I should be writing my position paper, so of course I'm writing a blog post! Some thoughts:
-I'm still annoyed about the call in the shootout on Saturday. It's okay, Ken Holland is too. Apparently he reamed someone out during the first intermission of the game yesterday. Hopefully it was someone important and not the coffee peon or something.
-This weekend felt like the playoffs. I don't know if the wives are withholding sex or if the players finally figured out that they are OUT OF FUCKING PLAYOFF POSITION but they were actually trying. It was weird.
-The Red Wings suck at shootouts. Apparently Babcock is protesting their existence by not working on them in practice. I appreciate the sentiment, but holy hell we need work (Z, I'm looking at you here).
-Fortunately shootouts don't exist in the playoffs (which we are going to make goddammit). And even more fortunately, this weekend led me to believe that in a playoff situation, Detroit is still competitive with any team in the league. You can't win in the playoffs with a skills competition. You have to outskate and outshoot the other team- and the Red Wings did that in both overtime periods this weekend. They just ended before they could put the puck in.
-I think Osgood might actually start a game this week. It'll be the first time since before Christmas. The mommy in me wants to give Jimmy a break. Maybe Ozzie has stewed enough that he'll actually redeem himself!
-I saw a kid wearing a Kopitar shersey today. I didn't realize there were Kings fans in Michigan. It made me think of Erika.
-Living in my house is hysterical. A couple of minutes ago, this happened:
Scene: I am in my room screwing around on the internet. Danielle is in her room across the hall. Action!
My phone: *ringringring* Me: Hello? Mom: Hi honey! How are you? Danielle: ...hello? Me: Eh, it's Monday. Mom: I know that. Danielle: ...it's Monday? What? Me: *hysterical laughter* Mom: What's so funny? Danielle: WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT? Me: I'm on the phone! *more hysterical laughter* Mom: Never mind, I'll call you back. Danielle: ...oh. *joins in the hysterical laughter*
We laughed for a good five minutes AND my mom just texted me instead of keeping me on the phone for half an hour. Win.
Okay, I know that I am still very, VERY upset about this, but I want you all to consider how you would feel if this happened to the Pens, Sens, Hawks, or whoever else you may be cheering for.
The Red Wings/Stars game today went to a shootout. This in itself is frustrating because the game-tying goal was iffy at best, but whatever. The point is that we got to a shootout. The first eight thousand or so shooters for each team missed (it was actually five or six).
Steve Ott skated out to shoot for Dallas. His shot was smothered right around the goal line. The ref on the goal line was not behind the net, but rather off to the side, and skated in so close to see where the puck was that he almost bashed his head on the post. He called a save. The other ref, who was out at center ice, skated in and said it had to go to video review. Understandable, refs are fallible and from the benches it probably looked like it went in.
While we were waiting for Toronto to figure out what to do, FSN showed us a replay of the shot from several angles. Because of the way Jimmy Howard was positioned, you can't actually see the puck from most of the cameras. We thought that was why the call was taking so long. Incidentally, the best camera angle was from the penalty box side, very similar to the line of sight the ref had as he skated to the post.
After the review, the ref skated out to center ice and called the goal good.
None of us knew what was going on until Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond were notified during the postgame show that:
1) the ref at the net called no-goal 2) the film in Toronto was inconclusive 3) the other ref, who was at Center Ice, CALLED THE GOAL GOOD
The on-ice call was overturned, not by conclusive video evidence in Toronto (IE the way the rules say it should be overturned), but by the other ref who was half the rink away and could not have possibly seen where the puck was at the critical moment.
Clearly I never learned from my many aborted LiveJournal attempts in high school that I suck at keeping a blog, haha.
But I just wanted to tell everyone that Jimmy Howard is a BAMF and Darren Helm can teleport. (Seriously, there is no other explanation for his goal last night... he teleported.)
So, The Hockey News just picked Chicago to win the Central Division this year.
Fun fact: Chicago has NEVER won the Central. The last time they won a division title it was still the Norris.
They also picked Chicago to come in second in the Conference... behind San Jose.
Teams that I am picking to finish ahead of Chicago this year (out of the West): Detroit, St. Louis, San Jose, Anaheim (although it kind of kills me to admit that), Calgary and possibly Vancouver.
Don't get me wrong, Chicago is an up-and-coming powerhouse... emphasis on up-and-coming. Apparently THN has already forgotten how the 2009 Western Conference Finals ended. If Chicago has any advantage over Detroit going into this year, it's that most of their team gets the Olympic break off while half of the Red Wings will be representing their countries in Vancouver. And I think that if any team manages to knock Detroit out of the top spot in the Central, it will be St. Louis, not Chicago.
I am in the process of packing up the rest of my crap (how have I managed to accumulate so much stuff?) to go back to school tonight, but someone emailed me this quote and I wanted to share it with you:
"DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford took his first snap as a pro and perfectly executed a play-action pass. The problem: Keary Colbert dropped the ball. Welcome to the Detroit Lions, kid." (ESPN)
I laughed.
Also, rather than trying to pick out my favorite books to take to school with me, I am taking only books that I own but haven't read. That is more books than I would like to admit.
I can see the upsides to this. He's a gritty forward that will probably be healthier than Holmstrom and company. It's only for one year, and with the amount of contracts we have ending next year we could replace Bert, Homer, and Maltby with Abdelkader and two big free agents (I'm assuming that Lidstrom will take a Stevie-esque contract that will drop his cap hit considerably). It creates a LOT of competition in training camp- we now have 14 NHL-ready forwards signed, even if it is a foregone conclusion that Abdelkader will be in GR this season.
But seriously... I didn't like him when he played for us before and I don't like it now. There are some players that I never want to see in the Winged Wheel and Bertuzzi is one of them.
I'm hoping the fact that he will have to compete for his roster spot every single night will keep his attitude and tendency to take bad penalties in check.
With Holmstrom on the top power play unit, and potentially Cleary on the second unit in Leino's place.
I was GOING to do a big post about Abdelkader today and how he is the personification of guys that I love having in Detroit, but now I'm just annoyed. I guess I'll do it tomorrow...
In other news, I was at a Beer League Playoff Game last night (serious business, guys!) which "my team" won 6-3 with my friend Kaleb scoring five goals (and having the first assist on the sixth goal). They were playing a total Goon Squad, and the Goons didn't disappoint- after the final goal there was an awesome cheap shot that led to a fight (with blood!) and THEN led to the cops being called!!! The next game is on Thursday so I'll try to get the scoop on what happened after we left.
This past weekend, I went to Toronto with five of the most amazing women I have ever met. It was my first time to TO, and included my first visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I learned a lot of things on this trip. So much, in fact, that I am dedicating a blog post to...
THINGS I LEARNED IN TORONTO
1. Pat Kane was just arrested! -Em (friend from home) 2. It's possible to try to be a puck bunny and fail. -Mer and Kylie 3. If you are a fan of Sidney Crosby, you are from Nova Scotia. -guy on the street. 4. Ali and I shouldn't be friends anymore. -another guy on the street. 5. Wearing an Yzerman jersey gives you more street cred than wearing a Crosby jersey. -random guys at the HHOF 6. If you do a good job in a shinny game against the Rangers, they will take you back to NYC with them. In a helicopter. How BA is that? -Mystery Alaska 7. Wayne Gretzky owns a restaurant! -Ali and Wayne 8. Subway stations can come in the form of phone booths that beam you to wherever you are going. -Ali 9. If one person wearing a Detroit jersey walks to the HHOF with five people wearing Pittsburgh jerseys, people will stare. -random people 10. They will also take pictures. -same random people 11. Mike Green told Kylie to get a mocha. -Mike and Kylie 12. Mike and Kylie's children are going to have fro-hawks (mohawks of curly hair). -Kylie 13. You're not supposed to drink the tempura sauce. -Mer (edited to correct the sauce- for some reason, I thought it was tandoori) 14. Taylor Lautner is from a hockey town, not Hockeytown. Clarity is necessary so Kylie doesn't have a heart attack. -me and Kylie 15. It is, in fact, possible to fit six girls (and all of their shit) into a hotel room meant for four. Without the hotel figuring it out. -us 16. Winners come from Newfoundland. -the Baseball Junior National Champions
If I missed something, feel free to tell me in the comments section and I'll add it to the post. =]
In other awesome news, today is Valtteri Filppula Days! (AKA the NHL regular season starts in 51 days) I am anxiously awaiting the post over at Peachy, even though I have probably already seen all the pictures and videos that will be used. In fact, there is a really good chance that I sent all of them to Kylie last night. Whatever. I'm still pumped that one of my boys is being featured.
Something that I will always associate with Michigan after I leave is the concept of "up north."
Most families I know either own property in northern Michigan or rent the same cabin or camp site every summer. When I was growing up, we rented the same cabin every year with some family friends, and also stayed at the same marinas in our boat. After my dad married my stepmom, we moved to the category of families with property, as her grandmother owns a cabin that all of the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids use for vacations.
Six years of my young life were spent living with a river (and I mean a River, not a stream or something) going through my backyard (literally). I grew up around boats and have been swimming since before I could walk. Water- real water, not pools- has always been a source of comfort for me. I lost count of the number of times I walked to the river during my freshman year of college.
Last weekend I took my first trip "up north" of the summer. A few storms blew through, and though the temperature was generally comfortable it was too cold for swimming. Being me, I still spent hours sitting on the end of the dock with my feet in the water.
I had brought my books up to the cabin with me, but somehow neither of them seemed appropriate for the bright sun and clear water- The Historian is a fiction thriller about vampires, and King Leopold's Ghost details the all-too-real horrors of the travesties in the Congo. I ended up spending most of the weekend thinking.
The newspaper we had brought from home had an article about possible free agent acquisitions the Red Wings could make to fill our holes at forward. The article got me thinking about the changes the team has gone through over the years.
Konstantinov's accident. Scotty Bowman's retirement. The lock-out and the salary cap. Babcock joining the team. Yzerman's retirement. July 1, 2009.
Yes, next year's team will be considerably different than last year's. That's hockey. That's life.
But the core remains. We have our Captains and our Assistants. We have our owners. We have our coach. We have the greatest General Manager in sports. We have the undying faith and love of the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan pushing this team.
And I have absolutely no doubts that the 2009-2010 Detroit Red Wings will be Stanley Cup contenders once again.
This will actually be my last post before I leave. =P
I'm going to attempt to keep a blog chronicling my adventures. It's on my other gmail account so it's not linked to this profile, but you should all check it out anyway!
And you should obviously keep me posted on how the Finals are going.
Much love,
Deets
A final post to this blog before I venture off tomorrow, with some thoughts about my beloved Red Wings, this series, and why I hate June 13th.
I think this series will go to seven. I'm not making predictions about who will win it all, or who will win what games, because I am honestly not sure. The only prediction I am making is that the Conn Smythe will go to the goalie of whichever team wins, because they'll have earned it.
I never feel like I can talk about why the Red Wings could win it all without soapboxing, so I won't. You probably saw why they could win it all last year.
The Pens could win it all because their top players are actually performing (Malkin, I'm looking at you), they have experience, both in the Finals and in Guerin, they have the coaching (I still think Babcock can outcoach Bylsma, but not by as wide of a margin as with MT), and they want it. They really really really want it.
Excited as I am to be heading off on my adventure, I'm sad that I won't be able to watch the games. I know they'll be archived on Hulu, but watching games when you already know the outcome just isn't the same. I love hockey. I love my team. I want to sit in front of the TV with pizza and beer and yell and laugh and scream and cry- with sadness or with joy yet to be determined. For the second year in a row, I am missing out on the final games of my team's season. It sucks.
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I was going to do this post on June 13th, but since I have no idea where I will be on that day, or if I have internet access, I will have to post it today.
A few weeks ago, Mer posted a video about the Pittsburgh Penguins playoff run this year. I'm not sure if it was made by the franchise, or a fan. I watched it just for the hell of it (lord knows I'm as neutral as you can be about the Pens) and I was shocked to see the video end with the slogan Believe. Since then, I've noticed it a few other places- LJ icons, desktops, etc, involving a few teams, but mostly for the Penguins.
I don't care if other franchises want to try to take Hockeytown (it's trademarked anyway), or bitch about the octopus, but Believe does not mean to any other franchise what it means to Detroit, and my seeing it next to any logo but the winged wheel feels like a slap in the face.
This is why.
Spring of 1989 was huge for the Detroit Red Wings. The Cold War was coming to a close, and all the owners and general managers were desperately trying to guess if Russian players would be allowed into the NHL soon.
The Red Wings were still in their rebuilding stage; they hadn't won the Stanley Cup since 1955. Between 1967 and 1983 they only made the playoffs twice. They were known as the Dead Things.
In 1982 the team was sold to Mike and Marian Illitch, who used the first pick of their first draft on Steve Yzerman. He was named Captain in 1986 and things were looking up- they were making the playoffs, at least- but they couldn't make it to the only thing that mattered, the Stanley Cup Finals.
In 1989, the Red Wings drafted, in order: Mike Sillinger, Bob Boughner, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Federov, Shawn McCosh, Dallas Drake, Scott Zygulski, Andy Suhy, Bob Jones, Greg Bignell, Rick Judson, Vladimir Konstantinov, Joe Frederick, and Jason Glickman.
It was considered a shallow draft year, and half of Detroit's picks never even made it to the NHL. Among those that did were the two best defensemen that will play for Detroit in my lifetime.
Obviously, one is Lidstrom. The other is Konstantinov.
They both played their rookie season in 1991-1992, and were both selected to the NHL All-Rookie team. Lidstrom finished second in Calder voting behind Pavel Bure.
As other draft picks, free agents, and traded players joined the team, Lidstrom was eclipsed, falling to the second defensive unit behind the Russian Five.
Coach (and genius) Scotty Bowman was intrigued by the old Soviet style of hockey, in which players were on five-man units. He put together Vyacheslav Kozlov (LW), Igor Larianov (C), Sergei Federov (RW), Slava Fetisov (D), and Konstantinov (D). The Russian Five were noted for their speed and puck control, based on talents they had perfected while playing for the Soviet national team.
Konstantinov was known for his grit. He had impressed a Detroit scout at the 1987 World Junior Championship. When a fight broke out during a Soviet/Canada game, Vlad was the only Russian that actually hit back. He was aggressive, and excelled at throwing opponents off their game. He once said, "For my game, I don’t need to score the goal. I need someone to start thinking about me and forgetting about scoring goals." We fans called him Vlad the Impaler, or the Vladinator.
He had a reputation as a pest, but he was also one of the most skilled defensemen I have ever watched. In the 1995/1996 season he finished at +60, the best +/- since Gretzky's retirement. In 1996/1997, he finished second in voting for the Norris Trophy. Lidstrom finished fourth.
Detroit ended its Stanley Cup drought in 1997, sweeping Philadelphia. They would not, could not have done this without the Russian Five. During the 1997 playoffs, the Red Wings went 16–0 when any of the Russians scored a point and 0–4 when they did not. I had just turned eight, and my parents let me stay up late to watch the final game. I watched Stevie Y, my Captain, accept the Stanley Cup and thought that nothing could ever feel better.
Six days later, the team had a celebratory function; a golf outing, followed by a dinner party. They had been drinking, so Vlad, Fetisov, and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov rented a limo together to take them home.
We found out later that the driver's license was suspended for drunk driving.
He lost control of the limo and smashed them into the median of Woodward Avenue, the same street that makes up the majority of the parade route after Cup victories.
Fetisov made it out with minor scrapes and bruises. Vlad and Mnatsakanov were both in comas with serious head injuries; no one knew if they would make it.
Both men woke up later that summer, but I will never forget the surge of disappointment when I would watch the news every night with my dad in the meantime, and hear that Vlad was still in his coma. I was young enough that my team, and my favorite players, were heroes, practically immortal. I didn't understand how this could possibly have happened.
Fetisov was able to return to the ice for the 1997/1998 season. Vlad and Mnatsakanov were both in wheelchairs and beginning the long process of physical therapy. The Red Wings dedicated that sesason to their missing pieces, wearing a patch on their jerseys that said Believe in both English and Russian, complete with the initials VK & SM.
When Stevie Y hoisted the Cup at the end of that season, the first person it went to was Vlad in his wheelchair. I will never forget watching Larianov push his countryman and friend around the ice with the Cup.
The Illitches had Vlad's named engraved into the Cup as a member of the 1998 Championship winning team. His number has been unofficially retired; no other Red Wing will ever wear #16. His locker is still set up in the locker room, complete with a small rock which says Believe.
For the rest of the teams, Believe simply represents a faith in the team's ability to win. For Detroit, Believe represents the strength and will to overcome all odds, to avenge a fallen comrade, and to convince the Hockeytown nation that this team can, and will, perservere. Through anything.
When Yzerman retired in 2006, his number was retired with him. Vlad was able to be a part of the ceremony with the help of a walker. Nine years later, he was still a part of team. He is STILL a part of the team.
This video makes me cry, every time- but it's a better representation of what Believe means to Detroit, to me, than I could ever write.
Maybe it's selfish of me to feel that other teams shouldn't use the slogan. I'm probably far too attached to it than I should be. After all, it's just a word.
But it's a word that inspired a team and a city to reach for the impossible. To stay strong. To have faith.
I'm a sports-loving college student who is a life-long fan of the Detroit teams and is convinced that the Big Ten is the best conference in collegiate sports. Period.
