Jimmy's facial to Sid? Icing on a sweet cake.

Would everyone out there agree that this was the single best game the Wings have played this season? I know the snap judgment in society dictates that everything that just happened is the biggest, best thing of all time, but tonight's game was a total and complete effort. 60 minutes of badass, we're the Detroit Red Wings and we're going to dick punch you until we're bored, and then we're going to give you the old Cleveland Steamer for shits and giggles (you may be asking "Who would provide the steamer?" I'm glad you asked. Brett Lebda. You can just tell by looking at him. Doesn't make him a bad person, just different).

My thoughts on tonight's game:

1. Nice game by, oh, everyone. I literally have nothing to complain about. Even in victories I can usually find something to nitpick. Not tonight.

2. Jimmy should've had the shutout. Damned weirdass bounce in front. Oh well. He'll have to settle for a win against the asshat Penguins. Good consolation prize.

3. I know he didn't have two goals tonight, but Datsyuk was just amazing on the ice tonight. During one of the power plays, he was kind of a one-man power play out there with chance after chance. He created, he took control of the game, and onwed that shit tonight. Good on him.

4. Derek Meech had a good game in limited ice time. Did you read that correctly Pens? DEREK MEECH looked serviceable against you tonight. As a forward. The position he does NOT play on the regular.

5. This was the first Vs. broadcast we've seen this season due to the petty, childish Direct TV/Comcast feud (for the record - TSO was extremely pro Direct TV, as Comcast is the devil). Pens vs. Wings, you would expect, oh, I dunno, an NBC style broadcast......didn't happen. No excessive fawning over the Pens. The Red Wings got mentioned, so that was nice. But Doc and Edzo were.....good. Which makes me appreciate how shitty NBC's coverage of hockey is. I mean, for me, I didn't have much to compare it to. Vs was blacked out all season and I've never had it before. Local Fox Sports and Comcast sports channels do a good job. But kudos to Vs. It was also nice to NOT see Pierre McGuire or Milbury.

6. Good game Wings. Jimmy, Z, Pav, everyone.

On a totally separate note, H2H is fast around the corner. Since this might be the last time I post before then (unless that crafty Nat talks me into another game recap!), I just wanted to express how exciting this is. I mainly thought of all this tonight because I just reserved our car for the trip (full size baby because TSO is stylin'). Charity, hockey, and a chance to hang with the best blog community in the world.......amazing. I mean, folks chipped in, and now we're shipping up a guy from Brazil to see a Wings game! AND we raised a bunch of money for charity. AND Michael Petrella is going to wear a fabulous Bert tribute shirt. Life is good. Can't wait to meet everyone!

We've been waiting for this since June.

Don't forget to truck on over to Winging It in Motown during tomorrow's game to participate in the live game thread. For every comment posted, money will be donated to the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti. You can also contact WIM's Casey to donate directly. Brian will be repping the TSO duo tomorrow; he's promised to refrain from horribly inappropriate commentary--however, I feel the need to tell you he won't be wearing pants. This shouldn't affect how he communicates with everyone tomorrow, but it will definitely affect how you feel every time you see something pop up from him.

Wings @ Penguins. Sunday. 12:30 p.m.

Our hockey day festivities will be in the form of a game, which we are sharing with you hereafter. It's kind of a bingo/drinking game mashup, meaning you can play the game however you so choose. If you want to play postage stamp, upper right corner, fine. If you want to chug a little every time one of the following things happens, fine. All we know is that we're not over what happened in June, and if the Wings' effort against Pittsburgh sucks ass, we'll probably lose our damn minds. (Also, I have a healthy dose of trash talk on the line here, personally. And really, I just cannot psychologically handle a piss poor effort on our part against this team.)

Let's go, Wings.

Wings pluck Ducks, 7-4.

So, here's the scoring summary from last night's extravaganza:

1st period:
1. Dan Cleary (DET)
2. Brian Rafalski (DET)

2nd period
3. Corey Perry (ANA)

3rd period
4. Bobby Ryan (ANA)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
6. Joffrey Lupul (ANA)
7. Henrik Zetterberg (DET)
8. Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
9. Henrik Zetterberg (DET)
10. Darren Helm (DET)
11. Henrik Zetterberg (DET)

The fact that the Ducks tied the game on three separate occasions just about killed me. I don't know why it surprised me because it's what these two teams do when they meet up. But still. It was one of those best-ever-kind of games because the Wings maintained pressure and persevered, and the rollercoaster ride was just a part of the journey of getting there.

It was kinda like going to the doctor because you're feeling sorta weird, and you're worried that you might be knocked up, so you do a pee test, and the doc comes back and says, "Good news! You're not pregnant!" And being the awesome person you are, you start doing the requisite ceremonial fist pumps and high-fiving the nursing staff, and then the doctor sheepishly says, "You do, however, have syphilis." Yiiiiikes.

Yeah, kinda like that. Only more awesome because Detroit won, and virtually VD-free, at that.

***

So, the big news is obviously that Henrik Zetterberg earned himself a hat trick last night, marking also the first Detroit hat trick of this still relatively new season. He owned this game. I mean, seriously. Bought the copyrights to it and everything.



In related news, Jonathan Ericsson is the proud owner of the second-worst thing I saw all night, passing the puck from behind the net to Ryan Getzlaf, who swiftly sent it to Corey Perry, who scored the Ducks' first goal. It was a great play...if you're a Ducks' fan.

One thing of absolutely no consequence (other than providing sunshine to my soul), how adorable is it to see Tomas Holmstrom laugh in the faces of Ducks' players who head straight for him between whistles? Yeah, I know, it's nothing new; Homer is a wanted man in every city (cue Styx's "Renegade"). But last night, the camera caught him at just the right time/angle, and he was straight up laughing in some person's face. God, I love this guy. After he retires, I'll pay him $5 a day to hang out with me every day.

I'm happy to see that the Ducks still have the same shiteous attitude problem. I especially enjoyed Erik Christensen smashing his stick on the ice after one of the Wings' early goals, as well as Getzlaf slinging his water bottle aside when he was sent to the sin bin for dry humping cross-checking Zetterberg toward the end of the first period. (I know Getzy is probably as mesmerized as we all are by the power of Hank's magical whiskers, but seriously, if you want to see if he'll caress your face with them, at least ask before attacking. Manners, anyone?)

But anyway, thanks, Anaheim, for still being that team that's so easy to hate. You make my job as an arrogant Detroit fan that much easier when I can bask in the smug superiority of rooting for a team that makes asshats like you lose your shit after being down only 2-0 at the end of the first period.

***

Oh, and if anyone's curious as to what the worst thing I saw all night was, did anyone else catch the end of the Pittsburgh/Boston game? We turned it on with approximately five minutes left in the third period. The Bruins had just tied the game with a power play goal at 4-4; then, the Bruins scored with 2:30 left in the third period to take the lead, 5-4. The Pens pulled Brent Johnson with over 1:30 to go. The two teams struggled to gain control of the puck, and for all but, oh, say, 2 seconds of the empty net situation, they were battling along the boards in Pittsburgh's end, right beside the empty net. Finally, the Pens break away with the puck and manage to put it in the net--with 0.4 left in the game. Four-tenths of a fucking second. Seriously.

But wait, that's still not the worst part. In overtime, Pittsburgh controlled the puck for most of the play. The puck sailed from center ice to Tim Thomas, who, for some reason, went behind the net to play the puck, but didn't clear it up the boards. The puck went right to Jordan Staal, who passed it to Pascal Dupuis, who sent it right into what was essentially an unguarded net. Pens win in OT. And Bruins fans everywhere fall on the sword. Horrible.

Hmmmmm...

And one more thing, while I've got the Pens on the brain:

Are these two hermanos?





I mean...I can see what #48 is thinking, for Christ's sake.

Yesterday felt so good...

You know, in that borderline inappropriate way--somewhere between having amazing, mind-blowingly awesome sex with a stranger and having the burning sensation when you take a pee. Not that I know anything about the latter. Ahem. Anyway...

I know, I know: It was only the preseason. And I know they were missing their Hart candidate and their crybaby captain. And Maxinme Talbot, the guy who still gives me nightmares.

But...

We fucking beat them. 4-1. Without our captain/9,237-time winner of the Norris Trophy and without Henrik Zetterberg, the guy who must still give Sid the Kid nightmares. Ahhhh, vengeance--even meaningless vengeance--is sweet.

We beat them by having our backup goaltender play the entire game. We beat them, despite having an egregious number of giveaways (27, to the Pens' 10). We beat them despite getting outhit by them.

Jimmy Howard played his best game of the preseason yesterday. He made a couple of outstanding saves and even made me relax to the point of not reaching for some liquid courage by the third period. The call that gave Jordan Staal his penalty shot was questionable, but I'm glad it happened; Howard's save on this shot had to be a great confidence-booster, not only for Howard, but for the other guys on the ice, and those of us watching at home.

Derek Meech and Ville Leino each stepped up their game yesterday, as well. Meech got off to a shaky start at the beginning of the first period, but once he snapped out of his coma and began playing like someone who doesn't want to stay in Grand Rapids for the rest of his life, he actually had a decent game; he had a couple of blocked shots and decent hits that stood out. I'm not crazy about him and doubt I ever will be; I definitely won't be mourning his departure, whenever it may be, but while he's here and playing for us (and will inevitably get called up to fill in), I'd appreciate it if he continued to play like he did for the later part of yesterday's game, with some sense of purpose and enthusiasm.

I've been slow to warm to Leino during the past year or so. During most of the preseason, I still didn't feel warm and fuzzy toward him; however, he performed excellently during yesterday's game. In addition to scoring a gritty goal, he made several great passes--or at least attempted some great passes--that show that this guy has a great intuitive sense of placement on the ice. He seemed to position himself for better opportunities during this game than at any other point during the preseason. I just wish I could go five minutes without watching him get knocked off the puck. Grrr...

Did I mention how awesome it was to see Pavel Datsyuk score a goal? I feel like I haven't seen Pasha score in four trillion years. There aren't enough good things to say about his ice vision or his charity in passing the puck to his teammates, but Jesus H. Christ, isn't it great when he gets selfish? I heart this guy.

Not counting yesterday's final score, my favorite aspect of the game HAS to be the fact that the Pens continued the trend of losing their shit when they are trailing. It's one thing to get chippy and fire up your teammates; it's another to start crap between whistles, resulting in ridiculous and purposeless penalties. (See Game 5, 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.) I love, love, LOVE that the Pens still do this. Let's be honest: It's that borderline inappropriate feeling again. Furthermore, I love that Old Man RiverBill Guerin, the man who's supposed to be the Pens' veteran voice of reason, led the team in penalty minutes.

Is it really four months until we meet these guys again?

Bring on the regular season, bitches.

Post Numero Uno

The very first post of the blog I've been contemplating the creation of for the past several months: The Scrappy Octopus. Truth be told, the biggest hang-up I had was that I couldn't think of a name awesome enough to be worthy of writing about the best team in hockey. I kept mulling over creative plays on words, but nothing really stuck until I thought of combining one of the best traditions in all of sports--octopus-throwing--with one of my favorite characteristics of hockey players (and people in general): scrapiness (is that a word?). Hence, The Scrappy Octopus (the "the" at the beginning is to give it a little pizazz, to make it official...you know, to put some stank on the entire idea).

So, here it is. The first post. So much pressure...

.......................................................................................................

Well, to break the ice, I suppose I can introduce myself and explain what the purpose of this thing is. In case the vermilion-adorned octopus in the banner didn't grab your eye, I am a Red Wings fan. I love them more than life itself. I love talking about them. I love thinking about them. I love reading what other people write about them. As a matter of fact, during the roughly 3/4 of the year that comprise the hockey season, I turn into a mindless drone, capable of conversing about non-hockey-related topics for only brief interludes--basically just enough to keep myself gainfully employed. So, I figured, what the heck? Instead of alienating people I know personally with my nonstop, ad nauseum hockey obsession, why not give a good ol' college try to this blogging thing? It can only improve my personal life, right? We'll see how this experiment goes...

Oh, and speaking of the banner: If it looks like it costs $5, that's because it pretty much did. It cost me the $4.45 I spent on a tall "harvest moon" latte at the local coffeehouse, where I went to obtain quality internet access (dial-up at mi casa = major fail). Also, don't be fooled by the fancy shmancy font on the banner, either; far from being classy, this blog strives to be super tacky and uber offensive, so get pumped about that. If at any point this blog comes across as educational or useful, you should ask for your $5 back.

So...30 +/- minutes until the puck drops on the first meet-up with the Pens since...eh, still don't wanna talk about it. Sadly, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sidney Crosby won't be on hand today. That's ok, we still have this:



Oh, and maybe we'll get lucky, and those two trolls Chris Kunitz and Sergei Gonchar will cease stabbing our goaltender between whistles. And while they're at it, maybe they'll both go eat a dick.

Welcome to The Scrappy Octopus!

Let's go, WINGS.