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Abel to Yzerman

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Born And Raised In South Detroit

by IwoCPO on 06/06/09 at 06:00 PM ET
Comments (1077)

We’re starting with this, because we should. 

But we’re also starting early because I want you reminded of what this year has been like.  What you’ve said about it, and what still could be.

“Guys,

You don’t hear from me much.  My sister Phoebe is the mouthpiece of the family, and (excluding Paul) the voice of the Wings in South Florida.

I was 15 years old in 1997. I watched the entire cup run as a newly-minted hockey fan (1996 vintage) at the condo my sister was housesitting at.  1998 followed a similar pattern.

2002 was in the midst of my college years.  Unfortunately, paying my dues required working nights.  I will never forget calling home at 10 p.m. to ask my mom how game 7 of the WCF was going, and then seeing for myself when I arrive home.

Patrick Roy = stunned.

And stunned again

et cetera.

Nothing compares to this.  This is the first Cup that is mine alone, as an adult privileged enough to watch every game in full, with attendant rituals and superstitions.

We’ve been champions for 4 hours now, and I’m not a bit closer to sleep.  The champagne parted ways with ice to meet with tonsils long ago, but I still can’t sleep.

I don’t know who to toast first:  the Wings, led by the greatest extant leader in the NHL, or the sport itself.

Fedorov will be showing up to my office tomorrow.  Datsyuk will be showing up in my mailbox next week.

Winged Wheel will be showing up on my sister’s wrist within the week.  Pictures forthcoming.

LGRW,

Charlie

Posted by Charlie from Hollywood, FL on 06/05/08 at 03:25 AM ET
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“Stanley Cup champions.  The fourth Stanley Cup in eleven years.  God bless them.  God bless all of you crazy people as well.  Thank you, thank you God.  And by “God” I mean “Henrik Zetterberg”.

Posted by TDeters on 06/04/08 at 11:10 PM ET”
--------
“Thanks to all of the “19”!!
It has been a fabulous ride, made all that much more better because I got share it all with you Bitches!!
What a frigging ride!!

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Hades on 06/04/08 at 11:45 PM ET”
--------
“I haven’t commented on the A2Y 19 community thing yet, but I’ll keep it short. It’s awesome. Utterly, and completely awesome. Nothing more to say about all the emotional stuff that everyone has already hashed through. I’ll put it like this—yesterday morning driving to work they were talking about Dan Cleary winning the Cup on the radio, and I almost cried. I thought I was the only person that was literally this insane about the Red Wings. It’s good to know I am not.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson’s ice cream truck on 06/06/08 at 09:19 AM ET”
--------
“A parade live blog?  Are you kidding me?  You guys rock.

Just got back from an interview, the HR guy who interviewed me was from Pittsburgh.  We spent about 15 minutes just talking about hockey.  I think the interview went well.

Posted by cephalopod from Chicago, on the poop deck, no pants on 06/06/08 at 02:14 PM ET”
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“Whatever emotional gulf between the fans and the players that was created by the fact that the Wings won in Pittsburgh was closed on that impossibly hot day that the players paraded down Woodward, telling the fans how much they meant, and how the Cup win was for them.  It was a love-in in every positive sense of the term, and that was the day that it truly sunk in that the Wings won the Cup.

I wouldn’t trade being down there for the world.  It was unbelievable.  Meeting Stanley himself while he was in the hands of Red Wings players, and taking a swig or two, those experiences were just the icing on one hell of a cake.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 06/22/08 at 03:18 PM ET”
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“Is there a church or a website or something where I can go and accept Ken Holland as my personal Lord and Savior?

Oh my figgin’ god how good are we going to be next year?  Jeez, how freaking stacked can one team get?  I’m speechless.  I am utterly speechless.

Posted by TDeters on 07/02/08 at 01:21 PM ET”
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“I have been waiting for tonight since June5th. The morning after the season ended.  Expectations are high for this season but they always are. I have been watching Red Wing Hockey for over forty years and i am looking forward to forty more.
My boys have all grown up watching good hockey from our beloved Wings, but I have reminded them it hasn’t been all Stanley Cups and good seasons. I’m so glad that the Darkness with Harkness days are far behind.
They serve as a good reminder to be thankful for what we fans have. A great team.

“BRING IT ON!”
“AGAIN!”
Lets Go Red Wings

Posted by Kate from Pa. on 10/09/08 at 04:57 PM ET”
--------
“Detroit comes out in absolute style.  Sure the Hawks logo and jersey is tight.  But when you put the package together on the Wings… the classic jerseys, the wicked leg socks, and the coaches wearing felt/wool caps… PURE PIMPS BITCHES.

Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 01/01/09 at 04:50 PM ET”
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“Homer: “You signing renewing and using ink for a name with paper?”

Zetterberg: “Jesus Homer”

Me, 16 January”
--------
“I want to comment on this post… but I have no idea what you said.

Yet… fascinated.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 02/17/09 at 11:53 AM ET”
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I’m almost to the point of resignation.  Nearly there. Almost at that stage where anything could happen and I’d kind of shrug. Will an early exit be painful?  Oh yes.  But not as painful as if they’d played dominant hockey--the kind of hockey a team with this much frigging talent should play--all year only to lose to an 8 seed.

But I’m not there yet.  Because if this team is owed anything, even a morsel after the regular season they’ve had statistically, it’s this:  they deserve the benefit of the doubt. They earned it last year.  Actually, they earned it the last two years.

Me again, 9 March
--------
I blame the drinking game.  Clearly the Hockey Gods are frowning on a team whose fanbase doesn’t take the games more seriously.

That, and if you guys don’t cut it out someone is going to drink themself dead.

As far as the game itself goes, let me ask you all a question:  If the Wings had won last night 8-0, whould we be thinking they had the Cup sown up?  I doubt it.

We take losses much harder than we appreciate wins.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 03/01/09 at 01:42 PM ET
--------
What just makes me pull my hair out though is, how can they not find this embarrassing? Like Chief said, the *#$%@& Islanders are 56 points behind the Wings. When they got down 1-0, how did they not get the motivation to just crush the Islanders to bits?

I’m really questioning Uncle Mike here. This has been a season-long problem, and I can’t believe he’s still letting this slide. These guys clearly don’t seem to get the message that you need to put in 100% every game.

But the even worse thing is, I still think with only a 75% effort, we will make it to the Western Conference Final, only perpetuating the notion that it’s ok for them to slack off. We’ll get mangled by the Sharks at only 75% though.

I’m looking squarely at Babcock. This shit has to stop.

Posted by Alzy from Innisfail, Alberta, Canada on 03/28/09 at 01:34 AM ET
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“You guys are ridiculous.

Watch the game, not the score.

Sometimes the pucks just don’t go in.  It happens.

Posted by Ryan from Toronto on 03/28/09 at 02:03 AM ET”
--------
The bitching on the Jacket blogs today is intense.  Apparently they feel it’s ok to have too many men on the ice and have them play the puck.  Nice to know they and the Jacket players feel the basic rules shouldn’t apply to them.  Portzline quoted Peca as saying: ”Don’t put the game on the line for that”.  Because you know, if you’re Mike Peca you can’t possibly ever have accountability for anything, it’s always someone else’s fault…

Posted by Primis on 04/24/09 at 09:23 AM ET
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RWBill, 5/1/09
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Here’s to you, to Stevie, to the 19, to our Detroit Red Wings, and to the annihilation of the motherf*cking piece-of-sh!t Anaheim Ducks. May the sweet baby Jesus send them to rot in hell.

LET’S GO RED WINGS!!!!!

Posted by Bella from puddle of her own vomit on 05/14/09 at 06:12 PM ET
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*#$%@& you Anaheim! *#$%@& you refs! Don’t admire your save Hiller! God, I screamed so loud at Buckets’ goal my cat jumped three feet in the air and I think I woke up the neighborhood if not the *#$%@& county. Hopefully my hands will stop shaking soon. Someone pass the booze, stat.

Posted by Aphaea from Pennsylvania on 05/14/09 at 09:45 PM ET
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The Ducks are the biggest collection of a**holes, whiners, and gutless cheap shot artists ever assmebled on one team. And their coach is probably the biggest crybaby in the league.

I usually feel a modicum of respect or sympathy for a team after a playoff series, but the Ducks are absolutely dead to me, in a way even the Avalanche never were. I could at least appreciate and respect players like Sakic and Forsberg. But there isn’t a player on the Ducks who I’d piss on if they were on fire.

One last thing:

Suck it Neidermeyer. Suck it long, suck it hard. That’s not gloating; that’s an order.

Posted by Mandingo from 6’3”, 3 bills on 05/15/09 at 09:42 AM ET
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What a carrot-topped big-talking ineffective-spinning-no-defense whiner.

Before I didn’t mind him all that much - but now I want to epoxy his lips together to make him shut up.  Stop talking until you can play well enough to have a coach trust you not to make a dumbass pass at the blue line in overtime and not recognize that it’s a mistake that you shouldn’t do again.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/23/09 at 06:36 PM ET
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We are our brothers keeper. I know a lot of people do not think this way but, it is the way I was brought up and, the way we raised our children as well.

This city just took one heck of a punch and it will take years to bring it back but hope is an amazing thing. Like you said Chief it might not be much in the grand scheme but, it is one small thing. Anything is better than nothing.

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa. on 06/02/09 at 07:00 AM ET
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We have been oddly immune and blessed the last few months and years.  My father is healthy.  We have a roof over their heads.  Things could be a lot better but we know things could be worse.  I can’t wait until the days when Detroit gets a turn on their bad luck and everyone says “Remember how crappy the state of Michigan was? That was crazy”.  Until then, it’s sports that offer a momentary breath of air, when the world feels suffocating.

When things are bad, I count my blessings.  One blessing, regardless how vain and inconsequential in caring about a sports team, that Michigan has is that they have an organization that has class, brilliance, and a hard work ethic that leads to success to cheer for.

Posted by MarkK from Ithaca on 06/02/09 at 08:05 AM ET
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I’m 46 years old, had 12 years with my company and 23 in my profession, and spent 45 minutes Monday filing for unemployment for the first time in my life. ‘Not an auto worker, but certainly I’ve been affected by their woes. I truly am scared, as there seems to be quite a gap in the employment listings between “Neurosurgeon” and “part-time clerk at Blockbuster.”

I just woke up to get my kids off to school, and the first thing that came to mind as I climbed out of bed was, “I wonder if Datsyuk’s gonna play tonight?” Then I remembered that I have no job. ‘Not sure if that’s anything to brag about, but this team HAS at least given me a bit of a diversion. (Funny, but I can remember when my job provided me with a diversion from the Red Wings.)

Very good post, Chief, very well written. And I don’t want these guys to win this thing for me, or even my family. I don’t want some stupid television network that gives lip service to the sport and the city and the state 99 percent of the time to start using the stupid angle of “CAN THIS TEAM DO IT FOR THE PEOPLE???” I want them to do it for themselves. But I have to think that, yeah, they know what’s going on around them. And while I refuse to use the ‘P’ word, if the opportunity arises to drive down I-75 to Detroit for a little get-together in the coming days, my family will be there. I’ll make a sign that says, “Thank You.”

Posted by Old Red Barn from Saginaw County on 06/02/09 at 08:13 AM ET

It’s a Live Blog bitches.  From Hockeytown. 

Adding a last minute good luck charm, courtesy of RedWinger and some serious Wing fans.

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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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