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And Now Hockey, a Less Anger-Filled Topic!

2007 April 12
by WordNerd

Yeesh. You exchange a few words with someone on an escalator and the entire world floods your blog. IP called me a power blogger last night given last week’s citation, but really what I am is just a very effective writer when it comes to anger (or shopping deals, I suppose). Anger gets attention, riles some people up, and next thing I know, half of DC’s at my stoop and some people are implying I’m morally ambiguous (I suppose this means I could run for office were I more patriotic). You guys want some Mexican cookies?

See, a morally ambiguous person would not be offering you my excellent Mexican cookies.

Anyway, brushing that aside, time to refocus on less anger-filled things. Or not, considering that. . .

The Stanley Cup playoffs have started. In first-round action, we saw double and quadruple overtime in two of the four games. Tonight, another four games will be played, and this night includes the Wings-Flames opener. Which means that I have to get home and change into red when the work day’s over, kiss StevieBear and ShannyBear (neither play for the Wings anymore, though Yzerman is a vice-president with the organization), and periodically check the score, nervously peaking from between my fingers. When playoff time rolls around, I am almost tempted to purchase a TV and the NHL Center Ice package. Almost.

It seems that the Wings have not bowed to pressure from my sister and chosen “The Red Scare” as their 2007 playoff slogan. They have instead opted for “Join the Red Wave”, which, I have to say, kind of hints at the red scare in my mind (for some odd reason). Had I found myself still stuck in Michigan, I would be trying very hard to get a job with the Detroit Red Wings marketing team—by copywriting slogans and then sending them in for consideration along with my résumé (or CV, right IP?). While this year’s isn’t too horrible (and certainly better than last year’s sophomoric “Bring It”), I was hoping that they wouldn’t invoke red in their slogan this year. But again, I am not part of the marketing team.

Admittedly, I did not pay attention to the playoffs last year. The Wings departed quite early from contention, and I was devastated that the Cup once again ended up south of the Mason-Dixon Line. It is very difficult to pay any kind of attention to sports when you do not have access to a television—I am hoping to be a bit more tuned in and listen to the internet radio broadcast of games, any games, this year. While I’m still hesitant to listen to the Wings (as much as I love them, I am very much convinced that I am a jinx on the team should I lay eyes on their game or open up my ears to the action), I am certainly interested in how the rest of the games go. I don’t have any predictions this year because I am lacking in sufficient 2006-2007 hockey knowledge, but knowing it is playoff time again soothes my soul and cheers my heart.

Lots of luck to all of the teams that are playing save for Calgary (for obvious reasons), Dallas and Anaheim. While I have no doubt which team I’m cheering for to take it all, here’s a pretty good question I’m still debating:

Islanders or Buffalo in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals? I have a soft spot for both, especially since New York seemed to love Ozzie and Buffalo was my favorite underdog a few years back. I need to read up a bit on their respective seasons. Dorkus, your thoughts on this?

16 Responses
  1. dorkusmalorkus03 permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Hehe, “Join the Red Wave.” Sponsored by Ocean Spray cranberry juice.

    Of course I want the Wings to win the Cup, but just as long as no teams from the South take it, I’m happy. It would be nice to see a Canadian team win though (not the Flames! I still want the Wings to kick their asses tonight).

  2. April 12, 2007

    I definitely know you want the Wings to win, but I was asking who your pick was for Islanders vs. Sabres?

    Loved your Ocean Spray cranberry juice comment. :D Now that’s all I’ll think about when I hear the slogan.

    Did you check the Octometer? I had no idea Ozzie had given Bertuzzi a concussion. Maybe they should do as the paper suggests and Dandy-fy Ozzie—put him on defense.

  3. dorkusmalorkus03 permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Oh! Hmm, I think the Sabres will win. Aren’t they the best team in the league or something?

    I had no idea Ozzie had given Bertuzzi a concussion. Ouch, how did he manage that?

    All I can imagine is a red tsunami slamming into the players as they stand at center ice waiting for the puck to drop.

  4. April 12, 2007

    Well, as to the Ozzie/Bertuzzi concussion, remember, it is Ozzie . . .

    I know the Sabres are at the top, but I’m having trouble choosing who to root for in this case. I’ll need to go through and make picks for this round soon.

    Great, now I’m snickering at the idea of the red tsunami at center ice. Out of seemingly nowhere, Fedorov appears on a surfboard, too.

  5. dorkusmalorkus03 permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Yeah, he was probably attempting to play some sort of practical joke on Bertuzzi. Those never turn out, do they?

    Fedorov on a surfboard is comedy gold. Remember, he’s got the hair!

  6. April 12, 2007

    Poor Ozzie’s basically back to where he was 10 years ago during the ’97 Cup run—playing jokes to stay awake. Remember “Lawyers rule!”? You’d think if he wanted to give anyone a concussion, it’d be Hasek.

    I’ll do you one better—Fedorov on a surfboard with the Gansitos Marinela character.

  7. dorkusmalorkus03 permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Bwahaha! When did he team up with a cartoon goose shilling disgustingly sweet Mexican snack cakes? Hehe.

    Yep, I remember “Lawyers rule!” Whatever that means. I hope the Wings switch it up a bit more during the playoffs and use Ozzie more, or else we’ll get more of his silly pranks. What other jokes did he play that year?

  8. April 12, 2007

    Well, apparently:

    *Osgood and Lapointe once pasted a photo of Kris Draper’s head onto various body types found in magazines, such as a couch potato, a hard body, and some others, and hung them up all over the locker room.
    *He wrote an “H” on a piece of tape and taped it to the back of Bob Rouse’s jersey, over the “R”, so it said “House”. Rouse apparently skated a shift like this.
    *He tied Dave Lewis’ shoe laces to a chair at the bench, so when he went to congratulate Vernon after a game, the chair came with him.
    *He wrote on Pushor’s tennis shoes “Canes Forever” (the team Pushor played for in the juniors)and “Lawyers Rule”.

    Cute. I haven’t heard of him doing anything recently.

  9. dorkusmalorkus03 permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Hmm, the Rouse incident was way before that horrid show “House” came on the air, so it’s funnier now than it was back then. Maybe an ‘L’ over the ‘R’ would have been more clever, though, Ozzie…Louse.

    Still, what a cutie.

  10. dorkus malorkus permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Wings winning 4-0 as of 9:43 left in the third period. :)

  11. April 12, 2007

    Thank you! I’d been afraid to check. :) I just started listening to the radio broadcast and it’s of course a WJR broadcast (I think)—funny to hear the Michigan radio commercials.

  12. dorkus malorkus permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Final score 4-1, Wings. Yay!

  13. April 12, 2007

    I was just about to post the score—well done, Wings, well done.

  14. dorkus malorkus permalink
    April 12, 2007

    There was a little tussle toward the end…the Flames were getting desperate.

  15. April 12, 2007

    I heard—Flames cross-checking Red Wings, oh my! I love end-of-game mini-battles.

  16. dorkus malorkus permalink
    April 12, 2007

    Hehe, for sure. May the Wings continue playing as they did tonight.

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