Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Anger on a Tuesday in August

They say that hate is like a disease. Well, thanks to the Chief over at Abel to Yzerman, it is flowing through my veins this morning. Because of the Chief’s little ditty, I may be angry all day, all off-season, all regular season, until the Cup is hoisted by the Perfect Human again.

Chief takes a stroll down Painful Memory Lane…ones of losses to Avs in ’96, the Ducks in ’07, and this year’s fiasco to Pittsburgh. Chief wants the Wings to use these memories as motivation for the team. All I can think about is how angry I was at the time….and actually still am.

So while news is slow, and my writing has been pretty devoid of opinion for some time, I thought I would do a little venting while we wait patiently for Kenny to fill in our roster. Here’s a visual trip down some of the lasting images from down Rivalry Boulevard…


Do you remember the Avalanche? Do you REALLY remember what it was like and the hatred shared between these two teams? Forsberg, Foote, Krupp, Deadmarsh, Roy, and of course, Lemieux. The Avalanche franchise has become a complete joke over the years but at the time this photo was taken, I doubt there were two teams in ALL of sports that hated each other more than these two. We went on to win 4 Cups in 12 years. The team that Lindros built finished at the bottom of the Western Conference this past year. Check.Mate.


Take a good, long look at this photo. Notice the position of Holmer’s helmet and Pronger’s elbows. Checkout where Neideramayer’s follow through took him. This had to be one of the single most dirty hits perpetrated by any TWO players at ONE time. Those cement heads went on to win this series and hoist the Cup after dispatching yet another soft Eastern Conference team in the Finals. Now, Pronger is gone, but the rivalry with the Ducks is still going strong. With punks like Getzlaf and Perry still around to cheap shot and chirp all game, you can bet this one is going to around for a while.



How about this shot from Game 2 of this years’ Finals? This was “the message that wasn’t”. After neutering his boyfriend for 2 straight games, Malkin decides to jump Zetterberg for absolutely no reason in the dying moments of a Wings victory. Malkin threw punches wildly without a single one landing solidly. Coach Dan Bylsma had already come to grips with the impending suspension, un-knowing that Gary and his pet, Collie Campbell, already rescinded the suspension probably before Malkin was courted off the ice. We all know what happened. Four Games in five nights and Gary finally got what he wanted. Oh, and Malkin scored in that game he had no business playing in by the way.



Chicago: ‘Nuff said.

Get angry, Wings fans. Stay angry. Bask in it. It’s a long road back to holding what is rightfully ours. Babcock will crack the whip and right the ship. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are going to have big years. Lidstrom and Rafalski are angry. Osgood will be focused all season. Oh, and we’ll have 6’5 Johnny Ericsson and every opposition’s Nightmare wearing #43 all season.

2 comments:

  1. Wow this is the single greatest post for a red wings fan. Really does bring back all those anger moments. The Malkin picture especially, I was so mad he didn't get suspended!!!!!

    Go wings!

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  2. Where did Pronger go? Philly? That is weird.

    ReplyDelete