Saturday, November 6, 2010

Friday Night Wings Recap not from concentrate, mostly insomnia.

[NB: Most of my hockey blogs will now appear at Hockey Recon, but not the rambling insomnia driven error ridden juju you're getting here...]

Who gets insomnia on a Friday night? At least I have the Wings-Oilers game on DVR, and what a fun game it was. Sleepless observations follow:

Jimmy Howard's save at the 9:35 mark (ish) -Holy shizzurp. Jimmy MF Howard. BTW Jimmy Howard has 22 regulation wins in a row. 1.82 GAA.. 93.3 Save %.  Helluva a start kid.

BTW, anyone still think the Bulin Wall has been felled? Watch this game-  Nicolai was phenomenal. The Bulin Wall not only took 30 SOGs, but a bucketful of PP shots and really great scoring chances by all four winged wheel lines all three periods.

The Soupy Shuffle: Helm, Huds, Abs, Eaves, Miller, Modano. Oh the pain of having to roll these guys on 3rd and 4th lines…. Love seeing Abs on a streak, but I miss seeing Darren with Draper. More ice time for Helm, Please Mr. Babcock. (I know I know, its selfish. I can’t help it, I love the kid.)

Ericsson- Thought I might be dreaming when I realized that he went 35 minutes without any noticeable mistakes, that he looked fantastic with Nic Lids and then he one ups me, taking the five for fighting for the hit on Dats, and Mick getting pissed at the linesmen for how stupidly they handled the break up. Almost makes me forgive 52 for the goal the oilers scored on the PP.

“Holmstrom Again, 3 for a Dollar!” Ah Kenny- loved it. Why does a Homer in the crease PP set up with D and Z on the wing bring me such joy? Seconded only by Pasha with Helm breakaway on the kill. Loved that No. 13 felt confident enough with 43’s speed to run for a shortie rather than ice it.

Pavel doing what he does. Seven straight games of points. Bingo bango.  Three oilers clogging the arteries? Datsyuk’s triple bypass is perfection. No one cuts through like Pavel:  Hot knife through butte- hydrogenated oil. Le Sigh

Wings appear to have finally fixed their starts. All last year Wings most vulnerable point was the first 5 – 10 minutes. I haven’t checked the numbers, but I bet more than 50% of the first goals scored against the Wings came in the first 5-10 minutes of the game. And the league quickly figured it out, especially if Ozzie was in net. Tonight the Oilers came out guns blazing, hoping to capitalize on this weakness, but got no where. Jimmy Howard was in it from the get go and it made a huge difference. The Oilers all but fell apart by the 9 minute point and didn’t even seem to follow the wings into the Red Zone in the last minute of the first period.

Comparisons to 2002. Over the last 2 weeks I have been hearing random statistical comparisons of this year’s start to the 2002 Wings. Tonight we got a Nic Lids comparison: Nic has 12 points this year so far, the most he’s had this early in the season since 2002. Suck it Ageists.

Sad to learn the Sharks cut Andreas, worried about him being in Anaheim. Watch the head Lils.

Oilers may be young, but I see a marked difference between this young team, and say the LA Kings a year or 2 ago. The work ethic is not there. These Oilers don’t finish their shifts, or their periods. Not sure if its inexperience or exhaustion. They would be a helluva lot worse if they didn’t have the Bulin Wall. When they do press, they would be more successful if they would drive to the net and communicate and never give up.

Tonight’s Wings really do seem to be looking more like the 2008 Playoff Wings, and this early in the season …

Final note at 5:30 am: 22 Gun Salute to Dino Ciccarelli for his induction into the HHOF. Nothing but the best for the man who taught Homer everything he knows about the crease.  Think he’s a controversial choice? Two points: 608 goals and a career spent deflecting Al Iafrate’s slapshots. Suck it naysayers.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Crossover Post: Why is this Detroit Red Wings Fan searching for a Pink Crosby jersey?


GGGGGGGaaahhh. I feel like I already need to say 12 "Our Hollands" and at least 2 "Hail Datsyuks" for this. But.

and its a Kardasian sized one....

But.

When your girl Juice isn't obsessing about the Wings, she occasionally does nice things that more often than not do not rhyme.  ahem.

  On Nov. 14th I am running a half marathon to raise awareness for a relatively unknown disease that affects my family: Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood. As part of my fund-raising efforts, I have promised that if we reach a certain donation level then I will take my last training run (on 11/11) through the streets of Santa Monica in a costume chosen by the people cheering me on, or as I like to think of them: "My athletic supporters".

There are two costume suggestions made by my Athletic Supporters and they are not pretty. In fact, our Girl, Mackseyev has thrown the Mothra Faulking gauntlet, people. She has dropped the goaltending stick, pushed the mask way back on her head and is sprinting toward Center Ice as if I were Patrick Roy and she were Mike Vernon circa 1997.

Mack's Lethal Suggestion:


A Pink Sid Crosby Jersey with pink hot pants.  

The other option, suggested by my Sister: 

A deranged clown costume with half bald fro wig, preferably rainbow, big floppy shoes, red nose,  smeared deranged clown make up and a honky horn that must be utilized at regular intervals. 


And you get to vote here.


Oh I'll do it.  I have to!  The amount of money my Athletic Supporters have donated in such a short period of time has surpassed my expectations and my goal-  in a mere 7 days. I HAVE to do something to show how much it means to me.   Only one "problem".

I scoured the interwebs today looking for a Pink Sid Crosby Jersey, and there aren't any to be found. Hilariously enough, you can get a Pink Avalanche jersey for $19.95 on eBay, but no Pens. I shixt you not!

The relief I feel is probably something I should not admit to, except that I have not given up. WTF? Did someone buy them all? Does Mike Milbury have a secret closet full of them? Does Gary Bettman give them out for Boxing Day?

Sure sure I could ask the Kid himself if I could borrow his, but do you think he's really gonna give up his nightgown to a Detroit Red Wings fan who nicknamed him "Bucky Sanchez" and regularly calls him a whiny diver? Even if he knew it would humiliate her?

I think not.

So, drop me a line (comment below) if you find the Pink Sid Crosby Jersey anywhere on the net or for sale at a reasonable price (the cost of a roll of tape, a new mouthguard and a Pink Rangers jersey, plus shipping and handling).

sigh. the things I do.