Uncle Danny

Quick and dirty:

I'm feeling the same way. I rushed to get all my work done early today, and am now left with 2.5ish hours of nothing until the puck drops. I think I'll spend the next little bit deciding which jersey holds the luck tonight. That should kill at least 15 minutes. Argh.

You must post audio, no matter the outcome. Here's to hearing your nemesis slurping raw octopus!

I just shot water out of my nose. Well played, sir, well played.

MVP: Hank Sleeper: Howard or Rafalski HM: Mule Howie, as great as he's been, hasn't shown me that he'll be a consistent game stealer in the second season (because he hasn't had the chance to). This is Z's time of year, and so long as Jimmy doesn't screw the pooch like so many rooks in the post season before him, he doesn't need to be the MVP for us to make a serious run.

No, that's Tony Esposito and Billy Williams. EDIT: I see why people confused Esposito with Dave Strader based on Google results and the fact that Strader calls (or called?) for the Yotes, but he looks nothing like Strader. EDIT 2: I sure hope Dave still loves the Red Wings. I sure loved hearing him call our games with Mickey back in the day.

SJS/COL: 4-1 CHI/NSH: 4-3 VAN/LAK: 4-2 PHX/DET: 4-2 WAS/MTL: 4-0 NJD/PHI: 4-2 BUF/BOS: 4-1 PIT/OTT: 4-1 WC Champion: Detroit EC Champion: Washington SCF Champion: Washington

Good idea, just be aware that this is a good 30 minutes outside of Detroit. If you have time, totally worth it though. You might also want to check out some of the local haunts pre-game. The Detroiter near Greek Town offers free shuttles to and from the game full of rowdy fans... and you can park for free (or at least you used to be able to) at the Greek Town Casino which is only a hop skip and a jump away. Post game, you can take the People Mover (or walk, it isn't far at all) back to Greek Town to enjoy some of the local nightlife. Greek Town is central to many of the other attractions called out here as well (Ford Field, Cheli's, etc).

1. Yzerman 2. Lidstrom 3. Fedorov 4. Shannahan 5. Zetterberg 6. Osgood 7. Datsyuk 8. Larionov 9. Vernon 10. Mac Pretty similar to some others' lists, but a few points of clarification: - Yzerman and Lidstrom are quite obviously the top two on any sane list. I give a slight edge to Yzerman, as had he not adopted and preached (with his play) the defensive style Bowman was after, we wouldn't have seen any of the cups we did. No other player on the team could have had that large of a cultural impact in the dressing room. - If Bowman had laced them up for even one game, I'd have given him the #2 spot. - Shanny comes in at #4. You could make a decent argument for Dats, Ozzie or Z. I gave #14 the nod because of the mentoring he gave to Mac and Lapointe, which I don't think anyone would argue raised their overall game. The fact that he was a hall of fame scorer who willingly played the role of our only fighter for awhile also pushed up his stock in my view. - Osgood... this was a tough one, as it's very much a love/hate relationship I have with him as a fan. You cannot argue with his success or his career numbers, though. No way, no how. - Larionov: someone already called this out, but he was more "papa bear" than papa bear ever was (and that's no knock on Fetisov, mind you). His presence alone raised the average IQ in that dressing room by 10 pts. - Mac gained my #10 spot for a number of reasons. He was never that talented, never an elite fighter and never put up true all star numbers. What he did, though, was cauterize that 96/97 team into world champions by avenging Draper and scoring perhaps the biggest goal of that season in OT on March 26. He was a consistently clutch player, and The Ultimate Team Guy for a long time. IMO, this contribution goes beyond numbers, talent or simply playing a less than glamorous role very, very well for a long time (see: Draper). To my mind, his dressing room presence was almost like Yzerman's less gifted, louder, brasher, drunker younger brother -- the kind of guy you definitely want on your side.

Broccoli by a country mile. Ties or shootouts?

Usually. I work from home, though, so I'll admit to having lazy days in that department when I don't have to leave the house for any particular reason. The person below me plays a musical instrument.

Huh, interesting. Didn't they just fire Barry Smith? They've certainly got the money to afford Wayne-o, but I'd be absolutely shocked if he was interested.

Maybe the portion of his thread title with the "I" in it could be a clue? ("Oh How I Hate the Capitals") He's not asking you to share his feelings, only sharing his own (and well, I might add).

Really guys? Really? This is the best the Red Wings nation can come up with? Seriously? FFS.

I see it. Every day. Here. If people outside of Pittsburgh don't care about the Penguins (and Crosby) then why are we on the sixth page of this thread?

I love your posts. Please keep it up! That said, from what you've expressed here, I can understand why you might have grown disinterested in the Caps. But I don't see where the white hot hatred stems from yet... what is it about them that makes you want to choke their fans now?

ipod. my walkmans always froze up on the ski slopes when it got cold. gorillas or orangutans?

Yup. I'm a huge hockey fan, and I hope the best hockey team wins the Cup. My favorite hockey team is hockey's Red Wings, so I hope that they turn out to be the best hockey team in the land.

1. I get to watch a ton of great hockey. 2. The best team wins. 3. Detroit is that team. (in order of importance)

Spasibo for not twisting the knife I understand your point as well, and could get behind a Caps/Rangers match-up for the reason you've outlined. I still maintain that LA and San Jose would not work nearly so well. New York has a rabid culture proud of its, well, New York-ness. People otherwise completely agnostic to hockey would tune in to either watch them succeed or fail (who doesn't love a good David and Goliath story?) LA, not so much. They have some history, and a young and upcoming team (whom I love despite my inherent distaste for LA), but no real foundation for the love of the game...especially when the Lakers are in mid season. San Jose is an interesting choice, and taps into a fairly knowledgeable and devoted fanbase out here. But, even when you include far NorCal, you're still only talking about 8-9 million people to draw from. That's less than NYC has itself. All that said, I still think a Pens/Caps game makes the most business sense, no matter how sick of Crosby I am (and I am!).