Abel to Yzerman
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Sunday Issues: Draper, Belts, Scumbags And Hossa
by IwoCPO on 06/14/09 at 09:06 AM ET
Comments (321)
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.
“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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Comments
In response to IZb..
(couldn’t embed, for some reason: 
)
And there’s the linesman waving it off, because that kind of icing NEVER gets called. Doesn’t change the fact that Stuart made a terrible turnover and Osgood got beat 5-hole. Just saying.. a clean breakout pass and that never gets talked about again.
Posted by meecrofilm on 06/15/09 at 12:22 AM ET
Has anyone ever seen the fans of a winning team so upset? So irate?
Yeah, I saw it last year, after the Red Wings won. The Chief was whining about Gary Bettman, Sidney Crosby, and the referees then, too. I don’t remember if he was whining about the schedule, though. Maybe not. I couldn’t believe how smug a lot of the 19 were back then. I definitely didn’t think of you as gracious in victory.
Honestly. All this talk about Pens fans being classless, poor winners, etc, it’s all nonsense. Some of them are, some of them aren’t. Just like Detroit fans. All this running commentary going back and forth is absolutely meaningless, because there’s literally no difference between any of the fanbases in the NHL. People are people. Some Pens fans are unbelievable jackasses who joke about Konstantinov or unemployment, and that sucks. An equal amount of Red Wings fans come to the Pensblog and other places and joke about Lemieux’ cancer, or say things like “I hope Sidney Crosby gets cancer”. Some people are jackasses. It sucks, but don’t pretend your team doesn’t have them.
And you’ve gotta realize that all these justifications for your team losing - Gary Bettman’s conspiracy - are just excuses. I know it hurts to lose. I felt pretty bad last year after game six. But the mature thing to do is to acknowledge the defeat, and live with it. Trying to dissemble the situation and find reasons why you really should have won is not the mature thing to do. Actually, I don’t blame you for doing it for a few days. But last year, after winning, this nonsense was getting thrown around all summer and into the next season.
Heck, during this series, after it got tied up at two games apiece, I saw someone here say that if Datsyuk weren’t injured, Pittsburgh would never win the series. And that person promised to forever enshrine this fact on Wikipedia’s article on the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. And this was before Pittsburgh actually won the series. I guess you can go ahead and write that in the Wikipedia article, now. Oh, and while you’re at it, be sure to mention that if Mario Lemieux had been healthy, he would have won 20 cups. 
Anyway, Detroit’s dynasty is not over yet, and Pittsburgh’s dynasty has not started yet. I don’t like those comments either. That’s way premature. Kind of like you guys planning your parade last year after two wins. You have a great team, and I wish everyone in Detroit all the best in these tough times. But man, sometimes you guys make it so damn tough to respect the Red Wings. (And I know some Pens fans make it damn tough to respect the Pens.)
Posted by Ormiss from Sweden on 06/15/09 at 01:14 AM ET
Respect is earned, Ormiss. Try meeting some of these people in person, from both fanbases, and start from there. Don’t assume that you have to respect ANYBODY.
A2Y is like Hotel California. You can log off, but you can never leave.
If that song is really about addiction, then no wonder I’m on here every day. But then, who really knows what it’s about? All I know is that I hate the f*ckin’ Eagles, man!
(And it’s a creepy song, made creepier by Alabama 3’s cover).
I’ll stick with the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest comparisons. We’ve had a lot of fun with that one. Including this gem:
Nurse Ratched: “There are eighteen patients on this ward, Mr. McMurphy, and you have to have a majority to change ward policy. You gentlemen can put your hands down now.”
Eighteen, plus the nurse (I’ll leave it up to you whether that’s Chief or Baroque) makes Nineteen.
That will be one of the first changes I will institute once I carry out my coup d’etat of the commissioner’s office and install myself in the position.
Ooh! Ooh! Can I be First Tiger? And be Vice President In Charge of Liquor? And wear a Napoleon hat?
Regarding Emery V. Avery Cage Rage Ultimate Fighting No Holds Barred Death Fight 5000, while I’d love to be iconoclastic and go against majority opinion, I’m going to have to face the facts and throw my hat in the ring for RAAAAAAY-ZOR RAY EMERY! Not because I think he’s particularly tough, mind you, but because he is batshit-insane and liable to bite off an ear one his mental instability kicks in about thirty seconds into the fight. And in the other corner, the fact is Sean Avery is a goddamn metrosexual who interned for VOGUE MAGAZINE, for Christ’s sake. There is nothing there that makes me want to put money on that horse. Another vote for Emery.
As a small tidbit of serious hockey discussion, I expect to see Willy DeVille up full-time next year. We’re going to want to keep him, but to stash him in the minors again does him a great disservice, especially since he faithfully stuck it out all of last season when he could have gone back to Finland. We’re not going to risk losing him to an offer sheet (9 points in 13 NHL games; there could be some), but he will be due a slight raise, and we’ll need warm bodies to fill out the roster. Additionally, the regular season would be as good a place as any for him to learn on the job, especially if he’s on the fourth line or (if we split up Pasha & Sasha again) on the third line with his countryman Wally.
Here begins another working week.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/15/09 at 02:48 AM ET
“Because, overall, we are still a better team than the Pens. We know it, and their fans know it.
The Pens won a big battle, but the war is still firmly in Detroit’s favor.
Sorry, Pen(i)s fans, but this loss just doesn’t sting that much. The regular season loss to San Jose was much more difficult to take. The blowout loss to Columbus kept me up for days. Not this, not even close. ” -Red Winger
Why? Why oh why do you, overall, have the better team?
Stop talking crap.. for real.. the battle is firmly in detroits favor? How can it be?! The season is over.. penguins won! Thats it… done… over…. you lost… Penguins won. There is no more.
This year pens were the better team. Last year Detroit were the better team.
The stanley cup is what you work for.. what you fight for… what you bleed and sweat for.. its what keeps you awake at night, its what makes you nervous.
And you’r saying the loss is not as hard to take as a regular season game loss to San Jose? Get real, and stop the act. Ofcourse it hurts more than a regular season loss to San Jose!! One goal, 2 goals away from winning the Stanley Cup hurts.. it hurts everyone.. it would’ve hurt EVERY fanbase no matter what! Coming that close hurts and it stings for real. And you say that a regular season game… was more difficult to take… than a 2-1 loss in game 7.. of the stanley cup finals.
No.. thats pretty much it… nothing hurts more than to lose the very last game with 1 goal.. no. so drop the act. Your making yourself as bad as the rotten penguins fan who rubs it in your nose.. and like the capitals fans who simply cant take that pens won the cup. It’s ridicilous.
Good luck next year
Posted by Barrasso from Sweden on 06/15/09 at 07:29 AM ET
Ooh! Ooh! Can I be First Tiger? And be Vice President In Charge of Liquor? And wear a Napoleon hat?
Okay, if you really want. I was going to make you Head of the European Marketing Division, but if you want those titles, sure. The hat might be a little over the top, though.
For as much trouble as the Penguins fans have understanding a pretty simple sentence with a “NO” in it - like “Red Wings fans do NOT believe there is a conspiracy” - I’ve certainly come to one conclusion: never date one of them, since they can’t take no for an answer, no matter how many times they hear it and how many people tell them.
/heavy sigh of exasperation
(And actually, I think Emery is a more stylish dresser than Avery, too. So if it comes down to a fashion face-off, he would still win.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 08:01 AM ET
Posted by Barrasso from Sweden on 06/15/09 at 08:29 AM ET
You’d get it if you’d read a few more posts.
The defeat in the finals was far more disappointing, of course - but it had less of a sting because it was easier to understand that the team ran out of gas at the end of a long season. The odd regular-season defeats were harder to take in the sense that at the time they raised questions about motivation, and those are harder to answer. Losing in the finals the way they did was more understandable.
Posted by Ormiss from Sweden on 06/15/09 at 02:14 AM ET
Please fix your computer so it stops deleting the negatives from every mention of conspiracy, because that isn’t what people have been saying.
And either way, it’s over and done with, so stop beating a dead horse and getting the same *#$%@& stupid arguments going again. It’s repetitive and stupid.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 08:11 AM ET
I wasn’t planning on coming here and saying anything (just wandered over one bored day) but all this whining I see makes me realize you guys need some cheese -_- Any whining about the officiating or bounces clearly missed out on some plays with some conveniently failing eyesight.
Really, the Red Wings have been nothing short of a class organization and the perfect model on how to run a NHL franchise. I’m sorry you can’t go 5/5 over the last decade and a half but FFS get over yourselves. You’re not used to it and I see that now. That or you’re just delusional and try to make up for the Lions’ shortcomings. I dunno.
I know after last year when the Pens lost I was pretty disappointed but making it to the Cup Finals is one hell of a feat itself. I was happy for how far they got, gave the Wings every possible praise I could give, and moved on. I’m sorry your head is too far up your ass to do the same. The fact people are complaining about the hand shake and whatnot shows that. Last year the Pens were on the ice for a while waiting for the Wings to finish their celebration, so whatev.
Have fun wading in your own tears all summer.
Posted by Mitch on 06/15/09 at 08:14 AM ET
so whatev
Your name’s Mitch? Interesting. Men actually say “whatev”?
You have a parade to watch/attend. Enjoy it. It’s time to move on.
Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 06/15/09 at 08:16 AM ET
Jesus, are some of these Pens fans sore winners?
First off, the Pens earned it. Congrats to them, and to their classy fans and players.
No congrats to their trolls that would rather insult Detroit than enjoy their own victory. And no congrats to their “captain” that can’t even do his captain’s duty at the end of the game.
The sad part is, the national media will paint Kris Draper as the *#$%@& for this whole thing.
Perhaps it’s not directly Crosby’s fault. He didn’t name himself captain. But the bottom line is that he IS their captain, and as such, it’s his responsibility to push the cameras aside, gather his teammates, and lead them through one of the greatest traditions in sports history. He failed miserably in that.
All Crosby had to do was, when asked about it, man up, and say, “Yeah, I feel real bad about it, I admit I was caught up in the moment and the interviews and the fun… as a captain it’s my job to not make those mistakes, so I apologize to everyone, especially Nick Lidstrom.”
All he had to do. But as he’s always done, there’s another reason for everything. It wasn’t his fault or Henrik Zetterberg’s prowess that kept him at bay two finals in a row. It was “the bounces” or “luck.” It wasn’t his fault he, as the CAPTAIN, didn’t lead his team to the handshake line in a timely matter… it was the circumstance’s fault and he admits no wrong-doing.
This guy needs to grow up. I wasn’t this immature at 21. My parents taught me manners and humility when I was six goddamn years old. What’s this *#$%@&’s excuse?
And please, spare me the “sour grapes” talk. This has nothing to do with what happened between the whistles. I give the Pens, as hockey players, full marks. They worked WAY harder than Detroit in games six and seven and made the most of the few opportunities either team had. After being manhandled in the first five games, really, the Pens’ role players stepped up big time and left their mark on the final two games. Fleury finally had a solid game at JLA.
So, please understand that I’m not griping about the result of the series. The Pens deserved it, and I truly congratulate them and their fans. They should enjoy it. Take it from us Wings fans. We’ve watched our team take four Cups in 12 years, with six finals appearances in total, along with a few more Western Conference finals appearances. And this loss still hurts as bad as 1995 did, when they hadn’t won a damn thing for decades and decades. So enjoy the summer, your team is really freakin’ good, and most of you are good (non-troll) fans.
Just remember what I’m saying about Crosby here has nothing to do with what happened “on the ice”—there, I have no excuses—the Pens deserved it 110%.
And Malkin, as much of a mouth-breather as he is, is your real captain, as far as I’m concerned. He showed a ton of guts and leadership in those final two games. He doesn’t have the defensive understanding of Datsyuk or Zetterberg, but he worked so damn hard, especially in game seven, it didn’t matter—he was always on the backcheck. Definitely not tired this year! Good on him.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 06/15/09 at 08:19 AM ET
Lidstrom played after he had testicular surgery on May 24th? I’m sorry but that’s just so unbelievable and admirable. I hope I run into him in Vegas on Saturday and congratulate him on a great series, get his autograph and let him know how much respect I have for him. Same goes with Gonchar with the torn MCL. Just amazing.
Posted by Geno71 on 06/15/09 at 08:27 AM ET
Posted by Mitch on 06/15/09 at 09:14 AM ET
Mitch, this obviously isn’t addressed solely to you, but since you’re the latest Pens fan to visit and bitch, you get it. But this is for all of you who feel compelled to come here and post, to set us right in our ways instead of going and out enjoying your team’s impressive victory, commiserating with other fans, and flooding the streets of Pittsburgh on a sunny June day as your heroes parade the Cup. Guys, the dead horse called. He said, “QUIT BEATING ME!”
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/15/09 at 08:29 AM ET
I was going to make you Head of the European Marketing Division
BO-RING. Besides, what kind of a sleazy marketing toad with the morals of a weasel on speed do you take me for? And before you answer that, I’m no manager either. I’m way too misanthropic. So I’ll take the other titles. And I’m keeping the hat, thank you. I like it, and besides, it complements my short stature.
I’d say go ahead and date a Pens fan, but keep the mace handy. After all, if they can’t take ‘no’ for an answer…
(I hadn’t paid much attention to Emery’s sartorial sense, aside from his head—the boxers on his helmet and the doo-rags and Kangols he tends to wear in front of the media. I’m hoping he and Avery don’t just have a Zoolander-style Walk-Off [though I wouldn’t be averse to seeing David Bowie ref it] because, as a hockey fan, I want to see blood.)
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/15/09 at 08:39 AM ET
Posted by Mitch on 06/15/09 at 09:14 AM ET
The dead horse says “*#$%@& off.”
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/09 at 08:41 AM ET
All I know is that I hate the f*ckin’ Eagles, man!
I don’t necessarily hate them, myself. I like a few of their songs, though. Hotel California is one of them. I must say, however, I’m more into the bluesy kind of classic rock. That’s some good stuff right there.
Men actually say “whatev”?
Chief, he must be a metrosexual. That’s the only explanation I can fathom.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 06/15/09 at 09:03 AM ET
A real captain would have sought out TPH in the tunnels to make sure he had the chance to shake his hand. Rosby’s excuse is lame as usual.
Posted by Since71 from Bucharest, Romania on 06/15/09 at 09:05 AM ET
And there’s the linesman waving it off, because that kind of icing NEVER gets called. Doesn’t change the fact that Stuart made a terrible turnover and Osgood got beat 5-hole. Just saying.. a clean breakout pass and that never gets talked about again.
Posted by meecrofilm on 06/15/09 at 01:22 AM ET
IF the icing would have been called then Stuart would never have “HAD TO” make that outlet pass ... yeah he made a mistake which led to a Pens goal BUT the refs screwed up or IMO called it that way on purpose which led to Stuarts mistake…. if the playoffs were called the games correctly all along the out come would have been totally different and we all know it.
Posted by MsRedWingFan from West Michigan on 06/15/09 at 10:06 AM ET
Injuries and officiating.
In the series, Pittsburgh took 28 penalties (61% of total) and Detroit took 18 (39% of total). Over the seven games, the first penalty was given to Detroit in six of seven games, or 86% of the time. Of the first 14 penalties issued (2 per game), Detroit got 9, or 64% of the momentum-robbing penalties, and Pittsburgh took 5, or 36%.
The probability of this is minute. What are the chances that a team that took only 39% of the penalties in a series would take 86% of the first penalties and 64% of the first and second penalties?
Posted by Long Timer from Troy on 06/15/09 at 11:22 AM ET
Draper whining? Shocker! You have a short memory chef. Google “look at my face” and you should find a quote from little Krissy after the Lemieux facial.
Posted by rwhater on 06/15/09 at 11:52 AM ET
Sidney Crosby raising the Cup in Joe Louis Arena will haunt you all for the rest of your natural life.
You can say all you want about being over it already.
You will NEVER get over it.
2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
Posted by Jimmy from Windsor on 06/15/09 at 02:32 PM ET
Funny how the Wings still think the world revolves around them.
Even after they’ve been made irrelevant by a more dominant and better Penguins team.
I think reading the Wings fans comments has become more satisfying than actually winning the Cup.
Maybe Lidstrom and Draper should have had some class and waited for Sid. But they where so ashamed from losing the Cup to him on their home ice that they didn’t want to spend another minute on the ice. They didn’t even salute their own fans for a good season.
Stay classy Detroit.
Ha!Ha!Ha!
Posted by Jimmy from Windsor on 06/15/09 at 02:37 PM ET
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Here you go, a video that must have been made by a Wings fan. It’s almost on the level of “So Cold in the D” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mWW6kRITEY
Posted by TheTaxidermist on 06/15/09 at 12:14 AM ET