It's Here!: Stanley Cup Finals 2008 - Game 1 Liveblog
8 Comments Published by Sherry on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 9:39 PM.
As per Scarlett Ice tradition, welcome to the live-blog of the Stanley Cup Finals! It's Penguins versus Red Wings tonight, and as much as I dislike these two teams I still think it'll be a great series with lots of exciting hockey ahead. So, I shall put away my bitter feelings and try my best to be impartial as I offer my semi-sober musings of tonight's game.
Pre-Game - While watching "Molson That's Hockey" on TSN, there is a report on Henrik Zetterberg and the reporter mentions how you can't seem to talk about Zetterberg without also mentioning his linemate Pavel Datsyuk. Darren McCarty comments that you can't talk about one without the other because, in his words, they are together. Suffice it to say, I thought of Steph right away when that line came up.
7:32 pm - CBC is showing the boys walking into the arena looking very dapper in their suits. Marian Hossa is sporting a nice ginger beard while Marc-Andre Fleury is sporting some sort of odd landing strip. Sidney Crosby is sporting that famous douche-stache. And to think he's been growing that for nearly a month and a half. Based on facial hair alone, I think I'm cheering for Detroit.
The Penguins hit the ice for warm-up and the Detroit crowd is rather boisterous with their booing. The Wings come on and the crowd is just as enthusiastic with their cheers.
Read More of the Liveblog!
Okay confession time, I cannot stand the sight of those white towels.
As far as fan give aways go, they're up there with thundersticks in terms of annoyance. Scott Oake talks to Kris Draper about his new baby girl he welcomed this week. Draper says something along the lines of it being a huge distraction and he thinks it's a terrible thing to happen right now. Or, he says something about being excited and being happy. Oh and it's also his birthday. Happy 37th, Kris!
Elliotte Friedman talks to Sergei Gonchar about how to keep the Detroit forwards away from the net. Gonchar says something about positioning.
Franzen, Roberts and Chelios are out for tonight. Roberts is actually a healthy scratch after recovering from pneumonia.
Today's Human Interest Piece on HNIC is about Chris Chelios. Elliotte has to correct himself when he introduces it being about "The NHL's second best--second OLDEST player ever". Way to go, Elliotte.
Ron sits down with Crosby about Game 2 against Ottawa in Round 1 where their 3-nothing lead was squandered and asks him to talk about it. I take this time to catch up on some "Law and Order" episodes.
Today's Over Dramatic CBC Intro is done in old fashioned news-reel with fake newspaper headlines taking you through the history of the Penguins and the Red Wings and they're various cup wins. Seeing Steve Yzerman's smiling face again makes me both happy and wistful inside.
More dramatic shots with various play-by-play calls talking about the importance of the Stanley Cup while images of current players on each team are interspersed with various images of the teams past who have won championships. As cheesy and dramatic as these things are, it still gives me chills.
Pre-Anthems - Oake tells us about some line-up changes and says something about how the Wings line-up are "bigger, faster stronger" and I cannot hear that phrase without hearing "Stronger" by Kanye West. Mostly because they play it every darn chance they get at the ACC. Friedman tells us that one of the winning numbers in the Pittsburgh lottery this past week was "87". Okay, we get it. Crosby = Saviour.
We go through some archival footage of Don Cherry in muscle shirts with fake tattoos reaching into a bucket pulling out the famous Detroit Octopus. Today, Don is dressed in another bombastic suit and reaches into the bucket to pull out...a stuffed octopus in a Red Wings jersey. It's kind of cute actually. I guess he's too fragile for real octopi now? I should note that while him and Ron are both talking their voices both break up for some reason. Something in the air at Joe Louis?
8:09pm - No offense, Detroit but your public address announcer could use some caffeine or something. Way to be excited about the finals, man. He also just totally called Crosby "Steven" for the ceremonial face-off. It's official, the Joe's public announcer has been living in a cave on Mars under a rock with his fingers firmly planted in his ears over the last 4 years.
8:14 pm - Ceremonial face-off with Yzerman and Mario Lemieux. Crowd chants a heartful "STEVIE! STEVIE!" as he drops the puck. I have to admit, despite how I feel about Crosby, my love for Stevie Y must know no bounds as I'm beaming ear to ear seeing him smile and shake Crosby's hands. Class act all the way. As we go through starting goaltenders, Chris Osgoode looks positively stunned. Uh, you're not going to puke are you?
Period 1 (finally)
19:08 - Pittsburgh has the first two real good chances but Osgood makes some good stops. He looks a bit nervous but his D-man are there to bail him out.
18:20 - Whistle goes on the offside and the boys waste no time into bumping into one another. The replay shows Laraque giving Maltby a light shove after the whistle but the zebras are just going to let them go. Laraque and McCarty are lining up for the face-off and exchanging some pleasantries. Well, maybe he's just asking him about good places to go for dinner in Detroit.
18:00 - If the Penguins are supposed to be the more inexperienced team they're certainly not showing it. At least 3 quality chances for the Penguins so far and no shots yet for the Wings.
16:09 - Amazing sequence for the Red Wings as the boys get a lot of quality shots on Fleury. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are on different lines with Datsyuk playing on Cleary which draws a penalty on the Penguins. Kris Letang is in the box with the face-off coming deep in the Pens' zone.
15:58 - Tomas Holmstrom makes great use of that Powerplay by getting a high-sticking penalty. Four-on-four!
15:07 - A Pittsburgh player gets dumped at the line. I would tell you who it is except I don't have HD and Cole, ever helpful only told me it was a "Pittsburgh Player".
14:11 - Filppula makes a fool out of Hal Gill and goes to the net, trying to stuff it in but ends up plowing into Fleury who loses his mask. It looks a bit dicey for the Penguins there but Fleury is fine.
13:48 - Mike Babcock is wearing his lucky McGill tie and there are 14 people from McGill at the Joe tonight. Aww, that's kind of nice.
13:23 - The puck takes a funny bounce off the boards and Detroit has another great chance but Fleury covers up. Orpik tries to bully Datsyuk but no penalty is called and the refs are just letting them go at it. Nice.
13:20 - Great save by Fleury off of a quick snap. Guess he recovered from that trip he took during warm-up.
11:54 - The Red Wings are making a lot of East-West passes. Were they the Senators, that would have meant a goal against. But then again, were they the Senators they wouldn't exactly be playing hockey right now. (Sigh).
10:31 - Crosby misses a cross-ice pass and the Red Wings get a good chance but Fleury makes a great pad save.
10:02 - Lazy passing in the Wings' zone means a great chance for Hossa but the Wings sprawl around Osgood and keep it out. Still no score in the game but it's been pretty darn good so far! I haven't needed to switch back to "Law and Order" yet!
9:44 - Ruh-uh, Lidstrom hooks Malone and the Pens' powerplay goes to work.
9:06 - Zetterberg and Filppula get a short-handed chance but Zetterberg is being bothered by Gonchar. The Wings have 5 shorties in the playoffs so far already and they're doing a nice job killing this one off. The Penguins only have one shot on the PP so far.
7:22 - Helm trips Talbot and the Pens get another Powerplay. Cleary's stick breaks from blocking a shot and the Pens get a chance but Osgood gloves it down.
6:02 - Okay, another Penguins shot that probably should have went in totally SOMEHOW DID NOT GO IN. The Red Wings are such lucky bastards. But I guess you have to be good to be lucky and yaddy yaddy yadda.
5:32 - Osgood makes another mind-blowing pad save and the Red Wings are collapsing awesomely around him. The crowd good-heartedly cheers "OZZY! OZZY!". I'd like to say that I'm cheering for Ozzy now but I'm afraid if I publicly declare it, that's a sure sign he'll start imploding.
4:41 - Lidstrom from the blueline snaps the shot over Fleury's shoulder. But apparently there might be a penalty or no-goal as Referee O'Hallaran signals no goal and goaltender interference on none other than Holmstrom. Upon the reply, you can see that Holmstrom's stick is pushing Fleury on the goal and it's disallowed. Still scoreless. I'm contemplating turning back to "Law and Order" now. Back from commercials and Babcock is fuming. I don't know how to lip-read but I imagine he's saying something along the lines of "That's BS!" Another PP for the Penguins.
4:00 - Osgood makes another mind-blowing save. I believe, Ozzy!
1:51 - Kronwall has been planting Penguins on their butts all game long so far. I think I like Kronwall.
0:59 - Gill gets a penalty for hi-sticking for the Wings second powerplay of the game.
0:25 - Zetterberg fires a hard one and Fleury totally thought it was in as he looks behind him not knowing where the puck is.
0:00 - Great scoring chance for Rafalski but Fleury comes out and makes a great save. The buzzer goes and I return to "Law and Order" to further contemplate whether or not I should be perturbed by the fact that I find Michael Cutter (as played by Linus Roache) oddly attractive. Maybe it's just the legal talk.
First Intermission
- Don Cherry has a bug up his ass about the referee going over to explain to Babcock about why the goal was disallowed. He says one day they're going to go over there and something bad will happen. Like what, the coach will pepper spray him? They're now showing a pack of the Penguins players at practice playing some form of multi-player, real life Pong. Looks like fun!
- Don is now going on about how Canada lost in OT to Russia at the World's this year. I actually witnessed that game and so I figure now is the right time to contemplate what the heck is up with the weird seams on Cutter's shirts. (I know, you guys really need to know this information).
- Don also now passive aggressively talks about how he can't tell the difference between Sportsnet and TSN. Sometimes I love you, Don.
Period 2
20:00 - One minute left in the Gill penalty and the Pens do a good job killing it off.
18:56 - Gill comes out of the box as the Penguins clear it out to centre. Of course, nobody is expecting Gill to actually catch up to it and have a break away right? Good, because it totally didn't happen.
18:27 - Fleury lets out a rebound and Samuelsson hits BOTH posts before the puck goes out. The crowd is in histrionics!
18:05 - Crosby is off to the box for slashing and Darth Vader's theme blares over the speakers. The music guys at the Joe have been really on fire so far!
15:59 - Lidstrom keeps the puck in as the PP expires. The puck bounces off the boards and Datsyuk gets two good chances but Fleury is in good position to stop it.
15:43 - Cole says something about the drop-pass not working and I instinctively wonder what Spezza did now. And then I remember. Sorry.
15:05 - Ohmygoodness you guys, did you know that Detroit is an experienced team and the Penguins are a youthful team? I know, my mind was blown by that insightful commentary.
13:47 - Dupuis is all alone going into the zone but stopped by Osgood! The crowd goes wild and the Ozzy chants start again. Choke on that, Hasek.
12:27 - How are these shots not going into the net? Have I become so accustomed to mediocre goaltending that I'm downright shocked at the sight of competent goaltending? Does this usually happen? I mean aren't pucks supposed to go in when they're shot towards the net even if there is a body there?
Can I just note these "Viagra Intermission" commercials are highly disturbing and unnecessary? Thank you.
11:45 - Datsyuk sort of half-heartedly shoves Gill. Given the size difference between the two it's almost hilarious. Kind of like whenever somebody tries to hit Chara.
9:15 - Gosh you guys, all this passing is nice and all. Bob Cole says it's impossible to keep the 'torrid pace' going as things have slowed down a bit. Yes, I think this game is getting a bit dull too, Bob. For once we agree.
7:30 - Gill just totally planted himself on top of Hudler. Get a room you guys.
7:03 - Samuelsson goes in all alone and gets an awesome wrap around goal on Fleury who was JUST a hair late getting to the post. Actually, I think it might have bounced in off of Fleury's skate. 1-0 Detroit!
6:47 - The Pens follow up with a brilliant sequence that involves Ryan Whitney getting a holding penalty.
5:57 - Gill just put the puck right no Holmstrom's stick. Didn't I just read something somewhere about Gill being a valuable piece of the Pen's defense? I should cut him some slack, I'm probably just blinded by his Leafs taint.
3:57 - Datsyuk does some awesome dipsy-doodles while getting into the zone but manages to deal off the puck to Lidstrom before taking a hit. Good shot by Lidstrom but even better save by Fleury.
3:19 - The Red Wings are wheeling and dealing in the Pens' zone and the birds are set-up in a rather PK-ish box. They're not on the PK though. Methinks the Pens might be slightly tired.
2:37 - Helm takes a hard shot and Fleury stops it but juggles with it a bit. I think he's becoming a little concerned at the increasing uselessness of his D.
1:25 - Bob is telling us Mario and Natalie Lemieux are great golfers. And how he can beat them once in awhile. Riveting. (For those who are curious, Mario's handicap is "scratch"(I don't know, not a golfer) and Natalie's is "about 8").
0:31 - Malkin is off to the box for tripping Filppula. The Joe ruins their streak of great song choices in the arena by playing Fergie.
2nd Intermission
- I officially don't understand those Koodo commercials. Am I really that out of tune with pop culture?
- Satellite Hotstove with Ron, Al Strachan, Scott Morrison and Pierre LeBrun! I have missed Pierre since he left The Score for Sportsnet, but I guess Sportsnet is where the real money is. Al points out after Aaron Downey's shenanigans during the Dallas series at warm-up time, the league has decided that the team will lose the right to dress the player that is acting out and be a man short. I'm not really sure how to feel about that.
- The boys are talking about RFAs and UFAs and Al sort of sarcastically points out that there is no tampering whatsoever in the NHL when it comes to signing FAs. Heh. LeBrun is still calling Cristobal Huet "Hue-ay". Didn't you get the press release, Pierre? "Hue-ETTE".
Period 3
20:00 - The Wings once again start the period on the PP. The Penguins try to clear but puts it right on the stick of Lidstrom. Probably not the best way to kill a penalty.
18:26 - Penalty is mercifully over for the Penguins fans. They were nowhere near the puck on the PK.
17:46 - Fleury gives the puck to Scuderi, who deals it to Malkin who rather lazily tries to get it while Samuelsson picks his pocket and gets number two of the night! 2-0 Detroit!
16:35 - I always have trouble knowing what the crowd is saying when they start jeering but I think the "Fleeeeuuurrrryyy" jeers may have just started. And then ended. Way to have follow-through you guys!
16:03 - Good pass for the Penguins by Crosby to Hossa by the net who misses by a million miles. Good pressure by the Pens though, I think this might be the longest amount of time they've spent in the offensive zone.
15:25 - Hilarity by the benches as Crosby tries to get off the ice and is totally pinned to the boards by Draper and Samuelsson. Way to be bitchy, you guys.
13:30 - I think Crosby attempted a spin-o-rama but just ended up plowing into a Wings player. Heh.
12:50 - The CBC just showed a sequence of the Red Wings giving Crosby a hard time. One clip had him plowing into the boards on his butt much like how he went into the boards when he got that high ankle sprain. Yikes. They also talk about how he has that 'fire in his eyes' and I promptly glaze over. Could he use that fire to maybe deal with that Sharpie outline that's supposed to be a playoff beard that he's got going on his face?
11:34 - Orpik sort of lazily skates around with the puck like he would rather not be there right now. He then promptly starts skating up the ice trying to get into the zone by himself which ends rather unsuccessfully of course.
9:16 - Fun CBC stat: The Pens had 12 shots in the first period and only 5 since then. The camera then starts shaking from side to side like there's a bad case of turbulence going on. Methinks some drunkards got a little too flamboyant with their flailing.
8:57 - The Pens have the two best chances they've had since the first period, one gets off the post and the other inexplicably stays out when Crosby tries to bank it off of Osgood but he gets back in the last second. Datsyuk then gets a good chance the other way but is smothered by Fleury (the puck, not Datsyuk).
Fun CBC stat: Dan Cleary is from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and his favourite player growing up was Gary Roberts. Hmm, awkward.
7:00 - The Joe Music Guys have redeemed themselves slightly from playing Fergie with their choice of Franz Ferdinand. Nice.
6:05 - Zetterberg is in on his own but sandwiched between two Pens players. The Pens get into the Red Wings zone but then the Wings clear it back to centre. The commentators say Staal's name and I sort of blink because I kind of forgot he was playing tonight.
4:33 - Lidstrom goes to the box for interference on Hossa. The Pens are running out of time to get back into this thing. Malkin has all sorts of time to get into the zone but it doesn't last very long. Draper goes down on his own but Fleury comes out to clear the puck.
3:53 - Crosby tries to get to the puck but instead chooses to deal with putting Stuart on his butt instead of staying with the puck. Okay, I guess. Not that it would have made much of a difference, the Wings guys were in perfect position to clear.
3:03 - The puck is just not staying with the Penguins as Lilja just chops the puck away.
2:42 - Detroit chops it down the ice after the face-off, Cleary skates after it and beats Letang for the puck, putting it past Fleury for a shortie! 3-0 Detroit!
1:52 - Samuelsson is down on the ice for a bit but he seems to be okay as he skates to the bench. There doesn't seem to be any blood though. Ruutu is off to the box for putting a stick in Samuelsson's gut.
0:24 - "Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy! You can hear it!" yes we can Bob, so you don't need to point it out for us.
0:12 - Zetterberg takes a quick shot off of a nice touch pass and it beats Fleury high. 4-0 Wings! I don't think I ever need to hear Bob Cole say "Baby!" ever again.
0:00 - And that's all she wrote for Game 1. Ozzy gets his shutout and the Penguins realize that they've got a lot of work to do. The Wings were just outworking them-- they were outskating, outhitting and they were relentless on the forecheck.
CBC 3 Stars:
1) Samuelsson
2) Osgood
3) Stuart
So at the end of the day, I probably shouldn't have questioned that I was cheering for the Wings although I didn't really want to admit it. Seeing Stevie Y's smiling face swayed me. Also, I know the Penguins are inevitably due for the cup, but I would rather it not happen the same year they steamrolled over the Senators.
The truth is, it reminded me a lot of the mismatch that was the Ducks against the Senators last year. However, the Penguins did show a lot of promise and jump at the beginning of the game and I dare they say they had a majority of the momentum. However, the Red Wings kicked it into another gear and the boys just couldn't keep up. Fleury made some great saves but he unraveled along with his team.
I really hope we see Don Cherry with the stuffed octopus again. Thanks for stopping by and tune in for the Game 2 liveblog!
For those who are curious as to how Law and Order ended: They get a conviction! Shocking!
Labels: detroit red wings, live-blog, pittsburgh penguins, stanley cup finals
Last night I thought that I was going crazy when I heard the announcer call Crosby "Steven".
But did anyone see Marc-Andre fall on his way out to the ice? That one was for Gerber.....
Dani, I thought I was too but then other people confirmed it for me.
I missed Fleury's trip up the first time around, but when I saw the Red Wings come out I secretly wondered if anybody ever tripped doing that and then I saw a replay of Fleury doing just that and I'm like "HAH".
Oh my god I am so happy you just posted that McCarty quote - we didn't hear what they were saying at all but see? See!? I mean I really am starting to actually wonder.
I always was so totally happy to see Stevie Y. How can you possibly cheer against us now?
GO WINGSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! I want them to bring the pain on the PENS, I want Steven Crosby to cry.
stuffed octopus? what?
~Laine
Sherry Jean, you make me happy.
Steph, you guys have an unfair advantage! How can I refuse Stevie Y's smiling face? It's just IMPOSSIBLE.
PaV, it looks like we're almost there!
Laine, Don Cherry had a stuffed octopus wearing a Red Wings jersey! It was adorable! Don used to actually lift a live octopus out of a bucket as is per Wings tradition but this year he opted for a stuffed one. Guess he didn't want to get the suit dirty :)
tina, aww thanks :P
Last night I was going to get crazy when I heard the announcer rings the last visil to startt the match. The match turned into rival ground when the referee disallowed the goal by Don Cherry. The referee sprayed the Pepper Shot Pepper Spray on the player and went of. In my opinoin we have to use this product only for self defense not for wrong purposes. Thanks for giving such an interesting information.