Chief:  I agree, we need to find Abdelkader a nickname, and soon; his name—as you noted isn’t hard to type—well its just that you ahve to think about it, and thats just too freaking hard first thng in the morning.

Ohh, and I think we will be typing his name alot this post season.  The kid brings energy, seems pretty fast on his skates, plays sound defense, and he really delivers the hits in a big way—but, not so far anyway, at the expense of taking himself out of the play.  Hit, hit, hit—and a damn good nose for the net too.  He could have easily scored against the BJ—maybe even twice. 

So yes, a moniker for Abdelkader is needed.  Alas, that requires some thought too.  Maybe during Sunday’s game an epiphanhy will present itself.  Too early right now.

I actually thougt Hasek was pretty good against the BJ’s, except for that Blew-liner he gave up (you know the one Abdelkader tried to block from the top of the circle, face first).  The only thing about this post-season that concerns me is the Wings goal-tending.  Generally it has been good—due in large part to the League best shots against.  But it is, especially lately, inconsistent = unreliable.  You really don’t know what to expect.  Inconsistent, unreliable, equals unknown = stress.

If the Wings manage to play the postseason without injury to the main guys, we know what to expect from the skaters.  League bests shots per game, top 10 PP and PK.  Win alot of games that way; provided your goalie can make his stops.

That, IMO, is the $64,000.00 question.  Hasek hasn’t played enough to be “consistent” (Ozzy was really good when he played that stretch in NOV/DEC/JAN; but that was months ago).  Uncle Mike appears to be going with the CMOI. Question that decision we will.

I like the Bubba match-up for two reasons:  (1) it is geographically close, and (2) most importantly, they remind me of adolescent punks(from their stupid chants, assinine P.A., awful play-by-play, and that punk of punks TooToo)—and isn’t it always fun to watch a punk get his comeuppance!!

Homer where art thou!!  Too bad on Kopecky, he was, IMO, really starting to play solid minutes and learning how to use that big frame of his.  Draper needs to get back in, if for nothing else to win the freaking face-offs (Wings were bad against the BJ in the circle).

Time for more coffee—heres my ticket Chief, wheres my damn seat??

Geography is the winner in my book.  I didn’t want to stay up late watching a game that started at 10:00 pm and then try to decipher the sampling requirements for EPA methods.  Any team is going to by tough - they are all too close together.

Suck. Suck. Suck.  That’s what the playoffs do.

This is why (well, one of the reasons anyway) I want to see Montreal and Detroit in the final series.

One group of fans on a Stress Train (many since February), and the other continually Fearing the Collapse and wanting to throttle the home crowd for singing Ole, Ole with a one goal lead and 15 minutes to go in the second period! 

Two excellent teams with illustrious histories, and fans arguing about which one is suckier.

I’ve been told that Abdelkader’s current nickname is “Abs” (I was concerned if we didn’t find one for him quick he’d end up “Abby” and no one wants that).

I like your use of “Sparty” but it won’t work once the Wings pick up Ryan Miller in a couple years.

Friggin’ injuries.

My stool is already black and tar-like.  That usually doesn’t begin until the morning of R1/G1. 

Hopefully, it’s just colon cancer or something and not a bad omen about the Wings’ upcoming playoff fortunes.

I like Abby let’s go with that.  It’s a girly nickname, but on a tough guy, makes him sound even tougher.  It’s like Charlie Sheen’s character in “Red Dawn”.  His name was Matt, but everybody called him Maddy.  I’m a nerd.

I’m terribly nervous about the playoffs, but I would be in any case.  Goaltending, goaltending, goaltending.  We need a top five, young goaltender in Detroit.  It’s been a need for years.

The “Bubba” thing is truly fun. I love how you ignore your current surroundings though. I know. It makes you feel better not to. That’s ok. We’ll play along.

TDeters:  If you want to do a Wing fan get together on Thursday, let me know and I’ll promo it here on A2Y.

Predneck: Glad you enjoy my tribute to your family branch.  Stay a while if you’d like.

WTF?  Was this a panic signing?  How else do you view it?

I think it’s a matter of timing. Abdelkader decided just this past week that he was going to forgo his senior year at MSU. When he told the Wings, they had two routes they could take: 1) sign him by the Saturday deadline and have him available for the playoffs, or 2) let him hang out for a summer and sign him by the August deadline so that he could join the organization next season.

The benefits of Option 1 are obvious: you can bring in a highly-touted prospect who would be idle otherwise. He brings a fast, physical style as well as buckets of motivation to play for his home team. If nothing else, he can join the group of young guys the team will be calling up at the end of the Griffins’ season and give the Wings a heck of a practice squad. 

So, they signed him to an amateur tryout in order to whet his appetite. He then signed the entry level contract and now has the chance to play hockey in real life this summer instead of on his Xbox.

Not a panic signing at all. Just a realization that an idle Justin Abdelkader is a waste of talent.

Not much of a nickname, but we call him Abs. It’s sad to see him go, but at the same time it’s really exciting to see him play in a Wing’s sweater. I can’t wait to hear Murphy and Babcock to pronounce his name, it’s already fun to hear commentators say really fast on a scoring rush.

I agree with Matt, signing Abdelkader now was a prudent move, not a panic one.  There’s just no upside to waiting, and potentially a big upside by signing him now.  I don’t think Holland or Babcock panic much, if at all.

I’ve been on the stress train since February, and I’m glad I boarded when I did.  Now I’m familiar with my surroundings, and I know it’s OK to assume a fetal position anytime in any car.

O-Joe:  nothing personal, but I hope it’s cancer, too. 

”Cleary: recovering, but scoreless since his return”
Actually, Cleary had an assist his first game back from his injury and has played pretty well.

I like the Sparty pickup. As someone already said, he’d decided to skip his senior year, might as wel. throw him in the deep-end and see if he can swim with the big fish.

With the forward corps thinning, the McCarty doesn’t look like such a bad idea; hopefully we can see a timely goal or two, a few big hits at key times, and maybe he’ll dent up Tootoo’s face. I feel that the annoying little twit is going to do something Claude-ian in the coming games.

I’m on Stress Train standby for the time being. the CMOI can flip on a dime once the games really matter again. If he hasn’t found his A game by game 2 i’ll clamber aboard.

Abdelkader nickname:  How about, “Justin Time”?

p.s. I think Ozzie should be our starter for this round till Dom gets his composure back.

p.s. I think a Drake/McCarty/Downey line could easily make the rough-riders of Bubba all look like they’re wearing Too-Too’s.

Because I’m already tired of typing that name....

Type it?  I can’t even say it!  Tried spelling it out on the SCRABBLE board here in the Club Car...not enuff vowels.  Nickname needed ASAP.  Where’s the guy that came up with the “SoGay Center”.  Find em Chief...payem, ya must have an Ovechkin jersey or something else laying around.

Abner, as in Lil’ Abner, as in the comic strip, as in an ironic nickname for a guy who’s 6’2”, 220, and actually plays like it.

As glad as I was to see the Wings hang on to Kopecky at the deadline, it sucks equally hard to see him knocked out so close to the start of the playoffs… I was expecting a big postseason for him…

With Kopy out, I think Uncle Mike needs to play Abdelkader, and play him a lot, until the kid shows he’s not up for it- which he definitely did not the other night against Columbus.  He was one of our best players that night!

Hopefully, the kid, along with Mac, Drake, Downey, etc., can step it up to make up for Kopecky’s absence, which I think will be noticeable, especially in a series against the hacks in Nashville…

Even if that means Happy gets a seat on the train to Pressbox-ville… We all have our own train to ride, no, Stress Trainers?

[while strapping myself to the train’s cow catcher]

I could hope for a better first-round matchup. We went 5-3 against them in the regular season, and their last ten have been identical to ours, 6-3-1. We’ve seen more of Mason than Ellis, and Ellis played hard in that last game.

Most of my hockey buddies here in TN are Preds fans; if the unthinkable happens, I will never, ever hear the end of it.

But that’s not going to happen, right? Everything is going to be just fine, and the Preds will end up like their beloved road kill cooling slowly beside the road.

Right?

Georgums just cited a St.James article in which Babs says the Preds blew their game against Chicago to avoid San Jose. Right on.

Bring It On!!

I have waves of panic followed by waves of calmness, a rush of adrennaline quelled by a deep serenity; in other words, I’m going bi-polar on this shi-i-te.

I thought Abdelkader’s name was Abdel-Decker, so I offer “Decker” as a nickname. No pop-reference or irony here, just a misreading and a hope that he’ll be what we hope.

I didn’t realize how big Kopecky was playing until he had three huge hits in one shift the other night. His loss is important, but I think we have the bodies to play plenty rough. Remember how the boys stepped up against Calgary last year? How big they played?

This is also the year that Cleary will prove himself to be a huge playoff performer, ala Homer or Fedorov. Different style obviously, but this is his time.

The CMOI will take a period or a game to get steady, but he’ll flip out and play solidly. No doubts from me.

Wings in 5.

Georgums just cited a St.James article in which Babs says the Preds blew their game against Chicago to avoid San Jose. Right on.

Why wouldn’t they?  A flight from Nashville to San Jose is a lot longer than Nashville to Detroit.  Logically they would like to minimize their travel, too.

OK, I’m finally in full playoff mode here......I got up this morning, and my previously half-full playoff possibilities glass was EMPTY.

Every other team in the playoffs looks 8 feet tall and bulletproof. My team, well, we needed 2 goals in the final two minutes to get a happy ending from the BJs.

We’re finding hope in the form of Abdelkader
(The A-Train, anyone?), and although he looks to be a fine addition after one game, I’d much rather be contemplating how we are going to be getting our number two goalie enough ice time to stay sharp, with our number one guy playing so well.

But this year, I’ve decided not to board the Stress Train. I’ve got a better idea. I’m just going to lay down on the tracks in front of the train, and just get it friggin’ OVER with, when you pull out of the station.

I dunno, dougie. The idea of calling an MSU product “A-Train” just doesn’t seem right.

It’ll probably take some time before a nickname sticks.  He’ll get tagged with one soon enough.

I’m just going to lay down on the tracks in front of the train, and just get it friggin’ OVER with, when you pull out of the station.

Go down the tracks a kilometre or so.  It will give the train the time to pick up more speed! 

Call him Kades.  (Rhymes with blades). Not Addy.  Addy is a little girl down the block who plays with my daughter.

“I dunno, dougie. The idea of calling an MSU product “A-Train” just doesn’t seem right.”

Yeah, I can see why you think that, after hitting that link. I don’t know much about the nuances of Big Ten football. The name just popped into my head, because “Take the A-Train” is the title of one of the 3 jazz songs I recognize when I hear it.