7:40 The game started a couple of minutes ago, but you haven't missed anything. In fact, just as we begin the 5-1-1 Red Wings are shorthanded as Jacob Kindle goes off for an elbow.
I spent some of my valuable pre-game time tonight doing my prep work for the prep football game I'm calling tomorrow night: Birmingham Brother Rice at Farmington Harrison. The two coaches involved Al Fracassa of Brother Rice and John Harrington of Harrison have 788 wins between them. It's one of the biggest games of the night as the state High School football playoffs get underway and I'm very excited to be doing to play-by-play. There are 256 teams in the playoffs which sounds a little unwieldy, but if you break it down into 8 division as they do here in Michigan, what it amounts to is really 8 separate tournaments of 32 teams each--a bit more manageable.
7:42 Kindle is out of the box and there is no score, still. Phoenix was a huge surprise last season, picked by many to go bankrupt before the season was over. Instead, they surprised everyone and...back to that thought in a moment. It's 1-0 Phoenix. Radim Vrbata put the deke on Chris Osgood and scored on a breakaway and now, less than a minute later, #90 for Detroit, Mike Modano, goes off for hooking. The Vrbata goal came at 7:00, the Modano penalty less than a minute later. Osgood is the surprise starter in goal because Jimmy Howard complained of back spasms after the morning skate and was unable to go tonight. In fact, Detroit called Joey MacDonald up from the minors to back up Osgood tonight. MacDonald is going to find himself in this hockey game if things continue like this. Keith Yandle just scored on the power play (critics will say Ozzie went down to early on the shot from the low rim of the circle to his left and the critics may be correct) and now Phoenix leads 2-0.
8:00 Osgood is razzed as he makes an easy save. That's because he just gave up an easy goal. A 50-foot wrister by Lauri Korpkoski, shorthanded, the kind of shot that frankly I should have stopped and it's 3-0 Phoenix on the goal at 11:56. It's sad to hear the fans boo and ridicule Osgood. The guy has done a lot for this franchise, and just the season before last, he was one save away from winning the Stanley Cup for this town. You'd think that would be worth something, but he his is getting his rear end booed at home. It's awful.
8:14 The period, mercifully, is over. Phoenix 3, Detroit 0. You wonder if, maybe, Detroit will send you MacDonald out there to start the second period. Probably not, but if the Wings give up the next goal, probably yes.
8:36 The Wings pressure to begin the second, but Tomas Holmstrom takes an unnecessary crosschecking penalty (ALL crosschecking penalties are unnecessary) and Detroit's short 5 minutes into the period. If Phoenix scores here--if Phoenix scores the next goal in this game--we can all go home, except for the talking to the players afterward part of the job description.
8:43 Osgood just made a save on a breakaway and the fans love him again. There are a lot of empty seats here again tonight, and I mean a lot: at least a third of them and probably more are unoccupied. Still, its nothing like it was the first few years Detroit played in this building. We'd sit way up here (the Joe Louis Arena Press Box is located behind the last row of seats in the Uppers), and we'd wonder what the place would be like if there were ever more than a few hundred fans in the Upper Bowl. People don't believe me when I tell them that, but its true. On most night almost all of the Upper Bowl sections here were completely unoccupied.
8:51 Johan Franzen (6) tips in a shot from the point at 13:05 and the Wings sneak back into the game. A lot of heat but no fire for Detroit in the second until this point. Franzen now has 2 more goals this season than any other Red Wing.
8:54 Did I mention I am sneak-watching the World Series while all of this is going on? I am, don't tell anybody. I had to miss Game 1 last night (I know, right?) because I had to get up at 3:30 this morning because I was filling in for somebody on their morning-drive show. I did see all the highlights, so I was/am conversant in re the game. Interesting, for example that the Game 1 winner has won the Series 6 of the last 7 years, and 11 of the last 13. One of the teams that did not was SF in 2002 when they beat the Angels to open the Series but LA came back to beat 'em in 7. Another interesting note: Texas is now 0-10 all-time at ATT Park....
9:04 End of Period. Detroit out shot Phoenix 19-9 but have to settle for just the one goal. Ozzie stopped another breakaway and came up with another nice save in the final minutes of the period, so they are cheering him again, but just you wait, if another one goes in, those cheers are going away.
9:20 Edgar Renteria just homered to put SF ahead 1-0 in the 5th inning of Game 2. And here, the third period begins with a couple of brilliant (physically not intellectually) Ilya Bryzgalov saves and as I type his name is ask myself, "What is it with this Coyotes team and consonants, anyway? Bryzgalov, Vrbata?" Still 3-1 Phoenix and we've played almost 3 minutes of the third.
9:24 It takes 4 rebounds but the Wings get another goal. Really bad defensive zone coverage as Harry Neale used to say on Hockey Night in Canada. Neale is probably still saying it. The former Wings coach is still getting it done, he's the color commentator on Buffalo Sabres broadcasts. It's Holmstrom with the goal and now Detroit is within 1 with 15 minutes to go. Meanwhile, with this going on, word is breaking in the Press Box that MSU coach Mark Dantonio has re-instated Chris L. Rucker, the Spartan defensive back who was arrested for drunk driving the night MSU beat Michigan and who had to go straight to jail for 10 days because of it because he happened to still be on probation for last year's on-campus dormitory brawl. I went to MSU and I love my Spartans but I think this is an awful decision by Dantonio. Just awful.
9:38 Here's some of Dantonio's statement: "The poor decision he made had need for serious consequences which he has now met and resolved from a team and legal perspective. It does not; however, rise to a lifetime banishment. I have been asked about last year's statement regarding zero tolerance. Zero tolerance means exactly that. We have no tolerance for Chris L. Rucker's actions. I repeat, I have no tolerance for his actions. He was immediately suspended. He has served his civil punishment, and there are other internal disciplinary measures nobody will know about outside the program. Again, zero tolerance does not mean automatic dismissal." Huh. And, say what? Then what does "zero tolerance mean"? In this case it means what it says it means. The word "zero" means "nothing".
9:44 Back at the hockey game, still 3-2 visitors with 7:55 left. Detroit 41 shots on goal. Their season high is the 43 they had on opening night. You have to figure that with this much time left, while they may or may not tie the score, the will certainly set a new season high in shots on goal.
9:50 A big penalty against Detroit at 15:12. Holmstrom gets called for "Roughing the Goalie". There is, of course, no such penalty--it was interference, officially--but there should be. I like th sound of it, don't you?
9:55 Down to 1:16 to go. A couple more great chances for Detroit, a couple more great saves by Bryzgalov. The Wings are up to 45 shots, so they've got that new season high. Osgood is pulled at this point. It's that 50-foot wrister he gave up in the first that's going to beat him on this night. And it does. Phoenix gets the empty-netter with 0:57.7 left. The question for Osgood, and you hate to have to even ask it but somebody better, somebody has to, is how does it feel to get booed in your own building by your own fans after everything you've done for this team?
9:58 Game over. Final score: Phoenix 3, Detroit 1.
Reflecting on Richard Hauptmann
2 years ago
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment