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Abel to Yzerman

Sunday Issues: Draper, Belts, Scumbags And Hossa

by IwoCPO on 06/14/09 at 10:06 AM ET
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Interesting.  Can anyone recall a single time Kris Draper’s said anything to the media that could be construed as controversial or critical of another player?  Even after his face was ravaged by one of the more cowardly hits in NHL history, Draper said little to nothing.

Draper, who’s never shirked his responsibilities after Wing losses, who’s never said an ill thing about an opponent, who’s respected league wide…is now just making stuff up. Right?

“Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn’t come over to shake his hand” in the traditional handshake line. He added that, “that’s ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that.”

Pens fans, and we’ll get to them soon, like to point out that Gary’s Baby Boy was being interviewed, distracted, roadblocked from leading his team through the handshake line.  Got it.

Post Gazette

“There’s nobody who respects the traditions of hockey more than Sidney Crosby. It was a young team celebrating its first Cup and some of the guys might have been a little late getting into the handshake line.”

That’s the Pens VP of comms.  “Some of the guys…”  Really?  One of the guys, actually.  The rest of “the guys” were looking behind them, wondering where their “captain” was.

Rosby’s a joke of a captain and we all know it, have known it.  We saw it as neutral observers then became more aware of it during last year’s Final.  We saw him refuse to give Hank Zetterberg credit for stifling him, for his play on the 5-3..but that was after he chased him across the ice squealing at him.  Then we saw the real Crosby after Games 1 and 2 this year, playing the bitch role to perfection again.

Bitter the Wings lost?  Sure.  Bitter that they lost to Maxime Talbot? No. He owns the Wings and I’ll have nightmares about him for months.  To Dan Bylsma? Definitely not.  Hell, when Mike Babcock moves on in five or six years, and he will because that’s the nature of the business, we’ll take Bylsma.  No problem. Michigan boy. Class act.

But Crosby?  If he’s been looking forward to this his entire life, as the Pens organization is now saying, to include Mario Lemieux…if he’s so in tune with the “traditions of hockey”...how does that happen?  How does little Thid the boy captain not get his ass to the front of that line?

Got a couple emails this morning.  Here’s one from a Pens fan and I won’t put the whole thing here….just a few sentences to give you a feel for the tone.

How sweet it really is to shove this right back in your face for being a disrespectful writer whinning about everything possible and being the cockiest fanbase in the NHL. I hope the sight of crosby skating with the cup is printed in your mind forever and i hope you have a HORRIBLE day sobbing and crying over this.

That’s from Kevin, an A2Y fan.  Kevin, instead of celebrating his team’s Stanley Cup, chose to write a heartfelt email to yours truly and whine for four paragraphs about how “disrespected” he felt as a Pens fan that I didn’t give his team the necessary credit for their victory.

Also got an email from the PensBlog guys today, asking where their Blogger’s Championship Belt is. 

There you go boys. Congratulations.

And here’s something else…we’ve received some decent comments from good Pens fans here the last few days, a good number of them in fact.  Good people and good fans who have come here to congratulate the Wings, Wing fans, the organ-I-zation, for a great Final and a great series.  Thanks.

And then there have been many more who said things like this…

“What a joke of a town that is nothing but a pariah to the US. Can we vote to exclude them and their worthless beings from the U.S.. Get a f*cking job and stop asking for handouts and bailouts you f*cking losers.

Posted by Pensssss on 06/13/09 at 03:52 AM ET”

And that’s tame. But it’s one of literally hundreds since the Final began.  Hundreds of comments almost identical to that.

I have exactly zero doubt where that “fan” came from or which blog he’s a product of.  And because I’m certain of that I can say this: I’d be humiliated if any of you had gone over there to say things like that after the Wings won last year.  It would be an embarrassment and an indictment of us all.  The Pens “fans” who have come here spewing that or something like it are the definition of scum.  The very definition of it.

Going after the team and me for the way I write is one thing, and it’s expected.  But to those PensBlog readers who have come here before, during and after the Final to use it as a means to rub Michigan’s economic tragedy in the faces of those who have been devastated….you are despicable.  And if the PensBlog operators are aware of it and not doing something about it, you’re no better and that’s a fact.

But, thankfully, there is humor to be found here.  Humor in the fact that the tone is shifting from the disgusting to the bizarre. In the span of the last fifteen or sixteen hours the Pens “fans” are now coming here to whine that we haven’t given them the necessary “credit.”  One ended their comment with this, “We have a damn good team.”  Awww.  We know you do.  You won the Cup didn’t you?

You could almost hear the sobs.  It’s been less than 48 hours since their team won the Cup and here they are…whining because I haven’t written something like, “the Wings lost to the better team.”  That will never be written here.  Ever.  Not about this series.  Injuries and officiating.  Injuries and officiating.  Those who have been here long enough recognize that and who said it first.

Hossa.  I believe he’s staying because he’s said he’d take less to do so.  He’s a character guy, despite the wire brushing he’s taking here and will all summer.  And he’s completely embarrassed right now.

No. I don’t know how Tick Tock is going to make it happen, but I believe he will.  And I’ll say this, I don’t have to analyze numbers or charts. I don’t have to because I never have. I’m going on gut and if you guys want to crunch numbers go ahead.

I believe Sammy is gone and wouldn’t be surprised if Hudler was too.  I also think Kirk Maltby is gone, bought out if possible.  One way or another Ken Holland is going to keep Marian Hossa in the fold and it’s going to be around 5 million/year for at least 7…if not 7 on the dot.

Holland will keep him because Hossa is a character guy and it will give the Wings a group of forwards unmatched by any team in the league, a mixture of speed, talent, grit and firepower no one can touch. Ken Holland is not going to keep Hudler and Samuelsson if it means re-signing one of the top ten forwards in the world for five million or less/year.

Hossa’s staying.  And he’s going to be a madman next year.  He’s going to be Verlander.

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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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