And this is why Matt Saler is a stud. 

http://www.nhl.tv/team/launch.htm?type=wvod&id=1648&catid=211

Am I the only one who gets pissed off by this crap about Minnesota being named Hockeytown USA by some Sports Illustrated hack? That post was so inane I had to leave a comment.

Woops...hey AlanaH.  Mick Redmond: “it was like Vancouver in the playoffs five years ago.” I wonder what he was talking about?

You catch Murph call Mickey “Nick” - that’s where the Lidstrom comment came from. Mickey covering for Murphy’s three-year-rookie status.

That’s our Murph.  And I’ve avoided comment on the Hockeytown issue all day. Been waiting for tonite, after the game.

Argh, so close, Pavel…

This game is reminding me of when I play NHL 2007 against my best friend - ubiquitous poke-check ... Can’t do much offensively.

Brian Rolston: “Well, we’re trapping it up right now.”

Yep. Gotta love Jacque Lemaire…

Nice shot, Hank!

Yep. Gotta love Jacque Lemaire…

Father Jacque and his Trappist Wonks.

But they can’t stop Zetterberg!

Team Dub just suggested a liveblog on the post hi-jacked by hippies and criminals below.

Iwo must feel like a dad coming back after his kids had the house to themselves for the weekend. 

Riveting Larry.  Thanks.  He was a lot more coherent swigging beers in the pressers after each game of the ‘97 Final, or was it ‘98? I just don’t know. My lips are so cold.

I get an email each time the comments come in Baroque.  Pretty funny day at work watching you guys discuss smuggling and border stories.

Hey, I had nothing to say about criminal activity!

Although one of my Dad’s uncles was a rum-runner during Prohibition and a US Marshal perforating the cars of Klansmen stirring up trouble after Prohibition ended.  That’s the closest thing to a criminal that I know of that I am related to.

Surrreeee Baroque.  Hey, I added a little imagery to the top of this post, courtesy of a Wild blog.

Evenin’ all.

Having a cheapie window company install new windows instead of doing it yourself sounds convenient enough, but will invariably lead to annoyance, despair, frusration, Molsons, strong language and salty talk of legal action.

And Molsons.

A question for ya Chief, who is currently your most hated NHLer?

Could be a tight race.

I guess I understated things a bit on Zetterberg’s goal. Apparently Larry Murphy, he of 1615 NHL games, had never seen anything like it. Holy hyperbole, Batman!

Watching NYR/ATL highlights on NHL Network and Drury scored his 200th goal tonight. Hard to believe he’s only scored that many, as I remember him scoring half that against us when he was a Red Wings-killing Av..

Dub, that one’s easy.  Cory Perry.  Hmmm, now that I think of it...not so easy. Almost forgot about Steve Sullivan.  And then, there’s always Sasquatch.

Nice ad for Michigan Replay. Guess for a super realistic “replay”, they could just “replay” the press conferences of multiple coaches announcing they’ve decided not to accept the job in Ann Arbor.

St. Paul has officially been named the new “Hockeytown” according to Yahoo!.

Oh, wow. I didn’t know it was official. Someone’d better rip the decal off the cement under the ice in the Joe, quick! And notify the US Patent and Trademark Office…

Hey, my record is squeaky clean.  I’ve always been a good girl.

(At least in the presence of witnesses, anyway.)

I think the apparent hyperbole from Murphy was with the puck initially going right between the officials feet before Zetterberg shot it.  Not often the official is used as a screen, I expect.

Hope the Red Wings score a bunch early.  I have to leave later this evening and won’t be able to see the end.

Just got the hdtv, service, box and spent $45 for the friggin HDMI cords only to find out there are no HDMI outlets on the HDTV box.  Called Charter… “Oh, you’ll just either have to use the rca cords for the night and switch out the box tomorrow.” Thanks.  So, I hook up the rca cords… no power on the box.  check all cords.  Plugged in… check.  Power up the box… no power.  Call charter.  “Well, I can try to power it up from my end, but if that don’t work, you’ll have to switch out the box tomorrow.” Thanks, but already on the to do list.  Was just hoping for something to give me this super HD quality that I’ve been wacking off for.  Thanks charter for the dry shot. 

Looks like I’m still an HD Virgin for another day.

Call Charter back and tell them to bring out the HDMI cables with them.  Save the $45. 

Some cable companies supply them....

Ummm...who is wearing 17 tonite?  I’ve got a feeling Drake’s going to pop one tonite.

Slinger you should choose the A2Y solve-all...crack one.

Iwo,

How about footage of AD Martin on a boat in the Atlantic? Preferably with sharks circling…

As for my most-hated: Jordin Tootoo. At least Perry and Sasquatch have skill going for them. Tootoo has nothing, yet somehow still has a job.

Holy...and a SOG for Downey.

That was Downey’s 4th shot on goal this year.

Ha, looks like the Freep’s trying to steal your thunder, Bill.

If Downey gets a point, it will keep the pre-game show mojo going.  That would be hilarious.

Sheesh, Zetterberg makes it look so easy…

Paul, I’m gonna leave dealing with charter to the wife… she’s an evil b!tch from hell!  sucks to be charter.

Chief, I’m cracking one for each finger that I am imagining charter can see me showing them.
,,l,, ,,l,,

Should have gone with Backstrom, Lemaire. Yeah, Huds!

Woops. “Hockeytown’s” getting their asses kicked. What a shame.

Nice shot from Hudler.

He’s been buzzing around so much already in the game, I’m glad he got a goal.

That is 3.

I see all you hockey fanatics stopped mentioning the trap after the 1st goal.

Even Lemaire will tell you the trap only works if you are winning on the boards.  They are not.

Gramps, until you posted during an actual Wild game I thought you WERE Lemaire.

Gotta love the comments over at that Minnesota paper blog:

“if detroit skates that much faster, and works that much harder, how come their building is that much emptier?”

“And we should just decline powerplays the way they are allowed to decline penalties in football.”

Huh?

Nice play by Pavel there, too bad the puck hopped…

For such a defensive minded team, this is the 8th time Minnesota’s given up at least 4 goals. Detroit?
4 times.

Hope this lead holds up.  I don’t want to be disappointed later when I check for the final score.

Have a good night, gentlemen - I’m off to tutor chemistry.  Maybe I can convince him to turn on the radio so I can hear the rest of the game. 

Lilja’s starting to become a monster. Nice to see.

Thanks IWO, I think that was quite a compliment.

Matt: just post over there, that the reason the Joe isn’t full is we know our hockey here, and like Stevie said “This isn’t Hockey”.

Zetterberg’s hungry for a hat trick. Downey and Fedoruk are definitely gonna go later on.

And gramps, of course it was a compliment. you’re both a couple of cranky bastards who know their hockey.

If Homer doesn’t score tonite, it will be his first four game stretch without a goal.

Haven’t seen it yet, but by Mick’s tone it sounds like Chelios’ penalty might be a bad one.

I give Downey a lot of credit for knowing when to fight, so I hope that tussle with Fedoruk won’t give the Wild some energy.

I also hope the Wings don’t get into penalty trouble, because that’s another sure-fire way to get the Wild back in it.

Harding actually looks pretty good, with no indication of a meltdown.  He is 2-2-1 on the road this season with a .930 sv %.

He will,however, be having Zetterberg nightmares for a week or two.

The danger now in the third...Will the wings have a defensive lapse trying to pad their stats?

Buffalo had that lapse the other night and at 8-0, only 2 min left, Ray Whitney
spoiled the..  umh...aah… nevermind.

Hat trick! Heck yeah! That does not happen often enough.

Great play by Rafalski there. He could have stayed in the zone to take a shot at picking up the puck, but he took off to center and was right where he needed to be when the Wild tried to send it up the gut.

Ha, look who is playing 1-2-2 now.

How was that not a trip on Zetterberg there?

Yeah, but the Wings are apparently in a lead-defending mode. Even the Habs of the 70s did that.

Jiri’s got a heavy shot, I’ve just noticed. Particularly when he’s pissed, like he was just there after taking a stick to the face.

Ellis deserves more than the 4 points he’s got. Seems like every other shift he’s out there, he’s got a great chance around the net.

Yep...I’d say Hasek is back.

Aw, come on! That was all puck!

Sheesh, Dom…

So, I think we have a new candidate for the most dominant performance by the Wings this season.

Agreed Matt.  I think the Montreal game was on par with tonite, but I won’t quibble too much. Datsyuk apparently just said something funny but I have no frigging idea what it was.

Babblecock press conference:
Dom on Sunday,
Oz in Nashville, Monday

And, oh yeah, I forgot.

“our best players have to be our best players”

What a f%$#king genius.

Yeah, I keep hearing how Pavel knows English better than he lets on and I think we were just witness to him laying the accent even thicker than usual. Maybe he was wishing Hank had been made to do the inteview.

I think that’s the most funny we’re likely to see him, since he keeps his sense of humor to the locker room. Sucks.

You’ve seen the Wings dominate...but have you seen the Wings dominate on weed???

--> 2 pts for anyone who can say where that’s from.

Ok, enough drug references from me.

I have never seen anyone fly head over heels like Gaborik, and will be glad to see it on every highlight reel. Perhaps we should read it as life’s symbolic play; Gaborik, as the leader of the new HockeytownUSA, comes flying down the ice only to be challenged on by a veteran Dominator. The former flips over and falls on his ass but looks back to see what the heck hit him. The veteran Dominator, who is dominating again, gets penalized for setting the young buck straight (on his butt).

Yes people, we will be penalized for calling out land-o-lakes but must remember what makes us the true Hockeytown(USA): access to real TimH coffee and the 08 Cup.

Why TF are more and more Wings games not shwoing on my Center Ice?  Is this an NHL TV thing?

Franzen’s goal: ... $4
Hudler’s goal:  ... $5
Hank’s hat trick:  ... $10

Hasek’s takedown of Gaborik:  ... Priceless!

That, my friends, is a highlight for the ages!

Speaking of the commentary disaster known as Larry Murphy… does anyone remember the game going down the stretch last year (this was sometime between the ASG and deadline) where he was in the booth with Ken on a west coast game, and took us out to the break by saying:

“And with the stoppage in play at the eleventeen minute mark, we’ll take a break with the score...”

Three-year rookie, indeed.

I haven’t been able to see a Murphy broadcast yet, but the comments remind me of Doug Brown’s disastrous stint as the TV color guy.  If you drank enough, he sounded like Mike Tyson commentating on hockey.

remember what makes us the true Hockeytown(USA): access to real TimH coffee

“And with the stoppage in play at the eleventeen minute mark, we’ll take a break with the score...”

Hah!  Maybe Murph had just been watching Numberwang:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJDu5D_IXbc

“Twentington!”
“Filf-hundred and neeb”
“Shinty-six!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, shinty-six IS a real number, as used in the popular phrase, ‘I only have shinty-six days left to live.’”

Watched Dom’s move.  Now my sides are splitting.  Now THAT was a check (Czech?).  DON’T get in that mad bastard’s way when he’s been stewing.

remember what makes us the true Hockeytown(USA): access to real TimH coffee

You got that right brother.  Viva Shreddies!

Although I think we’re starting to get on the Chief’s nerves with all the drug talk.  Better stick to the non-drugs for now, like alcohol and caffeine.

And this from Russo:

“Hey, if you’re going to play in Detroit, you have to have something to like, I guess. Just a joke, just a joke.”

Joke or not, have you BEEN to Minneapolis-St. Paul?  You know how you could tell ‘Fargo’ was fiction?  Because it made MSP look INTERESTING.  Gawd, what a boring town.  Especially since they cleaned up Ninth & Hennepin and shoved the peep shows, pimps (resplendent in clothing straight out of I’m Gonna Get You Sucka) and all-night diners out to Eau Claire.  Gimme drive-bys and crack dens any old day.  At least with that you get a Voodoo Man of Heidelberg Street every so often.

Murphy is pretty bad as an in-studio guy, but I think he does a good job between the benches. When he can supplement what Daniels and Redmond are saying with stuff based on his playing days, what he says is generally valuable. He’s better off-camera and off-the-cuff.