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Abel to Yzerman

Hanging Out Near DC Tomorrow?

by IwoCPO on 01/07/09 at 12:37 PM ET
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Still narrowing down places of worship (bars), but it would appear we’re going to throw an A2Y get together tomorrow (Thursday) night in the nation’s Capital (ol).  What prompted this?

Our long-lost traveler, Andrew from Ann Arbor, is hitting the big city and he promised he’d buy me at least one cheap beer.  So we’re throwing down while we watch Turco burn like the bitch he is.  I’ll let you know the location either tonite or tomorrow morning.  But it should be somewhere around the Verizon Center, and it must have Center Ice.  Any of you experts out there who have suggestions, send ‘em in.  And you’re all invited.  An A2Y All Skate.

Let’s take a spin, eh?  Yes, let’s.  And let’s add in a few of my opinions that I know you all have been looking forward to.

What ever happened to the good old closed-fisted punch to the face?  When did that go out of style and get replaced by slaps and bites?  Punch each other, please.

Has any NHL player in recent memory had a stretch of brilliance like Pavel Datsyuk?  It hasn’t been subtle.  Start with the “wind-aided” rush up ice on Thursday.  Sheer awesomeness.  Then move on to Saturday against sobbing Jacques and his Wild.  The shootout move Datsyuk has since titled, “Goal”?  Amazing.  Then the kick pass to Zetterberg last night?  Throw in the back checking, the steals, the presence.  Mick Redmond says no one’s better than Datsyuk right now.  I, and here’s a shock, agree.  So does Matt Saler.

Speaking of Datsyuk, it’s easy to buy the argument Mickey Redmond makes that #13 has been the best player in the NHL over the past 30 days. I’ve not seen all the League’s current hot hands, but I would call Datsyuk the best player on the ice in the majority of the Wings’ games over that span. Tonight was no exception.

So does Dennis Dubay at Red Wings and Beer.

Over the past 10 games, you’d be hard pressed to find a better all-around hockey player then Pavel Datsyuk. It’s a damn shame, almost a crime that this kid doesn’t get the respect of the media, while cry baby, cheap shot artists like Sidney Crosby get all the attention. It’s my biggest problem with sports in general, not just the NHL. Oh well, what the hell am I going to do about it, right?

Here’s what you can do shipmate.  Vote. Vote often, to the tune of ONE THOUSAND times per day.  Oh.  Right.

Hey, speaking of a load of crap and dumbass fans who would vote for a “captain” who hung his team out to dry and probably disrupted their chemistry so bad that they were blown out in the first round of their Cup defense?  Check this out. When was the last time none of the reigning Conn Smyth, Norris, Selke, Hart, Pearson, Vezina or even Byng award winners started in the “All” Star Game?  I don’t have an answer to that, but I’d bet it’s somewhere close to never.  Cancel the thing.  Let Montreal have their game, but just get rid of it after that.  Seriously.  Let the players have a break, especially those who typically play until at least mid-May every year.  So…yeah.  Blues?  Nevermind.

Hey. Not sure if you can read the 12 January edition of Sports Illustrated online yet.  But, there’s an article from Mitch Albom in there.  Yeah, I know.  But it should be mandatory reading for all of you, and for those who find it so easy to pick on our city.  It’s a great, great read.  Essentially, it’s: yeah, Detroit’s got problems.  But tend to your own before you point fingers at us.  Because the character of our town, our state really, is what’s going to carry us through some pretty crappy times.  An excerpt:

And yet we remember when the streets were stuffed, a million people downtown at a parade, as our hockey team was given a royal reception; every car carrying a player was cheered. This was 1997, and the Red Wings, after a 42-year drought, had once again won the Stanley Cup. Players and coaches stepped to the microphone and heard their words bounce back in waves of sound and thundering applause. Yzerman. Brendan Shanahan. Scotty Bowman. A hockey team? Who does this for a hockey team? Hockey is an afterthought in most American cities. Here, we wear it as a nickname. Hockeytown. We know the rules. We know the good and the bad officials. We sneak octopuses in our pants legs and throw them onto the ice at Joe Louis Arena.

Who loves hockey like this? What other American city comes to a collective roar when the blue light flashes? And what other American city goes into collective mourning when two of its players and a team masseur are seriously injured in a limo crash? People in Detroit can still tell you where they were when they heard about that limo smashing into a tree in suburban Birmingham six days after the Cup win of ‘97, forever changing the lives of Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Fetisov and Sergei Mnatsakanov. Vigils were held outside the hospital. Flowers were stacked at the crash site. The TV and radio news broke in with updates all day long. How critical? Would they skate again? Would they walk again?

Remember, these were two hockey players and a masseur, Russians to boot; none of them did much talking in English. Didn’t matter. They were ours, and they were wounded. It felt as if there was no other news for weeks in Detroit. “You hear anything?” people would say. “Any updates?”

Really good stuff from Albom.  Buy it if you have to. Wait for it to get online.  But Just heard from the marketing bubbas at SI.  Here’s the link to the entire article.  Read it so that we can all go back to bashing him.  Blue light?  Mark that one down for later.

Back to Saler for a minute and a comment about the spontaneous celebration at the Wing bench after Datsyuk kick-assisted on Zetterberg’s goal.

Whether it was for having to make a play without a stick or for nearly falling over, that moment captured a bunch of guys having a blast. I see it as evidence the Red Machine is firing up those extra cylinders that have been idle so much of the season. I don’t think it’s too far out to say this has been their best four games of the season.

I agree. But I’ll defer to the Emperor.  I wrote him after the Classic and said I thought the Wings had turned the corner.  He replied that I was a nice kid with good grammar but that he’d prefer to wait until after this next West Coast trip to make that determination.  Oh. Alright.

I’m digging the guys at The Triple Deke. Their sarcasm reminds me of me back when I had all the energy of somebody who isn’t 40.  Now a note to Tyler and Brent.  It’s been almost five days boys.  Time to sober up and get back to work. 

Finally.  I’ve made a decision.  October 18th is the Detroit Marathon.  I’m gonna run that bitch.  And in preparation, here’s what I’m going to change about my life:

Frigging nothing.  I’m going to prove that you can be 40, drink all the beer you want, inhale entire blocks of cheese, eat whatever the hell you want, when you want to, and still run 26.2.  Oh, I’ll train for it.  But I’m not going to fall prey to the fitness freaks and the vegans. I’ll run until I get tired, then run again the next day. Like Forrest Frigging Gump.  And when I get home, I’ll crack one. 

I’ll keep you up to date with my progress. 

Reminder:  A2Y get together tomorrow night in DC. Location to be announced later today or tomorrow morning. 

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977.  No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y.  Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation.  There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature.  Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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