belief that this is the Mule's series. He's on a point-per-game streak and Game Two, he's going to be chomping at the bit, back in the stable, ready to treat us all to some curly fries. ...Or at least get a game-winning goal or Kronwall the crap out of a Sharks player.

Two days of rest for us will be huge. We'll all be ready to prove that we're Cup contenders.

Into the Shark Tank

2010-04-29T09:54:00.003-04:00

Is it bad that I'm only moderately concerned for this series? We were 3-0-1 against the Sharks in the regular season, the OT loss coming in a shootout. San Jose hasn't made it past the first round in three-hundred years, and the Wings are coming out from a hard series more determined than ever.

Is there a chance that Sunday's Red Wings will show up at the Shark Tank tonight? No doubt about it. Will they? I really hope not. None of us Wingnuts want to see that travesty again. I don't think it will happen. If we come out playing like we did in Game Seven, these Sharks are doomed, more doomed than a T-Rex in San Diego [okay, maybe I was watching The Lost World over the weekend...].

So here are my vague Keys to Victory, since we haven't seen San Jose in a while, and even more people haven't seen them this late into the year...

1. Jimmy Howard. He doesn't have as much playoff experience as Evgeni Nabokov, but when Jimmy plays solid hockey, he plays solid hockey, and so does the team in front of him. When he plays shaky, the team in front of him plays shaky: It's not just Jimmy. And hey, if we want to score on the Sharks, just have Dan Boyle try to send the puck around the back of the net!

2. Solid defense. We know how to shut top players down - look at how well Zetterberg covers Crosby when we play them. Look at how amazing Datsyuk was in Game Seven against Phoenix, showing that he deserves to win the Selke another year. This can also be said for

3. Good offense. Our big players have to be our big players, much like Babs said after the last victory. San Jose's biggest players didn't do very much in the first round. We all know that Joe Thornton turns into a ghost in April and beyond, let's keep him like that.

4. I think this is going to be Mule's series. I know everyone around me is saying, "Oh, he's been terrible so far!" He's had a point per game! That's pretty damn good! No, he hasn't had any freaking awesome goals or been absolutely fantastic, but he's been there to help out. Despite this negativity, the second round of 2008 was when Franzen sparkled and had more goals that Colorado combined for the whole series. Maybe COL rubbed off enough on San Jose so that San Jose is more like Colorado and it'll happen again.

5. Get physical! Crunch those Sharks into the boards. Kronwall, I'm looking for you to Kronwall someone, okay? I guaranteed so many people last round that you would Kronwall Shane Doan and you didn't do it. Don't make me look completely stupid, okay? I want to see someone get Kronwalled.

Don't get me wrong - I don't mind the Sharks at all. But picking on them comes naturally to me, like picking on the Maple Leafs comes naturally to, well, everyone.

This will be an interesting series, one that I'm looking forward to. Keep up the solid play, Red Wings. It's what will send you to the Cup Finals for the third year in a row. Or at least the Conference Finals for the fourth year in a row.

PS - Top-Rated Shuffle: #459/1496: Reasons for Waiting - Jethro Tull

Roll on Down the Highway

2010-04-28T00:24:00.004-04:00

Should I really do a blog post so close after a Wings victory and this late at night...

Probably not, but here it goes anyway. Forgive me if it's all over the place and incoherent.

That, my dear friends, is true Red Wings hockey. From the drop of the puck until the last buzzer [minus that one faceoff], we played solid hockey patented after our namesake. We didn't let up once. We played with heart and soul and kept the pressure on, even when we were up by five goals. This was probably the best game we've played all year.

At the start of the game, my brother solemnly said, "Watch Lidstrom as often as you can, because this could be his last game." I had thought of this beforehand, but didn't think anything of it until he said it out loud. So I watched him intently and I watched him with a bit of remorse and sadness at the thought of never seeing him on the ice again.

But the Red Wings dominated. Faceoffs were in our favor in the first period and by the middle of the second period, we already had forty shots on goal and were playing out of our minds. As Dave Tippett said after the game, "It was more like a hurricane than a storm." The Wings capitalized on every chance they had. Look at how well our third and fourth lines played. Draper and Helm had the puck so tied up that Draper just left for a change while he was down below the hash marks.

And now I don't have to worry about Lidstrom possibly playing his last game until at least Game Five of the next series.

Do I want to be mean to the Coyotes and their fans? Not really. I'll leave the hating to other bloggers. The drama comes with the playoffs and at this point in my hockey-watching career, if I can put aside differences and hold a conversation with someone who loves a different team, I'm not going to hate them, unless they're spouting stupid things at me or things that are complete BS. I haven't had a Yotes fan do that to me, but I suppose I haven't talked to a lot of them.

So dear Coyotes fans, Thanks for the drama. No playoff series would be complete without it. You and your team were worthy adversaries, even if some of us Wings fans don't want to admit it. But be warned for the future: a beer bottle thrown on the ice =/= an octopus. A beer bottle = NASCAR, not hockey. And I respected your White Outs because it was the Winnipeg Jets' White Outs. You know, in case you were wondering that.

Keep the love for your team alive. Everyone undersold you at the start of the year - including me, who pegged you guys at twelve wins. If you guys really love your hockey team, show that support. Or else they'll be shipping off somewhere else in the next few years.

Four consecutive years of making it to the semi-finals for the Red Wings. Making it there to face a team that is a perpetual choker in the playoffs. To face Joe Thornton, who is both a lousy ventriloquist and turns into a ghost in April [and sometimes May]. To face a team that they are 3-1 against this season, the one loss coming in a shootout. Does San Jose scare me as much as Phoenix? No. Should I be scared? Probably. But for now, I'm still riding that high of making it to the next round.

If they wanted to announce the schedule, that would be awesome. And the fact that we made it to the next round means that I can keep wearing Wings shirts to work and there will still be Red Wings hockey for my birthday next week. For now, enjoy your victory, Hockeytown. You can start the worrying and the planning after a well-rested night of sleep.

Keys to Victory!

2010-04-27T16:30:00.005-04:00

Mike Babcock brings up a good point: "The whole key here is, just play the game. Don’t make it bigger than it is -- just play... It’s about will. It’s about to sticking to your plan for longer. It’s about that power-play goal that goes off somebody and in the net versus wide of the net.”

If the Red Wings don't have any of this tonight, our season is done, people. Will it be the end of the world? Until late September, yes. Will I be sad? Yes, but two months ago, I was just praying for us to make it to the playoffs and said I didn't care if we lost in the first round. If we go out now, I'll be disappointed, but that won't last as long as our last Game Seven disappointment lasted.

Phoenix reminds me a lot of Anaheim. And what did we do to Anaheim in the playoffs the last time we saw them? We beat them in Game Seven, with a heroic late-game goal by Dan Cleary. Hey Cleary - if you do that tonight, I promise I will give in and start calling you "Danny," okay? Okay.

I did manage to sleep in this morning, but the nervousness was there immediately. But let's look on the positives for tonight and my Keys to Victory! Those are important, right?

1. Jimmy Howard. Remember him? He's the guy who's either being hugged and congratulated by everyone, or getting fiery internet pitchforks thrown at him. He'll be ready to prove himself. Let's quote Babs again:

"I think if you're Jimmy Howard, you've got to be pretty ecstatic. It's your first year in the NHL, you've won a starting job, you've been nominated for the Calder Trophy and now you get to play in a Game 7. I think it's fantastic. And the other thing about it is that you've got the team here. So for him, it's got to be a great feeling."

I couldn't have said it any better myself. When has Howard played two bad games in a row? The last time he played a bad game in this series, he let in one goal in 120 minutes. That's pretty damn good. Will he bounce back tonight? According to his performance throughout this entire season, yes. I don't think this will be any different.

2. Have we played two bad games in a row this series? More importantly, have we lost two games in a row? The answer is a resounding no. But Phoenix has. Will we do that tonight, with so many of our players pumped for a Game Seven? I sure hope not.

3. Shane Doan. If he's back tonight, you've got to be on him. EDIT: I just got wind that he isn't starting. So be ready for physical play from everyone else on the Coyotes. Let's get Kronwall to finally Kronwall someone! Datsyuk needs to throw his weight around even more and the same goes for Mule. Abdelkader needs to be a BAMF again and throw some punches!

4. Strong penalty killing. Remember what happened after Phoenix got three PP goals in a game? They didn't get another PPG until Game Six when they had three again. Likewise, on the flip side of this point, is a strong power play. Our power play looked good in Game Six, but did we capitalize on anything? No. Which leads me to...

5. GET TOMAS HOLMSTROM INTO HIS OFFICE. Hell, get Johan Franzen into Homer's office. Get Dan Cleary into Homer's office. Just get people in front of Bryz to deflect pucks or screen him. Remember that one game this series where Datsyuk broke his stick during the power play and didn't bother going back to the bench, so he just stood in front of Bryz? Yeah, do that. But, you know, when we're up by a couple goals, not just for the hell of it.

6. IF YOU'RE SKATING DOWN THE WING, DEKE TO THE MIDDLE AND TAKE A QUICK SHOT. BRYZGALOV IS WEAK THERE. Same goes for the post when he's up against it. TAKE SHANAHAN SHOTS. Bryz was really good in the game on Sunday, similar [but not the same] as Halak versus the Capitals last night. The question is, can he carry that over for another game?

7. Lilja's blog is adorable. Why is this a Key to Victory? Because he says that Game Seven "feels inspiring." And if Lils, the Swedish Sensation [or maybe that's Sammy. I don't remember], is feeling inspired, it's likely that the rest of the team is feeling the same way. I know Howard is and I'm sure Babcock gave the Wings a stern talking-to, saying things like, "Don't let this be like the last Game Seven we were in. Have it be like the one before it against Anaheim." And, "Do you really want Game Six to be the last game you ever played at The Joe? Wouldn't you rather it be the Stanley Cup-winning game?" That'll inspire them.

8. Pierre LeBrun will be there. He was at Game Four and Game Five. Is he our good luck charm? At this point, I have a hard time saying no, but I have a hard time saying yes just because I might jinx us.

If we lose tonight, does that mean our legacy is over? Hell no! Nineteen years of making it to the postseason - that's one more year than everyone was giving us three months ago when we were sitting prettily in tenth. We've made it to the SCFs two years in a row, capitalized on one, lost in the other, and made it to the Conference Finals the year before. Everyone just chill out. We're allowed to lose in the first round once every five years, okay?

It hasn't been an eternity since we've won the Cup, even though it feels like it. I will be disappointed if we lose tonight after giving it our heart and soul. I will be angry if we lose tonight after not showing up to the game. I will be ecstatic if we win and will add a bracelet to my "playoff beard," aka my left wrist, which is feeling bare with only three bracelets on it, one for every win.

Let's make it four bracelets, Wings. Let's make it another long run in the playoffs. Let's give the Yotes hell and have the Sharks shaking in their tank waiting for us.

PS - Top-Rated Shuffle: #401/1496: Girl - The Beatles

Good Luck Charm

2010-04-27T10:08:00.003-04:00

Do the Red Wings really want Game Six to be the last game they play at Joe Louis Arena? No. So I hope to the heavens above that this thought is on their minds.

My nerves are already killing me. And I have an exam this afternoon that I am so not going to be concentrating on. I hope the Wings' nerves aren't this bad or else we're doomed. But they're professional players and more than a handful of them have been in Game Sevens.

Can we win tonight? Absolutely. Will we? Hell if I know. That's why I'm pulling out all of my good luck charms. They are as following:

1. Wearing my Franzen jersey. I bought it and it came in the day before Franzen came back from his injury in February. I wore it to the games against Ottawa, Buffalo, Minnesota, and Edmonton. Therefore, it is undefeated. While the Mule hasn't done much in this series and I'd rather wear my Filppula jersey, Filppula lost against the LA Kings when we had a 2-0 lead going into the third.

2. Flying the Wings car flag on my car. I've been doing this, but I got a little carried away after the last victory and kept it on. I can only fly it on game days and the day after.

3. Andy Capp's Hot Fries. These were the good-luck chips of our 2008 Cup run. Hell, I made a run out to 7-11 during the second intermission of Game Seven last June because I was hoping they were still lucky. So that tainted them, but I went out and bought them for the first time this season for Game Five and that worked out well. So, go out and get a bag of Andy Capp's Hot Fries. And make sure you have something to drink next to you. Don't stop eating them, no matter how on fire your mouth is.

So maybe that isn't the biggest list of good luck charms, but it's what has worked for me in the past. Pull our your own charms, Wingnuts. You really don't want the season to be over tonight, do you? I know I don't.

PS - Top-Rated Shuffle: #342/1496 - Future Games - Fleetwood Mac

Pierre LeBrun is Awesome.

2010-04-26T15:59:00.003-04:00

Everyone can calm down about the game tomorrow. Our good-luck charm will be there.

Yes, that's right. Pierre LeBrun is the Red Wings' good luck charm. He was in Detroit for Game Four [and responded to my tweet at him, which made my day]. He was in Phoenix for Game Five. And he just tweeted that he made it to practice and Doan skated, so I asked if he would be there and he said yes.

Ladies and gentlemen, I must admit that this tidbit of knowledge makes me feel a little bit better about tomorrow. I know things in the world around the hockey players really don't affect them, like whether we sit in the same spot on the couch or eat the same snacks, but does that stop me from doing the same thing every gameday? Absolutely not.

Will LeBrun's presence do anything to the Red Wings play? I doubt it, but we've sparkled when he's been there. So hopefully this superstition will ring true. Will the Wings have to show up to the game? Of course. And there's very little doubt in my mind that they will play like they did yesterday. T-minus 30 hours and counting.

PS - Top-rated shuffle #316/1496 - Tell Me - Stevie Ray Vaughan

Confusion...

2010-04-25T19:23:00.003-04:00

Can someone tell me how to feel about this loss? Because I am honestly confused as to how I should feel right now. There's disappointment mixed with anger mingling with both the "I knew this would happen" and the "Wait what?" feelings.

I will admit that I didn't watch this game as closely as I should have. I was helping entertain family members, who have no interest in watching hockey and liked to yell, "OH. PHOENIX SCORED A GOAL. THE WINGS ARE DONE. CHANGE THE CHANNEL." So it was more than difficult to pay serious attention.

We looked good. We had pressure on the power plays and controlled the puck for the majority of the first and the second. But we didn't make anything out of any of our power plays [and that lengthy 5-on-3]. We couldn't solve Bryzgalov, who was playing out of his mind. As Nick Lidstrom said, it came down to special teams being the difference and I knew it was only a matter of time before they got multiple power play goals in a game. Plus, when you give up a short-handed goal, that sucks some of the life out of you.

Our downfalls:

-Power Play. This was stated above.

-Penalty Kill. Also stated above.

-Brad Stuart decided to fall asleep for a minute there as he was skating out of the zone with the puck. Then he woke up and scored a goal, but it wasn't enough.

-We stopped playing after we got down by too many goals.

-Datsyuk wasn't Datsyukian enough. And to add to that, the Mule just wasn't hungry. Someone please go starve him so he'll be hungry for Tuesday night's game. Maybe that'll be his breakout game. I don't want him to turn out like Hossa last year and do nothing for us.

-I made my game-day blog post the night before and not the day of. Damn superstitions will be the death of me. I also didn't wash my "I <3 Datsyuk" shirt like I did between Games Four and Five. Guess this one's dead, too. All I've got left is Hossa [screw that], Mule, 08 Cup Champs, and "Who Said Only Angels Have Wings?" with a picture of a halo over the Winged Wheel. Oh, and my jerseys. I might break out Franzen for Tuesday. That's been undefeated since I bought it in March.

Phoenix is going to come out with a fiery passion on Tuesday night. They have a lot to prove and a lot to lose. But reverse the situation: The Red Wings are in the same position. They need to prove to us fans that they can play in a pivotal game with heart and soul since the last Game Seven we witnessed was "The Event That Shall Not Be Named," as many bloggers refer to it. And if we lose, our efforts to make it into the playoffs, to make another long playoff run, to make it to the Cup Finals for the third straight year, will be shot.

Jimmy Howard is not at fault for this game. Yes, he should have had the shortie, but that's the only major downfall I can recall right now. And when he has a bad game, how does he play in the next one? Oh, that's right. One goal over the span of 120 minutes. He knows Game Seven is important, much like he knew Game Five was important.

This should be Mike Babcock's speech to the Red Wings, "Hey. If you don't go out and win Game Seven and play the full sixty minutes, I will personally come and murder each and every one of you in your sleep. Because I want to win the Cup, and so do you. So wake up and play hockey, boys. Or I'll kill you."

We don't play well when we're televised on NBC. Four games on NBC this season:

1. Loss to Chicago in a SO [with that sick Datsyuk SO goal].
2. Loss to Pittsburgh in a SO
3. Loss to Philly
4. Win in OT against Chicago to play Phoenix in the Playoffs

We're not done yet, people. Don't give up hope. Or do, because then the Wings will have to prove you wrong. And that might be a good thing.

Crossroads

2010-04-24T21:15:00.004-04:00

Do I think the Red Wings have the ability to wrap up this series tomorrow? Absolutely. Will they? That part of the bargain is up to them.

Since I don't have a chance to be on the computer tomorrow, I thought I'd do my game-day post the night before. At least on this game-day, I have way too many things to do that will eat up a lot of time before the puck drops around 2:10pm.

Has the series shifted in our favor? If we keep playing like we have, absolutely. But if we let up, even a little bit, we tilt it back toward Phoenix. I'm sure the Wings don't want to go back to the desert for one last game and I don't want to stay up late and hear that stupid wolf call that makes me think I'm in line for The Haunted Mansion in Walt Disney World.

So here are my Keys for Victory for Game Six:

1. Strong PK. If we let Phoenix get any momentum on their PP and we can't crush it immediately, we're in some hot water. Also, as a sub-bullet point, a strong PP for us would be good, too.

2. CLEAR THE PUCK OUT OF THE ZONE. If there was one thing we did too much of in Game Five, it was not clear the zone. Weak passes up the boards or up the middle don't work, especially when they're picked off by Coyotes.

3. Henrik Zetterberg and Valtteri Filppula need to keep sparkling. Keep the pressure on the forecheck and keep Phoenix back on their heels. This goes for Justin Abdelkader, too. And hell, the whole team, too.

4. Mule needs to get hungry. He's starving, you say? GET HUNGRIER. I want him to be so hungry that he treats everyone to curly fries for lunch on Monday.

5. Everyone on the Detroit Red Wings needs to shoot high on Bryzgalov, take Shanny shots from behind the goal line and try to bank them in off Bryz, and when you're streaking up the wing, deke into the middle and shoot. Datsyuk was doing that a lot in Game Five and he got some pretty good chances.

6. Jimmy Howard needs to keep being solid. In 120 minutes of play, he's let in one goal. His SV% is .9833. Pretty damn solid and if he wanted to keep that up, I would be all right with that.

Godspeed, Red Wings.

In the words of the infamous homeless guy with the Hulk hand that stands around down by COBO, "Here we go, Red Wings, here we go! Where we gonna go?! All the way to the Stanley CUP!" Eat 'em up, Red Wings. We'll be cheering you on along the way.

One Particular Place To Go

2010-04-24T13:05:00.005-04:00

The Red Wings proved last night that while they make mistakes, they can still come out on top. I mean, come on: How many more times are we going to fail to clear the puck out of our zone? If any of those turnovers had gone in, it would have been an entirely different game.

But they didn't. And we won. I would add "barely," but we definitely had Phoenix on their heels in the third. I have yet to read any of the articles at my usual hockey sites since I worked this morning [and managed to function on very little sleep], so I don't know what any of the players are saying about anything.

Some things I noticed during last night's game:

-Abdelkader is fitting right in. He's being a physical force and drawing attention to himself in front of the net and that's helping us get a few goals.

-Jimmy Howard is playing solid hockey and having fun with it, too. He doesn't seem tense at all and it looks as though his nerves are gone. His mentality reminds me a lot of Osgood and whether you like Ozzie's play as a goalie or not, you have to admit that he has the perfect mentality for a goaltender. Howard made a brilliant save and then another on Hanzel's breakaway early in the third and that was the turning point. Possibly of the series.

-Players finally noticed to go high on Bryzgalov. Mickey Redmond pointed out on one of the Wings goals how much room there was above Bryz's glove.

-Players also noticed that if you skate down the wing and quickly deke to the middle and take a shot, Bryzgalov is usually unprepared to make the save. Datsyuk did this a few times and got some good chances.

-Filppula is playing out of his mind. He might not have a ton of goals to show for it, but he's mimicking Zetterberg's moves and what could be better than two Zetterbergs on the ice at the same time? Maybe if you tossed in Pavel...

Am I going to get cocky for Sunday's game? I did last Sunday and look how well that turned out, so I'm going to say no. Phoenix isn't dead yet and the Red Wings aren't playing perfectly. The Wings are playing with patience, which is what they need to do. Phoenix is a young team that jumps at every opportunity, but the Wings are just sitting back and waiting to pounce on that perfect opportunity. And that's paying off.

Will Shane Doan return if it looks as though his Yotes need him? It's possible if he thinks his team needs him. But then the Wings should just do what the Yotes players are doing: blatantly going after an injured player [just look at all the runs on Rafi yesterday]. It won't be a cakewalk through the rest of the series, but if The Key [aka Howard] stays solid, you never know what might happen.

PS - Top Rated Shuffle: #223/1496: Cheap Shot - John Mellencamp

No Mr. Norris with the Norris nominees?

2010-04-23T12:29:00.004-04:00

If you look at the Red Wings since February, what's off from what we normally look like? There are two things: We finished fifth in the conference rather than in the top two and Nick Lidstrom isn't nominated for the trophy that is synonymous with his name.

Yes, that's right. Nick Lidstrom wasn't nominated for the Norris trophy this year. Am I surprised? Kind of. I knew he didn't stand a chance of winning it this year with such a travesty for a Wings season that we had. But I thought he might get nominated. I mean, its Nick Lidstrom. How can you have a Norris awarded without him even in the mix? It boggles the mind.

Look at Lidstrom's plus/minus for the season - plus-22 It's better than our goal differential for the whole season. Remember back around December or January when [and I'm pulling these numbers out of the air] our GF was 223 and our GA was 218 and Lidstrom was still a +18? That's impressive.

If anything, I'm annoyed that he didn't win it last year. Green didn't deserve to win it last year, which is why he didn't. But Chara? I know he's a great defenseman, but sometimes I wonder if the voters were just intimidated by his height. I know I am.

But in all seriousness, I think Lidstrom would rather have a different piece of hardware for this season. And that one he's still up for.

Let It Rock

2010-04-23T09:38:00.006-04:00

It's game day and once again, I attempted to sleep in to eat up some of the day, but I'm too nervous and excited to sleep past 9am [and I have a full day of mulching planned]. So I may as well make a blog post.

Tonight's game is a pivotal one, and the Red Wings seem to know this, which is always a bonus:

"So, just because [Babcock's] team turned in a solid effort in Tuesday's 3-0 win, players shouldn't think their performance will automatically carry over or that they've gained control of the series. And they don't. "

Those three final words are key right there. I think our problem going into Game Three was that we got too cocky and when we fell behind really early, we didn't really bother trying to catch up. The Red Wings now know that they have to give 110% to win and they can't think they can just coast to victory. They have to keep fighting and fighting, like Ottawa last night, who absolutely deserved to win that game.

My Keys to Victory tonight:

1.Keep up the solid PK and be a little more forceful on the PP. And try not to take a bunch of stupid penalties.

2.Casey over at Morning Skate has the same feeling that I do: Feed the Mule. This is Franzen's time of the year. Hey Mule - remember when you scored more goals than Colorado did in a series? If you wanted to get started on trying to single-handedly outscore Phoenix, I would have no problem with that. But seriously - I have this crazy feeling that tonight's game is going to go into OT and he's going to have a breakaway goal like he did in Game Five against Nashville, which is on the front of my bedroom door.

3. Jimmy Howard is coming off of a shutout and a Calder nomination. Is he going to let either of those things go to his head? No. Jimmy has the mentality of Ozzie and Dom - he doesn't let a good game or a bad game affect his play; he just takes it one game at a time.

4. SHOOT HIGH ON BRYZGALOV. Take a patented Shanahan shot from behind the goal line and bank it in off of Bryz! Filppula's goals have been exactly that [as well as that crazy puck that almost went in]. Bryz has some problems holding up against that post. Take advantage of that weakness. Pepper him with shots from everywhere.

5. Physical play is important. We've been out muscling them in the past few games. Datsyuk needs to throw his weight around a little more and look Datsyukian. He just got nominated for a Selke [and Lady Byng]; play like a Selke winner [which he is].

6. If Shane Doan plays, be on top of him. In the words of Michael Bluth to his son, "Don't be afraid to ride her, hard." If Shane Doan doesn't play, be on top of everyone else. I guess this bullet point goes hand in hand with number 5...

7. Pierre LeBrun from ESPN will be there. You know why that's good? He was at Game Four in Detroit. Is he our good-luck charm? Maybe. He did pick Red Wings in six...

8. Be the Red Wings. For the last half of Game Four, we played Red Wings hockey, albeit not the best version. Look at the five-on-three we killed off. Look at how Jimmy was a BAMF. Look at how we were a team through and through.

Keep up the good work, Wings. My sacrifice of a night's sleep before work was worth it last Friday - can you make it worth it this Friday?

PS - Top Rated Shuffle #104/1496: Bo Diddley - Bob Seger. Yeah, my taste in music is way before my time.

Forward to Game Five

2010-04-22T13:45:00.003-04:00

I've never been a huge fan of Andreas Lilja, but missing him for a year made me change my mind. That and he's been playing pretty damn good since his return in late February. Why am I bringing up Lils, you ask? He has his own blog that is now being translated into English on the Wings' website and he wrote something that I've been hoping the Wings realize for Friday's game [and Sunday's]. He wrote:

"...We haven't been playing on our highest level before and we have an understanding now that it takes 100% by everyone and every shift! It's an amazing feeling to see and feel when we play as we did!

It's important to continue to play like this on Friday, beacuse Phoenix is far from being beaten, and they will rise its level for next game, so we better charge our batteries until next game!"

I was shouting this at my television during the postgame, but I'm pretty sure the players couldn't hear me [though Ken and Mickey usually can because they repeat what I say a lot]. The Wings have to keep their game up to that same caliber that it was on Tuesday night. Friday is definitely a must-win for us, even if it's only Game Five. If we can head back to The Joe with a 3-2 lead in the series, I have a good feeling that we can finish the Yotes off at The Joe.

I can't see the Red Wings slacking for Game Five like they did in Game Three. We're coming down to crunch time and as we all found out this season, the Wings play well under pressure. Maybe they should just pretend that they're always about to get knocked out of the playoffs and they'll just play like that all the time.

I'll end this with what Lils wrote, "Hope we continue to dominate like we did Tuesday, it can take us far..." I hope you're right, Lils, because I have to get up at 5am for work on Saturday and I'd like to go in tired and happy, not tired and disgruntled. And not have to explain why you guys lost to all of the regulars; I'd much rather talk about a victory.

As a non-hockey-related PS, I'm doing a top rated shuffle on my iPod. 1496 songs. Currently on #33 - Your Time Is Gonna Come by Led Zeppelin.

Being a BAMF is never easy

2010-04-21T10:22:00.002-04:00

"It didn't faze me. You don't think. You just react. I would've stopped it with my face if I had to."

Jimmy Howard had the game of his career last night. After being thrown under a bus by a large amount of hockey lovers in the metro Detroit area after his performance on Sunday, he proved the doubters wrong. Was I one of the doubters? Right after Game Three, yes. But I knew we would rebound, as evident in my post here. We haven't played two terrible games back-to-back in a long time and we know better during the playoffs.

"I'm going to enjoy it here for a couple minutes," said Howard, who gave up four goals to lose Game 3. "Then, just like I did the other night, forget about it and get ready for Friday night."

And that's what needs to be done. You can't dwell on the good and you can't dwell on the bad. Take each new day like it's your first game and try to win it for the fans.

Jimmy Howard: punching Sidney Crosby in the face, taking out Shane Doan, making saves with his mask off. He's a tank, people.

Words of Wisdom

2010-04-20T10:29:00.004-04:00

Ken Holland has never steered us wrong. Even when he signed Bertuzzi [again] in the off-season, much to many people's disappointment, Bert has had his shining moments that have helped this team to victory. Kenny knows what he's doing.

With that being said, Fox Sports Detroit has a good interview with him where he brings up some extremely logical points about the Wings in the playoffs and this whole series in general.

"We really think Jimmy Howard's going to play real well (Tuesday) night... When he does have an off-game or he does have a goal that he'd like to have back, he's bounced back strong so we look for him to bounce back strong."

This is true. When has Jimmy Howard had terrible back-to-back games? [Don't count before December because he wasn't in the groove of things] If there's one thing I can see in Jimmy Howard's play so far, it's an essence of Dominik Hasek. And by saying that, I know half of you are cringing, half of you are happy, and the other half are reading this, saying, "What the hell...?" So keep reading and hear me out.

He's not like Dom in the fact that he ventures out of his crease constantly and plays the puck when he totally shouldn't nor is it the ridiculous positions to save goals nor is it the fact that he gives me heart attacks every time the puck comes into the defensive zone. Nor is it anything like this. Rather, it's the fact that if he lets in two or three goals, more often than not he shuts it down after that. Dom was known for that and it helped keep us in a close game. Jimmy does something similar to this--not all the time, but enough. And enough is what has gotten us to the postseason.

"Everybody remembers now that you won the Stanley Cup and they forget about the emotions...If you can't handle adversity, you're not going for a long playoff run. We're facing some adversity. I believe given the people on our team and the success that we've had, the long playoff runs, that they're going to dig deep and we're going to respond with our best game of the playoffs (Tuesday) night."

Kenny's onto something here. Look back at our past Cup runs to things you may not remember. Like in 2008 when we were up 3-0 in the series to Dallas and everyone was expecting a sweep. Yet they won two games in a row. No one remembers that; they just remember that Dom dropped the ball in games three and four of the first round and Chris Osgood stepped in and won nine in a row. [Or they may ignore that fact completely and pretend it was Howard with how much hate there has been on Ozzie this season.]

The Red Wings have been torn a new one, both by their own team mates and their head coach. And Kenny. And probably Stevie, too, who has been down this playoff road a lot. Nightmare on Helm Street reported this anger. When the Wings get yelled at, they play with a lot more focus. They play Red Wings hockey.

Will we play tonight's game with heart and soul? Absolutely.

Will our team play for the entire sixty (or more) minutes? Yes, or Babcock will murder them in their sleep.

Will it be a complete blowout in favor of the Wings like Game Five against Pittsburgh last year? That I don't know. Phoenix knows the pressure is coming and they're a team that's adept at responding to tough situations. If anything comes out of tonight's game, I just want it to be a Detroit victory. Go back to the desert tied, Red Wings. We'll be cheering you along the whole time.

Time of the Season

2010-04-19T23:21:00.008-04:00

I'm sick of discussing the Game Three loss. We played like crap, we deserved to lose, let's move on.

Let's look ahead to tonight's game. Just like before Game Two, I have a good feeling about this one. I'll list my reasons:

1. Dropping both at home is the most un-Red Wings thing there is. I told someone at work before Game Three that I couldn't see Phoenix taking a single game from us at home. Obviously, I was wrong, but that was because only Henrik Zetterberg showed up for that game. We won't lose Game Four. The whole team knows that this city, their fans are relying on them and they know they can't let us down.

2. Babcock obviously had to rip the Wings a new one. When they get yelled at, they play a hell of a lot better. Remember back in December when Draper got up in the locker room and said that being a Red Wings meant playing with pride, and they weren't playing with enough pride? It straightened us out for a little while and maybe Babs' yelling will help that, at least for Game Four. And maybe it'll carry over for Game Five.

3. Babcock hasn't used the line of, "I think we played well, but _____." And has instead opted for the, "We played like shit." But, you know, in more of a PR-friendly way.

4. Speaking of Babcock, when I was walking into my brother's house today, my parents were watching Local 4 news and they were showing his postgame press conference. He said something along the lines of, "We're here to win. That's what we do in this city." When he has that mentality, he can get through to anyone. He should just pretend he's trying to win a gold medal...

5. Nicklas Lidstrom is pissed at himself, at the team, at everything that happened to his team on Sunday. This is the six-time Norris trophy winner [six times in the past nine years, plus a couple nominations in there] who was a -3 on Sunday, which like the Free Press said today, is like a -14 for a human. He will not take that lightly and he will vent his frustration on the ice tonight for the better.

My list of things that we need to do to win:

1. ~~Tighter defense.~~ If I say that, the Wings' defense will think it's opposite day. So I'll just think it and send it telepatically to you. Also, keep up the good penalty-killing. That's always helpful.

2. Shoot high on Bryzgalov. I noticed in Game Three that there was literally nothing open from the pads down. Look at where Franzen's goal went in: up above his shoulders. So they should pretend like they're shooting on Roberto Luongo and aim for the glove or pretend like they're shooting on Cristobal Huet and shoot everywhere because there's a good chance that it will go in. Also, pounce on rebounds. Look at how much that helped us in Game Two - we got free curly fries because of it.

3. Be more physical. Dear Kronwall, where is your patented Kronwalling? Dear Bertuzzi, where the fuck has your physical play been all season? Dear Datsyuk, play like you want a form of checking known forevermore as "the Datsyukian check." Dear Mule, throw your weight around a little. Dear Howard, jump out to cover the puck and take out another Phoenix player.

4. Get Homer into his office [yes i drew that]. Hell, have Datsyuk break his stick and instead of going to the bench, just stand in front of the net like the end of Game Three. Get Bryz moving around the giant body in front of him, trying to nudge Homer away while Lidstrom takes a shot from the point and the puck goes right past him into the back of the net.

This series is far from being over. Let's not lose all hope just yet, people.

[PS - A re-drawing of that comic will be coming sometime soon since I have a tablet now and can make it pretty like this one.]

An open letter to the Detroit Red Wings

2010-04-18T21:41:00.005-04:00

Dear Red Wings,

How are you? I'm doing okay. It's been an interesting postseason so far, eh? And I don't mean just your series; this whole postseason so far has been strange. I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing. For us Wings fans, it's a bad thing right now, speaking strictly about your series [and maybe Pittsburgh's].

We fans walked into Game One this year not anticipating an easy victory, but not expecting what actually happened; you were out-muscled from the start and you stopped playing after the second period ended and lost because you didn't start playing until the last minute of the third. We know you're not the best physical team, but where was some Kronwalling? Where was Datsyuk throwing his weight around like he always does? Where was The Mule, especially since this is his time of the year? Hell, where was Bertuzzi?

You bounced back somewhat in Game Two and we were thankful, breathing a sigh of relief. You powered through the second period and finally passed Phoenix in goal-scoring and clinched a victory. We happily rejoiced at an early hour in the morning, sacrificing sleep to see you through to a win. We woke up the next morning happy yet tired, anticipating a victory in the next game because you were coming home. You would all be surrounded by your die hard, loving fans that would just empower you, and we all thought to ourselves, "How can they lose?"

But something happened. After a solid first period, there was a change. Fans around the Metro Detroit area cringed as your playing reminded us too much of that final loss back last June, one we all hope to forget. And you never bounced back from it. You found your momentum too late in the third to do much and you couldn't do anything about it. We sat at home and in the arena, unable to look at our team in the eyes.

We've pulled out all of our playoff rituals, all of our playoff superstitions, but it's not doing anything. No matter whether we wear the same shirt through every victory and toss it in the laundry when you lose and switch to another one, or fly a car flag on game days and after victories, or stop shaving to start growing a playoff beard, or make sure we sit in the same spot on the couch for every game, or eat the same snacks during the game, nothing seems to work.

We know these silly little things don't actually have an effect, but we've done them so many times that we can't bring ourselves to stop; we've convinced ourselves that we have an effect on your play, but they don't. We just hope that the message reaches through our television screens, reaches out towards you, either at The Joe or our west at Jobing.com arena or wherever you're playing, and lets you know that we're there with you even when we're not physically present.

It's been a rough season, we know. One of the worsts in recent history. And we understand the sufferings you've gone through, because we've been through them with you whether you realize it or not. The fact that you pulled it together after the Olympic break and rallied from ninth place to sitting neatly in fifth made us ecstatic. We were more excited for the playoffs than we have been in years. Normally, April arrives and all of us have the same bland thought of, "Oh. It's playoffs. Let's not get excited until we make it to the conference finals." Nineteen years of making the postseason will do that. But this year, we were losing sleep the night before Game One, thoroughly happy and too excited that our season hadn't ended three days before.

Us hardcore Wings fans have been through thick and thin with you this season and we will always be here. If you lose fans because you aren't winning, it's the ones that don't care enough about you or the sport. It's not the amount of fans, but the amount of love the fans give you.

We know you can pull through this. After all, it was just one loss in Game Three. Had it been Game Five and we were down 3-2, then we would be a little more concerned. You guys can pull through this. You've done it before and you can do it again. Just know that we're with you.

Our state has gone through some rough times in the past year and we've all had personal struggles that have taken their toll on our well-beings. But to see you, The Red Wings, win a game, even if it isn't important, it makes us feel a little better. It makes us feel as though you won it for us, to make us happier for a little while. Remember the Stanley Cup parade in 2008 and how happy everyone was? Times were bleak then, too, and they aren't much better now. Just think how much it would lift the city, the area, the state, if you could bring the Cup home again.

We love you, Red Wings. We always have and we always will. After all, this is Hockeytown - do you expect any less from us?

All of our love,

Your fans

Here we go again...

2010-04-18T18:37:00.006-04:00

So the Wings played the last 2/3 of the game like they were playing for an ice cream cone. They played without passion after the first. Howard let in a soft fourth goal he should have had. Hell, Shane Doan wasn't even there for half the game trying to wreck all of our players and we still couldn't do anything!

Is the answer Chris Osgood? I don't know. Ozzie will always be my #1 goaltender, but I'm not blinded by my love; I can see that starting him when he's only had one start in two months might not be a good idea. Yes, he has that switch he flips to make him play like a brick wall has been built in the crease, but is he fresh enough to do that right away? He's reliable in the playoffs when we need him, but do we really need him just yet? He plays when he needs to, but I don't think he needs to play yet.

Ilya Bryzgalov did not play fantastic, contrary to what the media is saying. Everything down low was covered, and I mean everything. Up top? Did you see how easily Franzen flipped that puck past him? Bryz hasn't been outstanding this entire series. The Wings need to treat him like Luongo: shoot at his glove and in that general area.

I hate to say it, but I was actually more nervous when Lidstrom was out playing defense for this game. I guess my nerves were right since he was a -3 rating. And when you're cringing when you see Mr. Norris out there, you know you're not in for a good game. I literally almost left for the last ten minutes of the third, but it would have been too weird not watching a Wings game when I know it's on.

Could I take the paranoid schizophrenic Wings fan side and say the refs were out to get us, blowing down two goals? That Gary Bettman was against us and obviously wanted his team to win on their first nationally televised game? Of course I could say all of that, but I'm just pointing the blame at the abstract things that had no effect. The Wings played lackluster. You would think they would have learned their lesson from Game Seven and the majority of this season.

The Red Wings' entire season has been exactly this: They play fantastic for a game or two and crush their opponents and in the following game, they play like crap. They're a bipolar team, but I thought after the Olympics we had found our path yet again. Apparently not quite yet...

With all of that said, there's no way we'll lose both at home. We lost two games in round one in 1997. We were down 2-1 in the first round to Phoenix in 1998. We were down 2-0 to Vancouver in the first round in 2002. We lost two games in round one against Nashville in 2008 and won nine in a row after dropping those two. Can we come back from this? Absolutely. But we need heart and soul.

A Kronwalling We Will Go

2010-04-18T13:06:00.004-04:00

I'm still standing by my guarantee:

Within five minutes of today's game, Shane Doan is going to find himself Kronwalled.

Do I need to say anything else? No. A thorough Kronwalling is all we need to kick this series into overdrive and in our favor. Let's go Red Wings.

Another reason to hate Shane Doan

2010-04-17T16:22:00.002-04:00

Not that we need more reason to hate Doan, but I came upon a humorous yet angering discovery.

Deadliest Catch, for those of you who don't watch The Discovery Channel, is the show that follows around the crab fisherman up in Alaska's Bering Sea. It's one of my favorite shows of all time. Two seasons ago, the crab boat The Wizard took on a couple new greenhorns for their crew. One was Jason "Moi" Moilanen, who I absolutely despised. I won't go into any more detail, but he was fired from the boat after the crab season was over.

Shane Doan looks exactly like Moi and it is ridiculously angering. Case in point:

When you see Doan, think of Moi. It will only increase your hate.

Zetterlicious Fries

2010-04-17T15:18:00.003-04:00

And that's how the Red Wings should play playoff hockey. Yes, there were a few fluke goals and yes Bertuzzi decided to turn over the puck ten seconds into the game and take a penalty a minute later to put us shorthanded, but the important thing is that we didn't let any of that get us down.

Phoenix isn't an offensive team. While they continued to counter our goals in the second period in less than four minutes, it was only a matter of time before we took off ahead of them, leaving them in our dust. And this led to a Zetterberg hat trick, which as all of us Detroiters know means free curly fries at Arby's the next day. I will admit that when his empty net goal went in, my brother and I jumped up and screamed, "CURLY FRIES!!!"

They were consumed at lunch. As the other brother said, "These are Zetterlicious." Enjoy your free fries, Hockeytown. Let's hope there's more to come.

Hooked on a Feeling

2010-04-16T09:35:00.003-04:00

When Wednesday finally arrived, I was absolutely ecstatic for the start of playoff hockey. 7pm couldn't come fast enough and 10pm seemed like it was days away. I still feel that way today. This is me:

The reason being? I have a good feeling about us splitting the series tonight with Phoenix. Let me list my thoughts:

1. Nick Lidstrom is pissed. And yes, those four words can be used together in a sentence. Mr. Norris is never angry, but the blown high-stick call by the referees on Wednesday night was enough to get him riled up. Having Lidstrom be even somewhat emotional doesn't bode well for Phoenix.

2. Justin Abdelkader. This guy knows how to throw his weight around and score timely goals. Just look at the SCFs last year - he had more goals than Sidney Crosby and was a pretty good enforcer for us. Look at how he filled in the gaps in our roster for a decent chunk of this season. Taking out Jason Williams is really only losing us a hard shot from the point on a power play and maybe a good chance here and there.

3. Our upset loss wasn't the only one. Have you seen the results from all of the games so far? We, legitimate Cup contenders, lost. Washington, the other Cup contenders, lost in OT to a team I thought they would easily sweep. San Jose lost [okay, I suppose that isn't surprising for all of their playoff choking abilities, but still]. Brodeur lost to Philly. The only non-upsets were Buffalo, which many people have that series being upset and going to Boston, and Vancouver [though they had to go to overtime to clinch Game One]. Can Chicago beat Nashville tonight? We'll see how that Hossa curse works out for them.

4. We've gauged Phoenix's play. We haven't faced them since early January and we didn't have a healthy roster then. From all of the interviews I've read from the players and Babcock, they seem to know what they need to do. Which brings me to a mini list within this list.
a. Players need to play with some fire under them. Phoenix was crushing us with their bodies last game and it definitely took a toll on us. Can the Yotes keep it up for the whole series? Probably not, but we need to counteract it while we can.
b. Datsyuk needs to throw his weight around. We know this guy can be dangerous. We know that when he's dishing out the body checks, he's a force to be reckoned with.
c. Homer needs to be in his office. To me, he seemed a little tentative to do so on Wednesday. It was either that or the dozens of cross-checks he took to the shoulders that kept him further out than he wanted to be. I know the NHL is cracking down on this, but when haven't they in the playoffs? Cause a raucous, Homer. Do your job and piss off Bryzgalov.
d. Kronwall. I know in my last post I said we wouldn't have Kronwalling until our boys are back in Hockeytown, but if he wanted to prelude and give Doan a taste of it tonight, that would be totally acceptable.

5. Phoenix won't get three power play goals tonight. If there's one thing I don't understand from Game one, it's how our PK was so bad when it's been so solid and how Phoenix's PP was so amazing when it was 28th in the league. If they think they're going to get three PP goals every game or even half that many good chances, they better think again.
a. And come on. A blown interference call on the play when Phoenix got their GWG and a missed call on Lidstrom? If either of those had been called, it's an entirely different game.

6. Jimmy Howard has shaken his nerves. I know in interviews beforehand, he said he wasn't nervous, but please: You're a rookie goaltender playing your first NHL postseason game away from home ice, you're bound to be a little nervous. He wasn't playing on his head on Wednesday, but he wasn't terrible. Our goaltending wasn't our downfall nor do I expect it to be. Jimmy's head has always been clear this season.

I'm not worried. Unless we play tonight's game like we did for the majority of Game Seven, which I'd rather not recall, my fear of an upset is at a minimum. Godspeed, Red Wings. Make us proud.

There Will Be Kronwalling

2010-04-15T20:52:00.006-04:00

I know everyone's waiting for Kronwall to kill Shane Doan tomorrow night. But here's what I'm thinking: he's not going to lay on a massive, leveling hit until he's on home ice.

Think about it. Phoenix was physically outplaying almost all of our players last night and the crowd was going crazy after every single one. Stuart laid on one hard, clean hit, and they were booing him like there was no tomorrow. I'm sure Kronner would rather have his coma-inducing hit followed by excited cheers and screams at the Joe rather than the angry [though somewhat confused] boos of the Phoenix crowd.

I guarantee you this: if there is no Kronwalling tomorrow night on Shane Doan, within the first five minutes of game three, Doan will be sprawled out on the ice, staring up at the banner-filled rafters with dazed eyes, and Kronwall will be skating away, surrounded by the jovial applause from Wings fans all around the Metro Detroit area.

Besides, don't we all want to see it done on home turf?

Abbie for Jason

2010-04-15T17:10:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend, I was discussing how to get Abdelkader into the lineup. For some reason, I could only think of taking out Draper, which is just stupid; Drapes has good speed and is great at faceoffs. I never thought to pull Williams. Shane Doan may not get Kronwalled until he's on our turf [something I've guaranteed a lot of people today], but he might find himself Abdelkadered.

And let's not forget that Abbie had more goals than Sidney Crosby in the SCFs last year. This may work out.

Make 'em pay

2010-04-15T16:40:00.004-04:00

I had a great history teacher for world history in my freshman year of high school. He gave us a lot of advice on how to stay out of trouble and do as little work as possible. One quote that always stuck with me was, "Don't tick off the rhino."

In this case, the rhino is Nicklas Lidstrom. Close to the end of the third period last night, Lidstrom was hit with a high stick by a Phoenix player at center ice. It took five stitches to sew the wound shut after the game and there wasn't even a penalty called on the play. He said, "[The referees] said it was Fil's stick. Fil wasn't even close. They would have been better off telling me they missed it."

Yes, they would have. Because Nick Lidstrom, the machine, is rarely angry. I've been watching him play for years, and I've never seen him lose his cool. Lidstrom is the rhino; you don't want to tick him off or you'll regret it. He's looking for some revenge. Not physical payback, but more along the lines of scoring the game-winning goal tomorrow night against Phoenix.

Get ready, Phoenix. We're just getting started.