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Abel to Yzerman

Sponsoring The Jack, Drapes, Howie and Your First Round Matchups

by IwoCPO on 02/22/09 at 10:42 AM ET
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In the midst of our lively discussion yesterday regarding the difference between blogging for cash and blogging for the hell of it…I decided to open up A2Y to sponsorship.  Not the blog itself.  But an aspect of it created by you, the 19. 

That’s right kids.  There’s plenty of room above the tv inside the Jackatoreum for sponsorship and we’re gonna fill that bitch up.

See all the wall space?

Now. We can’t accept any old sponsor.  Oh no.  There has to be a clause, like one of those moral terpitude deals.  In other words, any company who wishes to sponsor the Jack must represent a level of juveniliciousness acceptable to all of us.  Got it?  So, for instance, Rand McNally isn’t gonna cut it.

Schaefer beer, with a slogan of “It’s The One Beer To Have When You’re Having More Than One”?  Now that would fit nicely, eh?

And because I’m the proprietor of this little home of ours, I’ve gone ahead and taken the first step.  I opened up the freezer this morning, saw this product and knew immediately that it had Jackatoreum written all over it.

Ready? I know you are.  Tell me this frozen treat isn’t a perfect product for anyone lucky enough to find themselves inside the Jack with some of our favorite people.

I’ll leave it up to one of you graphical geniuses to figure out how to get Gogurt, “The Jackatoreum’s Official Frozen Treat”, appropriately placed where it belongs.

And that’s the kind of stuff I concentrate on following losses like last night’s. 

That’s the kind of stuff I think about instead of why the hell Kris Draper was a healthy scratch last night.  Tomas Kopecky scoring the day his son was born?  Cool story. I dig it.  And I guess his performance last night proves a few points that the kid deserves to be in there.  But, I’m wondering something.  Does Draper’s scratch mean he’s part of this fourth line “rotation” thing Uncle Mike’s got going on?

I’m sure that was on the minds of the Deep Diggers last night, right?  I mean, this isn’t Maltby here. This is Kris Draper we’re talking about and he was a healthy scratch.  I’m sure Ansar and Helene and Dave were just chomping at the bit to get at this late breaker.
Khan(!)

The Red Wings’ fourth line gave them some energy earlier in the period. The unit—playing without Kris Draper, a healthy scratch for the first time this season—was rewarded for its work when Kopecky stripped the puck from Brent Burns in the crease and banged it in to trim Minnesota’s lead to 2-1.

And that?  That was it.  Literally the only mention.  Am I wrong on this that maybe a question was warranted? 

Look. The Wings still won 61 percent of their faceoffs last night, thanks largely to Hank Zetterberg’s sick 17-3 mark.  And I’m not even doubting Babcock’s decision to scratch Draper.  My issue, as usual, is with the Diggers electing not to ask a single question about it.  Even now, after years of this, their ineptitude continues to surprise me.

More.  Yeah. They sucked last night. Every facet.  The best lines were the third and fourth.  The top two lines?  Sucked.  I saw nothing from Hossa, nothing from Datsyuk or even Zetterberg.  Franzen was invisible and so was Cleary.  Hossa had five shots on goal and I can’t remember one of them. 

And Jimmy Howard?  Before we get to him, let’s set something straight.  Nobody claimed he was earmarked as the Wing savior this year.  Nobody has said that.  If anything, conversation the last few weeks—especially the last two days—has centered around whether Conklin is capable of doing this when it counts and whether Osgood has any chance at all of regaining the form of last year.

Howard?  He’s a project for next season.  And, to be truthful, he didn’t help himself last night. Did his performance rule out a career in Detroit?  No. But you have to think the organ-I-zation was really looking for the kid to seize this opportunity, instead of seizing up.  Know what I mean?

And now that Howard’s been given a chance, will Larsson be far behind?  Who knows.  We do know, thanks to Matt Saler, that Howard’s stay was short-lived.

George Malik reports that the FS Detroit crew said Jimmy Howard was returning to Grand Rapids after the game, something Ansar Khan first reported Friday. The AHL transaction wire confirms the move. He’s expected to play this afternoon for the Griffins, relieving Daniel Larsson, who’s played the last two games sick in Howard’s absence.

Expect Larsson to get the call this week, as Chris Osgood’s 10-day hiatus continues. Howard could be brought back, but it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to shuttle him back and forth like that, so it seems to me that a Larsson recall is the next step.

And what of Wednesday? Hmmm?  Who do you start?  Are the ten days up?  And speaking of which…is Osgood literally away from the team for ten days, or is he just not playing?  Is he working out privately with Jim Bedard—a guy, by the way, who does exactly what?  I know what a goaltending coach is supposed to be doing.  But…whatever.  I’m out of my league on that one.  I’m sure he’s great.

Hey. Got an idea.  Let’s fast forward 22 games and see who we’d be playing if, you know, the playoffs started today.  Ready? Awesome. Here we go.

Dallas.  You comfortable with that right now?  Morrow will probably be healthy by then.  Liking that as a first-rounder?  Neither am I. Who would I prefer right now?

Columbus?  Mason’s a freak, but he’s a rookie freak and they’ve never tasted the bitter bile of playoff pressure.  Instead of Dallas? Yep.

Edmonton?  Yes please. 

Anaheim?  Hell yes.  Hell yes.  Would love to see them in the first round and see the Wings end their season and end this myth that they are on any kind of par with Detroit.  One Cup that should have been ours, a Sasquatch who’s ready to jump ship and a captain who’s wishing he never came back at all.

Vancouver?  Not particularly fond of that matchup. Luongo makes me sad. Just the idea of what he’s capable of doing to me, emotionally, is kinda scary.

Minnesota?  Yep. I’ll take them too. Last night?  Throw it away.  No chance that team stifles Datsyuk, Hossa and Zetterberg like that again, not consistently anyway.  Oh, and if Conklin had started?  I’m betting that with the Conk whipped out we get at least one point out of it.

Okie Dokie.  Caps and Gary’s Baby Boy at 1230 on NBC. I might even break my own personal vow to never watch any game that doesn’t involve the Wings (that one’s for you Gramps).

Grab a Gogurt and enjoy your Sunday.

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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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