Abel to Yzerman
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30K Live Blog…Kinda
by IwoCPO on 04/26/07 at 12:35 PM ET
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From 30,000 feet above Colorado and the stench has reached us here in coach. It’s not pleasant smelling a state that reeks of hockey failure, but it’s not a cause of pain and stress.
Nope. Mere hours before Game 1 against The Team We Must Now Speak of and I’m trying to explain to the mother and young child next to me why Homer’s absence tonite should worry them as it worries me. I think they’re coming around but it’s been a tough sell.
There’s a 65 year old man just in front of me. He seems like a nice old gentleman, grandfatherly, sympathetic to my stress. He nods when I tell him that Zetterberg’s back has me so nervous that I may have to use his air sickness bag. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore though. He’s watching a movie now. I’m gonna lean over and see what it is….Saw II. Awww, that’s nice. Sweet old man.
A young French couple is across the aisle from me. They don’t seem to listen when I tell them I believe their nation is short on sack. They perk up though when I tell them that I’m concerned that Nick Lidstrom may have finally met his match this time. They look skeptically at one another when I explain that Thornton presents too many problems. They huddle and whisper then the woman leans over and says that she and her husband have discussed it and they both agree that Thornton may see a healthy dose of Chris Chelios, as well. They think the old man may frustrate him to the point of distraction. The husband returns to his romance novel, te wife to her hygiene magazine and I’m alone again with my thoughts.
I think we’re past Colorado because the passengers have stopped giggling.
Jeffrey, our stewardess and a San Jose native, is prancing up the aisle firing orders. “Elbows in please.” “Watch those bags ladies.” I stop him and ask if Rosie actually quit the View today. He chokes back a sob and nods in the affirmative. I ask him what he thinks the keys to the series are. The power play, he says. Detroit has to stifle San Jose’s and the Wings have to succeed at least 20 percent throughout the series.
He adjust his scarf and moves on. The pilot comes over the 1MC and announces there’s turbulence ahead, they’re turning the snack carts around, back to their little caverns at the back of the plane. Naturally I think of “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” and “fellas it’s too rough to feed ya.”. That’s a Michigan song, I say to the lady behind me. And that’s an omen, a good one. she looks at me funny and says “what song?”. The one I was just singing to myself, the Lightfoot timeless classic, I reply.
She tells me to turn around or else she’ll press the call button. No one ever presses the call buton, I say. They think about it but they never do. I dare you but I doubt you will. She looks at me for a minute then says, “Ron Wilson’s a genius you know, a true motivator.” I press the call button and Jeffrey sprints up the aisle. “Yeth?”. I tell him what she says about Wilson and he says he believes players tune him out, that he’s a clown. I ponder that for a moment and then decide to avail myself of the spacious restroom in the rear of the plane.
I’ve been in here for thirty minutes now and notice there’s some graffiti on the bulkhead. How odd, I think, graffiti on a plane. You just don’t see much of that. I lean in closer to it and see that it’s written in child-like scrawl, in crayon.
“I built this team for this series,” it says. “I’m hungry for Fritos and melted cheese and I’ve got a secret and his name is The Enigma. Remember I wrote that.” There were initials underneath it…..MB.
I’ve just been told to turn off all electronic devices. I only have one but I’ll turn it off because I’m a lemming at the mercy of the bastard airline even though we all know the electronic devices don’t make one damn bit of difference.
Wings in 6.
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Comments
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Just a few intemperate thoughts on Game 1:
(1) Fish are a much better puck handling team than was the (F)lame;
(2) Fish have a lot more wepaons than the (F)lame, two very explosive lines—make a mistake and it can be very bad;
(3) Fish are very good at counter-attack;
(4) Fish are not nearly as “physical” as the (F)lame. They may hit as much—but they do not appear to go hunting for a “full-blown” “bonecrunching” check;
(5) Fish in the D zone are alot like the Wings, trying to keep everything outside—very good at taking away shooting lanes
(6) Freaking Nabakov must be Kipper’s illegitimate blood relative - - they come from the same puck stopping gene pool—Nabakov made some very good saves yesterday
(7) Fish powerplay exposed the Wings big weakness on the PK—downlow to slot D is inexplicably bad
(I know I’m not the only one that sees this—for whatver reason Wing continue t have this problem) for the Wings;
HAVING SAID ALL THAT: I thought the Wings outplayed the Fish for the better part of the game. After Babs timeout (I bet he said something like you fuc#ing guys act like your just glad to be in round 2) I though the Wing controlled most of the play.
I agree with Paul: “I just didn’t see these big, bad Sharks we kept hearing about.” I didn’t either.
(1) Fish D are good but inexperienced. I had said a few days ago, I think Hank and Datsyuk are gonna be able to skate around them fairly well. And they did. Lotsa good scoring chances.
(2) Calder, IMO, was good;
(3) Draper/Malts/Cleary again very good;
(4) Except for a few shifts, I thought Lang/Bert/Mule were also good;
(5) Turnovers killed the Wings. The Fish are alot like the Wings, turnovers can be death;
At no time after Griers goal did I feel the Wings couldnt compete. I have not seen the Reaper. If you can actually feel good about a loss, I guess I am naive enough to feel that way.
Its just one game and the Wings played very well. We just haveta take one back in the tank. Remember we were down 0-2 to the Canuck (losing both at home) and we all know what happened after that!!!
I kinda hope I dont sound like the rank Homer that I am (Homer where art thou!!!). I just dont feel all doom and gloom—maybe I am just a lunatic.
Posted by Jeff - -OklahomaWingNut from Uhhh -- Oklahoma on 04/27/07 at 08:49 AM ET
Serious question here, did anyone else have a problem with the Versus broadcast last night? I TIVOed the game and most of the second period was missing, I got a bull riding thing instead and then it switched back to the Wings game with just over 7 minutes left. I about had heart failure.
I agree with Paul, I liked the fact that it was a clean game. Wings PP continues to be awful. Wings had plenty of chances but really after those two goals, all SJ had to do was sit back and play really good D. This strategy will not work for them in the next game. Wings were very sloppy and the giveaways had me pulling my hair out.
Again, echoing Paul, I think both teams can play better. For once, I can’t blame the loss on the Mutant Czech. Sigh.
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 04/27/07 at 09:16 AM ET
To me, it’s a pretty simple analysis, the Sharks buried their chances while the Wings did not.
With Lidstrom in the box (you knew the game plan was to stay away from penalties, Nick), Datsyuk or Zetterberg, I didn’t see which, failed to notice Carle sneaking in from the point. Lilja bites on a fake, goes fishing for the puck and just that quick it’s in net. That’s one chance executed to perfection by the Sharks.
Schneider then commits a turnover, his only turnover all evening, and the puck is in the net. That’s two. Game over thanks to good team D by the Sharks (trapping in the neutral zone, collapsing down low), an absolute joke of a Wings PP, and some unfriendly puck bounces along the way.
My two picks (Lang and Lilja) that need to click for the Wings to go deep in the playoffs didn’t. Lilja look nervous and played that way all night, especially on that first PK—completely the opposite of his performance against Calgary.
Lang just flat-out blows (no, not literally, Ian). It’s obvious he doesn’t care. Zero shots. Zero hits. 1-for-8 on face-offs. For me, the up-side if the Wings get bounced is that I will no longer have to watch #20 watching a hockey game. His line mates are out there mainly to keep their legs from cramping up, near as I can figure. Take your “Ya, you know” and “Oh, definitely” and just go away, Bob.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 09:22 AM ET
Nabokov was good, I thought, but I wouldn’t say he played spectacularly.
There were pucks available out there for the Wings to stuff home, particularly in the last half of the first, um, quarter, as Nabokov was giving up some juicy rebounds. Nobody was home for Detroit, though. He seemed to tighten-up his rebound control a bit as the game wore on, however.
The Wings best chance to make it a game was the latter half of the first when they were buzzing. They didn’t get it done.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 09:48 AM ET
One other comment, yes the Wings only blocked one shot but exactly how many did SJ have after the goals? Only 9.
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 04/27/07 at 09:56 AM ET
Also, I didn’t see the Sharks explosive two-line punch, referred to up-thread, as having any significant bearing on the outcome. A PP goal and a grinder’s goal off a turnover. That was it.
Had the Wings gotten back into it, forcing the Sharks out of their shell, the Thronton/Marleau effect would’ve presented itself, though, no doubt.
Going forward, the Wings match-up in goal, on D and first-line scoring, IMO. (Calder filling in for the injured Holmstrom is a non-starter, though). A slight edge to the Wings on the shutdown line with an edge to the Sharks in fourth-line comparison. PP vs. PK favors the Sharks on both sides of the puck.
For the Wings to even this thing up on Saturday and have aspirations of advancing, they need to stay out of the box (especially Lidstrom so Thornton isn’t allowed to devour Lilja) get off the schneid on the PP, and the Lang line is going to have to out-perform the Marleau line (tall order, considering #20 doesn’t give a shit).
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 10:18 AM ET
O-Joe: Man you must be smoking the same stuff as Maven at MSG (Rangers in 5) if you think:
” . . .and the Lang line is going to have to out-perform the Marleau line (tall order, considering #20 doesn’t give a shit).”
But, given your limiting explanation about “BOBBY”, I agree about the PP and PK statement. Both have to improve in a hurry!!!!
The Wings, IMO, are going to be just fine. I remain EXTREMELY concerned, however, about the PK!!!!
Posted by Jeff - -OklahomaWingNut from Ummm -- From Oklahoma Maybe? on 04/27/07 at 10:39 AM ET
Apparently, not all Sharks fans behaved themselves in celebration of Team Teal’s victory last night.
Maybe we should station Bay Area cops down on the southern California border?
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 11:29 AM ET
Man you must be smoking the same stuff as Maven at MSG
From John Niyo blog at The Detroit News.
Apr 27, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Friday Practice Update
No Zetterberg again today. We’ll see what Babcock has to say about his absence in a little bit here.
And it would appear Robert Lang’s been demoted to the fourth line, with Valtteri Filppula skating between Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen in practice. He did the same for a spell in the second period in Game 1.
It appears Babcock agrees with me.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 11:54 AM ET
O-Joe: I wasn’t being critical of your statement that Lang needed to play better - - - I TOTALLY agree (my son and I call him Teflon stick boy cuz of all of his T/O). I was jesting with you on your opinion that:
“the Lang line is going to have to out-perform the Marleau line”
Hell will freeze sooner- - I think.
Babs got it right putting Fill up there!!!!
AND WTF is with HANK—- Flu my ass!!!!
Posted by Jeff - -OklahomaWingNut from Ummm -- From Oklahoma Maybe? on 04/27/07 at 12:06 PM ET
Oh..
Some regular here is a Lang-lover.
I interpreted your response incorrectly, thinking the Lang-lover was you.
My apologies.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 12:19 PM ET
Hey Gang: If you want to hear Ken Kal’s and Eddie Olczyk’s take on game one—http://www.wxyt.com has podcast available on their homepage.
Posted by Jeff - -OklahomaWingNut from Ummm -- From Oklahoma Maybe? on 04/27/07 at 12:37 PM ET
“Zero shots. Zero hits.”
Um, I personally saw Lang take 1 shot and remember him throwing at least one good solid check. Not saying he had a good night, just saying the stats seem to be off. I’m beginning to trust “official” NHL stats less and less all the time.
“One other comment, yes the Wings only blocked one shot but exactly how many did SJ have after the goals? Only 9.”
Blocked shots don’t count as shots on goal, so that’s not really a good comparison. The Wings could have blocked 20 and on the scoresheet it could still show 9 shot for the Sharks.
“AND WTF is with HANK—- Flu my ass!!!!”
Um, he was out for a few weeks at the end of the season, with an inflamed disc in his back. Now he’s not skating and there was a report someone saw him with a heating pad on his back. Last time I checked, 2+2 is still 4.
Posted by Paul on 04/27/07 at 01:49 PM ET
I realize that shots on goal are not the same as blocked shots and what I meant was that SJ was not really shooting the puck all that much after they got the lead. I guess I didn’t really convey it though.
Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 04/27/07 at 02:15 PM ET
O-Joe, it’s true, every person in the Bay Area is gay and every Shark fan is gay. It’s true. I’m not surprised about those fans pictured above not behaving.
With that being said, check out what every person in Detriot looked like last night, and into this morning…
http://www.worldofstock.com/closeups/PCH5934.php
Posted by Joey from the Castro on 04/27/07 at 03:42 PM ET
“With that being said, check out what every person in Detriot looked like last night, and into this morning…”
You wish. See, not only do the Wings players have experience, so do Wings fans. We have watched the team win enough to know that it takes more than one game. Losing game 1 is not a big deal. It happens all the time. In fact, half the teams every round lose game 1. Do you think all of those teams lose the series? Do you know what happened the last time the Wings lost games 1 and 2 at home?
Posted by Paul on 04/27/07 at 03:44 PM ET
Let me guess…they won?
Posted by Joey from the Castro on 04/27/07 at 03:47 PM ET
“Let me guess…they won?”
the Stanley Cup.
Posted by Paul on 04/27/07 at 04:13 PM ET
Um, I personally saw Lang take 1 shot and remember him throwing at least one good solid check.
Um, the shot [C]Lang took down low that hit the outside of the left post (while Nabokov was nestled firmly up against the inside of it) is not a SOG, which is what the statisticians keep track of, which is what I was referring to.
You can live in denial if you wish, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s being replaced as the second-line center by a rookie.
Will that motivate him? Doubtful, although he’s shown a bit of chemistry with Hudler in the past. My guess is he’s going to pout and loaf even more than he has been.
He has quit. Pure and simple. If I had any input, Lang’s next line would be the buffet up in the press box, if/when Holmstrom comes back from injury. (Won’t happen, of course, but that’s where he belongs).
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 04:13 PM ET
“You can live in denial if you wish, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s being replaced as the second-line center by a rookie.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been calling for him to be benched for a while now. I don’t think he has been as bad as many make it out to be, but he definitely needs to be better. I do remember one play last night where he would have had a great scoring chance except the pass to him was about 6 inches in front of his stick. With the tiniest bit of extra effort he could have corralled that puck but instead he just watched it float away. Sad.
Posted by Paul on 04/27/07 at 04:17 PM ET
Are those sharkskin hats?
And I hope that’s not real fur. A gay guy wearing fur could cause a sensitive Californian’s head to explode.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 04:32 PM ET
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been calling for him to be benched for a while now.
Well, crap..
Somebody here is a Lang-lover and I’ll be damned if I can remember who it is.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 04:36 PM ET
This is an honest question- why wasn’t the Joe full last night? Have the Pistons gained that much traction since the lockout? Are ticket prices too high? If you told me before the series that game 1 wouldn’t be a sellout, I would have been shocked. Like I’m shocked now.
I don’t mean it as a snark- I’m really asking for your theories.
Posted by Mike on 04/27/07 at 05:04 PM ET
Your man-friend already asked that question under a different post.
Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 05:23 PM ET
My bad. But I think Paul would approve of the description.
Posted by Mike on 04/27/07 at 05:33 PM ET
Mike: it’s a combination of things…very poor economy in Michigan, tickets are too expensive, extras (parking, concessions) are too expensive, Pistons are cheaper, Tigers are winning, Wings fans are apathetic from the past few years, etc
Posted by Paul on 04/27/07 at 05:33 PM ET
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“GIVEAWAYS Red Wings 26 Sharks 5”
Yeah, they were terrible with their puck possession last night, that’s for sure.
“Mostly because our Sharks were clogging up the neutral zone and ruining your figure skating.”
Don’t worry, the Wings are good at foiling this kind of play.
“BLOCKED SHOTS Sharks 18 Red Wings 1
One blocked shot??? I guess that’s right. I don’t think Chelios can bend over long enough to block a shot.”
You obviously have no idea what you’re talking about with the Chelios comments, but that’s OK I don’t expect you to. Anyway, the Sharks did a great job at this and it was the key to their PK.
“MISSED SHOTS Red Wings 13 Sharks 6
As I type, I think Pavel Datsyuk is still standing the crease waiting to pull the trigger. PULL THE TRIGGER SON! Guess he’s shooting blanks. “
Yeah, he had a couple times where he should have shot but didn’t. Overall, though, I think he and Zetterberg played great, had over 10 shots between the two of them, and controlled the puck most of their shifts.
One thing I pointed out earlier - the Sharks are fast but not quick, and Z and D exposed this. Did anyone lay a finger on Datsyuk all night as far as checking him? I just didn’t see these big, bad Sharks we kept hearing about. Maybe it’s because of the two quick goals and they decided to just collapse to hold the lead, rather than pressing.
Anyway, aside from the 2-0 score, I agree that this game really was a snoozer and could have gone either way - it was nowhere near lopsided. The Wings had plenty of chances where they controlled the puck down low and it’ll just be a matter of some adjustments and actually putting the puck in the net. I think they did a terrible job of getting traffic in front of Nabokov and this will change when #96 is back in the lineup.
Oh, and as far as you guys clogging up the neutral zone? Lebda will have something to say about that. If you Sharks fans like your young, speedy, puck-moving defensemen…you’re going to love Lebda.
Posted by Paul on 04/27/07 at 07:27 AM ET