Mar 19 :: This Reminds Me of a West Side Story
NOW WITH LESS ROB THOMAS!
WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
Detroit Red Wings are fighting to hang on to 8th place in the West, facing the NHL-worst Edmonton Oilers. 9:30pm, Friday the 19th.
H2H IMPLICATIONS
Each goal tonight is worth at least $23.10.
Matching TPL’s pledge of $2 per goal tonight are JJ from Kansas, Drew from Nightmare on Helm Street, Rob from Etched in Cold, Jennbikegirl, Brad Boswell, SigSegFalt, and Sara from A Neuie Perspective. Mike Serven has pledged $5 per goal and my pops is dropping 10% of the grand total.
A win is worth at least $84.70.
Vicky Bash has pledged $26 per win, Mike Serven $19, Andy from Fight Night at the Joe $19 (for tonight’s game), Nurse Nitz $5, CaptNorris5 $5, Ben from Below the Crossbar $3. Plus the same 10%. Krononymous will donate an extra $5 for a shutout.
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
1. Red Wings have won three in a row, and have had three days off.
2. The Oilers are the only team that has been eliminated from playoff contention. They’ll be trying to play the role of spoiler.
3. Two more points maintains a three-point lead over Calgary.
5. Colorado :: 86 pts (12 GR)
6. Los Angeles :: 85 pts (13 GR)
7. Nashville :: 85 pts (11 GR)
8. Detroit :: 80 pts (13 GR)
9. Calgary :: 79 pts (12 GR)
NOW WHERE WERE WE?
The last matchup between these two squads was a 4-1 ass-whooping by the Oilers in early December. The Wings were without Andreas Lilja, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Jason Williams, Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, and Patrick Eaves.
OH, HI AGAIN
Dan Cleary is a former Oiler. Also, the Red Wings acquired Kirk Maltby from Edmonton in exchange for Dan McGillis in 1996.
MEMBA ME?!
There are no former Red Wings in central bumfu — I mean Alberta.
BEST NAME NOMINEE
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.
THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit beat Calgary, FUCKYEAH to 1, on Monday.
–Edmonton lost to Minnesota, 4-2, on Tuesday.
RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 34-23-12 (3rd in Central, 8th in West) :: 15-13-7 on the road.
–Edmonton Kurris :: 21-42-7 (5th in Northwest, 15th in West) :: 13-18-4 at home.
OILERS SHOULD KNOW
Cogliano :: Gagner :: Hemsky :: O’Sullivan :: Penner :: Gretzky :: Messier :: Kurri :: Anderson :: Fuhr :: Coffey
EXPECTED LINEUP
Ericsson in, Lebda out. Jimmy Howard starting for the 17th time in a row, and its the first of a back-to-back. Should we expect Osgood on Saturday?
Franzen — Datsyuk — Holmstrom
Filppula — Zetterberg — Cleary
Bertuzzi — Miller — Williams
Draper — Helm — Eaves
Lidstrom — Rafalski
Kronwall — Stuart
Ericsson — Lilja
Howard (starts)
Osgood
So I did things a little different this time. I decided to make the nicknames based on whatever the first song to come on my iPod was. It was Santana. Look, I like Santana enough… but it accounts for 0.2% of my iPod (yeah, I did the math), so it was a bit of a shock.
Scratches
Derek “I Can Change My Life to Better Suit Your Mood” Meech
Brett “Let the Children Play” Lebda (h/t Brad B.)
Injuries
Kirk “Hope You’re Feeling Better” Maltby
Honorable Mentions
Pavel “Ahora Vengo Mama Chula Mama Chula” Datsyuk
Jimmy “Something About Ya Baby Keeps Me From Going to Somebody Else” Howard
Jimmy “Something About Ya Baby Keeps Me From Going to Somebody Else” Howard
Todd “You Better Change Your Evil Ways” Bertuzzi
— orrrrr —
Todd “Diggin’ This Sound, Spinnin’ Round and Round and Round” Bertuzzi
QUICK THOUGHTS
1. Hopefully the break was good to the Wings. They’ve been clicking since the Olympic break and compiling a league-best 7-2-1 in their last ten games. Which is great, because they need every point they can get to fend off Calgary, and keep up with (chuckle) the Predators.
2. Jonathan Ericsson will be under the microscope as he makes his first appearance after three games in the suites. Lebda seems to be playing really well with Andreas Lilja, as noted in this week’s podcast, so any errors will be glaring.
3. Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen are lighting it up since Mulo got healthy. More of the same should equal two points against an injury-depleted Oilers team.
4. Speaking of which, Edmonton is dealing with a ton of band-aids and crutches. They’ve slipped into dead last, which should actually speak volumes about the Detroit Red Wings and Mike Babcock’s ability to keep the Wings competitive this season, despite an injury story that rivals any in history.
5. The Wings play the Canucks on Saturday. In two of the last three back-to-back sets, Jimmy Howard has started both games. Its been reported that Uncle Mike told Ozzie to be ready for his chance, because it was coming, and all signs pointed to this game against the Oilers. Now, who knows…
WHAT WE LEARNED against the Flames
OILER WE COVET (JJ Special)
I’m a big fan of Andrew Cogliano. A two-time member of the Canadian World Junior team, a former Michigan Wolverine, and a straight-up deigo. Win.
Look at that, not ONE single mention of Oye Como Va.
Look at that, not ONE single mention of Oye Como Va.
Yo stole my Milkshake joke…
Damn you guys! Damn you to hell!!!!!! haha
Ya know what, I saw that There Will Be Blood reference on ELF this morning, after this one was all queued up and thought they were different enough that we could both get away with it.
Besides, the world needs more Daniel Day Lewis.
Not only did you get away with it, but you made mine look like ass in the process.
But that's usually how it goes here at TPL.
And Amen on the Daniel Day-Lewis.
LOVE the Santana references here! Thanks to you guys, I will have those songs stuck in my head all day long. Either way, he may be long gone, but Ville Leino's nicknames continue to make me laugh. I was so grumpy this morning, so thanks guys!
Am I wrong in saying that this weekend totally scares the crap out of me? I'm tired of the whole "Edmonton has really fast ice" (DUH) argument & I really hope that as a healthy team we can continue their misery. But hey, they get Taylor/Tyler so I can't feel too bad for em. But more importantly, I'm more scared of Vancouver than I am of Chicago/San Jose. Both top teams have had some meltdowns as of late while Vancouver is firing on all cylinders. They looked great vs. San Jose last night. They didn't miss a beat without Sammy. I honestly think they're the team to beat in the west…
Since my boy is back in the lineup, I'd like to repledge $2 for every goal scored whilst he's on the ice, for or against. Also, since today is the 19th and we love Stevie Y, $19 for a win.
Nitz, anything we can do to make Friday go a little more quickly. And I'm with you… Edmonton makes me nervous because they have nothing to play for except to spoil. And Disch said something similar about Vancouver: he thinks they're the team to beat in the West.
Ma, "whilst"? Really?
"whilst" was used in it's proper context…look it up Mr AP English.
Oh it's used correctly alright. If this were Wales.