After-Action Report

So. SN1 pulled in to El Casa Móvil De Pennington around 1230 hrs yesterday afternoon and is on the road again this morning, headed back to South Carolina. The visit, short as it was, was a good one. We drank a few beers, shared a few war-stories, and watched hockey… two games, in fact. We watched ALL of the Deetroit game and most of the Dallas-Anaheim tilt before Buck had to take off and spend time with his in-laws. All in all: good times, and they happen way too infrequently these days.

As for yesterday’s (premier) game? Well, the outcome was as good as it gets. From The Detroit News:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Shades of 2002 against the Canucks, that's exactly what it was.

Same player, Nicklas Lidstrom. Identical type of goal.

Lidstrom took a shot from the neutral zone officially listed at 103 feet that bounced, hit a bump, took off in a direction unexpected by Nashville Predators goalie Dan Ellis on Sunday and into the net in the second period.

The improbable goal triggered a 3-0 Wings victory over the Predators, helping the Wings win the first-round series in six games.

Detroit now awaits the identity of its second-round opponent. Calgary beat San Jose, 2-0, Sunday to force a Game 7 in that series. If Calgary wins that series, Detroit would face Colorado Calgary (ed: a rare screw-up by a sportswriter). If San Jose wins, Detroit will play Colorado.

Shades of 2002, indeed. The Wings were on the ropes in that first round series, down 0-2 to eighth seed Vancouver. And then Lidstrom scored that fluky goal and the Wings proceeded to win four straight, advancing to the second round on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. They faced Colorado in the conference final that year… an exciting series that went seven games, ending with a 7-0 blowout in Game Seven.

I watched that game in a sports bar in San Francisco… which was filled to over-flowing with Wings and Avs fans in approximately equal numbers. My fondest memory of that game…and that series… was a particularly loud Avs fan that ripped off his Patrick Roy jersey at the end of the game and stomped on it in frustration, accompanied by LOUD cheers from the Wings fans in the bar. As for me? I was at a table with three other expat Wings fans, and we celebrated like there was no tomorrow. But there was a tomorrow, and it just kept getting better and better. The Wings, as previously noted, went on to win the Cup, beating Carolina in five games.

So. Shades of 2002. One can only hope…

One thing we know for sure: The Wings won’t face Anaheim anytime soon. The Stars sent the Ducks off to the golf course last night, coming from behind to beat Anaheim by a score of 4-1. In Dallas, which was way-cool. This might just end my rooting for the Stars this year… unless San Jose prevails over Calgary. At which point I’ll back the Stars against the Sharks.

Tonight I’ll be rooting for the B’s when they play game seven against the Habs in Montreal. This particular series has been among the best in the first round, and tonight’s game ought to be a real classic…what with two Original Six teams going head-to-head in a game seven for the seventh time in their long-standing rivalry. It’s gonna take some REAL doing to get more exciting than Boston’s 5-4 win in this past Friday’s game, however. I don’t want to seem like a guy who’s overly impressed with the last game he saw… but Friday night’s game was simply superlative, what with Boston overcoming one-goal deficits three times to win it in the last three minutes of the game. Hockey rarely gets any better than that, period. I don’t expect any less tonight.

Photo: Nashville goalie Dan Ellis shakes Chris Osgood’s hand after yesterday’s game. David Guralnick / The Detroit News

―:☺:―

Just for grins… My Bud Ed in Florida sends the following along…

Jake is 5 and learning to read. He points at a picture in a zoo book and says,

"Look Mama! It's a frickin' Elephant!"

Deep breath. "What did you call it?"

"It's a frickin' Elephant, Mama! It says so on the picture!"

and so it does ...

"A f r i c a n Elephant "

Hooked on phonics!!! Ain't it wonderful?

Indeed. Wonderful!

And now it’s off to make the rounds…