Wings vs Hawks Mini Pregame

I think this says it all...

The Big Chill

I know I'm really behind in posting and this is kind of off track, but how could you go to this event and not want to post about it? I'll save my Spartan friends the pain of a recap (5-0, Go Blue! State's coaches did have much better hats though, very Babcockian) since I don't do those anyways and stick to the pictures. My little brother and I were in row 90 of the end zone closest to the Michigan bench. Something like that... we were surrounded by drunks, one of whom kept harassing the girl next to me because she'd never seen porn and yet still called herself a college student and another one picked up my hat and threw it into the crowd (still angry about that... luckily a nice State fan took pity on me after I pleaded with him and Jeffy death stared him into tossing it back to me) but it was still one of the coolest hockey experiences of my life.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's what the stadium looked like.

The nice, not drunk guy two rows behind us offered to take a picture of us in front of the field...

Michigan skating out shortly after fireworks went off around the ice

And the Spartans skating out, sans fireworks...

Both teams, lining up before the game.

And some shots from the game. Pretty sure almost every shot has the same line on the ice for U of M, not sure how that worked out...

In the corner...

And shaking hands after the game...

And finally, my favorite goalie ever. Or at least of the Big Chill :)

Pregame: Wings vs Sharks

As anyone who works in retail will tell you, it's been a very busy weekend and my brain is fried. So, I haven't made motivators. And what's funny to me right now might just be stupid, but it's about time I did a hockey post again, so this is what I could come up with...

Take this one- it looks kinda like the ice is tilting and they're all trying to stay on their skates. Or it just looks kinda cool since they're all fairly in unison.

There's nothing really that interesting about this next except that Tuzzi is a pretty big fella, and Rig makes him look small.

How about a shot of Jimmy's new helmet?

Much cooler than Joey Mac's...

This one looks like Raffy and Mule were laughing at something about Cleary. At first I thought it was about his lack of eyebrows...

...but after seeing this next one, I'm not so sure any more.

Let's Try This Again...

So I tried writing this earlier today and wound up posting a blank post, oops. Anyways, let's try this again:

Happy Birthday! Wait... that's not it. (seriously, I just typed that, Sara shouldn't post on 3 hours of sleep) Ok, one more time-n

Happy Thanksgiving!

Back in second grade, my class was put into small groups and paired up with pen pals from a second grade class in Phoenix. My group, in addition to telling them about our school and the state bird, wrote to our pen pals about how the Red Wings are the greatest hockey team ever... it was at that point that I learned a valuable lesson: as Kyle and Amber will tell you, I cannot draw a Winged Wheel. I tried, and I doubt the kids in Phoenix knew any better, but after a 5 minute argument over whether my drawing matched Amber's necklace I knew the truth, I can't draw a Winged Wheel and I probably shouldn't try again.

One lesson I have never learned, however, is to stop tracing my hand with marker to make a turkey. And that turkeys don't wear top hats. Enjoy...

Det. v. Minn. Pregame-ish: Little Bro.'s Split Post

(Bro. Note: Sara was rather busy today and couldn't make a post for the game. So, because I was doing nothing and have the "Neuie" name, I was asked to post. Be very afraid.)

In case you've missed the past week and a half, Colin Campbell has gotten in trouble with the public, Brett Sutter was traded by his father, and....

**:Dude, real bloggers have already covered those issues to exhaustion.

Bro.: Who the heck are you?

**: I'm the Anti-Brother. I'm the opposite of everything you are.

Bro.: So you're short, skinny, and have a girlfriend?

Anti-Bro.: Well, ye.... no.

Bro.: As I figured. Now sit in the corner and shut-up. As I was saying, a number of things have happened, including the Wings having a four game winning streak. So, with some highlights...

Anti-Bro.: You don't have highlights.

Bro.: Well, they're not lowlights.

Anti-Bro.: How about interesting-lights?

Bro.: Okay, we have interesting lights, particularly from the Detroit Edmonton game last week.

Anti-Bro: Can I help?

Bro.: (sigh) Fine, just don't off the handle.
And here we go...


Bro.: First of all, thanks to all the veterans, whether they went to war or not.
Anti-Bro.: But what is with the additional flags? And they don't bring in a Canadian flag for a Canadian team at the Joe? Color Guard FAIL!



Anti-Bro.: Drew tells everyone that he's gonna score when a goalie double hits a puck into the net.
"Yeah, whatever Drew."
"That Drew Miller is crazy."
Bro.: Yeah.....wait a minute...



Bro.: Anit-Bro., why do you choose this picture?
Anti-Bro.: Just look at the top corner.
Bro.: The thing that looks like ROB the Robot's head?
Anti-Bro.: No, Rafalski picking his nose.
*headslap*



Bro.: Speaking of Raffi, Larry Murphy is very impressed by his balance.
Anti-Bro.: ...while Brad McCrimmon is thinking, "Big deal, I could do that if I wanted to."



Bro.: Ladies and gentleman, the Red Wings own Cristy Lee with a Jersey Foul.
Anti-Bro.: You just dissed the greatest goalie ever, *****.
Bro.: And finally...



Bro.: I really should stop trying to play hungover.
Anti-Bro.: I just knew Darren didn't cook the eggs long enough.
Bro.: That pizza eating contest was definitely a bad idea.
Anti-Bro.: Hey Ref, that guy just speared me in the nads.
Bro.: I think I had some bad weed. That's the last time I visit Ann Arbor.
Anti-Bro: That's the last time I eat Mexican before games again.
Bro.: Thanks again and Go Wings.
Anti-Bro.: Wait I got another one...
"Hey guys, look. I'm mooning you guys."

Beyond the Game...

Plenty of other blogs have told you about the genius, Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun, and his opinion of Detroit. While I support you emailing him at robert.tychkowski@sunmedia.ca, I am going a different direction. Unfortunately I did not plan this out in advance, so there will be no pictures accompanying today's message.

I have known many people who have served or are currently serving their country as a member of the armed services. My father served in the Navy (thankfully not during combat) and my grandfather's brother who was in the Army is still listed as MIA. It kills my grandpa that he doesn't know what happened to his brother, but he is still so proud of him.

Many people I went to high school with have served in every branch of the military including my friend Chirag who was in the Marines and Casey, also a Marine.

My friend Jilian's step-brother Brian is an MP with the Army. From what I've been told, it is really dangerous for MPs to spend a lot of time in Afghanistan, so they rotate them out quickly (as in a few months at the most) between Afghanistan and a base in Germany. I haven't seen Brian in a few years, but as far as I know, he is still stationed in Germany/Afghanistan.

The deployment I know the most about, however, is my older brother's best friend Dave. Had I thought this through ahead of time, I would have asked Dave, a Wings fan, if I could put up a picture of him either in Army gear or Wings gear. Oh well, maybe next time. Anyways, Dave joined the ROTC to help pay for college. Through some weird circumstances, he went from being told he wouldn't see action to being called up to serve a few years ago. Recently, Dave decided he wasn't done with the Army and, after discussing it with his wife, went through whatever procedure he had to and is now back in Afghanistan with his unit. They have a dog with them for right now that they rescued from some boys who were torturing it just outside their base. He asks for letters and emails, but also for things like beef jerky. That request makes me laugh because he could always pack away an impressive amount of food.

So yeah, there's an idiot writing for the Edmonton Sun and, even more importantly, there's a game tonight. But there are also a lot of men and women all over the world putting their lives on the line to serve their country and we can't forget that.

Raffy and BizNasty Return to the Joe

I have been counting down the days until Raffy was slated to come back...ok, not really since I wasn't sure of an exact date, but I have been waiting very impatiently for this day to come ever since it was announced that he was having knee issues. I have annoyed the people sitting around me with comments like "Raffy would have kept that onsides" or "UGH! Brian Rafalski you are not" and the most common one "I miss Raffy..." generally followed by an exaggerated frown thrown at my brother who proceeds to mock me. I know, it's kinda pathetic, but c'mon, that man is the king of keeping the puck in at the blue line and you all know it.

Ok, enough of that, time for pictures... I kinda stole this idea from someone else (don't know who) but in that one it was Raf expressing this opinion about Hank. Anyways, pretty sure that's not what's going on, but when do I ever fact check?

Not the direction I meant to take that picture, but I couldn't help it... anyways, here's a few more.

This one doesn't need explaining, it's pretty obvious when it was taken...

And one last one...

I know I mentioned BizNasty coming back to the Joe too, but I really don't want a picture of him in a Speedo on here, so we're just gonna leave him out, ok? Good.

Instead, how about a view of what happens after Pav decides to get in a fight?

Stuey's fight didn't seem to leave the same path of destruction...

Don't take that as a sign that I'm asking you to fight tonight, Abby, you can wait until I'm there to see it if you want...

Our Twins Can Take Your Twins Any Day

(Bro. Note: This was intended for a few hours ago. Unfortunately, the power went out and Sara had to leave for a previous engagement. I would torture you guys with my wit but Sara has a half decent entry for you guys. Enjoy.)

So the Wings are finishing off their Western Canada road trip tonight in Vancouver... Aside from Ken Daniel's favorite Livonia native (sounds wrong without the name after it, right? Ok, Ryan Kesler...feel better? Good.) Vancouver apparently has a set of twins. I'm told they're actually quite good and I suppose the fact that they are Swedish twins makes them even better. And to that I say: Our Euro Twins can kick your Swedish twin butts anywhere, any day. Since I'm not feeling overly creative just this minute (ie, not in the mood to make motivators) and am a bit rushed, I borrowed pictures from JennHo and Lizzle. Thanks ladies :)

You might notice a theme, these were all taken at training camp at pretty much the same time...

Here we have Hank showing Pav the cool logo on his skates. Pav is impressed.

And I'm pretty sure they're either making dinner plans, or discussing when to have the next meeting in their tree house.

Also, for those of you who haven't noticed, it's everyone's favorite hard-hitting lumberjack from a mining town's birthday today. Hopefully that means plenty of big hits and maybe a goal or two as a gift to himself. Here's a few (again, not mine) of Brad Stuart...

And with Homer...

And, since I do tend to take a few photos now and then, here's one of my own I managed to find.

Finally, if you haven't noticed (and if you haven't, kindly go read another blog) Abby is back in the lineup and certainly not playing like someone who belongs in the former haunt of Lebda and Leino. Consider yourself on notice, Huds.

That's Not What I Designed!

We need a better first period than we had on Thursday. Everyone knows this and if they didn't, I'm sure some other blog informed them of that fact before they got to mine. What those blogs don't have is a visual representation of what Babcock was thinking when he saw the plays on the ice...

Not to bash Helmer, he played hard on Thursday, but pictures like this make me laugh...

And, finally, instead of loss eye candy, here's what could be loosely interpreted as motivational eye candy. Look at the skates if you're not sure I'm right about who it is...

Wings vs Yotes

This is a bit of a rush job (when isn't it here?) so I'll get straight to it...

Mostly for hbff Natalie of The Scrappy Octopus, but partially because I recently read an article about how Aaron Downey made the Griffs do yoga because he believes his 10+ years of practicing it have kept him relatively injury-free, we have the following:

And, because it amuses me greatly, there's this...

Heading out for a physics test and the game :)

Mule's Back...

...get it?

The Wings fanbase breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was announced that Mule will be back today after that lame blow to the head... Seriously, who would want to hurt this guy?

Clearly he's just a big, stubborn softy, right?

Oops, sorry Mule...

...riiiight. Whatever that means...

(I need to start planning these things in advance)

Wings vs Stars pregame

It's Mikey's first game back in Dallas since the Stars decide he was obsolete. Let's show them how wrong they were, Mo.

And on to the motivation... Homer may call Mule "the grumpy" but we all know he can get a little irked himself.

And just because he's awesome...