From 30,000 feet above Colorado and the stench has reached us here in coach. It’s not pleasant smelling a state that reeks of hockey failure, but it’s not a cause of pain and stress.
Nope. Mere hours before Game 1 against The Team We Must Now Speak of and I’m trying to explain to the mother and young child next to me why Homer’s absence tonite should worry them as it worries me. I think they’re coming around but it’s been a tough sell.
There’s a 65 year old man just in front of me. He seems like a nice old gentleman, grandfatherly, sympathetic to my stress. He nods when I tell him that Zetterberg’s back has me so nervous that I may have to use his air sickness bag. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore though. He’s watching a movie now. I’m gonna lean over and see what it is....Saw II. Awww, that’s nice. Sweet old man.
A young French couple is across the aisle from me. They don’t seem to listen when I tell them I believe their nation is short on sack. They perk up though when I tell them that I’m concerned that Nick Lidstrom may have finally met his match this time. They look skeptically at one another when I explain that Thornton presents too many problems. They huddle and whisper then the woman leans over and says that she and her husband have discussed it and they both agree that Thornton may see a healthy dose of Chris Chelios, as well. They think the old man may frustrate him to the point of distraction. The husband returns to his romance novel, te wife to her hygiene magazine and I’m alone again with my thoughts.
I think we’re past Colorado because the passengers have stopped giggling.
Jeffrey, our stewardess and a San Jose native, is prancing up the aisle firing orders. “Elbows in please.” “Watch those bags ladies.” I stop him and ask if Rosie actually quit the View today. He chokes back a sob and nods in the affirmative. I ask him what he thinks the keys to the series are. The power play, he says. Detroit has to stifle San Jose’s and the Wings have to succeed at least 20 percent throughout the series.
He adjust his scarf and moves on. The pilot comes over the 1MC and announces there’s turbulence ahead, they’re turning the snack carts around, back to their little caverns at the back of the plane. Naturally I think of “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” and “fellas it’s too rough to feed ya.”. That’s a Michigan song, I say to the lady behind me. And that’s an omen, a good one. she looks at me funny and says “what song?”. The one I was just singing to myself, the Lightfoot timeless classic, I reply.
She tells me to turn around or else she’ll press the call button. No one ever presses the call buton, I say. They think about it but they never do. I dare you but I doubt you will. She looks at me for a minute then says, “Ron Wilson’s a genius you know, a true motivator.” I press the call button and Jeffrey sprints up the aisle. “Yeth?”. I tell him what she says about Wilson and he says he believes players tune him out, that he’s a clown. I ponder that for a moment and then decide to avail myself of the spacious restroom in the rear of the plane.
I’ve been in here for thirty minutes now and notice there’s some graffiti on the bulkhead. How odd, I think, graffiti on a plane. You just don’t see much of that. I lean in closer to it and see that it’s written in child-like scrawl, in crayon.
“I built this team for this series,” it says. “I’m hungry for Fritos and melted cheese and I’ve got a secret and his name is The Enigma. Remember I wrote that.” There were initials underneath it.....MB.
I’ve just been told to turn off all electronic devices. I only have one but I’ll turn it off because I’m a lemming at the mercy of the bastard airline even though we all know the electronic devices don’t make one damn bit of difference.
Wings in 6.
Witty Chief, very Witty:
Heres something to make your ride a little less turbulent: Scott Cullen at TSN, you kow the mathematical genius rankings guy, has his picks for round 2 (btw he was 7/8 using his formulations in the 1st round --- and the one he got wrong is the only one where he went against his stastical model):
Picks for Round Two:
Sabres in six
Senators in six
Ducks in five
Red Wings in seven
Hmmm, very nice Scott (Borat accent required)!!!
Crazy Hank news posted in the previous blog!!!! But rumor has it he is playing albeit with the flu. Baroque suggests Hank carry the fish water bottles to the bench tonite!!!! BRILLIANT!!!!
Posted by Jeff - - OklahomaWingNut from Never-Never-Land on 04/26 at 01:55 PM