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Abel to Yzerman

It’s the Fifteen Days Before The Playoffs Start Live Blog

by IwoCPO on 03/25/08 at 08:30 PM ET
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Nothing says live blog like a game in St. Louis in front of the bitter Blues fans.  Oh yes, they hate them some Wings.

Whoa..I know.  We haven’t done an LB in a while. We’ve forsaken tradition for the ease and comfort of the chat.  But I’m feeling rebellious tonite, so it’s a return (if temporary) to the days of yesteryear.

So away we go Motherfuc***s, it’s Live Blog Tuesday.

2034:  FSN St. Louis just gave us a glimpse of the inside of the Bitter Blue room.  They have a mini rink in there, like four feet by eight feet, like something I had in my bedroom when I was 24, errrr, 11.  No wonder they lose so consistently.  Toys in the attic.  Murray treats them like kids anyway.  Check this out. Every practice, whenever Murray blows his whistle, the team has to haul ass over to him.  The last player to get there skates laps.  Literally. Can you see Fat Body Tkachuk skating laps after he finished last in the mini-race to the coach?

2039: Cleary’s first shift and not a bad one.  Almost had an assist on a drop pass to Kronwall, drew a penalty, almost scored on a rebound, and probably didn’t say a coherent word.

2042: Cleary doubleshifted on the powerplay. Three hits already.  Good old Buckets.

2044:  Franzen almost scored again.  Uh oh, Columbus bloggers are now rooting for the Wings. I don’t understand. Worlds are colliding.

2052: Topic of conversation in the A2Y chat room right now is San Jose and how dangerous they could be. Lilja4ever astutely pointed out that Thornton and Marleau will probably—true to tradition—cool off for the playoffs.  I tend to agree because Joe Thornton has proven he has the heart of a gnat.  If he played with half the intensity of Rick Nash (there you go Bethany), he’d be unstoppable.  Nash’s performance over the weekend was the best I’d seen a forward play against the Wings all year.

2055:  Anyone remember the last time a Wing player was down hard with a groin injury that was repeatedly referred to as “abdominal” in nature?  I think it goes without saying, so I’ll say it anyway, that we don’t want to mention Brent Gilchrist and Tomas Holmstrom in the same sentence.  Not that we didn’t like Gilchrist, but man that injury in ‘98 and ‘99 sucked hard.

2101: Woops. Bitter Blues fans are restless already.  Jackman called for unsportsmanlike.  Horrible call. Maybe Denis Savard’s been in their ear.

2107:  Bubba’s up two on the BJs, early second. They sit three back of the Dive with a game in hand.  Most dangerous potential 8 seed could very well be Edmonton though.  And Cleary gets a point. Buckets.

2114:  If I felt like making the effort I’d visit the Blues message boards right now and read a hundred entries about Downey running away from King.  I’m fond of St. Louis fans (not really), but the chances of a coherent debate are slim and none.  And I’m an expert on coherent, objective debate.

2127:  As mentioned above, this whole “abdominal” thing with Homer, rather than a “groin” thing, is worrisome at best.  Now Kulfan’s reporting the organ-I-zation is concerned he may not be ready April 10th.

The Wings are worried that forward Tomas Holmstrom may not be ready for the playoffs.

Holmstrom will have further tests Wednesday to determine the extent of his abdominal injury.

Holmstrom hasn’t played since March 5. He missed his ninth consecutive game Tuesday in St. Louis. He is frustrated and and concerned.

Homer’s value, especially in the playoffs, can’t be overstated.  Last year’s two game absence after Sasquatch’s assault left a gaping hole. But Franzen’s amazing play makes his potential absence not quite as disastrous.  Big difference though, Mule, between the pressure of March and that of April.

2137: ESPN(?) has a poll today asking if Uncle Mike will coach the Wings next season.  84 percent of the 11,118 who have voted so far say he will.  Nice job geniuses.  Let’s vote next on whether I’ll have another beer within the next 19 minutes. 1100 or so votes from Michigan.  9 votes from Mississipi.  Enough ammunition for Little Gary to put a team in Biloxi.

2143: A banner second period for Lilja and it’s still early.  Nice giveway that led to the St. Louis goal than a Swedish Meatball of Suck patented hooking penalty before he lumbered to the box.  Oh, good. The Bitter Blues fans are all over the “Osgooood” chants. 

2151:  Hey. Were you wondering how Blues fans get ready for Wing games?  Yeah, I was too.  Here you go, courtesy of the mental giants at St. Louis Game Time.

Answer Man Says:
March 25th, 2008 at 6:12 pm

Anyone else lifting weights getting ready for the game? God Damn I feel alive.

Dude, I was so frigging close to lifting weights before the game.  I really considered it but decided to shotgun a few warm beers and settle down with a nice block of cheddar instead.

2206: Cleary just walked down the tunnel, a few seconds after they showed him flexing his leg.  Not good.

2217:  Cleary just interviewed on FSN Detroit, no word of why he left the ice early.  Naturally, no questions asked about it either.

2220:  Start of the third and Little Girl Paul Kariya hasn’t scored in 19 games. I love that number, love that stat, love his failure. I may wake up the family just to let them know how happy I am.

2236: I don’t have the FSN Detroit feed (Thanks Gary. Ass. Thanks Verizon you slimey bastard no nut pieces of garbage), but Jeremy just reported in the chat room that Ken and Mick are saying Homer may be out for the season.  Not sure if “the season” means regular season or playoffs or both.  Another phrase apparently used was “prolonged rest”.  A phrase I just used starts with “M”, ends with “R”.

2240:  Ho frigging Hum. Franzen scores following this beautiful phrase, “and Manny takes one off the face.”  Nice.  11 goals in 11 games, 4 of them game winners for the Mule.  Oh!  A two-on-one!  Nevermind, Draper’s involved. 

2247:  Chris Osgood’s been largely untested tonite, but has looked pretty damn nifty.  Kevin Allen said in USA Today this morning that Babcock will feel comfortable with either goalie.  I disagree. I don’t feel comfortable with either goalie.

2253: Two minutes left with a one goal lead and Babcock throws Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Cleary out there.  What a great line.  Best possible line offensively and defensively.  Samuelsson at center ice with an empty net in front of him. Nada.  Shocking.

2258:  So much more gratifying to see the Wings defeat the Bitter Blues in a tight one rather than a blowout.  Drive safely Blues fans.  Stay away from cliffs.

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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: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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