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.
  

It's here.

T minus 19 hours till the reclamation of what is rightly ours begins.

Quick notes around the hockey world:

-Hope everyone realizes that they have a free preview of NHL Center Ice for the next couple weeks. It might still say MLB on their package, but it should work.

-As far as I can tell, I don't think I've seen one expert pick the Wings so far. I love it. Keep on believing in the joke that is the Blackhawks. I'm watching the Caps/Bruins right now and many people are picking one of these two teams to win. The Caps are powerful, but really don't have the depth that the Wings do. The Bruins just don't look very good at all. And you know who I don't notice out there? Chara. At all. Ovechkin has just a wicked shot though.

The Penguins now get to enjoy the Flyers and Prongers elbows and get to experience a seven game series with those weapons. Be dirty Chris, very dirty.

The only team that actually scares me is the Sharks. And then I remember that they are the Sharks. And then I smile and chuckle a little bit.

-How good did the Mule look yesterday? 40 goals doesn't seem out of the question.

-Nick Lidstrom hasn't lost a step. Anyone see how fast he looked yesterday? He looked faster than I've ever seen him, in my life. Maybe it's the big ice. Chara isn't in the same league as this guy. I bet Nick would even beat the giant in a game of 1 on 1 in basketball. He is the perfect human, lets not forget that.

-Eville looks better and better every game. He's gonna be as solid as they come. In two years we'll be considering him up there with Dats, Zetterberg and Johan. Remember that Fabian guy? I sure don't. In Holland we trust.

-We are working on the comments issue, so feel free to leave any comments, they are saved, just not posted.

Go Wings.

Lidstrom to captain Team Sweden (maybe)

From Rocky Bannanno of NHL.com

Mats Sundin, the captain of Team Sweden when they won the gold medal in 2006, announced in June that he will not play in 2010. And there was no ambiguity in his words:

"There will be no Olympics in Vancouver for me next year. I will not change my mind. I think it's time that the next generation takes over. We have many good players."

That would make Lidstrom the prime candidate to take over the captaincy. But of course, that IS if Lidstrom even decides to play in Vancouver. Here’s what Lidstrom had to say to a Swedish news source:



"I want to get started with the NHL season first before I make the final decision if I should play in the Olympics or not. I want to be (in Molndal) and hear what the Hockey Federation and Olympic Committee for the games in Vancouver have to say. I don't deny that participating in a fourth Olympic Games entices me."

“Entice” seems to be Lidstrom’s word of the month, after denying any claims that he feels “enticed” by the thought of playing anywhere but the NHL.

I would think that last year’s post season might have something to do with Lidstrom’s hesitation. The Perfect Human has been getting banged up more and more over the last few seasons and I would think that health would be a concern. Of course, resting an injury last season got him suspended by Mr. Bettman. The question is: does he put more emphasis on winning another gold medal, or another Stanley Cup? For contract or for country?

Tough call. I don’t think anyone would question is loyalty to Detroit by going out to win another gold medal for his home country, but we wouldn’t be very happy if he went out to Vancouver and got himself hurt and had to miss significant time with Wings.