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Abel to Yzerman

As If They Needed This Reminder In Denver…

by IwoCPO on 11/23/08 at 09:52 AM ET
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Line of the day?  In my opinion, nothing you read today will compare to this from the Calgary Herald.  Scott Cruickshank led his game recap by mentioning the Flames faced a much different test last night then the one they’d passed earlier in the week against the Dive.

...even the Wings themselves know the edge they hold.

If they match the opposition’s energy, talent will carry the day - and, in that regard, the Wings are peerless. Losers only twice in regulation this season. Heck, the Wings have been outshot only twice.

The Avs they are not.

No.  They are most certainly not. And for that we can all be grateful.  In fact, this Thursday as we gather round a dead bird and pay homage to all that is warm and wonderful, somewhere on your list of blessings should be this:  “I’d just like to give thanks to providence and sweet adorable baby Jesus that my favorite hockey team hasn’t ended up in the toilet like the Colorado Avalanche.” 

I think that if you feed that line to the youngest member of your family, it will be a priceless memory everyone will be talking about for years.  Consider it.

And consider this.  The team that Detroit muscled up with, skated around and defeated fairly convincingly last night was the same one that led sobbing Dive apologist Adrian Dater to say this last week.

I was talking it over with some reporter brethren after the Avs’ sulfurous effort against the Flames, and the question crossed my head - was this the worst game I’d ever seen the Avs play?

Quite possibly, it was. I know there have been bigger blowout losses over the years, but this might have been the worst wire-to-wire performance this team has ever played since moving to Denver.

Personally? I find that offensive and I know you do too.  A 4-1 loss to Calgary, the worst in “franchise” history?  Now you wait one damn minute. I can recall at least two playoff punches right in the frigging face at the hands of a certain Dynasty that would rightfully rank above that. 

So that was Dater’s reaction after a Dive visit to Calgary. 

While this morning we read this:
 
Dave Dye

The Red Wings weren’t rattled Saturday night after a two-goal lead disappeared.

Been there, overcome that.

The Wings showed their poise and experience to take control in the final nine minutes for a 5-2 victory over Calgary at the Saddledome.

Ho. Hum.  If you’re looking for a comparative means of illustrating just how good this Wings team has been and for just how long, take a look at the drastically different directions the two teams have taken since Patrick Roy was laughed off the ice in Detroit 6.5 years ago.  Since that day, the Wings have won two more Cups, a few more President’s Trophies and have been given a permanent asterisk in the Central Division.

The Dive?  Since the blowout Game 7 loss in ‘02, Denver’s won 213 regular season games and hasn’t made it past the second round.  Detroit’s won only 45 more games, but it’s a bit deeper than that.  Expectations.  A season hasn’t begun since that Cup year that didn’t include a legitimate expectation that the Wings would be right there in late May.  When’s the last time the same could be said for Denver?

St. Louis, Nashville, Columbus, Chicago, Los Angeles…they all lead Colorado in the Western Conference standings this morning.  How the hell did that happen?  Too much churn.  While the Wings have kept character guys like Maltby, Draper, Holmstrom, Lidstrom?  Denver’s held on to Sakic.  No one else has stayed.  Not the coach or the GM, no other players. Sure Foote and Forsberg came back last year, but too little and way too late.  Their system has changed.  Offensive potency has turned to impotence.  The Cap cut them off at the knees while Detroit thrived on it.  Their “genius” GM didn’t want to deal with it and gave himself a promotion that took him right out of the fire.

There’s no need to re-hash the Wings’ success at the draft table, or in the area of scouting which leads to draft table success.  But you want to see a glaring difference?  Check this out.  An organization that used to be flush with home-grown talent?  Back before they left a true hockey market for a fake one?  Not anymore.

The Wings?  The philosophy hasn’t changed in fifteen years.  Not just on-ice.  Organizational.  While LaCroissant decided he didn’t want to deal with the “new NHL”, Ken Holland viewed it as a challenge.

No. I have no sympathy.  Not for those fans who so quickly like to point to their quality of life in their self-proclaimed mountain paradise and arrogantly compare it to a state with a rate of unemployment that will lead the nation for the third year in a row. 

But it is disappointing.  We used to circle games with the Dive.  Now? I have no idea when we play them and don’t care enough to look it up.  In years past, if we lost to them in the regular season it would be reason to dive into a bottle and wonder what we’d done to deserve it.  Now, if we lost tomorrow?  It would be something to laugh off.

San Jose’s our new Denver.  Chicago’s 10-4-5.  Anaheim is despised. 

Colorado?  Not even a consideration and that’s too bad.

Thanksgiving…just around the corner.  Our state is in a bad way.  The Lions are a joke, the biggest joke in the history of professional sports, actually.  UM lost to Ohio State for the fifth year in a row yesterday.  MSU had a shot at a title and gagged.  The Tigers, with so many expectations a year ago, have no money to improve and a roster that looks a lot older than we’d ever thought it would.

But at least we’ve got this going for us, and it’s a big, epic consolation prize.

The Avs they are not.

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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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