Enjoy the game. I’ll be watching CBC.

Posted by jeffreyonfire from Edmonton, AB on 05/20/08 at 04:48 PM ET

I’m insanely jealous.

I’ll be in the Detroit area too. At least I’ll get to watch on CBC rather than Versus....

Posted by Matt Saler from Grand Rapids, MI on 05/20/08 at 05:13 PM ET

Oh baby, the Finals! I’ll be at games 5/7* and maaaybe 4/6. Can’t...friggin...wait.

Posted by DMac from Phoenix on 05/20/08 at 05:27 PM ET

THN picked the Pens in six; their reasoning? Crosby hasn’t scored enough goals in the postseason and he must be due.  Considering he’ll see more of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Rafalski, and Lidstrom than he’ll see of Evgeni “Count Chocula” Malkin, I have to disagree. 

How the hell do the President’s Trophy winners get to be the underdog in three straight series according to a supposedly reputable hockey publication?

Posted by J.J. from kansas on 05/20/08 at 05:52 PM ET

Lucky Bastard!!  Enjoy the game, which I am sure you will—considering the Wings will take the 1st two at the Joe!!

I thought the sam thing JJ.  Especially considering the only “EDGE” given the PENS were the intangibles.

Another thing I remain completely bumfuzzled about is the “Scoring prowess” of Malkin and Crosby.  Sure they’ve got points, but Zetterberg and Datsyuk have equally as many—but when you take into account their respective plus/minus it isn’t even close.

Two equally scoring sets of forwards, but the Wings have two Selke candidates, how can that not be advantaqe DET?

If it hasn’t happened already, it will; MSM will be fellating all over the PENS.  Those boys better watch out when D.C. gets into town.

Helps keep expecations off of DET for everyone but the “19”!!

Have a terrific time Chief!!

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Netherworld on 05/20/08 at 06:15 PM ET

Hey, what’s with Chelios ... is he comin back or is Lilly gonna take over?

Posted by dubs on 05/20/08 at 06:20 PM ET

when you take into account their respective plus/minus it isn’t even close.

you must go read Pensblog. 

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?postID=9086905171683552358&blogID=4466372123278213738&isPopup=false&page=1

I got them seriously riled up over +/- today.

their final verdict - Zetterberg and Datsyuk’s +/- is higher because of shorthanded goals.  oh, and Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa’s are lower because other people on the team contribute to the scoring (which doesn’t even make any sense).

I just couldn’t get them to grasp that five players within 2 points of each other but a 10 point +/- difference means something.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 05/20/08 at 06:51 PM ET

You suck Chief.  I mean that… you suck.  If anyone is going to see game 1 it should be me.  I don’t know why, but that seems fair.  Drink a beer for each of the a2y 19, eh.

So what’s up with the Mule?  Is he going to be back?  Is he even practicing yet, I know he was cleared to ride the bike, but the diggers haven’t had anything since then.

ITDeuce

Posted by ITDeuce from Michigan on 05/20/08 at 06:51 PM ET

there was an article in the News about how Holland is tired of answering the questions, and the reporters are tired of asking it.  seems there’s nothing new to tell, or they ain’t tellin’.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 05/20/08 at 07:03 PM ET

Mr. Kukla,

I read your NHL blog and found the prophetic claim: Detroit fans cheer for their team and are above degrading the opposition. Detroit fans know their hockey and respect the game too much to do that. Besides, Sidney Crosby reminds us of a young Steve Yzerman. Yet looking above I find Sidney as the poster boy for feminine hygiene.  I would submit that there are still Detroit fans willing to wallow with the rest of us here in the gutter. 

I am a Ranger season ticket holder for the past 31 seasons and take offense at your ridiculous claim that those of us who know hockey cannot express our outrage at a league that deifies their young talent regardless of their on ice demeanor.  I have chanted with my fellow MSG’s and even held up a placard or two; it is simply a way to have our feelings known.  I would also be quick to remind you that the antics of the Detroit fans consistently cross into realms that may offend even a purist as yourself.  If you do not think this to be the case, I suggest you step away from the terminal, put down the burrito and walk the isles at the Joe.

Your laments not only appear self aggrandizing but somewhat disingenuous.  Judging from your photograph and your limited acumen I would venture to say that a Renaissance fancy boy you ain’t.  Please do not claim to speak for all NHL fans or cast blanket aspersions either. Frankly sir, you do not have the ammunition.

Posted by CJ on 05/20/08 at 07:44 PM ET

Enjoy the game ya bastard. I’ll be watching the international broadcast. Just be sure you leave us with a live blog for the banter and name calling.

Good work on the images folks. I got a couple ideas I might be able to add. We’ll see what I can find.

Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 05/20/08 at 07:47 PM ET

Your laments not only appear self aggrandizing but somewhat disingenuous.

A blogger crying about something to toot his own horn, but doing so in an insincere manner?  Congratulations CJ, you’ve managed to say precisely nothing in a very fancy manner.  You’ve laid before the A2Y 19 the literary equivalent of putting ketchup on filet mignon.  While I appreciate your near flawless grammar (self-aggrandizing should be hyphenated), I think you’d be better served using three and four-letter words to put together sentences that actually have meaning in context. 

Please do not claim to speak for all NHL fans or cast blanket aspersions either. Frankly sir, you do not have the ammunition

Metaphors are like pronouns, they need antecedents to make sense.  Holy shit, I just used a simile to talk about metaphors… I just blew my own mind.

Posted by J.J. from kansas on 05/20/08 at 08:07 PM ET

Congratulations CJ, you’ve managed to say precisely nothing in a very fancy manner.

And CJ, A2Y isn’t Paul’s blog. Paul was, I assume, referring to adult Wings fans. We’re much to juvenile to fit that description.

Posted by wingsfanindenver on 05/20/08 at 08:27 PM ET

Chief - I am so insanely jealous!  Congrats on getting the Game 1 tix!  I’ll be cheering the boys on from way too far away.

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 05/20/08 at 08:29 PM ET

I know I posted this before, but maybe it will make CJ feel better. It presents Old Golden Pucks in a flattering light....

Posted by SharkBaiter from hiding from the sun on 05/20/08 at 08:38 PM ET

Be nice to CJ.

He looks to have gotten a bit lost in the tubes of the internetweb thingy. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/20/08 at 08:49 PM ET

JJ from Kansas, well shut my mouth and call me corn pone.  I realize that you have taken great pains to dissect my post and appreciate your time and consideration.  You are correct of course that self-aggrandizing should be hyphenated, although I cannot fathom why you would not give me a mulligan for such a small oversight.  Also, the whole simile/ metaphor occurrence would have you reaching somewhat.

My contention still remains and believe my sentences did make sense, albeit on a post that Mr. Kukla may not have originally written on.  The author in his NHL blog basically stated that all of us who root voraciously for our team and at time disparage the other are common gutter snipes and display a fundamental lack of hockey knowledge.  I would claim that many of us just like to call out the other team for plays and consistent acts and actions we find beneath the NHL.  There!  I did that without circumlocution didn’t (sorry about the contraction) I J.J?

Shark Baiter, I do love the sign and wonder why more of you do not find the antics of Cindy and his crew more offensive.  I am a long time Ranger season ticket holder and can fully admit the Rangers were beaten by a superior club, however, the diving, complaining and slew foot by Malkin all crystallizes this snotty team and it’s prevailing attitude among the NHL.  I hope your Wings can steamroll these Pens. 

Good luck.

Posted by CJ from California on 05/20/08 at 08:54 PM ET

Judging from your photograph and your limited acumen I would venture to say that a Renaissance fancy boy you ain’t.

Whoa dude. WTF are you doing insulting the Godfather?

Judging by the fact that you failed to realize you are now on a separate, but connected through intertube magic, blog I would venture to say that you are only offended by the douche box because there isn’t more Crosby flesh for you.

Why don’t you post a picture of yourself up and let others judge what your “acumen” might be? Or, even better, how about starting a blog and making it highly respected enough to earn full media credentials, from the NHL, not a single team?

Do that, then talk C**** J(avelin).

The above was edited by Paul.  Pleae watch the language, thanks.

Posted by Osrt on 05/20/08 at 08:59 PM ET

Detroit fans cheer for their team and are above degrading the opposition. Detroit fans know their hockey and respect the game too much to do that. Besides, Sidney Crosby reminds us of a young Steve Yzerman.

Paul Kukla did write that on his NHL blog. I suppose on could read it as an subtle jab at other fans, or you could read it in the context of his ‘welcoming people to Detroit,’ which you well know doesn’t enjoy a great reputation. Paul is a consummate professional, unlike us here at A2Y, and too genuine to take subtle jabs.

Thanks for the heads up about the Pens’ antics; we’re already anticipating atrocious refereeing.

Btw: Until Crosby STFU and plays, he will never remind me of Stevie.

Posted by Osrt on 05/20/08 at 09:05 PM ET

Full media credentials from the NHL!  Whoa! I had no idea he was that important.  Can you simply petition and claim you are a couch potato spending every waking minute on the terminal and have Bettman lick his lips in free publicity mode?

Please son, some of us are employed and can barely manage to run to the Garden after work to catch Ranger games.  Sitting and running a blog is not that appealing to me; although random postings are!  Good night.

Posted by CJ on 05/20/08 at 09:08 PM ET

CJ, I think you made a valid point, but I still contend that using the sentence “Your laments not only appear self aggrandizing but somewhat disingenuous” is over-inflated at best and purple prose at worst.  Tell me honestly CJ, which blogs do you frequent in which the author successfully manages to avoid using verbiage which could be construed as self-aggrandizing? 

I apologize for taking the grammar shot; hyphens are overrated anyway.

Posted by J.J. from kansas on 05/20/08 at 09:22 PM ET

Is that the best you guys can do? That Crosby photoshop doesn’t even make sense. At least the ones at the Pensblog are mostly funny and clever.

BTW, what was that about Zetterberg and Datsyuk having as many points as Sid and Geno? Last I checked they played in more games this postseason than the Pens did. (Not alot more, but more nonetheless) So basically, your two best offensive players are slightly inferior to our best offensive players in terms of offensive production, and we have more secondary scoring than you.

You better hope those great +/- numbers can somehow keep the Pens consistently under 20 shots, because we also have the advantage in goalies, IMO. I hope Christina doesn’t dive every time she’s touched in this series. Guess those chest protectors are designed to stop 100 mph slapshots, but not relatively slow moving slashes from players you’ve just butt-ended, eh?

Posted by George from Pittsburgh on 05/20/08 at 09:46 PM ET

CJ,

“A league that deifies their young talent regardless of their on ice demeanor.”

A slap at Crosby, I presume? 

Perhaps you didn’t notice your own captain barking at the officials and flailing about looking for a call every time he got hit, stick-checked or otherwise roughed up by a Penguins player.  Perhaps you were out at the concession stand at MSG when Crosby got hauled down by Fedor Tyutin and Jagr decided to practically chase Crosby to the bench, telling him to stay on his feet (a little tough to stay upright when Tyutin had his free arm across Crosby’s chest pulling backwards...which is, in fact, a textbook holding call).

Perhaps you missed the equally pathetic displays by the likes of Mike Richards, Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell and some of the other Flyers, who apparently took a page from the Book of Jagr and reacted mostly the same way whenever they felt a call from the officials did not go their way.

I won’t deny that Crosby embellishes calls from time to time.  Every star player does, even the good guys like Yzerman and Sakic.  Even Gretkzy himself used to buy his share of calls. 

Are you still sore at the way the Pens-Rangers series turned out?  Still blaming the refs or the league?

Maybe that has less to do with officiating and more to do with Tom Renney forcing a system that is completely ill-suited for the personnel at his disposal.  He has a team full of mobile defensemen and a group of forwards who are built for a more open game.  Yet he did the same thing when he coached in Vancouver - forced a team that had speed and skill to burn into a left-wing lock system that stifled creativity and puck-movement, shortened the ice and forced offensive players who thrived on speed and open ice into defensive roles.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Vezina Trophy finalist Henrik Lundqvist was beaten for fifteen goals in five games by the Penguins.  In fact, he gave up five goals in a game twice.

Nahhhhhh, couldn’t be that.  It’s just much, much easier and more convenient to drink the Kool-Aid and subscribe to some crackpot conspiracy theory.

Posted by Stoosh on 05/20/08 at 09:49 PM ET

Just steppng in for a moment regarding CJ.

Seems he has had trouble finding the correct blog to post under and he still hasn’t found the right one.

I have suggestd to him that he email me if he wants to discuss this matter in detail.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 05/20/08 at 09:59 PM ET

Full media credentials from the NHL!  Whoa! I had no idea he was that important.  Can you simply petition and claim you are a couch potato spending every waking minute on the terminal and have Bettman lick his lips in free publicity mode?

1) You either don’t know or don’t care about what getting media credentials means to the community of bloggers and journalists. Among many other benefits, the potential for decent and interesting coverage for fans is exponentially increased. Also, Full time bloggers are essentially running a small business; how that makes them couch potatoes, or by implication lazy and without real lives, is beyond me.

2) No, Gary (Ass) is not interested in free publicity. Note the deal with Versus for proof. As far as I know, no real bloggers are allowed into the media section of games; some teams (the Capitals for one) make exception but it remains rare.

3) Look old man, you picked on Paul’s photo as part the argument. That’s not even a low blow, it’s just flamboyant jack assery.

Posted by Osrt on 05/20/08 at 10:01 PM ET

can’t wait to see what Chelios can do in this series ... !!!! is the rented mule coming back/?

here’s a great clip of St. Yzerman getting jacked up like the little girl he was

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOI3mwK5YLw

Posted by I earned my red wings! on 05/20/08 at 10:11 PM ET

By the way, since I see the “Anti-Pens Talking Points” memo has been passed around, let’s dispose of the “Pens Tanked For Five Years” myth with some facts, shall we?

2001-02 - Coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, they traded Jagr prior to the season to keep the Kovalev-Lang-Straka core together for another season or two.  This would’ve been Lemieux’s first full season since coming out of retirement.  The team was expected to be a playoff contender.

Unfortunately, Lemieux injured his hip in an exhibition game in the preseason and wound up playing in only 24 games.  Martin Straka suffered a couple of serious injuries and played only 13 games.  Robert Lang missed 20 games and Alexei Kovalev missed 15.  Those were the top four returning scorers from the 2000-01 team.

Despite this, the team managed to tread water and remain within shot of a playoff spot through early February.  A March collapse finished them off.

2002-03 - Lang bolted for Washington and Kasparaitis was traded.  Kovalev and Straka remained along with a healthy Lemieux.  Again, the team treaded water and remained in playoff contention until mid-Feb. when Kovalev was dealt and the team went on a month-long winless streak.

2003-04 - Roster was gutted in advance of the pending lockout.  With lockout on the horizon and the arena issue rearing its head, the team was very forthcoming with the fans about this being step one of a plan to make the franchise solvent for the post-lockout NHL.

*Team’s budget for each of these three seasons was set by the bankruptcy court as well.  Team kinda had to do what the bankruptcy court said with regards to the budget.*

2004-05 - lockout; and we were lucky to get Crosby.  Anaheim as a market made more sense, so please...enough with those conspiracy theories.

2005-06 - Coming out of the lockout, the Pens spent money on several free agents (Gonchar, Recchi, Palffy, Leclair) along with addition of Crosby and return of Lemieux.  Unfortunately, Craig Patrick added veterans who were too slow for the new rules and didn’t establish any real on-ice chemistry.  Ed Olczyk had no semblance of a system and the team struggled right out of the gate.  Olczyk was fired 30 games into the season.

Now, about those conspiracy theories…

Posted by Stoosh on 05/20/08 at 10:12 PM ET

let’s dispose of the “Pens Tanked For Five Years” myth with some facts, shall we?

how do those facts equate to “the Pens didn’t tank for five years”?

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 05/20/08 at 10:34 PM ET

You hold down the Joe for Game 1, Chief, I’ll hold it down for Game 5.  Douche Canoe won’t be there so no chance to try and win those tickets for yourself.

Posted by VooX on 05/20/08 at 11:02 PM ET

Paulinmiamibeach can you read?

Posted by paulindaytonabeach on 05/20/08 at 11:09 PM ET

i missed that memo, does anyone have an extra i could borrow

Posted by scheisskopf on 05/20/08 at 11:25 PM ET

Paulinmiamibeach can you read?

I read just fine.  He said he was going to dispel the myth, then he just went ahead with a few paragraphs that explained why it’s true.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 05/20/08 at 11:28 PM ET

Voox, the Canoe will be there.  He’ll be doing his Canoe-ery during 3-7 in between benches, but he’ll be doing TSN’s studio for 1-2 at least.

Posted by Steve from New Jersey on 05/21/08 at 12:17 AM ET

more convenient to drink the Kool-Aid

Oh goody, another troll using terms like ‘Kool-Aid.’ Why don’t you just throw in terms like ‘impartial analysis’ and ‘idiot’ and we’ll be all set.

Always was more a whiskey man myself.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from the Crystal Light iced tea mix factory on 05/21/08 at 05:46 AM ET

Don’t forget “spreadsheet.”

To be fair, though, the term tanking implies intent, and there is a difference between being intentionally bad with the goal of cashing in on high draft picks and just being a crappy team and cashing in on high draft picks.

A team can be sucky not on purpose. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/21/08 at 06:08 AM ET

Everybody knows Pittsburgh and New Jersey both tanked and threw games to get a better chance of drafting Mario Lemieux. It worked for the Pens then, and I wouldn’t put it past the Penguins to have tanked on purpose during this decade as well. After all, during some years they just sucked so much, what was the point of winning those final games at the end of the season?

Posted by Justin on 05/21/08 at 06:29 AM ET

They might have, but it isn’t as cut and dried as during the pre-Lemieux years.  I’m just giving them the benefit of the doubt with respect to lousiness.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/21/08 at 07:42 AM ET

Paulinmiamibeach,

It’s a FACT that the Pens lost 164 man-games to injuries to their four top returning scorers in 2001-02.  Most teams that deal with those kind of injuries to top personnel are seldom ever accused of tanking.

It’s a FACT that in both 2001-02 and 2002-03, the Pens still had an outside shot at the playoffs through mid-February.  Most teams that maintain an outside shot at the playoffs through the first 3/4 of a season are seldom accused of tanking.

It’s a FACT that there was no season in 2004-05, so it’s kind of hard to tank a season that didn’t exist.  And Crosby was a crapshoot.  There was a 94% chance they WOULDN’T get him; as I said above, we got lucky.

It’s a FACT that once the lockout ended, the Pens were one of the league’s bigger spenders prior to the 2005-06 season.  They doled out contracts to Gonchar, Recchi, Leclair, Palffy and Thibault.  They spent money to try to make their team better.  Teams that spend money to bring in bigger-name free agents to try to improve their teram are seldom ever accused of tanking.

Like Baroque said, there’s a huge difference between being a bad team and tanking.  Pens fans have had to listen to nothing but accusations from fans of other teams that the only reason the Pens are good is because the team tanked for five straight seasons.

The notion that they tanked for four or five seasons is a myth.

They were a bad team for four seasons.  It could be argued that they only really tanked one - in 2003-04 - and even in that season, their finances were still under the control of the bankruptcy court.

Posted by Stoosh on 05/21/08 at 08:02 AM ET

AndrewFromAnnArbor,

Troll?  While I agree that what I wrote was tilted in support of the Pens, I’d hardly say what I wrote was considered trolling.  Trolling would generally constitute me coming here and saying, say, something about Zetterberg’s sexual preference.  Instead, I bring up some very valid discussion points that are all hockey-based and I get accused of being a troll.

Whatever.

I’m not here to stir up trouble or slam the Wings.  I’ve always had a lot of respect for the Wings and their fans.  Every Wings fan I’ve ever encountered at Mellon Arena has been nothing but polite and knowledgable.  I sat behind a whole row of Wings fans about ten years ago and they were far and away the best group of opposing fans I’ve ever encountered at any sporting event - very knowledgable and they wanted to hear as much about the Pens as they wanted to talk to us about the Wings.

I simply came here to get some perspective from the other side of this matchup.  If that makes me a troll, so be it.

Posted by Stoosh on 05/21/08 at 08:08 AM ET

Let’s not let facts get in the way of a good arguement now!
Put down the Funk & Wagnall’s. The junvenilacity (yes, a word not found in Funk n Wagnalls and purely made up for the shits of it) of the imagery is now lost.

Chief,
You’re a lucky man indeed. Seeing a SCPO Final is on the list of things to do “someday”.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 05/21/08 at 08:45 AM ET

Whoa there Stoosh, take it easy for a second.  You seem a reasonable, well-spoken fellow who brings up some very valid and eminently persuasive points.  That is a cut above your average troll, and is already a point in your favor.  Nevertheless, you’ve come to a Red Wings blog to argue (logically and reasonably, but still argue) points with people who don’t really care.  And you’ll most likely be gone a couple of weeks after the end of the playoffs.  I doubt you plan on sticking around here indefinitely.  So you’re a black-robed missionary loudly preaching the gospel of (Sidney) Christ, and we’re the unimpressed natives with bones in our noses waiting for the cannibal cauldron to warm up.  In my book, that makes you a troll.  You’re not making asinine comments about implied homosexuality or crude value judgments on players, but you still come here and talk antagonistic views to the majority of those held here.  Mere semantics, and perhaps you have a different definition, but I still see you as a troll.

I’d be happy to run into you on neutral ground and have a few glasses of whiskey and talk hockey until the bottom of the bottle is reached, and I have no doubt that you’d be a pretty interesting person for that.  But here, you’re a Pens fan on our playground.  Don’t act like this is an impartial forum for the free and open exchange of hockey knowledge and debate, because it’s not.  It’s a Red Wings forum, and you’ll catch hell being here, just as our boys get trash-talk shot at ‘em on Pensblog.

Fair’s fair.  Stick around if you want, but trolling is trolling.

Regardless of that, I think we can agree on and be glad of one thing-- at the end of the Finals, the Cup is going to either one of two great hockey cities.  Not to mention a place where it actually SNOWS and FREEZES.  After the last three seasons, the Cup doesn’t have a suntan-- it’s got freaking melanoma.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from a very sunny day, cowering from the sun on 05/21/08 at 09:45 AM ET

Andrew,

Very cool.  Very good points all around, and I certainly appreciate your honesty and candor.  Consider them all noted and I should’ve been more mindful of my surroundings.

“So you’re a black-robed missionary loudly preaching the gospel of (Sidney) Christ, and we’re the unimpressed natives with bones in our noses waiting for the cannibal cauldron to warm up.”

I’ve never quite heard it put like that and I have to say, that’s awesome!

I know I get kind of hyperdefensive when it comes to the stuff I wrote about earlier, and most Pens fans do.  It’s become almost a conditioned response on my part, and it’s something that Pens fans like myself almost have to learn to accept.  We’re still learning to deal with this kind of stuff to some degree.  Many of us want the rest of the league to appreciate Crosby the same way we do, but it’ll never happen because it’s just competitive nature.  Crosby will always be viewed as a diver/crybaby/whiner by opposing fans and I’d probably view him the same way if he played for another team.

To go forward with your last point, as a hockey fan, I’m thrilled to death with this ending the way it did.  Whoever wins the Cup in this series will have certainly earned it.  These are very much the two best teams in the league playing hockey the way it should be played, and the game as a whole will be better because of matchups like this.

Again, I appreciate your honesty and your candor above.

Posted by Stoosh on 05/21/08 at 11:32 AM ET

Trolling would generally constitute me coming here and saying, say, something about Zetterberg’s sexual preference.

If you did that, they’d race to see who could post pictures of his girlfriend first in an attempt to prove you wrong!

It isn’t all Crosby’s fault - the league has been hyping him relentlessly for what seems like decades, and even the MSM calls him “the hope of the league” and “the star who will make hockey relevant” so anyone used to having their own team’s tremendous players ignored gets ticked off just a bit.  He’s an excellent player, but he’s boring in interviews, excessively coached (in a dealing-with-the-public sense) and I don’t think he’s all that charismatic - at least not when compared to Ovechkin - yet the MSM fawns over him all the time.

In my case, I resent having Crosby-Crosby-Crosby shoved in my face as though I’m such a knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing troglodyte that I haven’t the capacity to recognize a good hockey player when I see one without his being annointed by the league talking heads…

...and without acknowledging that I just might prefer another player for my own reasons.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/21/08 at 11:59 AM ET

Troglodyte.... good word, you get a gold star for the day.
I regards to Sid, Geno, AO and company. I watched A TON of their games this year, as a Wings fan I will say they are fun as hell to watch. Plain n simple. AO is a freaking mad man and he alone can makes the Caps worth tuning in to. They are all damn good players.
Living in Kansas City, I won’t hide the fact I was all but hoping for the Pens to head this way when the relocation status was unknown. If nothing else to have an NHL team in town and a talented one at that.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 05/21/08 at 01:12 PM ET

Baroque - excellent points.  Heck yes, I would be preaching the gospel of Crosby if he was on my team.  He has a lot placed on his shoulders (saving the league) and he does handle it with grace and he is an amazing player on the ice.  It is the relentless marketing of Crosby and having him shoved down our collective throats that makes me dislike him.  Yes, he whines too much to the refs.  This is the same issue that I had with Peter Forsberg.  If you are going to dish it out, you have to take it.  Granted, I don’t think Crosby plays as close to the edge as Forsberg.  Also, I think the Pens get away with some things because they are the “team” right now.  I really didn’t like their behavior at the end of one of the games against the Rangers were Malkin was slew footing people and Sid threw some dirty hits.  If that had been the Flyers, the media would have been all over it but it was the Penguins so they get a pass.

I’m not denying the Pens are talented and if Dallas had won (shudder) I would have pulled for them because I will never, ever cheer for the Stars.  But give me Ovechkin over Crosby any day.

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 05/21/08 at 01:43 PM ET

Hi all. 1st time post after reading this most excellent blog for the past year or so. You all seem like a wonderful family that only other family members can love with all of our little Michigan quirks and game rituals. Don’t try to sell us your gospel to Crosby. We aint converting!! Hell, when Gretzky played in the Joe he was booed mercilessly every time he touched the puck. Stoosh, you must feel guilty about getting all those high draft picks because you brought up the subject first. You getting the number 1 pick in the Crosby derby stinks like a next morning limbuger sandwich and blatz beer fart. Amazing that out of all the teams in that lottery, Pittsburgh won. GO WINGS

Posted by rndave from greenville,sc on 05/21/08 at 02:43 PM ET

Baroque, I see where you’re coming from in terms of resenting the constant “Crosby Crosby Crosby” stuff being shoved down your throat. I guess it’s kind of like the constant “Tom Brady Tom Brady Tom Brady” crap in the NFL. But in the case of Crosby, I think it’s because he is viewed as the “savior” of the NHL, and thus is marketed aggressively to try to attract more fans, whereas with my example of Brady, the NFL doesn’t really need to reach out to more fans in the US. So I guess it’s just an unfortunate byproduct of the state of the NHL that in an effort to interest new/casual fans, they end up irritating the hardcore fans. I agree that the NHL should market more of it’s stars, not just Crosby and Ovechkin. But at the same time, I would hope that dedicated fans like you wouldn’t let the NHL’s attempts to increase it’s popularity color your opinion of a player like Crosby.

Posted by George from Pittsburgh on 05/21/08 at 02:56 PM ET

I’m a little late here, but I kind of see the NHL Crosby marketing machine in the same way as pretty much every ad I ever see: I ignore it.  Does it irk me somewhat?  Yes, because I think the NHL is going about marketing itself in completely the wrong way.  But hell, if that was the only fiasco Bettman was overseeing, we’d be in good shape.  The thing is, those who let the Crosby hype bother them excessively have ‘bought into’ that hype almost as much as those who really do think he’s the Second Coming of Gretzky.  Marketing is one of the great swindles of the world, and if you let it work on you, rather than ignore it, you’re as big a fool as those who spend the money creating it.

By the way, Stoosh, I know many Pens fans are hyperdefensive-- quite frankly, I can’t blame you for it, and would be the same if I were a Pens fan.  The need to show that, despite the idiotic hype, your team actually does have many very good players will do that to you.  If the players were allowed to showcase their game, let their skills speak for themselves, instead of the league fellating them at every opportunity, then there would be less irritation of rival fanbases and hence less of a need for you to go on the defensive and demonstrate that in fact, these are some of the top players in the league.  Say it with me now: Thanks Gary...Ass.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from the ad agency with a gas can and a matchbook on 05/22/08 at 04:11 AM ET