Abel to Yzerman
Driven By A Mule
by IwoCPO on 02/02/12 at 09:00 PM ET
Comments (387)
Paul here subbing for IwoCPO who emailed me earlier today, asking if I could post the live blog since he was about to lose web access.
So here I am, not dazzling you with my vanilla vocabulary but rather stating it is time to ride “The Mule”.
The Wings need a strong game from Franzen tonight and if so, everything else falls into place.
If not, someone unexpected will need to step up.
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GDT - Game #52: Red Wings at Canucks (10:00)
by Jeff OKWingnut on 02/02/12 at 08:43 AM ET
Comments (37)
Western Conference leaders faceoff tonight as #1 DET (34-16-1) are at #2 VAN (31-15-4). The Wings will be trying to break above their .500 road mark (14-14) for the first time in forever, and may have a chance as they have won 3 of their last 4 road tilts.
It would help matters immeasurably if the Wings could score a PP goal. Hell for that matter, it’d be vast improvement if they’d just generate PP scoring chances. I’m no pharmacist, but throwing bombs from the point, incessantly, just isn’t working out too well. The Red Wings’ power play has gone 6 for 57 (10.5 percent) in the past 20 games. To make matters worse, the ‘Nucks PK is killing a stellar 85.6%. Homer is in tonight, maybe that’ll help (Kate needs to be performing some voodoo on that hockey stick, eh?).
LGRW.
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All Aboard…Play Time Is Over, Live Blogging The 7th Re-Grand-Redolent Opening Of The Hasek
by IwoCPO on 01/31/12 at 08:00 PM ET
Comments (467)
I really have no idea if this is the 7th year of the Stress Train. We may have actually christened it in May of 2007…because that was one painful playoff year, bitches. So it could be six.
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GDT - Game #51: Red Wings at Flames (9:00)
by Jeff OKWingnut on 01/31/12 at 09:04 AM ET
Comments (26)
The Red Wings (33-16-1) open a stretch of four consecutive road games tonight against the Flames (23-21-6). The bad news, as the “19” are all too familiar with, DET stink on the road at 13-14-0. The good news, after this road trip, DET play 18 of their remaining 28 games at the JLA. More good news, in the fight for the Central Division, (illustrated in more detail below) both STL and CHI each have 20 road games remaining on their schedule (CHI start an absurd 9 game road trip tonight).
Babcock on the teams road woes: “Overall, our whole team has to be a better hockey club on the road. We can’t hide from that. . . We have to be better in our commitment to defensive details, starting on time, and be physical in the offensive zone. You want to get going.”
I cannot fathom what the Coach means about starting on time, can you? The Flames can’t score, and are dead last at winning draws. Time for DET to find the .500 mark on the road. LGRW.
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The NHL All-Star Game - So Unpopular It’s Not Even Worth Stealing
by VooX on 01/30/12 at 01:04 PM ET
Comments (25)
I don’t have access to Nielsen Ratings. I don’t have access to any other metrics that our imp commissioner, Li’l Gary Bettman, has at his disposal to measure ratings of NHL hockey games.
Thanks to our tireless interns at A2Y, I do have access to some of the darker, seedier corners of The Gore. Areas where people known as “The Scene” spread their warez across the internet, much to the utter dismay of copyright holders and the DMCA. In short, “The Scene” is where piracy originates online, the source of greater than 95% of illegally shared and downloaded files. Once stolen, The Scene releases files for distribution to so-called “Topsites” which then share the files to the rest of the internet with the files eventually working their way down to being shared via Peer-to-Peer (P2P) transfers, like Bit-torrents, and direct download sites, like the recently shutdown Megaupload site.
From this research an alarming, but not surprising, fact becomes apparent: the NHL All-Star Game is so unpopular among the general public that online pirates don’t even bother stealing it for file-sharing.
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Good Day, Mr I. Now Keep It Going. We’ll Even Live Blog It For You.
by IwoCPO on 01/25/12 at 06:00 PM ET
Comments (337)
Hey St. Louis, weren’t you in the running for Prince Fielder? Gosh. Just not your best week.
It’s relevant because Mr. I’s a Wing, and he’s a Tiger. Mike Ilitch had himself a day like he used to have back before Gary Bettman ruined the NHL with his idiocy, his Cap that doesn’t work, a lockout that accomplished nothing and the Streisand wardrobe he wears in private consultations with Brian Burke.
I can’t confirm that so, for the sake of the Empire, I take it back. That last part.
Honestly, this day has tired me out.
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GDT - Game #50: Red Wings at Habs (7:30)
by Jeff OKWingnut on 01/25/12 at 08:53 AM ET
Comments (22)
The only game on ice tonight, as the Red Wings (33-15-1), riding a 7 game win streak, are at Montreal (18-21-9) for an Original Six matchup. DET have allowed two or fewer goals in each game during the streak. A win tonight would be their first 8 game win streak since the 2008 postseason.
The Habs are just 5-9-2 under interim coach Randy Cunneyworth, but are 2-1-2 in their last five, including a win over the East leading New York Rangers and Saturday’s 3-1 victory at Toronto. Special teams demons are not limited to the Wings. MTL have the 2nd best PK (89.2%), while dubiously holding the worst PP (12.2%) in the league.
Last game before Gary’s schmooze fest, and DET has a chance to go over .500 on the road. LGRW, and for goodness sake, kill a penalty.
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Well, Well, Well…Look Who’s Got A Big Fat-Ass Double Standard On His Tiny, Little Hands
by IwoCPO on 01/25/12 at 07:55 AM ET
Comments (36)
Gary? Oh Garrrryyyyy. What are you going to do about this little dilemma? Eh?
Alex Ovechkin will not go to the NHL All-Star Game, Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee announced Tuesday.
“His heart’s not in it,” McPhee said, adding that the Caps star does not want to be a “distraction” during the festivities.
“My heart is not there. I suspended, so why I have to go there?” Ovechkin said. “I love the game; it’s great event. I’d love to be there, but I’m suspended. I don’t want to be a target. I feel I’m not deserving to be there right now. If I suspended, I have to be suspended. That’s why I give up my roster [spot].”
Heck. Logic would say, “Bully for you Alex. Bully for you and by golly if your heart’s not in it young man, then stay home you shall.” But there’s a minor problem with that, isn’t there Gary?
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Melting Down In St. Lose
by IwoCPO on 01/25/12 at 01:15 AM ET
Comments (10)
Watching Blues fans’ reactions to a terrible team is entertaining, and it’s never gotten old over the years. Watching them completely implode after a loss to Detroit, on the heels of a winning streak, when they’ve convinced themselves the teams are actually…equals?
It’s the best kind of family fun. And the St. Louis media isn’t helping. Detroit’s pasting of the January stalwarts led to an entire column of questions from Bernie Miklasz at the Post Dispatch.
The Blues are a really good team, but can they take down the proven elite?
I guess we’ll know in the playoffs, when the true answers come in. But the three consecutive losses in Detroit were alarming for the way they went down. It’s almost as if the Red Wings could do whatever the hell they wanted to do after flipping a switch, and the Blues had no answer once the Red Wings decided to assert themselves. (Message: Not so fast, little brother.) And that was the case in Monday’s 3-1 loss in Motown. After taking a 2-0 lead at Joe Louis Arena on Dec. 27, the Blues were outscored 9-1 by the Red Wings in the three losses. Feel free to try and put some shine on that to make it look good, but it isn’t good. And what does it mean? There’s still work to do. Then again, many of us knew that already.
Ouch. Especially the “little brother” reference. Oh, and, finding out in the playoffs is kinda contingent on, you know, getting there. With that (lack of) offense, that’s no guarantee.
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Thanks Mr. I
by IwoCPO on 01/24/12 at 09:30 PM ET
Comments (24)
This is why a rich guy owns professional sports teams, or it should be the reason why a rich guy owns pro sports teams.
“He just wants people to come to downtown Detroit to be happy about something one way or another.”
Gammons took it a step further, calling the signing an act of charity by Ilitch toward the city.
“They don’t have to worry on the Tigers, about losing money,” Gammons said. “That’s a fact of life. You can’t do that in Cleveland. You can’t do that in Kansas City. You can’t do that in most cities. The Tigers have done it because Mike Ilitch wants to give people in Detroit something to be joyous about. In some ways, to me, he’s one of the most charitable men in America.”
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About Abel to Yzerman
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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