Abel to Yzerman
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Eat It Lefties
by IwoCPO on 10/19/07 at 08:04 AM ET
Comments (6)
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. My use of the term “lefties” has nothing to do with politics. It’s a geographical slang term referring to California...and Ian. You know, the Sharks used to frighten me. I’d have bad visions of power plays and teal and big teeth and Ronald McDonald chasing me around the empty halls of my elementary school.
I’m not so scared anymore.
You wondering why Aaron Downey made the team? Not anymore are you? Kyle McLaren took a run at Dallas Drake, who is most likely BFF with Downey by now, and paid the price. I think McLaren’s hit was clean and I’ll bet Drake does too. But the fact remains, he inflicted pain on a Red Wing and pain was returned to him. Downey wasted him and that was fun for the whole family.
Kinda curious why Chris Chelios decided to blister Joe Thornton with a forearm early this morning? I’m thinking that after the Wings held him to one shot on goal, and with another game next week, Cheli just wanted to remind him of his status in this relationship.
How popular do you think Matt Ellis is in the Wing room? I have no idea because I’m obviously not in there so I wouldn’t make a grand statement like claiming he’s “a great teammate” like a Piston fan I know talks about Rasheed Wallace. But I’m guessing his hustle and his attitude go a long way. So when he scored a grinder’s goal last night, the game winner, you know that had to resonate.
Ellis has been a steady, solid presence on the fourth line. A summer spent working on his speed has helped him gain a step, and he’s been especially impressive the past two games, with the way he set up Zetterberg’s goal Monday at Anaheim and with his own goal Thursday.
“He’s been excellent,” Babcock said. “He’s a conscientious guy, he’s a hard worker … he gets every inch out of his potential. To me, that’s a great example for his teammates.”
I’m not a big fan of Ron Wilson. I can’t believe that the mental jobs he tries to play on his team have the effect he’s looking for. For instance, the Shark announcers said last night that the team is going on some sort of three-day love fest in the mountains of NoCal next week. Finding themselves, I suppose. An “offsite” to get to know each other and commune as only hockey players can. I’ll bet that idea is accepted real well among the players.
Whatever. He wasn’t happy about his team’s effort.
“You have to be mentally ready,” Ron Wilson said. “We seem to be content to be reading our press clippings or whatever the predictions are. You play the weaker teams in the league, they’re going to mark you on the calendar and give their best effort. You play the Red Wings coming off their worst game of the season and you know they’re going to be ready to play.”
Apparently they were, because Uncle Mike noticed the Wings were shooting. And when our Uncle notices something, he’s not too shy to tell you about it.
“The guys who score goals shoot the puck,” he said. “Guys who never score any goals, never shoot the puck. I wonder why that is.”
Yes!! You nailed it Mike. You frigging nailed it. Let me help you a little with that, you know....fill in the blanks.
MBCQOTD
“I’ve researched this Helene. Researched the hell out of it. You think I’m making this stuff up? Do you want a sweet tart? I see you’re drinking Tab. I love Tab. Love it. Danny Noonan turned down a Fresca from the judge you know. I like you Betty. You shoot, you score. You score, you win. You win, you get to drive through the puddles on the team bus. Started that one this year. The boys love it.”
Thanks Mike.
Rafalski? Don’t know. Just...don’t...know. Matt Saler pointed out in the comment section of the live blog that I fell asleep while hosting that Rafalski may have been injured according to Ken Daniels. But I haven’t seen anything on that yet. Oh, wait...yes I have. Almost forgot.
Rafalski appeared to have hurt his knee late in the game on a hit from Joe Thornton, but Babcock said he’s fine.
That’s why you’re the Captain Ansar. Just keep taking Babcock’s word as gold. Reaction: Babcock’s a lying liar and I keep telling you that and you keep writing them down word for word, never questioning, never following up. “...Babcock said he’s fine.” Oh, good.
Drake: woozy, staggering, undeterred.
“Just a little headache, no big deal,’’ Drake said. “I hit my cheek bone on the partition. I was feeling a little woozy coming off. We were just going for the puck and he rode me out pretty good. If the partition isn’t there, nothing happens.’’
Was it Drake who hit McCarty so hard his gloves flew off in ‘98? That was a frigging hit right there. Don’t remember. Fuzzy.
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Comments
Watch it, there, Bill...You’re going to have a whole bunch of militant left-handed people angry with you...We lefties fight for our rights 
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 10/19/07 at 09:28 AM ET
Downey is a lefty and McLaren knows it.
Great post Chief.
Keenan recently played the same game as Wilson by calling out Kipper in the media; I don’t see how this helps more than it hurts. You’re talking to grown men, professionals who don’t need to be treated like that.
Before I make a statement about Bowman never doing that, does anyone actually remember Scotty calling out players in the media?
Posted by srt on 10/19/07 at 10:09 AM ET
It strikes me that Scotty would have been more oblique. He might be more likely to talk about the forwards in general and lump several guys together, instead of saying “this one guy is playing poorly and needs to score, or his butt is going to be affixed to the bench with a staple-gun.”
I remember once (at least) he mentioned to a member of the media how it was interesting that almost all of Shanahan’s goals were on the powerplay, and then let everyone else run with that instead of calling him out directly.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/19/07 at 10:16 AM ET
Dazed and Confused
the Drake left the game after a check from McLaren that looked
as though he had learned it from the Drake
Can’t do that
A rather heated discussion about it later in the game, Downey duked it out with
McLaeren. The Shark got a few good pops in early, but Downey just kept getting
stronger as the Bout went on, very Kocuresque.
here it is on uTube
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs dont live up to my expectations on 10/19/07 at 11:39 AM ET
n “offsite” to get to know each other and commune as only hockey players can. I’ll bet that idea is accepted real well among the players.
Well, it worked for the Wings. (paintball, anyone?)
Posted by Paul from Miami Beach on 10/19/07 at 02:14 PM ET
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Quite possibly the best MBCQOTD ever...and that is saying a lot!
To Uncle Mikey’s point, however, I believe it was Wayne Gretzky’s dad, Walter, who told the young Great One, “You won’t score on 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Combine this sage fatherly advice with that of Luke Robitaille’s papa, who told him, “Good things happen when you go to the net,” and you have a not-so-secret formula for success in hockey as well as life.
Posted by YzermanZetterberg from Saginaw, MI on 10/19/07 at 08:58 AM ET