"You're Just Jimmy's Type..."

Chris Osgood's bout with the flu is the best thing that ever happened to Jimmy Howard. Along every step of his development, Howard has never been under real pressure to live up to expectations. Whenever he faltered, there was always a safety net of supporters telling him that he was still young, still developing, and that everything would eventually work itself out. Up to this point, Howard has been allowed to develop his game at the lower levels, far away from the toughest job in Detroit, the starting goaltender for the Red Wings.

We all knew Jimmy Howard. He was that guy that everybody said was supposed to be the next great Wings goalie. He was like Dick Clark, he never seemed to age. I swear the kid has been 23 years old since 2004. He was the perpetual light at the end of the tunnel for any Hasek-hater or Ozzie-basher. Howard was widely known as a can't-miss superprospect, but nobody ever seemed to raise the most obvious of questions: "If he's so great, why the hell is he still playing in Grand Rapids?"

In the salary cap era of the NHL, that question has been answered. Teams like the Red Wings don't have the luxury of paying a veteran backup $1-3 million a year to keep the seat warm for a developing youngster. More than ever, young NHL players are being thrown right into the fire because their teams can't find a financial reason to explain why the kid they just paid $15 million should be wasting his skills in Sault Ste. Marie.

Now, Jimmy Howard is no longer a prospect. He is 25 years old. He has plenty of minor league experience. Ozzie is out, it's Jimmy's job for now. It's time for Howard to show us something, and he has. Statistically, Howard has been more than solid in the last few games, but I wasn't 100% convinced until I watched him last night. He was terrific. The Wings allowed far too many odd man rushes (I won't even get started on that), but Howard bailed out his defense on multiple occasions. One of the goals was complete luck, and another was a seeing-eye shot from the point that Howard never saw. Aside from that, he could have stopped the 3rd period goal, but it was by no means soft. All in all, Howard has played well and, aside from last night, the Wings have been winning. Let's not go assigning nicknames or anything, but it's safe to say that the early returns on Jimmy Howard are looking good.

Quick note: How ironic is it that Howard's birthday is March 26, the same day of my greatest Red Wings memory, the 6-5 overtime beatdown (literally) of the Colorado Avalanche that spurred the Wings on to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships? Weird...

The Kronwall Call

I have to agree with Gerard here. That call was pure bullshit. Just because a player gets hurt does not make the hit illegal or dirty. My pee-wee coaches always told me if you put your head down, you're going to get hurt, and they were right. Watch the tape - the puck was in his skates, Kronwall hit him with his shoulder, and he didn't leave his feet (his feet did come up, but that was a result of the collision). The hit was textbook. If I was coaching defensemen now, I would have them watch the tape of Kronwall's check.

What really upset me was how the none of the refs had their hands up, and the penalty was called waayy after the play took place (also, nothing happened to the guy who cross checked Kronwall on top of Havlat). That shows me that it was a he got hurt call. I could understand a late charging call just to calm the situation down, but an after the fact 5 minute major and game misconduct is ridiculous. If you're going to play in the NHL and skate with your head down, you're going to get your clock cleaned, its as simple as that. If you don't like it, watch tennis.

PS) I do hope Martin Havlat recovers from his injury. I never like to see a player get hurt.

Terrible Officiating

I was at the game last night, I saw the hit in person. I saw it on SportsCenter when I got home. I saw it 15 times in the last 5 minutes on YouTube. I have seen Nicklas Kronwall knock Martin Havlat's head off many many times, but my opinion of it hasn't changed since I saw it in real time. It is one of the worst calls I have ever seen, in any sporting event, ever.

If the officials had called charging, that's fine. Kronwall did leave his feet a bit. Maybe his elbow came up? Fine, call elbowing. Shit, call roughing if you want, but don't insult the intelligence of everybody watching the game by calling interference when the puck was right between Havlat's skates. The ref might as well have gotten on the PA and said "Marty Havlat is out cold and we feel bad for him...5 minute major!" If that hit had occurred in Detroit, rather than in front of 22,000 whining Blackhawk fans, there is no way that Kronwall gets 5 minutes. The NHL should be embarrassed.

I never want to see anybody get hurt, and I hope that Havlat makes a full recovery, but you can't call penalties based on the aftermath. It was a clean hit, regardless of whether Havlat had gets up and skates away, or if he's carried off the ice on a backboard. A clean hit is a clean hit. You can't reward a team because one of their players doesn't have the sense to keep his head up. If you skate around looking down at the puck, somebody is going to knock you out, that's hockey. On the flip side, you shouldn't penalize a team beacuse one of their opponents got hurt. This isn't Little League, it's the National fucking Hockey League. Grow some balls refs, and call the game fairly.

NHL On TV

One of the perks of working at the Anchor Bar is I get to watch the Wings games while I restock the beer coolers. A second perk is that I don't have to listen to the morons that call the game for NBC and Versus.

I know I've bashed them before, but I'm going to bash them again. Doc Emrick - his annoying growls drive me up the wall. Brian Engbloom - a poor man's Barry Melrose with a really stupid looking haircut. Keith Jones - always sits sideways and gives utterly useless commentary. One time I was watching the Wings on Versus and the announcer (not Doc Emrick, evidently there is a B crew underneath him) commented after one of Pavel's slick moves that "Pavel Datsyuk must have graduated valedictorian of Awesome School." He seriously said that, and I wanted to throw my Labatt Blue at the TV.

Of all the bad news you read about the Motor City these days, the silver lining is I get to watch hockey on CBC's broadcast. On CBC, I get the Racicot Chrysler and Windsor Lighting boutique commercials. On CBC the announcers don't try to get me fired up with their voice - they let the game do that. Lastly, on CBC I get to watch Ron McLean, who is my favorite (or should I say favourite) in studio sportscaster. Not only does he keep Don Cherry in check, he asks good questions and he provides good analysis himself. His interview of Gary Bettman a few years back just showed what kind of guy he is. He didn't back down from Bettman - he asked tough questions and tougher followups. But he also asked them in a colegial and measured manner, not raising his voice like a cable news anchor would. Also, if you're watching the CBC broadcast, notice how the in studio analysts talk to each other as opposed to the camera. I think the more conversational tone of Kelly Hrudy and Ron McLean talking two each other makes for better TV than Keith Jones reading off of a teleprompter.

Overall, I'm happy with the Wings play this series. Ozzie has played well, and the Wings D has looked sharp. I still want Datsyuk, Hank, and Marian to get it going, but I'm happy that players like Sammualson, Cleary, and Hudler have stepped up. Hopefully the big guys get it going sooner than later.

Wings and Kitties

Wings won game 7, so I still have my job at the Anchor for another series. Also, gotta talk a bit about my Motor City Kitties. Without further adieu, here it goes.

First - glad to see the Wings win game 7, and more importantly glad to see the game winner goal was a garbage goal by Dan Cleary. It wasn't even a rebound, he more so just pushed Hiller's pad into the puck. Who cares though. As any coach says, good things happen if you throw the puck on net and crash the crease, and that's how the Wings got that goal. I would like to see more of this and I would like to see Pavel and Hank show up in the upcoming series.

Second - I really like Darren Helm. Every shift he makes a good play. Its not always a goal. Sometimes its a big check, a takeaway in the neutral zone, or a strong forecheck where he gets the puck back. Either way, the man is scoring a bit now and I couldn't be happier for anyone else on the team. His goal in game 7 showed on grand display his speed, which will be his greatest asset as his career blossoms as a Wing. Weird and depressing to know that he's two years younger than me.

Third - so we're playing the Hawks. Finally we have a good old fashioned Original 6 match up. And as much as I hate the Hawks, I'm glad to see their relevant again. Getting liqueured up at Marge's over the Preds and Blue Jackets just wasn't the same. Either way, I'm happy that I can hate the Hawks again without feeling guilty about how shitily run an organization (say it in Canadian: Org inn I zaa shun) they are. Fuck Chicago and fuck the Hawks. Fuck Eddie the Eagle, fuck Steve Larmer, fuck Chicago style dogs(not as good as Coneys), fuck Old Style (never as good as Stroh's), fuck Fall Out Boy (from Chicago), but don't fuck Chris Chelios. Never thought I'd ever say such nice things about Chelios.

Quick hits - in regards to the Tigers, it appears Dombrowski is back to his old tricks. He is getting undervalued players for nothing, and watching them blossom into stars. Edwin Jackson appears to be the heist of the century so far. I realize he loaded the Tigers up with some big contracts that weren't worth the paper they were signed on (Sheff, Dontrelle, Big League Nate), but he knows how to spot talent in the lower levels, and the Tigers have a good one in Edwin Jackson.

The Jumpshooting Hockey Team

Here comes a game seven folks, and I must admit I am a little nervous. Afterall, my job as a bartender at Detroit's Anchor Bar kindof depends on the Wings. Here are my thoughts on the last game and the game 7 coming up.

First - A lot of complaints in regards to the officiating this series have been voiced on Valenti and Foster. Certainly there were some missed calls, and the officiating could be more consistent. I was not thrilled with a lot of calls and more importantly a lot of non calls. However, in regards to the game last night, I don't think the officiating really cost the Wings the game.

Second - Last night, one team clearly wanted it more than the other. Once team clearly had more jump in their step. Once team clearly beared (did I spell that right?) down and won the little battles. And that team was the Ducks. The Wings looked sluggish, tired, and listless. Their passes were not crisp, and their shots missed the net. I don't know if it was laziness, arrogance, or if it just was one of those nights, but they sure did not look good. Most troubling to me was how little they crashed the net. Once again, they peppered Hiller with shots, but they were easy shots to stop. Instead if creating traffic, blocking his vision, and getting garbage goals, they're shooting the hockey equivelant of jump shots. Just like how if you don't get to the line in basketball you're not going to get far, the same goes with hockey.

Third - the Wings two homegrown horses have got to pick it up. Hank and Pavel have been noticebly quiet this series, and that has to change. I know the Mule has played great, but theres a reason your big guns are your big guns. For Stanley to to come back to Detroit this year, our two best players must start playing like they're our best players. The Defense is handling its business. Two goals is not an insurmountable amount, but you can't win if you start scoring and getting pressure on with 5 minutes left in the third period. I think the first period of game 7 will be key to deciding which Red Wings team shows up, and who advances to the next round.

Quick Hits - Just watched Curtis Granderson hit a triple then induce Twins pitcher Jesse Crain into a BALK. Curtis Granderslam (I think that should be his nickname, its punchy and is a good play on words) is my Tiger, and has come through in the clutch twice the past couple weeks. While I was in a really good mood after seeing that, I had to watch one of those stupid Lady Janes commercials right afterwards. Not wicked awesome at all.

I'm Back and the Wings are too

Sorry it's been so long everybody (and by everybody I mean the four people that might actually read this). You can attribute my long break from writing to forgetfulness and laziness. From now on I'm going to try to keep my posts shorter, as opposed to writing the 6 page anti-Bettman manifestos that make up my previous work.

First - gotta talk about the no goal call. I was so mad I couldn't sleep for hours, but after some thought and watching the replay in the morning, I'm not as upset. The ref was in the right position, and made the right call to blow it dead. What really burns a hole in my pantyhose is that the call was not reviewable. The other on ice official should be able to overrule such a call if he had a better angle, and all those cameras should have been put to use in Toronto. I still think hockey is the most difficult game to officiate, so much respect to the refs. However they're human, they make mistakes, and they should be able to review goal calls like this (for the love of God though, do not use replay for penalties and other stuff, just goals.)

Second - glad to see the Wings finally show up and start playing hockey again for three periods. I saw glimmers of hope in that third period in game three, but for the first time the Winged Wheelers had their foot on the gas the whole game. They finished their checks, set the tone for the game, and more importantly they crashed the net. During the past couple games, the Wings turned into the hockey equivalent of a jumpshooting basketball team. Sure they got a bunch of shots on Hiller, but they were weak and easy for him to see.

Third - really happy to have Marian Hossa going now. You could see the "about time" look of relief on his face while he celebrated his first goal. In Rod Allen terms, he had been scuffeling all series, and maybe was starting to press a bit. It's good that he got the scoreless in this series monkey off his back, and I hope Datsyuk with his eyes by Dr. Rahmani gets it going soon too.

Quick Hits - So most of the actors from the Mighty Ducks have not gone on to win Oscars, but you still see them around. The Captain Charlie Conway, played by Joshua Jackson, has gone on to play Pacy in Dawsons Creek and now has a part on Fringe. Jesse Hall, played by Brandon Quintin Adams, also appeared in one of the greatest baseball movies ever, The Sandlot (he's the pitcher that throws the heater.) You even see Goldberg in that Castrol commercial where he orders fries and a shit ton of oil falls on his car. However, the imdb connection that stunned me was realizing that my beloved Connie Moreau, played by Marguerite Moreau, grew up to play the call girl Vicky in Mad Men (Season 2, ep. 4, Three Sundays.) Connie got hot.

Since when is Ed Hochuli reffing NHL playoff games?

The NHL needs to do something about quick whistles. For the most part, they are harmless, but when they start costing teams playoff games, something has to be done. In last night's Red Wings/Ducks game, it should have been as simple as going to the replay, which clearly showed that the puck was still loose when the whistle was blown, and then giving Marian Hossa his goal and sending the game into overtime. Watching the replay, it wasn't a situation where play stopped right at the whistle and Hossa scored because everyone else had stopped playing. Everyone on the ice except the men in black and white saw that the puck was still alive and kept on playing.

This error is frighteningly Hochuli-esque. In fact, it's exactly the same issue. The referee made an incorrect call and blew the whistle too early, screwing one team out of a game-altering play. So why can't the NHL just fix this the same way the NFL has? Instruct referees to wait on the whistle until they are absolutely sure that they play is dead. If a goal is scored and there's a question that the puck may have been covered, go to the replay. Like I said before, when a bad rule starts costing teams playoff games, it needs to be fixed. As much as I hate to rely on Gary Bettman for anything (I wouldn't trust that moron to deliver a fucking pizza to my house), it's on him to fix this problem. We're screwed.

Who the fuck is Jonas Hiller?

The Wings and Ducks will begin their Western Conference Semifinal on Friday and as I look over the lineups for both teams, I am left wondering only one thing: Who the fuck is Jonas Hiller? What happened to the days of Mighty Ducks (yes, they were still mighty back then) goaltenders with goofy French-Canadian names? Where are Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Guy Hebert? Seriously though, outside of this Hiller fella, these Ducks look all too familiar. The Niedermayers and their magnificent playoff beards, Getzlaf, Perry, Pronger, and the ageless Teemu Selanne headline for the Ducks, just as the did a few years ago, when the Ducks knocked the Red Wings out of the playoffs. They are feeling great, coming off an upset of the Joe Thornton (hockey's answer to Arod) and playing a team that they have beaten in the past. One might think that these Ducks would be primed to make this upset...

That said, the Ducks are not going to be able to push the Red Wings around like they did the Sharks. The Wings have always been widely considered a finesse team, and they certainly don't drop the gloves as often as some other squads, but that doesn't mean that they aren't tough. Most of the time, the Wings choose not to throw their weight around, because they don't have to. The Wings are the most skilled team in the league and smartly, they play to their strength. But do not confuse skill and speed with a lack of toughness. There is no team with more playoff experience than this Red Wings team, and consequently, no team with more collective mental (and testicular, for that matter) fortitude. This makes me think that this series might be shorter than the experts think. The Red Wings are clearly the more talented team, they know it, and they will act accordingly. There are absolutely no distractions. The Wings are in the familiar role of Stanley Cup favorite, there is no other juggernaut left in the Western Conference, so there is nothing for the Wings to look ahead to, and although the Wings and Ducks have played in the playoffs before, there really isn't much of a rivalry factor in this series.

Although these two organizations (please use the Canadian pronunciation) have battled in the playoffs in the past, the animosity isn't exactly bubbling over. This isn't Wings/Avs in the late 90's. The Ducks have no Claude Lemieux or Patrick Roy to serve as a target for the ire and octopi of Red Wing fans. The Wings/Ducks conflict is simply familiarity, with a light dusting of dislike. Early on, the Ducks will try to escalate the rivalry and turn this series into cage fight, because they know it's the only way they can win. A lesser team might get sucked into a fist fight, but Mike Babcock will not allow his Red Wings to lose their focus. After a tough Game 1, the Wings will establish themselves as the superior team and take control. I see this series turning out just like the '97 Conference Semifinal between the Wings and the then-Mighty Ducks. The Ducks forced three of the four games into overtime, but were still swept. I don't see a sweep coming in this series, but I think Detroit takes out Anaheim in a hard-fought 5 games.

Bring on the Blackhawks.

Ken Holland is the Greatest GM Ever

By Pete McGrath

Back in college, the only people who seemed to care about hockey were the guys on the JCU Bluestreak's club hockey team. They were pretty good buddies of mine and they were the only guys in my whole dorm that I could talk hockey with. Whenever an argument would come up about the Red Wings, they usually lumped my beloved Red Wings into the same catagory as the eeeevil New York Yankees. The simalarities did exist, with the limitless payroll (78 million bucks for a hockey team!) and the ability to always land one more all-star at the trade deadline.

However, the comparason at the time was not completely accurate. While the Yankees by far and away had the highest payroll in baseball, the Wings payroll was pretty close to the Rangers, who never went anywhere. I also pointed out that as much as the wings spend on free agent players, the core of those Wings teams were homegrown guys. Yzerman, Fedorov, and Lidstrom were all drafted and developed by the Wings. After the lockout, it seemed the Wing's party was going to be over. Kenny Holland was good at putting a team together, but it seemed like anybody could with Illitch's wide open checkbook. Now that the salary cap would be in place, the Wings would have to draft and develop their team from within, and would have a tougher time keeping guys around. Man did I underestimate Ken Holland.

Datsyuk, Lidstrom, and Hank Zetterberg are all locked up for the forseable future. There is a possibility of enough room for Franzen and Hossa to stick around. While certain players might have to retire or get traded, I have the full confidence that Ken Holland has the players in his farm system to replace them. The next generation of Val Filpula, Jiri Hudler, Datsyuk and Zetterberg type players are probably already working on their game in Grand Rapids.

What this man has accomplished is astounding. With a payroll that was practically cut in half, he has rebuilt the Wings into the dominant team in the league. Plus this was accomplished without a Florida Marlins style fire sale. There is no other GM in sports with this strong a resume.

Winter Classic

The NHL has done well two years in a row now in regards to the Winter Classic. Wrigley Field may not have had the best sight lines, but I don't think anybody in the crowd cared.

I do consider myself a uniform buff, and both teams looked really sharp this year in the throwback sweaters. The Olde-English D was a nice toss up to the Wings history before they were the Red Wings- they were actually the Detroit Cougars at the time. The Wings unis were completed by some pretty kickass bumble bee socks. Hopefully in the future, the Wings don these and the old Detroit Falcons jerseys for a couple games a year. The Hawks jerseys looked sharp as well, with the big chest stripe and the old school logo crest. Even the coaches on both clubs got into the act, wearing old fasioned looking varsity jackets. However, the best dressed not has to go to the Red Wing's bench. As much as I love Coach Babcock's gloriously blowdried coif, it was a really nice touch to wear the fedoras. Hopefully they bought them at Henry the Hatter.

I initially was upset at the league for putting the game on New Years Day, but I now think it was great idea. New Years is a day where nobody is at work, and everyone is at home hungover and looking for something to do. If you're a hockey fan, you're going to watch anyway. If you're normally a football fan, you might stumble upon the game for the first time and see how cool it is. My only question is if maybe the league should make it an all day thing, such as the NFL's Thanksgiving lineup. This way you have all day to capture the channel surfers, and more cities are involved.

In conclusion, it seems the NHL has a hit on its hands. It's a cool idea, and for once under Gary Bettman's reign of terror an event has been marketed well. I raise an ice cold Labatt to the NHL for this one.