Big thanks to @wyshynski for giving us the opportunity to pen the Blackhawks eulogy this season. Head on over and check it out. Also, be sure to tell us how much we suck in the comments. It’s a rite of passage.
Chris Hollis
Apr 252012
Country Grammar: Two Ways. Take your pick.
WHO’S THIS GUY?
Wait, you don’t remember me? I don’t blame you. It’s been almost three months of Hollis-free TPL and I’m surprised Petrella and Disch even let me back in the front door. Three months of watching the Wings go from on top of the world to staggering into the playoffs with nothing but questions marks and that sick feeling in your gut that only playoff hockey and a glimpse of your happy ex can generate. Three months of injuries. Three months of a woeful power play. You sure you’re ready for this?
That’s right, you have no choice. Let’s go.
WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
It’s the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, and the Wings start on the road for the first time since…well, since two years ago. Your TV schedule is below. Familiarize yourself with it and purchase booze accordingly.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 8 p.m. Detroit at Nashville CNBC, CBC
Friday, April 13, 2012 7:30 p.m. Detroit at Nashville CNBC, CBC
Sunday, April 15, 2012 Noon Nashville at Detroit NBC, CBC
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:30 p.m. Nashville at Detroit NBC Sports Network, CBC
- Friday, April 20, 2012 8 p.m. Detroit at Nashville CNBC, CBC
- Sunday, April 22, 2012 TBD Nashville at Detroit TBD
- Tuesday, April 24, 2012 TBD Detroit at Nashville TBD
- If necessary
WHERE WERE WE?
:: Detroit fell to the Blackhawks in the shootout on Saturday, giving them a finishing mark of 48-28-6, good for 102 points and the fifth seed in the West.
:: Nashvegas smoked the Avs on Saturday, securing the fourth seed in the West with a 48-26-8 record and 104 points.
:: The Wings and Preds split the season series this year, each taking three wins from the other. Looking for a trend? Both teams took two of three at home and one on the road. The Wings controlled the early portion of the series, while Nashville rallied to take two of the last three, including a 4-1 whoopin’ in Motown on March 30th.
BEST NAME NOMINEE
Brandon Yip. Yip. Yip. Yip. Yip.
‘MEMBA ME?
No former Wings on the Preds.
OH, HI AGAIN
According to THE CHART, no former Preds on the Wings.
FIVE TO WATCH – NASHVILLE
:: Pekka Rinne – He’s received more press this week than Mike Fisher did after he latched on to wife Carrie Underwood, and there’s no doubt the pressure is on Rinne’s 6’5″ frame. He played in all six regular season games against the Wings, garnering three wins and three losses while posting a GAA of 2.67 and save percentage of .920. If he gets hot, this series gets tiresome in a hurry.
:: Shea Weber – Duh. Dude is one of the best D-men in the game right now, and his slapshot was good for a team high three goals against the Wings this season. That said, Weber did post a team worst -4 against Detroit in only five games, so there’s points to be had.
:: Alexander Radulov – Remember three weeks ago when nobody would shut up about this guy? Yeah, that makes me nervous. The spotlight is off of him and he can settle in and play his game, which is a good one. If this guy gets on the ice across from Dan Cleary, it’s time to hit the panic button repeatedly.
:: David Legwand - The former pride of the Plymouth Whalers, Legwand has a team best six points against the Wings this year (so does Jordin Tootoo for that matter.)
:: Andrei/Sergei Kostitsyn - Mark my words: One of these two will have a crushing goal against Detroit late in the third period of one of these games. They may not have lived up to their much-hyped potential, but they are still damn good players.
FIVE TO WATCH – DETROIT
:: Jimmy Howard – No surprises here. Howard’s regular season was the giant leap forward we’ve all been waiting for, only to come back down to Earth with a pair of injuries on the back half of the schedule. Babcock thinks he’s rounding into form as he heads into the playoffs, but only time will tell which Jimmah is between the pipes against Nashville. If the Wings want to win this series, it better be the pre-injury Jimmy.
:: Johan Franzen – Perhaps the most frustrating player on this Wings roster, Franzen says he lives for the playoffs and some of his best games have come in the postseason. If the Wings continue to be cold on the goal-scoring front, Mule will have to find a way to strap the team on his back and make something happen on the scoresheet. He looked good in his final regular season tune-ups, so here’s hoping he continues to produce when it counts. That said, he was only good for a goal and an assist in six games against the Preds this year.
:: Valtteri Filppula – Coming off arguably his best season as a Wing, Filppula will need to continue to score points against the Predators to add some balance to the scoresheet. He led the team with four goals against the Preds this year, and his five points trails only that of Henrik Zetterberg.
:: Tomas Holmstrom – His ass in Rinne’s face will be a key component to scoring some goals this series, but don’t forget that Homer was a team worst -5 against Nashville during the regular season.
:: Darren Helm/Dan Cleary/Gustav Nyquist – Helm will find his way back into the lineup at some point in Nashville, which likely means the hyper-talented Nyquist will likely head to the Leino Lounge. That’s a tough pill to swallow, given Dan Cleary’s injury woes and corresponding limitations of late, yet Babcock is confident Cleary will be ready for the lineup. If Cleary looks terrible, expect the Nyquist rumblings to kick into high gear.
The TPL Name Game
PETRELLA: Jiri “Street Sweeper Baby, Cocked, Ready to Let It Go” Hudler
STEVIE: Todd “I Hang With Hannibal Lector So Feel Me When I Bring It” Bertuzzi
HOLLIS: Jiri “Let’s Show These Cats How to Make These Millions” Hudler
DISCH: Nik “Mean Mugs and Shoulder Shrugs” Kronwall
The Good Part: Predictions
PETRELLA: Detroit in six.
STEVIE: Detroit in seven.
HOLLIS: Nashville in six.
DISCH: Nashville in six.
Jan 232012
We'll get to this in a moment...
FINAL SCORE (Hi Mr. P!)
3-1 Wings. Suck it St. Louis.
THE RUNDOWN
Well how about that? For a team that has struggled to step up and deliver when there’s a cloud of hype and excitement, the Wings got it done and did it in a big way. With the win, they’ve opened up a three point lead on both St. Louis and Chicago and continued to stretch the home winning streak out to an unbelievable 17 games.
BULLETS OF IMPORTANCE
- Despite the win, the first period was nothing spectacular. In fact, it kinda sucked. A bad line change led to a 3-on-1 goal for the Blues and the Wings were clearly on tilt. It was a classic Mike Babcock “Didn’t get started on time” moment in the making until…
- …Brad Stuart levels Alex Pietrangelo near the end of the period, prompting Chris Stewart to rush in and instigate a fight. There are so many things wrong with this sequence for Stewart, including (but not limited to):
- Instigating a fight on a clean hit.
- Stewart on Stuart violence. C’mon, just because they don’t see eye-to-eye on spelling doesn’t mean violence is needed.
- But mostly the fact the Stewart’s antics – trying to defend a teammate and make a statement in a game you are leading – backfired. It’s the classic mistake of forcing a fight when your team clearly doesn’t need it. St. Louis had the momentum and the lead, but Stewart gets antsy, starts a fight, and gets the extra time in the box. That’s playing with the fire of momentum, and we all know what happens next…
- …Pavel Datsyuk converts on the power play less than a minute in to the second period. Beauty of a goal and still the best way to punch an opponent back.
- Gotta love the Mule’s team leading 19th tally. Not only was it the go-ahead goal and eventual game winner, but cleaning up a rebound in front always gets me more fired up than a perfectly wired shot from the slot. Dude is big and huge and gifted. If he’s willing to clean up messes in between sniping the corner of the net, there’s no reason he can’t keep leading this team in scoring. Frankly, there’s no reason he SHOULDN’T lead this team in scoring.
- The Jim Howard lovefest continues, not only because he’s STAUNCH between the pipes, but because the dude has a shorter fuse than anyone of his teammates and is willing to throw some fisty-cuffs to make his point. Remember when a nameless blogger said Howard sucked and would never hack it a few years ago? Yea, Petrella (read: Hollis) sure looks stupid now. I bet Petrella (Hollis) is willing to spend the next few years trying to redeem himself in the eyes of ol’ Jimbo. Oh yeah, dude picked up his 30th win of the season too. Bazinga.
- Todd Bertuzzi with another point tonight. What up Petrella (read: Petrella)?
- Jaroslav Halak takes his first loss in regulation since November 22nd. Sweet, sweet music to these ears.
- One more matchup left with the Blues this year, and it’ll be in St. Louis. So far, the home team has won every matchup. Just sayin’.
BULLETS OF LESS IMPORTANCE
- Mike Babcock’s exchange with Pierre McGuire is the stuff of legends. Babcock essentially telling Pierre to shut up so he could get back to his job may have made my whole year. And judging by Twitter, I assume I’m not the only one.
- It’s been well documented in the @TPLhockey feed, but NBC had some truble wif namez tonight. Apparently a few Norris trophies and a Hall of Fame lock still don’t mean much to NBC Sports Network. Nicholas Lindstrom at your service on the Wings blue line. Wait, it’s not Lindstrom? Oh, you must be talking about Nick LINDSTOM!!!
“HORSECOP” OF THE GAME
Jim Howard. Big saves, 30 wins, some Mike Tyson all up in that grill. If “horsecop” is in the dictionary, that’s the definition.
THE RIGGY “SHITBOX” OF THE GAME
Blame it on the euphoria of the win or maybe just a total lack of respect for the guy, but we’re breaking tradition tonight and giving it to Chris Stewart. His antics were the epitome of “Shitboxian” in that I could totally see Jonathan Ericsson try and get in a fight to rally the troops, win it, and then watch the other team take control of the game from the penalty box. If we have to go with a Wing (checking the rules…….we do) I’m giving it to Dan Cleary.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Wings kick off a six game road trip in Montreal on Wednesday. Petrella’s back in the driver’s seat, and there’s a strong possibility we’ll be getting our “Armageddon” on for the pregame.
Finally, a personal sidenote: I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise to many of you given my lack of posting around here lately, but a busy personal and professional schedule means this is likely the last you’ll hear from me on the site until sometime in March. I’m going to try and work in the occasional long-form piece here and there, but the lady and I are in final preparations to move down to San Francisco, and for the sake of both our sanity, my focus will be on getting her, the dog and myself settled in the Bay Area. I’m also hoping we can get a TP:60 or two recorded over the next month, so I won’t be completely gone. But between the move, business travel and a bachelor party (Vancouver, Feb. 2nd, Rogers Arena. I’ll be the entirely way too hammered Wings fan) there’s not a ton of time to dedicate to the bloggy business. Petrella, Disch and Stevie will keep you company until I return, which means the content will be both engaging and well-written. My drivel is no match.
Don’t miss me too much.
