Wings 4, Rangers 3

For the first two periods, the Wings played okay, at best. A lot of turn overs and some sloppy play. Going into the third, they were down 2-0 and Filppula scored, followed closely by Lebda. Abdelkator and Leino played well and Filppula had quite a spring to his step tonight. As was so often the way it was last year, the third period was all about the Wings and they finished off the Rangers with two more goals. Two games played, two games won--if only it could continue this way for the entire season. Game three tomorrow night.

Even My Doctor Understands

Last week I saw my internist. I suffer from 'white coat syndrome,' as well as ordinary hypertension, so the doc wasn't happy with my blood pressure that day. He asked if I have been taking my BP at home and I replied, "A couple of weeks ago, I figured it has been long enough since the playoffs, so I started taking it again. Besides, I needed a baseline before the season starts up again." He laughed heartily. Then he promptly prescribed another BP med for me to take. I guess having 'good enough' blood pressure while NOT watching a game isn't what my doctor wants for me. And, hopefully, I won't feel like I'm about to have a stroke during any games this year. But I'm not counting on it.

Hockey and Me

I will never claim to be a hockey expert. I love to talk hockey with anyone at any time, but I don't necessarily know what the hell I'm talking about. ;) If anyone reads this blog, I'm sure it isn't because they think I have incredible knowledge, but I MAY have some insight that is different from what other bloggers write. And the reason for this? I have a very long history of watching the game.

Before I have memories, I 'watched' hockey. My father was a fan, so I am sure he watched his share of games on TV while holding me in his arms. This, of course, was way back in the days of the Original Six. My memories of hockey games come a bit later.

When I was a child, Saturday found us at my aunt and uncles's farm. Saturday was the traditional 'sauna* night,' and as we didn't have one, we went to the farm to partake in the sauna ritual. We would get to the farm early in the evening--as soon after dinner as possible--so that we children could run around with the intention of us getting tired early. As soon as the sauna was warm enough, the exodus began. The younger the children, the earlier they went into the sauna. My cousin and I were usually the second 'group' to go in and bathe, after our younger brothers. Of course, as soon as we were washed, there was no more playing outside, so we would, at some point in time, find ourselves in front of the TV. And that meant we watched hockey.

Living in the northern part of the UP, one of the TV stations that we got was a CBC feed from Thunder Bay. Of course, this meant we watched Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night. The TV had a tiny 12" screen and had a flickering, black-and-white image that was often 'snowy.' It is surprising that we even had a clue as to what was happening during the game, but watch it we did. This is my first memory of hockey.

As I got older, we spent less and less time at the farm, but I still watched hockey from time to time. We only had the one television in the house and whenever my father was in the living room, he had full control over whatever was on. So, if someone wanted to watch TV, s/he had to watch whatever was on--and that included Westerns, baseball, and hockey. I don't remember anything specific from that time, either, but it still was Original Six hockey.

Time moved on and we fast-forward to my high school days. I didn't pay a lot of attention to any sports--other than our high school basketball--and spent my days as a typical teenager. That is, until I started dating my high school boyfriend. He was a hockey nut, so I became one, also. (When you are young and in love, you do all sorts of things you don't expect to.) And I also began to follow his team and adopted it as my own--the Boston Bruins.

Looking back, if you were young and followed hockey, the Bruins were the team to follow. After all, they had Derek Sanderson--the 'Joe Namath' of the hockey world--and Bobby Orr. I think The Boyfriend followed them simply BECAUSE of Sanderson. Anyway, they became my team and I followed them all through high school and for the years that I continued to follow hockey.

A year+ after graduation, I found myself getting married and moving to that hotbed of hockey activity, Charleston, South Carolina. In those days, you actually COULD find some games on Sundays, so I tried as best as possible to continue following the game, but it was not to be. By the time I was back in the northwoods, my interest had waned and I watched very few games. This was the beginning of my 'lost years,' in terms of my involvement with hockey.

I missed the Red Wing turn around from the Deadwings to Stanley Cup Champions. I missed most of Steve Yzerman's career. (I'm not crying TOO much, because this ALSO means I missed Gretzky's career.) During those years, I was raising two girls, taking care of a household and family, volunteering to within an inch of my life, and being otherwise occupied. I, once again, lived in a house with only one TV. With the kids and husband 'owning' the one set AND my living most of my life in the kitchen, hockey was one of the last things on my mind whenever I had a chance to watch something. I had a slight idea of what was going on in the NHL, but most everything I heard meant nothing to me. I was in no hurry to get back into the game.

Suddenly, a few years ago, everything changed for me. I'm not sure WHAT happened, but I decided to start watching the game again. And it didn't take long before I became even more obsessed than I had been in high school. Summers have become even harder for me to endure since I became a fan again. I count the days till the season begins and I surf the interwebs constantly for news of the Wings. My obsession has become so complete, that I hesitate to tell my doctor how worried I get, at times, over my blood pressure. I'm sure if he knew HOW I watch games, I would be forbidden to watch anymore. So, I will keep my mouth shut and wait for the new season to begin.


*Sauna is pronounced "SOW-na." (Sow, as in a female pig.) It is NOT pronounced "SAW-na." If you EVER meet me in person, remember that. I do NOT tolerate anyone pronouncing it WRONG and will bitch-slap anyone saying it incorrectly. ;)

WHO Keeps Bringing It Up?

One more time the story about The Boy not shaking hands with Lidstrom after the 'win' is making the rounds--and the Wings and fans are being accused of beating a dead horse.

Michael Farber at SI posted this:

"After the Stanley Cup final, Sidney Crosby's tardiness in joining the handshake line rankled the Red Wings to that point that Kris Draper grabbed an SI reporter and told him to make sure he mentioned in the magazine that Crosby had stiffed Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who grew fed up and left the ice. Two months later, the feeling among the Red Wings has not altered measurably. Defenseman Brian Rafalski, who is as cool as Draper is fiery, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Last year we didn't make them wait.""

Now, where exactly does it say that Rafalski brought this up to Farber--or anyone else in the media, for that matter? From the way this is written, I have the understanding that it is Farber himself who brought this up, not Rafalski. If the Wings or the fans were constantly talking about this, THEN they could be accused of not letting go. Instead, it seems as if this just might be something that the Wings will look back on and give them a little more motivation to win it all this year. But the media wants this to be a big deal to the Detroit players and fans--and they want to try and make them out to be poor sports and bad losers. Just another way to try and 'take down' the Wings.

Not Hockey, But...

Living in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has many challenges. Of course, we have the weather to contend with and the rural living, but it is more than that. Other than our identity with being Yoopers, most of us are divided as to how we view ourselves. While we ARE a part of Michigan, we have the tendency to identify more with Wisconsin--the northern part, anyway--than we do with the Lower Peninsula. And, frankly, it seems as if the LP would rather the UP just go away and leave them alone--kind of like hoping an unwanted step-sister would disappear. So, we are a divided people--and nothing shows this more than the way we follow sports teams.

There are as many--probably more--Packer fans here in the UP than there are Lions fans. And the Packer fans are very typical. And I haven't found one yet that I like. (They are really obnoxious--at least the ones I know.) This means that I have to be bombarded with Packer news 24/7. When a Packer player finally shits after being constipated for a few days, I hear it--multiple times through multiple media venues. So, this brings up the whole Brett Favre saga.

Red Wing fans have been accused of whining. I guess there is a case to be made for that, in some instances, but I think most people would agree that the Penguin fans whined WAAAAAAY more over the whole 'Hossa moving to Detroit' deal than Wing fans ever had about anything. This brings me to Brett Favre and Packer Backers. WHOA!!! These people are so over the edge about this entire thing, that they are fast becoming the whiningest fans in sports--even worse than Pens fans. As I'm a football hater, I couldn't care less about where Favre plays, I just wish he would go away. I'm tired of hearing about him, but I think I'm even more tired of the Packer fans and their whining about the whole thing. Get over it already!

By the way, even though I hate football, I hope the Vikings beat the snot out of the Packers when they play each other. I'll smile.

Yeah, It Happened

I'm not any happier with the signing of Bertuzzi than I was with Williams. But, what can you do? This is the team and that's that. Now that I have had a little while to digest both signings, I have calmed down. I'll give the benefit of the doubt--at least until Helm, Leino, or Filppula lose ice-time because of either of these two. THEN you will see me in full bitch mode!

Can't the season start already?

Very Sad--If It's True

The school I graduated from was VERY small. In fact, the entire school had just a few more students than were in The Youngest's graduating class. The stars of the school were the athletes, the basketball players. (Other than track, the school only had basketball.) I don't think a basketball player could have gotten into trouble if he had beheaded someone in front of the district superintendent. That is how much power the athletes had. And I found the same mind-set when I went to the local university--only THERE it was the hockey players than were worshiped as gods. And so it goes at every level of our country: athletes can get away with anything. And so we come to today's story of Patrick Kane's arrest.

By now, I think everyone--at least hockey fans--have heard the story. Kane and his cousin took a cab ride, the cabbie didn't have $.20 in change to give them, the cousin and Kane beat the guy and took their $15 back from him. The kids were arrested and now the waiting begins for 'the rest of the story (?).'

Thinking that ANYONE would beat another person over $.20 is ludicrous. To think that someone making the kind of money that Kane does, is beyond belief. However, it is almost implied in some of the reports that alcohol may have been a factor in this incident. (The area of Buffalo where the two were picked up is the night-club district.) Most people don't beat someone up just because they are drunk, but a lot of people do stupid things while drunk--especially when very, very young. (I still, even at my advanced age, can embarrass the hell out of myself if I have too many drinks.)

If the real reason this happened--if it proves to be true--is because Kane feels entitled as an athlete, then I hope he gets knocked down so low that he would need a ladder just to see the underside of a snake's belly. But, unfortunately, too many athletes--professional and non--believe they are entitled just because they can run, jump, hit, shoot, etc, better than most other people. And too many times, they are proven right.

I don't really expect anything to come of this incident--for Kane, anyway. I think there is a better than even chance that the cousin will take the fall and the cab driver will get hush money. Patrick Kane will have an NHL career for as long as he wants--or as long as he can score goals.