Here's the lede graf from Paul at Kukla's Korner, quoting the Usual Hockey Suspects at ESPN:
With the first quarter of the season in the books, Scott Burnside (East) and Pierre LeBrun (West) evaluate each team’s performance:
Eastern Conference
Pittsburgh Penguins
Grade: A
Trending: Up
Summary: The Penguins roared into the second quarter of the NHL season riding a nine-game winning streak and with captain Sidney Crosby playing as well as he ever has (he has put up points in 16 straight games as of Tuesday). Marc-Andre Fleury appears to have found his mojo and the Penguins look like a team to be reckoned with come April.
Western Conference
Detroit Red Wings
Grade: A-plus
Trending: Up
Summary: A second-round exit last season had some people wondering if the NHL’s model franchise was nearing a downturn after being one of the elite squads for 15 or so seasons. Um, scratch that thought. The Wings are back and apparently as great as ever, screaming out of the gates in the opening two months of the season with the best record in the Western Conference. Nicklas Lidstrom appears ageless at 40, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg both deserve Hart Trophy consideration, and Jimmy Howard just can’t lose a game. Life is grand in Hockeytown, USA.
Well, Jimmy CAN... and did... lose a game. Last night, to be more specific, against the Hated Tiburones of someplace out on the Left Coast. But, Hey! ... 17-5-3 is still good enough to lead the Western Conference by three points.
SN1 and I watched the game together but separate last evening, as is our custom. In so doing we got off into the weeds and began discussing the NHL in general and prospective match-ups for the Wings in the Stanley Cup Final, should it come to that. Buck asked if it was really, rilly true that the Flightless Birds were on a ten game winning streak and I replied in the affirmative, assuming they won their game last night, which they did. I believe it was at that particular point in time when SN1 mentioned that SN2 was liable to bring this lil fact up in our next conversation, what with SN2 being a Flightless Birds bandwagoneer since he took up residence in the Steel City. I laughed and acknowledged that that was indeed a possibility... and since we're on the subject, I was thinking about buying SN2 one of those ghey third jerseys the Flightless Birds wear every so often as a Christmas present. Which got a laugh out of SN1, of course. "Do it!," sez he... "I dare ya!"
Buck, if that's the jersey you're referring to in the pic, it reminds me a bit of the TN Titan's "white" outfit, which has light blue shoulder pad area, white torso; the pants are light blue. It is a bit "ghey" looking. Maybe you've hit on the psychological explanation for why they've lost 5 straight.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say at the end, "The Titans have lost five games." My statement was somewhat ambiguous when I reread it and might have given the impression that the Wings had lost 5 straight. Have they every lost that many in a row?
ReplyDeleteYup, that powder blue jersey is what I'm talkin' about, Dan. Mebbe the Penguins wear it to make their players mean... unlike your Titans, the Pens have won ten in a row, and that's quite a feat in the NHL today.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Wings have lost five in a row at some point in time, Dan... and mebbe MORE, even. Back in the mid-80s they were known in Dee-troit and elsewhere as "The Dead Things," mainly because they missed the playoffs and had abysmal records for a LOOONG time. Like in 85-86, when they went 17-57-6 for a mere 40 points. Those were horrible days.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you caught it or not, but my Flames are on a streak too. They won one last night! Yippee! And no, they don't ever wear any 'ghey' looking jerseys like those.....
ReplyDelete(WV loter, that mean my guys are losers or I am for caring about them?)
Hey, it's a GOOD thing when your team wins! And no, you're not a loser for supporting them. See above... we were a Wings fan when they were having the most miserable of seasons. Things always get better. Eventually. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOperative word..... Eventually. Calgay's such a hockey town that every time they lose (which has been a lot this season) there's a grat shout over the city "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"
ReplyDelete