Red Wings Door

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...

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

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

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

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!

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

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.