Jonathan Ericsson and Aaron Downey have been called up, and Darren Helm and Ville Leino were sent back down to Grand Rapids. Hossa and Lebda are back in the lineup tonight. Ericsson is in for Lilja, who ended up with a sore knee and a concussion after his "fight" with Shea Weber. Lilja had this to say about it in the Detroit News: "I remember the first two punches, but the rest I saw on television." Great.
I can't blame him for this, but every time I see Lilja get into a fight and not really throw any punches, my heart sinks, because I can literally feel people being reaffirmed of negative European stereotypes. My first thought wasn't even "Oh crap, I hope Andreas is ok," it was "Oh crap, Don Cherry's gonna cry Chicken Swede."
Oooh, and did he ever.
Sigh.
Support Dan Cleary. Go vote for Harbour Grace.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Whut. the crap. was that?
I don't really think I have anything to say after that game. Honestly, the level of ridiculousness was so high that I spent most of the game laughing. It was either that or cry.
On a dial-up internet connection, I'm not going to try to confirm this, but as of the seventh goal, I think I heard Ken mention that Rafalski and Lidstrom were still even with their plus-minus. Who the hell was at like a -5 to make this happen? I have the mental image of Raffi leaping into the bench in a panic to protect his stats when he thought Nashville was about to score.
This MS Paint job is better than that game was. Think about how sad that is.
Of course, maybe that game never happened. Maybe it was all part of an elaborate acid trip hallucination I'm having. We've changed the channel to what Lindsay tells me is Hockey Night in Canada, but for some reason, all I'm seeing is footage of a lion-fish superimposed over a photograph of Kelly Hrudey dog-sledding. I don't even know.
I'm going to go gorge myself on leftover paczki and hope I never have to sit through another game like that again.
On a dial-up internet connection, I'm not going to try to confirm this, but as of the seventh goal, I think I heard Ken mention that Rafalski and Lidstrom were still even with their plus-minus. Who the hell was at like a -5 to make this happen? I have the mental image of Raffi leaping into the bench in a panic to protect his stats when he thought Nashville was about to score.
This MS Paint job is better than that game was. Think about how sad that is.Of course, maybe that game never happened. Maybe it was all part of an elaborate acid trip hallucination I'm having. We've changed the channel to what Lindsay tells me is Hockey Night in Canada, but for some reason, all I'm seeing is footage of a lion-fish superimposed over a photograph of Kelly Hrudey dog-sledding. I don't even know.
I'm going to go gorge myself on leftover paczki and hope I never have to sit through another game like that again.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Of all the games I couldn't watch, it had to be this one...
I'm sure that was a really great game. I know the last ten minutes were pretty good. The rest of it, I was stuck at a choir concert.
No, I couldn't get out of it early. It was my choir.
I'll catch it when it replays at three in the morning. Of course I'll still be up. I have a paper due tomorrow afternoon.
Apparently Leino's new goal celebration is cross-country skiing. Or maybe slow motion running. Awesome.
One more item of note - all the cool kids on the internet have been blogging the crap out of the Washington Capitals' new all-female fan club, Club Scarlet. I personally have mixed feelings about everything when the subject of hockey and gender comes up, but for the sake of my time and your sanity, I'll save my requisite girl-blogger "I AM NOT A PUCKBUNNY OMG" diatribe for another post. Let's just say that I think it sounds like a good idea in theory, and that everyone's making it out to be a bigger deal than it is, and that I just hope it doesn't serve as another means by which men can be dismissive toward female hockey fans. I've met a few who don't need any more help.
In the meantime, a few observations:
1. "Club Scarlet" sounds like a strip club. (EDIT: It is*. I think it's in Peru.)
*Why did you click on that, you perv? I hope you're over 18.
2. A lot of the content seems to be geared toward the new hockey fan. I can appreciate this - when I took my roommate to her first hockey game last month, I could not have possibly anticipated how ridiculously confusing the sport could be to the uninitiated. Try explaining icing to someone who's never heard of it before. At the same time, I'm assuming they'll eventually have more content for long-established fans, right?
3. They did an eyecandy photoshoot? Yes. They did. Sid Abel's grandson was totally working that pout.
Or at least... that goofy goalie furrowed eyebrow thing...
I still don't know about this just yet.
Because god help us all if the Aaron Downey Ladies (and I still mean ladies like your high school English teacher, or your best friend's mom) ever figure out a way to schedule club meetings.
And by 'god help us all', I mean 'god help Aaron Downey'.
No, I couldn't get out of it early. It was my choir.
I'll catch it when it replays at three in the morning. Of course I'll still be up. I have a paper due tomorrow afternoon.
Apparently Leino's new goal celebration is cross-country skiing. Or maybe slow motion running. Awesome.
One more item of note - all the cool kids on the internet have been blogging the crap out of the Washington Capitals' new all-female fan club, Club Scarlet. I personally have mixed feelings about everything when the subject of hockey and gender comes up, but for the sake of my time and your sanity, I'll save my requisite girl-blogger "I AM NOT A PUCKBUNNY OMG" diatribe for another post. Let's just say that I think it sounds like a good idea in theory, and that everyone's making it out to be a bigger deal than it is, and that I just hope it doesn't serve as another means by which men can be dismissive toward female hockey fans. I've met a few who don't need any more help.
In the meantime, a few observations:
1. "Club Scarlet" sounds like a strip club. (EDIT: It is*. I think it's in Peru.)
*Why did you click on that, you perv? I hope you're over 18.
2. A lot of the content seems to be geared toward the new hockey fan. I can appreciate this - when I took my roommate to her first hockey game last month, I could not have possibly anticipated how ridiculously confusing the sport could be to the uninitiated. Try explaining icing to someone who's never heard of it before. At the same time, I'm assuming they'll eventually have more content for long-established fans, right?
3. They did an eyecandy photoshoot? Yes. They did. Sid Abel's grandson was totally working that pout.
Or at least... that goofy goalie furrowed eyebrow thing...
I still don't know about this just yet.
Because god help us all if the Aaron Downey Ladies (and I still mean ladies like your high school English teacher, or your best friend's mom) ever figure out a way to schedule club meetings.
And by 'god help us all', I mean 'god help Aaron Downey'.
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (...and by Carmen Sandiego I mean Mark Hartigan)
Important things first:
Wings vs Sharks tonight at 7:30 on FSN. If the Draper-Skank issue comes up more than once during the game, I might throw something. However, being aware of the inevitable, I already have a pile of small, non-breakable items near my television ready for my stress relief. The name Skank is pretty self-explanatory, and I'm assuming that all of you are smart enough to figure it out. (Variations sometimes include Skank the Turtle and Skank Prime.)
Kopecky and Chelios are out tonight, Brad Stuart is back and partnering with Kronwall (as far as I know)
This past week, I've been contemplating some of the most random things in the world. One is music, and how if anyone gets their hands my ipod, I would probably be admitted to a mental institution.
Songs that are far too epic to listen to on your ipod while buying lasagna:
1. Larry Santos & Dan Yessian- Red Wings, My Red Wings
2. Bon Jovi- Living on a Prayer
3. Journey- Seperate Ways
Another is where the heck is Mark Hartigan? This one has been bothering me for a while, but I was never motivated enough to go look it up. Well I found out yesterday, and I'm not going to lie, I was surprised.
Places you don't expect to find Mark Hartigan:
1. Your bed
2. Hosting a television game show
3. Latvia
Latvia? Really? He's currently playing for Dinamo Riga in the KHL. There is a good chance that I already knew this, but my hockey amnesia made me forget it.
Prepare yourselves, Hockeytown. This game has the potential to be filled with so many "Skank returns" and "the four-point game" comments that your head might explode (at least it's not on Versus).
Go Wings.
Wings vs Sharks tonight at 7:30 on FSN. If the Draper-Skank issue comes up more than once during the game, I might throw something. However, being aware of the inevitable, I already have a pile of small, non-breakable items near my television ready for my stress relief. The name Skank is pretty self-explanatory, and I'm assuming that all of you are smart enough to figure it out. (Variations sometimes include Skank the Turtle and Skank Prime.)
Kopecky and Chelios are out tonight, Brad Stuart is back and partnering with Kronwall (as far as I know)
This past week, I've been contemplating some of the most random things in the world. One is music, and how if anyone gets their hands my ipod, I would probably be admitted to a mental institution.
Songs that are far too epic to listen to on your ipod while buying lasagna:
1. Larry Santos & Dan Yessian- Red Wings, My Red Wings
2. Bon Jovi- Living on a Prayer
3. Journey- Seperate Ways
Another is where the heck is Mark Hartigan? This one has been bothering me for a while, but I was never motivated enough to go look it up. Well I found out yesterday, and I'm not going to lie, I was surprised.
Places you don't expect to find Mark Hartigan:
1. Your bed
2. Hosting a television game show
3. Latvia
Latvia? Really? He's currently playing for Dinamo Riga in the KHL. There is a good chance that I already knew this, but my hockey amnesia made me forget it.
Prepare yourselves, Hockeytown. This game has the potential to be filled with so many "Skank returns" and "the four-point game" comments that your head might explode (at least it's not on Versus).
Go Wings.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Nothing to say on a Monday night
I don't know why I'm watching this game. Versus is terrible, Marty Turco is a whore, and Skank the Turtle plays for San Jose now. And I really hate watching any game in Dallas, because at the end of each period their arena announcer goes "OOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE MINUTE!" like a total ass. It's the most obnoxious one-minute countdown in the entire league. Typing it really doesn't do the irritating-ness justice.
Brad Stuart is supposed to be back on Wednesday. Until told otherwise, I'm assuming this means the defense pairings are back to how they were before he got injured. It could give the team a boost.
On the topic of Goalies: Tyfus will start Wednesday against the Sharks, and Ozzie will be back in against the Kings Friday. Jimmy Howard was sent back to Grand Rapids Sunday, where he played a pretty solid game against the San Antonio Rampage, except for maybe the last few minutes. But I'll give him some credit because driving the two and a half hours on I-96 to get from Detroit to Grand Rapids in the middle of winter is horrible, especially if you're just getting back from Minnesota.
On top of all this, there was no way that he or the rest of the team could have fed off the intensity of the crowd, seeing as Van Andel Arena was filled (using the term 'filled' loosely) with elementary schoolers singing the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme song (I may or may not have joined in), and ladies there only to see Aaron Downey. (and by "ladies", I don't mean like - "hey, ladies!", I mean ladies like your best friend's mom. The one who made really good casserole, and owned a lot of purses full of coupons and mints, and had you zip your coat up before you walked the twelve feet from her door to your car. Van Andel is swarming with them. And they all wish they could make casserole for Aaron Downey. I sort of love them.) Anyway, crowd or no crowd, the Griffins won. Take that, Phoenix Coyotes primary AHL affilate!
Can you tell it's kind of a slow day for Red Wings news?
Brad Stuart is supposed to be back on Wednesday. Until told otherwise, I'm assuming this means the defense pairings are back to how they were before he got injured. It could give the team a boost.
On the topic of Goalies: Tyfus will start Wednesday against the Sharks, and Ozzie will be back in against the Kings Friday. Jimmy Howard was sent back to Grand Rapids Sunday, where he played a pretty solid game against the San Antonio Rampage, except for maybe the last few minutes. But I'll give him some credit because driving the two and a half hours on I-96 to get from Detroit to Grand Rapids in the middle of winter is horrible, especially if you're just getting back from Minnesota.
On top of all this, there was no way that he or the rest of the team could have fed off the intensity of the crowd, seeing as Van Andel Arena was filled (using the term 'filled' loosely) with elementary schoolers singing the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme song (I may or may not have joined in), and ladies there only to see Aaron Downey. (and by "ladies", I don't mean like - "hey, ladies!", I mean ladies like your best friend's mom. The one who made really good casserole, and owned a lot of purses full of coupons and mints, and had you zip your coat up before you walked the twelve feet from her door to your car. Van Andel is swarming with them. And they all wish they could make casserole for Aaron Downey. I sort of love them.) Anyway, crowd or no crowd, the Griffins won. Take that, Phoenix Coyotes primary AHL affilate!
Can you tell it's kind of a slow day for Red Wings news?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
It wasn't pretty
There'll probably be some people quick to fault tonight's loss on Howard's inexperience, but a lot of those goals shouldn't have even been scoring chances. Tonight's defensive coverage was pretty gross. Hopefully the team takes this as a wake-up call and comes out full force on Wednesday. I'd really hate to see them lose to San Jose next week.
Congratulations to Kopecky on his goal and his new baby. It's kind of sad that he was already in Minnesota when he got the call, but I guess his wife went into labor early.
On what I'm sure is an entirely unrelated note, this week marks 8 1/2 months since the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.
Congratulations to Kopecky on his goal and his new baby. It's kind of sad that he was already in Minnesota when he got the call, but I guess his wife went into labor early.
On what I'm sure is an entirely unrelated note, this week marks 8 1/2 months since the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Jimmy got called up
By now this is probably bordering on old news, but the Wings called up Jimmy Howard to back-up Conklin tonight, and probably start against Minnesota on Saturday.
Osgood is taking some time off for what George Sipple is calling a 'mental breather'. George sounded a little upset that Ozzie didn't want to talk to him after practice the other day. I don't know. If I were him, I wouldn't want to talk to George Sipple right now either. The indication is that he'll get the start next Wednesday, against San Jose. I know it's been said that he plays his best under pressure to prove himself, but now that game is making me nervous. Not least of all because I won't actually be able to watch the first half of it.
Find-your-happy-place-mantra of the day, courtesy of Ken Holland - "the playoffs don't start today." And I can use that to assuage my raging hockey-panic for another month and a half.
Lost in a lot of discussion on whether or not Chris Osgood is going to be able to pull it together by the end of the season (and I'm pretty sure he'll pull it together eventually, but I don't know when) is Howard. His call-up is absolutely killing the Griffins, who have had to sign Joel Martin to a professional try-out because Larsson is sick this week. (No. I don't know who Joel Martin is either.)
Howard's numbers have been pretty good this season, even though I've never personally seen him win a game (my presence in Van Andel Arena this year has consistently been the kiss of death), and Holland sounds pretty confident in him for now.
And anyway, I like him. A close inspection of his mask will show you that this season, he's travelling at just under Yzerman miles per hour.
That's gotta be like wicked fast.
Osgood is taking some time off for what George Sipple is calling a 'mental breather'. George sounded a little upset that Ozzie didn't want to talk to him after practice the other day. I don't know. If I were him, I wouldn't want to talk to George Sipple right now either. The indication is that he'll get the start next Wednesday, against San Jose. I know it's been said that he plays his best under pressure to prove himself, but now that game is making me nervous. Not least of all because I won't actually be able to watch the first half of it.
Find-your-happy-place-mantra of the day, courtesy of Ken Holland - "the playoffs don't start today." And I can use that to assuage my raging hockey-panic for another month and a half.
Lost in a lot of discussion on whether or not Chris Osgood is going to be able to pull it together by the end of the season (and I'm pretty sure he'll pull it together eventually, but I don't know when) is Howard. His call-up is absolutely killing the Griffins, who have had to sign Joel Martin to a professional try-out because Larsson is sick this week. (No. I don't know who Joel Martin is either.)
Howard's numbers have been pretty good this season, even though I've never personally seen him win a game (my presence in Van Andel Arena this year has consistently been the kiss of death), and Holland sounds pretty confident in him for now.
And anyway, I like him. A close inspection of his mask will show you that this season, he's travelling at just under Yzerman miles per hour.
That's gotta be like wicked fast.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Swedes are going home
No, not forever. Just for the 2009 NHL Premiere. The Wings and the Blues will kick off the 2009-10 season playing two games on October 2nd and 3rd in Stockholm, Sweden. The Blackhawks and Panthers will play their NHL Premiere games in Helsinki, Finland on the same dates.
So, lets pretend that the Wings don't lose any of the Swedes at the trade deadline or the off season and for some reason every Swede in Grand Rapids gets called up...there would be 10. Ten players of Swedish decent playing in the "the mother country" next (or I guess it would be this) October for the 2009 NHL Premiere. Wow. Realistically, I'm expecting a number closer to seven to be playing. Can you imagine the borking that will ensue?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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