LOGIN | REGISTER | RSS FEEDS

Abel to Yzerman

Dig It

by IwoCPO on 03/18/08 at 05:41 PM ET
Comments (0)

The day I see a direct quote, and I mean a statement with the little quotation marks around it, from Mike Babcock saying Chris Chelios isn’t assured a spot on the third D pairing?  That’s the day I stop believing stuff like this is the mark of a frigging idiot.

Babcock also said that with three or four games remaining, he will settle on his third defensive pairing – a two-man job open to Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda.

Helene St. James, every few weeks, gives us a hint of that garbage.  Prove it Helene.  Give us a quote from Babcock saying that.  Until then?  You just continue to look stupid.

Here’s your third D pairing, Helene: Chelios and Lilja.  I’ll make it simpler for you.  “Here’s your third D pairing Helene: Chelios and Lilja,” said juvenile Wing blogger, IwoCPO.

Well take a look at Teddy Ballgame.  Former Deep Digging Captain Ted Kulfan has landed himself a gig with the Sporting News, home to such hockey luminaries as Kara Yorio.

Peruse through Kulfan’s first column with TSN (American style) and you’ll see a quote he must have unintentionally left out of his Detroit News stories.

They’re getting healthy and opened March with a five-game winning streak that suggests there are good things to come. The reason for those good things, ironically, might be all those injuries.

“We’re as fresh at this point in the season as we’ve ever been,” general manager Ken Holland says.

Really? Draper, Holmstrom, Cleary. Throw McCarty in for good measure and everyone this side of Zilwaukee knows something’s ailing Zetterberg.  I guess there’s a difference between “healthy” and “fresh.”

Edit: I just read this over and I’ll give Kulfan and Holland the benefit of the doubt.  There is a difference between healthy and fresh.  And, yes, with all the injuries, players are probably more rested at this stage than they have been in recent seasons.  See motherfu***rs?  I’m an adult.

Sounds like, between he and Draper, Homer’s the closest. 

Khan(!)

After practicing on Wednesday, Draper will determine if he can play Thursday. If not, he’s shooting for Saturday in Columbus. Tomas Holmstrom (strained abdominal muscles) badly wants to get back in the lineup, but the team isn’t taking any chances. Coach Mike Babcock said Holmstrom won’t play Wednesday and isn’t likely to return this week.

Anti-Digger Bruce MacLeod is making the most of the Wing homestand. He’s been prolific as ever.  Of course, we all know he has to make up for the time the Wings hit the road because his cheap-ass, tires-on-the-roof of a paper (The Macomb Daily Tribune) won’t pay for him to travel with the team.  He confirms the Draper status here, and also gives us a glimpse of a Franzen feature that will probably hit the newstand tomorrow.

Then again, who could have predicted that Johan Franzen would have put together a goal-scoring streak that no other Red Wing has bettered this season? (Pavel Datsyuk did the same as Franzen with an eight-goal-in-seven-games streak, Nov. 25-Dec. 9. Last year, Zetterberg had a 10-goal-in-seven-games streak, Feb. 7-21.)

“I’ve never had a streak like this before,” said Franzen. “Not since I was young. I’m getting a lot of ice time and playing with good players who keep feeding me the puck.”

Throughout the streak, Franzen has been playing on a scoring line with Zetterberg and Samuelsson. During the past five games, Franzen has been on the top power-play unit taking the place of an injured Tomas Holmstrom (abdomen strain) as a net-front fixture.

Franzen’s emergence, and I’m certain I’m the first to point this out, has given the Wings a second powerplay unit better than most team’s first.  Cleary, Franzen, Filppula? Plenty of goals to go around, especially if Kronwall continues to play as well as he has.

Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
 

Comments

Be the first to comment.

Add a Comment

Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.

Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.

Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.

Most Recent Blog Posts

About Abel to Yzerman

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)

Get the top online sports betting bonuses available to sports betters!