Why A2Y is Still the King of Red Wings Blogs

Because of gems like this one:

1500: Reactionary Wing fans (that’s us, bitches) woke up this morning ready to hunt domestic pets and set neighborhood fires.

And this one:

1905: Tigers and White Sox. Leyland’s starting a character from Pinnochio. By the time that game starts you, me and the Tigers will know if they need a win to clinch the Central or to avoid a tie. And let me tell you this, a tie going into Sunday will not bode well for domestic bliss in my house. I’m throwing that out there right now.

This day could go down as one of the absolute drunkest in the state’s glorious history of watching our sporting events while shotgunning huge quantities of cheap, warm beer. Consider our forefathers. Our uncles and dads who set the standard for all of us. What would they do on a day like today? What would my Uncle Duke do? I’ll tell you...he’d be drinking by now, pacing, looking for a fight. Prowling the neighborhood if he had to, hunting down anyone wearing green.

And for that hilarious glossary. If you haven't checked it out before, it is a must read.

Wings at 3 today, will be traveling back to Grand Rapids to meet the girl's parents, so will be listening to it on the radio.

One note from a deep digger:

ERICSSON HURT: Jonathan Ericsson was hit on the back of his left ankle in the first period; he'd scored a goal in 4:06 of play. Ericsson skated a few circles to test his ankle in a second-period time-out, but couldn't go. "He couldn't put any weight on it, couldn't handle anything," Babcock said. "So we'll see."

Ericsson anchors the third pairing and kills penalties, and his absence necessitated Brian Rafalski and Stuart clearing 25 minutes.

Derek Meech is expected to play today.

Injuries already? Great...

Opening Game Against The Bitter Blues

Gunna try a bit of a live blogish...more of a train of thought as the Wings play.

1st Period

• First period of the NHL season and so far we've seen 4th line domination and 4th line embarrassment. Big Bert looks great so far. See the between the legs shot? Impressive.
  
  
• Draper still has the speed. Not Helm speed but faster than that Polak character (and oh yeah, thanks ref). Nice play by Big E to follow that up. But I'm not sure what the hell Lebda was doing on that first goal.
  
  
• Holy fuck, Malts just scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Did someone spike my drink is LSD? I was just about to write about how worthless he is, but nevermind, maybe I was right about his sandbagging it for the last ten years. You sandbagging sonofabitch Malts.
  
  
• The game doesn't have a whole lot of energy. Feels like a preseason game.
  
  
• Oh boy, we get to hear Rick Harrow at intermission. Way to continue your excellent intermission shows Vs.
  
  
• 5-3 now...though the Versus announcers still hasn't figured it out. So far, so good. Lots of shots, Mason's been solid though. I'm not sure what I think of Clearly, Homer and Val as number two PP line though. I can't even see those three being friends.
  
  
• Good period for the Wings. Not great, but good.
  
  
• By the way, is there anyone out there at OSU who is a Wings fan? Should get a mid-Ohio Wings get together. I've seen a few hats and shirts, I know you are out there.

2nd Period

• EVILLE what a fucking shot.
  
  
• Mason is the only reason why it's not 6-1 right now.
  
  
• Shit, fuck Mason. Again, what a save on Cleary.
  
  
• What boring announcers. Jesus, I'd rather be listening to Gary Thorne say "that's a nice stick" 1,000 times a game than these two jokes.
  
  
• Franzen just got a penalty for waving his stick in the air. Somewhere, Bettman smiles.
  
  
• Shit, not much Ozzie can do on that. Stuart has to get out of the way.
  
  
• Wings just got scored on on a 2 on 4.
  
  
• Jesus, Lebda. Shit is falling apart.
  
  
• Terrible end of the period. Wow, the Hawks lost today, but put 55 shots on Vokoun? That a boy Huet. Keeping the other team in it.
  
  
• Shit, Big E is out. This is too early for this shit to be starting.
  

3rd Period

• The announcers just threw out this gem "The ice is chopped up in the corner...it's because of all the heavy lifting by the Blues...ha. ha. ha."
  
  Fuck you Bettman. I hate you and Versus.
  
  
• Come on Wings, guessing 6-4 final, Wings up.
  
  
• So apparently, they don't call coincidentals when four people attack one, even if the one is trying to choke the life out of the Blues player.
  
  
• Damnit Mason, what a save. Datsyuk is a god. Edit that, looks like it hit the post. Still, Datsyuk is still a god. And Franzen is MAD.
  
  
• Lebda is the worst player on the ice. He's an offensive defenseman who doesn't produce any offense. Shit. Wings get a lucky powerplay here, they need one.
  
  
• Maltby just threw an F-bomb out there on national TV, makes me feel better that hopefully the FTC will fine VS. And Kariya just hacked the hell out of Dats on a breakaway and nothing.
  
  
• Shit. 4-3 final. Mason played a hell of a game and the Wings shutdown for a lot of the second. Still, a bunch of good things out of this game. And it is great to have hockey back.

Wings three stars:

1. Maltby - What a game from the grizzled vet. Apparently playing for your spot helps.
2. Lieno - He can score. He either looked like a superstar out there or clueless, hopefully he gets it together.
   
3. Datsyuk - Was great out there, even if he didn't score. It'll come.

Other notes:

• As I said before, Lebda sucked. Osgood was average at best. And, Bertuzzi started great and faded. The talent is still there, but hopefully the head comes back.
  
  
• It is only game one of a long season. The BBBB's will be celebrating like they won the cup. Unlike those tools, we actually know that one game doesn't mean shit.
  
  
• Versus literally quit the game as soon as they could to get to a hunting show. Like one comment, and nothing of substance. What a joke, Direct TV is right.
  

Chirping from a Bitter Brittle Blues Blog

Found this pile of dung from St. Louis Game Time:

We Get to Embarrass the Red Wings at Home.

Everyone's focusing on this as a homecoming game for the obnoxiously Swedish Detroit Red Wings. Frankly, between the PR for the Wings and the Hawks, you'd think that they were playing each other. Frankly, though, when you think about it - half of the Central Division has been invited to be a part of this. We were considered the toughest division in the NHL last season, and we're being considered that again this year. It's nice that the league's recognizing it. And, of course, nothing would be funnier than beating the snot out of Detroit. Once'd be cool. Twice would be hysterical. Let's aim for two times.

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Pssh. Aim away, slugger. It ain't happening. You should fall to your knees and...thank the hockey gods if you manage to squeak a single point out of this trip. Mad about your first round collapse after being the league's hottest team the second half the 2008-2009 regular season? You should be. But guess what? You lost to a mediocre Vancouver team, you showed no heart and had bad goaltending. I don't think the return of Erik Johnson clears up either of those issues. The Red Wings on the other hand, are hungry. You are simply the first in the cross-hairs. Get ready to be beaten. We'll see if you think THEM apples are hysterical.

Sweden Gear, not very Punny

Found this on shop.nhl.com, it's the new Premiere Game gear for the Wings/Blues in Sweden and apparently two crappy teams are playing in Finland that same weekend...

Anyone else have a problem with the color scheme here? I know blue and yellow are the nation's colors, but c'mon...it looks like a St. Louis shirt. I probably would have gone with the more neutral white or possibly even yellow since the Blues primary color is...yep: blue.

Also, was "How Swede it is" last season's Stockholm slogan? You guys couldn't come up with something new? This may be a knee jerk reaction, but first impression: FAIL.

Oh, but I'll still probably buy one while I'm over there.

A look at the first four games…

On the heels of the NHL Regular Season Schedule being published, I thought that the first four contests for the Red Wings was worth talking about. What do you guys think?

Fri Oct 2, 2009

Detroit Red Wings

At…(Stockholm)

St. Louis Blues

Yeah ok, call St. Louis the home team all that you want…we wouldn’t want their lone Swede, Patrick Berglund to feel neglected, but we all know who the crowd will be going for in this one. I can’t wait to get over there. Apparently the flight from Amsterdam will have free booze. That should make the time go by a little quicker. How perfect is it that the Wings are playing in a building in Sweden that bares the same name as The Big Rig? I’ll bet Conklin gets the start in one of these games for the Blues.

Sat Oct 3, 2009

St. Louis Blues

At…(Stockholm)

Detroit Red Wings

Did I mention that I’m going to both of these games in Stockholm? Don’t know if they’re going to top the Winter Classic at Wrigley last year, but should be a great experience for someone like me who has never even been to Mexico. I’m wondering what Uncle Mike has in store for the line-up. Now that Hossa’s gone, I’m putting my money on a re-union of Monty Babcock’s Flying Circus (Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom). Z’s going to have a big year production-wise now that he’s back with Pav: mark my words.

Thu Oct 8, 2009

Chicago Black Hawks

At…

Detroit Red Wings

Does anyone know when we’re raising the ‘2008-2009 Central Division & Western Conference Champion’ banners into the rafters? This might be a good night to do so. Ericsson, Kronwall, Stuart, you have one job to do: win or lose, catch Mr. Hossa with his head down…make him pay. I think the WCF last season (as brief as it was) effectively put the fuel back into the fire of this rivalry. The idiots in Chicago have been hating the Wings for years but Detroit fans never really put much thought into it after years upon years of domination. Bring your hate, Detroit fans and don’t take it easy on anyone sporting Chicago gear.

Note: So on Saturday, the Wings will be playing St. Louis in Stockholm and on Thursday, they are playing Chicago in Detroit (apparently Gary wasn’t worried about our Swedes spending much time in their native land). That means if they leave on Sunday, they really will have only 3 days (Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday) to rest up and get that jet-lag out of their system. Yeah yeah, I know Chicago is on the same schedule, but they’re playing the Florida-friggin’ Panthers in Helsinki, Finland. Apparently Florida is one of the marquee teams we want to show to rest of the world. Why not just have them play Leino’s old team?

Sat Oct 10, 2009

Washingon Capitals

At…

Detroit Red Wings

Two days after the Chicago game, Ovi-wan-kenobi and his faux hawked Norris wannabe come strolling into town. Detroit can give their ‘boo’ muscles a rest for this one, since Sergei decided to go back to Russia. Last year, the Wings lost their only match to the Caps 4-2 off of a pair of Ovechkin goals. But…we did get to see Dr. eVille Leino score a highlight reel goal about 45 seconds into his NHL on-ice debut.

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All-in-all, it’s looking like a pretty exciting start to the season. Bettman isn’t going to make it easy on us right from the start. (You’re surprised?) Our first four games are in 8 eight days spread across two continents against three play-off teams, one of which made it to the Conference Finals. A slow start to the season can sometimes be the kiss of death so let’s hope the heartbreak from last season is this year’s motivation.

Please don’t make us wait until the post-season to show us some consistency. Last year was very frustrating at times. Babcock did a masterful job of not cracking the whip too hard when his team failed to play up to its potential, but more on that later.

Only two and a half months away. We’ll look ahead to some other intriguing games soon.