Hellos and Goodbyes

Hello friends and fans, as you know the NHL season has begun and the Wings are back!  Plenty has changed for me since last season, and even more has changed in Detroit.

Hello Ruslan, Welcome Back Hedgehog

Not Brett Lebda

Though I will share more in-depth thoughts on each individuals mentioned in this portion of this post, I'd like to give a quick nod to Mike Modano and a greeting to Ruslan Salei, two great additions to the roster.  Modano's upsides are obvious, but I really think Salei can be a difference maker on the blue line.

He has looked tough (unlike Derek Meech/Brett Lebda), mean (unlike Jonathan Ericsson), and responsible (unlike Andreas Lilja) in front of Jimmy and Chris thus far this season.  Even though I like all those unlike guys, Salei is a more complete defenseman and could be the greatest addition this season.

I nearly threw my elbow out waving goodbye to Jiri Hudler last year...good riddance...chase your money...we don't need you.  Well, I think we saw last season how desperate the Wings were for goal scoring and how thin they became after that plague of injuries.

Hedgehog

They call Hudler 'The Hedgehog' because he's tenacious, bristly, and surprisingly tough for such a little guy.  He's also not afraid to stick his pointed snout into the tough stuff and can put the puck in the net from anywhere on the ice.  With Dan Cleary on the opposite wing and Modano centering, this sick-looking third line could feasibly produce 45-50 goals this season, maybe even more.  On a continuously rotating third line in 2009-10, Darren Helm, Kris Draper, Patrick Eaves, and Drew Miller combined for 40.

Fare You Well, Fare You Well

Dear Steve Yzerman, I love you more than words can tell.  Tampa Bay is my new second favorite team in the leage.  As much as I despise warm weather NHL markets, the Lightning are alright by me.

Dear Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, and Andreas Lilja.  Goodbye.  Thanks for your effort, good luck with your careers, you won't be missed.  

I took this photo from the 2009 Buick
Open Pro-Am...Malts missed the putt.

Dear Kirk Maltby, I was deeply saddened to see that you announced your retirement prior to tonight's game against the Colorado Avalanche.  The selfish side of me said, "Damnit!  I wanted to watch you play at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids this season!"  The better side of me prevails, "Thank you for your contribution on four Stanley Cups in Detroit."  Good luck on the golf course; practice the putting.

There will certainly be more to come on Malts very soon, but for now, I want to say that watching him over the years hustling, bustling, grinding, and antagonizing on third lines, fourth lines, penalty-killing units, and that incredible Grind Line with Darren McCarty and Drapes, has been an absolute joy.  He might be one of the most underrated Wings during this latest era in Hockeytown, but if you've watched him play you had to have loved his style, dedication, and loyalty to Detroit.  Even though his diminished role became obvious last season, and blatant this off-season, his character and accomplishments wearing the Winged Wheel shall never be tarnished.

So long Malts, thanks for the memories.

Peace.

AWP

Why I Already Love #90

By Adam W Parks

He has lifted the Stanley Cup.

He has worn the letter C on his chest.

He is from Michigan. He grew up idolizing Gordie Howe.

He is 40. So is Nicklas Lidstrom. Both signed on to win because they believe they will in Detroit.

He has played for Mike Ilitch before. He has won a national championship with Mike Illitch before.

I trust Ken Holland. I believe Mike Illitch.

He scored 14 goals and assisted on 16 others in 59 games last season. His new linemate, Dan Cleary, scored 15 times and tallied 19 assists in 64 games last season.

His other linemate will be Jiri Hudler, the guy that posted 23 goals and 57 points for Detroit in 2008-09.

He transforms Detroit's third line into a puck possessing scoring threat, rather than a dump and chase and grind line. In other words, he protects and relieves pressure from the top two lines.

He allows the top two lines to look like this:

#1: LW Holmstrom - C Zetterberg - RW Datsyuk
#2: LW Franzen - C Filppula - RW Bertuzzi

He allows line-o-tologist Mike Babcock to formulate a scary fourth line with pieces like Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader (who will be signed soon), Patrick Eaves, Kris Draper, and either Drew Miller or Mattias Ritola.

He reminds me of Joe Sakic. Wait, let me explain:

Sakic captained the hated Colorado Avalanche through the years when we all hated the Colorado Avalanche the most. But who did you hate the most on that team? Go ahead, leave a comment below, make a most-hated list from these scumbags on the 1995-96 Colorado roster:

Joe Sakic
Adam Foote
Patrick Roy
Peter Forsberg
Claude Lemieux
Adam Deadmarsh
Mike Ricci

Hell, I'll throw Mike Keane, Stephane Yelle, Sandis Ozolinsh, Chris Simon, and Valeri Kamensky on that list, and Sakic would still be my least-hated Avalanche.

Like Mike Modano, I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Joe Sakic. Both guys were classy leaders. Both guys did things the right way. Both guys reminded me of Steve Yzerman.

Like Joe Sakic, I hated Modano's teams, but could not bring myself to despise the man. Modano's Dallas Stars were about as pesky and annoying as Sakic's Avalanche teams and were Detroit's second toughest Western Conference rival in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s. Big difference: Modano never beat the Wings in the playoffs.

When you respect a player in the NHL you want him on your team, no matter how old he is. At 40 Modano still adds a dynamic to the Wings that makes everyone else better. In Detroit Modano has one last opportunity to raise the Stanley Cup. At 40 Modano still has the drive to do it.

Peace

We Can Blame The Refs, But The Wings Should Blame Themselves

By Adam W Parks

You may not recognize the names Kevin Pollock and Brad Watson, but you probably wanted to fight them yesterday.



I do not condone such violence against the whistle-blowers, but when they take over a good hockey game like Pollock and Watson did in San Jose on Sunday, I feel helplessly frustrated and angry enough to wish bodily harm against them.

If there was ever a rule in the hockey book of law that is as necessary as it is abusable, it's goaltending interference (go ask a Washington Capitols fan). Think about it for a minute: how often does a referee actually get this call correct? Goalies get touched or slightly bumped and they fall down, and refs love to call it. Yet when was the last time you saw a diving call on a guy in pads? And get this--if the puck goes in the net and there is incidental contact, they wave the goal and do not call a penalty. Apparently when there is incidental contact and the puck does not cross the goal line, it's an automatic penalty.

Three times this penalty was called on Sunday (twice against Detroit) and each time it was a load of horse poop. The call against Todd Bertuzzi in the second period was as ludicrous as the one called against Dany Heatley late in the third. Two entirely different plays, two entirely different ways that the penalty was called, and both incidents were entirely blown by the refs.

Crap! I'm still mad about it!

But as much as I'd like to, all the blame for the Wings' loss cannot simply be thrown at the zebras. Did Pollock and Watson tilt the man-advantage scales in favor of the Sharks? Absolutely. Did they make several awful calls throughout the game? Absolutely. Did the Red Wings blow a great opportunity to tie up the series by playing undisciplined and irresponsible hockey? Absolutely.

“No sense questioning anything,” Mike Babcock said. “We’re in charge, we have to look after it. We can’t be going to the box. We got to look after our own sticks and our own play.”

The Sharks had ten power play chances; the Red Wings only got four. Detroit is one of the least penalized teams in the league but they were whistled five times in the third period, four consecutively, and twice in the last four minutes of the game. It didn't take John Edward to see that San Jose was going to win that game. The Wings were playing great in the second period, controlling the puck and creating opportunities, but they lost all that momentum by shooting themselves in the skates with those penalties in the third.

Yes the whistles were quick against Detroit, but the Wings were also giving the stupid idiot refs plenty of reasons to blow. Playoff hockey should be played, not policed, but calls like slashing (Jimmy Howard, Dan Cleary), cross checking (Pavel Datsyuk), hooking (Niklas Kronwall), tripping (Valtteri Filppula), and too many men on the ice are obvious ones and must be made. The refs need to let them play, but the Wings need to play smart.

Smart like not tripping a guy when you are about to get the puck and begin a break out of your own zone when you are down a goal with four minutes left in the game. Filpp's penalty was not smart, but Kronner's penalty was dumb...just really really dumb. Early in the third, with the Wings clinging to a one goal lead, Bertuzzi pushed Marc-Edouard Vlasic but was somehow called for holding (bad refs), and on the ensuing penalty kill Kronwall hooked down Joe Pavelski to give the Sharks a five-on-three power play for over a minute (bad Wings). You can't do that! You cannot put your team in that situation! Not in the playoffs, not against San Jose!

Did Pavelski dive? It doesn't matter! Don't dig your stick into the ribs of the guy who is getting all the calls, bounces, and goals to go his way! Just don't do it! And of course it was Pavelski who scored the game-tying goal, his second of the game, fourth of the series, and ninth of the playoffs.

Dear Mr. Kronwall,

If you're going to take a lazy, stupid penalty against Joe Pavelski and put your team in a difficult position, please make it count, make it hurt, maybe knock him out for a few shifts so he can't tie the game a minute later.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Adam W Parks

PS. It is apparent that these two teams are equal in almost every aspect of the game, so special teams play is essential for momentum, confidence, and flow. Opportunities on the power play must be taken advantage of, and opportunities given must be limited to a minimum. The Wings played well enough to win on Sunday, and their penalty killing was actually pretty good with all things reconsidered, but they failed by putting themselves in too many tough spots.

Babcock: “Our players felt frustrated. There’s no sense being frustrated. You can’t go to the box. It’s simple. Half the players don’t even get on the ice, sitting in the penalty box all night long. It’s pretty hard to have rhythm, pretty hard to get everyone going.”

If the Wings do not play cleaner and smarter in these next two games at home in Detroit, the Sharks will just cruise around the ice sniffing for the scent of a bloody penalty and keep on attacking with their power play...and Detroit will be lucky to stretch this thing past five games.

Peace

Who's Got My Prileys?

By Adam W Parks

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Round 1, Game 7
Red Wings 6 @ Coyotes 1

How is everybody feeling today? This time yesterday I was popping prilosecs like they were Pringles. I don't want to analyze last night's game too much (the Wings kicked ass), rather I will reflect on the myriad and range of emotions that it put me, and most of you, through.

Tony, a valued follower of Lamp The Light, commented on a Facebook post yesterday prior to the game: "For my blood pressure's sake, let's hope this goes like the Game 7 vs. Colorado in 2002, and the Wings just come out and lay a beat-down."

Game 7.

Joe, another great and appreciated follower, wrote this on the same post: "Scared to death about tonight's game...no joke."

Game 7.

Al, a close friend and phellow Phish Head, also commented on the post: "Stomach ulcer on the way for tonight."

Game 7.

After the first period ended at 0-0 and the Wings had outshot the Coyotes 17-6, I sent a text message to Brett, another good friend, and I wrote: "I'm glad I have Left For Dead and the sequel for the Xbox 360. Killing zombies after the game tonight might dissuade me from killing humans."

Now honestly, was I going to kill my poor neighbors if the Wings lost last night? Probably not all of them. Most likely just the guy from Wisconsin who roots against the Wings, Spartans, Tigers, and all my other beloved Michigan-based sports teams. (Hey Tim, sorry about your Badgers' recent 0-5 thrashing from Boston College in the NCAA Championships. At least you'll be able to watch their best player, Brendan Smith, play in Grand Rapids next season.)

Seriously though, I'm not a murderer, but I did share the same sentiments and disagreeable feelings prior to the puck drop that Tony and Joe and Al did. Watching the pregame interviews and analysis on Fox Sports Detroit and Versus was excruciating. "Just drop the damn puck!" My stomach was tossing. My skin was crawling. My bottle of Scotch whiskey was calling.

It does not matter what round or who we're playing against, when it comes down to the final game of the series and we fans are staring at a potentially dismal summer without anymore Red Wings hockey, we get a little sick. Erratic. Nervous. Crazy. But not quite murderous...

Game 7.

Detroit's last two playoff series, and three of the last four, have gone the full distance. Are they trying to kill us? Strokes run in my family. Fortunately, Tony got his wish and the game resulted in a blow-out...though those 30 minutes were a little too intense.

Dave Tippett said his team got "thumped" and they "had no answer."

Ilya Bryzgalov, who looked like he was unbeatable in Game 6, said, "They were unbelievable. The way the played, no team would have beat them."

Mike Babcock gave credit where credit's deserved, "Our big guys were fantastic today. They really came to play."

Certainly guys like Henrik Zetterberg (3 assists, +3), Pavel Datsyuk (2 goals), and Nicklas Lidstrom (2 goals, 1 assist) warrant their respective accolades, but let us (and Babs) not forget the Brad Stuarts, Darren Helms, Drew Millers, and Patrick Eaveseses.

How great were all of those guys attacking the puck and playing physical against the boards in the 'Yotes' zone? Killing it on the penalty kill? On breakaways stepping out of the penalty box? In a game where key faceoffs were the only blemish on Detroit's game, Justin Abdelkader won seven of his nine puck drops.

Everybody played great last night. They played the way we know they can. They looked like the team that we know they are. Bryzgalov is right, nobody can beat the Wings when they play like that.

And that right there might be why we were so nervous last night. Which Wings team was going to show up? The one that looked old? Or the one that looked experienced?

For the first time in the series, that lovely little intangible that we call experience was the deciding factor in the outcome of the game. Game 7 started out a lot like Game 6--the Wings dominated the puck but could not capitalize and get it past Bryzgalov. Unlike Game 6, Detroit did not let up an ounce, did not give up an inch, and completely overwhelmed the Coyotes.

Jimmy Howard said Phoenix got "lucky" in Game 6. Cocky. I like it. He backed it up in Game 7, and the Coyotes' only bright moment was a lucky one off a faceoff. He did not have to work too hard last night, facing 33 shots to Bryzgalov's 50, but he stopped the ones he needed to. His glove was quick, his positioning square, and his confidence strong.

I spoke with my buddy Brent early this day as I was driving around downtown Grand Rapids. We discussed the game last night and he said I had some pep in my conversation, or something like that. Damn straight I do! The Wings are moving on!

The sun always shines a little brighter on the morn after a Wings win, and today is freaking beautiful! I'm breathing easier, my stomach is settled, and my heart has slowed to its typical pace.

Am I too dramatic? Too emotional? Perhaps, but I'm okay with that. That's why I started writing this blog!

GO WINGS!!!

Peace

Belive in Howard! It Feels Gooooooood!

By Adam W Parks

Damn, Game 4 seems so long ago. Remember when Jimmy Howard stopped 29 shots in his first career playoff shutout? That was awesome!

Facing a potential 3-1 series deficit in front of the home crowd, and In the midst of criticism, doubt, and pressure to be benched from the fans, Howard became a real postseason goaltender right before our eyes. The scrutiny was nothing new for a Red Wings goalie, but it was a fresh experience for Howard, and he handled it with style.

I wrote a full article about the pressure-packed position between the pipes in Hockeytown on Wednesday. I scrapped it because it was too long. I rewrote it on Thursday to focus more on Howard, but lost all focus with the swirling hype surrounding the first round of the NFL draft--Suh! Best!--so I scrapped that one too.

I wanted to get something done before tonight's Game 5. Great timing, late on a Friday afternoon, I know. But Hell, it's always a good time to think, talk, and read about the Wings, so here I am, on my couch, with my dog next to me begging for attention, typing a brand new article just for you.


In my first draft I dissected the perspective that you, me, and all the fans in Hockeytown share on goaltending in Detroit. You know what I'm talking about, win a Cup or get the @#$% out attitude. I went back as far as I can remember, Tim Cheveldae, and ran the gamut all the way to our present netminder, Howard. It was exhausting, but interesting.

My whole point, and please leave feedback and comments below, was that in my lifetime there has never been a goalie that wore the Winged Wheel who has been fully embraced by the majority of the fanbase. Mike Vernon might be the closest, but he was under heavy scrutiny before what he was able to do in the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs, and to Patrick Roy's face! Chris Osgood certainly won over many long-time doubters in 2008, but before that he was probably the most maligned Stanley Cup winning goalie ever, and I don't feel he is beloved today as much as he probably should be.

Dominik Hasek wore out his welcome. Curtis Joseph got a bad rap. Manny Legace's era was shortened and overshadowed by the returns of both Osgood and Hasek. Bill Ranford, Kevin Hodson, Ken Wregget, Norm Maracle, Bob Essensa...

Instead of going into an insane amount of detail about each of these guys like I did with my previous attempts, I'd like to know which goalie, in the last 20 years, is held in highest regard. I always go back to Vernon because that season is untoppable to me, though Osgood did eventually win me over.

The reason why I have been obsessed with this topic is that I have become a BIG Jimmy Howard fan this season. From following him in Grand Rapids, to doubting his potential as an NHL goalie, to seeing him become a Calder Trophy finalist, to watching his Game 4 heroics under intense pressure, The Deal has become one of my favorites of all the Wings goalies. When he lost his mask in that game on Tuesday he didn't flinch, he kept his focus, and he covered the puck in the middle of a crowd. I could see the playoff fire in his eyes.

Whether or not the Wings win tonight, or the series, Howard has done something that no other goalie has in Detroit: made me a true believer. Am I a Homer? Perhaps, but I doubted the guy just as much as everybody else when Ken Holland let Ty Conklin go and gave Howard the role as Ozzy's backup. The guy has shown the brass, the sandpaper, and the balls all season long to earn and deserve my respect and admiration. I can forgive him for his follies.

It bothered me when people called for Osgood after Game 3, but that is what we do, what we've always done with our goalies...isn't it? The attitude of the fans may never change in Detroit when it comes to the goaltending position--it is the toughest job in all of Michigan sports--but Howard has successfully altered my perceptions, and the feeling is euphoric.





Peace

Bert Talks Wings With HUGE

By Adam W Parks

Much-maligned amongst fans around the NHL, Todd Bertuzzi has made a career out of, well, pissing off his opponents.

He is in his 15th season in the NHL, and though he was once one of the league's best players and most dominant forces, he is still searching for his first Stanley Cup ring.

Bert played three seasons with the New York Islanders before spending the bulk of his career with the Canucks, but he has bounced around the room since leaving Vancouver, splitting the last four seasons between the Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, and the Wings. This season is his second stint in Detroit.

On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, Bertuzzi chatted with Bill Simonson of The HUGE Show and discussed the series with Phoenix and Tuesday's big Game 4 win. Brett Muller, the talented producer of The HUGE Show and all-around good guy, got me the audio of the interview and I put together this slideshow for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!



Peace