Hockey Brings People Together

You can't watch the news anymore without hearing one negative story after another so it's nice to hear some good news once in a while. It's even better to hear good news about Detroit Red Wing fans!

Red Wings Blog site Abel to Yzerman gives us something to feel good about. The story begins with a Red Wings fan named Guilherme, or "Herm" as the Wings fans have dubbed him. Herm's story is unique because he's a die hard Detroit Red Wings fan, but has never been to Joe Louis Arena to see a game in person. To take it one step further, he's never met another Red Wing fan in person. The reason for this is because Herm lives in Brazil.

Herm is the man behind the Portuguese blog Red Wings Brazil. Guilherme watches games on the internet and the rare occasions the Wings are on television in Brazil. Herm's long distance loyalty has been noticed by the legion of Red Wing fans dubbed 'the 19' and the masses have joined together to raise the funds required to fly Herm to Hockeytown U.S.A. for his first ever live Wings game on March 26th at home versus the Minnesota Wild.

In less than 30 hours 'the 19' have received donations of $1000 towards making this possible. Donations are still pouring in, and any money raised that isn't spent on getting Herm to Joe Louis arena for this game will be donated to the Red Wings Wish Club, who supports the Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Another Red Wings blog called "Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle" have posted an interview with Guilherme and have been kind enough to translate to English here, But it's not just the Detroit Red Wings fans that are jumping on board to help out this worthy cause. A Minnesota Wild blog called Wild Nation is also encouraging people to help Herm make the trip north to see his favorite player Darren Helm.

The Chief summed it up nicely;

The kid’s gonna see the Gordie statue. He’s gonna smell the stale beer aromas of Joe Louis Arena. He’s going to see the blur that is Darren Helm, all in person.

Such a classy move by total strangers who happen to share the passion for the same hockey team. Maybe there is hope for civilization after all...


(If you'd like to donate, surf by A2Y here and click the donate button.)

Wings struggling to overcome injuries

How many NHL teams could lose 12 players from their roster last season and still remain competitive? Even with the deep talent pool the Detroit Red Wings happen to enjoy, they are battling injuries to some key players, and as a result, are currently holding down the 8th seed in the Western Conference with 39 points. (First place LA has 45 points)

The Wings currently have the following players in the injured list;

Johan Franzen - Knee
Niklas Kronwall - Knee
Dan Cleary - Shoulder
Darren Helm - Wrist
Valtteri Filppula - Wrist
Jason Williams - Ankle
Jonathon Ericsson - Knee
Andreas Lilja - Concussion

Lets keep our fingers crossed that the major injuries are finished for the season...

if this team can get healthy, they will be a scary #8 seed.

Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young

Jimmy Fallon moved into Conan's vacant spot as host of NBC's Late Night show back in March '09. I've caught his show a few times, but nowhere near as often as I'd watch Conan at 12:35am. Jimmy has had some decent shows, but not enough to keep me as a regular viewer.

The other night, Fallon did an amazing impression of Neil Young singing the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. His impersonation was spot on. Check out the embedded video as this clip is rapidly going viral.

* Hat tip to my sister Terri for sending me the link.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

In a professional sport that has video replay... How do you screw up a call this badly?

I've made mention of Detroit ending up on the losing end of some bad calls made by NHL officials, but I've never seen a screw-up of this magnitude. I would love to hear what the NHL War Room in Toronto had to say when they called on ice official Dennis LaRue. Somehow the goal was waved off, and Detroit ended up losing the game as a result.

Once again, poor officiating cost the Red Wings a win.

Boom Goes The Dynamite!

With the sporting world back in full swing, I tend to watch a lot of sports highlights. Every now and then someone will stumble over a name, or mix up a highlight, and it makes me think of a classic YouTube clip of Brian Collins. Who is Brian Collins you ask? He's the unfortunate sports reporter from Waco, Texas who suffered some teleprompter issues, and was forced to nervously wing the sports news.

This YouTube video quickly went viral, and even prompted shows like Family Guy, How I met your mother, and John Stewart to use the now famous catch phrase "Boom Goes The Dynamite". Will Smith jumbled his delivery during the 81st Academy Awards, and quickly responded with "Boom Goes The Dynamite"

TUF 10 - Heavyweights

The wait is over, and the tenth installment of the UFC's 'The Ultimate Fighter' reality show aired on Spike TV last week (September 16th) with coaches Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and 'Sugar' Rashad Evans mentoring a group of future UFC heavyweights. This cast of massive men are made up of former NFL players, UFC prospects, UFC veterans, and street brawler Kimbo Slice. As I mentioned in a previous post Kimbo will be attempting to earn a place in Dana White's empire and the only road inside leads straight through The Ultimate Fighter show. This will be a true test of Kimbo's MMA skills, as we all know he can hold his own in backyards and parking lots, but thus far Slice has looked somewhat lacklustre inside the octagon against Seth Petruzeli. I'm sure Seth is an intimidating fighter, but he stands at 6'0" and 205lbs. This season of TUF 10 boasts a roster of fighters like Wes Sims (6'10" & 260 lbs), Marcus Jones (6'6" 260 lbs) or Wes Shivers (6'7" 285 lbs). These boys may be large, but we'll see how well they fight.

The second episode just finished, and Rashad's team now holds control to select the match ups for next weeks show (Sept 30th). Finally, the fighter everyone has tuned in to watch will step into the octagon. Kimbo Slice will face Roy 'Big Country' Nelson.

Big Country is an established MMA fighter, and former Heavyweight champion of the International Fight League (IFL) who trains with UFC legend Ken Shamrock's Lions Den. We know Kimbo can stand and throw with any street thug, but can he handle an MMA fighter with a 13-4 professional record who holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?


We'll see next Wednesday.

-=UPDATE=-

Maybe this is only funny to me 'cause it's late, but doesn't Roy 'Big Country' Nelson bear a striking resemblance to King Hippo from the Mike Tyson's Punch Out?


If I were Kimbo, I'd punch him in the belly button 'till his pants fell down...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Fall is here... the cool crisp air, the leaves are changing, and another summer is coming to an end. Now don't get me wrong, I love the summer weather, and living in Canada, it's a welcomed sight after a long harsh winter, but with the beginning of the fall season, comes several personal highlights.

NHL Pre-season is well underway with the regular season starting 1 week from today. The NFL season is 2 games deep, baseball is getting exciting as the MLB playoffs will be starting soon, and most important, it's the busy season for Fantasy Sport Managers everywhere. In the span of 3 weeks, I've attended 2 NFL football drafts, and 4 NHL hockey drafts (while maintaining my drivers in a NASCAR pool). I even opted out of a baseball pool, and Survivor (TVShow) pool because I fear I might look like I have a gambling problem.

All-in-all, a busy time of year, but one many sports fanatics (like myself) look forward to. The golden rule of betting on sports... is to bet with your head, not your heart. So best of luck to the Red Wings/Buccaneers/Phillies as I'll cheer you on with my heart, but will use my head when it comes to wagers.

Force Fate

I'm looking forward to the Olympic Hockey in 2010. Check out this Nike Canada ad.

U2 = Sellouts?

A recent TV commercial caught my attention, and jogged my memory a little bit. When the iPod really started to take off, Apple released a special edition version on October 26th, 2004 featuring a black iPod with a Red click wheel, and the back displayed signatures from all 4 members of U2. The launch included a version of U2's Vertigo being performed while the band appears in Apple's classic silhouette with white earphone style.

With Apple's release of the iPhone and iPhone 3GS, it should have been the ideal platform to merge U2's star power with this sleek smart phone. But it appears Bono and the boys have jumped ship.

Currently the smart phone industry has 2 juggernauts battling for supremacy (Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry). The commercial that brought this to my mind was RIM's new Blackberry ads featuring U2, prompting rumours of a "U2 Blackberry" in the near future. Currently RIM is sponsoring U2's latest tour.

If Blackberry loves U2, I'm starting to think U2 loves whatever people will pay them to love.

Whats next? U2 Coke and 5 years later we'll see U2 Pepsi?

Credit Where Credit Is Due...

I must tip my cap to Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. The boisterous Burke declared his man-crush on John Tavares claiming he was planning to move up to the #1 spot to claim the London Knight phenom as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. That wish didn't come to fruition as Toronto wasn't willing to part with Luke Schenn in exchange for the coveted #1 pick, and John Tavares is now an Islander. Burkie then stated his focus was on the Sedin twins, (flirting with the NHL's tampering laws) and even flew to Sweden on the first day of free agent eligibility in hopes to ink them to big contracts. Despite this bold move, the twins re-signed in Vancouver just hours before, and once again Toronto was left empty handed. In a last ditch effort to salvage an international flight, Brian Burke headed over to see Jonas "the Monster" Gustavsson.

The Monster is billed as "the best goaltender NOT in the NHL" and many general managers have shown interest. Gustavsson had narrowed his list of potential employers down to 4 (Dallas, Toronto, San Jose, and Colorado) before July 1st, reports out of Sweden say he's cut that list in half and the 2 horse race is between the Stars and Maple Leafs. Now if you're a goaltender who is looking to play for a team competing for the Stanley Cup, of those 2, Dallas has to be your first choice. If you are looking for a place where you'll get more playing time, you'd be leaning towards Toronto. If you like the warmer climate, you're heading to Texas. If you want one of the best hockey markets in the NHL, you're going to Ontario. Both Cities have their pros & cons, both teams have sent their Swedish players to wine and dine the young man and give a subtle sales pitch. So what can Brian Burke do to tip the scales in his favour?? The latest news on the FAN 590 today was that Toronto is now also interested in signing Gustavsson's teammate and Farjestad captain Rickard Wallin.

Wallin is described as a solid 2-way player and was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes back in 1998. Without playing a game for Phoenix, Rickard was traded to the Minnasota Wild in 2000 for Joe Juneau. Wallin played 19 NHL games with the Wild, and recorded 6 goals and 4 assists before opting to return to Sweden in 2005. If Toronto can sign Wallin soon, their chances of winning the Gustavsson sweepstakes will dramatically improve.

You have to hand it to Brian Burke, he's not afraid to gamble. Lets just hope this one pays off.

Lonley on the Right Side

It appears the Detroit Red Wings will have a need for a right winger (or 3) after losing Tomas Kopecky and Marian Hossa to the Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks, and now news today that Michael Samuelsson has signed a 3 year deal with the Vancouver Canucks. That's 3 players who all patrolled the Right Wing for Detroit, leaving Canadian Olympic hopeful Dan Cleary as the lone natural RW in the current lineup. Sure Detroit has 7 centers who could easily shift to the right side if needed (assuming Hudler sticks around), but I think Kenny Holland might want to set his sights on a decent RW to replace the 3 we just lost. In our farm system we have Johan Ryno as our top RW prospect, but I don't see him stepping into the NHL next season.

Alexi Kovalev (RW) is still out there... but he well surely command more money than we have available. Does Maxim Afinogenov (RW) have anything left in the tank? Would he be a decent fit in Hockeytown? What about Ales Kotalik (RW)? or Petr Sykora (RW)?

Regardless... It'll be a new look Red Wings team in 2009-2010...

King Of Pop Has Died

This is big... R.I.P. Michael.

Red Wings Post Season

After a disappointing loss to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup final the Red Wings have been prominent in the news. Pavel Datsyuk won both the Frank J. Selke and Lady Byng trophies again at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas last week. This marks the fourth consecutive Lady Byng for Datsyuk and moves him into a tie for 3rd most Lady Byng trophy wins with Red Kelly. (Wayne Gretzky has five, and Frank Boucher has seven) The Selke was Pavel's second win, and of the past 15 winners, 6 of them have been members of the Detroit Red Wings. (Fedorov [94 & 96], Yzerman [2000], Draper [04], Datsyuk [08 & 09])

AND

Former Red Wings forwards Brett Hull, Luc Robatille and Steve Yzerman have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside defenceman Brian Leech. All three forwards won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002, but Brett Hull and Luc Robatille will most likely be remembered for their days with St. Louis and Los Angeles respectively. (I'm sure Kimota94 will recall Brian Leech's contribution in 1994 with the New York Rangers.) Yzerman enters the hall as the longest standing captian of one franchise and recorded 692 Goals, 1063 Assists, and 1755 Points in 1514 career games. A deserving inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

AND

The Canadian Olympic Committee announced today that Mike Babcock will be sworn in as the coach of team Canada at the 2010 winter Olympics. Babcock boasts an NHL coaching record of 282-139-71 with 58 post season wins. He won a Stanley Cup in 2008, an IIHF World Championship in 2004, and a World Junior title in 1997. Babcock's resume proves he can handle "the big games" and after coaching the Detroit Red Wings I'm confident he'll be able to manage the star studded Team Canada line-up. I'm curious to see how his mind will work while trying to determine match-ups with Sidney Crosby against Henrik Zetterberg when Canada faces Sweden.

See why these men were selected into the HHOF by watching this;

The Aftermath

I haven't been around to blog much of late, and many are questioning if that has anything to do with the Wings loss to Pittsburgh in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I can assure you this is not the case, as I have more than a blog or 2 worth of input to type on that topic.

I was unable to obtain tickets to the actual game itself, but felt the next best thing would be to drive over the border and watch the game with the fine people of Detroit, Michigan while soaking in the atmosphere that was a Stanley Cup Game 7. The fans in Detroit are both knowledgeable and passionate about their Red Wings. It's safe to say 90% of the general public walking the streets were either wearing a Wings jersey or sporting some combination of Red and/or White clothing. There were dogs painted with Zetterberg's #40 and Datsyuk's #13, I saw fans with the winged wheel tattooed on their body, and countless jersey's from the past. Names like Howe, Linsday, Sawchuck, Probert, & Yzerman blended in with the Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom jerseys in the streets. Driving past Joe Louis arena I can honestly say I haven't seen that many media vans surrounding one sporting event before in my life. Local movie theaters were showing the game on the silver screen for free, and every bar had TV's broadcasting in the windows. I can only imagine the celebration in the streets had Detroit been able to pull out a game 7 victory on home ice... but alas, the Pens won. As the final buzzer sounded and the Penguins took to the ice to celebrate, it felt as if the air was sucked out of the bar I was in. It was a long drive back, but all-in-all the experience was well worth it. I would have much rathered a Detroit victory, but the game was close, the series was closer, and a new NHL rivalry was born.

There was no partying or celebrating in Detroit that night, but only conversations about how close it was, and a focus on taking back the Stanley Cup next year. Only 4 months 'till next season...

Pens Force Game 7

In an unusual fashion, the veteran Red Wings have a chance to eliminate the pesky Penguins and clinch their 12th Stanley Cup in team history but were unable to do so. The Wings had their chances to tie and even win this game as Zetterberg hit a post early, and Cleary missed on a breakaway in the final minute. I will admit that Detroit was outplayed for the first 2 periods, but also proved they can beat this Pittsburgh team with only 20 minutes of solid effort. Ozzie played huge, and kept his team in this, while I'm still waiting for Triple H (Hossa/Hudler/Holmstrom) to break out of their scoring drought. I'd be fine with a goal from each of them in game 7 to make up for it.

The officiating was horrible again tonight, and I am starting to wonder why I'm surprised. 2 bullshit penalties against Detroit early as Hank was checked into Fleury for a weak goaltender interference call, and Flipula's tripping penalty as he and Bill Guerin both collided at the blue line. OK, fine, make those calls but be consistent and call it both ways. Pittsburgh didn't score, but the physical toll of 2 big penalty kills early, as well as the momentum shift caused by the man advantage leaves the visiting team with even more of a hole to climb out of.

You can't tell me the NHL wasn't drooling over the possibility of a Stanley Cup Final going 7 games, and it was apparent in the fact the home team went 50 minutes before getting a penalty and even then Bill McCreary was hesitant to call a cross check from behind by Malkin. The only reason Detroit saw a second PP was because Draper took an errant high stick to the face that was so obvious Guerin was halfway to the box already. The part that burns me the most was the non calls. Mainly the stick in between the legs of Lidstrom that prevented him from getting a loose puck, and lead to the eventual game winner. CBC replayed the hook to Nick's junk and even he CBC announcers commented that 90% of the time that would be a penalty. Lucky for the Pens this was that rare 10% and it gave them a chance in game 7.

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There isn't much I can say that hasn't been written.

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final is on tonight. Wings lead the series 3-2 and have headed back to Pittsburgh. After humiliating the Pens 5-0 in game 5 at the Joe, the Wings will have to finish off their opponents on the road.

If that task wasn't daunting enough, I have a sneaking suspicion the Wings will have to beat a proud & talented Pittsburgh team as well as the officials because we all know Evil Gary wants to see a game 7.

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A Slice of the UFC?

Kevin Ferguson a.k.a. Kimbo Slice, started out as a internet sensation after bare knuckle street fight videos hit the web and quickly went viral. Slice, a former strip club bouncer, had several impressive bouts in backyards/parking lots and even a bout in a boat storage yard where he fought 3 men on the same day, one after another.

While working as a bodyguard and limousine driver for RealityKings, a Miami based pornography production company, Kimbo suffered his only 'on-tape' street fight loss to ex-Boston Police officer Sean Gannon. This fight was the most popular of all Slice's viral videos and launched both men into the world of MMA.

Kimbo Slice was signed to EliteXC and began to train with retired MMA legend Bas Ruten before starting his career in 2007 against Olympic gold medalist Ray Mercer, winning in just 1 minute and 12 seconds into the first round. Slice went on to defeat Bo Cantrell (19 seconds), Tank Abbott (43 seconds) and was awarded a controversial win over James Thompson (3rd round) earning himself a fight with Ken Shamrock, who's MMA career was on the decline. In preparation for the fight, Shamrock suffered a cut above his eye, and was forced to pull out just hours before the fight was scheduled to start. 1 hour before the bout, replacement Seth Petruzelli stepped into Shamrock's spot, and stunned the MMA world by dropping Kimbo with a flurry of punches 14 seconds into the fight.

After the Slice/Petruzelli fight, rumours swirled that Seth was offered bonus money to stand up and fight Slice and avoid using any ground game. These rumours prompted immediate investigation into EliteXC's operations and less than one month after this event, EliteXC filed for bankruptcy. Many people consider the death of EliteXC a direct result of Slice's loss.

Often criticized in the MMA world, Kimbo is considered to be nothing more than a street brawler, and UFC president Dana White has been asked if he would give Slice a shot in the UFC. Dana boldly declared that nobody gets a free pass, and if Kimbo wanted to see UFC fight time, he would have to earn it. Kimbo Slice has been entered as a contestant on the 10th installment of the Ultimate Fighter reality show. This season has been dubbed "The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights" and will feature Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson as coaches.

We'll have to wait and see if Kimbo can defeat the 15 other heavyweights to take the UFC 10 title. The first episode airs September 16th, 2009.

Best of Three...

It would seem that out shooting your opponent in this Stanley Cup Final, isn't a good thing. So far, after 4 games, the team with the most shots has lost every game. I'm thinking Hossa must be injured as he's doesn't seem to have the jump he usually has, and you'd think playing against his former club would give him an extra boost above and beyond his normal level. This guy isn't 100%. You can't really blame Ozzie for the 4 goals that beat him tonight. He played well, but faced too many odd man rushes as a result of too many bad turnovers. Evgeni Malkin has clearly been watching some game tapes as he picked off at least 3 Red Wing passes back to the point and created break away chances. It's starting to look like Evil Gary's schedule is paying off for the younger Pens as Detroit played their 5th game in 8 days.

I can throw out any number of cliche's and say that "It's not over 'till a home team loses" or any of that garbage, but the fact remains this is a best of 3 series now and we're heading back to Joe Louis arena all tied up at 2 games a piece. One thing that amazes me, is that this Red Wing team still hasn't played the way they normally do, and are still tied heading home with home ice advantage intact. This win should give Pittsburgh a huge lift, but we'll see how they handle heading back to Detroit to face a healthy Pavel Datsyuk and company.

Game 5 on Sat.

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It wasn't pretty, but it counts. The old adage... You have to be good to be lucky. Tonight, the Wings were lucky. This game could have gone either way, and I believe the defining moment was Ozzie's stellar save against Penguins sniper Evgeni Malkin on a breakaway. The Penguins were able to out shoot the Wings 32-30 but a strong portion of that was after Abdelkader scored the 3rd goal 2:46 into the period, and the Big Red Machine went into shutdown mode from there on. Not bad for a 4th liner who played 5:10 all game.

Once Pittsburgh pulled their goaltender Hossa had a scoring chance but shot wide, and Zetterberg picked up the puck on his backhand, and appeared to have a clean shot on net, but opted for a pass to Hossa. I could be mistaken (it happens often) but it looked like Z was trying to get Hossa a goal against his former team, and most importantly a goal that didn't come in a game 4.

It was nice to see Lidstrom back out there, and was dominant against the likes of Crosby and Malkin. Crosby finished without a point, and Maklin picked up an assist on the Fedotenko goal. Once again, his ability and talent tends to get overlooked, as he could have easily been one of the three stars of this game. The officials seemed to let the players play, and didn't call a penalty during the first or third period. In total only 3 penalties were called (2 against Detroit, 1 against Pittsburgh) despite a few questionable plays on both sides that could/should have been called a penalty.

All in all, we'll take the win, rest up and come back in less than 24 hours to do it all again in game 2. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

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Copps Coliseum Facelift

Jim Balsillie released a statement today at 10am declaring his plans to renovate Copps Coliseum. From the images in this press release it looks very cutting edge and state of the art. More details can be found here and will be posted to www.makeitseven.ca.

Check out the before and after of the exterior;

Gary Bettman's Love Affair...

It's become obvious that Gary Bettman has a little man crush on Sid the Kid, and he could never allow the 'face of the NHL' to have back to back Stanley Cup losses on his resume. The question becomes, how far will Gary go to ensure a Pens win?

A fellow Red Wings blogger sums up Gary's Agenda.

Highlights of the article include;

Is Gary Bettman starting the Finals this Saturday, then continuing on Sunday for the first back-to-back since the ‘50s as an intentional means of stifling the Wings?

Not that he’d ever admit and certainly no one could ever prove it. But he very well could have considered, going Saturday, Monday...or Sunday, Tuesday...because it would have been better for the game. But the “game” has never mattered to Bettman. His little man syndrome, his bitterness and his ego are all that matters to Tiny Gary Daddy.

Oh, I know...the television thing. I get it. But if he would have gone Versus on Tuesday, Thursday and NBC on Saturday, Sunday? What’s the significant difference? A back to back in Games 3 and 4 would still allow a bit more rest for both teams at the front end of the series.

Why am I even bringing it up? Because the Red Wings defeated Chicago in five games and get two full days of rest. If they’d gone six they would have had what? 9 days? Too much. I agree. But the fact remains, they’re being penalized for winning too quickly, too efficiently?

Now. This. Should a commissioner give consideration to a team’s injury situation? Not publicly and certainly not officially. For fu**’s sake, he didn’t do it around the All Star Game, when who was hurt?

Oh, that’s right. Datsyuk and Lidstrom.

Well played Bettman, I don't know many teams that would be able to make it out of the Western Conference Finals without their Captain/Norris Trophy finalist AND their Hart/Selke/Lady Byng finalist in Lidstrom and Datsyuk, now we limp into the Stanley Cup Finals with the majority of our stars suffering serious injuries. Overcoming this would make the 12th cup win even sweeter.

Rematch

DARREN HELM SCORES THE OT WINNER!!!!!

So Much For Tadlock's Glasses

In music news, the Beastie Boys released an e-mail to fan club members on Monday, May 25th that read;

we, the band, known professionally as the Beastie Boys, will be making a professional appearance on the television show that is called Jimmy Fallon (is that what it’s called?). so if you (the viewer) turn on your TV (short for television) you can see us (beastie boys) on his (jimmy fallon’s) show. is that clear? check listing for air time in your area. monday night (this monday night) like today monday night.

i hope we don’t screw this up.

Love,
Dr. Bombay

ps. our new record that is coming out that we finished the other day is called HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE, and we are going to offer insights into how it was crafted, when we talk on the aforementioned show. that’s that.

With their performance last night on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' the boys discussed the new album, & the motivation behind it. Despite a solid performance of 'So what'cha want' featuring the Roots, the interview didn't offer much more info, aside from the fact the new album is set to drop in the September time frame.

I'm curious to find out what happened to the working title 'Tadlock's Glasses' and how the Beasties decided on 'Hot Sauce Committee'.

Game Day

Word out of the Red Wing camp is that Datsyuk and Lidstrom are out for the second straight game. Injuries have also hit the Blackhawks as they will have sniper Martin Havlat and starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin in the press box for game 5. Despite Detroit's habit of finishing a playoff series on the road, they must come out flying tonight at the Joe and keep shooting at Christobal Huet. Babcock should have the boys ready for war considering this young 'hawk team will be looking to force another game back in Chicago as their playoff lives depend on it.

This should be a good test of Detroit's ability to throw that much needed knockout punch and solidify a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final.

What The Hell Was He Thinking??

So file this under bizarre... former MLB slugger Jose Canseco attempted to start a career in MMA last night in Yokohama, Japan. Jose Canseco is a big man, measuring 6'4" tall and 260lbs, but looked like a child after stepping in the ring against the giant Hong Man Choi of South Korea. When you are an inexperienced fighter, why would you challenge a man who is 7'2", and 330 lbs?

The fight only lasted 1 minute and 16 seconds, and can be watched in it's entirety here... (actual fight doesn't start until the 5 min mark)

With an obvious reach disadvantage, I'm not really sure why Canseco would even consider standing up and exchanging kicks/punches with Choi, but Jose darted in and out not really landing any significant blows, before apparently tweaking an existing knee injury and suffering a mild ground and pound from his massive opponent.

Then again, getting pounded by a seven foot Korean man is less embarrassing than THIS.

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The Wings pulled together a solid team effort today, showing how deep this team really is. With Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom out, and Osgood getting dehydrated late in the second, the Wings still managed to destroy Chicago by a final score of 6-1. I don't know any other team in the league that can afford to lose their captain/annual Norris trophy winner, as well as a forward of Datsyuk's caliber while still putting up 6 goals. It was nice to see Hossa score again, and nice to see Hank bury 2 goals without an empty net. Interesting note: Hossa scored 2 goals in tonight's game 4, and his only other goals this post season have been in game 4's, and been in multiples of 2. Marian scored 2 in game 4 against Columbus, then another pair of goals in game 4 versus Anaheim, and now two in Chicago.

Check the highlights here;

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Kronwall on Havlat. The Debate.

In an attempt to review the crushing hit Nicklas Kronwall delivered on Martin Havlat last night, I opted to check out a few other sites and see what the consensus was. Was it clean? or dirty? Obviously you'll get the Detroit faithful claiming it to be a clean, hard hit. And also as obvious would be the Chicago camp, who would have you believe he deserves a suspension as a result.

I'll provide some facts, and let you decide. You saw the video in my last post, but if you want a better look, The Triple Deke has it blown up nice and big.

Lets start with the officials. After the hit, neither of the officials raised their arm to indicate a penalty would be called. Meaning that "as it happened", the referees didn't consider the hit to be deserving of a penalty until after Havlat wasn't able to get up. An NHL official shouldn't be able to make a call based on the result of the action. Now the standard counter argument is to defend the referees and say "...but the game is so fast, and decisions have to be made quickly..." OK,
that's fine. Allow me to slow it down.

Screen Shot from a KuklasKorner blogger here.

This hit is textbook. From the pic above, the puck is in Havlat's feet, Kronwall's forearms are down, and didn't jump. Lets hear from Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell;

"Marty didn't have the puck," Chicago defenceman Brian Campbell said Saturday. "If he hit Marty and hit him clean, that's fine. That happens. ... It's just how he hits. You can see his forearms coming up and his hands are coming up and he's lunging forward and jumping into the guy."

I wonder if he looks back and the footage and realizes how foolish his quote sounded? So after proving your 3 arguments were false, I can't help but assume Campbell thinks the hit was clean.

Damien Cox from the Toronto Star summed the play up like this;

Hard to believe four experienced NHL officials could get a call so wrong.

Did the misguided first period expulsion of defenceman Niklas Kronwall from Game 3 of the Western Conference final on Friday night between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks decide the game? No, but it sure changed it...

...There was just no need for the call. Even worse, clearly one of the on-ice officials simply made it up after seeing Havlat on the ice and deciding something illegal must have happened without actually seeing a foul. It wasn't even close to interference because Havlat was in possession of the puck, and so the play wasn't remotely like the late, blindside hit by Anaheim's Mike Brown on Detroit's Jiri Hudler in the previous round.

David Staples from the Edmonton Journal had this to say;

If you didn't see Kronwall's outstanding hit on Martin Havlat of the Hawks -- surely one of the best hits of the year in the NHL

The only thing wrong with the Kornwall hit was that someone truly deserving of such a masterpiece such as Jordan Tootoo, Steve Ott, Matt Cooke, Sean Avery, Ben Eager, Adam Burish or Robyn Regehr wasn't on the receiving end of it.

Even John Jaeckel (A Chicago Blackhawk blogger) wrote;

If I were a Wings fan, I would feel jobbed. No doubt. It was, basically, a clean hit. For Hawk fans, it is not easy to see one of your stars get knocked out and leave the game. But Brouwer did it to Phaneuf on a clean hit and Campbell did it to Demitra on a clean hit.

Empty Netters (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) shared their own screenshot trying to show that Kronwall left his feet, but just like last year's Stanley Cup final, the Pens fans will come up short in this debate. I could take the time to explain the physics surrounding Kronwalls higher center of gravity and forward motion hitting Havlats lower center of gravity thus forcing Kronwall upwards and making Marty crumble like Bettman's dreams of Sid winning the cup in '08... but all that would be a waste of time because the Post-Gazette would much rather write about the Red Wings and call the Kronwall hit dirty, while attempting to take the focus off the questionable hits on Eric Cole and Tuomo Ruutu.

Nice try ladies. Bottom line: Kronner crushed Havlat with a hard CLEAN hit. I hate to see someone get hurt, but that how contact sports are played.

This Officiating Is A Joke.

I have played hockey since I have been able to walk, I used to run the clock when I was younger at my local rink, I have taught at a hockey school, I have coached the sport, and even had the displeasure of officiating a game... The point I am trying to make is, I know the rules.

I DARE YOU, to show me how the hell this is even worthy of a 2 minute minor for interference, let alone a 5 minute MAJOR AND a game misconduct.

This call (and several others that followed it) make Brad Watson look like a damn rocket scientist. 11 minutes of penalties to Detroit in the first period alone.

Mike Milbury was asked about the hit on CBC and said, "Get the refs on a bus tomorrow and ship them out of the playoffs." Kelly Hrudey said he cannot understand what the NHL is trying to do.

I'm glad I'm not the only one completely flabbergasted by the obvious bias that has been shown this post season.

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After spending a rowdy May long weekend here in Canada celebrating my 30th birthday with friends and family, I was given an extra present as the Detroit Red Wings opened their Western Conference Final series against the Chicago Blackhawks with a decisive 5-2 win. I watched the game while entertaining guests at my place, so the game review is somewhat light.

Many analysts questioned how much the veteran Red Wing squad would have left in the gas tank after a physical series with Anaheim, but it seems the had enough to teach the young Blackhawks a thing about playoff hockey. After 10 minutes of play, the tempo of the game was controlled by Chicago until Dan Cleary scored the Wings first goal on a well placed wrist shot that Khabibulin probably should have been able to handle. After that, this game was all Detroit and they never looked back.

The Red Wings managed to shut down the potent Hawk's offence, with Captain Nick Lidstrom eliminating Chicago superstar Patrick Kane who finished the game without recording a shot on net. With the exception of the Mule, and Zetterberg's empty netters, Detroit has been relying on secondary scoring of late, and this game's leader was Dan Cleary. With his most complete performance of the post season, Cleary started to look like the player drafted 13th overall in 1997. Ironically enough, he was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.

This Chicago team might have rolled over in game 1, but I've seen enough of this team to know that a win in game 2 won't be as easy.

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After a convenient blogging lapse, I returned behind the keyboard to summarize the Wings series victory over the dreaded water fowl. I've mentioned before that I despise the Ducks, and the feeling of eliminating them from the playoffs is ever so sweet. As I try my best not to sound spoiled or considered a poor winner, but I have to express my complete and utter lack of respect for the NHL officials last night. I had the privilege of watching game 7 with two Toronto Maple Leaf fans (yes, they still exist in the summer months) and even they were shocked at how many terrible calls were made in the Ducks favour. For those who watched the game, you'll recall during Detroit's first period power play, that Hossa took a high sticking penalty but replays showed Marian's stick not actually making contact with the Duck forward, and commentators even questioned the apparent 'sales job' stating "the call was bad, and the sales job was worse". Regardless Hossa sits for 2 mins and the Wings lose their man advantage.

Chris Pronger deserves his own paragraph when discussing non calls or blatantly incorrect calls. We'll start by a high hit on Hossa before wrapping his arms around #81 and taking him to the ice like an NFL linebacker. I'm pretty sure this could have been called any number of penalties from Holding, Interference, or general douchebaggery. With a referee within 2 feet of Hossa's mugging, the play goes on without a call. Moving on to several crease battles between Thomas Holmstrom and the NHL title holder for 'dirtiest player'. Holmstrom was repeatedly punched, speared, tripped, tackled, and high-sticked in the crease by Pronger, and on ice officials called this 'battling for position'. Then the finishing touch on Pronger's low light reel was when he obviously cross checked Jiri Hudler from behind, sending the Wings smallest forward crashing into the only player with real talent on the Ducks roster. With both players laying on the ice in pain, it only makes sense that Detroit should receive a goaltender interference penalty as opposed to using common sense to determine how/why Hudler decided to run Hiller. The fact this collection of NHL officials allowed 60 minutes of the Anaheim Ducks style of hockey to be played without Chris Pronger getting caught for a single 2 minute minor escapes me. In addition to the brutal penalty calls or non calls I was actually taking a running total during the game, and counted 9 instances where a Detroit center was thrown out of the face-off circle. Don Cherry also touched on this during the intermission. It's nice to know I'm not the only person fed up with important games having biased people in charge of their outcome.

Now, lets not lose focus here. Despite my obvious hatred for the anti-Red Wing slant the NHL appears to be taking, we must celebrate the Ducks exit, and the Wings advancing to the Western Conference final. Darren Helm's breakaway speed was always talked about, but was never more clearly demonstrated than it was on the 2nd goal last night. From blue line to blue line Helm split the Anaheim defenders and left them in his dust. It was nice to see the kid finally score after coming so close in previous games. If Helm plays that hard during the regular season, it'll be fun to watch over 82 games. He was the Wings best player in this series.

Bring on the Hawks.

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Mike Babcock adjusted his line-up only 9 minutes into game 4, and in turn, out coached Randy Carlyle who 's one dimensional team was unable to handle the barrage of offense the Big Red Machine began to throw at the unsuspecting water fowl.

Hoping for a repeat performance tonight, the defending Stanley Cup champs came out with guns blazing at home in this pivotal game 5 match up. With Thomas Kocpecky injured after a lopsided fight with Francois Beauchemin, the Wings looked to home grown super forward Justin Abdelkader to provide a spark. Another welcomed surprise line-up change was veteran rear guard Chris Chelios watching from the press box as Derek "multipurpose" Meech takes his place.

The Franzen-Hossa-Fillpula line has been magic, and the mule added another goal notching his 7th in 9 games this post season, and his 20th in 25 playoff games going back to last season. To put that into perspective, if he maintained that pace for an 82 game season, he would have ended up with 65 goals. Alexander Ovechkin won the Rocket Richard trophy this year with 56 goals, and Franzen plays on Detroit's second line!! NHL.com tracks Time On Ice Per Game (TOI/G) and Franzen is at the 18 minute mark, to Ovie's 23 mins. This guy is a beast.

The Wings outshot the water fowl 14-3 after the first period, and rang 2 posts in the first frame. In a sloppy second period both team added 9 shots, before the Wings closed the game by out shooting their opponents by a 15-5 margin. Total shots were 38-17 Wings. The more telling stat, would be the fact the 'old' Red Wings out hit the 'rough, and tough' Ducks 35-18. When one team is doubled in shots AND hits, it's rare to win that game.

This was a lopsided affair and to be blunt, Hiller kept Anaheim in the game. The only reason this series has made it to 6 games is because of a triple over time bounce, a blown call, and Jonas Hiller. Bottom Line.

On an interesting note, Detroit recalled Darren McCarty after game 5. I'd have to assume Babs is looking to have some toughness in case things get out of hand should the Wings dominate game 6.

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How Far Does Your Creativity Go??

The Panamericana School of Art and Design located in São Paulo, Brazil has come up with a very clever and interesting advertising campaign. With a sheet of paper filled with either X's or O's they want you to draw around these letters and see where your creativity takes you. In the São Paulo area they have designed napkin dispensers and place mats with these patterns for people to scribble and draw at their leisure. Larger displays such as subway walls, bathroom stalls, and even T-shirts can be found with black X's or O's for the general public to doodle on while expressing their creativity.

I thought the idea was rather impressive and it'd be an interesting excercise to see what people can come up with. Regardless of your artistic ability, I'm sure you'd get a decent mental workout attempting to fill a page with doodles using either X's or O's. Here are two samples to see what I'm talking about;
















Can you tell the Red Wings have a day off??

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That's more like it.

Tonight Detroit played like the big red machine that Red Wing nation is used to watching. Despite falling behind 1-0 after 42 seconds of play, the defending champs held their composure lead by their big guns. Criticized of late, Hossa exploded with 2 nice goals matching the same feat by playoff scoring sensation Johan Franzen. The first 10 minutes of this game looked as though the Wings hadn't learned anything from the previous games versus the water fowl, but Mike Babcock had a trick up his sleeve. In previous playoff series, Babcock would mix up the lines a bit, putting Datsyuk and Zetterberg together on the same line. That move shifted the Ducks focus, and while Anaheim spent the majority of the evening trying to cover Pavel and Hank, they seemed to forget about Hossa and the Mule.
Hossa was sending a message tonight. Telling the entire NHL why he left truck loads of money on the table in order to wear the winged wheel with pride. I'm sure he can still feel the sting of watching Detroit celebrate their Stanley Cup win from the opposing bench, as the haunting memories are quite vivid in his mind. Tonight, he took matters into his own hands, and helped win back home ice advantage sending this best of three back to Hockeytown.

Franzen was a beast. 2 big goals, 1 sweet assist on Hossa's first, and like a bulldozer he drove Niedermeyer out from the front of the net to provide the screen on Hossa's second of the night.

Chelios looked one hundred and forty-seven years old tonight, and really frightens me when he's out there. I can't wait for Rafalski to get healthy.

Ozzie looked sharp, Darren Helm can absolutely fly out there, and I really liked the looks of Filppula with Franzen and Hossa.

Obviously the win exactly what we needed, but I couldn't help but enjoy watching Mike Brown attempt to throw a big hit, then miss his mark, only to crash into the open gate to the Ducks bench leaving himself winded and in some discomfort. (I wonder how that compares to 10 stitches in the face??) That would be the hockey gods teaching Mikey a lesson.

I'm officially clearing my schedule for Sunday... Series tied at 2...
Game 5 back at the Joe.

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People In Glass Houses...

I despise the Ducks.

Anaheim defender James Wisniewski was injured in Game 3 versus Detroit after taking a Pavel Datsyuk shot to the chest. He left the game and was quickly taken to a nearby hospital and diagnosed with a lung contusion. The controversy the Ducks are whining about is after Wisniewski doubled over on the ice and began to cough up blood.

Head coach Randy Carlyle whined that his player was bleeding because of a Thomas Holmstrom elbow. Now the coach made his whiny post game accusation before knowing the outcome of Wisneiwski's hospital visit. If you look up the symptoms of a lung contusion you'll find;

"Typical signs and symptoms include direct effects of the physical trauma, such as chest pain and coughing up blood..."

Wisniewski is quoted as saying “I was kind of out of it he whole time I was skating around. I looked back and I see it was a blatant elbow when I was hunched over coughing up blood, not even battling. So it shows a little bit of a gutless play by one of their players.”

I'll add links to 2 clips of the same play. One is the TSN feed, the other is the Versus feed. The TSN feed reports the shot injured Wisniewski, and Versus makes it sound like Holmstrom hunted him down with sharpened elbows. As for the victim's quote above... Watch these and let me know if you see him "hunched over" and "not even battling"

TSN feed --------------OR-------------- VERSUS feed

I'm not denying there was an elbow thrown, but you can see 2 critical things. 1) Wisniewski was injured by the shot. and 2) Holmstrom wasn't even looking at Wisniewski when the elbow was thrown. Even the titles of the videos show complete bias. Thomas Holmstrom takes FAR worse in front of the opposition net every single game.

The difference?? Babcock is a classy coach. Carlyle is like a teacher at summertime. No Class.

BUT, I have to say... the pièce de résistance of all this, was Mike "I play 7 mins per game" Brown jumping in to comment about Holmstrom's elbows. If we look back to game 1, I think he'd be the last person to talk about vicious elbows.

Re-enforcements Ready and Willing.

With Detroit's Minor League affiliate (Grand Rapids Griffins) getting eliminated from the AHL post season last night, that frees up a plethora of young talented players to help bolster the current Red Wing lineup. I don't know if Babcock will shuffle his lines and make room for the likes of Leino, Abdelkader, Kindl, Downey and Howard. I could see adding Leino but I don't know which current forward I'd sit to make space. I could see possibly swapping Chelios for Kindl, but I think Babcock would rather the experience Cheli brings and seems comfortable with his 8 minutes per game. Despite taking the blame for Selanne's break away goal early in game 3, the 47 year old drew 2 penalties late in the game to make up for it.

M-Live reports;
Abdelkader, Howard Kindl, Ville Leino and Aaron Downey next will join the parent club Detroit Red Wings as "Black Aces."

The obvious name missing from that list is journeyman Darren McCarty.

Trailing 2 games to 1, with game 4 tonight @ 10:30pm. The Wings had better come out flying.

Yet Another NHL Screw-up

In game 3 of the Detroit/Anaheim series, the Ducks were handed the win as a direct result of a blown call. The TSN panel couldn't believe how bad the call was, and even the commentators made mention of it being a 'premature whistle' and 'for some reason' referee Brad Watson blew it dead just before Hossa scored what would have been the game tying goal with under 1 minute to play. As a direct result of of that blown call, the Ducks went on to win, and the Wings trail 2 games to 1 in this series. I sat in disbelief watching this unfold while colourful expletives ran through my mind. For anyone living under a rock, here's the play that had Wings fans seeing red.

How does a call like this stand and in turn, decide a playoff game? I'm completely and utterly amazed at the fact the NHL is fine with this. James Duthie made a comment regarding the 'common sense' factor. In summary his point was that if the video evidence clearly proves the call was incorrect, why wasn't the call overturned and goal awarded? I'm aware it's a 'non-reviewable play', meaning the war room in Toronto can't overturn the call made on the ice, but when it's a blatant error that decided the outcome of a game... that needs to be considered a reviewable play.

I went to bed angry, and opted to blog about this after letting it sink in, thinking a cooler head would prevail... I was wrong. Over at Abel to Yzerman they didn't hide their distaste for Bettman, his crew of officials, and the league in general.

If you haven’t seen it, you will.

The officiating in this league is the most pathetic of anything just south of professional wrestling.

But the league’s healthier than ever, eh Gary? Is this how you want your playoff games decided?

I’m two games away from being done with this whole charade.

Done with a league that allows the strong to be hamstrung because the pansies can’t keep up.

I’m trying hard not to turn this into a Detroit against the world thing. But watch that play, you know the one, again. Watch it, then consider the phantom Datsyuk penalty in 2007. It’s not anti-Detroit.

It’s just plain incompetence and we all just sit back and take it.

I’ll tell you this. If the Wings lose this series, after that call, I’m going to strongly consider how I can put forth any more time, effort or money toward a sport that has Gary Bettman as its commissioner.

Disgusting.

I read some other sites and found a convenient reply from Barry McGuire (the spokesman of officials for this series) who added;

"A combination of the black puck and the black pants may have been a factor,'' McGuire said. "But when he didn't see the puck, he blew the whistle.''

This is the caliber of people we put in control of a professional sport... Thanks again to Gary Bettman. If the previous post about the Bettman-Balsille power struggle didn't make me hate the little weasel, this incident getting swept under the rug sure will.

He's single-handedly ruining the NHL.

3rd time's a charm?

Research in Motion C.E.O., Jim Balsille, is at it again. With previous attempts to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Nashville Predators falling short, it appears that his dream to own an NHL franchise is still fresh in his mind. Yesterday, the Phoenix Coyotes declared chapter 11 bankruptcy, and shortly there after, Balsille made his offer of 212.5 million dollars with an additional 17 Million dollars to keep them alive during the chapter 11 hearings. Now the biggest issue with his offer, is the one major stipulation he's had in his previous 2 bids. Balsille has made this offer on the grounds that he is able to move the Coyotes to Southwestern Ontario. Current location rumours have included Kitchener-Waterloo (where RIM is located), Hamilton (taking advantage of Copps Coliseum), or even that coveted 2nd Toronto team.

Now I'm sure the vast majority of my readers haven't purchased an NHL team before, and are unsure if that offer is fair or not. To clarify, Forbes ranked Phoenix 30th of 30 NHL teams in order of financial value, and lists the franchise value at 142 million dollars. During the attempted purchase of the Nashville Predators, he set up a season ticket site for the future 'Hamilton Predators', and managed to sell 15,000 season tickets for a team that he didn't even control, thus proving the ferocious demand for another franchise in the Southwestern Ontario area. This time around, Balsille hasn't begun to reserve tickets just yet, but he has started this website called www.makeitseven.com (referring to bringing the Coyotes to Canada and making them the 7th NHL franchise) With the NHL owners sharing revenues across all teams, I can only imagine that the other 29 owners should be drooling at the thought of moving the 30th ranked team (in regards to financial gains) to a hockey crazed market. Sure, Ballsille could have been a little softer in his approach, but the way I see it we are looking at a man with deep pockets who wants to be an NHL owner. Not because it's the only thing he can thing to purchase with his spare $212.5 million, but because he is a hockey fan. A passionate owner who is willing to spend money to put a competitive team on the ice isn't a bad thing at all.

Gary Bettman has never liked the aggressive way Balsille does business, and showed with the Pittsburgh and Nashville situations that he won't allow an owner to pick and choose where a team is located. Since the Coyotes have filed for chapter 11, all ownership responsibilities now fall to Mr. Bettman himself. So if a sale is to happen, it'll have to go through Gary.

I'd love to see another team in Southwestern Ontario... but I can't help but wonder what the fine people in Winnipeg must think. They lost the Jets to Phoenix, and are eager to get a team back in Manitoba, now they might have to watch the team they loved potentially move to Ontario.