NHL.com is wrong…dead wrong. There is nothing ugly about the play of Peter the Great nor Martin Bboy Hanzal. Whats ugly is the tendency of the press to pick on any team NOT in the old boys network. Peter had a slow start sure (extra muscle=skating and shooting adjustments and the early hip flexor didn’t exactly help either) but Pistol Pete is back on track (see the Stars and Wild games for confirmation). Marty has been shuttin down the likes of Joe Thorton and Ryan Getzlaf since last season. The kid has his defense down pat now and is polishing up his offensive skillz. I can’t wait for the final numbers so those asshats can eat their words.

But I digress…

The Ded come to town tonight. Its always ugly when they show up. Their fans infiltrate our arena and annoy everyone who has ears. There team is so loaded with talent that even the puck boy is a bad ass.

We got 2 wins in a row against arch nemisi (is there a plural for nemisis?) Our top net minder is returning to form, our scoring committee is on track, our blueline is actually getting help w/ containment and our forwards now seem to have a clue about pressure through the neutral.

STAY OUT OF THE BOX!!! these boys will hand you your ass each and every time. (our PK is on and poppin but c’mon! Datsyuk? Zetterbergh AND Hossa?) So don’t give them the opportunity.

HIT EVERYBODY NOT WEARING THE RIGHT RED!!! These are mostly skill guys (there are a few that can take a hit and not get off their game too much) but each player you can take out of the play means less sleight-of-hand for Dats and Zets. Then Bryzzie can focus on stoppin their first shots.

PP!!! PP!!! PP!!! once you got em pissed off enough to take some penalties, gotta put those babies in… no way we can take them apart without using every advantage we got.

SPEED KILLS!!! don’t stop and wait for a pass to hit you in the ass. Take a run at the neutral BODS… LIS…LINDY get the wheels goin here guys… not much anyone can do with gresed lightning.

If we manage to get a lead… don’t friggin play it safe. step on the gas cuz these bastages love to lull ya into a sense of security, right before they stick it to ya.

Expectations are a real bitch… we’re in surprise mode right now… lets surprise the hell out of the DED and break their strangle hold on us.

**good luck and godspeed to Brian Mack Daddy McGrattan who has voluntarily entered the substance abuse program…. thank goodness he has the gumption to get the help he needs***

I guess the elven magic ran out. I give major props to Lemaire for his system. Defense on steroids. But what happens when your vaunted D breaks down? ROFLMAO You lose to the Coyotes. Seriously, Jaques, there has to be a point when your boys can get loose and fire the puck. Eventually St. Nick is gonna miss one, your blue is gonna be sick/injured/having a bad day and offensive output could be the only thing that saves yer bacon. Which takes me to my real point… Balance! A balance of attack and defense and goalie strength wins games.

We had that tonight, that balance.

Our goalie was on fire (is it just me or is Bryzzie movin his lower body rather gingerly? Not seein that normal athleticism although he has done well in the last 2 games)

Our defense was magnificent (the PK denied the Wild 5 times!) Z and Doan racked up 3 BS’ each and led the total of 16. Doan and Boeds led the 26 total with 3 hits each (but Jovo was fierce with his 2) Jovo was apparently the designated enforcer too (anywhere tension broke out, JV jumped in… no one wanted any part of the Coyote Ugly beatin that coulda come from, the Jovocop)

Our offense was from the expected sources and the unexpected. The lil Iron Czech handled hiz bidniz, blasting a slapper past St. Nick for first blood! and then Boeds made the steal of the game, fed it to Mules who then played the Joker in the deck (with a perfect saucer pass thru 3 elves) 25 seconds later to rack up a 2 goal lead. Whippin the momentum in our favor in the weezing seconds of the second period. Lucky charm Lindstrom popped the 3rd goal early in the last period. All even strength…all with authority.

Not too shabby! Antii Miettinen cashed in on our only bad defensive shift. Looked like Lisin and the D got their wires crossed and fouled up Bryz but Antii was quite happy to take the credit. We finally turned Lemaire’s game back on him and shut down the power on the Wild.

We cauterized a seeping wound (it annoyed everyone with a brain cell that we couldn’t solve these shutdown artistes). Now we gotta bring that A game + to Saturday’s first meeting with the Ded Things… and THEY just lost to DAL… they are NOT going to be hapy campers. Hopefully we can make it 2 losses and REALLY piss them off for the other Pacific teams they may face on this trip!