Amelia Cypert's Detroit Red Wings fan blog

Last night's win against Edmonton was very reassuring. I've known all season they were capable of mastering any game and making it more of a workshop on correct playing techniques, but after their disappointing 5-3 loss to Calgary prior to last night's game, my confidence was shaky.

It was heartening to see the Wings rally for a hard-fought win once again. The pessimist I usually bury within had begun to rear its ugly head-- taunting, "the guys can only take over a game that's going their way from the start!"

 Thank goodness for the hard-working, patient home team:) Dan Cleary summed it up for Helene St. James in her Detroit Free Press coverage of the game this morning; "we don't change the game plan" he said, and what a relief! And what a relief to see the newly called-up Jonathan Ericsson contribute offensively. I'd read that his main function was going to be as an enforcer, and wasn't expecting him to score any goals. I just love when my preconceived notions are proven wrong.

Continue reading "Patience and power"

We gained two solid contributors last night that I'm sure will prove to be a wise addition, but the joy of that discovery was tempered by the injury to Marian Hossa. I was out of the room when the check that sent him careening into the boards occurred, so reading about it in The Detroit Free Press this morning it felt like I was still in bed, having a nightmare.

Fortunately for all involved, the standard hit didn't do Hossa any permanent damage, and I'm hoping he's back for tonight's late game against the Colorado Avalanche.

A note on the Avs. I am young...ish still, but I remember vividly the hit on Kris Draper by Claude Lemieux, a not-so-standard drive from behind into the crease between the boards and the ice. Why did Lemieux have to keep crushing Draper's face into the ice like that? What could possibly have been his motivation for delivering the hit that is still as fresh in everyone's mind twelve years after the fact as if it happened yesterday?

Continue reading "Memories Still as Vivid...I Have Confidence in Detroit"

It’ll be great to see two big enforcers on our side for a change, tonight when the Wings play in St. Louis. Jonathan Ericsson—all 6 feet 5 inches of him—was called up from Grand Rapids along with big Aaron Downey, and I look forward to the guys in red and white not all being dwarfed by a taller, beefier opposition. This is also a nice response to Don Cherry’s rant on YouTube Saturday, in which he accused the Wings of being too soft.           I would say having a big physical force on the ice is out of character for Detroit, who really aren’t known for their ferocity—with the notable exception of Darren McCarty—but it is about time Babcock and Holland answered to the other teams’ enforcers with some of our own. Too often an opponent seems to resort to physically dominating the Wings and throwing its weight around in a game, without trying to beat the Wings through intelligent play.

Continue reading "Two Towering Points of Contention"

An attack is an attack, and Saturday's 8-0 loss to the Nashville Predators could only be called an attack. But when the planes hit the Twin Towers, did you lose faith in New York? If anything, America loved New York more for its sudden relegation to "victim" status.

If a country can rally around a city, then a Detroit can certainly keep believing in it's hockey team. The Red Wings have done exceptionally well thus far; we know they are capable of regrouping and digging themselves out of holes. Saturday night's debacle is like any other hole with impossibly steep walls; the Wings will find a way to emerge victorious.

Continue reading "Rallying cry"