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16
May

Whine & Cheese: The Sequel

By Daniel 33 Comments
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Finals, Ducks, Game Reviews, Hockey, Injuries and Players

Wow, that was a pretty embarrassing loss. I don’t think anyone should take it too seriously though, but the Red Wings sure did roast Anaheim last night. I can’t really single anything out except the late goal by Holmstrom in the first, that one looked like a punch in the stomach. Everyone played like shit last night, especially Scott Niedermayer, but we already know that don’t we? He let two cross ice slot passes by that went in for goals, that is pretty bad. The Ducks seem like they thought tonight would be cake, that Detroit wouldn’t have anything left in the tank after losing game two in over time. I personally thought the same thing, I didn’t think the Red Wings would be able to shake the loss off that easily, but I was wrong and they did.

Detroit did an excellent job of mixing everything up last night, Mike Babcock and his coaching staff drew up some good stuff in the sand. That goes to show you how good their team is and how cohesive they are if you can role any three forwards together and get results. One way to stop the shut down line of the Ducks is to make sure they aren’t playing against your teams best forwards, last change didn’t mean a damn thing in game three, they were beaten at every level.

As for the big hit on Holmstrom, they nabbed the wrong guy, Niedermayer hit him with his shoulder and Pronger shoved him. Pronger also hit him in the upper back and rolled up to his head with the forearm. Holmstrom’s helmet came off a little to easy, as was evident a few other times in the game. I am not saying what Pronger did was right, it is fucked up to try to injure anyone, if that was his intention. Obviously I come from my perspective as a Ducks fan and say a penalty for Pronger, but no suspension needed. So all the Red Wings fans get up in arms, you want the suspension and you want him arrested, etc. You would have the same reaction if the roles were flipped, but you wont attest to that, so lets just keep going.

But some of these comments you guys leave are fucking ridiculous. The Red Wings won in a very exclamation type fashion, you all stayed up late so you could go to all the Ducks blogs and comment on how awesome your team played. Some even saying “we”. Players don’t say ‘”we”, they say the fans were great or they call them a sixth man or something like that. Some people need to separate fantasy from reality. Then others wish mortal harm against Chris Pronger? What the fuck!?!

I never did like him, funny how I felt sorry for him when he took the puck to the heart a few years back. Now I recognize him for the goon he is. - Rocket Rob

Then someone else was chirping about the Getlaf high stick was a good thing, which was about an inch from ending the wonderful career he has ahead of him. This is some sick shit, real classy. I cheer for a team that played a not so clean game last night, really one play, but I will be damned if I EVER wish harm on someone.

The league will go ahead and do what it wants about this whole issue. So you can throw up all your little poles, buzz about in your comments and forums or call the commissioner. I have zero problem with the Red Wings hockey team and even most of its fans. Like I said, you are like Yankee fans and think you are on a pedestal, maybe that will change in game four, seeing as how you can’t borrow goals from a previous game.

I think what upset me the most about the game last night was that I upgraded my cable package so I could get the MOJO channel, which switches to Versus HD when a hockey game is being broadcasted. Not only did the Ducks lay a golden egg, the quality of the video was half ass. Plus the commentators for Versus couldn’t get anyones name right either, damn it!

Let the hate comments commence…

13
May

Knew It All Along

By Daniel 12 Comments
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Finals, Ducks, Game Reviews, Hockey and Injuries

I wont be a complete ass tonight, because I was very impressed by the character of this Red Wings team. They had an answer for every goal the Ducks scored, except the last one of course. They took the pounding and even handed some of it out as well. But that doesn’t really matter right now, the series is tied and it’s time to come back to some nice weather. The Wings know that this one slipped away, the look on their faces when they went to the locker room summed it up. I know this is the most biblical Red Wings team in recent memory according all the online fans and I don’t know what I am talking about when it comes to the team, blah blah blah. Let us see what they come with on Tuesday after losing in OT.

As for the Ducks play, what can you say. They played physical, they played fast but they were not that sharp. I don’t have enough fingers to count the turnovers or bad passes they made. That isn’t normal, one thing Anaheim does well is pass, especially the outlet pass, they looked like crap. But they won the game without on of their best forecheckers and more responsible forwards. So it should be a great game three, hopefully the crowd can ignore their cell phones long enough to cheer for the team without needing the “LETS GET LOUD” graphic.

I wont pick scores anymore, at least not to where a team wins by more then one goal, because that probably wont happen.

11
May

Let The Game Begin

By Daniel 2 Comments
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Finals, Ducks, Former Ducks, Hockey, Players and Pre-Game

Today is the day, the day that everyone online can shut up for 3 hours and take in what should be the start of an awesome first to four slugfest. This wont be the soft Wild team with reigning goon champ Boogard or a Vancouver squad who didn’t look like they wanted to start the physical game with the Ducks. Detroit will bring it and you know they will drop the gloves if it does come to that, but more likely just get togethers in front of the net and in the corners. Face washes, slashes to the shin guards, pushing, shoving…hockey damnit! There are no Sean Avery’s to piss people off and not get in it, anyone who starts something will finish it. Detroit has seen this in both of their series, so this shouldn’t be anything new to them.

All the players are saying the first ten minutes are the most important, eight days is a lot of time off after all. I would expect a minor bit of rust, but once that first shift is over at Joe Louis, everyone will be dialed in. I will bet a lot of money that the team that shows up tonight will be the team that showed up in game one of the Vancouver series. The team that came at you to boot up your ass, that kind of attitude. Bet your ass that Anaheim will not come out flat in this game, Randy Carlyle and the veterans will simply not allow that. They will stress the fact these Wings are slightly crippled. Finish every check, if you have support and can get away with it, lay down the big hit. Beauchemin will take that opportunity, he would love to change the attitude of a game with one shift. He has had a decent hit in each series, no reason to think that changes here.

The majority of media types are picking the Ducks. Not because they hate Detroit, media doesn’t pick against the Yankees, they just say they don’t like them. When someone makes a prediction on a game or a series, they want to be right, not because they dislike the other team. Anaheim was built for this moment and everyone knows it. They wont fizzle out in crunch time like past Ottawa teams. Top to bottom, they are the most complete team remaining in the playoffs and beg someone to argue that. The other three teams may have an edge in something like third defensive pairing or fourth line scoring balance, but when you can interchange guys on different lines double them up, it balances out.

I really hope that Todd Bertuzzi shows up in this series, Holmstrom can not take all that beating himself. This is his opportunity to get back at anyone who said he was done. I really don’t know what happened to that guy. I know he was hurt most of this season, but damn, he is so big and so gifted. He also looks really good in Detroit, bit pricey, but I still think he is a good fit if he can produce. But I am not up on my Red Wings knowledge, so I will be quiet.

Lets go Ducks, lets go out and get this, then wait for Ottawa!

09
May

Get Your Red Hots!

By Daniel 4 Comments
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Finals, Ducks, Former Ducks, Hockey, Players and Pre-Game

I have this really bad habit of taking after my dad, he is a huge St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams fan, has been his entire life. But my dad also seems to think it’s the Rams year, every year. He was right once and then they fizzled out. While I don’t think the Ducks will win every year, I do think this year is their year. So that means they have to beat Detroit, which I think they can do in six games. But I also said that I would give the Red Wings some time, so that is what I will do. I will go against my religion and point out things about the Ducks that I think Detroit can exploit, Babcock, take notes. So here we go…

I am not from Detroit, I have never been to Detroit and I will probably never go to Detroit but if I know one thing, it is that the city adored Steve Yzerman. The man was given a key to the city and has an official Steve Yzerman day, January 13th, in the state of Michigan. Sports Illustrated gave him a special cover, they never cover anything in hockey, just that little one page run down at the end, so you know he was special. I don’t think any athlete was as cherished by a city as he was in Detroit, very classy Detroit, that makes me feel good about being a fan of this wonderful game.

Now that era is over, this is Nicklas Lidstrom’s team now, if you want to go through Detroit, you have to go through him. Sheer talent, the mold of what a two-way defender should be, he is the best. I say that being the Ducks fan I am with both Pronger and Neidermayer on the team. If he were a little bigger and nastier, he would be the blend of Pronger and Neidermayer. So is he enough to carry his team this year, especially with Mathieu Schneider gone for the playoffs? Time will tell that story, lets keep rambling on. But, lets keep on the same track and talk about the defense and the last line of defense.

Chelios, Lebda, Lilja, Markov and Quincy all played in game six against San Jose, so those are the ones I am going to go off of. Combined they are a +13, Quincy and Lilja are the only minus players and that is -1 for each, that is pretty impressive (Chelios is tops with +7). In contrast, the Ducks “D” is +8. That is good for the coaches to know, that way they can get the matchups they want. Detroit knows it has its best chance of scoring when Kent Huskins and Joe DiPenta are on the ice, but if Randy Carlyle is smart, he wont dick around this series. A steady diet of his at least one of his other four defensemen should be on the ice at any given time, playing with DiPenta or Huskins. Babcock should salivate with the last change if he sees both of those players paired together, rolling out Zetterburg and company.

Now the goalie matchup is a clash of the titans in this round too. Giguere defeated Backstrom and Luongo while Hasek took out Kiprusoff and Nabokov. I don’t think you can say any team had the edge in that department, all four of those guys are top notch netminders. In this round it comes to a showdown, who can make that unbelievable save to keep the game tied or keep the lead for their team. The man with the age and all those trophies or the one who has something to prove, that 2003 wasn’t a flash in the pan. This will be the last great goalie dual this playoff season, so lets see how many times we get to see these two go at it.

Then there is the forward battle. This is going to be a pretty even matchup as well, but I have to give the edge to Anaheim on this one. The first two lines of both teams cancel each other out, but the checking line for Anaheim can actually produce a decent amount of points. They have given the Ducks 15 points and a +5 rating, while playing against the Sedins and Gaborik. Detroit’s checking line has 7 points and is a +6. I am not sure if they matchup against the opposing teams top line, only allowing them one more goal seems kind of fishy. Scoring will come down to who wants to get the dirtiest, who wants to crash the net the most and who can take the least amount of penalties. The Ducks will rub Hasek a lot, count on that. Can the Ducks keep Holmstrom’s stick tied up, clear rebounds and keep Todd “Mr Irrelevant” Bertuzzi from having a big series? Personally, I think yes to all of those questions, but I have my own biased opinion.

Ducks fans know Mike Babcock’s style of hockey, we know what to expect and we know why it works. Play solid team, defensive hockey, create a turnover and use your transition game for scoring opportunities. The Ducks used it because the team had speed up front and pretty decent defensive core, it worked obviously. The 2007 Red Wings don’t lack as much punch as the 2003 Mighty Ducks, so they can open it up a little more. Time will tell if it is enough to beat the Ducks four times though.

Who wants to step up in this series, who wants to make an impact? Can the Wings withstand the physical beating that they will take from the constant forecheck? Chris Kunitz, where are you? Todd Bertuzzi, please stand up. Detroit, you better stand up to the physical play, otherwise it’s over sooner then later.

26
Apr

You Sunk My Battleship

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Articles, Misc and Players

This should show you what I do on my 10 minute lunch break. According to this article,  Teemu Selanne is going to face charges in Finland for lending a boat to someone who was not licensed to operate it. You would think since he is a huge star in Finalnd that the Finnish media might get the team name right. Nice boat though, that sucks. I knew I would find something stupid to post today.

18
Apr

Brad May - Hired Thug

By Daniel 1 Comment
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Game Reviews, Hockey and Players

Besides the team collapsing at the end, the game was pretty even. The Ducks were out shot, but I wouldn’t really say out chanced. I also hope that Carlyle doesn’t strip Bryzgalov of his starting role by the actions of the third period. I am a big Giguere fan and will be sad if and when he leaves next season, but I don’t think you can blame the goalie in this game, he deserves to start in game 5. Even J.S. thinks Ilya had a good game.

“If I’m called upon, yeah, I’m going to have to be (game ready), I thought Bryz gave us a chance to win, so we’ll see.” - Jean Sebastian Giguere - O.C. Register

After the goals went in though, it was quite a scene. I guess it started with Kent Huskins and Adam Hall fighting in the defensive zone. Maybe Huskins thought Hall took an extra run, maybe Huskins wanted to get his hands dirty, whatever. That is no problem at all, hell, I don’t even mind that Shawn Thornton jumped in. You could see by the way Thornton went in that he wasn’t going to pound on Hall, he just didn’t want Huskins to be in that fight. Suspensions could go both ways I guess, but I honestly do not think Thornton was going to do anything but protect Huskins.

“Obviously, there was something going on,” May said. “I didn’t even know. I was in the offensive zone. I came back and, of course, when that happens, you pick somebody that’s coming into the pile. That’s the way it is. After that, I have no comment.”

Obviously you are an asshole. What the fuck dude, get a clue. I have seen a few instances since his arrival that he is a prick, another one where he tried to sucker punch Dion Phaneuf. So he drops Kim Johnsson because he was going in to the pile to help out his teammate? Now Johnsson has some kind of head injury that required a hospital visit. What a goon, you are almost as bad as Boogard and that is pretty bad. I hope you are suspended for a couple games and then Carlyle benches your ass. This team plays tough, I do not think they play dirty and you are a dirty hockey player. I wish you were on the ice still when the fans called for the Boogie Man, I would have loved to see him pound your face in.

17
Apr

Sure I Could Stay Home On Sunday’s

By Daniel 1 Comment
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Injuries, Pre-Game and Videos

It is 8:30 in the morning and I already dread being at work, like I do every day though, so it is no different from yesterday. I will watch the clock all day, counting down until I can leave to watch the game tonight. Let’s go ahead and call this game a warning to all those who will come after.

I want to see San Jose beat the Predators because I think that would be an awesome series. If Anaheim came out of that with a win, you could sign them up for the finals, because they would be hyped up after beating a team as good as San Jose. I would like to see Nashville win because I would love to stomp Paul Kariya on the way to the title. I also think it would be cool to see Peter Forsberg in town a few times and Pahlsson going at it with his fellow countryman.

Apparently Francois Beauchemin had a decent slice added to his chin that required a lot of stiches. Unless he is going to gear up in one of those motorcyle-like jaw shields, I would think he sits tonights game out. Maybe Aaron Rome make his playoff debut or Ric Jackman can be healthy enough to play 10 minutes. Then again, Beauchemin is pretty tough. I would hate to see someone touch his chin with a face wash and then get their ass handed to them from the rest of the team.

I leave you with a skit from Steve Carol about being a dedicated goalie, my friend sent it to me this morning. Everyone should work in IT, it really is lax job, haha.

07
Mar

Wiki Integration, Finally

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Blog, Ducks, Game Reviews, Hockey and Players

So, there is about 2:00 minutes left in the game and I have been working on this since the third period started, after about 30 minutes I was able to finally get it to work. Personally I think it was the Jack and Coke, but what do I know, I have been drinking. The point is that it works and I am excited. I am hoping to make this the best resource for any information you could want to know about the organization. I am almost certain that everyone who has been on the internet in the last 18 months or so has been to Wikipedia once or twice and I am using the same application as that.

The whole point of a wiki is to have the community maintain the information, add random facts, stats and information that you find relative. Imagine comming to one site to find out who scored the first goal in franchise history, first power play goal, first captain, a list of captains over the years. Anything you can think of, it can be added to the database, by any registered user. If you see something inaccurate that another user wrote, you can change it. This is the kind of thing you work on a lot in the off-season, when you do not have much hockey to watch but you want something hockey related to do.

You have to log in twice right now, but it is still the same login. Down the line, the plugin maker said he will try to use the same session from the blog, so you wouldn’t have to login twice.

And since the game is over, congratulations to Joe DiPenta and Ric Jackman, they had some swolen shoes to fill and they came through in a big way. You have to love how DiPenta’s goal when in, a few weeks ago the Ducks didn’t get that bounce. Maybe things are looking up.

07
Mar

Is it Raining in Phoenix?

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Ducks, Hockey, Injuries, Players and Pre-Game

Or is that just Roenick crying some more? I used to love that guy, he has a great personality for a hockey player, I wish more had it but he needs to stop complaining. If you wanted to be traded you should have worked harder at your goal to be like Teemu Selanne was last year.

The Ducks welcome the Coyotes to the Honda Center tonight, hopefully to continue the dominance they had over the last few seasons, even though the last few games were horrible, lets rap it up tonight. Teams like the Coyotes are dangerous because they have players coming up or players already on the roster that are fighting for a slot for next season. You gotta know they are going to bring a fast and physical game.

Some injury reports now.

Chris Pronger jammed his toe in an off-ice workout and has been labeled a game time decision tonight. Todd Marchant recently started skating again and the biggest news of all…Brad May is projected to return tonight. So looks like both Jackman and DiPenta will play tonight if Pronger can’t go. I hope he doesn’t, let him have a night off or something.

 

Update:

I guess the previous report I read was wrong, Chris Pronger will be out for two weeks with a broken toe. ESPN link here.

27
Feb

Brad May Huh?

By Daniel 1 Comment
Categories: Ducks, Hockey, Players and Trades

So, that is why Brian Burke traded Shane O’Brien! He needed Gerald Coleman so he could trade away Michael Wall and still have a goalie in the minors to go after…Brad May? It all makes sense to me now, because with San Jose and Dallas getting minor upgrades, we needed more grit. Brad May better have 20 goals in him over the next 20+ games. Because the Ducks already are the toughest team, even without O’Brien. I don’t think the Ducks needed to do much, but some kind of depth forward would have been nice. Where the hell do you put Brad May? The shutdown line is already set, so do you put him with Shawn Thorton and Todd Marchant when he gets back? That wouldn’t be that bad actually. I still would have liked someone else who can score.

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