The NHL through the eyes of a Red Wing Fan. Hockey: the only sport that requires the moves and athleticism of a Barry Sanders; the strategy and teamwork of a Jeter; the physicality of a football game; the endurance and skill of a Beckham AND the deft precision of a Mickelson -IF you put all those athletes on a field of ice wearing 2 thin blades of steel with less padding than a linebacker. The most exciting, toughest, most skilled, athletic sport on earth.
Will Hossa stay will he go? What about the Mule and our other Euros?
ARGGHHH! This is a day of incredible celebration for all Red Wings fans- Rejoice people!!!!
And take a moment to thank Ken Holland and Mike Ilitch (with Stevie Y and Jim Nill) for once more setting the Silver Standard in organizational Class, Style and Salary Cap Management.
There is nothing like the feeling of watching an organization lead the way in fearlessness riding on their intuitive sense of the “right path”.
Hearing Mr. Ilitch talk about the Red Wing family and being thrilled that Hank is a Red Wing “for life”, I know the proof is in the press release. We need only look to Mike Ilitch’s left to see Steve Yzerman, the shining example of this organization’s commitment to “lifers” and loyalty, its players, growing their players and the never ending drive to be the best.
And hearing Hank’s agent say “from the very beginning Hank wanted to stay in Detroit his whole career.” you just know this is a match made in Hockeytown. (Hiss away people, I’m reveling in it!)
You can talk about the decline of production over the years, but I will point to Nic Lidstrom, turning 38 this year. Or Cheli, defying all the odds merely by playing, (and looking like he could take Le Mew on head to head!).
Many try to emulate and imitate, but in signing Henrik Zetterberg for life, the Detroit Red Wings show once more that they cannot be duplicated. Or second guessed.
Once the boisterous fanfare dies down and the bubbly is gone, naturally a fair Red Wing fan’s thoughts turn to the following Question:
What does Z’s contract mean for the rest of the team?
While I would never dream of second guessing whatever Mr. Wily Ken-otye decides do in the upcoming Off-Season, its fun to speculate. SO to that end…
How Might the Red Wings spend their money for the 09-10 season?
NB: At this point if you are not a red wing fan or a person who just loves statistics, you might want to abandon further reading- its gonna be boring or anyone who is not a Red Wing Homer.
Baseline Assumptions
These are the assumptions I will work from in projecting what might happen in Detroit this summer. (Oh come on, you eastern/northerners NEED an excuse to think about summer.)
1. The salary cap is set by assigning a percentage of all “hockey-related” revenues to player salaries. So if revenues go up, the Cap will increase by a like percentage.
2. The 08-09 Cap is $56.7MM. It rose from $50.3 in 07-08 to $56.7 in 08-09- an 11% increase.
3. The cap will continue to increase.
Now, last year’s incredible 11% revenue increase was a function of a stronger Canadian Dollar. Its true. 07-08 Canadian teams counted for 30% of the league’s (ticket) revenues. In fact, I have read that the increase in the value of the Canadian Dollar may be responsible for as much as half of the league’s revenue gains since the lockout.
Last week I heard on NHL Network that the League is predicting (if we stay on course) an actual revenue jump of 7%. This year the Canadian Dollar is weaker and the 7% projected increase in revenues will be offset by a weak Canadian dollar.
4. Based on the assumptions above, I’ll use a very conservative revenue increase here of 3%.
A 3% increase in the Salary Cap for 09-10 equals $58.4MM.
5. The minimum player salary for 09-10 is $500,000. (From the CBA)
6. The individual Player Cap of $11.68The maximum salary a player can earn being 20% of his team’s salary cap provided his team spends to the ceiling.
7. My Detroit salary figures are estimates taken from one of my favorite websites: www.letsgowings.com.
8. For simplicity purposes I will rely on www.letsgoredwings.com estimates and assume that Zetterberg’s contract is front loaded : $7.4MM Next year; $7.75 in 10-11, $7,.75MM in 11-12.
9. Detroit in 08-09 is at $56.3MM with roughly $400k in cap space.
10. I did not factor the effect of other teams inflating salaries for marginal players like they did last summer, causing headaches for the rest of the teams, because that is predicting the future and somehow the Wings always manage to stay out of that fray.
11. I did assume minimal salary inflation, league wide, due to the economy.
SALARYCAPJEOPARDYFORTHE 09-10 SEASON
Including Zetterberg, these are the main UFAs and RFAs we have to work on over the next few months (I have included most of the prominent AHL Griffen UFA/RFAs):
Hossa currently at $7.45 MM
Zetter currently at $2.9MM
Samuelsson currently at $1.2MM
Hudler currently at $1.015MM (and a RFA)
Franzen currently at $941,000
Conklin currently at $750,000
Kopecky currently at $500,000
Chelios currently at $750,000
McCarty currently at $500,000
Leino currently at $875,000 (RFA)
Downey currently at $575,000
For simplicity sake I am taking the Wings 08-09 payroll and subtracting all of these salaries, AND I am rounding.
I know LW3H is cringing, but thing is, He is the master statistician, not me. I should not be allowed to play with numbers. In fact, I should not be left alone unsupervised in a room full of numbers.
The Red Wings 08-09 payroll without these players’ salaries is $38.9MM.
These players represent $17.8MM of the Wings’ cap space ($17.4 plus the $400,000 wiggle room.)
In 09-10 the Wings will have $19.9 MM to spend on its UFA/RFAs.
$19.9-$7.4 (Zetter) leaves $12.5 to play with.
Detroit only has $12.5 MM to sign all these other players.
Now as imaginary GM for a day, my goal is to keep as many of our core players as possible. (I’m the GM, I make the rules) Further, I have just paid Valtteri Filppula $2.5-3MM last summer, and arguably Franzen, Hossa, Huds and Conks are worth more or equal. There is an argument that Sammuelson is worth that too. Sammy is still proving himself to me, but in all honesty, a good playoff showing and a reasonable expectation by the kid I am on board 150%.
Hossa and Franzen are worth more than Flips on the free market. Given Hossa’s regular season demonstration, if he produces in the playoffs then on the free market he is worth $8-9. (That said, I rarely see the free market number as realistic) If we set Hossa aside for a minute, and look at the Mule, well….
Franzen is only getting $941,000 this year. If he produces in the playoffs like he did last year, he is worth more than Filps. Accounting for a home town discount and the fact that Dan Cleary makes $2.5-3MM and Brad Stuart makes $3.75, I say the Wings want to get the Mule for $3.5MM, 4-6years.
$12.5 MM
- 3.5 MM for Franzen = 9.0 MM Left
Sammuelson and Hudler- should be prepared to expect offers of less than $3.5 MM. More likely they will get $2MM offers for 3-4 years, with slight increases maybe. Huds is staying with whatever he gets offered. Sammy might want more.
$9.0MM
-4.0MM for Sammy and Huds = $5.0MM
Note with Huds being a RFA: Offer Sheets could totally screw these numbers up. If Huds gets too greedy, he could be gone. I have no reason to think he would, and I would hate that- Huds is the future. Huds and Helm.
Ty Conklin Here is where we could lose a great contributor. Wings have a history of not being great with Goalies. The fans ran Cujo out of town for cripe sake. Even the Prodigal Son Ozzie has to suffer when he makes one mistake. We are ruthless and we are cheap with Goalies- who are arguably the most important player on a Playoff Team. Ozzie only makes about $1.5MM (WHAT A BARGAIN!) so Ty can’t expect to get more than that. I look for $1.1MM
$5.0MM
-1.1MM for Ty Conklin = $ 3.9MM left
Kopecky needs a stellar year to garner more than the requisite bump. Unless he does something spectacular in the playoffs, I don’t see him getting more than $750,000, maybe increased to $1.0MM over 3 years. Thing is we have three great younger centers- Helm, Hudler and Kops- Kops is the least of these, and with Z and D wanting to play center, well. Kops may not be safe.
$3.9MM
- .750 for Kopecky = $3.15MM left
Cheli and Darren McCarty Who knows if they will be back, Darren needs to work his way back into the line up. Assuming no salary increases, and they come back- they take up $1.25MM
$3.15MM
-1.25 for Mac and Cheli = $1.9MM left
Leino – currently in Grand Rapids, many herald Ville Leino as the next big thing out of Detroit. The fact that his salary is already higher than the rest of the Griffens speaks volumes. Based on what we paid guys like Hudler early on, Leino’s getting a 3-4 year contract at about $1.015 a year to sit and wait for his time. PS- He’s another center. Lord. We won’t need centers, unless they can score (like Huds).
$1.9MM
- 1.015
$885,000 left for Downy and Hossa- and wiggle room.*
My numbers are really tight, conservative, and probably not what players want to see. But I think they are realistic.
Here is the thing. I love Hoss. I’d love to see him settle down with a team where he can be the kind of contributor he is with the Wings. Hossa is a Red Wing through and through. He has proven himself to fit so perfectly and I know I will adore him more and more as the playoffs come close. As GM for a day, my first thought is that we just don’t have the money to lose 4-5 players for one guy.
Hossa would eat up such a big chunk of this $12.5 MM, Even if I ditch the two most expensive players on the list, Franzen and Sammy, I still don’t have another $4MM to come close to the numbers now.
The Wings would have to dump Sammy, Franzen, Cheli and D-Mac, AND Hossa would have to take a huge pay cut to stay under this scenario. Plus for a long term contract, No way Hossa gets more than Z or D, so lets say $5MM. I don’t see him doing that.
Now on the other hand, let’s say revenue somehow hit the 11% mark again- well all bets are off, we might be able to keep him.
Flame away! Seriously I am expecting my number crunching friends and a lot of Wings fans to chat this up and tell me where my assumptions are tragically flawed or whatever.
Originally Posted on Wednesday January 28, 2009 @ 11:03 PM EST at
Well, well well…Guess who has a Press Confy set up for this morning/lunch?
Z and Wily Kenoyte Holland- getting the job done.
Henrik Zetterberg looks set to announce that he and the Detroit Red Wings have sealed the deal for our future.
Besides dealing with cap issues and the very real very disturbing economy, the Wings have to consider that whatever they pay Z, they will also need to pay Dats.
Talk about issues that could destroy negotiations in any other City. In any other city, these sort of negotiations would go well up to the UFA deadline.
GMs everywhere take note. This is how you do it. You engage your best players in conversations before the season ends, and you demonstrate they have value to you.
A system and relationship of trust between players and the Organization.
Congrats Z whatever you get (and I hope its close to 10MM for at least 7 years), and thank you if its less than what you could have gotten on the open market. Congrats Detroit Red Wings and Thank You Mr. Wily Ken-otye Holland for being brilliant and being a crucial part of a franchise and sport organization unlike ANY other.
Wings fans are lucky to have you both.
What a great way to start the Day.
Originally Posted on Wednesday January 28, 2009 @ 10:10 AM EST at
I have just received an email from the Medicine Man to whom the Wings turn to cure all their aliments, and he is TORKED!
Here is the content of his email to me:
“Dear Ms. Juice Inla,
I am at home with my two dogs and 6 feet of snow here in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan watching the NHL Network. The biased, Wing bashing homerism has finally gotten to me and I can take the abuse no more. I write to you, hoping you can get the word out to the Red Wing nation.
Right there on NHL Network the announcers – without any facts, relying on innuendo and speculation have just said “We know Sid is hurt, he had an MRI, but there is question as to whether Nic Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk are injured.”
I am incensed and outraged at the league and its media talent. It is a team’s perogative to keep injuries quiet. Keeping injuries quiet prevents thugs on opposing teams from looking for known weaknesses and further injuring the player.
Given the way the Wings were beaten and abused last week on the West Coast, its absurd to think they all aren’t injured in some way.
Pronger and Shelly, along with Dustin Brown, pounded Pavel Datsyuk for a week, each time without penalty. During the Sharks game we thought Shelley was trying to break Datsyuk’s hand.
So while I, as their esteemed Doctor, will not reveal the nature of the injuries suffered by Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, I assure you they exist.
Suspending players for taking care of their health? What a league. This is reminiscent of grade school bully mentality.
And if that is the mentality we are dealing with, then this letter shall serve as a “Doctor note” for Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk. They are injured cannot play in this weekends All Star game.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ramani
This lampoon blog has been sponsored by Dr. Ramani Eyecare, with 4 locations throughout the Metro Detroit area. Pavel Datsyuk trusts his eyes to Dr. Ramani and so should you.
Originally Posted on Friday January 23, 2009 @ 09:12 PM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/27511
All-Stars, evil fans, good friends, and hockey dates: Just a few things that have been on my mind this week.
The All-Stars
We have all had our say on the controversy that is the All Star game. This is not about GB or rigged voting or even skills competitions. Plenty has been written about the complete unfairness of the voting and how there were some truly deserving players who deserved either to be a starter or just make the team. I fall firmly on the side of this argument that sees the voting as a disaster and its results a sham. However, I can’t help but wonder how the guys who are the “voted in” All Stars feel. Imagine being Kovalev, Komisarek or Kane. Does it diminish the honor to be named to an All Star team that has been so harshly judged and criticized? I imagine its not hard to look at the blatantly biased results and feel like maybe you don’t deserve to be there. I think if I’m LeCavalier or Carter, I am looking at Alexander Ovechkin and saying: “He deserves to be a rightly named starter as much and maybe even before me.”
Trouble is, many guys do deserve to be there. Many more than there are roster spots. I rail at the idea that Ovie wasn’t properly honored, but I also feel bad for the guys sitting there who might be feeling their accomplishments are vicariously disparaged.
Bottom line: It does the entire league and all the guys playing in the All Star game a disservice to see people like Ovie and Nic Lidstrom slighted.
All-Star Suspensions
I’m not worried about my Red Wings missing one game. We see the prize and know how to get there. The Wings Organization, from top to bottom will support the decisions made by two of our star players and trust them with respect to their own health. So strong is this unit and family that even the Commissioner can’t truly harm them. They will stick together and support each other. Its how we do in the D.
It’s Sid the Kid I am actually worried about. He obviously took a stand in backing out of the game and said he was injured. Why shouldn’t we believe him? It would have been nice to see him get some support from his team, coaches and ownership like we know Nico and Pasha got from the entire Red Wing Organization.
The League may have been aiming at my Wings in effecting the ALL-Star Suspension, but it is the League’s poster boy whose reputation will suffer. GB all but made Sid crawl up there with his tail between his legs. And now by making him play, he effects 1 of 2 things:
1. Exacerbation of an existing injury; or
2. makes Sid seem like he lied about the injury in the first place.
Poor Sid. I wish someone with some common sense would take that kid under wing.
The Los Angeles Kings
I have had the occasion to interact with Kings fans this week as they lose 5 in a row after having a very exiting December, and I am disappointed in many of these fans. The same people who were agreeing with me about Drew Doughty, Erik Ersberg, Johnny Quick, Dustin Brown and the way this team was working a full 60 minutes, and exhibiting the poise of a much older, more experienced team, and really starting to contend in the league, all bailed at the first sign of a slump.
The naysaying – well you all should be ashamed of yourselves. The complaints that you have seen this all before, and turning your back on Terry Murray, Well I am dismayed and surprised.
Think very hard Kings fans before you turn your backs on this team under the guise of “I’ve been disappointed before and darn it my shrink in Beverly Hills (you know the one Dr. everything will be all right) says its ok to protect myself from future suffering by walking away at the tiniest sign of trouble.”
This team is up and coming. They have many many of the ingredients needed to be successful. They have a poised, albeit young, captain; two stellar and young goalies; a great gelling defense. They play 60 minutes as hard as they can. They are smart and focused. They have soundly beaten several of the league’s best teams. They are the real deal and they deserve your support through think and thin, including slumps.
Of course they are gonna slump. Everyone does. You have a young team. They are gonna have some troubles. It is up to the fans to support their team through thick and thin, no matter if it take 10, 15 or 42 years to see a championship team. Only way you can call yourself a true fan.
Man up LA!
Abuse for the City of Detroit and her People
To anyone who attends a game where your team plays Detroit and who feels compelled to taunt a Wings fan by making reference to the dire economic straits of the City and its surrounding suburbs, who feels its appropriate to make fun of people who are losing their jobs, homes, healthcare. Those who make fun of people whose children are suffering, who make fun of a place where things are only likely to get worse: You are a complete soulless moron who deserves to have several large beers dumped on you. Go back to the van you’ve parked by the river, eat some cheese and dream of the day you become a motivational speaker.
San Jose Shark Fans
With the exception of those of you who engaged in the behavior described above- and the guy who yelled for Jody Shelley to break Pavel Datsyuk’s hand, You San Jose Sharks Fans are truly special. I was completely in awe of your loyalty and support for your team. I would love to hang in that atmosphere and see your team play a team other than the Wings (or Kings). Be proud, you were (mostly) classy, fun, enthusiastic and it was a joy to watch you embrace your team.
Helmets, Safety and the NHL- No Easy Answers
The hockey world sees the issue of helmet safety as inextricably linked to the issue of fighting . In my blog of last week I argue that we should look at helmet safety separate from fighting, but no one seems to agree with me. I guess should not be complaining as long as we are still discussing helmet safety.
To that end, TSN has a new article on www.tsn.com: “How should the NHL Address Fights and the use of Helmets” (January 17, 2009) that addresses the very topic we all have discussed on these boards. They interviewed Don Sanderson’s father, who had this to say:
“My son didn’t die as the result of a fight, he died because his head hit the ice. There’s a big difference,” said Mike Sanderson. “It’s a helmet issue.”
“Some say the boys are going to fight and hurt their fists now. Well, I wish my son had a broken fist,” Sanderson added.
Here here. Of course the rest of the article debated fighting…
Fights are Up 70%
TSN also reports in that same article that “It’s worth noting that first-half statistics for this NHL season show that fighting is up 70 percent since the first post-lockout season in 2005-06 – back to pre-lockout levels.” Though I wrote in a December blog about the exponential increase in the percentage of injuries this year, I can’t say for certain how many of those injuries resulted from fights.
In the same TSN article, Wayne Gretzky expressed his thoughts on fights and safety, they are worth reading. It says the great one had “some ideas on how the league could avoid an ugly incident stemming from a fight.
‘’If you throw a guy down (in a fight), it should be an extra penalty,’’ said Gretzky. ‘’If you try to trip a guy during a fight, it should be an extra penalty. If its worse, than it should be reviewed by (NHL disciplinarian) Colin Campbell. That way it will make two guys stand up and actually fight.’’
Sean Avery and Helmet Safety
Because, well, why not? Did you know that the issue of helmet safety came to the forefront in 1998 when Sean Avery, then a player in the OHL, suffered a concussion and deep cut to the head because his helmet flew into the air after he was smashed into the glass? Its true.
Makes me wonder whether Sean’s bad behavior is a result of his noggin getting rattled back in the day. Think this conclusion is reaching a bit? IDK, talk to a professional boxer and see if you can follow their train of thought. Many are not often able to think rationally as a result of head injury. Even a roller coaster ride has been proven to cause mild brain damage. Imagine if Sean’s temperament is the result of that concussion. Head injuries would have caused the premature end of a promising young player’s career and caused a lot of people a lot of grief.
All Men Who Date Women Who Love Hockey
Take her passion seriously, she might know more than you about the game. Do not pester her into leaving a game early EVEN when her team is beating yours senseless in a 4-0 shut out. If you do that, you will NOT get any. Heck you won’t even get that second date.
Originally posted on Friday January 23, 2009 @ 06:47 PM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/27505
Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. No use or reproduction without the express written permission of the author.
Are shootouts merely ties? This is the thought that runs through my head as I contemplate two sides of the argument while trying on new black boots at Bloomingdales. One more shootout debate Juice really? Well sort of. Look, I can’t help it!!! My friends at NHL Connect: 7Deuce and LW3H got me thinking. I’d rather think about hockey than chat with the overly friendly chicka sitting next to me buying ugly pink tory burch flats.
(Nooo honey... those shoes are hideous. I think my grandma wears them. Please, please don’t make me lie to you and say they are cute just to avoid having to talk to you anymore….)
There I was, getting a fabulous deal on a pair of boots that I cannot even wear right now because I have a strained (or sprained) ligament in my foot (or ankle), when LeftWing3Hugger’s comment to 7DeuceKid’s blog of today started to turn in my mind.
Our good friend and master-statistician Lefty has taken the stance that a shootout is really a tie. His opinion is representative of a good segment of the hockey fan world. The shootout remains one of those game features that you either love or detest. No in between.
And Me? Little Ol’ me?
Why, sweetie darling, I’m a confessed shootout-aholic.
So much so that when Lefty called a shootout “basically a tie”, I immediately recoiled in horror, fainted back into the church pew and had to be fanned back to consciousness by several large churchgoers wearing big colorful hats.
Upon sitting up in the church pew, straightening my big electric blue hat and skirt (think Christina Applegate in The Sweetest Thing) I launched into auto-argue response and to my surprise here is the first argument that popped into my head.
The main (some would say sole) purpose of playing a hockey game is to be the team with the most goals at the end of regulation. Its true, go ahead, ask Ddyte- he has looked this up in the NHL Rulebook.
Theoretically, a team who is down a goal in the third should be fighting to get 2 more goals. You know, to win. However, the shootout changes game strategy. A coach who finds his team down one goal in the third, need only assess whether his team has a better shootout percentage against the opposing team and goalie, and assuming he feels they do, then the new game strategy becomes to tie the game up, rather than grind out 2 extra goals.
In some respects (changing the fundamental strategy of the game) it’s the equivalent of the last minute of repetitious “foul time” in professional basketball.
Shootouts change the composition of the game so that the goal to win in regulation is no longer the main goal. Competition is strategized.
Accordingly one might think I concluded the following:
THESHOOTOUTCAUSES A CHANGE IN THEWAYTHEGAME IS PLAYEDTHAT IS NOTNECESSARILYREFLECTIVE OF THEHIGHESTLEVEL OF COMPETITION.
That said, I still believe in the shootout, and here is why.
Shootouts allow for the demonstration of player skill sets that are crucial and important to the game. The Shootout is pure, it is the essence of hockey. It’s the most primitive form of the game, but requires a showing of the highest skill levels. One shooter, one puck, one goalie, one net. Every shooter and every goalie should be good at a one-on-one scenario. Therefore, I advocate its continued presence in the game.
And I argue that because the shootout causes both shooters and goalies to absolutely perform at their highest skill level, it can heighten competition, or at the very least enhance it. Although it isn’t the format of the traditional game, it can invoke the most intense competition in any game on any given day.
So in the end does the shootout lessen competition? I think the answer is that the shootout changes the type of competition from a group effort to that of two individuals. I don’t think anyone can argue that competition dies because of the shootout. The question becomes is this change in competition so flawed that it denigrates the form of the game?
I leave you to decide that for yourself.
Me? Little ol’ Me, in the electric blue boogaloo hat? Well, I have decided. I like the shootout. For me the opportunity to exhibit the one-on-one skill set is a valuable and meaningful addition to the game, and to the extent it can be argued that the shootout detracts from or lessens the competitive nature of the game, I think it’s a fair trade off.
Ps: yes I bought the boots, and yes, THIS time I got a left and a right boot. They are gonna go great with this electric blue dress (but what doesn’t). And the Hat? Yea the hat is fan-tabulous. pps: I know I owe you a Cali hat trick finale, stay tuned.
Originally posted on Thursday January 22, 2009 @ 07:06 PM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/27454
Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. No use or reproduction without the express written permission of the author.
Definition: “Natural Cali Hat Trick”: Attendance by Juice and her awesome goalie brother, Goyo, at three consecutive Red Wings away games in a given season, against each of the three California NHL teams, One Wings-Kings game, One Wings-Sharks game, One Wings-Ducks game.
And Scene:
6’4” Blonde Blue-eyed Goalie with a sick glove hand and a penchant for Hasek-esque flopping stands with tin of black shoe polish in hand, smears black streaks under each eye, throws his goalie helmet on and nods head to adjust angle, trapper on left hand, he takes quick squirt from green Gatorade water bottle.
Blonde 5’4” blogger underlines one eye with shoe polish, considers the Left Eye Lopez look, decides warrior stripes look better, finishes up with the shoe polish, pops a mouthguard in and adjusts her shoulder and elbow pads, straightens the No. 8 on the back of her red hockey sweater and claps fist to palm, hopping out of the car.
The siblings walk across parking lot, through the twilight of a balmy Southern California evening toward the Honda Center. They are ready. They’ve been here before, they know the score.
This is as close to enemy territory as it gets. Or so they think. Blogger Girl (“BG”) dances around like Cassius Clay, looking for action while Goalie Brother (“GB”) chops the back of a passing game-goer’s calf with his stick, when suddenly they realize…
There are no Ducks fans in the throng.
There aren’t even any D3 fans in the crowd. Emilio Estevez is nowhere to be found. The closest you get to finding a fan is a curious tall Scott Hartnell lookalike wearing a Flyers sweater with “Canon” on the back who is almost passed out under the Wild Wing Statute, with a bottle of “cold duck” in his hand, muttering “Quick and Brown” “Crestivez” and “Do you know the way to San Jose?”
Except for the rouge Flyers fan, it’s a sea of red and white. For every 1 black and gold sweater in the crowd there are 3 or 4 red and white jerseys. Konstantinov, LaPointe, Datsyuk, Fedorov and naturally a sea of Yzermans.
Ahhh, BG and GB relax just a bit. Maybe this year they won’t get into a shouting match. Maybe this year no loud mouthed female will stick her finger in GB’s face. Maybe this year BG and GB will get to enjoy the game and watch their beloved Red Wings without being abused. They are stoked and ready to see some live hockey. All smiles and silly banter, the two head into the game, joking and trading NHL gossip, wondering who will be in goal and if Rafalski will play the whole game.
Letting down their guard, will sadly turn out to be a mistake. While GB heads to the loo, (Hey that drive from LA to Anaheim in rush hour traffic is brutal, never less than 2.5 hours) Blogger Girl heads for the beer line. Waiting patiently suddenly she hears:
“ppfffttt Larionov, wtf?”
BG smirks, does not look back at the offender but instead catches the eye of another Red Wing fan. They grin, chuckle, knowingly nod. What can you do? Some people never get it, and well just short of Wrigleyville, we are in a huge homer bandwagon town – no one in Disneyland is even gonna know the name “Igor Larionov”.
But they don’t let up:
“So sick of expatriate Detroiters who can’t get a job, coming to my town.”
Blogger Girl chomps hard on her mouth piece, flips it around with her tongue, ala Patrick Kane, biting while contemplating. Now. BG has been in LA for 4 years, and she left for weather (mostly) but she fiercely defends her hometown and the people still there. Nothing but love for Metro Detroiters: Some of the hardest working, most genuine, cool, no nonsense and honest people you will ever come across. She does the only thing she can.
She buys the biggest beer available, pays and as she turns to leave, she jerks her hand, bumps into the guy and spills half her beer on him.
Yes. yes she did.
She bats her eyelashes and gives a frickin’ academy award winning performance on the apology as she hastily walks in the opposite direction of her seats, carrying her beer Oscar, speeding away until she is sure the guy isn’t following her.
Walking around the concourse, not knowing whether to smile or grimace, she finds her brother in the seats. Sea of red surrounds, one lady has a giant Red Wings blanket that she keeps holding up. The players aren’t even there yet and the Wings fans are amped!
“You going down to the glass for warm ups?” GB asks. BG contemplates:
“Well here is the thing bro. She says. “I was just in Chicago at the Winter Classic, right there at the dugout. Rafs and Drapes both acknowledged me and Jess. I’m going to several games this week, and if I go up to the glass and hang out, how creepy would it be if they start to recognize me? I don’t know that I want to risk being thought of as that freaky hockey stalker chicka? I can see it now, how did the creepy chick from Chicago get here to Anaheim and LA?”
GB considers her point for a minute and then says “Naw, you’re not wearing your beret.”
They laugh and wander down to the glass to watch the Wings execute that amazing 5 way passing drill I told you about in Cali Hat Trick Part I. Drapes hangs by the net, next to Ozzie feeding pucks to skaters who haul back to the blue line. Two lines of Wings at either point, Z takes puck from Drapes crosses ice while, passing to Lids, who crosses and passes to Huds, who passes to Kopecky who shoots on Ozzie. And so it goes. Relaxed, but structured warmups. Gorgeous. Even a couple Ducks fans are watching the drill and BG over hears one guy say: “Holy crap, would you look at that,
look what they are doing.”
It brings a huge smile to her face and kinda makes her feel proud. She has no right to feel proud, but she just can’t help it. You follow a team for 20 some years and see if you don’t think of them as your own.
And by “follow” I mean, “cheer for”, not “stalk”….
GB and BG are feeling relatively relaxed that they are seeing so many Wings fans. Skaters off the ice, the Ducks launch pre show commentary they head for their seats and wait for the stands to fill up.
Last year at this same game, the place was packed. This year, its about ½ empty just minutes before puck drop. The Pond never fills for the entirety of the game either. Function of economy or Ducks record? IDK.
Then, just as the puck is about to drop they find themselves surround by duck fans. As if they moved down from the cheap seats at the last minute. Very big hairy duck fan wearing a Niedermayer jersey keeps bumping back of her seat with knee, she’s pretty sure its on purpose. Ugh! Well, time to put the mouth guard back in.
Puck Drop
BG is a bit apprehensive, seats are behind Ducks goal about 18 rows up, she’s worried it won’t be great angle to see the game. Turns out it’s a very interesting place to watch the game since the Wings are pressing hard and keeping the play at this end.
Watching Dats and Zetterberg fly at you, seeing Z pass the puck through Pahlsson’s legs and then pick it up again- Seriously sick.
Watching a Datsyukian Deke start to form and head your way… its a beautiful and crazy thing to see, like watching a tornado unfurl from a Michigan sky in May. Definitely digging the seats.
Dats and Z worked the entire ice, every shift, streaking up and down and working as hard as possible to make something happen, thought they weren’t always getting on the net, they looked like they were the Hockeytown globetrotters out there.
Cue Sweet Georgia Brown please….
And dang it. If Dan Cleary isn’t the hardest working man in show biz, I will eat my beer Oscar. He was all over the ice making plays, keeping the Ducks off the puck, scoring. Within the first 5 minutes of the game DannyC: weighing in at under 6 feet (I know what his roster stats read, I’m telling you he’s shorter) and 210 pounds,
pummeled
The 6’10”, 345 lb Chris Pronger to the boards.
(Again, pay no attention to that roster stat behind the curtain, I am reporting here with my own two eyes!)
First period was fast and furious.
Wings couldn’t win a face off to save their lives, but what was more perplexing is that no one could control the face off after it was won, both teams fumbled around quite a bit.
Score!!!! Homer gets it done with assists by D and El Capitain. Instant relief, and guarded reservation. After all the jumping, and high fiving with other wings fans BG sit down and begin to worry.
Going up on the Ducks early always gives her pause. She fears the game will degenerating and the Ducks will resort to thugism. She visualizes her boys in Red getting beat up when the Ducks get too far behind. This is a long road trip and She wants a win over the Sharks more than anything, and She certainly doesn’t want them to lose to LA. Can’t take a beating in Anaheim and be ready to beat both of those teams.
This, and the late hit on Zetterberg in the third by Pronger, brings this blogger to her most urgent point.
Wings need an enforcer.
Kopecky and Meech have size, and (according to jleWings) Kopecky has the guns, but they aren’t getting the job done, We need McCarty back in the line up for these kind of teams, or we need to snipe Scott Hartnell.
We need D-Mac, and Scott Hartnell would look great in red….
Quack Quack Chirp Chirp, you sure got a purdy mouth.
Ducks score. Big hairy due sitting behind Juice leans forward and screams in her ear, and he has breath like he has been dead for about two and a half days.
Now I know you won’t be surprised to hear this, but Juice is kind of loud. It’s annoying to hear all her screams and cheers at a game, even if you are a Wings fan. Sadly, she sincerely tries not to be as vocal as instinct would otherwise lead her…
(she is also really, really sick of writing about herself in the third person, and though at this point in the blog though we are worried about the gaff of switching voice … arrrgh, I just can’t do it any more…must break grammar rules, just this once…)
Now I know you won’t be surprised to hear this, but I’m kind of loud. Its annoying to hear all my screams and cheers at a game, even if you are a wings fan. I sincerely try not to be as vocal as instinct would otherwise lead me and I never start “shixxa”. (muuucchhh better)
I won’t directly taunt an opposing fan unless hey come after me. Although sometimes I would very much like to, I never look at a guy in a Ducks jersey and say “SUCK IT YEWDIRTY DUCK”. My Winter Classic gaff aside, the worst I get is responding to some jerk by yelling “Scoreboard”. Usually I whoop and holler, high fiving other wings fans.
So although I am loud, I am not antagonistic. And yet this guy was acting like a deuce in response to us cheering for our team.
My brother (GB) flipped his goalie helmet back and said “Listen bro- that’s not cool.” And the guy got all up in his business. My brother stood his ground very calmly saying “Look Bro, we are gonna cheer for our team, we paid for these seats like you, we weren’t antagonizing you, we weren’t even acknowledging you, so back off, because the fact that your so threatened by a tiny little girl cheering her team on means you don’t think your boys have the stones to win this game.”
And we all held our breath. Except or Puck Bunny girl who kept trying to shush them both. Puck Bunny Girl’s boyfriend and I tried to subdue her, it was messy. Whose Puck Bunny Girl? Stay tuned….
The Big Fat Hairy Smelly Duck fan (aren’t they always big fat hairy and smelly?) grunts at Brother says “I can’t hear you.”
My brother looks at me we giggle and he says
“Did Somebody Step on a Duck?”
Chicks and Ducks and Bunnys better scurry
I spent the better part of the game having to work to focus on my Wings because the pretty little blonde puck bunny who sat next to me wanted to make friends….Now I often makes friends with other fans, but this is a DUCK Fan.
Actually, that is not true at all.
She could not be called a fan. Let’s just say she knows what Hockey is. What??? I’m sorry. Look. I thought she was a sweetheart, but anyone whose best chant was “Go guy” when Perry gave up the puck to Kronner in the second and who refused to wear the Parros jersey a friend loaned her just for this game, because she “just didn’t look pretty in it, its too big…” is definitely a Bunny.
Now to be fair, it was a Parros jersey, and I think that when you buy a Parros jersey, it comes with the pornstache, and you are required to wear them together. I am totally on board with any woman who refuses to sport thick swinger facial hair just for a game but still….
Imagine saying THAT to me sitting there with the black warpaint stripes on my cheeks, my enormous oversized Larionov jersey while I’m chomping on a mouthpiece.
I can’t rip on her too much though because, well she was drunk and she really (really) tried hard to be friends. She was nice. I liked her. Puck Bunny Blondie and her boyfriend Jessie- the only two Ducks “fans” that prevent me from summarily dismissing and stereotyping all Ducks fans as fat hairy smelly and hard of hearing…
Sigh.
Cat and Mouse; Red Wings Third Period Stylee
What can I say, it’s the Wings style and habit this year. At some point a team is gonna come along that can hang with us for 60 minutes (sooner rather than later I suspect…) and this style of play will catch up with us, but last night and the 20 previous games before, you all know that no matter what goes down in the first two periods, at some point the Red Wings take a look around the bench, tap their sticks, give each other the “Let’s do this” look and turn it on. Daniel Cleary with the even up goal, and the Mule with a stellar effort grinding it out to get the game winner.
Ahh Mule, we love ya. Danny Boy- amazing effort in this game. Huds, Dats, Rafs, Ozzie I know you worked hard too- heck, Lids, Lilja, Meech Kops, Drapes, Hossa truth is you all looked sharp and hard working out there. I don’t have one complaint about any of the team. I just wish we had an enforcer who could put Pronger in his place. Seeing Datsyuk check Pronger and seeing him slam Hank into the boards made me very very upset.
Thank you Detroit Red Wings for allowing us to walk out of the Honda Center smiling and never looking back on the people who are so classless that they abuse my hometown and people just for loving their hometown team.
As we walked out of the Honda Center, Goyo removed his goalie helmet and I spit my mouth piece in the garbage. We heard someone yell “Let’s Go Red Wings” and We responded. Next thing I know I hear:
“I bet you like the Yankees too, “effing” losers”. I turn to look at the guy, (you guessed it fat hairy probably smell, and short) and I say “get a clue – no one has been able to buy a team since before the lock out.”
And a cheer erupts from about 5 Red Wings fans in the vicinity.
I hear the guy say “lock out?” and we just keep walking.
Jessie and Lindsey: puck bunny jokes aside – You guys were fun to sit next to and the coolest Ducks fans I ever met. Mr. Cleary- I know you’re a big guy, I just wanted to make the visual of you taking on Pronger seem as disparate as it looked from my vantage point, it was a hell of a hit bro, good on ya!
And so ends the second installment of Juice and Goyo’s Cali Hat Trick 08-09. Thank you all for reading and Game 3 is on ice and chillin!
Ed note: This will not be a natural Cali hat trick series as promised. Circumstances are preventing me from hitting up San Jose this weekend as planned. But my brother and I will be hitting three Wings in Cali games this year, and given the battlefield we survived last night, I am thinking this year it will be more like a Cali “Howe” hat trick. One Shoot Out win, One brawling regulation win, and ?
Stay tuned…
Originally posted on Thursday January 15, 2009 @ 06:04 PM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/27086
Ever since Donny Sanderson’s death and the “legal” hit Jamie Heward suffered at the hand of Alexander Ovechkin a couple weeks back, (you know- the one that sent him to the hospital and into a concussion) I have tossed the issue of helmet safety around in my head, intending to write a blog.
MetalheadfanUK’s blog of today at nhlconnect: “Ken Campbell is Wrong”- an astonishingly well written and researched piece, focuses on the debate about whether to remove fighting from the game. That is not my issue, but his work prompted me to talk about an issue I think is more important.
When Don Sauderson’s death was announced after he lay in a coma for weeks as a result of his unprotected head hitting the ice, the first thing I heard out of the League was “The NHL will not review its rules on fighting”. I think everyone discussing fighting has missed the point.
All such an announcement warranted from me was a sigh of resignation and the strengthening of an already intense belief that Heads Should NOT hit the Ice Unprotected.
Donny was a fighter, and as near as I can tell, the fight was normal course of business until his bare head cracked against the hardest sports surface known to man. (Yes, I am saying wood and even clay give more than ice, I’ll bet NASCAR race tracks are softer, I just don’t have any evidence to back such a claim up.)
In a boxing ring the mat is very soft and helmets are designed for the punch and landing on an already cushioned mat. When helmets are not used in boxing we see the results in the likes of some of the greats – Muhammad Ali, for example. On a football field, the helmets- even sparser than boxing- are designed to hit soft turf or grass and for neck protection.
The hockey rink ice surface alone requires that we address the injuries potentially suffered from hitting the ice, (be it either from a fight, a check or a fall) as much more serious and potentially dangerous. I do not see evidence of concern for this reality in the various leagues.
Helmets in hockey are designed for two things: Errant puck stoppage (like a baseball batting helmet) and clear visuals (including and especially allowing for peripheral vision). They offer little or no protection from contact with the ice surface.
There are too many deaths, concussions, comas and head injuries in this league from heads hitting the ice. SAFERHEADEQUIPMENTMUSTBECOME A TOPIC OF SERIOUSDISCUSSION IN THISLEAGUE and if a player’s death and the alarming rise in concussion rates in the league don’t prompt swift change,
Then my feeling is that until the game is made safer, fighting needs to be tempered.
Fact is that I am not a fan of sanctioned fighting in a sport which utilizes a playing surface of ice, with head equipment that has little or no protective qualities. If the League won’t do something about fighting, then it must do something about head safety.
Originally posted on Monday January 12, 2009 @ 06:02 PM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/26937
I wanted to call this *The Puck Bunnyhood of the Traveling Zetterberg Hockey Pants: Winter Classic Edition*, but that is longer than the maximum title count of 64 characters. A tragic example of foreshadowing, this conundrum of mine should give you some indication of where we are headed if you read on...
I know this isn’t timely. I know many of you are seriously sick of hearing about the Winter Classic at this point, so if you're still reading this blog, well I am incredibly honored and flattered. And I thank you in advance. If you’re looking at this blog now and thinking “This is the last d.a.y.u.m. Winter Classic Blog I will ever read”, then I _beg you_, stop reading, and wait. jleWings has one of her amazing photo blogs coming. I’ve seen the pics and I know the stories. Her blog is gonna be far better than this albatross I have labored unsuccessfully over for three days.
Oh yea _*Caveat Reador!*_ I recommend you grab a frosty bevvie, a tasty snack and your most comfy chair, this isn’t a short one. (quelle surprise) While I have not beaten 22’s legendary 30 MS Word pages of blog (the “Cold” Standard), it just seems I have no use in my life for the concept of brevity. Frankly I blame all of you, your enablers, every last one of you.
Oh- I am really leaving the pictorial to jleWings- who has amazing pics from this day, but for the sake of giving you a potty break and in order to beef this thing up so I can at least pay homage to 22’s epic 30 page blog, there are a few pics and videos…
So are we all strapped in cats and pajamas? Well, hold on to your black cowboy hats and your candy cane striped leggings, I hope you enjoy this first chapter in jleWings and Juice’s Puck Bunnyhood of the Traveling Zetterberg Hockey Pants.
_And scene:_
Short blond Los Angelean (by way of Detroit), with way too much carry-on luggage, in worn, stained and spattered Uggs, a curious white fuzzy beret, glasses, pigs and red pea coat wears a serene, almost knowing smile as she stares out the window at Gate 75A of Chicago’s O’Hare on January 3rd, occasionally looking down at her laptop, slowly pecking away…
For days now, I have let this experience churn in my head and heart. Wanting to savor it and hold on as long as I could.
Trying to find the string of adjectives that can adequately describe how it all felt. I left Chicago convinced that there is no word or phrase in the English language that can adequately describe what it felt like in my head and heart to be at the 2009 Winter Classic.
[Insert “No one wants to know what it feels like in that beret covered head of yours anyway Jooce” joke here.]
_Amazing, Overwhelming, Epic._ These words, some of my favorite descriptors, almost cheapen the feeling.
The closest I can get to describing it is to ask you to imagine spending an entire day suspended in that moment right after you first gasp as the beauty of a Fiji lagoon, the sun coming up over Mt. Kilimanjaro or maybe what it feels like when you first lay eyes on your soulmate.
I’ve experienced none of these things of course. But I can _imagine_ what such moments would feel like. That sort of holding your breath, adrenaline fueled, realization of utter joy.
This was a day and a game unlike any other I’ve experienced and I have some pretty good Red Wing memories. It doesn’t beat Game 4 in 1997 or seeing Vladdie hold the cup in 1998, but its right up there.
There was something more than the energy of a frozen city borough coming alive in the dead of winter at a historic baseball field, more than the buzz of thousands of excited fans from both sides of the Six electrifying the air. Even the sight of the packed Wrigley stands, rooftops and bleachers, the strains of “Oh Canada” being sung by a good number in the crowd, an Air Force fly-by, a Red Wing win with a perfect Datsyukian deke: all chill invoking events.
Despite the delicious double entendre, chills can’t fully account for the way I felt this day.
Even more impressive to me, is that this day exceeded my unbelievably high expectations (You don't leave sunshine and 70's for subzero and windchills just for any hockey game chickadees). I now know that when I see a game, I want to feel the cold on my cheeks, see my breath, hear the echo of skate blade to ice against the boards. Hear the shouts of the players quickly dissipate into open air. I’ve come to realize the atmosphere of the outdoor forum allows the fans to participate in ways an arena game cannot.
Arena games will likely always feel slightly artificial for me now.
More importantly, as I stood in my seat, mere yards from my beloved Red Wings surrounded by Wings and Hawk and hockey fans from all over, I realized that this New Year’s game brings player and fan, coach and owner back to the essence of hockey.
Maybe the way to describe this day is to call it the essence of hockey. Hmm, its sentimental, but I think its been done.
With each goal horn, crowd roar, “Let’s Go Red Wings” chant, each Babcockian High Noon swagger back to the dugout, each Draper face off, catching a grin exchanged between Lilja and Homer, watching a father help his son carry the stick Jiri Hudler just gave him, a little choked gasp escaped my throat, tears briefly welled in my eyes. Every time the crowd leapt to its feet or Nic Lidstrom looked us in the eye as he made his way into the locker room, for every panoramic glance around the field at the 40,000 strong that came to see this game, more tears, more lovely little heartbreaks. Can your heart break in a good way? I think it can. Maybe it’s more like a “heartburst”.
I feel _beyond_ lucky to have had this opportunity, really it was almost surreal.
Maybe that is the way to describe this whole experience:
I wish I could have come up with five descriptors whose first letters spelled out the acronym “S.A.P.P.Y” “S.S.J.W.H” doesn’t spell anything good. Sigh.
*GETTING TO THE GAME- FEAR OF FLYING? MORE LIKE FEAR OF FREEZING.*
I landed in Chicago on New Years Eve, to what apparently was the first sunny sky they had seen in quite some time. Thrilled to see my friend the sun. She turns out to have been a cruel illusion.
That first breath of Chicago air I pulled into my lungs halted me in my tracks, choked me and stopped my respiratory system, um “cold”. Arctic blast rushing in to freeze all my bronchi. HEDHS. _Now_ I remember what cold feels like. And what pollution tastes like- let me tell you LA air has nothing on the terrible taste of Chicago exhaust fumes trapped at surface level by dense arctic air.
I barely had time to text JleWings: “Its ‘effing’ cold” before she pulled up in her awesomely rad red ride, complete with Red Wing logo covering the back window. Her timing was spot on money, because my gloveless fingers were too frozen to finish the text. And I loved tooling down I-90 toward the city with that logo on our car!
But poor Jle. She had to listen to me catatonically repeat “its sooo cold” over and over as I directed every last heating vent toward me, stuck my fingers in the vents all the way to the hotel. She was a great sport.
Once we got to the hotel, Jle handed me a present! OOOOOHHH, presents!!! This was starting out to be an excellent adventure! Jle’s wonderful Mum made me the most gorgeous pair of ultra warm, fully fleece lined, woolen mittens in Red and Black. Thank you Jle’s Mum! They are amazing. Even though I don’t expect to ever need them again, I love them so much. What a thoughtful, generous gift.
We had a couple agenda items for New Years Eve, including the unstated agreement to “Turn the mother out” by midnight at a lovely soiree hosted by my darling Chicago friends Karl and Jeff.
Just so you know, “Turn(ing) the mother out” for Jle and I involved cute clothes, lots of champagne and sparkles.
First on agenda: Wrigley drive-by for atmosphere, quick shopping trip, food and sign making.
Sign making was “hi-larionov-ous” (gratitude to V for giving me this phrase).
Jle is the Martha Stewart of sign making! She had no less than 4 colors of sparkles, and about 300 magic markers. I’m still covered with sparkles, I find them in my hair and everything I packed for that trip is lousy with red and silver sparkles. It was worth it, here is the product of our labor:
We accomplished most of our agenda (don’t get me started on trying to find food downtown), and were in a cab back to the Hotel, head to pillows by about 1:30 am, with visions of Red Wing goals dancing in our heads. Giddy as we were, we had no idea what the next day would bring.
*9 AM- GAME DAY- “Could I be _wearin’_ anymore clothes?” p.s.: Commando was NOT an option.*
Wardrobe choices warranted significant attention. While you may already know (and be sick of hearing) that I had been obsessing for weeks about staying warm, what you might not know the source of such dramatic and seemingly pathetic anxiety. You see, it was my inability to handle frigid cold that drove me from the Midwest to begin with. Throughout Midwest winters, I used to suffer terrible, constant headaches from being exposed to sub-zero winds. I spent most Decembers, Januarys and Februarys shivering like a Chihuahua- No joke.
In my last year in the “D”, I would wear long johns under my clothes. And even at work I would wear fingerless gloves and scarves- but I never felt warm. Within moments of the cold air hitting my face, a terrible headache would ensue for the rest of the day. Some people are just total wusses- I’m woman enough to admit it.
So while prior to this trip I admittedly could no longer remember what it was like to be frigidly cold, I was instantly reminded upon setting foot outside O’Hare. Accordingly I had quite a bit of anxiety about the day’s weather.
Jle and I started to layer: She had tights and thermals and jeans, thermal top, long sleeve T, Her Zetterberg jersey, a Red Wings hoodie, a yellow quilted vest and a Columbia winter coat, her Red Wings cap, a pair of those amazing mittens her mom made, a scarf, three pairs of socks and boots. She could barely put her arms down, ala Randy from “A Christmas Story”. It was hysterical. I have photos of the layering process. No, you may not see them.
You’ll shoot your eye out…
I was a bit worried because Jle had a LOT more clothing on her person than I had in my whole suitcase and she _likes_ the cold! I could have pulled a “Joey”, wearing everything in my suitcase, and not have had as much clothing on as Jle.
So I took her sage advice to put my only pair of tights under my thermals- Let me tell you ladies- the “Spanx” brand of tight- absolutely amazing, not just for keeping you belly flat! So me: tights, thermals, fleece lined snowboard pants, those disposable heat packets in each of my back pockets, a long sleeve T, turtleneck sweater, my 1998 playoff issued Igor Larionov Sweater, a scarf, my White fuzzy beret, my red wool peacoat, two pairs of socks and my Uggs.
_A Beret, Juice? A BERET? After all the whining you’ve done about fear of cold? Come on! You should have carried a sparkly pink sign that says “I’m a shallow LA Hypocrite!”_
I felt like such a West Coast Homer, but I LOVE that beret, and I never get the chance to wear it! It was the one fashion choice I could not justify and could not abandon.
My Uggs got trashed. I’m hugely bummed- it was my own fault. I kept kicking my own beers and hot peppermint chocolates over.
Jle and I took a good look at each other fully layered, already sweating in that hotel room, started laughing, grabbed our signs, cameras, phones, my flask, all our little hand and foot warmers, tissue, money, chapstick, cold medicine, and most importantly:
*TICKETS*
And we headed out to hail a cab for Wrigley, thinking we were headed out “early” to find breakfast and maybe have a Hot Toddy. We completely underestimated the Wrigleyville party factor….
While its true there Ain’t no Party like a Detroit Party, the cats in Wrigleyville can, in fact, turn the mother out.
*10:00 CAB RIDE INTO WRIGLEYVILLE*
Wrigelyville was one huge frat row party. These people were partying OUTSIDE in the dead of winter. Wow Midwesterners are tough. We got dropped several blocks from the stadium and walked through the neighborhoods. Streets were lousy with Wing and Hawk fans, brownstones overflowing with outdoor parties, kegs on the lawns, windows framed with Wing and Hawk flags. It looked like East Lansing and South Bend all rolled together on a Saturday game day. I felt like I was about 18 years old again.
Jle and I were “invited” into a keg party, but after seeing only Blackhawk jerseys and flags, we though better of the idea, envisioning a lynching, or mugging or some sick sacrifice to the Wrigley gods. We wisely opted to walk on by.
We had perma-smiles as we strolled looking for food and a party store, we kept looking at each other with giggly amazement as wave after wave of realization that “We are really going to the Classic” began to break overhead. And left, it was a hard left break off the point. Can else tell whether that is a surf of hockey descriptor? Does it matter?
You couldn’t have wiped my smile from my face if you threatened to dump a pepsi cola on my head… well maybe, stay tuned to find out.
Anyone need a potty break? Go ahead, it will still be here when you get back.
The energy was incredible. The air was crisp and there was surprisingly little wind. I took my coat off.
*I know!!!!!*
I had to. You couldn’t see my Larionov sweater with the coat on. And well, rest of the outfit, the signs, Jle's Red Wing gear, our face stickers, well they just wasn’t enough - I felt - for people to decipher our fan loyalties.
The pre-game banter with Hawks fans was silly and in good humor. We had fun getting sassed by the bouncers in the bars, who would pretend to refuse us entry. In fact, it wouldn’t be until Hawk fans got drunk and their team was getting spanked that it turned ugly. More on my goon altercation later though.
Boy were Jle and I popular. A function of the combination of the masterpiece signs, my loud mouth and the fact that not many women were braving this day. Either that or my fuzzy beret. No one can resist a fuzzy beret.
Our search for food was disastrous and I was losing my mind about eating. The only place we could get near was McDonalds, which had a line extending down the street both before and after the game. Despite not having had a meal since 7 pm (pacific) on 12/30, I was not willing to wait in that line for soggy fries and an apple pie, there was too much to see and do. We headed into Wrigley.
*OUR SEATS*
Jle and I took a HUGE gamble on this game. We bought our tix on Stub Hub, the very cheapest seats offered and the listing stated that they were “limited viewing/partially obstructed”. Despite copious research, we entered the stadium not knowing whether we’d see any of the game at all. We didn’t know what we’d encounter once we found our seats.
The Wrigley concourse was decorated with cool individual player banners. I wanted to take one home. History seeped from the hallowed walls, only to be over powered by the smell of fried food. The stench of bratwurst and fried onion was really, really gross as the cold outdoor air trapped the cooking smells in the concourse. You could not escape it, you could not conquer it. I hate smelling like food. Ugh! We quickly moved through the crowd.
Jle and I were on an anxious mission to see our seats. So we plowed through to Club Section Osgood which took us down a ramp, past the “Interview Area”. As soon as I saw the "Interview Area" sign, I barely had time to knock the needle off the record as I purposefully walked right up to the interview room, pulled the handle and took two steps in as though I belonged. One guy manned the security post, I paid him no mind. He didn’t stop me.
Oh yea- I was going for it- you didn’t expect anything less did ya? Please, you would have done it too.
Sadly, there wasn’t any interviews going on, or I would have abandoned Jle to sneak in and try to ask a question. (Queue Dream Sequence:)
“Coach Babcock: Andreas Lilja has been stepping it up for your team lately, do you think that the fact that he is so incredibly hot has anything to do with it? What about Nic Lids, Hank Zetterberg, the whole team – really do you think their hotness factors in their total domination of the League?”
Come on people. Like _*that*_ is really the question I would have asked. You should know me better. I would have asked for one of the black cowboy hats. _*That*_ is what I would have asked for.
I turned around, headed out of the room and said to Jle “If there had been an interview going on, I would have abandoned you. I’m sorry.”
She laughed and said “Juice, I would have been right behind you!”
That's my girl. I wonder what question SHE would have asked…
And then we made our way out to our seats. They were *MINT.* Here was our view:.
*MINT 500*, baby.
5 rows up, right over the away team dugout where the Red Wings would exit and enter the locker rooms. Less than a pitcher’s fast ball from the goal end of the rink. No obstruction.
The only thing that must have counted for obstruction was that we did not see the ice surface because of the boards. But we were so close. _So close._ How had this happened?
We could not believe it. I whispered to Jle:
“Holy “effing” ship, Jelly. Our boys will be right here within 15 feet of us.”
She could not believe it either. We just stood there with the goofy grins, looking around, taking it all in.
The players were warming up on the ice when I had what Jle could refer to as a “AHL Meltdown”. For some reason having all that crap with me: signs, the give away binoculars from Reebok, camera, cell phone, my ticket, beret, and having taken off my coat, I just could not get organized in my seat enough and threw a bit of a hissy fit about the signs. I’ll leave it to Jle to fill you in on the real story on that, only saying in my defense that, by 11 AM (central) Jan. 1 all I had eaten in the last 39 hours was a 4”x 4” appetizer “pizza”, champagne and 5 chocolates. And I get irrational when I haven’t eaten.
The Wings began to head off the ice after warm ups and toward us. Jle and I rushed down to the dugout where we were the only Red Wing fans.
This is where we made our presence known. (ahem) We began whooping and hollering and calling every player, coach and manager out by name, every player except one…
Please see Jess’ Open Letter to Darren McCarty blog and know that the *depth* of shame, remorse and embarrassment we both feel at not having recognized one of our ALL TIME favorite players may never fully dissipate.
In between snapping photos, we stood calling out to our boys by name: “Now Homer, Now Zetter, Now Rafalski, Now Conklin, On Comet (its what we call Drapes because he’s so fast) On Jiri, On Lilja, On Lidstrom.”
Apparently we were quite, um “noticeable”, because B-Raf himself pulled his practice cap off and tossed it to me! HEDHS yes- it was a little sweaty, but a VERY cool souvenir!
Then Drapes came up and we were chanting “Draper, Kristo, Drapes” and he tossed Jle a practice puck.
So killah. We were thrilled. We jumped up and down like kids and cheered. I like to think it was at this moment that D-Mac slipped by us unnoticed, but Jle has photographic evidence to the contrary.
Then I made friends with a very cool reporter for Bloomberg by the name of Mike Buteau, who sent me the picture of Rafs tossing me the hat. Very cool, read his stuff, he is a genius.
*THE FANFARE*
The pre-game brew Ha-ha was less brew, more Ha-awww. It had something for everyone, cute kids in replica uniforms, ice girls, Legends of Hockey and Baseball, fireworks and sonic boom fly-bys. I didn’t pay attention to much of it. Instead Jle and I (along with Colin and Talya's crew) were too busy looking for the hot chocolate vendor and firing back a “Let’s Go Red Wings” or “We got the Cup” for every chant of “Detroit Sucks”.
I have to say that no matter what the game or where I’ve seen the Wings play- from the Joe to the Pond, you never hear Detroit fans denigrating other teams or cities with a chant like that. One more reason to add to the seemingly infinite list of reasons why Detroit is Hockeytown: Wings fans have class and we have solid respect for the rest of the league. (Except the Ducks, we hate the Ducks. And Claude Le Mew, we hate Claude Le Mew.)
I also have to say that “Day-um, I am a very very (very) loud chicka. I kind of feel bad for the people that have to go to games with me or sit near me. I wish I could help it. I can’t. I gave Jle 5-2 odds that I’d lose my voice by the second period. She won the bet.
Luckily Jle didn’t seem to care about my loud mouth (or maybe she did but could not get a word in edgewise, IDK…). As I see it, she was too obsessed with the red and white striped socks, leg warmers, leggings the Wings were wearing to notice. We both agreed that they looked like candy canes and were basically ridiculous. Trouble is, once you noticed how silly they looked, the train wreck effect took hold and you could not stop staring.
Seriously Mr. Paul Boyer, trainer extraordinaire, you know I have nothing but mad love for you, but our boys _already_ look kinda Santa Claus-y when they wear all red, did you have to turn them into elves/Hamburglers for _this_ Game??? They looked like they came straight from an “Elf yourself” convention….
_Sigh._ At least they weren’t in Power Blue Sweaters.
*THE FANS*
Holy Snickers people, we made so many friends! Mike the reporter; Colin from Ontario, Talya, a lawyer from Detroit sporting a vintage Wingnut Hat that brought yet another tear to my eye. CEREAL- I haven’t seen one of those since 1998.
A little kid in a Rangers sweater with dad in a Blackhawks sweater, an MSU Spartan, Hawk Fans and even two super cool New Jersey Devils fans who sat immediately in from of us and so patiently tolerated mine and Jle’ very enthusiastic support of our Wings.
Only one individual in attendance at the game caused a problem.
Why do you people always assume its me?
Second period break, as Draper heads back to dugout, I’m doing my best cheerleader imitation, Jle is right beside me. We hear someone say something not so nice to Draper. Still we aren’t sure if it’s an insult, so I turn to look. He was creepy with an orange hat and a scrawny beard. Then the guy says something that clarifies its an insult, and Jooce reacts…
I said something completely inappropriate, given that I had not checked first to see if children were present. That is the thing about reacting, it tends to be spontaneous, without forethought. I promptly set about, apologizing to those around me, when Orange cap Deuce Bag then screams:
“Eurotrash” to a Red Wing.
And I once more responded. OcDB came right at me with his Pepsi bottle poised over my head. I had three simultaneous thoughts: (1) “How many punches could I get in before he hit back or I got dragged off of him”; (2) “Pepsi would _ruin_ my beret” and (3) “Don’t get thrown out of the game Jooce. Don’t get thrown out of the game.” So I stood there glaring waiting to see if he was as spineless as he had already made himself out to be. He said “That’s what I thought.” and walked away. True, it was too cold to sit through a period with a wet head and too important a game to get thrown out, but to this day I kind of wish I had taken a swing. I have a serious right jab. It would have made HNIC for sure. On the other hand, I would never again be able to write another blog about how the game doesn’t need fighting.
But other than that, we really didn’t see any other total and complete dingle berries. The stands were packed with fans of the sport and the league- Rangers, Habs, Bruin sweaters, and I have mad love for the Blackhawks fan sporting the Roenick jersey- but not as much as for the extraordinarily cool chicka in the front row who wore Chelios’ USA Jersey, and that reminds me of the most hysterically mean thing that happened…
_And Scene:_
Blondie chicka, probably 29-30 years, in front row wearing Chelios USA jersey was standing next to me at end of game, Wings are handing out sticks as they enter the dugout…sadly not to me (I should not feel bad, but I can’t believe I blew my Wings swag karma on a hat when hockey sticks were in the offering)BACK to Blondie Cheli Chicka,
Here comes Chelios and he’s been surly with that area/group all day (There were some jerky Hawks fans saying bad stuff to him) but as he approaches the dugout, she is begging him for something or just screaming his name, hard to tell which, maybe both.
Cheli takes a look- I KNOW he can see her jersey with the big USA on it. He takes his glove off and stretches it out to hand it to her as he is about to disappear into the dugout. She scrambles, body outstretched over dugout roof. We are all excited, because OBVIOUSLY she is a real fan, when at the last second…
Cheli intentionally jerks it back, in a classic “psyche” and disappears into the dugout. The girl was left sprawled like Huet after Pasha’s deke across the blue Winter Classic logo painted on the dugout roof.
Don’t feel too bad for her, 3 minutes later she got Lidstrom’s game stick.
I’ll admit it, I was insanely jealous even though I was happy for her. But come on, I was right there too! What’s a girl gotta do to get a stick around there? Throw her beret in the air? (Thanks Mchi, for that inspiration)
Frankly, the fact that Andreas Lilja didn’t give me his stick is, well, its just depressing. True, true, if anyone had given me a hockey stick I’d probably just turn around and give it to some kid anyway, but it’s the thought that counts. Andreas…where’s the love?
During the game, nearly everyone in the section surrounding us was having a ball. Chants from Hawk fans prompted our response “We got the Cup” or “Lets Go Red Wings”. They said "Detroit Sucks" enough, I think they WANTED to hear how we have the cup. They liked it, or didn't know what it was. Hey, 1961 is quite a while back.
Whether wearing red and white or red and black, we were all laughing with each other and enjoying the moment. There wasn’t any animosity at all, as near as I could tell.
There were some curious characters to be sure. Like the guy who dressed head to toe in Rafalski gear, even down to the hockey pants, helmet and gloves; or the guy Jle liked best, wearing Red Wing snow pants and goal netting for a hat who refused to smile and kind of scared us; or the Hawks fan wearing dark sunglasses, sporting a Fu Manchu- those two facial "features" combined with his black hoodie and ear muffs, well. Nuff said, right?
While we did encounter some great Chicago fans- you know the kind that knew Jonathan Toews is the Blackhawks captain and those who wore Roenick jerseys, the bandwagon element present and I found myself wishing only true hockey fans were in attendance for this game, _people like you all_. Even though this was my Red Wings playing and an exciting Chicago team that is just starting to make noise in the League, _This_ was a game for real hockey fans, a game for the ages, if you will. And I wish you all had been there.
*THE GAME ITSELF: DO WE HAVE TIME FOR A MOVIE MONTAGE?*
Images of the game float randomly through my head, the way I hope they will when I’m 94 in my rocking chair at the “home”, wearing a Wingnut hat, a purple flower and tangerine orange lipstick, scaring the kiddies by taking my teeth out or just speaking my mind (because I NEVER do either of those things now…)
I don’t feel the need to recap because you all saw the game, and I didn’t do anything even remotely resembling analysis. Hey, I was there as a fan and well, the peppermint schnapps Jle and I added to our 3,4-6 hot chocolates was kicking my starved tush!
At the end of the first period, I had no worries though. Geez, we saw this same beginning not two days before. I was confident that my Wings would not fail. Although I did kind of get all homer-y at the break when I ran down to the dugout and as the boys came in, shouted “Shake it off boys” and “No worries!” and “We’ve got Spirit yes we do! We’ve got Spirit, How ‘bout you!”
Sorry I could not come up with a better cheer, I just don’t know any. Shut up its true. I have never been a cheerleader. I was too mouthy. No one likes a perky sassafrass.
*DRAPER FACE OFFS, DATSYUKIAN DEKES AND RUNNING GOALIES OUT OF NET, OH MY!*
As mentioned, our seats were too low to see ice surface and hence the puck. Yes you should feel very very (very)bad for us. I’ll give you take a moment to reflect on how pathetic our fortunes really are…
Take a potty break too while you are at it, I’ll wait. (Jooce stands there hands in pockets singing “Ain’t no potty like a Detroit potty, because a Detroit potty never stops.”
Better? Good. Where were we? Seats low, ice surface obscured. Being a “the Box is half full of Blackhawks” kind of girl, I took it as an opportunity to see if I could follow the game from the waist up.
Sounds dirty but it isn’t.
And it turns out to my delight, that I was able to identify certain characteristic Red Wings plays, set ups and opportunities without having to just follow the puck.
For instance, when Drapes took a face off, I knew if he won by where the Wings players would head.
And When Pasha started his “breakaway” in our own zone while everyone was worried about a possible turn over, I knew it and was able to catch the whole play, which by the way was so killer you need to watch it again.
Segue alert: Apparently at the exact same time Pasha was making his brilliant move, our good buddy Colin was tumbling backwards down the aisle-way. I didn’t see the fall, just the after math. However. Poor Jle was trying to get my attention to show me what happened to Colin and I “shushed” her.
WTF jooce!? Well technically not a “shush”, I just emphatically pointed to the Jumbotron with a stern look on my face and insisted she watch the two replays they were showing. She said later it was worth it, but I think it was kind of mean of me. Sorry Jle. You know how I get without food. It’s my only defense.
Still I probably don’t feel as bad as Huet felt at being run out of net. Wow. Listen Cristobal is a solid goal tender, HEDHS he had a GAA of 1.41 and a save percentage .947 in December! He is part of the reason I am at the top of my fantasy league. And yet, my Red Wings lit him up like he was hooking in the Chicago Levee.
*GAME OVER.WINGS 6-4. AFTER GLOW*
We didn’t want to leave. Really, we could not be moved. Neither Jle and I had used a restroom since 9 am though we had polished off 3,4,6 hot chocolates. But we didn’t want to leave the field. We weren’t the only ones.
The occasion to just look around once more at the emptying bleacher seats and rooftops, to see a Red Wing flag whipping from the top of the stadium, to watch the interviews and to chat with other people, please! Truth is, heading to the ladies' room would have meant leaving and an end to a surreal sentimental joyous heart bursting day.
So we lingered, congratulated the girl who got Lidstrom’s stick, took pictures of other fans with Jle’s amazing sign,
...got hit on (Yeeees there was a feisty architect that liked Jle- A LOT) Me? I met my share of slobbering drunks (Josh and Ladies' Restroom Guy, really sooo sorry I never got a chance to meet up with you after the bathroom, I don’t know WHAT happened.) Sorry, drunk guys are always great with the compliments, but I had priorities: eat. Pizza, get warm, eat. (42 hours and counting)!
3-4 pm central, we took one last look around and resignedly left our seats. One last stop and one more new friend to make:
We would have chatted with our new Blackhawk fan friend longer but they were pushing at us with brooms, plus hanging out in the ladies' room of a sports stadium after hours is weird.
As we made our way out of Wrigley, herded by surly workers who did not care about history making days, but only that they get home in time to watch “Cops: Southy Edition”, I fell silent for the first time all day, thinking about how much this game meant to me.
_So much in fact, that I was willing to fly thousands of miles, back into weather that I hated, spend money I shouldn’t be spending, and pay too much for seats that might not have afforded me any view of the game._
But we got incredibly lucky. This trip with jleWings could not have been more perfect. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate my mom giving me this wonderful gift. Mom, you are simply amazing and I love you to tears. (Alright, enough with the tears, I’m not even a crier for Homer’s sake).
So that is my story, I’m telling it with the hope of bringing a piece of our day to you, to share with all those I adore here at Connect. But just wait for jleWings - her blog is gonna put this one to shame.
Originally posted on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @ 01:44 AM EST at http://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/boards/26640
Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. No use, distribution or publication without express written permission of the author.
