pavyaz19

Ok, the arena and fans weren't what made the day dream-filled... and I hate to bog the boards with this, but I think all of you will appreciate the day that my girlfriend and I had. I'll try my best to keep it short, but I'm still excited about it all... -Bought tickets for game 3 from Ebay during the game that we clinched round 2. Sat in upper bowl, 7th row on the Ducks goalline (where Wings shoot twice). -this is my first EVER Wings playoff game. could never afford tickets when I lived in Toledo growing up (so you know, I was born into a die hard Wings family so I've been one myself since October '84. (Glen Hanlen / Greg Stephan, anyone?), fortunatley I had the dough for these. The Western Conference Finals and an important game... insanely exciting to be a part of. -My girlfriend and I were walking around the outside of the Pond pryor to the doors opening... we run into Pierre McGuirre. I'm not a fan of his commentary but decided to say hi. He was an EXTREMELY nice guy and we chatted for a short bit. I no longer dislike Pierre... I could still live without his commentary, but a guy that's that nice and willing to stop and take a picture with me...? I have a new respect for him, most definitely. -We decided to walk around the arena a while longer (we probably did 3 laps or so) and guess who we run into next... The man behind it all... Mr. Ken Holland. He was by himself oustide one of the regualar, public arena doors. I have absolutley no idea why he was out there. I chatted with him for a bit longer and got a couple pictures with him. He was also, exceptionally nice. We even had camera trouble at first, I apologized and he told us to take our time "i've got time to kill anyway." He thanked us for wearing our Wings jersies, asked us where we were from and how long we've lived in LA. I asked him about Stevie... he'll be back from winning the championships to watch game 4 on Thursday. That was about it, I wish I wouldn't have been awe-struck, I would have thanked him for everything, especially for Pav's new contract. -We stood by the Wings bench for warm-ups. To cap-off this great pre-game experience, Kyle Quincey tossed my girlfriend a puck. I caught a puck at a BGSU game once, but this NHL logo'd puck from Quincey takes the cake, and then some. A puck from a WCF game? today was pure insanity. -lastly, the boys pulled of a huge win. Not one sour note to my day (i mean, come on, even Homer came back from that cheap hit). Insanely awesome... will NEVER forget it. ps. I bashed the Ducks fans whom lack noise in a previous post... The atmosphere was better tonight than any other time I've been to the Pond. I have to lighten up on the Ducks fans, even though they cheered while Homer was hurt. I hate to say this, but at the game, and now watching it on the DVR - the fans at the Pond were louder than the fans at the Joe this year. Sad. There were also quite a few empty seats. (i'd still much rather see a game at the Joe, of course!) SORRY THAT WAS SO LONG! just thought I'd share it, especially since everyone was so nice.

i've been heckled a bit at Kings-Wings at Staples, but the Ducks fans aren't like that so much. It really is a bit of a Disney crowd. I heard a couple "F the Red Wings" but that's about it... no big deal. as for Quincey after my girl... it's funny you say that because Dom smiled at her when he left the ice after warmups. it was pretty surreal for me and her, she was like, "holy crap, he was smiling at me." haha. I'm sure he was just happy so many wings fans showed up to cheer him on... he played like it too! He deserves to smile at any girls he wants!

i wish someone would have beat up Pronger or Perry but I don't think we're gonna see this this year. Bertuzzi keeps saying in interviews that he is here for a purpose and knows his role... he even went as far as saying it's not a role he's fond of, but understands and is excited about doing it. All that makes me think the coaching staff is making it clear to the whole team not to retaliate to ANYTHING.

hey, some people think Lang is lazy and sucks, others think they are morons for thinking that... either way, I think sometimes Lang doesn't live up to his rep, and right now, i don't think Lidstrom is living up to all the hype. oh and, bullocks, yeah, i'm a moron... oh and an idiot too.

yes, i have been watching the same Lidstrom and I am starting to believe he is overrated. No, I disagree, I don't believe he's been the best player of any team... For one, Dom is our MVP.

I disagree, aside from his offiense, his defense hasn't been stellar. He lacks any sort of physical play / grit and gets pushed off the puck. And he gives it away just as much as anyone else.

well, i can't say i wish you good luck next game, you had enough today! ha. (but i suppose we had enough in game 1). Either way, the situation was not at all black and white, but like you said, the right call was no goal... that's why you don't see any gray LGWers.

I've been a BIG Markov supporter this year, especially in the playoffs. It strikes me as odd to see this thread after tonight's game because tonight held on of Markov's mistakes. Before the Ducks first goal, there was 9 seconds to go in the PP when Danny failed to clear the puck. The puck was a lazily sliding into the Wings zone and Markov was the first there, with time, and turned to shoot it down, but left it along the ice instead of over the heads... Getzlaf cut if off, for one last rush... goal. Dom should have been ready there, but Danny should have killed the penalty himself before that.

ok, i see what you are saying... but i think there is an important phrase in 78i as well, "incidental contact." The puck was not on the ice and Niedermyer dove in, using his stick to push at Dom's skates. I think incidental contact would have been in the case that Niedermyer was aiming his stick at the "loose puck" which resided in Dom's mid-section / upper leg pad. Incidental contact can only be legal if you are both going for the puck. I can't say Niedermyer had a clue where the puck was. Either way, good hustle, he outsmarted the refs, who happen to be lazy and suck.

thought i'd throw this one in here too... http://www.nhl.com/hockeyu/rulebook/rule47.html#c oh noooo, one hundred dollar fine? that's like me finding a penny, putting it on a traintrack for a train to flatten, then chopping it into 1000 tiny pieces and having Gary Bettman take half of one of those pieces. by the way, mcdonald has gotten away with leaving his feet to make hits... would be nice the the refs read the rule book. I noticed though that McDonald has been careful not to injure faces while leaving his feet to make hits - now i understand why, ha.

just so you all know you're right... http://www.nhl.com/hockeyu/rulebook/rule78.html

agreed, but i'm not sure a healthy hudler wouldn't be a better choice. (oooh, double negatives, uh oh)

Yikes, I don't agree with some of this. We were standing around in OT, which led to the game-winner. There were lengthy stinits (aside from PK) in the 2nd and 3rd that we looked like crap. As for Bert, he has made nearly zero contribution, even the guy that's lazy and sucks looked stellar compared to Bert. I want SO BAD to like Bert and to be excited about his style of play, be he is just not doing it. Maybe he's still injured as well. But yeah, he should NOT be benched, he might turn it on. Also, here's to hoping no more fluky goals determine games like games one and two. And maybe the refs could make some good calls as well.

sure, that would make sense and would be understandable if the rule wasn't "losing sight of the puck." They should have blown the whistle and the goal shouldn't have counted. And yes, he was pushed in. We can lose game 3, but need to win game 4. If we don't split, it's over. If we play like we did in OT tonight, it's over. Do I think it's over, NOPE... Do I think we'll split, YEP.

sure, that would make sense and would be understandable if the rule wasn't "losing sight of the puck." They should have blown the whistle and the goal shouldn't have counted. And yes, he was pushed in. We can lose game 3, but need to win game 4. If we don't split, it's over.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the NHL is against us, BUT with the calls that we have seen the last couple games, I could see how a stranger to the game would think so. I'm not saying the poster is a stranger to the game or that I agree with the comments, I'm just saying I can understand what he's saying about the officiating. I don't have enough fingers to count on to tell you the amount of times the Ducks would hit our guys before touching the puck... the amount of interference against the wings is ridiculous. I wouldn't care if they would let it go when we use a little stickwork... BUT THEY CALL EVERYTHING ON US! Did you notice the Ducks too many men as well? how about Holmstrom being dumped in front of the the net during the PP. I swear each of our 5-on-4's should have turned into 5-on-3's. Does the NHL hate us? doubftul. Is Ilitch purposely screwing fans with high prices? no, the guy has done a lot for us over the years and this year is the first that the fans haven't filled the seats... he will lower prices next year. Lastly, fans at the Joe sucked tonight. I don't care if you say there are empty seats and that's why... BULLs***! You guys were damn loud for our goals, and you were damn loud when chanting "let's go red wings" after our goals... but how about any other time? I'll be at game three, and I will be extremely embarrased if that stupid arena is louder than the Joe! Shame on you people at the Joe!

i thought bertuzzi was downright awful tonight... calder doesn't get very many minutes and he's hardcore injured, so i can't blame him for his play. I wouldn't mind seeind hudler out there. Yeah, we'd lose size and strength, but how much are we benefitting from Calder right now? Franzen, Lang, and Samuelsson have all stepped it up and made a difference, it's time for Bertuzzi to follow suit. He talks about knowing "his role on this team" well it sure ain't what he's doing now. I'd be happy if he fought somebody and took them out of the game for 5 mins, at least then he'd leave an impression.

The think is, none of the Wings are assholes, so we don't expect other teams to pull this s*** on us. So we all get pissed and you should expect it, we don't wanna see one of our stars get knocked out due to goonery. Go ahead and wish for some wings to be added to the IR while the rest of us complain about dirty play... as for Neidermyer being dirty... I expected this, he's been doing this for years. F him and his grey beard.

completely agree, im glad no one is sticking up for Perry on that hit, he DEFINITELY could have avoided it. Good thing he (Perry) acted hurt, or they may have penalized him. As for the non-calls... I hate all the minute stickwork that gets called, even on the Ducks (Perry or was it Mcdonald for barely holding Cheli's stick) They needed to call that since they called all the petty s*** on us, but come on, that is not holding and the calls on us were NOT hooking. Speaking of which, anytime Pav has the puck, he's taking "hooks" and "holds" all the time that go un called... it's the physical penalties, such a s the roughing / interference on Chelios, the elbows that the ducks were throwing during checks in the first, and the ducks leaving their feet for hits in the 3rd... that's the kind of crap that gets people hurt and pisses me off, call that stuff! oh, and by the way, maltby was pushed / obstructed into Hasek when he elbowed him in the head... we can't lose Dom. Refs missed that one too... but i think they will not call anything around Dom because he's "acted" in the past.

sorry that it was mentioned numerous times and i didnt catch it, i suppose i dont get to read every thread that exists... as for the song, i still hate it but at least it has some meaning now... which is why i asked "whats up with it," rather than deeming it stupid, i was open to the idea that it had some relevance.

ah yes, good ole channel 50. I grew up near Toledo so channel 50 was very snowy / staticy many a night. I believe UPN came just after PASS. If you remember, the brawl was televised on PASS. I hated that Goldberg announcer guy that they picked up after Strader left. Thank God for Ken.

i'm wondering if there are a lot more newer Wings fans on this site than I previously thought. It has been like this for years... First it was PASS and now all the way to FSN det... they've never shown any games after the 2nd round. This should not be a shock to us. National coverage always takes over for the conf. finals and stanley cup finals. Just like one station or another has complete coverage of an NCAA tournament or the super bowl... it's what happens.

he's married to a porn star named Tiffany Granath... just thought I'd throw that out there.

whats up with that song they play at JLA after the Wings win? I just keep hearing that chorus "red wings... red wings." It drives me nuts, I hate it.

Well, I'll be at game 3 as well, so i'll be able to off-set your sreaming for the Wings. haha.