Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle

Thousandth Goalie Falls Victim to Tomas Holmstrom...

2012-02-10T23:40:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

Caption Fridays Volume Seven...

2011-12-09T10:18:00.001-05:00

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

Red Wings vs. Coyotes GP...

2011-12-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 16-9-1

Coyotes: 15-9-3

Season Series: 0-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Thoughts on the Realignment...

2011-12-06T22:33:00.002-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

2011-12-06T17:37:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 16-8-1

Blues: 14-9-3

Season Series: 0-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

This will never, ever get old.

2011-11-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 10-7-1

Ducks: 6-9-4

Season Series: 1-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

2011-11-19T13:38:00.003-05:00

Red Wings: 9-7-1

Kings: 10-6-3

Season Series: 0-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

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

2011-11-18T02:02:00.000-05:00

Sure, most of the game looked like a trainwreck on skates, but, hey, the Wings scored TWO powerplay goals. I guess that's a good sign.
This one hurt because things looked so good for most of the first period. The Wings looked great until that shorthanded goal at the end.
After San Jose got on the board, the Wings pretty much completely shut down and went through the motions until the very end of the game.
Their too little, too late push toward the end was encouraging, but not nearly enough to overcome the hole they dug for themselves.
I miss the good old days when this blog's namesakes would do things like snipe and dangle. I want my Eurotwins magic back.
Why does Larry Murphy not have a reality show?
Brendan Smith looked pretty good in his NHL debut. He made some mistakes, but he didn't look horribly out of place. That's not too shabby for a rookie defenseman.

Red Wings vs. Sharks GP...

2011-11-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 9-6-1

Sharks: 9-5-1

Season Series: 0-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

2011-11-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 9-5-1

Blues: 8-7-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

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

2011-11-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

I'm a little bit rusty here. It's been so long since I got to watch a Wings game that I had to re-teach myself the concept of icing during the first period.
In one play during the third period, Ian White blocked a shot with his face,and then Henrik Zetterberg made a kick save on the goal line to keep the puck out of the net. White ended up with several stitches and a hospital visit out of the deal.
Wouldn't it be nice if Fil's and Franzen played the way they've been playing all the time?
Win five, lose six, win four. Nobody can accuse the Wings of not being streaky.
For a while there, I thought last night was going to be one of those games where the Wings fire 100 shots at a no-name backup goalie and make him look like an All-Star starter. Obviously, they figured things out in the end, though.
The broadcast had several nice tributes to Mickey Redmond. He deserves all of them. I sure do love that flannel-wearing, ginger-ale-drinking, bingo-bango-saying, composite-stick-hating guy. He's one of a kind.
I particularly enjoyed Homer's analysis of the goal that was originally credited to him before being switched to Kronner. I also enjoyed the fact that he told Murph that the goal didn't go in off of him, but asked him to do him a solid and say it did anyway.
Kindl got into a fight at the end of the game. I like the effort, but he didn't really do so well.

2011-11-04T20:49:00.000-04:00

This week's winning caption comes from one of my favorites, Mr. Stabbityjones.

Stuart: "I warned you Abby. If you eat all of your Halloween candy in one sitting, you're going to get a tummy-ache."

Here's another picture from Sara Neuie to caption:

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

2011-11-03T10:19:00.002-04:00

Red Wings: 5-4-1

Flames: 4-5-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

This is always worth revisiting.

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

2011-11-01T13:00:00.001-04:00

Red Wings: 5-4-0

Wild: 4-3-3

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

2011-10-29T12:17:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 5-3-0

Wild: 3-3-3

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

2011-10-21T18:40:00.000-04:00

Someone named "Anonymous" (That's an odd name. I think it might be French.) won this week's caption contest:

"Why do I always have to sit with the defensemen?"

There's also a hilarious, not family-friendly caption in the comments of the original post from another anonymous person.

Here's this week's picture. Caption away!

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

2011-10-21T18:34:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 4-0-0

Blue Jackets: 0-5-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

How to Craft a Red Wings-Tigers T-shirt Blanket...

2011-10-16T23:13:00.001-04:00

Last summer, I decided to undertake the most epic craft project I've ever done. I made a giant, over-sized t-shirt blanket with Wings shirts on one side and Tigers shirts on the other. It's now one of my most prized possessions of all time. As promised (you know, a year ago...), here's a step-by-step account on how I created this super-comfy tribute to my two favorite sports teams.

First of all, I spent the better part of three months scouring local Salvation Army stores (They really should have a frequent shopper rewards program) for t-shirts (Obviously I did other things during those three months, too.). I came across lots of random things during my search, like oddly titled records, *NSYNC bobbleheads, Han Solo cutouts with beach hats, some incredibly awesome money pants, and some really hideous shirts from the '90s. Originally, I was only on the hunt for Wings ones, as I was planning on covering the back with soft denim as I had done on previous blankets. However, while I was t-shirt hunting, I kept coming across tons and tons of Tigers ones, and I had the brilliant idea to put the Tigs on the back. Naturally, as soon as I started hunting for Tigers shirts, I was unable to find any, but that's another story. I visited at least ten different Salvos multiple times during the summer, picking up a few shirts here and a few there for a dollar or so each. Eventually I had all the t-shirts I needed, plus a few extras, and it was time to get going.

First I created a template out of some yarn-weaving plastic. (I'm sure this stuff has a specific name, but I've never bothered to find out what it is.) I wanted the regular squares to be 12 inches x 12 inches, plus 5/8 inch seam allowance. I also made a half-sized template to pair up shirts with skinnier logos into one larger square.

This laundry basket full of shirts was waiting to be cut down to size with those templates.

But first, I had to make a bar graph out of Tigers shirts. Not really. I was counting how many I had of each color so that I could make a perfect, checker-board style mixture of colors on the blanket.

I also made a pile of Wings t-shirts.

My dog, Penny, decided to help me out. By laying in the middle of the pile. She's really helpful to have around the house.

I made a rough layout of the Wings side of the blanket first.

I had a secret fantasy of burying myself in the pile of Wings shirts. So I did.

After that, I laid out the Tigers side.

Penny liked my layout so much that she laid down in the middle of it. Like I said...helpful.

Not all of the shirts that I bought made it into the blanket. Example: this one. See if you can figure out why.

I also made a hard copy of my layout, complete with secret codes that only I could understand, really bad sketches, and atrocious handwriting.

Next, I had to trace the template onto all of the t-shirts. This was tedious. This shirt had a little logo in the corner, so I had to piece it together with panels from the rest of the shirt in order to center it.

This one had an extra-long screen print, so I added the small template to the regular template so I didn't have to cut any of it off.

Tracing things is more tedious than it sounds.

This is what happens to your hands when you trace washable marker all over cloth and plastic.

Then it was finally time to cut my first t-shirt. I started with the panels that needed extra work. I chose to start with this one since it was the only vertically split panel. I don't really know why there is an Olympic Cabbage Patch Kid there. I remember owning it in the mid-'90s, but I can't figure out what it was doing on my kitchen table last summer. Same goes for the Play-Doh. Anyway...

Freed from Crosby!

Next up was the Pudge Rodriguez sort-of jersey that I picked up for a couple dollars when I was planning on using a jersey as a centerpiece for each side. I couldn't bring myself to cut up the spare Wings jersey I'd bought though, so I gave it to my brother and scrapped that idea. This one just became a panel. I cut the back open and pinned the front together. Then I ran it (extremely slowly) through the sewing machine so that I could follow the seams as closely as possible to make sure that it couldn't be unbuttoned. I also added a scrap of white fabric from another t-shirt around the collar to fill in the gap and make it into a square. This is one of my favorite parts of the blanket.

Since Penny was clearly so excited about the project, we thought she'd love to wear this mini Tigers shirt that wasn't going to make it into the final product.

Then my little brother decided to see if he could put on all 69 of the shirts at the same time. He usually has a neck.

These were the scraps of the shirts that I cut up. I wish I could've found a way to reuse them for another project, but there aren't a whole lot of uses for t-shirts with only a back and sleeves.

The shirts are all stacked neatly in the order in which they'll eventually be sewn together.

Time to iron on the interfacing! Interfacing is the difference between a decent t-shirt blanket and a great t-shirt blanket. It helps the shirts keep their shapes and prevents them from stretching.

The only downfall of interfacing? You have to go back and cut out all of the panels AGAIN.

Then, at long last, it was time to start sewing. I started with the Eurotwins panel. The Datsyuk half was the only one of the shirts that wasn't a thrift store purchase. I'd gotten it as a gift from my parents in high school. It was a hard decision to cut it up, but I really wanted something to pair with the Zetterberg one. Luckily, I came across a Datsyuk shirsey at a Salvo near Metamora along the way, so I didn't really lose anything.

Then I went to work on the rest of the Wings side, putting each column together individually.

Then I sewed the columns together. This is the Wings side (obviously). I've got shirts from all four of the most recent Stanley Cups, as well as one from the '95 playoffs. The oldest one is the big black one right in the middle of the blanket, which dates all the way back to 1991.

And the Tigers side. It's a little less illustrious because, well, you know what the last 25 years have been like. I've got a couple from the '06 World Series, and one that dates back to 1993. My favorite parts are the shirts for Tiger Stadium, Briggs Stadium, and Comerica Park. Cutting up the Briggs one kind of killed me because it was so soft and comfy. I also love the panel with four logos in it.

I lined the inside with a layer of plain fleece. I also used a permanent marker to write important things like championships, retired numbers, and milestones on the backs of some of the shirts. They're a nice, secret little thing hidden inside the blanket just for me (Except for the one Tigers panel where some of my writing bled through to the front). There may also be a tiny scrap of my tinfoil hat from H2H in there. Maybe.

I put a lot of hours into this, and it truly was a labor of love. My hometown teams are never far from my heart, even here in the sports wasteland known as Florida.

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

2011-10-15T11:15:00.004-04:00

Red Wings: 3-0-0

Wild: 2-1-1

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

PS. Go Tigers!

Caption Fridays Volume Two...

2011-10-14T22:02:00.001-04:00

Here's the lovely Sara Neuie's caption from last week:

Z: Ugh, shouldn't have eaten that last cheeseburger...

Cleary: Just aim away from my skates, k?

Kronner: Gross dude.

Here's this week's photo. Caption away!

Red Wings 2, Canucks 0: Post Game Snipes...

2011-10-14T00:32:00.000-04:00

Normally, I'd be aggravated and cranky about a four-day break in the schedule, but just this once it was okay because it meant that I got to devote all of my attention to the Tigers. They won their afternoon game today, setting up a perfect Detroit double-header. It seemed like the Baseball Gods were smiling on us today.
So, I guess I should get back to hockey, eh? I'm pretty sure that's what this blog is actually about, though it's been kind of a while since I was updating regularly. Whoops.
The game started off pretty slow, especially after the heart-attacks from the Tigers game, and the Wings looked exactly like you'd expect a team to look after being off for entirely too many days for such an early point in the season.
The Wings managed to hold the Canucks off until the second period, at which point they proceeded to have their way with them. Granted, Vancouver was playing the tail end of a back-to-back, but they didn't exactly look like a team that went to the Finals just a few months ago.
Pavel Datsyuk seemed determined to put on a good show on his bobblehead night. One of my oldest friends was at the Joe tonight, and I gave her a mission to obtain a bobblehead for me. She failed. Anyone have a spare?
I really like the fact that Abby followed up his fight with a goal.
Back-to-back shutouts. Not bad, eh?

Red Wings vs. Canucks GP...

2011-10-13T18:03:00.001-04:00

Red Wings: 2-0-0

Canucks: 1-1-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Avalanche GP...

2011-10-08T14:20:00.003-04:00

Red Wings 1-0-0

Avalanche 0-0-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Photobomb!

Video Candy:

Red Wings 5, Senators 3: Post Game Snipes...

2011-10-08T02:40:00.000-04:00

How great did it feel to drop the puck on the new season? Birds were singing, there were rainbows, and unicorns frolicked in my living room. Actually, that's a lie. It was pouring outside and I was trying to clean pizza sauce off of the couch when the game started, but that's how I felt in my mind.
I pretty much love Budd Lynch. His voice makes me happy. Sometimes I wonder if the players slip him cash to mispronounce their buddies' names as a joke. That's what I'd do if I was a hockey player, anyway. Either way, I love it.
I think Ozzie's officially the most beloved goaltending coach of all time, judging by his introduction tonight.
The pre-game ceremony with Brad McCrimmon's family was nice. It was super sweet (and a little heartbreaking) when his son put on the jersey that he was presented.
If I had to predict which one of the Wings would give the most awkward hugs, I'd choose Pavel Datsyuk.
It's a good thing that they switched to those low-energy goal lights at the Joe before the opener what with the Wings scoring five goals and all.
I know some people want to panic about the three goals that the Wings gave up towards the end of the game, but I'd like them to take a deep breath and a chill pill (yeah, I actually used that phrase). They let up on a big lead late in the game against a lousy team. Of course, in an ideal world, the team would be absolutely flying for every minute of every game, but that would only be realistic if they were all robots. Nick Lidstrom aside, that's just not the case. Let's wait and see for a few more games before we start hyperventilating, ok?
Speaking of Lidstrom, Datsyuk's apparently been teaching some of his dangling tricks. He pulled a nice move waltzing in on Anderson for his goal.
Cory Emmerton is evidently the first Red Wing in possession of a Twitter account to score a goal in an NHL game. Because you needed to know that.
I liked pretty much everything about Bert's goal.
So how about those special teams, eh?
We're only one game in, but consider me sold on the Ian White signing. He was impressive all night. I will, however, continue to call him Not-Kirk-Maltby until further notice because I don't handle change very well. That's what happens when you take over the number of one of my childhood icons.
Please, pretty please let Hudler continue doing what he did tonight all season long.

Final Thought:
There is nothing worse than spending the hockey off-season in Florida. I'd take a never-ending Michigan winter with permanent hockey season over four hockey-less months in this live-in oven.

Caption Fridays Volume One...

2011-10-07T14:55:00.002-04:00

Raise your hand if you're excited for the start of the Wings' season! Everyone? Ok, good; that's what I thought. Now raise your hand if you're excited that last season's photo caption game has been moved to Fridays. Nobody? Nobody? Bueller? Ok, well, not quite what I was hoping for. Anyway, here's the 2011-2012 season's first installment:

This one was taken during last year's pre-season. What are the boys up to here?

Red Wings vs. Senators GP...

2011-10-07T14:46:00.005-04:00

Red Wings: 0-0-0

Senators: 0-0-0

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

This is a thing, apparently.

Video Candy:

Happy Hockey Season, everyone!

Pre-Season Ramblings...

2011-10-06T10:38:00.001-04:00

I'm in kind of a strange position right now. This is the first time I've ever found myself gearing up for hockey season somewhere other than Michigan. On one hand, it's been healthy for my bank account since there are no tickets to tempt me or merchandise lining the shelves of every store I go to down here. Mostly though, it's just been sad. I was able to watch part of one pre-season game. One. Don't even think about picking up a newspaper and finding a hockey article. If you're lucky, you might find a box score buried somewhere behind coverage of high school gymnastics and the local little league standings. So here I sit, seemingly the only person in an entire state eagerly awaiting something. I'm sure there are others out there just like me, but they're much fewer and farther between than I'm used to.

But enough about me. After a summer with an unusually high amount of turnover, the Wings enter the season with a lot of questions hanging over them. Some are exciting (ex: Which defensemen are going to win spots?). Some are terrifying (ex: something related to Nick Lidstrom that I'm not willing to actually type). And some are just plain intriguing (ex: Who does Cory Emmerton's brows?). I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out.

The number of games I get to see is going to be limited by the fact that I live in hockey wasteland as well as the fact that my current job has me working a lot of nights. I'm going to do my best to keep up with things here now that hockey's almost, but I can't make any promises. I'm beyond ready to drop the puck on this season, not least of all because it means an end to this long and horrible off-season.

Also, go Tigers!

Another Chapter in Hockey's Summer of Tragedy...

2011-09-08T02:16:00.000-04:00

Everyone's heard the news about Ruslan Salei and Brad McCrimmon by now, but I'm guessing most of us are still trying to process it. I know it sounds silly to mourn the loss of someone you've never met before, but passionately following a sports team has a way of forging a strong (and admittedly one-way) bond with the players you root for game in and game out. You listen to their post-game pressers, watch interviews they give about locker room antics, see them grimace in pain out on the ice, and grin from ear to ear as they celebrate a goal or a victory. If you watch enough games, you come to recognize their skating stride or the way they handle the puck without having to see the name or number on their jersey. You take photos during warmups and laugh at the goofy face they happened to be making as you snapped the picture. Little by little you “get to know them.” Obviously you don't really know them, but over time you come to have some sense of their personality. You know which player is the practical joker, which one is the cranky old veteran who wants to yell at the rookies to get off of his lawn, which one has the unwavering intensity every second he's on the ice from warmups to the final horn. Even if they're caricatures in your mind, they become “real” people to you. When they're wearing your team's uniform, you celebrate together and you hang your heads in despair together. You have the same foes, whether they're wearing another team's uniform or black and white stripes. You're on their side, and in a way, they're on yours.

It's no surprise that over the course of as little as one season, you get attached to players. When one loses his life suddenly and unexpectedly, it's jarring. You get slapped in the face with your own mortality. Here were a bunch of guys in the prime of their lives on an airplane heading to a hockey game and in an instant they were gone. We always assume that there'll be a tomorrow, a next week, even a next year. We take that for granted—every one of us does, no matter how hard we try not to—and every once in a while something comes along and reminds us that there are no guarantees. Being able to put faces and personalities with the names you see on the lists of the dead makes it hit home that much harder.

Three men with ties to Detroit lost their lives in the plane crash, so naturally Wings fans everywhere are mourning. It's not just Wings fans who were impacted, though. I was at work when I heard the news this morning and part of my job was to talk to groups of students from all over the country who were just arriving to start their internships. In the course of my spiel, I always bring up hockey by mentioning the Lightning. In one of the groups that I talked to, a girl interjected and asked if I'd heard about the crash. She was a Blues fan and neither one of us was aware that Pavol Demitra was among the dead yet. In our brief discussion about the tragedy, we shared a moment—the kind that bonds the small but passionate hockey community. When I saw Demitra's name listed later, I thought about her; I wondered if her heart broke a little when she heard the news.

Most of all, though, I think about the families the players left behind. Their wives, their kids, their siblings, and their parents who have to pick up the pieces of their lives and find a way to move on. One of my first thoughts when I heard about Salei's death was about his infant daughter who will never know her father. This story also broke my heart, as did the reports of a player's mother who suffered a fatal heart attack upon hearing the news of her son's death. If you thought that we as fans were devastated by the news, imagine what those closest to the players are feeling tonight.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this summer of hockey tragedies to be over.

Kris Draper Calls it a Career...

2011-07-28T02:13:00.000-04:00

This has been kind of a rough summer for Wings fans. Sure we all breathed a huge sigh of relief when Lidstrom announced that he'll be returning for another season, but we've now dealt with three retirement announcements. At this point, I'm just wondering which of my childhood icons will be hanging up his skates next week.

I never quite got around to writing about Ozzie last week. His announcement came in the middle of a crazy work week that was followed by a long weekend visiting home. I did at least crack open a Pepsi in his honor as I sat at my desk reading the text updates from his conference call. I'm going to miss that guy. He's never gotten the respect he deserves, and that's a shame. If things go as they should, though, he'll end up with his name in the Hall of Fame at some point.

Draper's retirement hit me the hardest of the three we've seen this summer. I'm not really okay with the fact that the entire Grind Line is now retired. I really got into hockey during what I like to call the Glory Years, and those guys were a huge part of that. Obviously I don't know what it's like to be a fan of another team, but I can't imagine another town that loves its blue collar guys like we do here in Hockeytown. Draper never had the kind of stats that his teammates did over the years, but he'll go down as one of the Wings' legends anyway. He was always one of those players who was just so “Detroit” that fans couldn't help but love him. How can you not like a guy who works as hard as he did every single game? He never had those shifts where it looked like he was just going through the motions like you see from some other players around the league. Every time he hopped over the boards, he was going full speed ahead, doing the dirty work, driving opponents crazy, and kicking the Wings into gear when they needed it. And he was almost always grinning. You can't put a value on that, but I promise you that it's more than a dollar.

Red Wings Blogger Roundtable...

2011-07-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

Be sure to check out the third installment of this year's Wings Blogger Roundtable hosted over at Winging it in Motown. We've got a good discussion about the Central Division, Brendan Smith, and who we think is going to exceed or fall short of our expectations this season. I even bothered to drop in this time around. Stay tuned for more discussion next week.

Nick Norris Back for More...

2011-06-22T23:05:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been over a month since I actually bothered writing something here. A lot has happened in the meantime. For example, I recently discovered that the playoffs continued even though the Wings were no longer playing. The League even awarded the Stanley Cup to Boston recently (I hope that didn't spoil the surprise for anybody). At any rate, I've been seriously lacking in motivation to write anything. We reached the point about six weeks ago where stepping outside feels like you're walking through a wall of warm Jell-o, which, I'm not ashamed to admit, saps me of my will do do anything but sit as still as possible in front of the air conditioning vent.

Maybe it was my glorious return home for a few short days—breathing refreshing Michigan air, having my first serious hockey conversation in six months, seeing Wings logos on hats, shirts, and bumper stickers everywhere I went—but I immediately felt back in the groove. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'll be posting regularly throughout the summer, but I do at least have the desire to write something for a change.

Of course, it also helps that I have exciting news to write about. By now, you've all heard that Nick Lidstrom will be returning for another season. It's pretty obvious that he was just waiting for me to come back to Detroit to make the announcement so that I could celebrate it appropriately. You see, in Florida, my roommates and friends think of my love of hockey as kind of a quaint little personality quirk. Nobody there would've understood why I was dancing around my room in my pajamas and grinning madly after being rudely awoken by a text message (side note—you should probably be breaking news as exciting as Lidstrom's contract if you plan on texting or calling me before the clock hits double digits in the morning). They wouldn't have understood my excitement over seeing the cap numbers released or the pre-season schedule announced. Nor would they have understood why rumors about a potential free agent signing could get me all riled up. Life in a hockey wasteland is tough, but it makes me realize and appreciate how spoiled I was growing up in Michigan.

I wasn't just spoiled by being surrounded by hockey growing up. I was surrounded by some unbelievably good hockey. And a lot of that unbelievably good hockey was played buy a guy wearing a #5 jersey. There's not a whole lot to say about his re-signing. This is one we can all agree on, right? There's not really any room for a pro/con debate; there's nothing to argue about. TPH is back with yet another Norris Trophy in tow, and the team remains a contender. End of story.

Now that Lidstrom's all taken care of, we get to relax a bit and sit back as Kenny Holland spends those valuable cap dollars in his usual savvy way. There are still holes in the lineup and questions to be answered, but everything's going to be just fine. We're going to be treated to another season of brilliance from Lidstrom, another chance to send him off the right way, another opportunity to witness perfection on ice. And that, sunshines, is as much as any hockey fan can ask for.

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Seven GP...

2011-05-11T22:17:00.000-04:00

3 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Cake, don't fail me now.)

Three things:

Anything can happen—It's Game Seven. One bounce, one bad break, one turnover can decide the series.
Goalies—Howard and Niemi may very well end up deciding which team moves on to the Western Conference Finals.
Mental edge—The Wings have had it throughout the whole series. Here's hoping they'll use that to their advantage tonight.

Red Wing Zen:

Justin Abdelkader

0-0-0, +/- -4, 22 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Six GP...

2011-05-10T10:16:00.004-04:00

2 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Might as well stick with the cake theme, eh?)

Three things:

Showing up—Which Wings team will show up tonight? And for how long? The team that played the third period of Game Five is nearly unstoppable. The team that muddled through the first period? Not so much.
Taking charge—Despite facing elimination, with the series shifting back to Detroit, anything could happen. The Wings' fate is still in their hands. Win or lose, the outcome is going to be their own doing.
Mule—He's still a huge question mark. Babcock wants to play him if he's able to go, but is it worth it to risk being down a man if he re-tweaks it again? The injury's obviously been affecting him this series as it is.

Red Wing Zen:

Henrik Zetterberg

1-5-6, +/- 4, 2 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Five GP...

2011-05-08T10:56:00.002-04:00

1 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Since the cake picture worked out for Game Four, I present this one that's even better. Just look at that frosting.)

Three things:

Intensity—Playing like they did in the first period of Game Four would go a long way towards prolonging the series.
Sixty minutes—Did you know that that's how long the game lasts?
Special teams—Whoever wins the battle of special teams is going to win the game. The powerplay and PK have been huge factors all series long, and the Wings haven't been particularly good at either one.

Red Wing Zen:

Patrick Eaves

3-1-4, +/- 2, 6 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Four GP...

2011-05-06T11:18:00.001-04:00

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

One game at a time—If Philly could do it last season, who's to say that the Wings can't?
Pride—Please, for the love of the Hockey Gods, don't go down with a sweep.
Franzen—This is the game where he's supposed to go crazy and play like an unstoppable machine according to last season's series blueprint.

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

1-2-3, +/- 2, 4 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Three GP...

2011-05-04T10:05:00.001-04:00

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 2

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Win the game—It doesn't matter how. It just has to happen.
Goals—You know what else would be fun? Scoring more than one goal in the game. It would also help accomplish point number one.
Discipline—The Wings looked frustrated during the third period of Game Two and played uncharacteristically chippy hockey. With any luck, they can turn that frustration into positive energy and come out looking better than they have thus far in the series.

Red Wing Zen:

Brad Stuart

0-0-0, +/- 2, 4 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Tomorrow will be exactly one year since we pulled this crazy stunt. Shockingly, we're in exactly the same spot we were in back then. Here's hoping that it turns out better this time around.

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Two GP...

2011-05-01T10:29:00.005-04:00

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 1

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Jimmy Howard—If he keeps playing like he did in Game One, I like the Wings' chances of coming back in this series.
Penalties—You all know the drill on this one. I don't want to talk about it because I'm just going to get riled up again.
Intensity—The Wings got outplayed for long stretches of the first game. They were lucky to be in the position they were at the end of regulation, officiating nonsense aside. They're going to need to step things up today if they want to pull even.

Red Wing Zen:

Jonathan Ericsson

0-1-1, +/- 1, 2 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game One GP...

2011-04-29T11:23:00.000-04:00

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 0

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Shaking off the rust—It's been an eternity since the Wings last played. The Sharks will want to get an early jump and catch them sleeping. Here's hoping the Wings are ready to bring it right from the opening faceoff.
Z is back—It goes without saying that this is a huge boost for the team. Their first round sweep was all the more impressive because they did it without him setting foot on the ice.
Penalties—Last year in their series against San Jose, the Wings' constant parade to the box was killer. With their penalty kill struggling mightily during the first round this season, it's crucial that they stay out of the box. Then again, Babcock can always pop Datsyuk, Z, and Lidstrom onto the PK for an instant boost. It's not a bad ace to have up your sleeve. It would also be helpful if the refs managed to not fall for the Sharks diving this time around.

Red Wing Zen:

Pavel Datsyuk

2-4-6, +/- 6, 0 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

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

2011-04-21T01:40:00.000-04:00

Pavel Datsyuk's pass to set up Homer's goal was just ridiculous. We should be used to him doing crazy things by now, but it's impossible not to marvel at the things he does with the puck.
Homer's shot as he was falling was equally awesome.
Phoenix got lucky as their first goal deflected in off of Ericsson's skate.
As distressing as Franzen being a last-minute scratch was, it's kind of nice to be able to just pop a guy like Mike Modano into the lineup like that. Mo even picked up an assist on the first goal of the game.
Darren Helm is everywhere. He's giving the Coyotes absolute fits. They don't even know what to do with him. It's deliciously fun to watch.
Jimmy looked shaky in the first period, but got stronger as the game went on. That's better than the reverse.
In hindsight, these late games aren't so bad. Watching hockey in the middle of the night means that my roommates who do not get hockey at all don't have to see me during the third period of a close playoff game. It's probably for the best.
The Wings swept the first round without Henrik Zetterberg. And they played Game Four without the Mule. That should be scary for future opponents.
So do you think Doan wants to rethink his proclamation of Bryzgalov as the best player in the series?
Hopefully the Wings figure out their penalty kill between now and the start of Round Two. They did at least come up with a big kill in the third when the game was tied.
I loved Jimmy's post-gamequote: “I'll smile in June.” Swagger is a beautiful thing when it comes from the Wings.
I've been on the leave-Phoenix side of the debate from the beginning, just from a practicality standpoint. There's no point in forcing a franchise to stay where it can't be financially successful and causing all kinds of drama. The Coyotes' salute after the handshakes and seeing Shane Doan (who I still dislike) fighting back tears before starting his post-game interview did make me feel bad for the fans who do live in Phoenix.

Hero: Dan Cleary
He had a goal and two assists, and his game-winner gave us an excuse to do the Newfie Stomp. He also led the team in shots and was buzzing all night.

Villain: Shane Doan
Why does he hate Nick Lidstrom?

Final Thought:
This long wait for Round Two should give my blood pressure a nice break.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes Game Four GP...

2011-04-20T11:16:00.002-04:00

3 Red Wings vs. Coyotes 0

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Skate to throat—Nobody wants to have to deal with extra games during the playoffs. Get it done in Phoenix. No need to drag them back to Detroit.
Skate to throat—No seriously, don't do what Vancouver did last night. Just win the hockey game.
Injuries—I hope the boys put an extra layer of bubble wrap under their pads because Phoenix will be even more nasty than they have been with their backs against the walls. They have no qualms about injuring anybody.

Red Wing Zen:

Brad Stuart

0-0-0, +- 0, 0 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

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

2011-04-19T02:45:00.000-04:00

Long story short: the Wings didn't play their greatest game, but they got lucky with some quick goals at the start of each period and that was enough.
I've never seen Nick Lidstrom get hit as hard as he did early in the game.
Game Four should be boatloads of fun. I'm sure the Coyotes won't be trying to injure anyone now that their backs are against the wall.
Lidstrom only had 18 minutes of ice time. In a playoff game. That's crazy.
Every game makes me like Phoenix less and less.
The Wings' penalty kill was a disaster tonight. On the other hand, Phoenix's looked much better than it did in the first two games.
I think Filppula took more shots in the first five minutes of the second period than he did for the entire regular season. I wish he'd do that more often.
How about that pass Rig made to set up Franzen's goal? Pretty good, eh?
This was an odd game. There were stretches where the Wings looked unstoppable, and the Coyotes didn't seem to have the slightest chance. Then, just as quickly, momentum would shift the other way and the tide would turn briefly.
This is not an acceptable way to treat Nick Lidstrom.
One more win to close out the series...skate to throat time, boys.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
He was on tonight. The Wings' defense hung him out to dry plenty of times, but he stood tall and kept them in the game.

Villain: Shane Doan
Yup, I still dislike him.

Final Thought:
The Wings are going to have to play better if they want to close out this series on Wednesday.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes Game Three GP...

2011-04-18T12:22:00.003-04:00

2 Red Wings vs. Coyotes 0

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Sixty minutes—The Coyotes are going to be flying right from the start and the Wings have to set the tone early if they want to shut them down. And if Saturday taught anyone anything, it's that they can't afford to let down their guard ever, no matter how big their lead.
Doan—He led the way for the Yotes with two goals in Game Two and a plethora of hits. He'll no doubt be lining up everything wearing red tonight. The Wings have to find a way to neutralize him somehow.
Datsyuk—What does he have in store for fans tonight? If ever there was a reason to stay up for a late game, the answer to that question is probably it.

Red Wing Zen:

Justin Abdelkader

0-0-0, +/- 0, 4 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings 4, Coyotes 3: Post Game Snipes...

2011-04-17T00:10:00.001-04:00

Though I was at first devastated to discover that this game had been scheduled for Saturday afternoon (a time during which I'm at work), it turned out to be a rather fortunate occurrence. Since our office is dead on Saturdays, I was able to watch almost the entire game on the break room tv. The HD flatscreen we have in there was a huge upgrade over the choppy feeds to which I've been relegated since temporarily setting up shop in this hockey wasteland.
My game recap will be posted over at CWGAP shortly, but I had a few more Wings-centric things I wanted to throw out there since I've been trying not to rant and rave too much about the only side that matters.
Pavel Datsyuk was playing on a completely different level than anyone else today. Some of the things he does with the puck just aren't fair. That subtle move he pulled when he scored his goal? Disgusting. His cheeky between-the-legs shot that led to Helm's goal? Even more ridiculous. If he continues to play like this, the Wings are going to be very, very hard to beat.
While Datsyuk excels at his shifty, sneaky, dangly, puck-on-a-string schtick, Tomas Holmstrom is every bit as good at his particular job. His deflection was impossibly good. He managed to reach behind him with his stick and tip a puck as he skated the opposite direction in front of the net. His screens played a huge factor in the Wings' offense all night. Simply put: nobody is better at Homer's job than Homer. Nobody.
I don't necessarily think that Doan's hit on Franzen was dirty, but I also don't think it was necessary. That's one of those times when there's no need to finish a check on a vulnerable player. I feared the worst when Mule went down, but it looks like he got lucky and won't be missing any more time.
I was oddly amused by the fact that he didn't even bother to wash the blood out of his mustache before returning to the game. He kind of looked like he tried to make out with a weed whacker. That's playoff hockey for you.
That clip of Zetterberg practicing didn't exactly inspire hope that he'll return soon. At the beginning of it, I was excited thinking that it was a good sign, but when he limped off after stopping awkwardly, my heart sank.
The first period was gloriously fun. It was the kind of hockey that brings joy to faces all over Hockeytown. The Wings were dominant and pressured Phoenix to the point that they started taking stupid penalties. I was feeling pretty good until they decided to take their foot off of the gas and let the Coyotes back in the game. It sure did make for an interesting ending, though.
The Wings' near collapse in the third gave the Coyotes some hope, which needs to be eradicated early in Game Three. There's no need to drag this series out any longer than it has to, especially with Shane Doan intent on destroying everything wearing a Winged Wheel.

Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
Who can keep up with this guy right now?

Villain: Shane Doan
There's something about the playoffs that brings out the wrecking ball in Shane Doan. He was hitting everything in sight and managed to score two third period powerplay goals. Somebody stop him, please.

Final Thought:
Watching playoff hockey at work takes a lot of self-control.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes Game Two GP...

2011-04-16T09:45:00.000-04:00

1 Red Wings vs. Coyotes 0

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Showing up—The way the Wings looked during the second and third periods? Good. The first period team? Not so good. The Wings need to get going at the beginning of the game.
Penalties—Despite the fact that their penalty kill looked phenomenal during Game One, the odds of the Wings surviving another parade to the penalty box like the one on Wednesday night is pretty slim.
Mule—The Wings need him to keep going, especially since Zetterberg's absence is looking more and more like it's going to span most of the series. The Coyotes are going to be hoping his goal in Game One wasn't a sign that he was preparing to go into full playoff mode.

Red Wing Zen:

Patrick Eaves

0-0-0, +/- 0, 2 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Playoff Housekeeping...

2011-04-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

Hey sunshines,

I've got a little bit of housekeeping on this boring Florida Friday night. First off, I'll be recapping all of the Wings home games (except for tomorrow's since I'm missing it due to work) at Chicks Who Give A Puck. I'll be doing more writing over at CWGAP than here during the playoffs, so I'd encourage everyone to keep checking out our labor of love over there. My recap of Game One posted yesterday morning here. I'll still be doing GPs here at SSDD, and I'll do what I can to get recaps of the road games up, but with my work schedule and viewing arrangements, it's pretty hard to keep on top of things.

I'd also like to introduce the world to my little brother's Spring Break project. He came to visit me, and what started out as a joke turned into a decision to enter the Wings' viral video contest. Here's our entry that earned us some Red Wings goodies. Keep in mind that we weren't aiming for an Oscar nomination with it. We filmed ourselves walking into palm trees and falling into pools. Plus, I had to use Movie Maker to edit it together. Don't judge too harshly.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes Game One GP...

2011-04-13T10:08:00.002-04:00

0 Red Wings vs. Coyotes 0

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

Turnovers—Defense killed the Wings during the last half of the season. Figuring out this issue will make life much easier for the Wings (and their fans).
Intensity—Which team will come out flying? Can the Wings “flip the switch” to start the playoffs after floating through the end of the regular season? Game One is huge in terms of setting the tone of the series, but you knew that already.
Goaltending—Jimmy Howard's been hung out to dry far too often. He needs to step it up and give the Wings a solid backstop. Especially since the only other alternative at the moment is Joey MacDonald.

2011-04-05T11:29:00.000-04:00

Which Red Wing is the oldest NHLer to record his first 100-point season? How old was he accomplished this?

Caption Mondays Volume 23...

2011-04-04T11:25:00.000-04:00

I've been saving this one for a while because it's one of my favorites. What's going on in this shot from a December game?

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

2011-04-03T11:22:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 45-23-10

Wild: 37-33-8

Red Wing Zen:

Ruslan Salei

2-8-10, +/- 1, 46 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Andrew Brunette

17-26-43, +/- -8, 16 PIM

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

2011-04-02T11:23:00.001-04:00

Red Wings: 44-23-10

Predators: 42-26-10

Red Wing Zen:

Kris Draper

6-5-11, +/- 0, 10 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Patric Hornqvist

19-22-41, +/- 8, 47 PIM

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Twenty-two...

2011-04-01T12:13:00.000-04:00

Caption Mondays: Jeffy Neuie won for the second week in a row.

Ref: That's it! No more hockey until you clean this ice up!

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill managed to continue his impressive trivia run.

This week's question: Who was the most recent Red Wings goalie to lead the league in regular season goals against average?

The Answer: Chris Osgood led the league with a 2.09 GAA in the 2007-08 season. That year, he and Dominik Hasek combined to win the Jennings Trophy. Prior to Ozzie, the last Wings goalie to lead the league in GAA was Terry Sawchuck. Pretty good company, eh?

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

2011-03-30T15:05:00.001-04:00

Red Wings: 44-22-10

Blues: 34-32-9

Red Wing Zen:

Darren Helm

11-20-31, +/- 9, 16 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Alex Pietrangelo

11-30-41, +/- 16, 19 PIM

Trivia Tuesdays Volume 22...

2011-03-29T11:37:00.002-04:00

Who was the most recent Red Wings goalie to lead the league in regular season goals against average?

Caption Mondays Volume 22...

2011-03-28T11:29:00.000-04:00

What are the guys saying as they watch Pavel Datsyuk's fight in the season opener?

Red Wings vs. Blackhawks GP...

2011-03-28T10:08:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 44-22-9

Blackhawks: 40-26-8

Red Wing Zen:

Joey MacDonald

5-4-2, 2.05 GAA, .928 SV%

Point and Laugh:

Fernando Pisani

7-9-16, +/- 3, 10 PIM

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Twenty-one...

2011-03-27T23:44:00.001-04:00

Caption Mondays: Jeffy Neuie cracked me up with this week's caption winner.

Darren: Aaarf, aaarf, arrf!
Dino: Huh?
Darren: That's seal for: gimme some water!

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill managed to continue his impressive trivia run.

This week's question: Who was the first overall draft pick at the only entry draft held at the Joe?

The Answer: Buffalo selected Pierre Tugeon at the Joe on June 13, 1987.

Red Wings 4, Maple Leafs 2: Post Game Snipes...

2011-03-27T00:08:00.002-04:00

Hey, look, I'm actually writing a game recap! This one comes to you courtesy of the fact that I have to work in the morning and had to skip a night out with my roomies. And also my rage over the Lupul goal/Howard's injury. It's always nice to put a good rant down on paper (or, you know, the internet) every once in a while.
The first was one of the best periods I've seen the Wings play in a while. Passes were crisp. Their puck possession was dominant. Even though it ended tied at one, the Wings looked to be in control.
The second was a little rockier, and the Wings found themselves in penalty trouble toward the end.
They took a 2-1 lead into the premature intermission thanks to a classic Homer deflection in front of the net. How sad is it that his first reaction to the goal was to look over at the ref to make sure he wasn't going to wave it off?
Since Dion Phaneuf's shot broke a pane of glass during a Toronto powerplay with a couple of minutes left in the second, the teams took intermission early to avoid a long delay. This kind of played in Toronto's favor since they got clean ice for the second half of their powerplay, but it ended up not mattering. The Wings took another penalty right before the carryover time wound down anyway.
The real disaster came in the third period when Jimmy Howard went down with an injury. I've got some ranting to do about the ensuing goal, but I'd happily spot the Leafs ten such goals if it meant that Jimmy finished the game healthy. All this talk of the Baby Pegger (who, despite being my favorite goalie prospect for his Training Camp snipe, I have absolutely no desire to see in a Wings uniform right now) possibly being called up has me in full RSV mode.
Just to be clear, in the NHL, this is not a goal, but this is. Listen, I like to think I'm a pretty smart lady, but I once again find myself confounded by events in an NHL game. I fail to see how a goal can be called back one night because a goalie initiated contact with a skater who was outside of the crease because of “incidental contact,” and then a few nights later, have a goal stand when a player bumped into the goalie in the crease and proceeded to fall on his back, pinning him to the ice. Take the jerseys the players are wearing out of the question. Only in the NHL does this make sense. Or at least we're supposed to think it makes sense. Or something. I'm not sure anyone really gets it.
Luckily for the Wings (and my sanity), Jiri Hudler put them back in the lead for good with a quick shot off of a rush. Check out this picture of his celebration at your own risk.
Justin Abdelkader was all over the ice tonight. He must've had at least thirty brilliant chances. He didn't finish any of them, but it was a nice effort. Plus, he got into a fight after a big hit on Rafalski, which was also nice to see.
It looks like Rafalski got lucky after the hit, as his knee brace protected him. It looked pretty bad at first though. I would've been pretty happy if that was the scariest moment of the game. Now that the playoffs are approaching, I'm becoming increasingly paranoid.
Nick Lidstrom broke up a great scoring chance for the Leafs with a brilliant defensive play. You know, just another day at the rink for him. Sorry, boys, he's just better than you. It's not mean; it's just a fact. Please never leave us, Nick.
On the other end of the defensive spectrum, Brett Lebda played exactly as you would expect Brett Lebda to play. How's that Stanley Cup experience treating you now?
Hey Maple Leafs fans: Todd Bertuzzi's empty net goal effectively ended your team's slight playoff hopes. TAWD Bertuzzi. Hahahaha. Snack on that for lunch.

Hero: Joey MacDonald
He's been astoundingly solid in his last few games, and performed admirably after taking over for Jimmy in the third. I still don't like it one bit, but I guess it does offer some glimmer of hope.

Villain: Joffrey Lupul
Bet you saw that coming, eh?

Final Thought:
This injury nonsense is making my annual post-season nervous tics come early this year.

Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs GP...

2011-03-26T10:10:00.001-04:00

Red Wings: 43-22-9

Maple Leafs: 34-31-10

Red Wing Zen:

Niklas Kronwall

11-24-35, +/- 6, 34 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Mike Komisarek

1-9-10, +/- -9, 79 PIM

Red Wings vs. Canucks GP...

2011-03-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 43-21-9

Canucks: 47-17-9

Red Wing Zen:

Johan Franzen

27-24-51, +/- 7, 50 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Roberto Luongo

33-14-7, 2.23 GAA, .925 SV%

Trivia Tuesdays Volume 21...

2011-03-23T00:39:00.002-04:00

Who was the first overall draft pick at the only entry draft held at the Joe?

(It's a tad late, but you get the idea.)

Red Wings vs. Penguins GP...

2011-03-21T11:29:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 43-21-8

Penguins: 41-23-8

Red Wing Zen:

Jakub Kindl

1-2-3, +/- 2, 30 PIM

Point and Laugh:

James Neal

22-21-43, +/- 8, 64 PIM

Caption Mondays Volume 21...

2011-03-21T10:47:00.001-04:00

I've been hanging onto this one for a while now. What's going on in this picture of Darren McCarty goofing off at the alumni team's charity softball game last summer?

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Twenty...

2011-03-20T22:47:00.001-04:00

Caption Mondays: Sara Neuie took back the Caption Mondays title this week.

Hobo: Ugh, this whole hockey thing is hard work, no wonder my hair is always sweaty.
Rig: I wish Eaves wouldn't stand so close to me, he's distracting the girls from my prettiness.
Raffy: Pfffffb *pretends he has awesome hair like Rig and Hobo*

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill also continued his trivia dominance.

This week's question: Which Red Wing has recorded the most career All Star Game points?

The Answer: Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe tallied 19 points in his 23 All Star Game appearances.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

2011-03-19T11:15:00.001-04:00

Red Wings: 43-20-8

Predators: 36-25-10

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

8-24-32, +/- -1, 24 PIM

Point and Laugh:

JP Dumont

10-8-18, +/- 3, 16 PIM

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

2011-03-17T17:26:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 42-20-8

Blue Jackets: 32-27-10

Red Wing Zen:

Brad Stuart

3-13-16, +/- 3, 36 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Mathieu Garon

9-10-5, 2.61 GAA, .905 SV%

Red Wings vs. Capitals GP...

2011-03-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

Red Wings: 41-20-8

Capitals: 41-20-10

Red Wing Zen:

Johan Franzen

27-23-50, +/- 9, 48 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Boyd Gordon

3-5-8, +/- -2, 12 PIM

Trivia Tuesdays Volume 20...

2011-03-15T19:00:00.001-04:00

Which Red Wing has recorded the most career All Star Game points?

Caption Mondays Volume 20...

2011-03-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

The guys do not look like happy campers here.

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

2011-03-12T11:01:00.001-05:00

Red Wings: 40-20-8

Blues: 31-28-9

Red Wing Zen:

Kris Draper

6-4-10, +/- 2, 10 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Vladimir Sobotka

6-18-24, +/- -5, 50 PIM

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Nineteen...

2011-03-11T20:18:00.001-05:00

Caption Mondays: TimFill scored a double win this week, nailing both the caption and the trivia.

Turns out Lightning fans don't strike the same section twice.

Trivia Tuesdays:

This week's question: The Wings were involved in the longest overtime game in NHL history. Who was their opponent? Who scored the game-winner that night?

The Answer: They played the Montreal Maroons on March 24, 1936. Mud Bruneteau scored to break a scoreless tie at 1:16:30 of OT.

Red Wings vs. Oilers GP...

2011-03-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 39-20-8

Oilers: 23-37-8

Red Wing Zen:

Mike Modano

2-9-11, +/- -4, 6 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Kurtis Foster

5-11-16, +/- -9, 41 PIM

Have fun at H2H2, sunshines. You have no idea how crushed I am that I can't join in the festivities. Bring copious amounts of awesomesauce and know that I'm there in spirit. Here's hoping I'll make it to H2H3.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

2011-03-09T10:51:00.001-05:00

Red Wings: 39-19-8

Kings: 36-25-5

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

4-33-37, +/- 14, 18 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Dustin Brown

21-23-44, +/- 17, 59 PIM

Trivia Tuesdays Volume 19...

2011-03-08T11:07:00.002-05:00

The Wings were involved in the longest overtime game in NHL history. Who was their opponent? Who scored the game-winner that night?

Caption Mondays Volume 19...

2011-03-07T10:56:00.000-05:00

In honor of the international contingent of Wings fans preparing to flock to the Joe this week, here's a picture of another group of Hockeytown's finest who brought their team spirit all the way to the wasteland that is Florida. It's fun to play Where's Waldo with the Tampa fans.

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Eighteen...

2011-03-06T22:52:00.000-05:00

Caption Mondays: Friend of SSDD Sara Neuie was at it again this week.

Hank: ...and then Millsie totally Eavesed in front of everyone!
Stuart: Ha! I can't believed I missed that! Anything else happen while I was gone?
Hank: Well, there was this time Millsie...
Rig: *interrupting and nodding toward Drew* Uh, Hank...
Millsie: Not this story again...

Trivia Tuesdays: Clark got the answer again this week. I went a little off the reservation with the question, but it was sort of Wings-related.

This week's question: The NHL's all time leader in penalty minutes spent a small part of his career in Detroit. What was his name and how many minutes did he rack up?

The Answer: Tiger Williams (How glad are you that I didn't make a tiger blood joke there? It would've been so easy, too. It was practically teed up for me.) racked up 3,966 minutes in 962 games. That averages out to 4.12 minutes/game. If he would've served all of his penalties to completion, he would've spent 66.1 hours in the box (not to mention the fact that his teams would've had an unbelievable PK%). He was only a Wing for part of one season, but still managed to accumulate 158 penalty minutes in 55 games in Detroit.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes GP...

2011-03-05T11:31:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 39-19-7

Coyotes: 33-23-10

Red Wing Zen:

Justin Abdelkader

4-9-13, +/- 10, 50 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Lee Stempniak

14-17-31, +/- 6, 17 PIM

Red Wings vs. Sharks GP...

2011-03-03T18:17:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 39-19-6

Sharks: 37-21-6

Red Wing Zen:

Patrick Eaves

13-6-19, +/- -2, 10 PIM

Point and Laugh:

John McCarthy

2-2-4, +/- -7, 8 PIM

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

2011-03-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 39-18-6

Ducks: 33-25-5

Red Wing Zen:

Johan Franzen

26-20-46, +/- 7, 44 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Jarkko Ruutu

3-9-12-+/- -1, 63 PIM

Trivia Tuesdays Volume 18...

2011-03-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

The NHL's all time leader in penalty minutes spent a small part of his career in Detroit. What was his name and how many minutes did he rack up?

Caption Mondays Volume 18...

2011-02-28T12:13:00.000-05:00

Here's one I took during warm-ups before the game at Tampa Bay. I was really excited to see Stuart making his return.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

2011-02-28T10:06:00.001-05:00

Red Wings: 38-18-6

Kings: 35-23-4

Red Wing Zen:

Niklas Kronwall

10-19-29, +/- 5, 30 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Willie Mitchell

2-4-6, +/- 7, 15 PIM

Red Wings vs. Sabres GP...

2011-02-26T09:58:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 37-18-6

Sabres: 28-25-6

Red Wing Zen:

Nick Lidstrom

12-36-48, +/- 0, 16 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Nathan Gerbe

7-11-18, +/- 6, 26 PIM

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Seventeen...

2011-02-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

Caption Mondays: The general consensus this week was that the gentlemen in the stands were checking out Henrik Zetterberg. In light of that, here are two sets of captions for your reading pleasure.

From Norm:
Linesman: "Hey 40, those guys behind the glass-are they checking you out too, or just me?"
Zetterberg: (silence)

From Sara Neuie:
Zebra: I just don't get it man... I'm not a bad-looking fella, I'm tall, I've got a job with authority, why can't I get a girl?
Hank (gnaws on mouthguard): I'm telling you, chicks dig beards. Especially Swedish chicks.
Zebra: Really? You think that'd work?
Hank: Well, whatever you do, don't go around making faces like the guys behind us...

Trivia Tuesdays: Clark beat TimFill to the punch this week. That'll teach you to read things, Tim.

This week's question: The Wings hold the record for most home overtime losses in a single playoff run. How many OT losses did they have? What year did they set this record?

The Answer: They set this record during the '02 Cup run with four home overtime losses. One was against Vancouver, two were against Colorado, and one was in the Finals against Carolina.

Red Wings vs. Stars GP...

2011-02-24T11:11:00.000-05:00

Red Wings: 37-17-6

Stars: 31-23-6

Red Wing Zen:

Chris Osgood

5-3-2, .903 SV%, 2.77 GAA

Point and Laugh:

Jason Williams (Who?)

0-1-1, +/- 0, 0 PIM