Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Game 3 Simmons Style Running Diary

5:49:37 PM  Just got home from work (late bus, bad traffic).  Just in time to catch Sid missing a golden opportunity on a turnover during a Pens power play followed by a monster Letang slap shot!  2-2

 

5:51:03 PM  Franzen is getting abused!  He got caught cheating on Tanger’s PP goal, and now he takes a bad penalty.  Pens power play.

 

5:52:05 PM  Bylsma is sporting the dark shirt/light tie combo…love that.

 

5:53:52 PM  End of the 1st.  I guess we’ll get one second of power play to start off the 2nd.  All in all, not a horrible power play, but I would have liked to see a little bit more possession in the offensive zone.

 

5:54:40 PM  I wish I hadn’t missed the first 15 minutes of the period…I still don’t know how Detroit scored their goals or how the Pens got on the board with their first.

 

5:55:33 PM  Seriously, how many people care about the greatest featherweight MMA fight in history?  Actually, on second thought, probably about as many that care about this game.

 

5:56:24 PM  Just figured out that the game’s being broadcast on CBUT (Canadien TV).  This is one of the greatest things about living near the Canadien border.  Their broadcast is superior in so man ways to Versus.  The production is so amatuer, but their studio guys are knowledgeable and don't really hold anything back.  Most importantly, between periods we get Coach’s Corner with Don Cherry , which is about to start.

 

5:57:38 PM  Was anyone else disappointed to find out that “G” was just rebranded Gatorade?

 

5:58:18 PM  Cherry’s showing off his tie after the commercial break.  Red background, covered in classic Disney characters (Pluto, Mickey, etc…)  All held in place by a Canadien Mountie tie clip.  Classic.

 

6:12:30 PM  Wow, just saw a replay of the too many men on the ice situation prior to Letang's goal... was that ever a break.  Thankfully, Eaton got off before the refs noticed. 

 

6:13:59 PM  Beginning of the 2nd.  Cooke just gave Kronwall a nice taste of the glass. Personally, I’d like to Kronwall taken down a few more times.

 

6:15:26 PM  With the Crosby detractors out in force after his pointless efforts in Games 1 and 2, I think it’s safe to say that Detroit coach Mike Babcock is a believer in his greatness.  Crosby has routinely been surrounded by Wings, notably Lidstrom and Zetterberg.

 

6:16:55 PM  What another break!!  Samuelson off the post!  Looked like a bad change by the Pens, but they have to do a better job maintaining possession in the neutral zone, or at least dumping the puck, to prevent that.

 

6:19:15 PM  Pens D seems to be doing a decent job of preventing multiple chances on Fleury.  Something the CBUT crew has been praising Detroit for in previous games. 

 

6:20:42 PM  Just as we Pens fans enjoyed superior backchecking by our forwards in the Eastern Conference playoffs, this Detroit team is really great at team defense.  I mean Sid and Geno are great at playing the entire length of the ice…but, to a man, the Red Wings forwards get back with as much verve as they attack the net.  That’s really been one of the differences in this series.

 

6:22:57 PM  The much maligned Kris Letang is looking pretty good since I’ve been watching.  One goal, one assist and several good plays in both ends. 

 

6:24:20 PM  Bud Light Lime…now available in Canada.  Really?  Hasn't that been around for years?  I guess Canadians prefer to drink bad Canadian beer over bad Mexican beer.  I love watching Canadian commercials.

 

6:26:45 PM  Gill looks slow.  Hossa blew by him a second ago, and another Wing I don’t recognize toasted him going around the goal.

 

6:30:20 PM  Is it appropriate to show a Taking of Pelham 123 trailer on Canadien television?  Do they even know what subways are?  I mean, they only just got Bud Light Lime recently.

 

6:35:13 PM  How does Fleury routinely stop shots he can’t see?  I just don’t understand how this is possible.  CBUT just showed a shooter’s eye view of a slapper from the blue line from earlier in the period.  You can clearly see that Fleury has no view of the puck, but his right skate finds the shot as if by magic.  Incredible

 

6:38:11 PM  Satan got penalized with about 5 minutes left in the 2nd…probably because for being the Lord of Darkness.

 

6:39:59 PM  Oh no, just holding.  Looked pretty innocuous to me, actually, but I’m a huge homer.

 

6:41:16 PM  Floater hits the crossbar.  In games 1 and 2, that’s a Detroit goal.  Maybe the luck is changing a bit?

 

6:42:00 PM  Not to continue the Detroit love fest too blatently here, but how many teams in the NHL can afford to lose one of their best players (like Detroit did with Datsyuk) and still be in total control of a team as good as the Pens?

 

6:43:20 PM  Do we even stand a chance if Detroit has a healthy Dats?

 

6:44:22 PM  I hate to say it, but Detroit’s been dictating the play here since that penalty to Beelzebub.

 

6:45:14 PM  End of the 2nd period.  2-2.  Detroit really took it to us in that period.  We need to re coup here.

 

6:45:53 PM  I’d say Fleury’s kept us in this game so far.  Wonder where all the negative Pens fans are now…

 

6:47:43 PM  I can’t say enough about how different and bizarre Canadien commercials are.  Their Viagra commercials are tremendous.  Subway also seems to have an entirely different ad campaign for Canada (I guess the $5 footlong jingle didn’t jive with the Canucks).

 

6:50:22 PM  Gary Bettman’s being interviewed by Ron Maclean right now in a side by side format.  He keeps looking up and to his left (somewhere above and to the left of the camera) during his answers like he’s looking at poorly placed cue cards.  I guess he never got the memo that eye contact is important for job interviews (oh yeah, he clearly can’t do anything to lose his job).

 

6:56:36 PM  I just listened to Bettman bluster for 5 minutes about the Phoenix Coyotes and why they should stay put.  Setting the nuances of bankruptcy law aside, bottom line…why is it a bad move to move a hockey franchise from PhoenixArizona to Southern Ontario?  Someone tell me why it makes more financial sense to keep a hockey team in a desert city that doesn't care about hockey.  

 

6:58:31 PM  I like Maclean.  He doesn’t give anyone an inch when he thinks their full of it.  On Sunday He called out Cherry in their argument about steroid testing in the NHL (Cherry naively believes that there are no PEDs in the NHL, proven by the fact that they’ve only had one guy test positive).  Now he’s taking Bettman to task over this Phoenix thing.  Just a badgering interviewer.  I like it.

 

7:04:25 PM Start of the 3rd Period.  Let’s go Pens!

 

7:04:36 PM Another lost faceoff…shocking.

 

7:05:16 PM  Icing, Detroit.  Here come Sid and Malkin for the face off. 

 

7:05:57 PM  Sid wins the draw and the line immediately gets a couple of solid shots on goal.  This Pittsburgh crowd is deathly silent tonight, like they expect things to go wrong.  Come on folks, we’re in control here, let’s get loud!

 

7:07:12 PM  Couple more chances, including a backhand by Cooke in close.  Osgood is standing strong…unfortunately.

 

7:09:00 PM  The Pens are definitely on the wrong side of the team speed mismatch here, we really miss Hossa.

 

7:10:12 PM  That being said, Letang just dispossessed Hossa…again.

 

7:11:47 PM  Detroit’s backcheck foils the Pens yet again.  Why does it always seem like they are in the right place at the right time for almost every loose puck?

 

7:14:35 PM  I have no desire to see either Year 1 or Transformers…sorry Hollywood.

 

7:17:09 PM  Interference by the Wings.  Nice touch pass by Staal to dump it in, and the young Erricson held up Kunitz as he cruised across the blueline.

 

7:18:39 PM  No real shot or scoring chance yet on the power play.  So much for the poor penalty killing by the Wings.

 

7:19:15 PM  Gonchar with a monster slap shot!!!!!!!!!!!  3-2 Pens baby!!!  So much for my previous post.

 

7:20:42 PM  Crosby gets an assist on the Gonchar goal, so he’s finally off the Schneid.

 

7:21:06 PM  There’s the crowd!  Let’s go Pens!  8 more minutes.

 

7:21:35 PM  Darren Helm is taking a beating.  He was lit up by Orpik just a few minutes ago, and now Cooke tees off on him while he had his head down.  As Don Cherry would say.  What do I tell you kids?  Keep your head up so you can see those hits coming.

 

7:25:24 PM  “And here comes Cooke against Helm again!!”  These Canadien announcers are brutal, you can just hear them calling for blood.

 

7:27:09 PM  Kunitz has to score there.  Has to.  At least get the puck on the net.  Yet another missed assist for the Kid.  Is it too much to ask to get him a competent scoring winger?

 

7:27:55 PM  Talbot off the post!!

 

7:28:03 PM  Talbot stopped by a sprawling Osgood!!

 

7:28:58 PM  Just great energy by the Pens these last couple of minutes.  Amazing what a goal can do to change a game in this sport.

 

7:29:23 PM  Orpik is abusing Hossa!  Not in the sense that’s getting the better of him skill-wise but in the sense that Mike Lange abuses red-headed stepchildren.

 

7:32:13 PM  I really hope all those missed chances don’t come back to haunt us.

 

7:33:01 PM  Does it get any better in sports than an empty net in the last minute of a one goal hockey game?  I say it doesn’t.

 

7:33:51 PM  Empty netter by Talbot!!!! He deserved that.  He was everywhere on his last shift and had two golden chances, including the post.

 

7:34:53 PM  Token save by Fleury with 18 seconds left.  I’m still disappointed in the Pittsburgh crowd.

 

7:35:48 PM  That’s the ballgame.  What were the fans just chanting there?


7:36:09 PM  After getting outshot 14-4 in the 2nd, they outshot Detroit 10-3 in the 3rd and that includes that pansy shot there at the end, so really only two shots on net by the Wings in that period.  Great adjustments by Disco Dan.

 

7:36:53 PM  See everyone on Thursday…WOOOOO!!!!!

 

p.s. I’m pretty sure my neighbors must think I’m a maniac.  I’m loud as hell and vulgar as hell during any Pitt Panthers or Pens games.


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