Abel to Yzerman
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The Provincial Ghosts Can Suck It
by IwoCPO on 04/23/07 at 01:03 PM ET
Comments (24)
I’d thought of a more distinguished title for this post, but I’ve never been a distinguished kind of guy. So, we’ll let that stand. Notice I didn’t say the Flames can suck it. I think their behavior Saturday would have warranted a recommendation that they do, but it wasn’t directed to them.
I didn’t say the fans can suck it, because I respect those fans just like I do the Oil fans. And I didn’t say the bloggers can suck it, because--even you Kyle--I like that group, too.
No, only the ghosts. Only those bastard ghosts who threatened to Punch Us In The Face again.
It wasn’t just winning that series. That probably would have occured tomorrow in Detroit, if necessary (but in a definitionofsuckage Game 7..who knows?). It was going to Calgary with the opportunity to put the boot to the throat and press down, and then doing it. The Wings needed that, just like they needed to win a Game 5 at home. They’re going to have to win games in San Jose or Anaheim or Buffalo. They needed to prove to themselves yesterday that victory on the road is not impossible.
So they did.
And we shall recap the reactions to it. But first, some thoughts.
I could have sworn I told the Province that Johan Franzen would be a name they won’t forget. Didn’t I? Did I? I don’t recall. Oh...yes I did.
10 April
-Another Calgary analysis (whether it’s a mainstreamer or blogger) with no mention of Johan Franzen. His name recognition is going to jump in the next week.
And it wasn’t just the game winner. Franzen was a presence the whole series. When you read about the Wings taking the physical game to the Flames, think the Mule. Was McLennan’s hatchet job pre-planned? No. Was it deliberate? Maybe. Was it a result of Franzen’s badgering him to the point of insanity? Possibly.
And we like that.
And we like Ken Holland, because he had the guts to pull the trigger on the Bertuzzi deal. As abrasive as the Wings had become over the course of the season, his personality gave them a harder edge and it’s only going to become more obvious as their confidence grows and his game gets better.
We also kinda like our insane Czech goalie. We like his quotes, calling out Iginla...essentially branding him an adolescent due to his behavior and the way his team followed his childish lead on Saturday. But we like the fact that he backs it up with his play. And we like the fact that he’s not Manny Legace, because the team just plays better in front of him. And when you want to quibble with me about scapegoats and unfair treatment, look at the results.
We’re all Andres Lilja fans now, in case you didn’t know. Yep. We like the big boy. He looks composed, fairly quick, confident with the puck, and he’s laying the wood to those who deserve it.
Oh, we even like Mikael Samuelsson today and the fact that his four shots in the 3rd and OT led the team. We like his grit the last two games. Anyone besides me sense a patented Samuelsson hot streak coming?
By god, we even like the Enigma plodding down the wing and tossing a soft wrister that somehow beat the menace that was Kipper.
But it was the exorcism of the Provincial ghosts that really has us joyful today, the proof that this team is indeed different from the last three. I warned you before, and I’ll do so again now....there’s an Yzerman post coming down the pike and you’re not going to like it. Not today, but soon.
Now? Reaction.
Mike Babcock in particular deserves kudos for imposing his will upon the Calgary Flames. If you want any more proof of the superiority of his in game systems (compared to Playfair’s joke of a system) then simply look at the shots on net. While Calgary managed 129 shots in 6 games, Detroit managed to put 255 shots on Miikka Kipprusoff and Co. I think if you looked at possession times or in zone times, the results would be just as overwhelming.
“Our fans, the media, they think we have some sort of disease thinking we’re going to fail,” Babcock said. “To me, we carry that around. This team isn’t about ’03, ’04, or ’06, it’s about this year. We have a good team and we have been a determined group from the get-go. People said we weren’t going to be very good, but we are good. We have a shot to be real good.”
Yeah, Mike we did. Nothing speaks to that feeling of dread more than the empty seats in the upper bowl. Those fans will come back this round. The sellouts will return (interpret that as you’d like). But you can’t blame us for being pessimistic. As for you? We think you may be on to something. We think it may have taken you a while to get your stamp on this team, but we believe it may be there now. We think you had to battle more than a few obstacles to really have an effect, but we think it may be happening now.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, there is just a completely different sense about this team with Dominik Hasek in net, a feeling of security for his teammates that not a lot of goalies could provide.
Just say it Ansar. No? Ok. I will. This team lost last year because they didn’t have confidence in their goalie. I don’t care what his GAA or save percentage was, Legace was the weak link because the team didn’t think he’d be there when they needed him most. Game 6 in Edmonton proved it. Hasek may be old. He may not have the reflexes he used to. But what he’s lost in flexibility he’s gained in smarts. Positionally, he’s always there...unless he’s wandering around in places he shouldn’t. And, the bottom line? The team loves to play in front of him.
But moving forward, what would that have proved? Nothing. Look at what happened in these six games.
Henrik Zetterberg, who missed so much time at the end of the season, had a few games to get in sync.
Todd Bertuzzi, who wasn’t healthy enough to play the first two games of the series, started to have an impact.
Dominik Hasek, whose health will be a concern for the rest of his career, however long that is, looked like he was 32, not 42.
And mostly, the Wings will get a big psychological boost—not just for winning a series for the first time in two years, but for winning a hard series.
Honestly, I hadn’t given it that much thought. But the boy’s got merit to his thinking. Extending this series did a lot of good for a lot of players. Bertuzzi and Zetterberg...yes. But also Samuelsson and Lilja, and maybe even Lang. Did we want a six-game stress fest? Nope. But will it help in the long run? Yep.
Saler/On The Wings
My condolences to Flames fans. Believe me when I say that I know what it’s like to get your hopes up about a team only to have them dashed in a kind of betrayal of trust. And to the Flames bloggers, it was a pleasure reading you guys over the past couple weeks. For whatever reason, I’d not had exposure to the Calgary blogosphere before and it was good to learn about the high quality of it.
Matt’s got something I seem to be missing in most of my rants and sarcasm-filled babble. What is it? I can’t quite put a finger on it....oh yeah. Class. Definitely short of it here. Thankfully, Matt has enough for both of us. Despite the ramp-up in tension between the two blog and fan bases over the last 48 hours, that is a passionate group of fans who deserve a Cup...just not at our expense, thankfully, this year.
But, it’s not us they have to deal with now. Flame fans have to return to what they know best, battling it out with Oil fans. And, they have no mercy.
We’ll leave them to their own private Provincial war. Us? It could very well be about redemption for a few guys who sorely need it.
Robert Lang scored AND screened Kipper on Johan Franzen’s series winning goal? Langer redeemed himself in a big way last night. Plus, both of our trade deadline acquistions (Todd Bertuzzi and Kyle Calder) had assists last night. Oh and one other thing, in the intermission John Keating asked a player (Lidstrom?) where the Wings should try to shoot on Kipper. He didn’t have an answer. I yell out “above his glove - top right corner!” And where does Franzen score? Top right corner. Victory is sweet baby.
And, almost finally, a word on Kiprusoff. The guy is a miracle in pads is what he is. That team was outshot, outhit, outplayed and outcoached. But none of us would have been surprised if we’d lost this series to that one little guy. An amazing goaltender.
And finally, my fellow empire dweller AlanaH at Canucks and Beyond revealed this morning a little side bet she and I had going for the first round.
Incidentally, I agreed to some dumbassed bet on the side with IwoCPO a couple weeks ago… we’re currently at war over the first round point totals of Daniel Sedin vs Pavel Datsysuk. Well, Dattysucky got 5 points for the first round, and Sedin ground to halt with 2 in his first game. So if that Swedish ingrate doesn’t pick up at least 3 points tonight, I’ll be appearing on this blog dressed in a Wings jersey by next week.
Yes, that picture will be displayed prominently here too.
As you all know, tonite’s Game 7 in Vancouver is huge for us. Do I have to say who we’d rather see in Round 2? Yes? Ok. Dallas. There is no doubt. None. Give us Dallas. Give us that slushy ice and that anemic offense. Give us those redneck fans and a nice little trend we have of kicking their asses in the playoffs.
And give us Turco. On a platter. I don’t care what he’s done against Vancouver. Bring that 2 dollar head into the Joe and watch it implode.
Because we don’t want to discuss the other option, do we?
Sorry AlanaH. If it meant anything other than a series with The Team We Don’t Speak Of, I’d be rooting for your boys tonite. But it is what it is.
Go Stars.
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Comments
If you want to see Dallas, I have only one thing to say…
Go Canucks
Posted by Colin from San Jose, CA on 04/23/07 at 12:50 PM ET
“The Provincial Ghosts Can Suck It
I’d thought of a more distinguished title for this post”
No, no, that’s perfect. Absolutely on the money for how Wings fans feel today after the Wings busted so many of their ghosts this series.
“They’re going to have to win games in San Jose or Anaheim or Buffalo.”
Got the roadmap to the Stanley Cup all mapped out, there, eh?
“We’re all Andres Lilja fans now”
Of all the nice surprises these playoffs, that is #1 on my list. I’m now trying to decide between the Filpulla jersey or the Lilja jersey 
And yes, great post. This is a great blog. I bailed on the ESPN message board because of the trolls and the horrible format - so thanks for giving me a place to get my daily fix.
Posted by Paul on 04/23/07 at 12:56 PM ET
Not only did we take the game on the road, but we also took it in overtime… a place where we have struggled all season. Hopefully this will give them a little more confidence in any overtime games we’ve yet to see.
Posted by Ryan from Syracuse, NY on 04/23/07 at 01:11 PM ET
The Wings are a poor 4-on-4 team because of their aggresive D. They are not a bad OT team.
Posted by Nathan on 04/23/07 at 01:13 PM ET
Congratulations are in order for sure. The Wings organization has really amassed a nice little team there, I like your forward depth from lines 1-3, and even Chelly is looking like a damn competent defenceman right now.
I think if you can get past the next round, the skies the limit.
Posted by Kyle from Calgary on 04/23/07 at 01:13 PM ET
btw, has everyone forgotten about the other unsung hero?
Posted by Paul on 04/23/07 at 01:30 PM ET
Great Post Chief!!!
Now that I’ve finally untangled my aged body from the overtime fetal position dysfunction and cured my muscle spasms from jumping off the couch after Franzen’s Revenge Goal!!!! - - - All I can say is whew!!! Nothing could have been more perfect and pleasing. Consider that the (F)lame’s restless fan base had been crying endlessly that the Wheel run the Kipper. Homer gets tagged early on a phantom call for interference—then taken out on a high stick. Four minutes of pepper to the Kipper(ed) immortal in OT and - - well—nothing. Nothing but visions of a hot net-minder vanquishing the superior talent of the Wheel. Nothing but visions of ghosts past --Wheeled hopes fading, the (F)lame briefly energized. And Moss, indescribably misses a gaping cage. The Wheel escape the ghost!!! Franzen lasers one right behind Lang and the Kipper!!! Joy o Joy!!!! The demon is, if not dead, at least exorcised for the time being.
Lang(sidaisical) scores!!??? Bert getting stronger. The Mule, well, he has been a terror on the wall, on the body and on the score sheet (5 pts). Hasek—brilliant when he had to be. In the Wheel four wins, 1.0 GAA. Cleary (the whole check line for that matter) --outstanding. Fillpula—VERY NICE (Borat accent required) Nick—well Norris—quality. Cheli—grat PK and a SH goal!!! Lilja—a force. Datsyuk exorcises his demons. Z coming on. Homer, well he just is Homer, none better in the league at what he does.
An outstanding team D effort all around. Abrasive grit (yes, we talking Wings). Bodies checking, fighting for pucks on the wall, crashing the net!!! More so than the “rugged” (F)lame!!!
Someone wake me from this dream—wait no, I like it - alot!!!
Hopefully the Demon is dead—if not—at least wounded (and more than a flesh wound).
Whew we escaped the (F)lame!!! No we didn’t. We killed, or at least bottled the Demon. Franzen’s Revenge!!! For all the Wings!!!
Posted by Jeff - - OklahomaWingNut from Hockey NeverNeverLand on 04/23/07 at 01:33 PM ET
Damn, that felt good.
Like after straining to squeeze out that big freight train after four days of nothing but rabbit pellets.
Finally…
On the eve of Game One, the two guys I said would be the keys if the Wings wanted to go deep were Lilja and Lang.
So far so good with Lilja. Lang seemed to pick it up some, but needs to be a whole lot better in Round Two.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/23/07 at 01:45 PM ET
See O-Joe? We’re all about class here brother...BZ.
Jeff: “Cheli—grat PK and a SH goal!!!” Exactly. I forgot to mention it in the post, but thankfully you and Kyle picked up the slack. Chelios had an amazing series.
Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 04/23/07 at 01:54 PM ET
Cheli and Lilja amazed me. Cheli was a monster in last night’s game. I am amazed at what happened last night, after Moss missed the empty net, I just relaxed (something I never do during playoff hockey, expecially OT) and I just knew they were going to win it.
I really liked how the team pulled together in Games 5 and 6. I hope it keeps up!
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 04/23/07 at 02:06 PM ET
“Lang seemed to pick it up some, but needs to be a whole lot better in Round Two.”
It looked like scoring the goal energized him a bit. Nice to see a little emotion from him. He did have a few stellar scoring chances in the series that he couldn’t bury, so maybe after getting one to go he’ll get on a little streak. I think having Bertuzzi on the ice is helping him, as it’s easier to skate around people when they’re on their backs on the ice 
Posted by Paul on 04/23/07 at 02:09 PM ET
Imagine the emotional roller coaster Kyle Quincey went on in the last 36 hours. He was probably terrified after what happened on Saturday with the goon squad, and not wanting to make a mistake to cost the Red Wings the series, all the pressure, and then...hey kid, you’re playing with Chelios. I mean, that had to take a load off Quincey’s mind.
There was only one moment where I held my breath - Quincey ended up in the corner forechecking on the puck. I just thought, “Yikes, kid, what in the hell are you doing?! Get back to the blue line!”
Posted by Paul on 04/23/07 at 02:15 PM ET
“Damn, that felt good.
Like after straining to squeeze out that big freight train after four days of nothing but rabbit pellets.
Finally…”
Coffee-out-the-nose classic stuff, there O-Joe. Thanks, my nostrils needed the enema anyway.
In Lebda’s absence, I thought Kyle Quincey comported himself rather well last night. Heck of a way to break into the SCP, eh?
My apologies to our beloved insane goalie, who after earning the ‘psycho mutant Czech goalie’ moniker in game 4, came on strong in games 5 & 6. This may well be the biggest relief/lesson learned in this series: Dom is still capable of stealing games, and is now officially on his game. While it’s a bit of a stretch to say he ‘stole’ either of those games (shots being 55 - 21 in favor of the good guys), he made some truly incredible game-saver-type saves that allowed the Wings to finally score on Kipper. It’s nice to know he still has it in him, he’s healthy, that he’s got it going now - AND that he was capable of that level of performance on back-to-back nights with major travel. The difference between The Martyr and The Dominator - that was the difference in the series.
And I guess I should officially admit that Lilja is useful as more than jersey-filler now. I could’t stand seeing him play last year, and continued to rail against his play this season. But I have to say he played an integral role in this series. And on that fine note, it’s official: we really are all Lilja fans now.
Posted by Hoser from Downer Peninsula on 04/23/07 at 02:46 PM ET
Paul— I seem to remember last night that Lang(sidaisical) had the puck and a half-empty net with Kipper sprawled on his body and Lang shot it right into Kippers pads. My son and I just stood up to exchange high fives cuz we thought it was a sure goal. Talk about bombing expletives (even Christian, my son has taken calling Lang the “teflon stick” boy becuase of his T/O’s).
So when we saw Lang’s goal, we just looked at each other with the W.T.H. was that, and thenexchanged the high five!!!
Lang does need to improve, but I do think he ahs been stronger on the puck the past few games.
The hockey gods must smile at the Wing right now. Lang’s softie, Moss’s inexplicable miss, and FRANZEN"S REVENGE. What a script huh?
I think Cleary had the best series. What says the crew???
Posted by Jeff - - OklahomaWingNut from Hockey NeverNeverLand on 04/23/07 at 03:02 PM ET
Yeah, Cleary is my Round 1 MVP for sure. What a monster.
Posted by Hoser from Downer Peninsula on 04/23/07 at 03:05 PM ET
MVP…
Cleary? Lidstrom? Hasek?
A case can be made for all of them.
Maybe we should seek the opinions of Andy “The Implosion” Strickland and Damien “The Death Spiral” Cox.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/23/07 at 03:19 PM ET
Anybody heard any sort of news on Homer or Lebda? Not that we would get the truth, but at least day-to-day would be hopeful than nothing.
Posted by Jeff - - OklahomaWingNut from Hockey NeverNeverLand on 04/23/07 at 03:24 PM ET
All: Cleary was the best forward on the ice for Detroit, hands down. MVP? Not so sure. Lidstrom’s performance on the Flame “captain” was outstanding and his four assists in Game 5 sealed the deal.
Jeff: I’ve seen nothing on either and I’ve been looking. Nada. The diggers must be recovering.
Posted by IwoCPO from Washington, DC on 04/23/07 at 03:28 PM ET
This team lost last year because they didn’t have confidence in their goalie. I don’t care what his GAA or save percentage was, Legace was the weak link because the team didn’t think he’d be there when they needed him most.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I giggle every time I think of St. Louis trying to rely on Manny to get them back in the playoffs.
Dom was solid, did exactly what we needed him to do and the boys knew they could count on him.
I’m really lovin’ this team right now!
Posted by Kay from North of KC, Mizzurah on 04/23/07 at 03:56 PM ET
Lebda was interviewed on Detroit FXN during the 1st intermission last night (Sunday). He was in Calgary with the team and had skated on his own before the team skate. (It was a very short skate, and he limped off) He said he was having some headaches and a sore ankle. Of the two, the ankle was the bigger problem. He hoped to play in game 7 of the Calgary series if there was one. He is listed as day-to-day.
[ From my perspective, he did not look like the Bret Lebda we know and love. He was quiet and somewhat somber. I saw some scar around his left eye (it may be old), but no recent bruising.]
Posted by w2j2 on 04/23/07 at 03:56 PM ET
Thanks W2. I keep checking the diggers as well Chief. If I find anything at all, I’ll be sure to post. I hope Homer (Dooh) is good to go fo round two—the man is indispensible!!!
I never thought I’d say this, but heres hoping the Livonia boy and his mates pull off the miracle (sorry Alanah)!!!!
Posted by Jeff - - OklahomaWingNut from Hockey NeverNeverLand on 04/23/07 at 04:05 PM ET
Everyone on the roster contributed. Draper was the only goal (2) scorer in one game. Just couldn’t figure out Babblecock, trying to skate the puck in nearly exclusively in g#3 & 4, after Dump and Chase worked so well in G#1 & 2. They returned to Dump and Chase when they came back to Dtown and stayed with it. Sometimes the best way to beat well played Generic hockey, is to play Generic hockey, and play it better. Nobody has mentioned how good the Officiating was last night, and that sure was refreshing. Lang and Franzen the heroes last night, but my vote for the MVP of that series is Crash Cleary.
Posted by Gramps (hockeytowntodd) from HockeyTown on 04/23/07 at 04:50 PM ET
Normally, I’d say “hey, they lost the series - why are they doing a video expose on the losing goalie?” But after that series, this guy deserves it as much as anyone.
Posted by Paul on 04/23/07 at 04:59 PM ET
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Great post Chief.
Posted by TeamDub from NW Ohio on 04/23/07 at 12:17 PM ET