Scooter Chronicles

I had been hoping the Wings would sign Mats Sundin to help the scoring department. Sure, the Wings won the Cup, but other then Zetterberg and Datsyuk’s steady playmaking, they haven’t had anyone that could steal a game with super scoring powress since Sergei Fedorov left for greener pastures in 2003 (he once scored all five goals in an OT 5-4 victory over the Capitals). Sundin would have been a nice addition, especially considering he’s pretty good on both sides of the puck. Instead the Wings got the prize of the free agent pool: Marian Hossa. I was shocked to see this NEWS.

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So since the Red Wings beat the Penguins in the Cup Finals, I obviously won the bet I had with the guy at work. And my prize? COOKIES!!

They are supposedly only found in the Pittsburgh area. I had my choice of face, and went with the pirate look. Mostly because I thought it would be a bit fun, and Marcia has a thing for pirates.

They were quite tasty.

UPDATED AT 6:15 PM

Could be a very interesting day today. One of the more interesting group of free agents will be vying for spots amongst the 30 NHL teams. Some big moves have already happened. Adam Foote and Jon-Michael Liles both re-upped with the Avalanche. The Eastern Conference Champion Penguins didn’t expect to be able to resign Ryan Malone, so they shipped his rights off to Tampa, and the Bolts laid down an offer he couldn’t refuse. (The Bolts also sewed up team captain Vincent Lacavalier for nine years, and brought Barry “The Mullet” Melrose back to an NHL bench … the new owners are trying to bring back the glory of 2004’s Cup Championship season.) The Flyers sent...

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Hockey has hit a bit of a sad state. I am talking about it being on the general consciousness of the public. Was watching Jeopardy! a couple of nights ago. There was a Sports category. One of the questions needed the answer/question “What is Formula One?” The contestant had the question as a daily double and got it. Yet the $2000 question/answer in the category dealt with what league the Minnesota Wild play in. All three contestants had blank stares.

To more happy stuff, two Red Wings picked up more hardware at the NHL Awards Ceremony last night. Niklas Lidstrom won his sixth Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman, and Pavel Datsyuk won both the Selke Award for best defensive forward and the Lady Byng...

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Bud Ice commercials once said “beware the penguins”. For a crappy beer, they sure were right about something. Those darn Penguins just wouldn’t go away. For those that didn’t watch, the Pens almost stole another celebration chance for the Wings. With just over two minutes left in the game, and down two goals, the Pens pulled goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Less then 40 seconds later, the Pens scored. Then, with less then 10 seconds left, someone from the Pens takes a shot that nearly handcuffs Osgood, the pucks drops near his glove side post, where Marian Hossa jumps on it, flicks...

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YUCK!!

I am too tired to post much of anything, but what a great, yet depressing game. From being 34 seconds away from winning the Cup to a triple overtime loss on a bad penalty (not a bad call, just a bad penalty) really just sucks. And now I would normally be getting up for work in four hours (from the time of writing this). Still gonna try.

Wow! That was close.

I was a little upset when the Wings took a very early penalty that led to a Penguins goal. That’s not the best way to start a very pivotal game of a series. My Mother-In-Law happened to walk by and asked what the score was. After I mentioned the Wings were losing already, she saw that there was still over 14 minutes left in the first period, and calmly said, “It’s early yet.” She was right. Fortunately the Pens took the same penalty at almost exactly the same spot of the ice not two minutes later. Though the Wings goal officially came after the power play expired, they tied the game up rather quickly. I breathed a sigh of relief. But that didn’t last long.

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As I expected, the Pens played with more passion and fire last night. They made a real statement. They can compete with the Wings. But for how long. Though the Pens were very impressive in stepping up their game from being totally dominated in Game 2, and looking feeble in Game 1 as well, they still didn’t totally turn the tables.

Sidney Crosby scores his second of the game to put the Pens up 2-0 in the second period.

The Wings still played very strong. The Pens took away a lot of their possession of the puck with that of their own, and they were moving faster in the neutral zone to get...

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Wow! Another shut-out. Quite honestly, the Wings put on a defensive clinic last night. It wasn’t just a matter of holding the Pens off, or getting lucky. The Pens didn’t have a shot on goal when both teams were at full strength until midway through the second period. They were clogging the neutral zone incredibly well.

Wings’ Valtteri Filppula scores a goal in Bobby Orr fashion.

Now for all you fans out there saying that this series is over, don’t get too worked up yet. This could...

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Never thought the first game would see such a score. And quite honestly, the game was closer then that. The Wings last two goals came with two and a half minutes left in the game or less.

First, it was nice to see the ceremonial first puck drop with two legends representing both teams. Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman did the honors.

Mario and Stevie drop the puck for Niklas Lidstrom and Sidney Crosby.

The first period was impressive, in my opinion, for both teams. The Penguins didn’t show any first Finals game jitters at all. They were very composed, went about their business,...

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