I’m Really Sick of Miikka Kiprusoff. And Dominik Hasek

Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, opens this morning’s Wings article by saying, “Oh no, it can't be happening to the Red Wings again, can it?” He reports: “‘Unfortunately I didn’t keep my composure,’ Hasek said. ‘It was sort of stupid. They had a power play and we didn’t kill it. It’s my fault.’” Sort of stupid? Donna Spencer of CBC Sports notes, “Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff had to make tougher saves than Detroit counterpart Dominik Hasek and stopped 33 of 35 shots. Hasek turned away 18 of 21 shots.” All of this is the perfect irritant for a Friday morning. Or how about this excerpt from the Kulfan piece:

Angry Hasek

Goalie Dominik Hasek was called for a costly penalty in the first period with the Wings already down a man.

Hasek threw out his stick in a slashing gesture toward Flames forward Jarome Iginla and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Two men down, the Wings gave up a Daymond Langkow goal, giving Calgary a 1-0 lead.

“Unfortunately I didn’t keep my composure,” Hasek said. “It was sort of stupid. They had a power play and we didn’t kill it. It’s my fault.”

Babcock felt both Hasek and Iginla should have been penalized.

“He (Hasek) wasn’t trying to send a message, he was just reacting,” Babcock said. “Do I like what happened? No. Could he have have handled it differently? For sure. Yet I think there should have been a call on that play.”

Where’s Dom?

Did someone leave Hasek at the team hotel?

Hasek, who rarely misses a morning skate, was absent Thursday, hours before the Wings played the Flames in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal.

The reason?

"He chose not to (skate)," Babcock said.

Hasek took part in the optional practice Wednesday. Only eight players took part.

"When we talked to Dom yesterday, he wanted to go (practice) yesterday, and we felt we needed an optional (practice)," Babcock said. "Sometimes the individual's criteria doesn't work with the team's and that's the way it goes."

Goaltender coach Jim Bedard took Hasek's place during the morning skate, with Chris Osgood in the other net.

"You might find this hard to believe, but it wasn't my plan to have Jim Bedard (take Hasek's place), although he fits into (our team) age-wise," Babcock said.

I had to listen to the game on the radio again. I needed to upload my student’s exam question so they could prepare over the course of the weekend. It took me a while to draft the question. I only sort of like the result. I didn’t have time to call around and see if there was a sports bar that had Versus, the only channel carrying the Wings game. Even CBC wasn’t carrying it this time. Plus, it was a night game, so I’d have to go to a loud bar to watch it. Frankly, MS has turned me into an old man and I just can’t take the noise anymore. I hate saying that, but it’s the truth. So I settled.