End of the Year Top 10 List of Doom

What am I counting down? WHAT EVER I WANT TO COUNTDOWN!

10. The Lions Madden Controller was cute, but I couldn’t laugh at it because it misspelled “Weird” as w-i-e-r-d. I understand the “I” before “E” except after “C” should have come into play with this one, but it didn’t.

9. Tim Tebow and the New York Jets… Read: Back-up/3rd string QB and the second fiddle major market team or Publicity Stunt and the Guy who has a foot fetish.

8.Clear Channel is to Radio what Hostess is to the Twinkie.

7.Tomas Holmstrom still hasn’t announced his retirement.

6. Calvin Johnson’s record (Formerly Jerry Rice’s) should be no less respected than Barry’s. Hearing Detroit sports radio callers say it was easier made me wish Clear Channel owned both sports stations in town.

5.When the NHL returns it will be without Nick Lidstrom and you’re still mad he won’t take a hometown discount. Think we can convince him to be motivated play 50 some odd games?

4. Maybe I’ll just take a knee here.

3. Will the NHL or Fiscal Cliff get solved? Which do you think happens first?

2. The Ilitches are still filthy rich. Detroit and its government are just lousy at running a city. (duh)

1. The USA and Canada play Sunday Morning at 4:30am EST on NHL Network and NHL.com, and I plan to wake up/ stay up to watch. Your move lock-out.

0. That’s how many more Piston games I am going to watch this year.

Reasons I want the NHL back (I Tried a Lions Blog)

I started a Lions blog.

It turned into incoherent babbling.

So instead here is a list of reasons I need the NHL back.

I’ve lost interest in the NFL and the Lions…

The NFL is king, and being a hardcore puck-head I am reminded of this constantly. I gotta admit, in the fall months it has held me over….but now that we’re in December with the Lions making football painful to watch again and my fantasy team out of the running I am pretty much over the NFL.

Sure, I’ll watch the playoffs.

But what else is on?

Please, Bring back the NHL!

I like college bowl games…

BUT unless it’s a prime match-up or I have a rooting interest, I like to have options.  Please forgive me, San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl for not being able to sit through the entire game not wishing  the Blues and Wild were on NBC-SN/VS/OLN.

My Grandma is a HUGE Wings fan!

As much as I hate seeing the NHL locked out, my grandma hates it 10x more. Sure, she has other hobbies: crosswords, word searches, Sudoku, watching Charlie Sheen movies, Two and a Half Men ,or Anger Management on FX..But she REALLY loves her some NHL, and most particularly the Red Wings.

It’s always been our thing. Since I was little I would go over (I used to live next door to her) to my grandma’s and watch the Red Wings… I don’t make it over there as much anymore, but I do make an effort to  watch with her as often as I can. She’s just as feisty as ever and boy does she get into the games. Old lady swearing is always funny… so please- Bring back the NHL!

I have a new LED TV to watch on…

In my opinion no game has benefited more from HD from a broadcast standpoint than hockey. The audio they pick up now is amazing and in crystal clear HD, it’s hard to believe we ever needed a glow puck. Now, I have my own place and a new 39″ LED screen of my own to watch it on…the only thing missing is the NHL.

Other Hockey is good…

but it’s just not the NHL. On Saturday, in the absence of the NHL I visited Yost for the first time since 2005 (the last lockout and when it was still made of wood). The atmosphere there makes it a fantastic place to take in a hockey game. Unfortunately, the game on the ice (while it has dramatically improved through the years) just isn’t at the level of some of the other leagues out there. Luckily I have the OHL in my backyard as well, and though the upper talent level there is high…it’s still not the NHL.

I co-host an NHL Podcast..

I really love the NHL and talking about the NHL… So last season with two members of the Detroit media’s underbelly, we formed the “End-to-End” Podcast ( a spin off of Doug Todd’s hockey blog “End-t0-End,” hosted on WDFN.com)…and talked everything from trade deadline, to draft, and playoffs…and while we’re all very in tune with what is going on in the lock-out, it just doesn’t make for very good chatter… Especially since we all seem to agree on what has to happen for it to end.

The Results Are In…

Ya, ya.

I am on again off again with this sports-blog thing.

MVP

This isn’t going to be a post where I proclaim that Miguel Cabrera was the right or wrong choice.

Miguel Cabrera is the American League MVP and a lot of people aren’t happy. If you’re one of  ’em?  Deal with it.

I have a problem with the way we Americans seem to be doing things lately; whether it be elections, American idol, or picking MVPs in sports.

Why can’t we just let the debate be settled when the results are in?

I don’t need you to be happy with the choice, but stop trying to discredit the choice after it’s already been made. Prior to the election, vote, or game; debate the merits, skills, flaws– whatever — to your heart’s content. THAT’S rational.

When it’s over, it is over. Accept it. Move on.

It’s like when Michigan and Michigan State play. The day after the game there are people with the audacity to debate the results. Why even play the game if nobody on the other side ever has to eat the humble pie?

Back to baseball, There is not going to be a recount to re-decide the MVP. You made your case (a damn good case) for Mike Trout leading up to the vote.  The people who decide that award, decided something different from your opinion. You guessed it! Move on!

“Shaggy” Matt Culbreath, a good friend of mine, suggested perhaps Angels fans would consider a petition to secede from the American League… but I don’t think the Angels could hack it as their own  independent  baseball league.

Lidstrom a Bargain at 6.2 Million

There will be draft stuff up later!

For now..

I honestly don’t know how I didn’t think of this before. Thanks to Sean Baligian for helping to make this point that should be the be all, end all of Nick Lidstrom “hometown discount” arguments.

Find a player on the list of the highest paid defensemen in the NHL below that is a better bargain than Nick Lidstrom:

Here is a hint, YOU CAN’T!

Nick Lidstrom is still a top 5 D-man in the league and he is paid the 14th most in the league. So He is ALREADY taking a “hometown discount” playing at 6.2 million dollars.

So the folks asking him to take a “hometown discount” (who are most likely the same people calling him Nick Lindstrom) can rest assure that he IS giving a hometown discount, and has been for some time now.

Sure, It would be great if Nick decided to play for 3-4 million dollars, but that’s just unrealistic. You’re not going to get an (still) elite defenseman for the price of a slightly above average one.

Again, Find me a better bargain, find me a bigger discount.

Thanks to CapGeek.com for t his list:

Player Pos Team Age Length Amount

1. Ehrhoff, Christian » D BUF 29 10 $10,000,000
2. Chara, Zdeno » D BOS 35 7 $8,500,000
3. Keith, Duncan » D CHI 28 13 $8,000,000
4. Pronger, Chris » D PHI 37 7 $7,600,000
5. Weber, Shea » D NAS 26 1 $7,500,000
6. Campbell, Brian » D FLA 32 8 $7,142,875
7. Seabrook, Brent » D CHI 27 5 $7,000,000
8. Bieksa, Kevin » D VAN 30 5 $7,000,000
9. Wisniewski, James » D CLB 28 6 $7,000,000
10. Boyle, Dan » D SAN 35 6 $6,666,666
11. Bouwmeester, Jay » D CGY 28 5 $6,600,000
12. Phaneuf, Dion » D TOR 27 6 $6,500,000
13. Redden, Wade » D NYR 34 6 $6,500,000
14. Lidstrom, Nicklas » D DET 41 1 $6,200,000
15. Doughty, Drew » D LAK 22 8 $6,000,000
16. Markov, Andrei » D MTL 33 3 $5,750,000
17. Ohlund, Mattias » D TBL 35 7 $5,500,000
18. Komisarek, Mike » D TOR 30 5 $5,500,000
19. Gonchar, Sergei » D OTT 38 3 $5,500,000
20. Martin, Paul » D PIT 31 5 $5,500,000

Red Wings Could Use Some Depth

OK, so you’re the Red Wings, It’s game 5 and you’re down 3-1 on the brink of elimination.

Time for a change in the line up to shake things up!!

We’ll put in the gritty veteran for a little desperation….Oh, we don’t have one…

OK, Not a problem…Let’s put in the speedy kid for some energy!….What do you mean he only has one good arm!?

Well let’s go with a better PK guy who has a little bit of a scoring touch…..oh ya, concussion..

Well that leaves a rookie defenseman, a 32 year old AHL veteran, and a guy who has played 9 playoff games….

You forgot about Jakub Kindl..

NO T A CHANCE.

I guess we’ll go with what we’ve got.

Needless to say the Wings are in a tough spot, and its even tougher that they won’t be able to make any kind of a line up switch that it appears they could use.

I would consider putting Brendan Smith in to get him some playoff experience, and what’s the worst that could happen? Him leave Jimmy Howard out to dry? Wouldn’t exactly be a first this post season now would it?

but who do you take out?  My first thought is Kyle Quincey…but that would probably mean putting Nick Lidstrom on the PK and you don’t want to lose him blocking a shot.

The potential is still there!

So how CAN the Wings pull off a stunning comeback you ask?

I’ve heard a lot of people peg Johan Franzen as the guy that needs to catch fire, and while that will probably win you one of your next three, what really needs to happen is guys like Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Todd Bertuzzi, and Danny Cleary need to not be minuses on the ice for the Wings.

Contribute something!

The above mentioned have barely been noticeable, with the exception of Dan Cleary who has actually had a few chances to bury one but has not yet missed the goaltender’s pads. (unless you count Todd Bertuzzi’s PIMS)

If the Wings can get these guys going RIGHT NOW, this thing ain’t over. It’s now or never.

Thru Two

Heading back to Detroit tied 1-1,  things are looking up for the Wings.

No, I’m not ready to rescind my prediction of Preds in six, but we did see a lot out of the Red Wings that we haven’t seen since the end of the home winning streak.

For starters, heading into the series Nashville looked like the team that would be getting a boost from its bottom six forwards, but through two games the Wings have actually gotten the output from  guys like Tomas Holmstrom (who skated better last night than I have ever seen him skate…) and Corey Emmerton.

Pavel Datsyuk had a very good night in the faceoff circle last night, something they’ll need moving forward because Paul Gaustad has been stellar for the Predators.

Jimmy Howard wasn’t just good last night, he was outstanding.  In actuality he didn’t face a ton of shots  but it seemed like just about all of the Predators’s 25 shots were legitimate scoring threats.

Perhaps the MOST important factor is that the Wings had the swagger and determination that has been so lacking for the last month and a half, and it had nothing to do with the Bertuzzi fight and everything to do with the smart plays Drew Miller was making in tight spaces, the crisp tape-to-tape passes, and Brad Stuart bearing down and performing like his mind got back from California, where it has been the last 15 games of the season.

The Predators are still playing good hockey, if Jimmy Howard wasn’t on the ball, last night  could have been a much different story. Most noticeable to me is the play of Alexander Radulov, who looked to suffer no ill effects from playing in the KHL during his 10 game regular season stint with the Preds, but suddenly has a case of the Hudlers and looks soft in the corners and with the added tightness of playoff hockey has mostly been a non-factor.   If the Preds want to continue deeper into the playoffs Radulov needs to find time and space.

Noon!?

Nothing makes less sense to me than a noon start hockey game.  Hockey players are finely tuned athletes and starting a game at noon after an entire season of prime time starts is just bizarre.  Not to mention when the game starts in Nashville it will only be 11am in Tennessee. Both teams have to deal with it, but I find it usually waters down the first few minutes of a hockey game.

Round One Preview: Wings vs. Predators

OK, so it’s not  the match up I wanted for the Red Wings, but its the one then they earned.

A trip to the friendly confines of Jobing.com Arena in Phoenix was an option, but one Holmstrom to Datsyuk pass and score later, the Wings are off to Nashville for some sweet tea and playoff hockey.

As many of you know, and some of you don’t the Predators are the real deal this year. This isn’t the run of the mill “happy to be here” Nashville Predators. No sir, this is a legitimate,  Stanley Cup Contending hockey team that plays in the state of Tennessee.

Looking at the Nashville roster, you might say the Preds are a poor man’s Dertoit Red Wings.

Actually, the Preds may be the better version of the Detroit Red Wings this season.

Stop me when this sounds familiar:

The Preds are a team that can roll four lines, lacks a mega star but has some top end talent.  The Predators won’t beat you up with their fists, but they will make you pay on the power play. They’re deep on defense and have a goalie with the potential to back stop them all the way through the finals. Not to mention a long tenured top notch coach in the NHL.

If you look at a lot of the boring break down stats in the NHL, these two teams are often right next to each other, or very close (the biggest exception being power play with Nashville at No.1 , Detroit at No.22 in the league)

That being said, I really do think the Predators are the “team of destiny” in this year’s NHL playoffs. The team has depth where you need depth, talent where you need talent, and two of the better defensemen in the NHL.  Combine that with a lethal power play and stellar goaltending and suddenly you have yourself a real contender.

Maybe I have been dipping into the sweet tea (vodka) a little too much, but I can’t find the evidence to pick against the Predators in this series.

They even have the added motivation of “WIN NOW.”

This is the best team the Predators have ever put on the ice, but it seems pretty sure to be broken up in the off-season.

I predict Nashville gets to the Western finals at least. Obviously that means they take out the Wings in the first round, and I’ll guess six games.

I would love to be wrong though.  The Wings have an edge in experience and that can’t really be measured in a preview like this. I’ve overvalued it in the past to be quite honest and I may be under-valuing here. The Wings were also at one point running on max efficiency, but that team hasn’t been on the ice since the home winning streak was broken. Could they put it together and win this series? Absolutely. We’ve all seen them flip that “switch” before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Wings this out of sync heading into the playoffs.

The Wings clearly have the better talent in this match up, but I am very nervous about its depth beyond two lines. The scoring punch seems to have one arm tied behind its back. If the Wings do pull it off it will be because Datsyuk, Franzen, and Zetterberg carried the scoring burden.

With the Wings getting healthy, there is a pretty good chance of me headlining something in the near future “I was dead wrong.” Darren Helm’s return will mean a lot to a team lacking a “goin’ to work” Detroit hockey kind of attitude, but I don’t get the feeling his return will put the Wings over the top.

Feel free to call me a genius or an idiot below or on facebook.

And that is the end to my objectivity. GO WINGS!

Check Up!

As many will tell you, I am not a doctor, but here is a quick check up on Detroit sports.

Tigers

Opening day is Thursday already!?  It’s easy to get excited about the new look Detroit Tigers. The bats? The starting pitching? Heck even the bullpen looks poised to be improved.

Drew Smyly  has been named the Tigers’ fifth starter out of spring training after finally beating out Duane Below (Be-low) for the spot left open when the Tigers decided not to bring back Brad Penny (who went 11-11 and I contend did an adequate  job).  It is my prediction that he will not hold onto it for very long, though I am certainly OK with him getting the chance. It’s obvious to me whomever is in the fifth spot is just keeping the seat warm for Jacob Turner anyhow, but before you see Turner, I think you’ll see Below there.

It was also mentioned today, unfortunately not in the form of an April Fools day joke, that Brandon Inge could start the season on the DL. Inge has been out the last few days with a groin injury, which is ironic because a blunt force groin injury is exactly what it would feel like to a player replaced on the Tigers’ roster by Inge, if that in fact does happen. Inge is the serial killer in those slasher movies that will just not go away, or the Undertaker popping up when you think he’s down for the count.  Either way its a nightmare.

Pistons

While I openly admit that I haven’t sat and watched an entire Pistons game this season, I have been flipping over a lot more lately and I have to admit I like what I am seeing. I thought the season was going to be a complete disaster but it appears maybe, just maybe, Joe Dumars has a finger closer to the pulse of this team than we thought.

It’s clear to me that Tayshaun Prince needs to be the first one out the door at season’s end because he is not interested in the team.

Lot’s of talk about the Pistons playing themselves out of lottery balls, but I think they did the right thing by putting effort into this season, even if it did hurt their draft standing. When you have a team that is young like the Pistons are, asking them to tank is a good way to poison whatever future a player might have.

A very rare kudos from me to the Pistons.

Red Wings

Friday was a disaster, but Sunday’s victory over the Florida Panthers put the Wings fate back in their own hands. With three games to go the Red Wings lead Nashville by one point and Chicago by two (all three with the same amount of games remaining). That’s the good news.

The bad news is the sixth defenseman spot seems to be up for grabs, even after the position appeared to be filled when the Red Wings acquired Kyle Quincey for a first round pick at the deadline.  Quincey didn’t do himself any favors by getting called for a 5-minute charging penalty and a game misconduct on Sunday either. The hit could also draw a suspension from the league, which would give Kindl at least one more game to try and impress his way into a starting gig in the playoffs. Quincey is presumably the favorite to start on the third pairing when the playoffs start, but with the recent benching of “presumed starters” its hard to say anything is for sure.

Nothing to do with the Red Wings, but the Flyers and Penguins are on a collision course for the first round of the playoffs and things just got more interesting. Also, they still have one more to play!

 

Detroit Lions

Still dominating headlines and they haven’t played a a game since January. We long wondered what a winning football team would be like in the age of constant media coverage, and this is our answer. The Draft is coming up, but for once the Lions are too far to really venture a guess at a pick. This should be a year where they draft by need and not best player available, with focus on filling holes in the secondary, and freshening up that O-line.

When the Chips are Down, Babcock Chooses Kindl

Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I find it really odd that tonight’s regular season match up is the biggest in a very long time and Mike Babcock is sitting Kyle Quincey.

Think about it, he’s “rushing” back Jimmy Howard for tonight’s game,  but sitting Kyle Quincey in favor of Jakub Kindl?

That means one of two things.

1. He’s trying to inject some confidence in Kindl’s game, by choosing him in the seasons biggest match up.

2. He sees Kyle Quincey playing Rover on defense and trusts Kindl more at this point.

Perhaps a little of both.

Is it too late to get that first round pick back?

Here is the Freep story by Helene St. Jameswith Babcock’s quotes on the situation.

Big Game for Red Wings

What does tonight’s game mean for the Red Wings? How much will this game effect the Wings’ performance in the playoffs?

Click the link to hear what I think about Red Wings vs. Predators , and leave your thoughts below, or on my facebook!