Abel to Yzerman
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Defeating The Dive: Keys to R2, G1
by IwoCPO on 04/24/08 at 01:27 PM ET
Comments (32)
Hey, how about that? My cousin, who lives in Nashville of all places, commented on the “There will be blood” rant below. Bastard won’t call or email me, but when it’s time to stab some Dive fans in the temple, boy, there he is. For you, cous, we may have a Rocky III reference coming up real soon.
As I write this it’s 6 hours until game time. I’m ready to present to you the keys to victory, and happiness.
Foote. Not only is he their best defenseman, but he holds the key to whatever miniscule bit of soul that rests in that room. That says a lot, considering he had no problem shafting the team he left like Irsay in the middle of the night. Ask the BJs what they think of “their captain.” Ask Columbus fans to compare him to Chris Pronger and I’ll bet they have plenty of ammunition to do so. He needs to be run, because Uncle Mike likes watching people run defenseman. Dallas Drake would be nifty guy to do just that, every shift if possible. Damage Foote. Break the Foote. A lot.
Jose Three or Four. Denver’s giving up 33 shots per game in the playoffs. Simpler? K. Minnesota put up 33/game over a six game series. If they can stick 33 on 3/4 than the Wings should average 45 at least. That, my friends, is a recipe for family fun. 45 shots per game seals the deal. Maybe the little fella can steal one game seeing that much rubber, but not four.
Forsberg. One player on that team scares me. One. And that’s him. Wolski, Stastny, Sakic, Smyth...nobody else makes me sad, really. Forsberg? He must be dealt with. Uncle Mike has a plan and that plan probably includes the words, “norris”, “nicky”, “kneetothenuts” and “no room to breathe”. Yeah, I think Lidstrom’s going to take every shift that Forsberg is on the ice, and probably Draper too. Don’t be surprised if Zetterberg’s matched up with him either. And if the Wings put the Circus up against Floppa’s line? Advantage Wings. Because while he used to be a defensive kinda guy, Floppa’s tender ankle--like the tender sensibilities of all the candy asses who populate the Ass Can to stare lovingly at a jersey that hangs from the rafters placed there after 15 months of time in service--isn’t exactly made to cover the likes of Hank and Datsyuk. Oh, and speaking of his ankle? Place a target on it please.
The blue line. Anti-Digger is reporting that Stuart’s out.
Brad Stuart and his wife Melissa have a newborn baby boy, Logan Michael. (Coach Mike Babcock joked that he can’t believe Stuart wants on the power play so badly that he’d name his son Michael.)
Stuart will be in Detroit later today and he will practice with the Red Wings tomorrow. He will be back in the lineup for Game 2.
Andreas Lilja will partner with Niklas Kronwall tonight on the second defense pairing. Lija has been a healthy scratch the past three games.
For the record, as if this needs to be said, I for one harbor no ill feelings toward Stuart or anyone who would make the choice he did. Nothing in the world is better than being a Dad. Nothing. Not even a Cup, or watching your team win one. Congrats to him and his wife.
Having said that, if he’s in Detroit...and he’s not playing? I’d take a dead-tired Stuart over a healthy Lilja any day of the week. It’s 1244 EST and the official word (because MacLeod says so) is that he’s out. I believe that now. But if he’s there in time, I have a hunch he plays.
Kronwall must maintain his anti-social tendencies. God, he was a frigging freight train against Bubba. He hit Bubba so hard that Bubba’s sister/cousin/wife felt it while she was cleaning the outhouse. That has to continue. If it means a few PKs, so be it.
Rafalski and Lidstrom are going to be huge this series. Huge. It’s their play against the Dive top line, their outlet passes, their blasts on net that will make the difference. Those 45 shots on net I mentioned earlier? 15 have to come from 12 feet in. Rebounds, end board ricochets, deflections, whatever. Rafalski and Lidstrom have to make that happen.
Osgood. Billy frigging Beroo. Oh Billy. This is a big one. Chris Osgood is not going to lose us this series. I’m convinced of that. I think we can anticipate him allowing 2 goals/game. It’s up to the offense to do one better than that. He’s calm and as positionally sound as he’s ever been. He will not be rattled and there will be more than a few situations where nerves would fell most other goalies. Plus, he’s on a bit of a mission.
Datsyuk. There is no forward or defenseman who can contain him, not the way he’s playing. He’s your Conn Smythe winner should the Wings bring the Cup home to its rightful spot. If his linemates get, and stay, hot they’re good for at least two/game. If he stays healthy, I really believe he is key, the main key.
There are your keys to Game 1, and I think the series. Live Blog tonite? Yes. 422’s the record. 500 tonite is a given.
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Comments
Absolutely fantastic. The sun is shining (does the train have skylights?) and I’m ready to start this round. The late games means it gets dark enough that I get to have driveway hockey, which means beaming an HD projector onto my garage door and inviting the neighborhood. How Bubba of me.
Posted by scsgoal31 from Huntington Woods, MI on 04/24/08 at 12:54 PM ET
I gotta say, I think another key factor in this series is going to be, you guessed it, “secondary scoring.” To wit, Franzen, Flip, Charlie Buckets, Sammy, Happy, Drapes, Helm-er, Mac, etc., v. Davey Jones, Crybaby Smyth, Wolski, etc.
I think a lot of the action’s going to be right there, in those second, third, and fourth line matchups. If Sammy, Flip, and Buckets get their shit going, and Happy keeps his going, I like our chances…
And I can’t wait for the Mac’s “Claude Lemieux Memorial Icepick to the Temple” on Frenchy, either.
Blood indeed.
Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 04/24/08 at 01:02 PM ET
I’ve harnessed all my prognostication powers and managed to come up with a post-game 1 image…
Awwww…
Posted by TeamDub from The gratch. on 04/24/08 at 01:03 PM ET
If anyone’s keeping track…
TeamDub: 1
‘Dique: 0
I get the feeling that Dub is sweeping this series, regardless of what happens on the ice.
Posted by Nathan on 04/24/08 at 01:23 PM ET
As I e-mailed the chief about earlier, it’s Doc and Olczyk tonight, but Pierre IS inside the glass for TSN, so “DC” alert!
Posted by Steve from New Jersey on 04/24/08 at 01:26 PM ET
The top 6 forwards on each team cancel each other out, so the battles will be won with the 3rd and 4th lines.
Couldn’t disagree more Jeremy. The flying circus is the best line in hockey, playing both a power and defensive suffocation game. There is no line that they aren’t superior to. Our second line is tougher and have better D to move the puck (sit down Lilja) to them; they’ll be far more effective as a unit than the Dive’s second line.
The key will be in Babcock not giving into Joel in Denver.
Agreed Jeremy. Babbles is a far better coach and can beat up both Quiverville and Granitehead, at the same time. More than getting match ups, he’ll get every line ready to play against any other line. Get ready Helm.
TDub: Smyth should look like that at the end of the series, give or take a black eye and a tooth or three.
Dats as Conn Smythe winner is hard for me to argue with or against. The perennial winner should be Nick, but Dats is playing like a maniac right now. Also, did anyone else realize that he played game 6 against NSH––the one where he almost single handedly killed a 5 on 3––while he was sick. I actually don’t expect him to be a huge point producer, but he will create space. More importantly, I think he’ll be the biggest defensive force next to Nick in this series. Forget Draper, put Dats out there against Forsberg and watch him play keep away.
p.s. Having Lilja back annoys me to no end. Raffy is getting on my nerves as well but he has my patience as well. He needs to step up.
Posted by Osrt on 04/24/08 at 01:27 PM ET
I haven’t read all the comments from yesterday’s posts but someone changed the ‘Dique Wiki page to be Colorado Douche Canoes and 97.1 (Karsch/Gator) picked up on it and they were calling the team the Colorado Canoes (since they can’t say Douche on-air) this afternoon.
Posted by scsgoal31 from Huntington Woods, MI on 04/24/08 at 01:31 PM ET
Okay, from the history of the Avs Wikipedia page:
“After the NHL season many avalanche players were known to go to Memphis to work on their physique, in hopes of becoming tight bodied athletes. Patrick Roy sat at home and fought his son in hopes that he would one day become as big of a baby as him.”
Brilliant. If the person that wrote this isn’t already part of the A2Y (Juvenille) 19, I think it’s time to bring them in.
Posted by Nathan on 04/24/08 at 02:04 PM ET
At some point in this series, Joe Sakic will score a goal. A big goal. One of those momentum changing goals. It might be in overtime, it might be in the last minute of the game, or the first minute or a period, or 9 seconds after Floppa. Doesn’t matter, because it’s gonna happen. And if the Wings let that goal change the game, they’ll lose that game. and if they let it change the series, they’ll lose the series. Time to cut out the nonsense momentum swings we saw in the first four games against Nashville.
Posted by Ryan from Toronto on 04/24/08 at 02:33 PM ET
Wiki warfare. 
Sports weren’t nearly as much fun before Al Gore invented the internet.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/24/08 at 02:53 PM ET
I’ll be on a missionary trip to Colorado this weekend, helping to counsel Dives fans before, during and after Game 2. Colorado Canoes… not bad, but since Adrienne’s trade deadline posts, I’ve been referring to them as Joe Bags and his Puck Buddies.
Posted by justin13 on 04/24/08 at 03:00 PM ET
Game 1: Victory
Game 2: Victory (OT)
Game 3: Loss
Game 4: Victory
Game 5: Victory (by 3 or more goals)
Bottom Line: Theodore is good, but not good enough. Forsberg will be ready to tear his hair out with frustration by the end of game four. Franzen collects more points than Smyth.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 04/24/08 at 03:04 PM ET
“Stuart will be in Detroit later today and he will practice with the Red Wings tomorrow. He will be back in the lineup for Game 2.”
I just don’t get it....That kid is gonna be around the house,what, 25-30 years? How many chances do you get to pound the Dive in the PLAYOFFS?
Priorities, Brad, priorities.
Posted by dougie on 04/24/08 at 03:21 PM ET
Wiki-warfare indeed. It’s only getting started, I assume. Three hours to go!
Posted by AndrewB from TN on 04/24/08 at 03:32 PM ET
Heh, this series brings out the best in all of us.
If you’ve got time to kill and need a few laughs, surf around the Sports Argument Wiki for fun articles such as this one on our illustrious second round opponents or a diagram of the ice surface.
Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 04/24/08 at 03:33 PM ET
After the next win, please tell me you have a #11 Shawn Burr banner ready to go?
Posted by Nathan on 04/24/08 at 03:34 PM ET
From wikipedia: The Colorado Avalanch were a young group of lonely men from a logging industry in Canada that decided to get together and do a figure skating team together to play grabass and ended up filling out the wrong forms and played hockey in the NHL getting feverishly embarrased by the Detroit Red Wings year in and year out. They then moved to Colorado to try and hide from Detroit but to also watch the BIG TEN NETWORK!
Posted by moore00 from GR on 04/24/08 at 03:42 PM ET
If you’ve got time to kill and need a few laughs, surf around the Sports Argument Wiki for fun articles such as this one on our illustrious second round opponents or a diagram of the ice surface.
That rink image is f***** perfect, except “or your name is Nicklas Lidstrom” should be added to the end of Footnote #4.
Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 04/24/08 at 03:43 PM ET
“Brilliant. If the person that wrote this isn’t already part of the A2Y (Juvenille) 19, I think it’s time to bring them in. “
Yep, they’d fit right in with this crowd.
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/24/08 at 04:04 PM ET
I’ve seen how this series will end...the Avs get replaced by a pee-wee hockey team, and the Wings kick the crap out of them:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/104347/?searchterm=Stanley’s Cup
(this actually reminds me of game 7 of the 2002 WCF)
Posted by Matt from Chicago on 04/24/08 at 04:08 PM ET
“he Avs get replaced by a pee-wee hockey team, and the Wings kick the crap out of them”
Having the Avs replaced by a Pee-Wee team is the only way you guys will sweep this series as your deluded minds seem to believe will happen.
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/24/08 at 04:11 PM ET
This series has “seven games with multiple overtimes” written all over it - it will make the networks happiest. The problem is that such a situation will maximize everyone’s versus intake, and I’m not at all sure that will be a good thing.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/24/08 at 04:43 PM ET
Actually, VERSUS can only air Games 1 & 4 in the Detroit and Colorado markets.
So, if it goes 7, it really doesn’t matter, your Versus intake will likely be the same.
Posted by Steve from New Jersey on 04/24/08 at 04:50 PM ET
“Stuart will be in Detroit later today and he will practice with the Red Wings tomorrow. He will be back in the lineup for Game 2.”
I just don’t get it....That kid is gonna be around the house,what, 25-30 years? How many chances do you get to pound the Dive in the PLAYOFFS?
Priorities, Brad, priorities.
Dougie, when in doubt blame women. This is all a lazy wife’s fault for not hoping on a plane and coming to the rink; this is the playoffs lady! You gotta play through those minor (belly) bumps!!
Having the Avs replaced by a Pee-Wee team is the only way you guys will sweep this series as your deluded minds seem to believe will happen.
Que? Tu hablas Ingles Shane? Nobody is calling for a sweep. Even I, who call Wings in 5, are anticipating a very tough series that includes several overtime games.
Our playoff mascot is a giant locomotive, Stress-Train, with a club car called “The Hasek.”
We also have three lavatories named “The Liljas.”
Perhaps your mascot can be a headless duck (see Denver news) or a trucker rest area…
Posted by Osrt on 04/24/08 at 04:51 PM ET
Gabriel: That looks a bit like Shanny! I love the Pred logo in the background rubble...good stuff. 
Posted by Osrt on 04/24/08 at 04:56 PM ET
90 minutes to game time. Tick.tick.tick.
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 04/24/08 at 04:58 PM ET
Shane,
What you don’t understand is that where you thought you were insulting us, we were taking it as a compliment.
We would never (and I really mean NEVER) stoop to the level of being mature about things.
You can question the hockey knowledege of the A2Y 19, but you can’t question the immaturity. We’ll defend it with our lives.
Speaking of which, I find it hilarious that someone from Saskatoon decided to adopt the Avs as their team… unless of course you moved from Colorado to Saskatoon… which I find highly unlikely.
Posted by Nathan on 04/24/08 at 05:06 PM ET
“Speaking of which, I find it hilarious that someone from Saskatoon decided to adopt the Avs as their team…”
Last I checked, Saskatoon didn’t have an NHL team and I hate Calgary and Edmonton.
Besides, since when has location been a factor in choosing a team to cheer for? I think it’s mildly retarded that people would expect someone from Detroit to immediately be a Wings fan and so on down the line for all sports teams.
I could really give a shit why you cheer for the Wings or why anybody cheers for a given team. I’m just happy when I see people who watch hockey and cheer for a team. I’m a fan of the game as much as I’m a fan of the Avalanche.
But given your fearless leaders comment on being a fan of the Red Wings “period”, I can’t say I’m surprised to see another person here be confused that someone not from Denver could cheer for the Avalanche.
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/24/08 at 06:21 PM ET
Grrrrrrr! My fiancee can’t understand why this series is different than the last one. Bring them on! Good blog posts Chief.
Posted by TDeters from Washington, DC on 04/24/08 at 08:14 PM ET
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Depth will be huge in this series. The top 6 forwards on each team cancel each other out, so the battles will be won with the 3rd and 4th lines.
Also, keep in mind Quenneville’s poor playoff resume against the Wings. If Uncle Mike can outcoach him on the road, the Wings can win this series without many problems. The key will be in Babcock not giving into Joel in Denver.
Lastly, the Wings need to play their game and not get sucked into what the Avs want to do. The Wings were guilty of that against Nashville, especially early on in the series.
Posted by Jeremy on 04/24/08 at 12:49 PM ET