Swimming with the Sharks

Way to resurrect this thread. How about: "The Art of Dancing" by Daniel and Henrik Sedin "My Favorite Ottawa Senators" by Lindy Ruff Not hockey related, but: "Snowboarding 101" by Vladimir Radmanovic "Losing with Class" by the Duke University Men's Basketball Team

Red wings put heat on Preds

Sorry for the size, don't know how to scale it.

Heads up for everyone ... looking forward to it!

The Leftie Liberation Organization formulates its plan for world conquest.

Here's my transcription of the entire interview - good stuff. Enjoy! JR: Welcome back. My guest is a defenseman in his 23rd year in the NHL. He is the oldest active player in the league. He is a three-time Norris Trophy winner and a two-time Stanley Cup champ from the Red Wings. Chris Chelios is my guest. Chris, it's been a while. Great to have you back. How are you? CC: Good Jim, thank you. It's good to be back. JR: Cheli, man, 45. (Both laugh) I tell you, you may not be the 35-minute-a-night maniac that you used to be, but you are giving them a lot of minutes, you're playing at a high level, you don't look like a 45-year-old guy. How old you feel right now out there? CC: You know, I've said it to management and to other people: I feel as good as I did when we won the Cup five years ago. The fact that maybe my minutes aren't up may have something to do with that, but every time I've gotten the opportunity to put the minutes up from injuries or whatever - 20, 25 minutes - I've felt great. Whether I can carry that for a long period of time I don't know, but I love to be able to get in the mix. I love to sink my teeth into that power-play action out there, because of all the advantages. But I'm very content. The team's doing great, and I'm looking forward to another great playoff. JR: You know, you've always gotten after it in terms of conditioning. You've always been really dedicated and really disciplined. But when you consider what you went through physically, the knee injuries - if I'd said to you, Cheli, seven or eight years ago, that you had this kind of run in you, what would you have said? CC: You know, absolute not. I had some pretty significant knee injuries back in Chicago. Chronic things, always aching knees, especially the knee I went through the ACL surgery with. For a moment there I thought, well this is the beginning of the end. It's wearing down. But for some crazy reason and luck, I started this mountain-biking kick and all of a sudden all the pain's gone. So like I said, eight years ago, no way I would've thought I'd be in this position. But now I'm pain free which is remarkable at my age, and I'm feeling great. JR: So you've got some luck, you've got some mountain biking. How much of it was about going to Detroit and getting a new opportunity, and just getting rejuvenated by that whole thing? CC: It was definitely a second life. The fact that I was trying to carry the load in Chicago, we were going through a big transition, losing a lot of veteran players: Gilmour, Coffey, Dirk Graham and players such, of that stature - I couldn't carry that team the way I was playing, and the injuries that I had sustained. It was better for me to come in and just fit in as a role player. Scotty Bowman gave me the opportunity to be on the power play as a second-unit guy. It wasn't as much pressure on me, to come in with a team like Detroit that had so much talent and depth. Like I said, it was a second life. After two years being with Detroit, I started to feel great again, and from then on it's been a dream come true to be with a team like this and, like I said, be in the thick of things all the time. JR: Hey Chris, one thought about the way it used to be. When you guys got started in Chicago, talk about back in the day, when teams came into that building, it was a little bit smaller, and your game was a little bit different in a sense that back then you were pounding guys, you were intimidating guys, you were antagonizing guys, you were getting under their skin. That was a good time now, back then. CC: Yeah. I think the fans really enjoyed that. I know the Chicago fans did. That's the way the league was. We're supposedly going through a transition, and I don't know if the fans appreciate that that much. I remember watching an interview of Pavel Bure before a game when he was with Vancouver, before one of our games at Chicago Stadium basically admitting he was scared to come into Chicago and play. So I couldn't wait to walk up those stairs and try and run him through the boards. (Rome laughs) I couldn't believe he was saying it. But it was a very intimidating arena, it was a very intimidating time where players, they were pretty much telling to check and respect. And now I don't see that. There is no respect. The new rules and the way things are going, it protects the guys that take advantage of that. JR: Speaking of respect, I know your guys in the room are giving you a little trouble about - or kind of a good time about Todd Bertuzzi coming in. (Chelios smiles) You guys had some spirited battles now, Cheli. Are you supposed to forget all that when he comes through the door, or maybe are you going to have to get used to having him around? CC: Well, I'll tell you what. I look at him in the room today. He's 6-foot-4, 240, so I think I'll just let it go, you know? (Both laugh) But, I had the same problem with Bob Probert when I was with Chicago and he was with Detroit, and I'll be damned he comes into Chicago with the trade and he pulls up in my driveway a week before camp laughing and smiling after he spent eight years trying to break my neck. You just let things like that go. You're happy he's on your team. What a great addition Bertuzzi's going to be for us if he can get healthy and get back to the type of player that he is. He's [obviously] a dominant power forward, 32 years old. If he's healthy, we found a diamond in the rough there. JR: Did you feel like you guys had to get tougher for a Stanley Cup run? CC: Well, they talk about that. It's not necessarily fighting, but team toughness where you look back at the success the Wings had. You had guys like Kocur. You had Lapointe, Shanahan. It is an identity that people feel we're lacking over the past few years. And we lost Brendan Shanahan. He was one of those power forwards that are hard to find. Now we've replaced him with a Todd Bertuzzi. We've also went out and got Kyle Calder, who's a bit of a gritty kid from Saskatchewan, so two great additions and it's hopefully going to benefit us in the playoffs. JR: Hey Cheli, the family that plays hockey together stays together, and your family is big into playing hockey. Do you think you can hang on long enough and play at the level that you're playing, maybe to see at least one of your kids get drafted, and maybe to play with or against him? CC: I'll tell you what. They started their state tournaments. My son Dean started his tournament about four days ago. His first game, he looked like a man possessed, and I'd say, you know what, maybe I can hang in there. But then last night, the kid went out and played like a high-school player, so who's to say? But he's right on track, Dean. He's 17 years old. He's 6-1. He's definitely got the skill and it's just a matter of developing. I can show him the path and show him where to go, but like the horse, you can lead him to it but you can't make him drink the water. So I'm hoping to God that it happens, and maybe, who knows? If he starts out in the minors, I may jump in there just to do the Gordie Howe thing or whatever. But like I said, it's fun watching my two boys develop and I'm looking forward to them getting into college and watching them throughout their career here. JR: Chris, it's been a while, but it's great to have you back on the show. Thanks so much. Good luck. Let's do it again soon. CC: Thank you, Jim. A few weeks ago he had John Ondrasik (a.k.a. Five for Fighting) on the show and they spent about a quarter of the interview talking about the Kings. Turns out Rome grew up a big Kings fan.

Not live, but he tapes it the same day after he does his morning radio show. So look forward to questions about Bert!

Good for him. Why'd he even have to think about it?

It looks a lot like the goal he scored last year when Drapes gave him that perfect touch pass from center ice.

The FSN Midwest announcers mentioned it every two minutes during the latter half of the third period, it seems. I was hoping they would jinx Sanford. Anyway, I would've felt much beeter had it been against someone like Kipper or Nabby. What's really disappointing is that hockey is so far at the bottom of the American totem pole that SportsCenter didn't even bother to mention the streak being broken when they reported the score.

I feel the same way. If the WCF comes down to Anaheim and San Jose, I'd choose San Jose ... and not just 'cause I live here.

I'll be down there that weekend so there's a good chance I can make it! I'll let you know.

From last Thursday @ my friend's "Ultimate 80's Party" B)