Joe Russo's Detroit Red Wings Fan Profile

Game 1 Recap, Game 2 Preview posted on 05/31/2009

So with game 1 in the books, Detroit has shown that familiarity breeds dominance.  With that, here are a few things to take away from last nights game 1 and to look for in game 2.

First, it is plain to anyone who has working eyes that Henrik Zetterberg enjoys the hell out of shadowing and dominating Sidney Crosby.  It wouldn'y suprise me if Gary Bettman blew up Hanks phone all day asking him to please take it easy on pet Sid.  In fact, it's not even funny how glued Z was to The Kid, whose own shadow wasn't even visible.  If Zetterberg wins this matchup 85% of the time, this series will be short.

Holy Osgood, Batman!  The man they call the Wizard is in a place all by himself right now on some celestial plane of higher consciousness.  Must be steroids, haha!  This playoff has cemented Ozzies' legacy as one of the best ever, and if anyone wants to argue, go talk to the side of your house, cuz it's getting nowhere.

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Go Wings! posted on 05/30/2009

Good to see the wings back in it.  Good to see a rematch with the pens.  Here's hoping Marian Hossa made the right call.  Cannot wait til this series starts tonight!  It's gonna be an epic battle, every game, every minute of every period.  Your about to see the most competitive series of the last 10 years. 

Hopefully everyone's 100%, cuz I'm Goin out and puttin the Penguins on the endangered teams list.  Who else is as eager as i am to see this series?  Should be everyone!

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The Rookie posted on 05/23/2009

As of now, if Rick Porcello stays in the majors and keeps getting the workload he has been lately, he's on pace for 180+ innings as a 21 yr old rookie.  Now i know all the old sentiment of when pitchers pitched 20 complete games a year and never had issues, but this is just a different time.  Innings and pitch counts are monitored more closely than a guys heart rate or blood tests and may have helped prolong some careers.  The point is still, can he hold up and if not, what can the Tigers do?

First off, Bonderman and Willis are both unacceptable answers at this point as both are bigger question marks than the rookie.  Say Willis builds off his last start and turns his career around in Detroit, and he becomes a reliable 3-4 guy, it still leaves one spot and im not sure Zach Miner gets anybody other than his mother excited when he steps up there.  And you can't count on Bonderman, the 2-pitch, 1st inning blues wonder who somehow manages to make it 2-3 times through a major league lineup with a fastball and a slider and a....yea that's it.  As if i couldn't inspire more confidence here's another tidbit: the guy has tried to learn a third pitch for 6 years....at least....is anybody gonna call an apple an apple and finally say enough, get in the bullpen or get a 3rd pitch.  Now i was always one of his biggest fans, but i just don't believe he can make it anymore on 2 pitches, especially if his fastball has slowed, as the reports say. 

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Is Matthew Stafford the Next Joey Blue Skies? posted on 05/23/2009

I want to make sure it isn't just me, but all i see when they parade anything Stafford, is another colossal mistake in the Joey Harrington, Andre Ware mold.  They each had something scouts were enamored with and now are out of the NFL, or holding clipboards.  I just don't see much after that rocket arm.  What else you guys got? Let's get this one going.

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Oops, We Let the Kids Back In posted on 05/23/2009

Kids, they never know when they are finished.  They often fail to recognize when they are outclassed in a fight, or outsmarted in a debate.  And that is their very best quality, and the one the Blackhawks are showing right now.

Down 2-0 in the series with their playoffs lives at stake, overmatched by a deeper, more skilled and experienced team, they dug into what makes kids so special: complete ignorance to their situation.  Fighting like they had the advantage, skating as though if they keep it up, Detroit will eventually fall too far behind to catch them.  Problem is they didnt start playing that way until game 3, already down 2 games to none. 

Oh yeah, sometimes kids forget things, and these Kid-Hawks forgot the series started 3 games ago, and not last night.  Good win for Chicago, just too late to matter.

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