Day 14

In shock over the tragedy that struck the hockey world yesterday, I simply could not find it in myself to post, consider Day 13 as a pictorial moment of silence. Today belongs to Rusty. I was skeptical of him at first, but before the preseason was over, Ruslan Salei was quickly moving up to become one of my favorites of the "other guys" (people not named Nick Lidstrom or Pavel Datsyuk). Breaking a Duck's fist with his face cemented that place in my mind, I was officially a Rusty convert. Sure, he didn't score often and he only broke the fist of one player, but he was a handy fella. From every account I've read or personal testimony I've heard, Rusty was an all around good guy who loved his family and loved hockey. He was also hilarious, any interview will show you that. I may have started a campaign to post goofy pictures of him until he scored, but this blog, this hockey fan, has been behind him the whole of last season. He moved on to other things, but, unlike some players I've seen leave the roster, I genuinely wished him well and hoped he would find what he was looking for. In remembrance of Rusty, today's post contains pictures of him. You might see repeats from earlier posts (and some aren't of the best quality) since I'm using my favorite pictures.

Rest in peace, Rusty, you'll be missed.

Pavel Returns to the Joe

Word on the street (and by street, I mean twitter) is that Pav is back. I'll be serving coffee to people who are completely unaware of the importance of what I'm missing, but I'm hoping the rest of you will be treated to some amazingly Datsyukian moves tonight.

And since the nice pictures of Rusty haven't gotten anything started, let's try a not so flattering one:

So take that. You know, as inspiration.

Franzen Fries

Poorly done screencaps make up today's pregame post. If you haven't already watched this video, make sure you do at some point today, even if you don't watch past Mule putting the fries in his locker.

Here's what you'll see: Rusty tells Mule he deserves curly fries...

Rusty gets surprised by the arm taking fries out of the bag...

Mule gets his free curly fries...

...and then Johan feeds the Mule.

I'm not saying you need to score five yourself, Rusty, but it's your turn. Make it happen.

Happy Birthtuzzi!

It's Tuzzi's birthday today and in his honor I'm putting glitter on all my food. It's all used up now, so he'll have to provide his own for that kitten...

And since Rusty is still searching for that first Red Wing goal...

Don't make me run out of pictures, Rusty.

Donuts and Rusty

I'm starting a new feature today and I'm asking for your help. Rusty needs a goal and to inspire him (he reads this, right?) I'm going to post a picture of Mr. Salei in every pregame post until he gets one. This is where you guys come in- I have a decent amount of pictures of Rusty, but I'd be crazy to turn down help. If you have a good picture- particularly if it's one of Rusty making a weird face- and want to contribute it to the cause, send it to aneuieperspective [at] gmail [dot] com. You will absolutely get credit for anything you submit.

With that taken care of, let's get to the game tonight. Everyone knows the big question tonight- will Brodeur get distracted by the smell of Timbits? Will he leave his post to get some of those little bits of heaven? To further distract and tempt him, here's what he's up against tonight:

If they make me want to eat my computer screen, what chance does Brodeur have?

And to kick off the Rusty inspiration, here's one I took during the home opener. Let's hope it doesn't inspire him to break someone's fist with his face again.

Look Rusty, while I've got some nice shots of you, I've got a knack for catching strange faces. Think about it, do you really want those posted? I'll let you mull that over between now and the game.

Pregame: Wings vs Blackhawks

This first one isn't meant as a criticism, it's just what I came up with when I saw the picture. No hating of the guys in red and white allowed here (feel free to hate on anyone who adds black and yellow to that mix).

Now that Kindl has scored, it's time Rusty got one...

I wouldn't mind if Abby got one either.

Finally, I just like this picture, that's all.