Christy Hammond Archive at On the Wings

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Wings re-sign Williams for 2 more years

Published

on July 27, 2006

. 1 Comment

The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed Jason Williams for two more years before they had to head into arbitration. The financial terms have yet to be released.

“We are pleased to reach a deal with Jason before going to arbitration,” Detroit general manager Ken Holland said. “He took a big step forward as a NHL player last year and we look forward to even more progress in the future.”

Williams had 58 points (21 goals, 37 assists) in 80 games.

Update (9:40 PM, Matt): Ansar Khan reports that the contract is worth $1.6 million a season, a pretty good bargain these days for a player with Williams’ numbers. The Wings are counting on Jason to increase his output from the 21 goals and 37 assists he had last year to help compensate for the loss of Brendan Shanahan. As Mike Babcock’s little former Cincy Mighty Duck pet will be getting even more ice time this season, putting up better numbers shouldn’t be a problem.

Just remember, Jason, the playoffs are what count, not the first half of the regular season. Oh, and Babcock? Williams is not a power play quarterback, okay?

All Kenny’s got left, as far as RFA’s are concerned, is Johan Franzen.

Game #6 - Oilers 4, Wings 3

Published

Christy Hammond

on May 1, 2006

in 2005-2006, Game Reports, Oilers and Playoffs

. 13 Comments

Pregame
- The Captain is playing in tonight’s game. Knowing that Steve Yzerman will be playing makes me feel a whole lot better about the game today. Obviously he’s going to be in pain, but hopefully that will inspire the Wings into action. It will be Yzerman’s 196th playoff game; his experience and passion will certainly be an asset.

Those are the types of performances that define Yzerman, who usually saves his best for the biggest games. He has become comfortable in the suffocating atmosphere that is the chase for the Stanley Cup. He has learned to push the inevitable butterflies to the side and attack these games with the steely eyed determination necessary to make a personal impact as well as set the tone for his team.”Early in my career, (I’d) be extremely nervous, where I found myself always extremely nervous without a lot of experience,” said Yzerman. “I found in the last few years I’ve just gotten much more comfortable and you kind of know what to expect and you know what it’s all about.”

- We must get the first couple goals in order to establish our style of play. We also cannot afford stupid defensive errors and Lidstrom needs to be on fire tonight! Manny can’t be average - he needs to be great or amazing for this series to head back to Detroit on Wednesday. The Oilers are going to be flying today with their crazy loud Rexall crowd behind them.

- The Wings have over 1600 playoff game experience among the roster; let’s use that veteran experience and knowledge to our advantage.

- I would get such joy in seeing the Wings score a goal while Pronger was in the box. I just can’t believe he has 0 PIM this series - very impressive.

First Period
- The first three minutes provided numerous opportunities for the Wings from the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Kris Draper, and Pavel Datsyuk. (Shots: 4-1 in favor of Detroit)

- Oilers get the first power play. Blast it. Mikael Samuelsson is heading to the box with 15:41 left in the first thanks to his hooking ability. The Oilers are 6/31 on the PP this series…The Wings were able to successfully kill this penalty.

- The PP gave the Oilers some momentum and have had some nice scoring chances of their own. (Shots: 6-4 in favor of Edmonton)

- Mathieu Schneider was called for high sticking so the Oilers go on the power play, again. Crap crap crap. Manny made a couple key saves and Maltby blocked the last shot of the PP. This penalty was also successfully killed by the Wings. (Shots: 12-6 in favor of Edmonton)

- Zetterberg scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Steals the puck from Spacek (who had intercepted a Samuelsson pass) and dekes Roloson to get his 6th goal of the postseason at 14:36 into the first. Lilja was also given the assist. It’s the second time this series that the Wings have scored first. When was the last game? Game #1. Wings 1, Oilers 0

- Samuelsson is going to the penalty box. Twice in one period! Ugh. Way to get the assist, but the Oilers are going to score on the power play - it’s only a matter of time. We don’t want to give them 25 million chances tonight. We can’t afford this.

- Draper and Maltby had a great shorthanded chance on the penalty kill. The two went 2 on 1, but Roloson made the save.

- Chris Pronger *finally* got a penalty for interference (17:09 into the first)! Woohoo! So it’s 4 on 4 for 1:20 minutes and then we’ll get 40 seconds with the man advantage. It’s just very comforting to know that Pronger won’t be on the ice during this time.

- Neither team scored on their respective power plays.

- Obviously, I would’ve liked a two goal lead but at least we have a lead. And Manny has been reasonably solid tonight.

End of First Period: Wings 1, Oilers 0
(Edmonton outshot Detroit, 15-10)

Second Period
- Apparently Cheli blocked a shot and hasn’t played this period, yet. Don’t know any more information than that. (a little less than 4 minutes into the second)

- Spacek called for hooking Robert Lang (15:06 left in second). Lets go Wings! Man…Tomas Holmstrom called for interference - this sucks. 1:36 of 4 on 4 hockey then a short Oilers power play. No goals scored.

- Shots favor Detroit, 5-1. Roloson just made a big save on Dan Cleary. Roloson has been playing pretty well tonight.

- Chelios is finally back in (9:20 left).

- Yzerman hit the goalpost making it two hit goalposts hit in 6 minutes. Craziness! I’m liking what I’m seeing - they aren’t in their typical second period slump.

- Mickey Redmond: “You gotta say it’s the Dwayne Roloson show.”

- Pronger is going back in the penalty box thanks to a high sticking penalty. After winning the face-off, Yzerman makes a sweet pass to Robert Lang (to the left of Roloson) after receiving the pass from Lang (who got it from Schneider). Lang scores!!!!!!!!!!! What did I say about how sweet it’d be with Pronger in the box and a Wings goal? Goal came 14:02 into the second period while on the power play. Wings 2, Oilers 0

- Wings have outshot the Oilers, 10-1, this period. The Wings must keep up this intensity; we cannot afford to become lax and make costly errors.

- Yzerman has been coming out to take the face-offs and then go to the bench. Yzerman has been looking fantastic today - the Captain certainly is something else!

- I love this comment from someone on the Lets Go Wings forum: “Man, any more whining by the Oilers fans in the arena, and they might as well start handing out free pacifiers.” I thought Horcoff really was offsides, sharp call by the officials.

- Another great LGW comment about the Captain: “I think I’ve run out of words to describe how much I appreciate Steve Yzerman these days. What he’s done tonight (in the second period especially) on that back of his is just amazing.”

End of Second Period: Wings 2, Edmonton 0
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 17-2)

Third Period
- For a change, we’re actually seeing the Wings actually playing like themselves. Let’s just hope that they can keep this up in the third and make it 3-0 or 4-0!

- Jason Williams took an incredibly stupid penalty; it didn’t save us from a potential goal and it had no value whatsoever. Oilers PP starts with 17:17 left. And 13 seconds into the PP, Fernando Pisani scores at 2:56 into the second. He scored off of Ryan Smyth’s rebound. We cannot take stupid penalties - ugh. The Wings must rebound from this; we cannot hand the momentum over to the Oilers after we’ve dominated for most of the game. Wings 2, Oilers 1

- We cannot lose our composure. We still have a lead, but we won’t for long at this rate of stupidity.

- Brett Lebda got injured and went off to the bench - from the quick look at Lebda, it appears to be shoulder related. Edit: He is now back on the ice.

- Wow, the Wings have only spent 4 nights at home. While the Oilers have been in Edmonton eight nights. So much for home ice advantage.

- Pisani makes a nice deke to tie the game up at two and get his second goal of the game with 13:20 left in the third. Crap. The Oilers have momentum and the Wings were playing so well in the first two periods. Ahhh. I’m panicking now; we need to go on a PP or something and get some offensive opportunities. Wings 2, Oilers 2

- Kronwall is tripped and the Wings go on the power play with 12:08 left. We have to score here to get some of the momentum and back in the game. Plus it would be nice to quiet the Rexall Crowd - man they are loud! Couple good chances in the PP, but no goal.

- Wooo!! Johan Franzen drills it into the net with 9:53 left in the third for his first goal of the postseason (and the career). Cleary and Maltby were given credit for the assists. Wings 3, Oilers 2

- Lebda has now left for the training room. Shots are now even at 5 apiece.

- Crap. Oilers will go on the power play. Please let the Wings kill this penalty - ahh. Dan Cleary called for interference. You can see Yzerman giving some words of advice to his teammates and then winning the face-off.

- Man! The Oilers bloody scored. Manny is arguing about the call. Please no goal. Please! Crap - not looking good. There was a high stick in the play - that should’ve been called before. This sucks! Oh wait, there was a kicking motion by Hemsky’s left foot, will they notice that? There was a high stick and kicking motion - ahhh. Wings 3, Oilers 3

- That was an awful awful awful call. The goal should not have stood and I’m bloody pissed off. The Wings better be angry too and respond! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I don’t understand how that could be a goal. I realize they couldn’t rule no goal because of a high stick, but the refs should’ve made that bloody call before Hemsky even started kicking. Absolutely fricking ridiculous.

- Hemsky scores with 1:06 left in regulation. If the Wings lose, I’m going to be so pissed off. I want to cry. Who was guarding Hemsky? Man. Oilers 4, Wings 3

End of Third Period: Oilers 4, Wings 3
(Edmonton outshot Detroit, 13-9)

Overall
- I am so fricking upset. It would be one thing if we lost because the Wings played poorly / the Oilers played great. But that didn’t happen - that third goal never should’ve happened. The Wings played mediocre for those first two goals, but I am sooo pissed off about the third.

- The Wings deserved that game. Ahhhh. I can’t even talk right now. I’m so upset and frustrated. I’m not an idiot thinking that the Wings deserved to win all the games, they got themselves into this precarious position. But, tonight’s game is a different matter.

- And now I have to drive down to Cinci tomorrow morning to prepare for an incredibly sucky surgery on Wednesday. Man this totally sucks. I want to hurt something - ugh.

Stats
- Detroit outshot Edmonton, 36-30.
- Detroit went 1/6 on the PP / Edmonton went 2/6 on the PP
- Edmonton won 62% of the face-offs. Wow.
- Edmonton defeats the President’s Trophy winners in the series, 4-2.

Final Thoughts Tonight
- I’ll post some more tomorrow morning before I head to Cinci after I’ve had the night to sleep on it. (Mainly I’ll talk about who needs to go and who should stay…)
- If that was Yzerman’s last game…I don’t even want to think about it. Please don’t retire Yzie.
- I would not want to be Ken Holland right now - he has a lot of work to do this off-season with this great regular season / early round playoff exit team mess.
- I want to say congrats to the Oilers; they played with passion and pounced on all the Wings mistakes. Roloson played a great series and really kept them in tonight’s game. While I won’t be cheering for the Oilers in future playoff rounds, they did pull off an upset and it was not by luck.
- Until the team learns to play a full 60 minutes of hockey in the playoff games, we’re going to always be booted out in an early round. This whole series the Wings struggled to play 40 solid minutes per game, much less 60.
- Someone on the LGW forum brought up a good thought, we may have been screwed over by a ref’s bad call (or two or three or four) but the Wings had many chances and could never capitalize. There has been bad reffing throughout the entire series; the Wings need to learn to rise above it and still win these games.
- Tonight’s costly errors in defense cost the Wings those first two Oilers goals - not the refs. What happened to our coverage? While I totally disagree with the third goal standing, our coverage on the other three goals was just awful. I’m not placing complete blame on Manny. He had to deal with a breakaway, poor defensive coverage, and the puck being kicked in. He certainly wasn’t great (like we needed him to be), but he was not the whole reason we lost tonight in my opinion.

Yzerman and MacLean practiced today

Published

Christy Hammond

on April 30, 2006

in Don MacLean, Injuries, Playoffs, Roster Moves and Steve Yzerman

. 2 Comments

The Captain, Steve Yzerman, took part in today’s short practice at Rexall Place in Edmonton. I expect for Yzerman to play on Monday (Game #6 at 8pm) since it’s an elimination game. He couldn’t tell the reporters if he would play tomorrow night at that point in time.

“I feel better than two days ago,” Yzerman said. “I’m encouraged. Hopefully I’ll feel even better for game time tomorrow.”Asked if tonight being an elimination game will factor into his decision to play, Yzerman said, “Oh, no question. No question. It’s pretty simple, really, if I feel I can be an effective player, I’ll play and if I don’t, then I’m not going to play. If I’m ready to play then I will and if not, then I’ll have to step aside.”

I just hope that he will play and Yzerman’s last game at the Joe won’t be Game #2, which was the last playoff game I attended.

Additionally, the Wings called Donald MacLean, “the Grand Rapids Griffins forward who scored 56 goals this season in the AHL,” on Saturday night. Upon which, he flew to Edmonton and practiced with the Wings. MacLean has only played with the Wings three times this season, but his first goal came on the power play against the Oilers on April 11.

Game #5 - Oilers 3, Wings 2

Published

Christy Hammond

on April 29, 2006

in 2005-2006, Game Reports, Oilers and Playoffs

. 13 Comments

I watched the game at Dockside Sports Pub in Ft. Myers Beach with about 9-12 other Wings fans; I was shocked to see such a large “crowd” at a random sports pub in Florida. The comments made during each period were what I wrote down while watching the game. So these are during the game reactions…

Anyways, the game sucked. I’m depressed, discouraged, disappointed, disenchanted, downhearted, down, and desolate. We only played 20 solid minutes of hockey in the first period. Ugh. The Wings have to head to Edmonton with a 2-3 series deficit. Not cool whatsoever.

There are three things that scare me in this series:
1) The second period. Is it just me, or do the Wings find a way to suck it up in the second period? Edmonton scored all three goals in this afternoon’s second and I’m pretty sure Detroit sucks in the second period this series.
2) Our penalty kill. Sure we had some nice 5-on-3 kills in Game #4, but the Oilers seem to always score on one of their first few power plays.
3) Chris Pronger. He’s averaging 36:41 minutes per game this series and got an assist on all three Oilers’ goals this afternoon

First Period
- To start the game off, Willy pummeled some Oiler behind the Oilers net - my check of the game.

- During a Wings power play, Homer was alone in front of Roloson, but couldn’t find a way to get the puck in the back of the net.

- There was a 4 on 3 for about a minute producing some good scoring chances for the Wings, but no goal.

- We’re looking pretty good because we’re applying a lot of pressure and thus getting some scoring opportunities. Manny has made some key saves, but hasn’t had to deal with a lot of shots thus far in the game.

- With 3:30 left in the first, we’ve gone 0/4 on the power play.

- While I’m bummed we haven’t scored yet, we’ve been playing pretty well and Roloson has made some great saves.

End of First Period: Wings 0, Oilers 0
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 11-4)

Second Period
- Chris Pronger takes a shot from inside the blue line whereupon Fernando Pisani flicks it into the back of the Wings net 5:16 into the second period. The Oilers have six 5 on 5 goals this series. I can’t believe we have been controlling this game and then the Oilers get the first goal. Ugh. The second period is always our downfall. Oilers 1, Wings 0

- I’m enjoying this NBC feed much more than the CBC one on Thursday night. At least they aren’t extremely biased in either direction…or so it seems.

- With 11:26 left in the second, Stoll took a shot from the center of the face-off circle to Manny’s right. The shot deflects off Ryan Smyth’s leg and goes behind Manny into the net. Oilers 2, Wings 0

- The Joe is embarassingly quiet. Rexall’s crowd puts the Joe’s to shame.

- While it’s 4 on 4, Shawn Horcoff just “poked and jammed away” (according to an NBC broadcaster) to score the Oilers’ third goal of the game with 7:24 left in the second. Oilers 3, Wings 0

- Manny made a nice save when Torres went on a breakaway.

- A guy’s wife in the pub is the granddaughter of former Wings goalie Terry Sawchuk; unfortunately, her presence did not grant us any luck.

- 1:21 left in the period, Shanny gets on a breakaway and actually gets a goal!!!! An absolute miracle since he’s had zero offense previously. The Wings can still do it since they are only down two goals at this point. However, I believe it was Draper who tripped some Oiler, which should’ve been called a penalty but then resulted in Shanny’s breakaway. Like I said before, I’ll take any goal we can get (tainted or not).

- An Oilers shot hit the post - thank goodness that didn’t go in.

End of Second Period: Oilers 3, Wings 1
(Emonton outshot Detroit, 11-10)

Third Period
- It’s not looking good. We really didn’t come out flying - not a good sign.

- Roloson made a really nice save on a Shanny/Draper rush (Shanny shot?) to maintain the Oilers two goal lead.

- With 21.5 seconds left in the game, Henrik Zetterberg scores to give the Wings and fans a tiny minute chance of tying this game up. Datsyuk and Holmstrom were given the assists.

- They left Manny in goal and then called a timeout. I believe they still left Manny in net. Why wouldn’t you pull Manny? We needed that extra man! Please let me know if I am incorrect and that they in fact pulled Manny at that point in the game.

End of Third Period: Oilers 3, Wings 2
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 11-4)

Overall Stats
- Detroit had 32 total shots on goal / Edmonton only had 19 shots
- There were 10 total penalties in the game (6 on the Oilers / 4 on the Wings)
- Only one penalty came in the final period of the game, while six penalties came in the first period
- Detroit won 61% of the face-offs
- The three stars of the game were (in order from 1 to 3) Chris Pronger, Dwayne Roloson, and Brendan Shanahan.
- Detroit went 0/6 on the power play and killed 3 of 4 penalties.

Game # 4 - Wings 4, Oilers 2

Published

Christy Hammond

on April 28, 2006

in 2005-2006, Game Reports, Oilers and Playoffs

. 0 Comments

Wings defeat the Oilers in regulation, 4-2. I blogged during the game at Behind the Jersey, well I posted during the intermissions and then following the game. Here’s what I had to say throughout the night…

First Period
I missed the first couple minutes because OLN didn’t cut to the Wings vs. Oilers game feed until the Ottawa vs. Tampa Bay game ended (Ottawa won). But aside from the first few minutes that I saw, Detroit looked pretty good! They applied lots of pressure and had some great scoring chances.

Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani scored 7:22 into the first while on the power play. From my perspective, Cleary got caught behind the play and Pisani was left all alone in front of Manny. So when the puck popped up from behind the net, Pisani had a nice shot to get the puck in the net. Torres and Horcoff were given the assists. Oilers 1, Wings 0

A little over six minutes later (13:25 in the 1st period), Mathieu Schneider takes a nice shot from his “post” inside the blueline while on the power play. Tomas Holmstrom deflects the puck behind Oilers goaltender, Dwayne Roloson. It was Holmstrom’s third goal of the season (including regular and postseason) against the Oilers. Wings 1, Oilers 1

Five minutes and 58 seconds later, Robert Lang (who was given an assist in the previous Wings goal) shot hit two goalposts. The replays weren’t totally clear, but Niklas Kronwall was given credit for the goal after tipping it in? The CBC broadcasters speculated that Spacek was the one who actually accidentally kicked the puck in. I’m not sure. If anyone can confirm if this is correct (or inform me if it is incorrect), I’d really appreciate it! The OLN people now say it looked like the puck bounced off Kronwall’s leg and then went into the net. However, there was no kicking motion involved (the goal did go under review) and the goal stood. (Sometime in the 2nd: It appears that Lang has now been credited with the goal.) Wings 2, Oilers 1

Detroit went 1/4 on the power play while Edmonton was 1/2 on the power play. Detroit also won 61% of the face-offs.

End of First Period: Wings 2, Oilers 1
(Detroit outshot Edmonton 14-6)

Second Period
4:03 into the second, Spacek scores through Manny’s 5-hole. Yes, the 5-hole. He should’ve had that save. Some of the goals he has allowed this series have not been hard ones; but our backup, Chris Osgood, has a lower body injury (an OtW reader said it was a tweaked groin) so we had to call up rookie Jimmy Howard. Howard has four games of NHL experience under his belt so it’s pretty safe to say that Manny will remain in net. Although Manny did step it up during out penalty kills, he just needs to keep his 5-hole covered and not allow easy goals! Wings 2, Oilers 2

Matt @ Lets Go Wings forum had this to say (and I couldn’t agree more):

You can’t just give this Edmonton team life, and that’s what Legace has done. I know it’s not entirely on the netminder, but it’s not like the Edmonton goals were the result of a bad defensive play.The team is playing solid defensively, but as soon as Edmonton sniffs blood after each of the goals they scored tonight they go bonkers for a few shifts keeping the Wings scrambling… then it slowly heads back to the Detroit possession game.

It’d be nice to gain some momentum with a lead and MAINTAIN the lead for once. Please?

The Wings had four penalties this period. Cheli - what were you thinking? We were already down a man! Maybe the refs missed something Edmonton did, but we couldn’t afford that penalty. He was having fun toying with Smyth (was that the guy?), but do that when we’re not already trying to kill a penalty, buddy. I like the passion and that he’s now pissed about the ref’s call, but try to stay out of the box!

Three of those penalties came 15:46-17:52 into the period. While I was incredibly pleased that the Wings actually managed to kill two 5-on-3 Oiler advantages, we made too many stupid trips to the penalty box that we only had 7 shots on Roloson (to Edmonton’s 13).

Detroit won 53% of the face-offs in the first two periods.

End of Second Period: Wings 2, Oilers 2
(Edmonton outshot Detroit, 13-7)

Third Period
6:44 into the final period, Nick Lidstrom scored from the right corner inside the blueline. Now I’m a Wings fan and am just plain happy that he scored. I watched with my family, fellow Wings fans, and am watching the CBC broadcast courtesy of OLN. The broadcasters strongly believed it was a pick. My brother and dad thought there was obviously some contact, but Lidstrom did not cause him to spin around and fall. (Edit: I’m just happy the Wings scored another goal after Lidstrom’s shot. Obviously, this goal helped with momentum and whatnot, but I’d feel just slightly guilty if that was the only goal that got past Roloson in the third.) Wings 3, Oilers 2

Pavel Datsyuk makes a beautiful play (good stickwork and actually “pushed” past the Oilers player - I can’t think of a better word than “pushed”) and passes the puck to Henrik Zetterberg in front of Roloson. Zetterberg makes a slight deke and shoots the puck backhand to give the Wings a two goal lead! The goal happened 15:53 into the third and scored while on the power play. Wings 4, Oilers 2

The Wings went 2/4 on the power play in the third while the Oilers only had two power play opportunities and did not capitalize on either one. Detroit won 54% of the face-offs in the game, overall.

End of Third Period: Wings 4, Oilers 2
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 10-7)

Overall Game Thoughts
The Wings needed to win this game and they did. As a Wings fan, I couldn’t be happier! The series is all tied up at two game wins apiece and we are not heading back to Detroit down, 3-1. The game’s three stars were (in order from 1 to 3) Nick Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, and Robert Lang. It’s good to see Lidstrom step up and finally get on the scoreboard.

Detroit’s offensive leaders tonight: Robert Lang had a goal and two assists tonight. The only goal he did not contribute to was the last one. I was impressed with his offensive presence tonight especially with captain Steve Yzerman out of the lineup (with a lower back injury). Mathieu Schneider also had three points tonight, all of which were assists. It’s also nice to see Pavel Datsyuk notch two assists and playing a big role in that final goal cementing the Wings’ lead.

Quick Game Stats
- Wings outshot Edmonton, 31-26.
- Manny made 24 saves / Roloson stopped 27 shots
- Edmonton’s Mark Greene went to the penalty box three times tonight (most of any player on either team / Detroit’s Holmstrom was second with two penalties). He was called for cross checking, hooking, and tripping.
- Edmonton had two more penalties in the game than Detroit, 11 and 9 penalties respectively.
- 5 of the 6 goals in tonight’s game came on the power play. Only Lang’s goal in the second period came while playing at even strength.
- Detroit went 3-11 on the power play (roughly 27%). Edmonton went 2-9 (about 22%).

The game didn’t seem to have a lot of flow with the amount of penalties this game had (20 overall). It’s hard to get a rhythm going when the whistle is blowing every two seconds (an obvious exaggeration).
- First period had 6 penalties (Edmonton had 4 to Detroit’s 2)
- Second period had 8 penalties (Detroit had 5 to Edmonton’s 3)
- Third period had 6 penalties (Edmonton had 4 to Detroit’s 2)

I just looked at the previous games’ offensive score sheets and although it seemed like a bazillion penalties were called, Tuesday’s game had two more penalties than tonight’s with 22 total penalties (each team with 11). However, three of those penalties did come during the overtime period. Last Sunday’s game in Detroit only had 9 total penalties (5 Detroit, 4 Edmonton). And the first game of the series had 16 penalties (8 apiece); none of those penalties were called during either overtime periods.

Sacamano at Battle of Alberta with his postgame reaction:

I don’t usually like to talk about the refs because in the grand scheme of things everything tends to even out in the wash; but that missed pick call on the 5 on 3 was a back-breaker.Having said that, there were about 10 other penalty calls on the Oilers that were deserved, and they did have two 5 on 3’s that they failed to convert. Terrible discipline. Hemsky was quite simply, awful tonight. In addition, like the other loss, the Oilers had zero 5 on 5 production — not that there was a heckuva lot of 5 on 5 play.

He also mentioned that the Oilers still have a strong shot at winning this series is if this is the best Detroit can do. Well, we all know Detroit can do a lot better (namely our second period crappiness), but will they actually bring it on Saturday’s game?

In conclusion…
- The Wings won and we didn’t have to go into overtime!
- I hated watching that CBC broadcast. It really made me miss Mickey and Ken at FSN Detroit.
- Obviously today’s game was a pretty important one, but I think a win on Saturday is also pretty key. I wouldn’t want to head back to Edmonton down 3-2.
- Did I mention the Wings won? Woohoo!

Game #3 - Oilers 4, Wings 3 (2OT)

Published

Christy Hammond

on April 26, 2006

in 2005-2006, Game Reports, Oilers and Playoffs

. 12 Comments

I tried “liveblogging” at Behind the Jersey, so here’s what I had to say throughout last night’s game…

- Loud crowd! If only the Joe could be like that, but we have all the silly rich business people. Ugh.

- Whoever sang the two national anthems, my parents and I were cringing. Man - I’ll take Karen Newman over him anyday!

First Period
- The Wings are putting a lot of pressure in the Oilers end. Jason Williams was pretty close to getting a goal, but it hit the far goalpost. The play was reviewed and no goal was the outcome.

- Mikael Samuelsson chose to flick the puck towards the center of the Wings defensive zone instead of clearing it. An Oiler got a clear shot, puck sent behind net, and then Jason Spacek scored on a slapshot 4:15 into the first. No one was blocking Manny’s view; he just went down too early. Oilers 1, Wings 0

- This drives me absolutely crazy. The Wings seem to have the game going their tempo and then they make a stupid (and costly) error. The Oilers go up on the board and get the momentum. Come on Wings - let’s cut back on these silly defensive errors!

- The Wings had at least 30 seconds with a man advantage and they used it. Detroit applied a lot of pressure with the puck in the Oilers end the entire time. Kronwall had numerous shots that looked like they could’ve gone in. Mathieu Schneider made a nice pass to Henrik Zetterberg who flicked it in (for his 2nd power play goal of the postseason) 12:06 into the first. Shots all even at 7. Wings 1, Oilers 1

- Ridiculous. I just told my dad, “Look at all the pressure the Wings are applying! Oh crap, here come the Oilers. I bet they score here.” And what do they do? They score. I think we’ve been doing pretty well and then we make stupid stupid mistakes and the Oilers pounce on those opportunities. Plus Manny isn’t looking too hot. Ryan Smyth scored at 16:48. Oilers 2, Wings 1

- I am so confused with this penalty stuff. Holmstrom got called for holding and then interference; I didn’t see the interference and holding? Then Jason Smith is in for Roloson. And now Cheli tried to clear the puck and it went out so we have a delay of game. So for like 56 seconds, the Oilers are 5-3 on the Wings. Fortunately, Lidstrom and Zetterberg have each cleared the puck to kill about 15-20 seconds.

- With exactly 30 seconds left on the 5-3 Oilers advantage, the first period came to a close. Thank goodness. Mike Babcock better have something to say to his team. The Oilers aren’t beating Detroit; Detroit is beating Detroit. Stupid penalties. Stupid mistakes. Ugh.

- The Wings had 6 penalties to Edmonton’s three in the first.

End of First Period: Oilers 2, Wings 1
(Edmonton outshot Wings, 11-9)

Second Period
- 2:38 into the first, Pronger takes a shot from right inside the blueline and Torres deflects it behind Manny. This was, of course, on the Oilers power play. Man, this game is pissing me off. Oilers 3, Wings 1

- The Wings have a power play after Smyth ran into Manny (he just couldn’t stop); they need to score right now. And the Wings don’t even generate that many offensive opportunities; the Oilers just block and clear.

- Steve Yzerman was hooked as he was going to the goal. If it wasn’t for Yzerman, I’d be losing my mind. The Wings need to look at him and replicate his fervor and ability. He’s outskating some of the Oilers and he’s getting chances. Lidstrom hit the goalpost during the power play. Our passes are sloppy; we just aren’t connecting and that wasted the rest of the power play.

- Panic hasn’t set in, just yet. Extreme worry has though. Can we score at least two goals in the third without allowing anymore Edmonton goals in? I guess we’ll find out…

End of 2nd Period: Oilers 3, Wings 1
(Detroit outshoots Oilers, 6-4)

Third Period
- I love the comment by Happy Pancake at the Lets Go Wings forum: “Can we take the Wings players’ families hostage until they start playing like an actual cohesive NHL team?”

- You’ve GOT to be kidding me. Lebda called for unsportsmanlike for diving? Seriously - he was bloody “corkscrew”ed according to Mickey. There was no way he could’ve stayed on his feet. For the first time, it wasn’t the Wings fault. I’m getting mad…And the penalties were offsetting, but that should’ve been our bloody power play! Vladiator on the LGW forum said: “Man, I don’t know. With that last call, just looking more and more like a Canadian Conspiracy to me.”

- Yzerman drew an Oiler penalty. We need our power play from the regular season right about now. This is ridiculous, with 1 minute to go in the power play, I think the Oilers had more shots than we did. Edicius on the LGW forum: “Was…was that actually a power play? I didn’t realize so much defensive play was required when one is on a power play.”

- Finally! Zetterberg scores another power play goal with 8:08 left in regulation. Willy actually did something good and helped set up that goal. Come on Wings please don’t make a stupid mistake and screw up our momentum. Oilers 3, Wings 2

- Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yzerman won the face-off, Schneider took a slapshot and bam it’s in the back of the net with 7:44 left. Can they get another one and perhaps win this game? Or will the menacing Oilers return? We need Yzerman on the ice - all the time. Wings 3, Oilers 3

- Man. That Oiler (Hemsky) fell head face into the board and just laid there until the refs blew the whistle and then popped right back up. And the Wings had the pressure down in the Oilers end. Man that sucks. Let’s just say that it was pretty easy to read Babcock’s lips about what he had to say to the refs and it was all swearing. If looks could kill…

- Well, there’s 1:17 left in the third and it’s all tied up at 3. Looks like we’re heading into OT. Oh crap, Lidstrom made a hook and now we’re shorthanded. He’s our penalty killer! Ahh. In game 1, didn’t we have to kill a last minute penalty that extended into overtime? Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.

- Darren McCarty scored to help the Flames beat Anaheim, 5-2.

End of Third Period: Wings 3, Oilers 3
(Wings outshot Oilers, 14-5, and won 68% of the face-offs)

Overtime
- We have 47 seconds left to kill in the penalty when OT starts. To bad we have an intermission, the Wings certainly had momentum. Let’s Go Red Wings!

- Stress causes my knee pain to really flare up. So the Wings need to score ASAP so (a) my knee can feel better and (b) I can get some sleep. Fortunately, I finished my freshman year of college tonight at 9pm when I turned in my bio final exam. Otherwise, it’d be an early morning…

- We killed the penalty! Oh man, I just had a near heart attack - 2 Oilers on a breakaway and they call it offsides. Didn’t look like it from what I saw.

- 15:32 left in OT, Zetterberg got hooked multiple times by Spacek and so the Wings go on a power play. Come on!!

- Spacek (?) had a breakaway and Willy hooked him but there is no penalty shot. Just a penalty. Thank goodness. Ahh, Willy you’re killing me! The Wings successfully killed the Oilers power play; Manny had a pretty nice save.

- Now Peca is in the box, come on Wings! I can’t believe no one has scored with the 3 different power plays in OT. The Oilers killed that penalty. Man.

- Yzerman was hit somewhere and left the bench. But he’s back on the bench and looking very determined. We need him out here winning us some face-offs!

- I love that the Edmonton fans boo Cheli whenever he touches the puck. I must say I’ve been impressed with their involvement in the game; puts the Joe to shame.

- Crap. Yzerman took 2 steps out onto the ice and then went back off. Uh oh. This is not good. Even if we win this game, we need Yzerman. *I* need Yzerman playing.

- Willy scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I believe that Willy scored? Oh wait, they are reviewing the play. Crap, it went through the side of the net. No goal. What a momentum loss, we’re back to OT.

- Shots, 38-24, in Detroit’s favor.

- Doesn’t look like Yzerman is playing anymore tonight, but he’s still sitting on the bench. He had 14:22 of ice time tonight.

- Less than two minutes left in OT, how has no one scored yet? I can’t believe we’re possibly going into ANOTHER double overtime in 3 games. Yep, we’re heading into double overtime. At least we’re seeing the actual Red Wings playing and not their slow/sloppy/lazy alterego.

End of Overtime: Wings 3, Oilers 3
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 10-6, and won 53% of face-offs)

Double Overtime
- Have you seen the My Stanley Cup ad featuring the Wings? It’s the best ad the NHL has produced yet this year. Although Kiefer Sutherland’s voiceover sounds nothing like Jack Baeur in 24 (great show by the way), but the commercial showed action and highlighed popular players like Shanny, Lids, and Yzie.

- Yzerman is skating okay on the ice now; hopefully they were able to work some magic during intermission. He has a fantastic pain tolerance, I truly admire and appreciate that in a person and athlete.

- Pressure on both ends; both goalies have made some key saves. Come on Wings, let’s get this puck in the back of the net! It’s 2am here in Detroit!

- I must say that I’ve been most impressed with Kronwall and Yzerman tonight. Kronwall has been hitting and taking shots and making no major mistakes that I’ve noticed.

- Ok, the Wings are dominating which is scary because everytime the Wings really dominate, the Oilers score a goal off a bad defensive/goalie error. Come on, come on.

- With 11:16, Stoll scores so the Oilers win 4-3 in double overtime. Crap. I knew this would happen. Crap. Crap. Crap. Well, I’m not as terrified as I would have been had we lost the game, 3-1, but that still doesn’t help the fact that we are down in the series now, 2-1.

- What a night to try out this liveblogging stuff. It’s 2:10am, good morning everybody.

End of Double OT: Oilers 4, Wings 3
(Wings outshot Oilers, 8-5)

Overall
Personally, I thought the Wings deserved the win. Had the game ended in regulation, I would’ve had something different to say. But they dominated in the last 7-8 minutes of the third and then throughout the first and second overtime. Well, this just plain sucks. But I have not lost heart; the team brought it. However, I didn’t see Yzerman play in the 2nd OT - not good. It appears to be lower body, perhaps hip flexor?

For more info, check out the offensive scoresheet.

Wings 3, Oilers 2 (2OT)

Published

Christy Hammond

on April 22, 2006

in 2005-2006, Game Reports, Oilers and Playoffs

. 2 Comments

I attended tonight’s game in the Joe [this entry was written at about 12:30am the night of the game]. I’ll also have you know that I sat in the nosebleed section (row 19 of a possible 24 rows in the upper bowl). I did see the game, but most of the time I couldn’t tell who made a big play down on the other end of the ice. And they never show replays of penalties at the Joe so what I thought was fair/unfair could’ve been the opposite and I know no better. That being said, here are my game thoughts…

Pre-Game
I love going to the Joe; it’s my favorite place in the world. There’s something about wasted Wings fans (before the game starts) that just brings a smile to my face. Anyways, my dad and I made our pre-game predictions.

Dad - Wings win, 4-1.
Me - Wings win, 3-2.

So I was right, I just didn’t say that it’d happen in OT, much less double OT. Oh, and that 10 minute pre-game show was nothing special lemme tell you. The best part of the pre-game show was when two octopi were thrown out on the ice while Karen Newman was singing the National Anthem - you couldn’t even hear her the crowd was so excited. And then after she finished, Al came out and picked them up and waved the larger one above his head, what a perfect way to start the playoffs in Detroit.

First Period
It seemed to me that the Wings looked really strong as they started the game with a lot of intensity and spent most of the time in the Oilers end. They only looked weak while on the penalty kill (which was pretty shaky all night). And of course, Samsonov scores while Schneider was sitting in the box for hooking.

With less than three minutes into the game, there was a fight in front of Roloson and I was like, Maltby? Where was this displayed intensity all year? I liked it. So in my first playoff game, I experienced the octopus throw and a fight within a span of 10 minutes or so. Pretty nice if you ask me.

Robert Lang scored first and as IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman mentioned earlier today…

The Enigma: R. Lang. Dammit, Lang…I’m sick of calling you The Enigma. Let’s see 22, 23 consistent playoff games. Win faceoffs, carry the puck, keep the puck. Be strong in the corners and FIND THE CAPTAIN. This guy is so key for us. If R. Lang gets hot, if he pops a couple tonite Edmonton is in serious trouble. Yes, Peca’s probably going to shadow Zetterberg. Datsyuk will be doubled every time he, eventually, touches the puck. Shanahan is going to see little open space and Homer is going to be absolutely abused in front of the net until the whistles come out. But if Lang can carry his line….there’s no way to spread the defensive wealth far enough to contain that that unit.

And as I sat there watching the game, I could just hear his voice in my head. Lang got a goal early in the game and I thought the Lang / Yzerman / Williams line had the most opportunities throughout the game.

Each team had three penalties apiece. While I did struggle to catch some penalties, I thought they were all fair aside from Yzerman’s but I certainly could’ve missed that. Was it me, or did the Oilers really go after Yzie? I mean, it is a hockey game so I don’t expect them to ignore him, but he just seemed to get hit time and time again and no one did anything about it!

Shots favored the Wings, 15-5, in the first.

Second Period
Now this is where it got really ugly for the Wings. Chelios got called for cross-checking (and I actually agreed with this call from my viewpoint), 7:48 into the second. As I previously mentioned, our penalty kill looked shaky - we weren’t being aggressive, just kind of sitting back. Well right before Pronger (who I can’t stand by the way) scores, some Oiler knocked Manny Legace over. Everyone in our section was yelling at the referee because clearly that was goalie interference and clearly unacceptable. However, nothing was called so Legace got up where he was quickly scored upon. The Oiler standing in front of Manny to try and block his view did an awfully good job because Manny couldn’t see anything.

I really thought the Wings had more penalties to kill than just the one, but looking at the offensive scoresheet I clearly am mistaken. Maybe it seemed like more because the Wings got two power play chances following the Pronger goal and the Oilers were in our end more than we were in there’s. The second half of the period was miserable. It was like a switch was turned off and all of the Wings became lazy and thought they were playing St. Louis in a meaningless game instead of the fricking Oilers in the playoffs! It was incredibly frustrating to watch in the stands.

Detroit outshot the Oilers, 16-6.

Third Period
The Wings didn’t look really intense to start the period, but it appeared to grow as time went on. They had a number of solid chances, but nothing went in until Kirk Maltby tied the game at 2 apiece, 13:58 into the third. Now, I had a sucky viewpoint for this goal and only saw the replay once on the screen above center ice. They had the guys in Toronto check to see if there was a goal or my guess was that it looked like Maltby might have kicked it in, but I don’t really know. I was incredibly nervous because losing that goal would’ve killed the small amount of momentum we had started to build. Fortunately, the goal stood and the Joe went nuts.

However, Shanny got a roughing penalty with 1:50 left in the third. I was so nervous because with the way the Wings penalty kill had been working, I thought they were going to score for sure. But somehow the Wings managed to keep the score tied and force an overtime.

Edmonton outshot Detroit, 8-7.

Overtime #1
I spent most of the overtime (and the second overtime) acting like a chicken with its head cut off. If the Oilers were in the Wings end, I just whispered “no no no no” until the puck was cleared or carried out. For any Seinfeld fans, I acted like Kramer the one time he won a bet at the race track and when he stood there saying “come on” and whipping an imaginary horse with his newspaper. Anyways, I just sat there whispering “come on” like a mad woman. I clearly could not handle the pressure of a Wings fan in the playoffs.

I also became very appreciative that the NHL does not have shootouts in the playoffs. How wrong would it have been if the game ended that way? Yuck.

The Wings actually played really well in these 20 minutes with 16 shots on goal to the Oilers’ 6 chances. The referees didn’t call any penalties, which I was thankful for.

Overtime #2
If I thought I was a mess the first OT, I got even worse in the second. Fortunately for my head and heart’s sake, Maltby scored the game winner 2:39 into the double OT. Edmonton had no shots in that time span while Detroit had 3. After Maltby’s goal, the Joe went crazy! I’ve never experienced anything like it (since Michigan lost to Ohio State and Notre Dame this year at the Big House). It was a fantastic way to conclude my first playoff game.

Overall
Detroit only went 1/6 on the power play tonight. The special teams weren’t very hot or even mild tonight, which made the game much closer than it could’ve been.

The Oilers goaltender, Roloson, made all but 3 saves on 57 shots. 57! I had to give Roloson props for the fine goaltending tonight and I’m very nervous about the future games because of the trouble he could give us. He was only given the second star of the night. Chris @ Covered in Oil had this to say about Roloson’s performance tonight:

Seriously, what a performance from Roloson tonight. So solid, so calm, even after having his head sat on. That’s rare, people. you can’t teach… having you head… sat on. And playing well. Right? Right. Also, gotta love his little Hextall moment early on to set the tone, with the one-two slash-crosscheck. Sure we got a penalty, but dammit, it was emotional. And emotional victories are almost as good as real ones.Except when they’re not. Like tonight.

Game-winner, Kirk Maltby, received the number one star with captain Steve Yzerman claiming the third slot. Yzie got one assist tonight and I thought just played fantastic. He set up some great opportunities throughout the night.

The NHL.com recap had this little tidbit to share with us:

Detroit is the most experienced team in the playoffs with more than 1,500 combined games and 26 Stanley Cup rings while the current Oilers entered the postseason with 449 games of experience and no championships.

I think the experience really helped us finish out the game tonight. Sure we had numerous rough patches, but we got it done and got the win, which is all that really matters.

The recap also had this to say:

Maltby made it 2-all with 6:17 left in regulation when he scored off a rebound on a goal that stood after a video review. He had just five goals this season after scoring 14 in each of the previous two.”You need guys like Malts to win at playoff time - he competes,” coach Mike Babcock said after coaching Detroit for the first time in the postseason.

Roloson made 54 saves. “Unfortunately, they got a lucky bounce at the end of the game,” Roloson said. “You can’t fault our guys at all.”

Manny Legace, who made just 23 saves for the Red Wings, said he felt a sense of relief. “Especially when it goes to double overtime and the other goalie stands on his head,” Legace said. “We got lucky.”

In conclusion, I’ve been to plenty of Wings games and have never really felt comfortable talking to those around me because they didn’t seem that interested. Well tonight, I talked to the people on both sides of my Dad and I as well as the guys behind us. I enjoyed the hockey talk because I sadly have no one to talk to at college.

I really enjoyed the game tonight, although it was a little too close for my health’s sake. I also found out that my youngest brother has a soccer game in Grand Rapids on Sunday afternoon so I will be taking my other brother to Game #2 of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 2 games in 3 days, can I handle it?

Wings now lead the series, 1-0. So how will they do Sunday? I’m predicting a 2-1 win by Detroit. Go Wings!

Can the Wings go all the way?

Published

Christy Hammond

on April 8, 2006

in Opinion, Playoffs, Steve Yzerman and The Team

. 2 Comments

Can the Wings go all the way? Here’s a list of why the Wings could take it all and followed by a list of reasons why they won’t be able to win it.

Why the Wings could go all the way…
Personally, I believe this is the Wings’ year. I think that we’ve made enough changes since the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 playoff disasters to prevent an early round exit from happening. I’m really excited for playoffs to start because unlike last season, I really can see Detroit taking it. And that makes me very happy, but also very nervous. So why do I, Christy Hammond, have this much faith in my team?

In no particular order…
1. The Captain. Need I say more? It’s potentially his last year and I could think of nothing better than for Steve Yzerman to retire after a Cup win. Plus, Yzerman has been stepping up his game of late with 13 points in his last 10 games. According to IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman, it’s his longest ten game point streak since 2000. The Captain has a way to inspire his troops so if they see him blocking shots, scoring, and working hard, the rest seem to follow.

2. As James Mirtle pointed out, the team who is the hottest at the end of the regular season tends to perform pretty well in the playoffs (ex. Tampa Bay). And which team has the hottest record since the Olympic break? That’s right, Detroit.

3. Health. Now I realize that the Wings went from healthy for the most part to Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Schneider injuries. Datsyuk is supposed to return right before the playoffs. Zetterberg missed the second half of the Columbus game last night with an upper body injury (rumors: injury from a puck or the flu). Assuming that those three return in good health before the start of the playoffs, we have our core intact. Now if any of those three especially Zetterberg and Datsyuk remain injured, the rest of my points may just go out the window.

On the bright side, Niklas Kronwall is finally regaining normal form after a preseason injury resulted in knee surgery to repair his ACL and MCL.

4. Goaltending. Now don’t get me wrong, I am terrified of the goaltending we will face in the playoffs. It’s usually the opponent’s goalie that seems to screw the Wings over. However, I think that in Manny Legace and Chris Osgood we have good enough goaltenders to take us to the Finals. They certainly aren’t the best goalies in the league, but I’d rather have them than an unhealthy Dominik Hasek. Plus Manny is 5th in the league with a 2.22 GAA and 9th overall with a .912 save percentage.

5. Mike Babcock. I really believe that this guy deserves some recognition. Everyone gives credit to Carolina’s coach and Buffalo’s coach, but what about Babcock? Sure it doesn’t seem much has changed since the Wings are still at the top of the standings, but Babcock knows how to push all the right buttons.

Let’s take a look at Brendan Shanahan, for example. Under former head coach, Dave Lewis, Shanny notched 68 points in ‘02-03 and 53 points in ‘03-04. This season with 76 games under his belt, Shanny has 73 points with 10 more goals AND 10 more assists than last season. Personally, I believe Babcock is the one to thank for giving Shanny a chance and opportunity to improve.

6. Winter Olympics. After the ‘98 and ‘02 Winter Olympics, the Wings took it all. What’s to say it won’t happen again this year? The Swedish Five would have one pretty sweet year, that’s for sure.

Random Piece of Trivia: Did you know that “The last 18-year-old to score as many points as [Sidney] Crosby has this season was Steve Yzerman, who had 87 in 1983-84.” I read that out of the Sports Illustrated Players NHL Poll (on page 30 for those of you who subscribe). SI asked 346 NHL players, “Will Penguins rookie center Sidney Crosby end up being one of the 10 best players of all time?” 49.5% said no, 40.5% said yes, and 10% said they weren’t sure.

Swedish Wings Autograph Signing

Published

Christy Hammond

on March 29, 2006

in Autographs, Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Pictures

. 1 Comment

So I went to the autograph signing last night at the Fan Zone in Westland Mall featuring the five gold medalists (Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Kronwall, and Samuelsson). I had pre-bought a signed 16×20 photograph of the five. I must say that I am very pleased with my purchase. Not so pleased with Fan Zone. But the photgraph will look great in my shrine (aka my room).

Here are some photos from the event. Sorry that they are blurry and not the best, but we weren’t allowed to take photos in the “room” so I shot all but one (which I quickly took inside) outside and people kept walking in front ruining my shots. The first two photos are of my 16×20 photograph & certificate of authenticity. I hope to scan both of them in whenever I can over the next couple weeks, but for now these quick photos will have to work! The guys were lined up with Samuelsson closest to the room’s entrance with Lidstrom farthest away (thus, he’s in maybe one photo).

(click on thumbnail to enlarge and I mean enlarge)

My beautiful 16×20 photograph signed by the Swedish Five

Certificate of Authenticity

All five of them (ok, four of them since you can only see Lidstrom’s hat)

Samuelsson and a kid posing for a photograph

You can see Lidstrom in this photo all the way to the right

Kronwall

Holmstrom

The room

Zetterberg

Update: A girl on the Lets Go Wings forum took some sweet pictures of the signing, which you can view here. My personal favorite includes this photo below:

Igor Larionov Signing

Published

Christy Hammond

on March 27, 2006

in Autographs, Igor Larionov and Pictures

. 2 Comments

I attended the Igor Larionov DVD signing at the Best Buy in Novi (the one I actually always go to) on Sunday. Anyways, I got there about 50 minutes early and was between the 5th and 10th person there. I enjoyed the wait very much as I got to talk to 4 wonderful Wings fans about all of their previous Wings encounters the entire time. When 2pm came around, the line started moving.

To get an autograph, you had to purchase a copy of his DVD for $25. With that $25, you got the DVD, autograph on DVD, autograph(s) on any other Wings items you brought (stupid me brought nothing else), and a photo taken of you and Larionov. A Best Buy employee took the photo with his own digital camera and they printed it out for you right there. For once, I actually like how I look in the photo - amazing!

Anyways, I don’t have a scanner at home so once I get one from my parents’ office, I will scan in the autographed DVD cover and photo. I’m also going to Westland Mall on Tuesday to pick up my 5 Swedish Olympian Wings photo and autograph. All of those items will be scanned in for your viewing pleasure, but probably not until this weekend since I have 3 exams and a paper starting today through Thursday.

Until then, these photos below will have to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize they were this fuzzy (they looked perfectly fine on that little digital screen - otherwise I would’ve taken more).

The Best Buy in Novi