Jenny

The Puck Daddy blog over at Yahoo! Sports is having a Photoshop contest based solely on that stupid face Doan made. Because boy howdy, that looked even dumber than Malkin's post-goal face.

If so, we don't need to worry. Mac will be able to punch his way out. I can't imagine Claude's car is any braver in a fight than Claude is.

Thanks for the curly fries, Hank!

Definitely approve of putting Abby in for J-Wil. Abby provided instant energy when he was in the lineup in last year's playoffs, and I've got no reason to doubt he'll do the same again! Also agree with Titanium2's post above about Helm and Eaves having playoff PK jitters. I never even thought about it-- I was focused on how Howard would do-- but you're right, it makes perfect sense that they'd be not quite there. Now that they've been through one playoff game, though, I expect tomorrow night to be much better for them.

I think he definitely held up very well for his first-ever playoff game, especially considering the sleepy team in front of him.

I got in about 2 hours worth of nap. I'm ready!

A Pepsi ice cream float. Why? I'm not sure. But I will have a Pepsi float during game 1 of each series to sort of toast the series in, and one after the last game of each series (or during the game if it's a game 7) to toast it out. I think the tradition started because I realized a few years back that Pepsi with sugar instead of HFCS was available during Passover, which usually coincides with playoff time. (This was before Pepsi started selling Throwback.) After each successful series my husband and I will have a victory dinner which is somehow themed to the team or city the Wings just beat. With some teams this is more difficult than others. (Chicago- yay, deep dish pizza! Dallas- yay, barbeque! Nashville-- um....) I will wear red on each game day, of course. It will probably be Wings gear, but if I need to dress up for work that day it will just be something as close to Red Wings red as I can get. I keep a car flag up during the playoffs. (Got to go put it on my car now, as a matter of fact!) I keep my toenails painted red during the playoffs. If the Wings lose a game, I remove the polish and re-do it. The Playoff Nap-- if they're playing a west coast game, I will nap when I get home from work so I can stay up and watch the whole thing! (That's really more necessity than superstition, though. )

I like it! I'll get my embroidery floss and get to work this afternoon. I was feeling left out of the hairy traditions.

Awesome! Amazing how some rock music and a goal-scoring montage can get people all worked up for a game, isn't it? Like I wasn't antsy enough for 10PM before!

Generally over the course of a series, the bad calls and missed calls even out between both teams. If the referees manage to piss off everyone, they're probably doing their job correctly. (Granted, the Pittsburgh too many men was egregious.) The Wings have overcome bad officiating before. (Hossa's called-back goal against the Ducks last year comes to mind.) They just need to play their game well enough so that a botched call doesn't matter, and they are more than capable of doing this.

Eaves looks like he can grow an impressive crop of facial hair, but I don't think anyone on the team can beat Hank's. I swear you can actually see it growing. He's like some kind of playoff Chia pet! (I wonder what he uses to keep it soft so he doesn't scratch up Emma?)