LOGIN | REGISTER | RSS FEEDS

Abel to Yzerman

It’s a Game 2 Saturday.  Want Some Keys?

by IwoCPO on 04/26/08 at 08:16 AM ET
Comments (0)

Update 1240 EST:  Dandenault stays.

Spring time in the nation’s capitol (al).  Absolutely perfect weather. A day made to take the top down on the jeep, load up the family and drive down (over, up? I have no idea) to Maryland’s eastern shore and thank all that is holy for the opportunity we have to enjoy all of nature’s wonders.

So I think I’ll break out the Pepe Lopez, sit cris-cross applesauce on the floor and rock back and forth for the next 7 hours until the game starts.

Wow.  Only one game down and the exchange between Dive fans and the A2Y 19 has grown tense.  I truly never saw that coming.  I haven’t visited message boards for either team or the Dive blogs so I don’t know if that kind of fun is being had all over the world wide hockey internet.  But I can say I’m happy to host it here.  I’ve analyzed all the comments, diagrammed a few sentences and broke them down point by point.  I’ve reached this conclusion:  this is no longer a blog, it’s one big continuous conversation. 

Everything’s all mixed together.  I can’t tell the difference between what I write and the comments that follow.  It’s like standing outside the door to the drunk tank in a city jail, listening to a group of about, oh, 20 guys, everyone talking at the same time.  Screaming about the same subject.  An inspiring sound.

Digging.  We’re digging today.  Lots of stuff. Lots of issues to deal with.  First?  Zetterberg and Datsyuk both up for the Selke.  Now that’s cool.

St. James

Teammates wouldn’t declare one better than the other.

“Pick a night,” said Kris Draper, who took the trophy home in 2004. “With what they do at both ends of the rink is, to me, something so impressive. I think that’s something that we’re fortunate that our best players are our best players night in and night out. That’s what makes us such a good hockey club. They almost will this team to victory with the way they play.”

It’s still too early in each of their careers for us to have started to take these guys for granted.  I hope that never happens.  In fifteen years we’ll look back at Datsyuk and Zetterberg and fully understand what a privelege it is to be fans of a team that they lead.  Prediction?  Zetterberg takes it. I’d like to see it go to Datsyuk because it will validate those of us who have argued the last two years that he’s much more than a flashy forward. 

Johan Franzen leads the Wings with four goals, seven points in 7 playoff games.  See that coming?  Maybe.  Maybe the Game 6 OT winner against Calgary last year should have given us a sign that tough circumstances are what he thrives on.  His next opportunity to carry the team didn’t come until March when Homer went down.  Franzen stepped up, as we all know.  And he’s stayed hot.  The Diggers, receiving midafternoon instructions from John Hahn, have all focused their creative energies on the guy the Dive can’t stop.

Niyo

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk still draw most of the attention, “but he’s the next guy you’ve gotta worry about,” Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said.

Added Avs defenseman John-Michael Liles: “He’s got that frame and that build to be a prototypical power forward. And he’s starting to really live up to that, toward the end of the season and here in the playoffs. He’s somebody that you’ve got to be aware of. He’s a dangerous player, for sure.”

Here’s the thing with Franzen now.  The Dive aren’t thinking about stopping a “pretty good second line”.  Now they’re thinking about how to stop Franzen.  Who’s going to shadow him?  What scheme can work, and what can be done to stop him the shift after your best defensive players just tried to stop Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Holmstrom? 

St. James

“I got to have the puck a lot because I was always playing in the offensive zone,” he said. “When the confidence builds, you hold onto the puck more and you make more plays. I’ve been holding on to the puck a little bit more in the corners. That’s what the coach has been telling me and all the guys in here, too—to hold on to the puck as much as I can.”

Adrienne Dater thinks Forsberg’s a scratch for today.  More on that in a second.  He’s also bucked the trend established by every MSM blogger and Wing hater in the Western Conference.  He’s got a few good things to say about the city of Detroit.

I think it’s a better place to be than when I first started coming here 13 years ago. It used to be that if the Wings weren’t playing - and even if they were many nights - the entire downtown rolled up the sidewalks at 5 o’clock and you had nothing to do.

It’s still not perfect, but things are definitely improving. And I, for one, hope it continues.

Here’s what I hope continues:  poor health in Denver.  Oh, I’m not asking for a plague, just continued difficulties in the Dive room.  The whole Forsberg thing is so Denver.  It is so typically Dive fan.  They get pumped for his return. Woody Paige writes columns about it that are borderline Penthouse Forum.  The “fans” fawn and the city remembers it has a hockey team.  Everyone’s so very happy.  Then he’s hurt and the confusion starts.  Then he’s back and all’s well.  Hurt again. Sadness.  Back for Round 1 and looking like the Forsberg of old, dominant against the Wild.  Certainly he’ll lead the Dive to victory against the evil Wings. 

Woops. Hurt.  “Groin”.  Uh huh. And oh the heartbreak.  They live and die with Forsberg’s health.  It is pure family fun to watch him control their emotions like a puppetmaster.  So? Today.  In? Out?

Denver Post

“It is what it is,” Forsberg said. “I can’t be upset. Sometimes you have to skate. Of course, you’re not happy when it happens like that. I’ve just got to get it healed up as soon as I possibly can. But it was definitely not a good situation yesterday. Of course, you feel bad.”

Do you feel bad Pete?  Really?  Because I remember when Holmstrom was missing regular season games and could barely form a sentence.  He was frothing, inconsolable, downright angry.

Forsberg?  “I can’t be upset.”  Yep.  Playing today? Nah.  Gonna sit this one out.  You know, it’s kinda the way things go.  Whatever.  That’s gotta kill Dive fans.  And that makes me feel so very warm.

Oh, hey. Pete?  Homer took a cortisone shot in his groin so that he could play.  Holmstrom’s a warrior.  Have you considered that Pete?  Taking the needle, or even playing through the pain?  Just wondering.

Same article, any article, tells us Three or Four is back in today.  The flu’s all gone.  Tummy’s feeling A-OK.  Good.  He’s the Dive savior remember.  Don’t forget that.  JoeSay will beat the Wings single-handedly.  He’ll steal two or three or even four.  Ok.  We’ll wait for that.

A few thoughts about today.  Must win for Denver? Yeah.  But for Detroit too.  I’d sacrifice my pets and the neighbors’ for a blowout this afternoon.  A skate on the throat ass kicking that takes this thing back to Denver with a graveyard feel.  Much has been said about lessons learned from Game 1.  Denver, allegedly, feels they can skate with the Wings based on their nice little comeback.

Here’s what the Wings learned, if they didn’t already know it.  This Dive team is not that good.  Wing forwards controlled the pace and the puck in their zone the entire first period.  Owned them.  Where was big bad Adam Foote? Did he even play Game 1?  John hyphen Michael Jan Michael Vincent Liles was their best blueliner.  Man, that’s got to be an encouraging sign for Dive fans, when the guy they’ve ripped all year is their best defenseman.  The Wings learned that if they maintain the intensity while staying smart and composed in their own end, Denver has no recourse.

Unless Forsberg plays and plays well.  I’m not gonna lie.  If he’s healthy this series takes on a dynamic I don’t appreciate.  And, yeah, despite what the Compost and Dater and everyone else says, I’ll bet he’s in there today. 

Wings win this afternoon and I’m calling it.  Done in 5.  Dive win and it’s on.  Dive win and the confidence they allegedly built over the second half of Game 1 makes a difference. 

But those are issues that I don’t see as realistic.  For once, the first time this playoff season, I have to think Uncle Mike will be able to convince this team that sixty minutes of consistency is a must.  It’s skate on the throat time and Babcock has to prove that he can motivate this team to press down. 

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!