TPL on the radio, some Latinas, and The Clinch

First things first, Saturday afternoon I had an opportunity to hop on The Good Old Hockey Show and chat about H2H, the Wings playoff prospects, the Todd Bertuzzi Song, and James Tiberius Howard the IV. It was an awesome time – those guys are the real deal, and I sincerely look forward to joining them again if they’ll have me back. They were nice enough to forward me a link directly to my portion of the show, which you can access by clicking here.

Saturday’s game was a bit of a shitshow. I understand there were lots of turnovers and the Flyers got away with murder, but we all know who’s to blame for the soft goals in the opening minutes of periods, don’t we? That’s right…Mike Babcock. How could Mike Babcock not get more than just a fraction of a glove on that first shot – on known-sniper Daniel “198 Penalty Minutes” Carcillo, no less? And doesn’t Mike Babcock know better than to be swimming by the faceoff circle after a brutal Bertuzzi pinch? All I’m saying is Mike Babcock has to know better. If Scotty Bowman were involved, that game was a victory…

Since it wasn’t a victory… your delayed Latina:

Am I doing it right? If not, I’ll need suggestions.

Despite the loss, the Red Wings pulled an Eastern Conference move and slid backwards, off-balance, into the playoffs thanks to a Calgary Flames loss. For the 19th straight season, Detroit will play in the post-season tournament. That’s the longest current streak in major professional sports, and an unbelievable accomplishment for all involved after the tumultuous year we’ve all had to stress through.

Thanks to an asshole-filled weekend of hockey, the Red Wings sit two points behind Nashville, with only one game in hand. The Predators hold the tie-breaker, so we’re going to need some help to leapfrog them, and we all know how much help we’ve gotten from everyone else this season. To make matters worse, the Kings sit one point behind the Wings AND have a game in hand, so 7th place isn’t really out of the question.

1 :: San Jose :: 79 GP :: 107 pts (at Cgy, vs. Vnc, vs. Phx)
2 :: Chicago :: 78 GP :: 105 pts (at Dal, vs. Stl, at Col, vs. Det)
3 :: Vancouver :: 79 GP :: 100 pts (vs. Col, at SJ, vs. Cgy)
4 :: Phoenix :: 79 GP :: 102 pts (vs. Nsh, at LA, at SJ)
5 :: Nashville :: 80 GP :: 98 pts (at Phx, vs. Stl)
6 :: Detroit :: 79 GP :: 96 pts (vs. Clb, at Clb, at Chi)
7 :: Los Angeles :: 78 GP :: 95 pts (at Ahm, vs. Phx, vs. Edm, at Col)
8 :: Colorado :: 78 GP :: 91 pts (at Vnc, at Edm, vs. Chi, vs. LA)
9 :: Calgary :: 79 GP :: 89 pts (vs. SJ, vs. Min, at Vnc)

The next game that really matters is on Tuesday, when LA and Anaheim face off. Vomittingly, we’ll be rooting for the Ducks. Kill yourself.

Darren Helm had his nose broken, which is anything but cool with me, but he recanted the most badass quote of all-time to the Free Press (h/t to Nightmare on Helm Street for the linkage): “if it’s broken, it’s broken.” It’s official: Darren Helm reads our stuff and stays abreast of Twitter conversations, because just last week Herm suggested that TPL publish a Rocky-themed pre-game. I immediately put it on the list (yeah, I keep a list – what of it?), but after 43’s pants-dropping quote to the Freep, it’s at the top. The next pre-game I do will have Rocky nicknames, count on it.