Abel to Yzerman
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Bucci? We’re Not Done With You Just Yet
by IwoCPO on 11/16/09 at 08:51 AM ET
Comments (203)
The last time I saw John Buccigross on television I think he had a perm. That, in itself, is pathetic. Men don’t get perms and they don’t use exclamation points. In his defense, I don’t believe John Buccigross uses exclamation points in his columns for ESPN.
But there are other issues. One big one that I’m not ready to let go of. Not yet, mainly because this Buccigross thing? It’s the MSM’s view of Detroit in a nutshell so far this year.
We’ve focused on the “past their prime” thing. We’re on it and we’ll be on it all year. It will continue to be a rallying cry whenever Zetterberg puts up five points or Datsyuk makes a game his own, and especially when Zetterberg leads his team to another gold medal in Don Cherry’s backyard this February. Yeah. I went there.
But there are other elements to Buccigross’ idiocy. Other aspects of his response on 22 October that deserve your scorn.
After 18 games, the Wings sit 4th in goals scored. Ok. For now. Bucci?
The Red Wings will struggle to score goals and that is a problem because they are not constructed to prevent them.
19, a nice round number, goals their last three games. Averaging 4 goals per game their last 9 games.
They continue to live off their power players and struggle with their penalty killing and goaltending.
Over those last nine games? 27 even strength goals. And over those nine games? 7 wins and five games with 1 goal or less allowed.
This is my favorite, because John Buccigross is so qualified to make this claim.
Younger players are more energetic, more durable, heal quicker and, most important, have heightened mental clarity because younger people think only of the present, which is the key to creativity and productivity.
Pavel Datsyuk and Hank Zetterberg, according to John Buccigross, don’t have the “mental clarity” of their younger peers. Got it. So when some of the younger stars of the league are losing their minds, crying over officiating, punching people in the nuts, instigating in Stanley Cup Finals games, slew footing, refusing to back check, refusing to leave the ice during a power play and allowing 9 goals against even when you’re the brightest goaltending star to hit the NHL in decades? I guess when that’s all going on their mental acumen is sharp, sharp, sharp.
And that’s the key to “creativity and productivity”. Two attributes that just don’t go hand in hand with Datsyuk (the most creative player in hockey) or Zetterberg (on pace for an even 100 points).
I don’t like to belabor things here. That’s not how we roll. We simply don’t like to ping on one thing over and over and over again until it becomes so redundant that you want to close your eyes and swallow something poisonous. But this is the exception. Buccigross, perm and all, gave us something that just keeps revealing new tidbits of glory.
And you can thank Kate. It was her comment in this post that got me going today. Blame her, not me.
Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
Comments
” ... I just don’t buy it this time.”
Posted by Garth on 11/16/09 at 09:24 PM ET
Exactly. That’s why we’re fans of the game; it keeps us watching the team from day to day like stink on shat.
Besides, remember: Uncle Mike is the master of head games, with players, the media, the fans, ...
———————————————————————————-
pissberg up 4-1 over ucks
Pittsburgh 3:28, Martin Skoula 1 (Ben Lovejoy, Craig Adams)
———————————————————————————
Thinking back, from the outside looking in, as a fan, compare the Yzerman / organ-I-zation situation with the Fedorov / organ-I-zation situation. Like night and day.
(I know there were A LOT of differences, but as a whole, look how the fans backed Stevie but criticized Sergei. I think the way the player, the individual, handled himself made all the difference.)
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 09:42 PM ET
BJs win shoot-out with the oil
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 09:47 PM ET
That is Fuching Awesome.
Following LeVar on twitter was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/16/09 at 09:48 PM ET
I think the way the player, the individual, handled himself made all the difference.)
Posted by stonehands-78
I still love Sergei. When Chief said during a Lb that Fil looked like a young Federov, I thought that was a huge complement. I’m sure 11 years of Scotty’s mind games were tough, especially after coming out of the old Soviet system. He was part of the last great batch of Soviet era Russians, and still a joy to watch skate for Washington during the playoffs.
Posted by Osrt on 11/16/09 at 09:49 PM ET
ucks staging a come-back?
Anaheim 17:21, Teemu Selanne 10 (Nick Boynton, Todd Marchant)
4-2 pissberg
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 09:53 PM ET
I think it is easy to forget how tough it was for Fedorov and the other Soviet players of the time, because that Cold War world doesn’t exist anymore. Even when Malkin was trying to get out of his contract, the most they did was threaten him and pressure him into signing a contract late at night with verbal hammering; and when he left the country they threatened with lawyers.
Go back a few decades, and threats didn’t involve lawyers as much as prison and incredibly harsh restrictions placed on them and their families. The countries beyond the iron curtain were practically a different planet then.
Seeing Fedorov able to go back to his birth country of his own free will to play hockey is pretty amazing.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/16/09 at 09:57 PM ET
lak / florida 3-3 going to OT
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 09:57 PM ET
Thinking back, from the outside looking in, as a fan, compare the Yzerman / organ-I-zation situation with the Fedorov / organ-I-zation situation. Like night and day.
(I know there were A LOT of differences, but as a whole, look how the fans backed Stevie but criticized Sergei. I think the way the player, the individual, handled himself made all the difference.)
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 09:42 PM ET
Stevie was around all the charities representing the Wings well. He settled down and raised a family while Sergei was playing with Anna and all the barbie people jet setting about. Sergei thought he was going to have it made going to the ducks and be a leader with the tinseltown background. I kinda feel sorry for his poor judgement and wonder if he regrets leaving?
Posted by cigar_nurse from Greenville South Cakalakee on 11/16/09 at 09:58 PM ET
Seeing Fedorov able to go back to his birth country of his own free will to play hockey is pretty amazing.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/16/09 at 09:57 PM ET
+1
——————-
pisberg wins 4-2 over ucks
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 09:59 PM ET
TB up 2-1 over ‘yotes at start of 2nd
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 10:03 PM ET
shoot out in FLA
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 10:08 PM ET
I kinda feel sorry for his poor judgement and wonder if he regrets leaving?
Maybe. But if he never left, maybe he would have always wondered what might have been if he had? He took a chance instead of choosing the safe route and staying with a team where he had a defined role and some level of comfort with the system to try something different. I can’t fault him for that at all. (Although I did miss him.)
And if he never left, he might never have gotten to the point of playing with Ovechkin on Washington. I remember that playoff goal he scored for the Capitals. He flew down the side and I knew exactly what he was going to do before he did it - he stopped on a dime, letting his opponent zip past him, and then ripped the puck top shelf. The goalie had no chance. They rarely did. 
And then Ovechkin tackled him and almost killed him. I was pretty worried for the old man there - he doesn’t bounce nearly as well as he did when he was younger. I was so happy for them both and the whole team.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/16/09 at 10:10 PM ET
TB 3-1
Tampa Bay 4:30, Martin St. Louis 4 (Vincent Lecavalier, Alex Tanguay)
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 10:10 PM ET
Anybody else watching WWII in HD on the History Channel? The color footage is amazing.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 11/16/09 at 10:13 PM ET
Kings win in the SO
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 10:14 PM ET
Sergei is no Stevie and never will be, but I love Fedorov. I enjoyed watching him play elsewhere too, especially with the Caps last year. He will always be one of my all time favorites. I look forward to seeing him play with the Russian Olympic team and, yes, I do bust out the #91 from time to time. He’ll always be a Wing to me, all of the BS aside. Not everyone in this or any other sport is going to be the man The Captain is. Usually they want the money and the glory. If we didn’t live in a salary cap world, I suspect we’d see a lot more of that with today’s young stars.
Posted by jennyquarx on 11/16/09 at 10:16 PM ET
Anybody else watching WWII in HD on the History Channel? The color footage is amazing.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Sunny SoCal on 11/16/09 at 10:13 PM ET
Parts. I can’t watch too much at once because it makes me depressed. I can only watch in small doses.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/16/09 at 10:16 PM ET
It is pretty depressing, especially that little toddler girl, covered in debris and shivering as a GI gives her some food.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 11/16/09 at 10:22 PM ET
Anybody else watching WWII in HD on the History Channel? The color footage is amazing.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich
The restoration is incredible.
Look at Planet Earth on Discover HD in between; it’s staggering.
Posted by Osrt on 11/16/09 at 10:24 PM ET
It’s time Iwo,
I have heard too many of the 19 giving a pass to Howard on weak goals.
We need a poll to find out exactly how many of us are in favor of Holland replacing him with a veteran backup…ASAP.
And
That up and down thing with Larsson is because they save on salary every day he spends in GR.
He is not the only CapWeary minor leaguer.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/16/09 at 10:26 PM ET
Anybody else watching WWII in HD on the History Channel? The color footage is amazing.
Just set the DVR to catch up and going forward for 3 days.
HISTORY Monday, November 16 10:00 PM Battle Stations
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 12:01 AM Hard Way Back
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 1:01 AM Bloody Resolve
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 2:01 AM Battle Stations
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 11:00 AM Darkness Falls
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 12:00 PM Hard Way Back
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 1:00 PM Bloody Resolve
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 5:00 PM Darkness Falls
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 6:00 PM Hard Way Back
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 7:00 PM Bloody Resolve
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 8:00 PM Battle Stations
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 9:00 PM Day of Days
HISTORY Tuesday, November 17 10:00 PM Point of No Return
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 12:01 AM Battle Stations
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 1:01 AM Day of Days
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 2:01 AM Point of No Return
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 9:00 AM Darkness Falls
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 10:00 AM Hard Way Back
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 11:00 AM Bloody Resolve
HISTORY Wednesday, November 18 12:00 PM Battle Stations
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/16/09 at 10:29 PM ET
I have “Planet Earth” on DVD.
If you like that, watch “Blue Planet,” too. Absolutely fabulous.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/16/09 at 10:32 PM ET
Jimmah is probably not our guy Gramps. I wouldn’t mind using him for a bit longer. But who would you recommend now? Just bring up Larsson?
Posted by Osrt on 11/16/09 at 10:42 PM ET
If you like that, watch “Blue Planet,” too. Absolutely fabulous.
Posted by Baroque
Thanks Ms. B.
Posted by Osrt on 11/16/09 at 10:51 PM ET
C’mon we all know for a fact, that ozzie is the guy come playoffs and we’re going to go with him in the playoffs no matter what happens….what’s the point of bringing in a vet goalie now, i don’t think it’d change our situation that much….and if we have that much cap room to play with, lets bring in a veteran D-man so that we can lower our shots against, and not have to rely on jimmah or ozzie to bail us out. last year we were 2nd in sa/g and ozzie had an off year so the gaa was a bit high, then in the playoffs he righted the ship. and when you couple a low shots against with a good goalie, you get a great gaa and come within one win of a second straight stanley cup. we play better defense—-> we don’t need to worry about finding another goalie….that said i wanna see larsson play at least 5 games this year, just to see how good he is. We may just have the second best rookie swedish goalie in the league.
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/16/09 at 10:58 PM ET
p.s. now that Forsberg has made his decision, Naslund is also going to play in Sveden….according to dreger’s twitter
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/16/09 at 11:03 PM ET
Larsson is not ready for prime time. We need a Vet.
They say Biron is being shopped by the Islanders.
what’s the point of bringing in a vet goalie now
Conklin had 25 wins last year, you don’t really expect Howard to do that.
Larsson may be an improvement over Howard, but he is too young.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/16/09 at 11:07 PM ET
Conklin had 25 wins last year, you don’t really expect Howard to do that.
Larsson may be an improvement over Howard, but he is too young. ’‘
No i don’t, but i expect ozzie to play a bit more (than last year) and howard to be adequate enough (i’m asking for the defense to step up a bit more than they had to with conks in net) that we win 19 or 20 of those 25 that we would of had with Conklin. and i just don’t think those 5 or 6 wins are enough to warrant wasting cap space on a vet goalie when we all know who our goalie is in the playoffs and we can spend that money more wisely on a vet d-man or for call-up purposes late in the season.
But yeah Biron is going to have to get the hell out of dodge when DiPietro comes back. And i’m going to guess he goes to Anaheim since Giguere will already be with the Leafs by that point
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/16/09 at 11:17 PM ET
The wins have dulled my criticism of Howard; he’s getting the job done despite sloppy play on his part. But we seem to be returning to form and he may just be the plug and play guy we need. For now.
Posted by Osrt on 11/16/09 at 11:22 PM ET
Year——Team-GP-GS-MIN—W—L—T—OTL-EGA—GA——GAA——-SA——SV—SV%—SO
05-06—DET——-4——4—201—1—2—0—-0——-0———10——2.99——104—-94——.904—-0
07-08—DET——-4——2—197—0—2—0—-0——-0———-7——-2.13——-95——88——.926—-0
08-09—DET——-1——1——59—0—1—0—-0——-1———-4——-4.10——-28——24——.857—-0
09-10—DET——-8——6—443—4—2—0—-1——-1——-21———2.85—-205—184——.898—-0
—Career————17—13—899—5—7—0—-1——-2——-42———2.80—-432—-390—-.903—-0
Sorry, I’m not ready to quit on Jimmy.
If you really consider just his actual time on ice at the NHL level, his minutes are not a lot over 4 seasons. He is only just now getting real game time experience of any consistent, extended period of time. He needs to continue to get time on the ice - much more time on the ice. (How many goalies are really good in the NHL at age 25, Jimmy’s age? at age 30?) And I think the Wings are the right team to give him that. What he has done so far this year is good, not great, but good. No need to cut him out of future plans yet.
For this point in his career, at a minimum, (I’ll go out on a limb for the kid - on the record) give him a full season at the top level then decide.
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 11:22 PM ET
It’s time Iwo,
I have heard too many of the 19 giving a pass to Howard on weak goals.
Forgive me if this is a repeat from a few weeks ago (it sounded familiar when I first typed it), but I’m curious why you are for giving some skaters ice time to find a groove and improve confidence, but you’ve given Jimmah all of one month. I’ve been told all of my hockey-watching life that even the greatest rookie goalies don’t always look phenomenal at first.
Biron isn’t immune from weak goals and he has been past the first round one time, so I would rather just see what Jimmah is capable of this year and if they have no confidence at the end of the year with him, deal with it in the offseason.
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/16/09 at 11:29 PM ET
Biron isn’t immune from weak goals and he has been past the first round one time, so I would rather just see what Jimmah is capable of this year and if they have no confidence at the end of the year with him, deal with it in the offseason.
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/16/09 at 11:29 PM ET
Regardless of our Howardice towards Jimmy’s starts, I don’t think the Organ-I-zation will give up on him. At least not before we do. So I think they’ll give him the full season, at least. If there’s one thing I know about Ken, it’s that he’ll hold on to someone too long, looking for potential before he gets rid of them prematurely (unless it’s a cap space issue).
Also, if any of that sounds like complete bullshit, it’s probably the Glen Garioch talkin. Good stuff.
Posted by Sullyosis from A hateful lair in Post Apocalyptic US (or Arizona) on 11/16/09 at 11:41 PM ET
Biron a.k.a. French Toast come playoff time…..don’t want him/need him….just as comfy with howard backing up ozzie as f.t…...this is howard’s year…he gets at least one…...but i did heard the monster will be on the market next year….2015 Red Wings win Stanley Cup and the Jennings Trophy with leagues first swedish goaltending tandem (exclamation point)
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/17/09 at 12:00 AM ET
Jimmy is sitting at 4-2-1 with a .898 sv% and 2.85 GAA, and his contract is cap-friendly. He hasn’t been stunning by any stretch, but looking at these stats… they look OK, for a rookie backup. And he’s been playing better, generally speaking, as the season has gone on. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with him. I don’t know why you’d give up on him at this point.
Posted by Bio on 11/17/09 at 12:03 AM ET
No i don’t, but i expect ozzie to play a bit more (than last year) and howard to be adequate enough (i’m asking for the defense to step up a bit more than they had to with conks in net) that we win 19 or 20 of those 25 that we would of had with Conklin. and i just don’t think those 5 or 6 wins are enough to warrant wasting cap space on a vet goalie when we all know who our goalie is in the playoffs and we can spend that money more wisely on a vet d-man or for call-up purposes late in the season.
I’m not ready to write the possibility of # 12 off for the next 4 years while we season and inconsistent young goaltender in the NHL. Let;s be honest here….Howard would not even be considered if it weren’t for the last contract that lowered the age of the rookies reaching RFA., and being handcuffed by the salary cap.
I’m not ready to declare the Wings problems are over. 3 of the last 5 games were against teams on the back end of a B2B.
You want to give Howard experience here in the big show, but you haven’t explained how you are going to feel in the playoffs when our #1 goalie goes down with a hip flexor or strained groin.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/17/09 at 12:17 AM ET
His overall stats aren’t bad, I’m still worried about the biggest criticism of him from the AHL: consistency. Three of his 8 starts were downright awful. The others were pretty good and he stole the game from Vancouver. I know he’s a rookie and early season stats are skewed by the small sample size, but he needs to be better; if you’re only going to give your team a chance to win in 63% of the games you start it, that doesn’t bode well for your team’s chance of success.
Posted by Chris in A^2 from Nyquist Puck Control on 11/17/09 at 12:27 AM ET
You want to give Howard experience here in the big show, but you haven’t explained how you are going to feel in the playoffs when our #1 goalie goes down with a hip flexor or strained groin.
I’ll feel shitty. I’d also feel that way if French Toast was in there too.
2nd try: I’m curious why you are for giving some skaters ice time to find a groove and improve confidence, but you’ve given Jimmah all of one month.
What’s your solution to long term goaltending then? With Oz in his late 30’s and with young, available, cheap, proven talent being a non-existent entity, don’t you have to “season” a young goalie at some point?
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/17/09 at 12:33 AM ET
You want to give Howard experience here in the big show, but you haven’t explained how you are going to feel in the playoffs when our #1 goalie goes down with a hip flexor or strained groin.
That would really really suck. But i have alot of confidence in our team defense, that if ozzie was to go down we’d have the same shot at winning regardless if howard is there as opposed to f.t. or any other bargain vet goalie. I think with the defensive forwards that we have, we could limit the opposition to 20-23 shots a game. and if we did that, as long as we have a goalie that’s not dan cloutier i think we’d be okay. That said, i’d obviously much rather have oz in there to face those 20-some shots, but i’m not willing to bring in some bum on the off-chance that oz gets hurt in the playoffs when jimmah should be able to fill that void by the time the post-season rolls around.
i think howard has looked alot better lately. his first couple starts (as the guys on pensblog noted, it looked like he was learning the be a pro controls on nhl 10) now he’s not sliding around and his rebound control has improved dramatically…...i just agree with tick-tock when he said if you can’t get a top six goalie in the league then they’re not worth going after because there’s not a big drop off btwn the 10th goalie and the 25th….theres not going to be a difference btwn fr. tst. and jimmah….now if we were in the market for a goalie like lundqvist, it’d be a different story; but with the options out there now, i just don’t see anyone worth the headache.
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/17/09 at 12:57 AM ET
It’s time Iwo,
I have heard too many of the 19 giving a pass to Howard on weak goals.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs don�t live up to my expectations on 11/16/09 at 10:26 PM ET
The only pass I’ve ever given him was in the last game against the Ducks on their first goal. Absolutely in no way was that his fault, 100% Jonny’s fault. That being said, I don’t think there’s any reason to change anything as of right now. Yes, he has been inconsistent at the AHL level. Yes, he has had a few awful starts this year. But he has also had a few great starts this year. He just needs time and experience. Of course there is the possibility that it will get to a point where it is painfully obvious that he is just simply not the guy, but we are nowhere near that point yet in my opinion. He just hasn’t started enough games for anyone to make a definitive judgment yet.
Posted by stayouttamalibu from Temporarily in Tempe, AZ on 11/17/09 at 03:16 AM ET
Howard would not even be considered if it weren’t for the last contract that lowered the age of the rookies reaching RFA
Usually it takes a year or two before we throw goalies under the bus in Hockeytown. Now it’s a month and a half. People sure have short attention spans these days.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 06:47 AM ET
It’s time Iwo,
I have heard too many of the 19 giving a pass to Howard on weak goals.We need a poll to find out exactly how many of us are in favor of Holland replacing him with a veteran backup…ASAP.
Who’s giving Howard a pass? Because we’re not calling for his outright release we’re giving him a pass? The kid’s won three games in a row. Two of those games he gave up one goal. But now it’s “time”, eh? I just checked my new watch, the one with Uncle Mike’s face in the middle. It’s not time.
If it’s time for anything, it’s time to be energized by the performance of the youngest Wings and it’s time to recognize the fact that our Uncle Mike knows how and when to play the kids.
Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 11/17/09 at 07:23 AM ET
If the number one goaltender went down, I’d probably feel about as sick as when Lidstrom didn’t show up for that game against Chicago. Losing any key player really really sucks - but there isn’t a sure-fire number one who is just waiting to get paid a small salary to play backup for Detroit. And goaltending is so iffy anyway. So often a young guy tears up the league for a season or two, and then proceeds to be horrible before giving way to a new flashy young netminder with a cool nickname.
At some point every rookie goalie needs to develop, and it is always ugly. It’s just that usually another team has taken on the ugly and Detroit just wound up with a finished product. Besides, every goaltender has bad games sometimes, which is why the ability to bounce back that Osgood (for example) has is so useful. If there were no bad games, there is no need to ever bounce back.
If Howard shows a pattern of putting in a bad effort and letting it leak from one game into the following games, or gets worse and worse as the season goes along, then I think the team will go in a different direction in the offseason. But if he has a good effort, shows improvement, learns from his mistakes, and his good periods become longer and his bad periods become shorter as the season goes on, I think that is what the team expects of him and what they are looking to see.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/17/09 at 07:25 AM ET
I just checked my new watch, the one with Uncle Mike’s face in the middle. It’s not time.
Finally replaced Mickey?
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/17/09 at 07:27 AM ET
Finally replaced Mickey?
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/17/09 at 07:27 AM ET
Yep. It was a tough choice but I’m glad I did it. Every time I feel the need to whine about the Wings, despite their record, despite their success, Cup wins and despite all they’ve done for us as a fan base? I just look at my Uncle Mike watch and he tells me to STFU. It’s awesome.
Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 11/17/09 at 07:30 AM ET
A2Y is what other blog sites aspire to be when they fail to grow up: intelligent immaturity for the juvenile genius set.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Sunny SoCal on 11/16/09 at 02:55 PM ET
Awesome.
sidebar ===> ?
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 04:58 PM ET
Concur. See sidebar.
Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 11/17/09 at 07:46 AM ET
===>
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 11/16/09 at 04:58 PM ET
Hehehe that’s a penis.
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/17/09 at 07:53 AM ET
Not to interrupt the goalie fracas, actually no, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Umk. When did Sergei lose his A?
I remember that playoff goal he scored for the Capitals. He flew down the side and I knew exactly what he was going to do before he did it - he stopped on a dime, letting his opponent zip past him, and then ripped the puck top shelf. The goalie had no chance. They rarely did.
I know exactly what you mean…I was thinking the exact same thing. I hope Ovechkin learned a few things from Federov. Doesn’t look like it yet…but there is always hope.
Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 11/17/09 at 07:59 AM ET
Hehehe that’s a penis.
Not to my Jewish eye, it ain’t. Needs a strategic cut or two.
Oh yes, I went there.
I hope Ovechkin learned a few things from Federov.
He sure hasn’t learned what it takes to be a two-time Selke winner. Maybe Boudreau playing him a few games on the blueline would help. He already hangs out there quite a bit. Granted, it’s his own blueline, but it’s a start.
Incidentally, if we’re going to bring up Uncle Mike again, I have one point to make to the hatahs, of both him and Jimmah—When things were not going so well, people were calling out the coaches (Fire McCrimmon, fire Babcock, etc.) as well as the players. Now that things are going better, the same people are crediting the coaching as well as the players. Seems only fair. Yet the people still grumbling about Uncle Mike seem to forget the calls for his head, and insist that when things were going bad people only blamed the players. Selective memory doesn’t work on the internet, though. So be careful what you say about Jimmah now. If he turns out to be another Tim Thomas, you can bet there are a lot of elephants here.
And if you’ll excuse me, I have a foxhole to dive into now that I’ve lobbed that grenade.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 08:39 AM ET
Oh, and to all of you talking about Top Gear earlier…I’ll withhold my opinion, but I will say that it’s worth a visit to De Wallen (Amsterdam’s red light district). There’s a coffeehouse there opened by an expat Brit with the same name… 
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 08:41 AM ET
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Posted by Osrt on 11/16/09 at 09:38 PM ET