Monday, May 13, 2013

Look Out, Virgil... Here We Come

We had our moments of anxiety, especially in the final two minutes of the third period, but all's well that ends well.



Buh-bye, Ducks.  You had a good run in the regular season but you just weren't QUITE up to the task at hand.  From that "read more" link in the graphic above:
ANAHEIM -- For the second straight game, the Detroit Red Wings faced elimination, and for the second straight contest, their captain helped them avoid it.

Henrik Zetterberg scored the opening goal and assisted on another, while goalie Jimmy Howard made 31 saves as the Red Wings defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 at Honda Center in Game 7 of this Western Conference Quarterfinal series at Honda Center on Sunday night.

The seventh-seeded Red Wings, who needed at least a point in the final game of the regular season just to qualify for the postseason, will now move on to face the rival Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Semifinals. The start of that series has yet to be determined.

[...]

Detroit continued to frustrate the Ducks for much of the third period, but Zetterberg went to the penalty box for delay of game and Anaheim quickly cut the two-goal deficit in half. Beaucheim (sic; should be Beauchemin) threw the puck towards the net and it glanced off Jonathan Ericsson's skate and into the net with 3:17 remaining. Twice before in this series, the Ducks had erased multi-goal deficits in the third period.
THAT was the source of my anxiety, in that we've seen this movie too many times before... but the Wings hung on and the rest is history.  Now it's on to Chicago... where we'll see if those 'Hawks are real or not.  This is a rivalry I'm gonna miss when the Wings move to the Eastern Conference next year... and this final playoff series should be a great one.

4 comments:

  1. Game #7....last time I'll be in the Honda Ponda until these two meet in the SCF circa 2016. The place was electric. AT the 4:42 mark they started streaming for the exits. I looked at my buddy and said, where they going? Jeebus haven't they watch this series? Then Booshoman made like a blind squirrel and found a nut. That got the place rocking for them DuhUcks. Shades of past games swirled, yet the boys locked it down. The Anaheim fans were upset. It is Orange County and no ones gets angry. Nevertheless, we let them filter out before heading to the car. Kind of a stage of grieving...

    So you want an orange "Let's Go Ducks" purty orange towel? The "fans" left a bunch, Being disgruntled and such.....so I grabbed a few. They are good for cleaning off weapons, wiping the chillerns runny nose(s), checking the oil in your auto, and.....well, just staring at and smiling.....

    Wings in 7. Done.

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    1. and.....well, just staring at and smiling.....

      Heh. Good on ya for bein' there, Rummy. I wish I could've been there, too.

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  2. Well, as I said in my previous/last posts on this subj my Hawks are going to have to be both more more consistant and more energetic if they hope to win out. It would appear the Wings are gelling/improving while the Hawks are waffelling side-ways at best compared to early season form.

    PS: I always hated watching Wings games in the 50s on TV for another reason besides the B&W and all the "snow"--the stadium was the very LAST (iirc) to convert to glass backstops, they still had the old chain-link screens, which, when combined with the "snow" made the games almost impossible to watch/enjoy on TV. THAT's reason enough for a lifetime of hate right there, pardner.. :)

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    1. Well, first of all... I think yer Hawks will be alright, for a couple o' few reasons. First: You're playin' the Wings, and the 'Hawks ALWAYS play us hard, mainly for the rivalry that's in it. Second: Yer 'Hawks are DEEP, deeper than any team in the league at the moment. If Coach Q rolls all four of his lines consistently that will be a problem for the Wings... mainly coz our defense is lacking, in a lot o' ways. Third: You have home ice and I believe that IS an advantage in the playoffs. All that said I still believe we have a chance. As you said, the Wings are beginning to gel and our young guns are pretty hungry. And our Old Guys have been there and done that... so look out.

      Second... you go back a LOT further than I do with hockey. Hell, I had NO ideer they used to use chain link behind the net. You really ARE an Ol' Fart, aintcha? :-)

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.