James Mirtle asked me to do a Q&A on the Wings/Stars series yesterday. The result is here. Thanks again, James!
Archive for the 'Hockey Bloggers' Category
(ed. note: Flávio (zeh) de Moura of Red Wings Brasil asked me to brush up an anglicized version of this post and post it. I tried to clarify a couple passages while keeping as close to the original meaning as I could and without taking away from it’s “flavor.” It’s a great pre-game pep talk.
It was written by Eduardo Costa. - Matt)
Friends and fans of the best ice hockey team ever known, today is the day. Today is the day when the great Detroit Red Wings will, finally, sail over the playoff’s insurgent seas. We will wave good-bye to the slowdown predicted in the pre-post-season and start our sweep over the Predators in a best-of-three series.
Regardless of our superlative superiority, everything points to a challenging match. The Predators have many weapons of intimidation. They won’t hesitate to hit our guys, just like Jordin Tootoo did, stepping on Kris Draper on game 4. And, to donkeys like those, there ain’t no possibility for diplomacy. So, may belligerence overtake the hearts of the men in red.
But today we won’t face just the Predators’ prickers. Oh, no!
Beyond Nashville’s dizzying-mustard uniforms will be the jerseys of the jealous, the logo of the dastards, the colors of the weak-headed. Yes, 29 teams and their fans will be against the Wings tonight. They pine for our disgrace, dream about Goliath’s fall. They are in an intense dreaminess that our squad is on the mat, while the men in black and white striped t-shirts make the 10-to-0 countdown. If they could, they’d rape our wives, kick our dogs and sack or homes, so big is their jealous about or achievements.
For that not to happen, our defensive majesty must be back and guide us. There’s no blue-line in the whole NHL like ours. And today is a good day to show why there’s no other like ours.
And may, on the other end of the ice, the sainted Datsyuk, the multitalented Zetterberg, the crease-master Tomas Holmstrom, the boards-gladiator Dallas Drake, the equus mulus Franzen decide.
That said, keeping in mind that a 10-second blackout is enough for an epic tragedy, to the nasty, scurrilous, and of-no-life Nashville Pedators, we’ll give the pain of defeat.
Tonight’s game will, also, be a will-o-meter. Not just for those who will be with red on at the JLA, but a test to our will as fans, as Wing-Nuts.
If you are expecting a loss to use that flagitious expression “I knew that,” refrain from passin the negative energy to our boys. Turn off your computer, TV or radio. Put on a Radiohead CD while you browse the last issue of the Rolling Stones magazine. Let us, who believe, raise our fists at each Red Wings’ goal, at each “great save by Osgood” (watched by Terry Sawchuk, from a better place than this).
Today is a great day to strike in the quest to the 11th Stanley Cup. Today our faithful and willing idol, Steve Y, will be on the stands. I’m with him. What about you?
Congratulations to the guys over at Red Wings Brasil on completing their first year at that address.
… Washington came back from a two-goal deficit to defeat Philadelphia 5-4 last night in Game 1 of their series. Who had the game-winner? Alexander Ovechkin, following a Pavel Datsyuk-like steal.
… A very unfortunate event from that game: Philadelphia’s Patrick Thoresen took a Mike Green shot off a very bad place and as a result, he had to be taken to the hospital. Green went on to score seconds later, after the play was not stopped.
… As a blogger covering the decidedly anti-New Media Detroit Red Wings, I can’t even fathom being in this position.
… So the Senators haven’t completely given up on each other after all. They still lost, though.
… The Wild/Avs series went to overtime for the second time. This time it was Minnesota that scored, tying the series 1-1.
… The Devils lost 2-1 to the Rangers last night and fell behind 2-0 in their series. Lou Lamoriello was not happy with the officiating.
Update (2:42 PM): Be sure to stop by On Frozen Blog for a great video of highlights from the Caps’ season. There is surprisingly little Ovechkin in it, which just shows that the team has things going for it beyond #8. - Matt
Update (2:33 PM): George Malik wraps up media and player reactions to the game over at Snapshots. Be sure to catch the part about the crowd toward the bottom. - Matt
Update (2:30 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Darren Helm was returned to Grand Rapids so he can appear in the two remaining Griffins games, which will be played at home tonight and tomorrow. - Matt
Update (1:49 PM): Helene St. James reports that the Red Wings’ lineup will be the same for Game 2. - Matt
Update (12:57 PM): James Mirtle has a great piece posted on Ted Leonsis that touches on the successful rebuilding year in Washington.
The Caps will play their first playoff game of the Alexander Ovechkin era tonight. - Matt
… IwoCPO passes on some observations from Game 1.
… The Free Press has a great gallery of pictures from the game. The Detroit News’ is here.
… The vaunted Ducks lost 4-0 to the Stars, a team that struggled down the stretch, last night. I love it.
Apparently, they ran into trouble when they started taking dumb penalties. In other words, when they played that abomination they call their “style.”
… The Sharks evened things up with the Flames last night, shutting them out 2-0 in the second game in as many nights. Unfortunate.
… Is this result at all surprising?
… “What kind of dress would ex-Red Wing Sean Avery wear if he were a woman?” Find out here.
… CBC’s Elliotte Friedman has a great piece on the problems with the Senators.
… As a Michigan fan, this made me sad.
Update (6:42 PM): This a must-read for bloggers as well as journalists. It’s Deadspin so it’s got elements of NSFW-ness, but it has a message I think both sides of the debate over “New Media” need to hear.
This piece by Daryl Shilling, a former contributor here at OtW, is similar in philosophy. - Matt
Update (6:01 PM): Slapshot has a great piece on the special hockey fervor in Montreal this season. - Matt
Update (5:24 PM): This is just a great piece of writing. - Matt
Update (4:29 PM): The guys at Orland Kurtenblog look at the “NHL Experts Picks” for the Wings/Predators series. - Matt
Update (4:18 PM): Heh. (via A2Y) - Matt
Update (4:16 PM): Steph has a preview of the Wings/Predators series posted. - Matt
Update (3:15 PM): This is great. For the background, read this and this. Kevin Schultz has a good response. - Matt
Update (1:25 PM): IwoCPO presents the keys to the Wings/Predators series. - Matt
… James Mirtle reacts to the first night of the playoffs.
… HockeyTownTodd comments on the Wings/Predators series as only he can.
… Rangers fans made a good showing as their team opened the playoffs across the river in New Jersey.
… The Flames beat the Sharks in Game 1. I’ll be honest. I didn’t see that one coming.
… This one, however, came as no surprise: Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 0.
… Ansar Khan says the Wings aren’t looking past the first round. They’re also ready for the physical challenge of the post-season.
… This year’s under-the-rader player, Johan Franzen, is the subject of a Khan profile.
… Bruce MacLeod has a piece on the Wings’ big three net front players: Franzen, Dan Cleary, and Tomas Holmstrom.
… The Forechecker gives Predators fans reason to believe.
Update (3:53 PM): Bruce MacLeod provides some perspective here. - Matt
Update (12:29 PM): Over at the NHL Fanhouse, the gang has a roundtable on the Western Conference playoffs. - Matt
Update (12:15 PM): Here’s yesterday’s obligatory read, in case you missed it: Scotty Bowman’s Q&A with the fans on Slapshot. Be sure to check out George Malik’s question. - Matt
Update (10:55 AM): Dave of Gorilla Crouch has a look at the Wings’ faceoff trends against Nashville this season here. Direct link to his handy Google Spreadsheet on the topic here. - Matt
Preview coming. For now, some links:
… IwoCPO, who’s been a veritable posting machine the past couple days, has his first round predictions up at Abel to Yzerman.
He also appeared on the New York Times’ Slapshot blog here.
… Bruce Ciskie previewed the Wings/Predators series over at the NHL Fanhouse.
… For those fluent in Portuguese, Humberto Ferndandes has a preview of the series at Red Wings Brasil. Here’s a rough translation.
… One of the few Predator bloggers, PredJoe, has some comments on his team here. His outlook is positive.
… Most media are writing the Wings off, but James Mirtle is one journalist who isn’t. He has them going all the way.
So does the Denver Post’s Terry Frei.
… Ansar Khan “dispels” some myths about the Wings in his latest. It’s pretty basic stuff and what’s surprising is so much of the hockey media just doesn’t get it.
… The Wings have noticed the animosity coming out of the media and, predictably, they are less than appreciative. George Malik has a brief roundup here. Note McCarty’s quote especially.
… Malik also has a roundup of the latest injury updates.
… Did you know that Mike Babcock is on the hot seat? Neither did Ken Holland.
… The News’ Bob Wojnowski has a nice long piece on Henrik Zetterberg in today’s edition. The best part? Hank’s final quote:
“Hopefully, we can come to an agreement and I can stay here for a long time. I’ve noticed the last two years, when I’m in Sweden at the end of August, I really want to come back home. They take care of us here and we have a good team. It’s nice.”
… The Washington Post has a piece on former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov that’s worth reading. (via Abel to Yzerman)
… TSN has a new look, but still doesn’t have sport-specific RSS feeds. What’s that about? On the new look: it’s slick, but will take some getting used to.
… On a related note, the new NHL TV portal has launched. It looks good. The Hockey Show is on at 11:30 AM ET today.
Well, sort of: The New York Times‘ hockey blog, Slapshot, has been asking bloggers of all 30 teams the same set of questions on a Division-by-Division basis. Abel to Yzerman’s IwoCPO (or Bill Houlihan) was the Wings’ representative in today’s Central Division post.
Update (01. Feb, 9:18 AM): James has posted his recap. - Matt
Apparently, James Mirtle was at the game last night.
Am I jealous? Very.
Poor college student that I am, I hope to follow his advice at some point this season:
… if you’ve been looking for an inexpensive trip to an NHL game and you live within driving distance of Joe Louis Arena, this is probably the year to do it.
He says he’ll “likely have some sort of recap up … later today.”
Today’s must see video (keep an eye out for IwoCPO near the start of the bloggers segment):
It’s always good to see bloggers get such good press. Hopefully having Ron MacLean and Elliotte Friedman talk about blogging will make some people sit up and take notice.
I’m sorry for not posting on the game, but I went to Holland to watch it and spent the night there due to the weather. I didn’t get back until this evening and have to do some school-related things.
