Trip to Hockeytown, USA 2015

In late June of 2015, the NHL released the schedule for their upcoming 2015-2016 season.  As always, the first thing I do when its released is see when the Wings play opening night and when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins.   As a die hard Wings fan, living in Pittsburgh, for many years, when they play the Pens in Pittsburgh, its my best time to see them in person.  This year, I noticed that the Wings would be coming to town for a preseason game on September 30th in Pittsburgh, which is also the anniversary of Maria and I's first date.  However, I also noticed that the two would be playing in a regular season game on Dec 31st at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  New Years Eve is our engagement anniversary, which happened in Detroit after watching the Wings at the Joe.  Plus, I've been wanting to return to Detroit with the kids before they tear it down in a couple years.  Having Caleb see his middle name, Yzerman, hanging in the rafters of the Joe, where Steve Yzerman won so many games would be really special.  Never one to pass up a good adventure, Maria bought 4 tickets for the New Years Eve game and booked us a hotel that was literally 0.3 miles from the Joe.  It was my Christmas and Birthday present.  I was beyond thrilled and began counting down the days before the season even began.

On December 30th, we packed up the van, I jammed as much Red Wings clothing into my bag as I could and we headed off for Hockeytown, USA.  You know how they say a watched pot never boils.  The same can be said when driving to a place that you're really excited to go.  The GPS said it would take us 4 hours and 31 mins to get there and that's a long time, but it was the longest 4 hours and 31 minutes of my life.  I felt like I had been driving west for so long, that I would soon hit the Pacific Ocean.  Well, okay, maybe not that bad.  My excitement spiked when I saw my first highway sign that said "Detroit" on it.  It spiked again when we passed a giant Detroit Pistons basketball.  While coming into the city on M-10, we exited a tunnel and suddenly we were face to face with a huge sign that said "JOE LOUIS ARENA Home of the Red Wings".  I nearly wrecked the van as I yelled "Guys!  Its the Joe!!"  It wasn't even fair, I was totally unprepared for that, but it was the first of MANY pleasant surprises in our stay in Detroit.

We checked into the Crowne Plaza hotel, unpacked our bags and headed over to the Joe immediately.  It was actually kind of busy as the GLI (Great Lakes Invitational) hockey tournament was having its championship game between Michigan and Michigan Tech.  As I stood in front of the Joe, my daugther, Emily came running over and jumped into my arms for the picture.  Despite not really showing an interest in the Red Wings or just sports in general, she was really excited and seemed to be feeding off of my excitement.  We walked around the arena to the Gordie Howe entrance, snapped a few more pics and headed back to our hotel.  We made plans for dinner at Motor Burger in Windsor, Ontario (which was absolutely fantastic), did a little shopping at the "small" Devonshire Mall and then headed back to the hotel for bed.

The next morning, I woke up and thought to myself, "Oh my God, today is the day.  I'm going to the Joe to watch the Red Wings... TO-DAY".  I looked over at the kids bed and was surprised to see Emily already awake.  "Hey pumpkin, did you sleep alright?", I asked.  She responded, "I woke up like 5 times during the night.  I'm so excited to go to the Joe!"  I knew the feeling and was again surprised by Em's level of excitement.  That morning we did the Hudson Cafe on Woodward Ave, walked around the city a bit and over to the Spirit of Detroit statue.

In the afternoon, we headed over the greatest restaurant in the world (or at least, I think so), Hockeytown Cafe!  Besides the Joe, this was the most exciting place I wanted to visit on the trip.  A Red Wings themed restaurant, with pictures, old jerseys, NHL trophies, Red Wing themed menus, Red Wing patterned carpet, Red Wing art, big screen HD TVs everywhere.  It looks like what my man cave would look like if I were a billionaire.  When the food arrived, Caleb looked at the Hockeytown decorated paper underneath the food in his basket and said "Wow!  I can't believe I'm eating on something this nice!"  After we finished our meals, we did a tour of the place, snapped a bunch of pics and headed over to Comerica Park, the baseball stadium for the Detroit Tigers which is literally right across the street from Hockeytown Cafe.  Later, we passed Cheli's Chili Bar, the bar owned by former Wings defenseman Chris Chelios and took the people mover (love that name!) back to the hotel.  It was almost gametime!

The doors to the Joe open 90 minutes before gametime which was 6:00pm, so right at 4:30pm, we left our hotel room cut through the Cobo Center and over to the Joe.  It was pretty cold and the wind made it feel like the artic, so we had to be quick.  We learned the way to the Joe through the Cobo by just following people that were on their way to the GLI championship game yesterday.  Our anticipation kept rising as we walked closer and closer amongst a crowd of other Red Wings fans.  As we came out, we were walking parallel to Steve Yzerman Drive and the kids did an all out sprint towards the arena.  Maria told them to wait and pose for a picture at the bottom of the steps.  Immediately after she put her camera down, they both turned around and began running up the huge steps just outside the Joe.  I don't know why, but this moment struck me as being really special.  I don't know if it was because we've been waiting for this moment since August.  Or maybe its because my kids are finally getting to visit my favorite sports arena.  Or maybe its because last time I was here, it was just Maria and I and she was just my "girlfriend" and now we're back I'm married to this gorgeous woman and we're entering this place with our kids.

We got in, got our free programs and began to take in the sites.  It might have been my second time at this arena, but it was just as good as the first time as I got to watch both Emily and Caleb with wide eyes take it all in.  "Look!  An octopus!!" exclaimed Emily pointing at a cartoon Octopus wearing a Wings jersey hanging from the ceiling.  "Look Dad! Gordie!" yelled Caleb as we passed by the Gordie Howe trophy.  We did a full lap around the Joe, taking so many pictures, you'd think we were putting together a presentation for a virtual tour.  We noticed one of the kiosks handing out certificates and looked to see what was going on.  The Red Wings created a certificate welcoming kids to their first game at the Joe Louis Arena.  How perfect was that?    At that point, we figured, we should probably head over to our seats, see the ice and the plethora of championship banners hanging from the rafters.

We took about two steps into the heart of the Joe, when a female Red Wings employee ran over to us, asking, "Excuse me!  Would your kids be interested in participating in a dance off during the second period?"  Maria and I looked at each other for a brief second before saying, "Yes!  Yes!  Of course!"  The employee said that they could pick whatever song they wanted and to meet her by section 115 at the 12 min mark of the 2nd period.  We said we'll be there and continued on to our seats.  As we walked up the aisle, Maria grabs my arm and says "We have now until the 12 min mark of the 2nd period to get these kids as jazzed up and sugared up as we can."  Caleb seemed a little nervous and said he didn't want to do it, but I convinced him otherwise.  "Come on, buddy!  This is a great opportunity.  You're going to be dancing for everybody at the Joe!  You!  Caleb Yzerman.  Once again, someone with the name Yzerman is going to be getting cheers at the Joe.  This will be one of those things that you will NEVER EVER forget."  Over hearing me pumping up our son, Maria turns to me, "Hey hun, are you sure YOU don't want to be in the dance off?"

The pregame warm ups began and all 4 of us headed down to the glass behind the Red Wings net.  In comparison to the other arenas I've been in, getting from the second tier all the way down to the glass we actually quite easy.  No need to exit the area and go back in.  No bars preventing you from getting from one section to another.  Watching the pregame warm ups is easily one of my favorite moments of going to a hockey game.  To be that close to the players.  To be close enough to see the stitching in their jerseys.  The sound of the skates cutting the ice.  The vibration and sometimes deafening sound of the puck smacking off the glass.  Its unforgettable.  It was a little more crowded in the Wings end than I'm used to in Pittsburgh, but the kiddos still got a spot near the glass.

The starting goalies for the game were Detroit native, Jeff Zatkoff in net for the Pens and 23 year old Petr Mrazek for the Wings.  Neither team had been playing particularly well at the time, the Wings were just coming back from a road trip and lost their last two and the Pens had just lost to Toronto the night before in Pittsburgh in OT.  As the game started, the Wings looked like they might break out of their slump as they scored two quick goals.  After the first one, I was thrilled, not just for the goal, but because my kids would get to experience a goal celebration at the Joe.  The roar of the crowd, the horn, the "Hey Hey Hockeytown" song played after the goal.  That's what its all about.  After the second goal, Maria left in search of sugar to get these kids wound up for their dance off later that night.  Earlier in the night, Maria and I were looking around the arena and noticing many people that looked like other people we know back home and how weird it was.  With Maria still away, Caleb points to another section and goes "Hey!  That girl looks like Mom!"  Emily looks over "Hey!  That DOES look like Mom "  Caleb continued, "What the heck?  How many people look like Mom in this world?"  I started scanning in the direction he pointed looking for this Maria doppelganger and found her, "What the... that IS your Mom.  Why in the world is she over there and what is that box she's holding?  Does she know those people over there?"  Kids burst out into laughter.  Caleb pats me on the shoulder "Sorry Dad, but I think you lost your wife".  I give Caleb a confused face and look back at Maria who waves at us and then when there's a stoppage in play, gets out of her seat and heads back over to us with a box of donuts.  "Sorry, I went to 226-B.  I forgot we were in 226-A.  Then I couldn't get back because play had started and I had to wait for a break in the action before I could get up."  She handed the donuts over to the kids who immediately began devouring them.  The first period ended with the good guys on top 2-0.

During the intermission, Caleb mentioned that he was nervous, but I continued to assure him that everything would be alright.  "You guys dance and sing around the house all day long, now you're just going to do it for a crowd and win awesome prizes.  Just be your crazy self out there."  The second period started and the Pens went on a power play.  It didn't take long for them to take advantage either making the score 2-1.  After the Pens goal, I realized we had a row of Pens fans behind us.  Lovely.  I come all the way to Detroit and I still have to listen to Pens fans when they score.  Maria asked them where in Pittsburgh they were from and they said "Oh we're not from Pittsburgh.  We're from Windsor."  Really?  This was one of the many themes of the night.  Maria would approach random Pens fans, ask them where in Pittsburgh they're from and they would respond the same way.  We're from Dearborn, we're from Ontario, etc.  Anywhere BUT Pittsburgh.  Out of about 20-30 people we talked with only two were ACTUALLY from the Burgh.

As the clock ticked down to 12 minutes, you could see the nervousness on the kids faces.  At the next stoppage in play around the 12 minute mark, Maria grabbed the kids and headed down to section 115.  I stayed behind to do the filming.   As the period continued, I lost focus of the game and was more concerned with the kiddos.  Kris Letang scored yet another powerplay goal to tie it up 2-2.  During a TV timeout with 5:51 left in the second period, I hear "So I have Caleb and Emily here...", I nearly jumped out of my seat, pull out my phone and began recording, totally not expecting them to be on already.  It was time to see if all the sugar we fed them would pay off.

Caleb was up first and he started dancing to DJ Snake's "Turned Down For What".  He jumped around and danced like crazy with thousands of Wings fans laughing and cheering. Emily continued the Dance Off, dancing to the same song, spinning and whipping her body around to the beat of the song with more cheers for the Joe crowd.  "Okay, who's it going to be?  Is it going to be Caleb?"  Announcer holds her hand over Caleb's head followed by a roar from the crowd.  "Or is it going to be Emily?"  More cheers from the crowd.  As their father, it was quite a thrill to hear my kids get cheered, but in a somewhat ironic twist, it was the boy with the middle name "Yzerman" that won the dance off.  For participating, everyone in our row won gift cards for Massage Green Spa.  See the Dance off video!

I sat back in my seat, put my hand on my heart and tried to calm down.  I took a few moments to myself, looking around at the banners, then looked at my phone and noticed I had a missed call and a few texts from my wife.  I couldn't hear the voicemail, so I looked at the text which read, "I'm going on the zamboni during the second intermission!"  I sat up fast and yelled "What?!" out loud, grabbing the attention of pretty much my entire section.  Once again, my heart was pounding out of my chest.  At this point, the game was secondary to me.  I just wanted to get to intermission.  Maria made several jokes throughout that day about selling the tickets to one of those scalpers outside the Joe or the hotel losing our reservations again (it happened the first time we went to Detroit), so I wasn't completely sure if she was telling the truth about the zamboni ride which is absolutely UN-BELIEV-ABLE!

As the second intermission began, I moved down closer to the ice and saw a guy dressed as Abe Lincoln on the first zamboni.  I looked at the second one coming onto the ice, squinted my eyes, looking for Maria and I saw my white jersey and her long hair and yelled, "Oh my God!  She IS on the zamboni!!"  After they introduced Abe Lincoln the announcer said "And riding the zamboni with Dave, the First Lady of Hockeytown tonight, Maria Fruscello."  I was floored!  They even pronounced our last name correctly!  Is this a dream?!    As she rode on the ice, they played "I just met a girl named Maria" from West Side Story.  During the pre game warmups, Maria talked to pretty much everyone down behind the Wings net and when she passed them on the zamboni they recognized her, waved and cheered.  I was just in stunned disbelief.  My Wife.  Is Riding a Zamboni. At the Joe Louis Arena.  I recorded pretty much her entire ride.  See the First Lady of Hockeytown riding a zamboni at the Joe!


The third period started and I barely even noticed as I was just anxious for them to get back, so I could talk to them about their experiences.  About 5-10 minutes into the 3rd period, I saw them coming up the steps with huge grins.  "How?  Just how in the world....?" I said to Maria.  "Well, while I was down there with the kids while they were doing their dance, I overheard someone say they needed a second rider for the other zamboni.  As soon as I heard that I said, I'd do it.  Next thing, I know, they're handing me a waiver to sign and then I was on the zamboni."  Looking at my wife, "Unbelievable!  Seriously!"  My son won a couple slices of Little Caesars pizza for the Dance Off and was holding a Red Wings practice puck, "Daddy!  They said Pavel Datsyuk touched this puck!"  Still in shock over everything that had happened in the past half hour, I just looked at him and nodded.  Each of them had a Wings practice puck and Maria also was holding a $25 gift certificate for merchandise at the Joe or Hockeytown Authentics.  "Here you can have this.  I feel bad that it wasn't you that got to ride the zamboni."  I just shrugged my shoulders, "Don't feel bad.  I loved seeing you out there!  It was great!"  Truthfully, I really did enjoy seeing her out there.  One week earlier, on Christmas Eve, she was laying in a hospital bed, barely able to move after having her gallbladder removed.  She could have skipped the trip to Detroit, but she toughed it out, every step of the way was rewarded in a huge way.  At this point, I noticed the score was now 4-2 Pens, but nothing was going to put a damper on this night.  Not for our family anyways.  "How funny would it have been if while on the zamboni, I pulled off my Wings jersey and revealed a Penguins one underneath?"  Looking at her with raised eyebrows, "Yeah, that probably would've gotten us killed."  She smiled, "I'm just kidding.  I'm definitely a Wings fan now.  Its just so much fun here!"   Nodding in agreement, "Well yeah, you were just riding around the ice being serenaded by the Joe Louis Arena with the song "Maria".  How could you NOT be a huge fan after something like that?"

As the final minutes ticked down, we left a little early so we could use this gift certificate because Hockeytown Authentics was not exactly along the way going home and the shops at the Joe were closing up.  As we waded through the crowds, we came to a souvenir shop and despite trying to get Maria a Wings t-shirt, she insisted, I get something since they all got something already.  I ended up getting a sweet looking Justin Abdelkader Stadium Series t-shirt and since I bought it at the Joe, you know that means I'm going to have to be buried in it now.  ;-)

As we walked through the Cobo, back to our hotel, Maria and I kept looking at each other in shock of the sequence of events for the night.  "Is this a dream?"  I asked.  "Is this real life??  Did I really just do that?"  Maria asked.  All of this seemed too good to be true, yet it was!  Since we didn't have a Massage Green Spa back in Pittsburgh or really anywhere near us, Maria just handed them out to random people the next couple days brightening their day.  We drove her to the Detroit airport as she was heading over the Rhode Island to visit friends (the adventures never really end, just a new one begins), before heading back to the Burgh with the kiddos.

Going into the trip, my biggest concern wasn't "Will the Wings win the game?".  My biggest concern was "Will my family have a fun and memorable experience?"  The Red Wings mean a lot to me.  I've been a fan for about 30 years.  This logo, these colors, these players, the memories, this arena are all special to me.  I was going to have a great time regardless.  For this trip though, I wanted all this to be special for them too.  They were all fans for reasons that were not their own.  They were fans because I am.  Now they're fans because they experienced one of the most unforgettable nights of their life.  One of the slogans for the Wings this year is "Its More Than Hockey".  How appropriate that slogan was for this night.  We went to a hockey game and what we'll remember from this night has little to do with the hockey game itself.  Next year will be the last year for the Joe.  Its going to be demolished and a new arena will be built and ready to go for the 2017-2018 season.  This trip will in all likelihood, be my final visit to the Joe and for the kids, their only visit.  I hate to see it go.  Cool looking, high tech modern arenas might be really nice, but nothing can replace the history, tradition or experiences of the old one.  It will be gone, but it'll never be forgotten by this family.  We'll never forget the night the Joe Louis Arena opened up its arms and gave the Fruscello family a big hug!

Penguins headed in wrong direction

This past spring, the Pittsburgh Penguins had probably the easiest path the Stanley Cup Finals that I can ever remember. Ottawa, Montreal and Philadelphia, none of which would have even qualified for the playoffs in the Western Conference. It looked promising, but they fell flat. The same can be said for the Penguins off season. The Penguins wanted to bolster their defense and were rumored to be interested in guys like Anton Volchenkov and even traded for the rights to Dan Hamhuis. On July 2nd came, the Penguins didn't get either. Not only did they not get neither Volchenkov or Hamhuis, but they also lost their best defenseman, Sergei Gonchar as well.

I understand that Gonchar is 36 and he was looking to remain a Penguin until he was almost 40, but so what? Its not as if Gonchar's skills were clearly diminishing. As I mentioned in my previous post, Gonchar had just 4 less powerplay points than Crosby and played in 19 less games. He was second in the NHL in powerplay assists. If you thought the Penguins had problems on the powerplay before, how well will they do without one of the league's best powerplay quarterbacks? I know a lot of you expect Kris Letang to "step it up" and be that guy but I haven't seen any evidence of him being able to do that. Gonchar finished with 30 powerplay points last year in 62 games. Letang played in 73 games and finished with 5. They played on the same powerplay unit together. Gonchar got points, Letang did not. Gonchar has that big heavy shot that you need on your powerplay. Letang has a big heavy shot too, unfortunately most of the time, that shot is smacking off the glass.

The Penguins did manage to snatch up a couple of defensemen though. Not the ones they wanted, but Shero was determined to not let that cap space burn a hole in his pocket. He signed Zbynek Michalek, a shutdown stay at home shot blocker from Phoenix for $4 mil a year for 5 years. So they let Rob Scuderi, who does the exact same thing for less money, walk away last year and they get this guy. Devoting that much money for that long to a guy that just blocks shots is a little puzzling. Mark Eaton, who is a smart shot blocking defenseman went to the Islanders for $2.5 mil.

Shero wasn't done yet though. Rather than sign Gonchar for $5.5 mil for 3 years, he goes out and gets former NJ Devil Paul Martin for $20 mil over 4 years. That's right, instead of having one of the best defensemen in the league for just a half mil more, he signs an offensive minded defenseman that is nowhere near as good as Gonchar. Five million a year for 4 years for Paul Martin?? He's a fast skater and a decent passer, but he's actually worse than Gonchar defensively (which is the reason a lot of yinzers wanted Gonchar gone) and his shot isn't impressive. He's been the Devils go to guy for offense from the blueline for several years and the most points he's ever had in a season was 32. Martin missed almost the entire year with an injury in 09-10 and the Devils finished with the second best record in the conference, so he won't exactly be missed by them.

What Ray Shero needs to understand is that there's this thing called a "salary cap". In a "salary cap" era, you need to make smart decisions. You're not going to be able to fill all of your team's needs, you're going to have holes somewhere. When the Penguins signed Crosby, Malkin and Staal to big contracts, they made it apparent that this was going to be an offensive minded team. Get what you can defensively and spend money on forwards. Acquire players that will enable you to get the most of your big investments (Crosby, Malkin, Staal). When the Penguins won the Cup in 09, Eaton, Gill, Scuderi, Orpik and Letang were all under $4 mil. The bulk of their cap space was spent on forwards, as it should be. The Penguins are now in a bad spot. Outside the big three, what do they have? Kunitz? Cooke? Talbot? If guys like Cooke and Talbot are playing on your second line, you have problems. However, they don't have any cap space left to sign anyone thanks to Shero's wasteful spending. It should also be noted that Volchenkov and Hamhuis each signed deals worth $4.5 mil, which means the Pens could have gotten the defensemen they wanted for the same price they got Michalek and Martin.

I hope you like look of this Pens team, because barring a blockbuster trade or a huge raise in the salary cap, this team is pretty much set (or stuck) for the next 2-3 years. I keep hearing Pens fans say they'll be alright because Eric Tangradi will be on the big club this year. The same Tangradi that scored just 17 goals in the AHL last year?

Even though Ilya Kovalchuk isn't signed yet, its being rumored that the teams interested in him are trying to sign him to one of these huge contracts (10-15 years) that lower the cap hit. Kovalchuk is looking at a $5-6 mil cap hit because of this. If *I* was in Shero's place going into the off season, I would have re-signed Gonchar and Eaton. Then traded Fleury and his $5 mil a year contract. He's not $4 million better than Brent Johnson and its been proven by the Wings, Flyers and Blackhawks that you don't need a high priced goalie to win in the NHL. Finally, I would have made a strong pitch to sign Kovalchuk to one of those mega deals. The $5 mil they're spending on Fleury SHOULD be spent on a much needed goal scoring winger. Kovalchuk is one of the best scorers out there and would be far more valuable to the team than Fleury is now.

Ray Shero is failing as the Penguins GM. It doesn't take a genius to know that you need to re-sign Crosby and Malkin when their contracts expire. The money he's paying Staal is too much for his current role on the team and the money he's spending on Fleury, Martin, and Michalek is unbelievable. He's had 5 years to get a winger for Crosby and aside from the brief stint he's had with Hossa, his best linemate has been Chris Kunitz who's never had more than 60 points in a season. That's pretty pitiful considering names like Heatley, Kovalchuk, Gaborik and Kessel have all been up for grabs in the past couple years. If the Penguins are going to head back in the right direction, its going to take big moves, moves that Shero has proven he doesn't have the stones to make.

Factoring In: 06/30/2010

- Yesterday, the Dallas Stars said that they would not offer the 40 year old Mike Modano a new contract despite his desire to still play hockey. To me, this is a classless move by the Stars organization. Modano has been the face of that franchise since they were the Minnesota North Stars back in the early 90's. If he wants to play another year, you sign him to a one year deal, he won't cost that much and you put him on your third or fourth line. He's earned the right to choose when he retires and if he wants to play another year after all he's done for your franchise, the Stars should be glad to have him back. Now Modano has to decide between choosing another team or retire. He really only has three options at this point. Play for the Minnesota Wild and end his career in the same city he started it in. Play for the Detroit Red Wings so he can play his final year in his hometown and have a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup. Or retire. I would love to see Modano in a Wings jersey. He's a smart, classy, two way player that would fit in really nice on our third line. For the right price, I think this is something Detroit needs to consider. How great of a story would it be to see Modano win the Cup in his hometown and both he and Lidstrom end their illustrious careers as champions.

- With the NHL free agent frenzy nearing, the Penguins have yet to come to terms with defenseman and powerplay specialist Sergei Gonchar. I've heard pretty much every Penguins fan I know say "Ohhh we don't need him", "He's too old" or "Did you see how Travis Moen blew past him in Game 7? He's terrible". I strongly disagree. First off, the Penguins DO need him. His presence on the powerplay is critical. Gonch finished with just 4 less powerplay points than team leader Sidney Crosby and played in 19 less games. He was also second in the NHL among defensemen in powerplay assists, one point behind Mike Green. Last season, Gonchar missed all but 25 games during the regular season. The team struggled badly on the powerplay until he returned. The year before that Gonchar was 2nd in the league in powerplay points, including forwards. His defensive skills have always been questionable, but that's not his role. His role is to supply offense from the blueline and there are very few people in the NHL that have done that as well as Gonchar. You can say "We don't need him" and "He's too old" now, but in the Fall when the Penguins can't score on the man advantage, somewhere in the back of your mind, you'll think, "Hey, maybe that Gonchar guy wasn't so bad afterall".

- I've never really been a fan of the NBA, but the rumors about free agents LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh getting together and forming a mega team in Miami are really interesting. Three of the best basketball players in the world all joining the same team at the same time. A lot of current NBA fans are saying its bad for the game to have one team with that many stars and it takes away from the competitive spirit of the game. Let's put it this way, I had ZERO interest in the NBA before this. If this does happen and all three sign with the Heat, I will find myself watching NBA games this season. I want to see this mega team tear through the NBA. It would be really something to behold. It would be fun for Heat fans, obviously and it would be fun for non-Miami fans because just imagine how amazing it would be if this superstar team lost and your team beat them. These three joining the Miami Heat would be one of the greatest things to happen to the NBA in a long time.

- Sticking with basketball, people are saying that LeBron should stay in Cleveland and that he would be a traitor if he left and a coward for joining a team of all stars. He's been with the Cavs for 7 years and made it to the Finals once. From my understanding, he was the whole show that year and had very little support. He continues to receive virtually no support from his teammates today. LeBron James wants to win a championship. The Cavs had 7 years to put together a good supporting cast around him and haven't done it. Its time to move on. If he joins Wade and Bosh in Miami, they could become the greatest NBA team ever. Ever! If LeBron really wants to make a name for himself, being the best player on the greatest NBA team ever is a good way to do it. Some people have written that it would tarnish his legacy or make his championships less impressive. Absurd. Were the Jordan and Pippen championships less impressive? Were the Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar championships less impressive? How about the Kobe and Shaq teams? Besides, where would you rather live during the winter... Miami or Cleveland?

Eric Lindros should be in Hall of Fame

Fifteen years ago, I had an Eric Lindros picture taped to a dart board hanging in my room. I couldn't stand him and said "I don't care who wins the Cup as long as HE doesn't." Today, I'm writing a blog post saying why the guy should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Recently, the retired center became eligible and "Puck Daddy" of Yahoo Sports gave Lindros 25-1 odds that he would be part of the 2010 class. Many people feel that he shouldn't ever be in the hall of fame, much less a first time ballot inductee.

When he was 16 years old, Lindros was expected to be the next Mario Lemieux. He wasn't and in the minds of a lot of people, that means he was a bust. I'm sorry, either you're the greatest hockey player of all time or you're a bust? Those are some pretty high standards to live up to. Lindros also managed to make himself hated by all hockey fans throughout his career too. When he was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991, he said he wouldn't sign with them, forcing Quebec to trade him to Philadelphia. So that pretty much ticked off all of Canada. Then he was playing for a team that everyone hated, the Flyers. He became of the focal point of everyone's hatred for the Flyers. NHL fans cheered against Lindros for years, celebrating every time he got another concussion. On April 1st 1999, Lindros suffered a rib injury that was misdiagnosed by the Flyers team trainer and said he could fly back to Philly the next day. Fortunately, his teammate Keith Jones insisted on taking him to the hospital right away and it turned out to be a collapsed lung caused by internal bleeding. The doctors in Nashville said that if Lindros had listened to the trainer, he would have died. Lindros criticized the team doctors, while Flyers GM Bobby Clarke criticized Lindros and basically called him a wuss. Yeah, Bobby, your franchise player nearly dies and you're calling him a wuss. As if we needed another reason to hate you and your organization. A lot of the Flyers fans however, sided with Clarke and essentially ran Lindros out of town. With Philly fans against him too, he had 100% of hockey fans hating his guts. However, if you can push your hatred aside and take a look at what he did during his career, you'll see that even though he wasn't as good as Mario Lemieux, he was one of the best, if not the best hockey player in the 1990's.

To me, the hall of fame, in all sports, is about honoring the greatest players to ever play the game. In order to become a member, you should have, at some point in your career, been considered the best player in the league during your era. As a 19 year old rookie, he scored 41 goals in just 61 games. In 1995, he tied Jaromir Jagr for the most points in the league and won the Hart Trophy (writers MVP) and Lester B Pearson (players MVP) awards. In 1997, he led the league in playoff scoring and the Flyers to their first Stanley Cup finals appearance in 10 years before losing out to the Red Wings. Lindros was a dominating force. In the first 5 years of his career, he averaged 1.47 points per game. To give you just an idea of how good that is, Sidney Crosby averaged 1.36 points per game through his first five seasons and Alexander Ovechkin averaged 1.34 in his first five. After the concussions and other serious injuries, Lindros' career average dropped to 1.14 points per game, which is still pretty impressive. Its still a higher career average than Jarri Kurri, Bryan Trottier, Pavel Bure, Brett Hull, Bobby Hull, Mark Messier, Adam Oates, Gordie Howe, Ron Francis, Rocket Richard, and Luc Robitaille. Just to name a few.

A lot of people believe Lindros shouldn't be in the hall of fame because he was a dirty player and he whined a lot. Ironically, I hear a lot of this from Pens fans that worship Sidney Crosby who is guilty of having those same traits. Eric Lindros was a big guy at 6' 4", 240 lbs. When you're that big and you play for the Flyers, you're going to play physical. As I mentioned in my "Ovechkin vs Crosby" post, when you play a physical type of game, you're going to occasionally cross that line. When you play physical, not all of your hits are going to be clean. Its impossible. The game is too fast. Lindros was the league's best power forward for almost a decade. Using his size to be a great power forward was his strength, but it was ultimately his downfall as well. His physical style of play invited other physical players to take shots at him and being as big as he was, its not like he could get out of the way. Now he took a few big hits because his head was down, but I think it was more of the everyday physicality that destroyed his body and made him injury prone near the end of his career.

People always talk about his injuries when they talk about Lindros and the hall of fame. Injuries were a significant part of Eric's career, however it shouldn't stop him from going to the hall of fame. When he played, he was arguably the best player in the game. He has the MVP trophies to prove it. So he never won a Stanley Cup, once again, as I've stated in previous posts, the number of championships doesn't determine your worth as a player. The Stanley Cup is a team trophy, not an individual one. One person doesn't win the Cup by himself. In his first three playoffs in Philly, Lindros averaged 1.21 points per game. He did everything he could, but Ron Hextall / Garth Snow / Sean Burke and whatever other shooter tutor Philly put in net couldn't stop pucks and this is why Lindros isn't a Stanley Cup champion today.

I understand why people dislike Eric Lindros. I get it. He was physical, he was tough, he was a Flyer. Big E looked like he was going to turn the hated Flyers into the next hockey dynasty and turn 1975 into just another number, but you need to get over it. I disliked him as much as anyone, but its time to let it go. Its been 10 years since he played his last game for the Flyers and its been 3 years since he played his last NHL game. Its time to put that hatred aside, take a look at what he accomplished, take a look at his numbers and come to the only conclusion that makes sense... Eric Lindros is a hall of famer.

The Tampa Bay Lightning? Y not?

This morning I woke up and checked NHL.com, "Yzerman, Red Wings icon, named Lightning GM". "Damn!", I thought to myself, "it wasn't a dream". Shortly, thereafter I logged onto Facebook, pulled up the Tampa Bay Lightning fan page and clicked "Become a Fan" (or Like). Within minutes my wife posted on my wall "You like the Tampa Bay Lightning?! Come on now..." I thought to myself, Y not?

When the news broke yesterday that my favorite player and legendary Red Wing Steve Yzerman left Detroit to take over as GM for the Tampa Bay Lightning, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Is this a joke? I thought what probably every Wing fan thought at that time they heard the news... "F$%&*$!" While none of us thought this was possible, deep down, we all knew that this was bound to happen. He was going to have to wait a long time to become the GM in Detroit and fresh off his success as the GM for Team Canada in the 2010 Olympics, now was the time. What a great situation to go into too. The Lightning have some really good, young, talented players to build around. Guys like Steven Stamkos (age 19), Victor Hedman (age 18), and Vinny Lecavalier (age 29). The Bolts have a new owner, Jeff Vinik, who has deep pockets and a commitment to winning. Plus, you get to live in sunny beautiful Florida year round! What more could you ask for? While it hurts us Red Wings fans to see him leave our franchise, most of us will continue to cheer on The Captain as GM for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A good number of Wings fans have already said that Tampa Bay will be their second favorite behind the Wings. So get ready Lightning, your fan base is about to get very big, very fast.

A few Wings fans that didn't take the news so well said things like, "I hope the Lightning do terrible, so they'll fire him (Yzerman) and he'll come back here" and "I hope he doesn't tarnish his name trying to save this cheesy Mickey Mouse franchise". First, hoping that a guy that spent 27 years of his life turning your team in a winner fails is ignorant. Plain and simple. Second, no team starts off as the Detroit Red Wings. Everybody starts off as a "cheesy Mickey Mouse" franchise. Who took the NY Yankees seriously before Babe Ruth? Who took the 49ers seriously before Joe Montana? Who took the Penguins seriously before Mario Lemieux? Everybody starts off as this franchise that everybody points and laughs at. Then that one guy shows up, leads you to greatness and changes everyone's perception forever. Yzerman can do that with the Lightning. He can take them from being this unpopular Florida based hockey team and turn them into the Red Wings of the Eastern Conference. He has the smarts, he has the support and he has the young stars to build around.

I also think its very ironic that Yzerman went to Tampa Bay. The Wings colors are red and white. The Lightning's colors are blue and black. The exact opposite. Detroit is so far north, its almost in Canada. The Lightning couldn't be farther south. The best player on the Lightning is a 19 year old, right handed shooting, first round pick named Steve that was given the task to not only perform, but to renew interest in this hockey club. Wasn't Yzerman given that exact same assignment 27 years ago? Steven Stamkos also wears the numbers 1 and 9 on his back, except in the reverse order (91). The Bolts also have a young 18 year old Swedish defenseman named Victor Hedman that is supposed to be one of the next great defensemen in the game. Its like Yzerman went to the bizarro Red Wings. Everything is so similar yet different.

Its a very exciting time for Steve Yzerman and it should be an exciting time for his loyal fans. Yzerman and the Lightning have a lot of work to do, but they are on the cusp of something great. O CAPTAIN! my Captain! Good luck with your new team and us Wings fans will be there to cheer you on every step of the way!

Ovechkin vs Crosby: Part 1

Every great sport has its rivalries. Sometimes its between teams, players, colleges, coaches, fans. The NHL is blessed with a great rivalry right now between Washington Capitals franchise winger, Alexander Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins crown jewel, Sidney Crosby. Two great players, but only one can be called "the best". Its fine to say you like one more than the other, but don't go saying one is BETTER than the other because of that liking. I think its just amazing how Crosby fans will ignore the numbers and just say, "Crosby's the best". It seems like everyday now I get into an argument with someone about "Who's better? Crosby or Ovechkin?". Its funny because last year Crosby wasn't even mentioned in the "Who's the best?" discussion. It was "Malkin or Ovechkin?". Crosby wasn't even a consideration. But now, I get some Pens fan trying to justify his or her position with lame arguments that Crosby is the best. Take off your black and gold glasses for a few minutes and look at these facts:

FACT: Ovechkin and Crosby were both rookies in 05-06. Crosby had Lemieux, Palffy, LeClair, Recchi, and Gonchar. Ovechkin had Dainius Zubrus and Jeff Halpern. Ovie did better and beat out Crosby for the Calder Trophy which goes to the league's top rookie.

FACT: Ovechkin and Crosby finished with the same number of points this year (109), while Sid had just one more goal. Crosby also played in 9 more games than Ovechkin. I'm quite certain that if Ovie had played in those 9 games, he would not only have more goals and points than Crosby, but he would've won the Art Ross for a second time.

FACT: Both have one Art Ross trophy

FACT: Ovechkin has 2 Hart Trophies as the league MVP, Crosby has just 1.

FACT: Ovechkin has 2 Lester B. Pearson Awards (which goes to the league MVP voted by the NHLPA). Crosby has just 1.

FACT: Ovechkin also owns 2 Rocket Richard Trophies as the top goal scorer in the league. He wasn't a co-champion either like Crosby is this year with Steven Stamkos.

FACT: 2 is a greater number than 1

I do expect the Hart Trophy numbers to be evened up this year when the awards are given out though. The winner of the Hart Trophy is determined by a panel of hockey writers aka the hockey media. The same media that is ramming Sidney Crosby down our throats every chance they get. A good portion of that media is from Canada. Who do you think they'll vote for? Their fellow Canadian that scored the "Golden Goal" in the Olympics or the "dirty Russian"? They're already saying "this is going to the player that's most valuable to their team" which is what they say whenever their opinion doesn't match the stats. This wouldn't be the first time this happened though. In 88-89, Wayne Gretzky won the Hart over Mario Lemieux, despite the fact that Mario had 31 more goals, was a +15 better and played in 2 less games than the "Great One". What did exactly did Wayne do that year? He got traded to the LA Kings and got married. The Hart is more of a media popularity contest than it is an actual award based on talent.

Despite all of these FACTS, people persist that Crosby is a better player:

"Sid's a more complete player. He plays defense." - First off, let me just say that in today's game, you don't rack up over 100 points AND play defense. Coming from someone who's watched a lot of Wings games with players like Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Yzerman, Fedorov... neither of these guys play defense. I don't recall either of them laying down to block a shot or back check on every shift. However, between the two of them, Ovechkin is better defensively. No, that's just not my opinion either. Let's consult the numbers shall we... This year, Crosby is a +15. Ovechkin is a +45. Both have the same number of points and both have about the same number of power play points. So it seems to me that opponents are scoring a heck of a lot more when Crosby's on the ice than when Ovie is. Sooo, how is it Crosby is better defensively? Isn't defense about keeping the puck out of your own net?

"Ovechkin plays in the weak Southeast, while Crosby plays in the tough Atlantic" - The same "weak" Southeast division that produced 2 of the last 5 Stanley Cup champions? Don't get me wrong, the Southeast has its flaws, but people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. The Devils are no where near as good as they were since their last championship in 2003. They've been knocked out of the playoffs in first round in each of the last 3 years. The Rangers haven't been good since '97 when they re-united Gretzky and Messier and even that team was iffy. The Islanders have been in rebuilding mode since 1985. The Flyers are the closest thing to a good team and they have lousy goaltending, inconsistent players and bad coaching.

Here's the 09-10 breakdown:
Crosby vs Atlantic - 1.83 points per game, +14
Ovechkin vs Atlantic - 1.75 points per game, +17
Crosby vs Southeast - 1.10 points per game, -7
Ovechkin vs Southeast - 1.52 points per game, +10

It seems to me that both got big numbers in that "tough" Atlantic division and didn't do quite as well in the "weak" Southeast division.

"(After Canada beats Russia in the Olympics) Once again Crosby proves he's better than Ovechkin" - Huh?? First off, neither of them scored a point in that game. Second, Team Canada is MUCH stronger than Team Russia. Canada has a Hall of Fame goalie, one of the best coaches in the NHL and all-stars on their 4th line. Russia had players from the KHL. You really can't compare two individual players based on the outcome of a game between two teams, especially when those two teams are not equal.

"Crosby beat Ovechkin in the '09 playoffs, so he's better" - Crosby's team did beat Ovechkin's team in a 7 game series where it all boiled down to one game. A game in which Caps rookie goalie Semyon Varlamov, who was playing in just his 19th career NHL game, came unglued and gave up 4 goals on 18 shots. While playoff battle tested Marc-Andre Fleury just gave up 2 goals on 21 shots. What exactly did Ovechkin have to do with Varlamov's meltdown? The Penguins team was better that day. It had nothing to do with Ovechkin vs Crosby. Its not like Crosby out produced Ovechkin. In fact, Ovechkin slightly outproduced Crosby in the series. Crosby finished with 8 goals and 5 assists, Ovie with 8 goals and 6 assists. Crosby's team was better than Ovechkin's so that makes him a better player? Ovie's great, but he can't score, play goalie and coach. The Caps have the same problem the Red Wings did prior to 1997. They're not built for playoff hockey. The Penguins on the other hand, are built for playoff hockey. This doesn't make Crosby better than Ovechkin, it makes him lucky to be with a franchise that knows what it takes to win in the playoffs.

"Crosby has a Cup and Ovechkin doesn't" - This is like when people said Gretzky was better than Lemieux because he had 4 Cups and Lemieux had zero. It was ridiculous then and its ridiculous now. Gretzky played on a team that was stacked with talent, while Lemieux had to pretty much do everything himself. The same can be said here. Crosby's team is loaded with high end talent. Malkin (2nd overall pick), Fleury (1st overall pick), Staal (2nd overall pick), all high draft picks. Ovechkin has Semin (13th overall), Varlamov (23rd overall) and Backstrom (4th overall). If Crosby and Ovechkin switched places, Ovie would have a Cup (maybe more) and Crosby would have zero. This is the weakest argument a Crosby supporter can make. Kris Draper has 4 Cups, does that make him better than Crosby?

"Ovechkin always chokes in the playoffs" - Oh really? In 28 career playoff games, Ovie has 20 goals, 20 assists, and a +14. He owns a 1.43 points per game average in the playoffs which is actually better than his regular season average of 1.34 points per game. So if anything, he's actually BETTER in the playoffs. Crosby averages 1.36 points per game in the regular season and 1.32 in the playoffs.

"Crosby always beats Ovechkin everytime they meet up" - That was true in the beginning. Back when both were non-playoff rebuilding teams, the Pens beat the Caps many times. Something like 10 out of 11 times. However, since both became elite teams, those numbers have really changed. The Penguins and the Capitals have played each other 15 times (including the playoffs) in the last two years. The Caps have won 10 of those games.

"(After the Capitals lost Game 7 to the Canadiens) Who's the best player in hockey?? Crosby!!" - Wait... what? How does the Capitals losing to the Canadiens make Crosby better than Ovechkin? I'm confused. Is it because Penguins won their series and the Caps lost theirs? The Capitals ran into white hot goalie, Jaroslav Halak. A guy that took Team Slovakia to new heights just a few months ago in the Olympics. The Pens played against shooter tutor Brian Elliot. However, Pens fans spoke too early though because the Pens played against the same Montreal Canadiens team that knocked Ovie out of the playoffs and also lost. Well almost the same. The worn out Canadiens, who had one day off in between the two series, lost the services of their best defenseman Andrei Markov in Game 1 against the Penguins. Let's take a look at the numbers, shall we?

Ovechkin vs the Canadiens
5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points, +5 in 7 games

Crosby vs the Canadiens (minus Andrei Markov)
1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points, -1 in 7 games

Crosby and Malkin vs the Canadiens
2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, -3 in 7 games

Ovechkin not only did better than Crosby, but he did better than both Crosby and Malkin combined! It should also be noted that Crosby's lone goal came in Game 6, which also just happened to be the game Hal Gill didn't play in. Ovechkin also had a goal disallowed on a bogus goaltender interference call.

"You just don't like Crosby because he beat your Red Wings!" - My dislike for Crosby, a player that used to be one of my favorites, actually started at the end of Game 4 of the 2008 Finals. After the Wings had taken a 3-1 lead in the series, Crosby skated over to the Wings as they were heading into the locker room, got into Henrik Zetterberg's face and started talking trash. About 10 minutes prior to this disgraceful act, Zetterberg had stopped Crosby on the doorstep of the goal on a 5-3 powerplay. Apparently being shutdown at a critical point in the game (and series) offended the Sid the Kid. That was the first of many classes moves by Crosby and he lost me as a fan. The result of the '09 Finals was irrelevant. Regardless of the outcome of that series, I would not like Crosby today. As it relates to this blog post, I have always said that Ovechkin is a better player than Crosby. Even before the Pens and Wings played against one another and I was a Crosby fan...

"..Ovechkin in my opinion is the best player in hockey (sorry Sid). Ovechkin is the Mario Lemieux of the NHL right now, while Sid is the Gretzky. I always said Lemieux was better so I have to stick with my guns here. "
- Fantasy Friday chat transcript
Friday, January 25, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08025/852218-61.stm

A lot of people will say that Ovechkin is classes or dirty for some of his big hard hits. Ovie plays a physical game and there's a fine line between being physical and being dirty. When you play physical style, sometimes you are going to cross that line. Its unavoidable. Its funny though, Pens fans didn't have a problem with Ulf Samuelsson being physical and sometimes crossing that fine line into "dirty" when he was matched up with Cam Neely in '91 and '92. Nor did they have a problem with Francois Leroux when he knocked out Pat LaFontaine and pretty much ended his career.

I believe the root of the problem here is that most Pens fans don't know an era in which they didn't have the best player in hockey. Let's face it, how many Pens fans today, were fans before 1985? Whether it was Lemieux or Jagr, the Penguins were considered to have the best player in the league for close to 20 years. Today, they have two great players in Malkin and Crosby and cannot accept the fact that there's someone out there that's better and that they don't have the best player in the league. Ovechkin is better than Crosby. Its an air tight case. You can argue this point all you want, but you'll be wrong. Who knows, maybe 5 years from now, things will be different. Maybe Crosby will have more goals, points, wins, Cups, trophies, whatever, but as of right now, it is undeniable that Alexander Ovechkin, the Great Eight, is better than Sid the Kid.

Factoring In: NHL Playoffs 5/6/2010

- How lucky can one team be? Last year, the Penguins played their beat down toys, the Flyers, the Capitals who had a goalie with 11 games of NHL experience entering the series, a worn down Hurricanes team and then a worn down and injured Red Wings. Fluky events (Brodeur's meltdown, Boston blowing it at home against Carolina) had the Penguins miss playing Penguin killers, New Jersey and Boston. This year, the top three seeds in the East fall in the first round, the Penguins get a Senators team that is a shadow of its former self, a worn down Habs team that is missing its best defenseman and then will either play their beat down toys again or a Bruins team that just lost one of its best scorers. Yet again, the teams the owned the Pens during the regular season (Devils and Caps) are out. All three teams the Penguins will play in the Eastern Conference playoffs, wouldn't have even qualified for the playoffs in the West. This is as easy as it gets.

- I really liked the guts the Ottawa Senators showed in the first round. They were over matched, but it didn't stop them. They layed down and blocked every shot, fought for every inch of ice. If they had ANY talent at all, they would've knock off the Pens.

- Has the "greatest goalie in the history of the NHL" Martin Brodeur, lost a step? The Devils have been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in each of the last 3 years.

- I said this about the Pens when Therrien was in town and I'm saying it about the Caps now too. They'll never win the Cup with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench. His unwillingness to make any changes while his team struggles to put away an 8th seed is all the reason you need. They also need to give up on Semin. Great shot, great hands, but is way too soft. If the Caps setup Ovechkin with as many opportunities as Semin, we would be talking about a Ovechkin vs Crosby Conference Finals.

- With the season on the line in a shootout, how do you not put in your 42 goal scorer Marian Gaborik? Instead they went with... Olli Jokinen? Dumb. You didn't deserve to go to the playoffs.

- Same old sad story for the Flyers. "We're tough, we're physical, we're built for the playoffs, but we have no goaltending." I hate this team and even I'm getting annoyed by the fact that they refuse to go out and get a competent goaltender.

- You know, I really don't hate Marian Hossa anymore. I haven't for sometime now. I was mad when he left the Wings to sign with the Blackhawks, but I'm over it. He's a good guy and a great player and while I would still like to see him in a Wings jersey, I wouldn't burn my Hossa t-shirt like some idiots might.

- I've never seen a 3-0 series as closely matched as the Sharks and Red Wings. It could easily be 3-0 Wings, but the bounces aren't going their way and they're losing by one instead of winning by one. Meh, it happens.

- I bet everyone knows who Craig Anderson is now.

- Roberto Luongo must be a Britney Spears fan. Ooops, he's doing it again!

- The Nashville Predators had a 3-2 lead in Game 5 on the road, were on the powerplay with less than a minute left in the game and found a way to lose. No wonder they don't have any fans. I got sick to my stomach watching that and I didn't care who won.

- Great performance by the Coyotes in their first playoff appearance in years. Great system, great coach, now if they could get a few snipers so they don't have to rely so much on Shane Doan, Radim Vrbata and Wojtek Wolski to score goals. They're $13 million under the cap and Illya Kovalchuk would do wonders for them.