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Abel to Yzerman

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Back To The Sack

by IwoCPO on 03/18/08 at 02:21 PM ET
Comments (10)

There seems to be some tension in the comments below.  Some of the A2Y 19 have taken issue with the fact that my confidence in our goaltending has dwindled of late.  You’re calling me names and making me sad.  There must be a solution, there always is.  When I find myself at a loss to explain my views, there is always a tried and true solution:  The Sack. 

Adrienne Dater responds to readers’ queries (Yeah, I was tempted to add an “e") via his Male Bag.  Here at A2Y, we have The Sack.  Once again, all questions were posed by you, the masses.

Jocko from Midland:  Love your blog. It rocks. You’re very smart. First time reader, third time writer.  Do you have trouble sleeping at night after you rip on Hasek?  I ask because sometimes I think about tossing full beers through your window.  I never do it, but I think about it a lot and just wondered if you knew I was thinking about it, if that would worry you at all?

Hey Jocko.  You’re an unbalanced tool of an idiot, but I value your input because you read the blog and everyone deserves my respect equally.  Here’s the deal with Hasek.  I know some of you find this to be redundant and tired, but...well, it’s my frigging blog.  I don’t like the fact that he can’t play unless he’s 100 percent, and that’s been proven here and in Ottawa, and probably in Buffalo..I don’t remember.  I don’t trust the way he’s playing right now and I’m not confident in our goaltending going into the playoffs.  George listed a number of things that concern him more than goaltending.  Got it. All good points.

Here’s my list of things that I worry about:  Goaltending.

All the rest? Secondary scoring, health, grit.  None of it matters if our goaltenders let in an average of 3 per game.  We are simply not going to get out of the first round with that kind of performance, unless Bubba’s the opponent.  Nashville is the only team we can defeat with mediocre goaltending.

The Wings can win with steady or good.  They will NOT win with mediocre or bad.  Both Osgood and Hasek are capable of not losing us a Cup.  Neither one will be the difference if we win. 

Franklin from Escanaba:  I hear you don’t like Bob Dylan.  Does that mean you don’t like Bob Seger or Bob Horner?  I love “Night Moves” and Horner was a great hitter for the Braves before he got as fat as Stevie Nicks. I used to watch him on the SuperStation.  Bosom Buddies was on the Super Station too, in case you didn’t know.  Will Darren McCarty be able to add anything valuable to the Wings? Is he even going to play?

Hello Franklin. Let me say again how much I value the input of readers like yourself.  Thanks for writing!  Like you, I’m a bit discouraged by the injury to Mac.  More than perhaps anyone, I pimped his return to an extent that made me feel dirty.  I honestly believe that had he been healthy when called up, he’d be a fixture on the third line right now.  He has more scoring ability than Drake, Downey, that punk ass Hartigan or even Kopecky.  I think he should play before all four of them.  Drake has the edge on the PK, but that can be made up for when Cleary returns. 

Will McCarty see the postseason if he only suits for three or four games?  That’s the question, eh?  Depends on the health of the team.  Someone mentioned on a comment earlier today that even if he doesn’t start the first game of the first series, it’s not like McCarty’s not going to see any action at all.  We all know somebody’s going down.  Sooner or later, somebody’s gonna sit.  Broken feet to Yzerman and Shanahan.  Eye socket to Yzerman.  Asswipe Sasquatch’s flagrant prison takedown of Homer last year.  Every playoff, every season, somebody gets hurt and maybe that’s what the plan’s been all along.  Have McCarty there for insurance, not to fight, but to provide scoring opportunity if a forward goes down.

Felix in Auburn Hills:  I read that Mike Babcock likes French Toast in the evenings following games and that he eats it while moving his fork from one hand to another in order to maintain his high level of hand-eye coordination.  I find that fascinating. Can you confirm that?  Could you call Bruce Garrioch and ask him?

Felix, I’ve been watching you and I’m consistently impressed with your writing abilities.  I think you should start your own blog. I understand the title “Tommytheenforcer” is open over at Blogger.  Have at it.  Funny you should mention Bruce Garrioch. He’s taken some abuse here and on other Wing blogs the last few days for his comments on Sunday that Uncle Mike may be Ottawa bound at season’s end.  Blah, blah, blah.  And I mean that.

Look, there’s a difference between rumor and speculation.  Yes, Garrioch’s a rumor monger. He creates some, spreads a lot and confirms few.  But, his statement was based on his own thoughts, which were based on the obvious:  Babcock’s unsigned past the playoffs.  It’s that simple, and it’s easy to discuss. No rumors, simple fact-based speculation.

Now, all that being said; here’s the deal.  Babcock’s going nowhere.  I don’t believe he and Tick Tock Kenny are BFFs. In fact, I sense some tension.  But I do think they respect one another quite a bit and each understands the other’s role in the organ-I-zation.  Mike Babcock has transformed this team and it’s been a positive, needed evolution.  Dan Cleary is 2008.  Luc Robitaille is 2002.  Make sense? Compare their styles and you have the differences between those two teams.  Each great in their own right, but one built through a bottomless well of money.  The other constructed with smarts and elbow grease.

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Comments

On the lighter side, I was wondering if you had any more info on Hasek. Seems that he was so depressed after he was pulled the other day, that he jumped right in front of the team bus… it went right between his legs.

Posted by kate from pa. on 03/18/08 at 01:41 PM ET

I personally thank Hasek for all the goals we scored on Sunday. 

Posted by Bethany on 03/18/08 at 01:47 PM ET

I’m shocked you didn’t ask Jocko exactly when he planned on hurling full beers through your window, so you could be waiting with a baseball mitt and a large cooler full of ice.

Opportunity missed. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/18/08 at 01:47 PM ET

In the words of Butthead from Beavis and Butthead’s Christmas special: “Let me reach into my sack...huh huh, huh huh...”

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 03/18/08 at 02:05 PM ET

Well I think I could catch at least four.

Posted by kate from pa. on 03/18/08 at 02:42 PM ET

Completely agree on your goaltending concern.  I think we’ll find ways to get 2-3 goals/game and with Rafalski back there on the b line, I think we’ve got 2 very, very solid lines of D. 

Back to goaltending though, ever since we brought Hasek back I’ve spent all damn season waiting for something to break on him.  He is our #1, and I’m fine with that, but acknowledging that comes with the assumption that you’re going to spend every playoff game praying nobody runs him and causes something to snap.  I recall health being a big concern for him when we began Hasek, Redux.  For me that fear has never gone away.  For some, methinks it has.

Posted by disch from austin on 03/18/08 at 03:54 PM ET

Wow! Look at our girl Kate from PA. She finally found the Shift key...and then used it to great effect. Witty. Intelligent. Insightful. Who would’ve guessed.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 03/18/08 at 07:15 PM ET

Dear OlderThanChelios, thank you for the high praise, but did it ever occur to you that I did not have full use of my hands? Thank goodness I have regained the use of my fingers as well as keeping my sense of humor. Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. Respectfully, Kate

Posted by Kate from Pa. on 03/19/08 at 07:17 AM ET

If I were one of those people who but into convo’s that don’t pertain to me, this is what I would say…

“IT TOOK YOU THAT LONG TO COME UP WITH THAT EXCUSE?!  IT WOULD APPEAR TO ME THAT IF YOU INDEED, DIDN’T HAVE FULL USE OF YOUR HANDS, YOU WOULD’VE MENTIONED THAT WHEN OTC CALLED YOU OUT!”

But I’m not one of those people, so just act like you didn’t see this! 

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 03/19/08 at 08:05 AM ET

In spite of our various concerns about the Red Wings and life in general, it’s still important to remember that we all have a lot to be thankful for.

Me, I’m just thankful that this post was not about the “Joe Sack Five.”

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 03/19/08 at 08:25 AM ET

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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:

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