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Implosion By Christmas?
by IwoCPO on 11/09/06 at 10:59 AM ET
Comments (11)
By Bill Houlihan
So, I guess if your team is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, playing the league’s most stifling defense and leading their division, strife in the room is sure to follow.
No? Yeah, I find it a bit hard to imagine myself.
But, hey, that hasn’t stopped Andy Strickland (a self-ackowledged “expert on all things Blues”) from claiming today that trouble’s on the horizon in Hockeytown and it’ll arrive by Christmas.
Yep. Andy, writing for Dwayne Klessel’s Clearing House For Crap, AKA HockeyBuzz, says he has an in, a mole, an insider, feeding him info from deep within Joe Louis Arena. Young Andy says “someone close to the organization” has pulled him aside and said Mike Babcock’s days could very well be numbered.
Andy says Babcock’s being called to Daddy’s office weekly to discuss the team with Kenny Holland, that “star players are complaining to management” and, get this, that Nick Lidstrom is leading the revolt.
Ohhhhh..now it makes sense. Now that Lidstrom’s involved I can see it. Nick Lidstrom, the rebel. Lidstrom, the muck raker.
Andy says Lidstrom’s instructed his teammates to stay silent during specialty team meetings (those same meetings that could perhaps lead to improving Detroit’s 27th ranked power play).
This would be the same Nick Lidstrom who played for one Scott Bowman, a true trailblazer in mind-gamesmanship, for seven years.
So, the crux of this issue…just weeks after Marty McSorley was blasted in two countries for making similar claims? Who’s your source Andy? Give us a hint. Drop a name, title, organizational standing on us. Exec, player, trainer, reporter? Something other than “someone close”. I know you don’t have to provide it because, frankly, no one ever does over at Dwayne’s Brothel of BS.
But, Andy? I have a sneaking suspicion who your source is. Let’s see…who would have an axe to grind in St. Louis? Who has a well-deserved reputation of seeking out microphones like a Pred fan to a possum filet (just made that up…thanks)?
Andy, if your “source” is Manny Legace, you may want to ask him who HIS sources are. I’m not sure his ex-teammates would be real willing to chat with The Mouth, considering one of the last images they have of him was the prone position of martyrdom in an Edmonton crease. See, he kinda left on bad terms.
Is there a chance the Wing players don’t give Mike Babcock tummy rubs before practice every day? Yep. They may not enjoy playing for him. But, here’s the thing Andy. They’re playing his style, and they’re playing it well, and they’re winning. If the Wings were, say, dropping down the tough Central standings like the Blues, there may be some validity to an unnamed source telling you the Wings will “implode by Christmas.”
But all you’ve given us today is a standard Dwayne Klessel menu item…unattributed, sourceless, rumor.
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Comments
I just read Strickland’s post and not that I necessarily agree that it is the truth, the least you could do is give the entire quote. For someone who is reading this and hasn’t read the post they’d think that Lidstrom is telling his teammates to be quiet in meetings for no reason whatsoever, where in fact Strickland states: “After his players give their opinions he will often say something to the effect of, sorry were not doing it that way and will create something entirely different.” It’s funny how you are blasting Strickland and then you turn around and give quotes out of context!
Posted by Mac from Canada on 11/09/06 at 11:48 AM ET
Oh, BTW, the quote I gave above was in reference to what Babcock supposedly says during meetings!
Posted by Mac from Canada on 11/09/06 at 11:50 AM ET
If there is a mole inside the Joe then Holland needs to get in touch with someone over at Orkin. Fans should not have to be wary of dangerous pests when they attend a game. I have had them in my yard before and they make a real mess of things. This thing must be eradicated before it has the chance to proliferate. Furthermore, it is a bad reflection on Detroit to have someone in St. Louis be aware of our problem. Before you know it they will be calling it Varminttown. Situations like these must be handled professionally. Perhaps this person from St. Louis that wrote the article could be of some help in removing the mole since they have a city where a mole would not want to reside. What is their secret to this mole-free environment? I fear this is just the beginning. The worst is yet to come.
Posted by Doomsberry on 11/09/06 at 11:50 AM ET
Hi, Aunt Mole!
Posted by O-Joe on 11/09/06 at 12:12 PM ET
I can see some of the players suggesting…“hey how ‘bout a point man on the point for a change?” That would probably get shot down…I can see how that might get to ya
Posted by johnnygloveside on 11/09/06 at 12:21 PM ET
I think this stuff happens every day in all sports. It’s just the nature of competition and a bunch of guys wanting to succeed. I don’t think it means they dislike each other or don’t want to play for each other. The proof is the results—and right now they have won 7 in a row, so this whole thing is moot, whether it is true or not.
Posted by Nathan on 11/09/06 at 01:20 PM ET
Regardless of the reason, they seem to be playing angry right now and I like it.
Posted by RJ on 11/09/06 at 02:17 PM ET
I can’t believe you are still visiting hockeybuzz.
I am sure they appreciate all the publicity you give them.
Posted by Gramps from HockeyTown on 11/09/06 at 05:00 PM ET
What the heck does Strickland think the players will do when they get hollered at for the 30th time about the power play? Shut up, keep your head down, don’t make eye contact, yes, sir, we’re sorry, sir, we’ll do better, sir, and leave. Babs is like Scotty about the PP and PK, so it’s better not to test his exposed nerves…
But that’s probably the worst of it. How many media people don’t want the Wings to implode? Hahn’s cut a wide swath that generated all sorts of detractors.
More than age for Stevie hanging ‘em up? Yes. You bet. Surgically-repaired orbital bone. Tendinitis and persistent groin injuries and back injuries. A fused vertebra in his neck. Surgery on both knees, and a right knee that has NO ligature left, no ACL, no MCL, no PCL, nothing, in which the joint was re-set via cutting the femur and inserting a metal wedge and bolts to shift the face of the tibia and fibula so that his body weight didn’t shear off the crests of all three bones that ground against each other with every step or stride.
More than age, definitely. Babcock? Definitely not.
Somebody close to KK thinks that Strickland is a maroon.
Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 11/09/06 at 06:01 PM ET
Yes! It’s a good thing Chelios was there to play all 1:57 of the game that he did. Awesome. Sorry Kopecky…hope you weren’t excited to play.
Posted by scsgoal31 from Huntington Woods, MI on 01/01/09 at 10:31 PM ET
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Fantastic, I feel the same way. It made sense during the losing streak, it’s virtually the same team as last year but nothing was working, so naturally blame the coaches new style of play. But now I feel there’s no validity to the rumor at all, winning heals all wounds.
Posted by Heaton on 11/09/06 at 11:31 AM ET