Friday, April 20, 2007

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its a goalie issue.

Now Olaf Kolzig, there is a goalie. Caps would be in it this year hadn't he been injured for 1/4th of the season.

The Red Wings are soo overrated. I think you should just go balls out and be a vancouver fan or join the band wagon with the ducks.

Cuphound said...

Dear Sean,

Think back. It was late May 1998. Remember those limp-dicked Capitol Hill politicos who stand up in a bar all night drinking the same goddamned pint of beer, having the same, xeroxed conversation about whatever the topic of the day was? [It was Monica Lewinsky back then. I shudder to think about them actually trying to discuss Iraq. I'm really glad I'm missing that. The poor sods couldn't even have an interesting conversation about cocksucking.]

Oh, how can I forget? Of course you remember those little dipshits. You're surrounded by them. Silly me.

Well, it was weird, Sean. Suddenly the little Capitol Hill dipshits were hockey fans. And they'd see my jersey (the same goddamned one I'm wearing now, thank you) and say, "Wrong shirt." They'd try to say it with this tough guy demeanor (even the chicks, seriously--as if they had the talent to be puck bunnies, let alone hockey fans).

Now, for two years I'd worn this shirt in every Irish pub and college dive in the District and not a soul said a word. And now, suddenly, they're hockey fans? Right...

Fast forward. It's June. Game two. The Caps lost their first game against us and were frustrated. They were ahead most of the second game. I was sitting with Brian McGrath (who now works for your organization, poor boy) and Chris Maravilla (who Washington turned into a genuine grade-A asshole and whom I don't know anymore) in a sports bar in Rosslyn. It was filled with Caps fans. The little Caps fans applauded everything, even when their boys farted. The Caps were a point ahead, and were for most of the game.

I had this sick feeling in my stomach. We couldn't lose to the Caps. It was just wrong. Then, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am, we scored two goals on your boys' sorry asses and this bar of so-called Caps fans was EMPTY.

EMPTY.

Drunk, not on whiskey, but on sheer hockey euphoria, I stumbled into the metro. Two guys in suits grabbed a hold of me and were like "Did you these goals? DID -- YOU -- SEE -- THOSE -- GOALS?" It turns out they worked in the office of one of the Michigan senators and were AT the fuckin' game at the MCI Center (it pays to be gainfully employed when your team is in town to win the Stanley Cup). They're telling me stories about how they got to take their picture with the Cup when they brought it by the Senator's office and all sorts of cool stuff.

With them is another suit. Bitter. Angry. Frustrated. His face had gone as red as my shirt when he saw me, and after hearing me talk with the two Michigan staffers, he just exploded . "WELL, OUR GOALIE IS BETTER THAN YOURS!"

I almost laughed. "I said, yeah, you know, I've got a lot of respect for Olaf Kolzig"--I skipped the masturbation routine that I usually treat you to--"and you know, he might just be a better goalie than Chris Osgood. But you know, you win hockey games because you can score. Good luck with that."

Fortunately, I had to transfer to the Red Line at this point, so with the staffers laughing at the poor guy, I exited gracefully and without incident.

The Wings went on to sweep the Caps and win the '98 Stanley Cup.

And that, Sean, oh brother oh pal of mine, is as close as your boys are ever getting. And yeah, Olie is a pretty swell goalie.