An Emotional Rollercoaster

That's the best way to describe this past weekend of hockey. On my long ass car ride to Disney I followed along on the live blog and felt like poking my eye out with a pencil. I begged my niece for one of her crayons but I think she was skeptical of my motivation and denied me. I was depressed. down 3-0, Dasyuk was out, Draper was out, and Kronwall had been given a game misconduct for what Versus and CBC apparently found to be a perfectly clean hit. Yeah, that alone made me react spastically enough for a 2 year old to ask why I was "weird." And then somehow this amazing, driven, championship team, fought back through all the adversity and bullshit and tied it up, just to lose in over time during some freak stick breaking...or something...anyway, that's the best I could figure out from reading and watching Sportscenter that night.

Everything has already been said, about the hit and about the game. What a shitty way to end a car ride and a long day. I felt deflated and I'm pretty sure my fiance's family thought I was completely crazy for letting the game affect my attitude....although my little niece did ask if I was so sad because of the Red Wings...I think I have a future fan on my hands.

But after the low of Friday, came Sunday. Thank baby Jesus the game was on NBC and I had a few options of bars to watch it....because for some reason the Indy 500 was on the big screen at the ESPN Zone and the Wings game was forced to some small TV in a corner. But I guess I should expect that by now. So when I finally settled down, with a drink I was immediately bitch slapped in the face. Not only were Datsyuk and Draper out, but Lidstrom, Fucking Mr. Norris himself, was also out. What the hell...his first missed playoff game, ever, I wasn't prepared for that shit. I felt like one of the many toddlers I saw running around the park, sad, scared, pissed, frustrated, and perhaps a little poopy, but with no words to explain exactly what was going on. I'm sure I let out some grunts, swear words, and general confused bitching in a state of terror. I'll be honest, I didn't feel very good about Sunday's game.

Chicago was essentially handed the game in a gift box with a giant bow. I envisioned Gary giggling like a little school girl. Running, skipping, jumping around with a cherry lollipop and rainbows and unicorns occasionally shooting out of his ass. I mean could you imagine his excitement? I'm sure it was better than the Crosby picture he "occasionally" jacks off to.

It was all there, Norris out, Draper out, Datsyuk out, "revenge" for the Kronwall hit was pure motivation, the momentum from a hard fought OT win, and of course a home crowd screaming Detroit Sucks. I mean seriously, if you can't fucking win with all of that going on...then you truly are a disgrace to the NHL, and you owe every fan in Chicago a heart felt apology, just pathetic.

And just as sad as Chicago was, Detroit showed that they are the consummate professionals. Somehow they dug deep and put together one of their most complete 60 minute performances all season. Without their leader, Zetterberg stepped up and reconfirmed why he is the next captain in waiting. The defense really took their game to another level. And although Kronwall had a disappointing regular season, during the playoffs he has been great, and his composure on Sunday was amazing. I'm sure he isn't used to be booed every time he touches the puck. I know I shouldn't be but I was absolutely surprised with their ability to compartmentalize and come up big when necessary. Hossa and Filppula stepped up when needed.

I will say watching Chicago have a complete and utter melt down was incredibly entertaining. From Quenneville nearly popping neck veins on the bench, to Versteeg becoming intimately acquainted with the penalty box, it really was a comedy of errors. We all knew this team was immature, but really....do you think Scotty or Babcock would have put up with that display of childish behavior if they were the coach...yeah not a chance. The ref wouldn't need to be handing out any game misconducts because their ass would be on the bench. During my time at Disney this weekend I saw many exploding diapers, temper tantrums, and non stop screaming and crying....but nothing compared to the bitch fit Chicago displayed on national television....it was epic.

Due to my lack of computer access this weekend, everything about Friday and Sunday's games has already been written. I've read it on my blackberry which is now in need of quite a rest....so I'll just finish this post with a few other thoughts.

The Chief has the classic youtube clip of Mule ripping out Kane's mouth guard and throwing it to the ice. Honestly how perfect was it for him to take little Patrick's binky, or pacy, or boppy away during his temper tantrum....and Cleary's laughter, priceless. Well that and Kane then quickly backing down like a little bitch. Loved it.

After the win on Sunday, I was rocking my Dangle Dangle shirt and doing the family thing in the park when in line, I ran into another Wings fan. She had a pink Red Wings tshirt on. (yeah should have known just from that) So she looks at my tshirt, giggles, and screams Go Wings! So I start talking to her. Ask her about Lidstrom being out, what she thought about the game, you know yada yada, small talk. She stared at me blankly, smiled, and screeched, "oh my God I love Zetterberg. He looks just like Jared Leto." And then I glared, realizing I have just tried to converse with one subset of female fans I cannot stand, the puck bunny. Trust me, you don't even want to know what her response was when I asked her if she knew who Steve Yzerman was. It was disgusting, and I don't care if it's wrong, but as a woman I was embarrassed. So I was quickly moved away from the offending girl by my fiance, before I gave the Disney police any reason to escort me from the park. Why am I sharing this story? It's good to be back in time for Wednesday's game, with computer access and the ability to watch the game puck bunny free.

I'll have much more tomorrow. Until then, Happy Memorial Day, and thanks to all the brave men and women who served our country.

Weekend Round-up

Is it the second round yet? Thursday seems like 8 years ago, and their next game won't be until Thursday or Friday of this week. Definitely miss Red Wing hockey.

But I guess this has allowed me to catch up on some of the other games since then....Well the Rangers choked....yet again. Lundquist was pulled..yet again. Different day same story with them. Today was the Rangers game seven, and I think it's safe to say they Washington should advance. Dammit. Would have loved to see Ovechkin and his butt buddy Mike Green knocked out in the first round. For some reason whenever I say or type Green's name I feel like singing "Mike Jones" hmmmm

Anaheim also choked on their own expectations on Saturday allowing the series to go on to a game 6. Tisk Tisk. They really need to close this series out on Monday before Marleau and Thornton pull their heads out and find the remaining missing portions of their game. I can only imagine seeing the Sharks knocked out of the first round would feel like Christmas morning.

The Wings had a much deserved day off on Friday with a Saturday practice. The good news from Saturday, Osgood made it through the entire practice. Always a good sign. Now if he can turn into super human, dream crushing form....the Wings should be call set.

Snapshots with this quote:

Chris Osgood had a bit of a hip twinge in Game 4, but is also out at practice, which is clearly a good sign. He could easily have taken the day off, since the Wings won't resume playing until late next week, probably Thursday.

I talked to Osgood after practice, and he said he "felt fine." Now, players are hesitant this time of year, of course, to divulge anything so much as a hangnail, but to reiterate: Osgood could very easily have gotten Saturday off. The fact he went through the whole practice speaks volumes.

And apparently Cleary can practice for now, but will need to rest between game days. Hopefully this continues to work for him like it did in the first series.

Because of the long layoff, forward Dan Cleary practiced Saturday. Once they get back into playing games every other day, though, Cleary said there's a good chance he won't skate on the non-game days because of a "lower-body" injury.

And how could you possibly have a weekend round up with out the bitch fit, temper tantrum, and all around hypocritical act of 2009....my favorite part is he just benched Avery for not keeping his cool....I'd be scared to see him completely lose his shit.