Behind the Blog: Tom Benjamin’s NHL Weblog

Today’s Behind the Blog will feature the writer of Tom Benjamin’s NHL Weblog. Tom is a very opinionated guy, which is pretty clear when you visit his blog. His readers are very passionate and love to leave comments, which are almost posts of their own.

Q.1 – When did you create Tom Benjamin’s NHL Weblog and what made you do so?

I started it in September of 2003. I had been annoying people with my hockey opinions on various internet message boards since the early ’90s and so when blogging became big, it was a natural for me.

Q.2 – Have you always been connected with CanucksCorner.com and what made you join that webite?

Brian knew me because I’d played on the message board at Canucks Corner. About the time I decided to try a blog, Brian asked me to do some writing for him. It was a coincidence, but we both think it has turned out to be a good fit.

Q.3 – You seem to have the most involved readers who leave passionate comments regarding whatever topic you discuss. When did you first realize that you had developed a following of hockey fans who desired that interaction with the blogger?

My stuff has always drawn a fairly strong reaction in both directions. Some people really like my ideas about the sport, others really dislike them. It’s great that more than a few really smart people regularly contribute comments. They produce as much content for the blog as I do. As long as everybody plays nice, it works, and so far everybody has played nice. .

Q.4 – What advice would you give to fellow bloggers, especially newcomers?

First Find a voice and go for a different slant. I think blogs are popular because readers crave a diversity they can’t find in the mainstream media. It follows that we should be diverse.

Don’t take it personally. If you are going to start publishing your views – particularly ones that offer a different slant – at least some people will think you are an idiot and they will tell you so in no uncertain terms. (Sometimes, of course, at least some people will be right.) Disagreement is healthy and fun as long as nobody is mean spirited about it.

Q.5 – What do you hope to achieve with your blog over the next few years?

I don’t have any aspirations for it. I regularly resolve to give it up. I’ll be satisfied with the blog if it still exists in five years. If so, I’ll probably still be regularly resolving to give it up.

Q.6 – While you certainly discuss NHL issues in your blog, you are a Vancouver Canucks fan first and foremost. When did you become a Canucks fan?

When the Canucks first came into the league, I promised myself I would stay loyal to the Red Wings forever. The resolution didn’t last through the first season’s exhibition schedule.

Q.7 – What changes, if any, do you feel necessary for the Canucks to make the playoffs next year and become a Cup contender?

They have to become much better without the puck.

Q.8 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

My Dad took me to an exhibition game at the old Forum in Vancouver. It was the Montreal Canadiens playing against the Western Hockey League Vancouver Canucks.

Q.9 – What first attracted you to the sport of hockey?

Again we can blame my Dad. Every Saturday night, it was Hockey Night in Canada. In those days, the game was picked up in progress about halfway through the first period. Dad watched Bugs Bunny with me until HNIC picked up the game and then I watched hockey with him. It was the only night of the week we got to eat in front of the TV. Mom always served burgers.

It was great.

Q.10 – Who is your favorite hockey player (either current or retired player)? Why?

Pavel Bure. I had more fun watching him play than any other single player.

Q.11 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout last year?

I was blogging so I watched the labour dispute pretty closely. I watched more movies, read more books and I rekindled my relationship with baseball.

Q.12 –Which team has surprised you the most this season? Disappointed you? Why?

Carolina was the most positive surprise, Minnesota the most negative. I didn’t think the Hurricane would be good and I thought the Wild were going to take the next step.

Q.13 – Where do you see the NHL in 5 years? Why?

I’m not optimistic. I have zero faith in the people who own the league. I’d like to think that the game is good enough to thrive despite the greed and incompetence, but I doubt it.

Q. 14 – Of the teams left in the NHL Playoffs, who do you predict to win the Stanley Cup? Why?

Anaheim, almost entirley because I’m hoping for them. Any of the four teams left could win. Any of the 16 teams that made the playoffs could have won. I like the idea of Cinderella winning once in a while, but I also think we should be able to identify a favourite and be right once in a while.

Q.15 – Is there any hockey blog or website that you look to for inspiration?

I read most of the blogs. Jamie Fitzpatrick, Sisu Hockey, Mudcrutch and about a dozen other bloggers I feel guilty I’m not mentioning are favourites. James Mirtle is the most likely to get rich and famous

NHL Playoffs – Round Two

I haven’t been able to watch any of the second round games because my TV doesn’t work in my room and I’m on bedrest right now. Anyways, I had picked Carolina to make it into the finals so I don’t care much about the Eastern Conference playoffs. I find it very interesting that the Western Conference top four seeds failed to make it into the second round – ouch.

Edmonton Oilers vs. San Jose Sharks

I just don’t want the Oilers to go onto the next round; they made my surgery recovery a lot suckier! And yes, I’m bitter. It’ll be interesting to see how the Thornton/Pronger matchup works out in future games. The Wings didn’t have any problems with the Sharks (aside from the one game after the Olympics when we were missing all our Swedes) because Lidstrom and the rest of the defense were able to shut down Thornton, which apparently is the key to the game’s score result. Here’s some thoughts on this series from around the blogosphere…

Jon @ Sharkspage: Sharks in 6

Earlier in the season when asked how he would prepare for a specific opponent, Sharks head coach Ron Wilson said “I don’t care. They are going to have to prepare for us.” San Jose is going to roll Cheechoo-Thornton and the MBB line with an air of confidence that they can not be stopped. The Sharks have to focus on staying out of the penalty box, and putting forth a solid 60 minute effort each night. Edmonton will have to get on the board early, and apply constant pressure on offense.If the Oilers build a lead and let the penalties stack up for S.J., they could edge the Sharks in a seven game series. On the other hand, if both coaches roll 4 lines and let the players fly on the ice, this could be the most entertaining series in the playoffs for sheer speed and offensive ability. More likely, phantom slashes and trips will result in a parade to the penalty box and a lack of 5-on-5 play.

Sacamano @ Battle of Alberta: Edmonton in 6

It looks to me like the Oil have the advantage on the back end and in net, but that San Jose has some pretty good scorers. In other words, it looks an awful lot like the last series. Calculator has all the numbers, and they pretty much confirm that the two teams are pretty well matched and it is going to be a heckuva series.Conditioning might also play a factor as the Eggheads at the NHL head office again gave Edmonton a bizarre schedule — back to back Sunday/Monday games, and three games in four nights. I’m not sure what to think of this. Detroit seemed to have more jump than Edmonton in the OT periods, but in the short-rest afternoon games, Edmonton ran the show.

Mudcrutch79 @ mc79hockey.com: Edmonton in 6

The other way? If the hockey gods are against Edmonton. This series is close enough that I figure it comes down to whoever gets the bounces, with a possible slight edge to the Oilers based on their goaltending (which should hopefully nullify the Sharks apparently superior ES offence) and penalty kill. After witnessing the third period of the sixth game against Detroit (not to mention the Flames’ humiliating home ice exit from the playoffs), I believe that the Gods are with the Oilers. Edmonton in six. I would have said five, but if the Flames have taught us anything with the asskicking that they took in front of what was apparently a crowd of 19,000 mimes on Wednesday night after their fans insufferable behaviour since their team choked the Cup away in 2003-04, it’s that the Gods hate hubris.

James Mirtle: Edmonton in 6

Much like in the Ottawa-Buffalo series, the Sharks simply don’t have anyone on the blueline who is even close to the calibre of blueliner as Chris Pronger. What I expect coach Craig MacTavish will do is task Pronger with neutralizing Joe Thornton, which would go a long, long way to crimping the Sharks goal scoring. At the other end, Sharks coach Ron Wilson will lean heavily on Scott Hannan and Kyle McLaren, as his remaining four defenders are all very inexperienced. What the Oilers need to do is work the forecheck on this team, press hard and generate the kind of shovel-garbage goals they got in the Detroit series. Vesa Toskala has been phenomenal in the Sharks net since February, and Dwayne Roloson needs to match his first-round performance.

Anaheim vs. Colorado
As a loyal Wings fan, I hate the Avs. Ever since the rivalry, I root for anyone playing against the Avs – even if that means I root for the Mighty Ducks. Seemingly, there aren’t very many Anaheim and Colorado blogs…

James Mirtle: Anaheim in 6

One of the great secrets of this Ducks team is how strong defensively its forward core is. Sam Pahlsson, Rob Niedermayer and Todd Marchant all played more than 17 minutes a game in their first-round series, and it’ll be that trio that tries to key on Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay. Colorado hardly generated any offence from anyone outside of their top four forwards in the first round, which should make it easy for the Ducks to key on those players. Much like the Calgary series, this will be a low-scoring affair, and Jose Theodore is going to really have to hold the fort and now allow any bad goals.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

These groupings are based on how the rest of the team performed and in comparison to what they are capable of doing from the regular season's performances.

The Good
- Steve Yzerman: He may only have had 4 assists in the four games he played this series and a -2 rating, he was out there working harder than the rest of the team in a desperate attempt to reach the second round. A torn rib muscle (ouch) sidelined him for Game #4 and Game #5. Most people expect him to retire in the next week or two; Wings fans hope he plays for one more season. If he does retire, I had the honor to watch him play in his last game at the Joe (Sunday, Game #2) since he did not play the last time the Wings were at the Joe, Game #5.

"You're so wrapped up in the game, and then they score with a minute to go, I don't really have a whole lot of thoughts other than, it just came to a quick end," said Yzerman, who turns 41 next week and is the longest-serving captain in NHL history. "As far as my personal situation, it's best to wait a few days, then I can pretty much make a quick decision."It's amazing that such a long career — 22 seasons, all in Detroit — actually could end so quickly. The spirit is always willing but Yzerman's body, ravaged by injury and time, has betrayed him often, and that's likely to be the deciding factor.

- Henrik Zetterberg: Hank had twice as many goals as the second highest Detroit goal scorer with 6 goals. He had 2 PIM, 0 assists, a -2 rating, and four power play goals. Zetterberg appeared to be one of the few who saw Yzerman's vision and played at that same level. Whenever Yzerman retires, I would really consider making this guy the new captain.

- Robert Lang: Sure he may not have been all that amazing during the regular season, but he's one of the few Wings who actually picked up their play. He had three goals and three assists (6 points), 2 PIM, and -2 rating. Two of his goals came while on the power play. He also won 55% of his face-offs.

- Kris Draper: Draper is never going to lead the team in scoring, that's not his purpose on this team. He may not have earned a single point this series, but was one of five players to actually have a + rating (Draper: +3). And in the elimination game, Draper was out there grinding away.

- Kirk Maltby: I actually noticed Maltby in the postseason. He scored two goals in Game #1, including the game winning goal in 2OT. He also had one assist for three total points this series. Like Draper, he was out there trying to generate chances.

- Chris Chelios: How is this 44 year old defenseman playing better defense than guys half his age? He played with more passion and just plain better skill than many of the other defensemen. He had zero points, 6 PIM, and a +2 rating.

The Bad
- Pavel Datsyuk: What is with Datsyuk in the postseason? I realize he had an injury and needed to catch up, but not even one little goal? Datsyuk got three assists in the five games he played. He had 0 PIM and a 0 +/- rating. Aside from some decent scoring chances and nice set up plays to Zetterberg (who would then score), Datsyuk wasn't so hot this series. When you lead your team in points, I expect at least one goal in the playoffs.

- Nick Lidstrom: What happened to Lidstrom, Mr. Norris? After a fantastic year with some high offensive numbers, Lidstrom gets two points (one goal, one assist), 2 PIM, and a -4 rating. -4! His one goal (the controversial "pick" goal) came on the power play and was also the game winning goal.

- Mathieu Schneider: Surprisingly (at least in my opinion) was the fact that one of our defenseman actually led the team in points this series. Schneider had 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists). He also had 6 PIM and a -1 rating. He didn't look too sharp this series; I'm not sure how much had to do with just returning from a groin injury that looked like it hadn't even healed yet.

"We came out and did the things in the third period we didn't want to do," defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. "We didn't play well enough to win. We put ourselves in this position. The only thing that would have made this a successful season was to win the Stanley Cup."

- Manny Legace: Ah yes, the goaltender always gets blamed upon for the loss. Well, I don't think Legace was the primary reason for our loss (our team just had a total and complete meltdown). He played decent and even had some strong saves (as well as allowing some pathetic goals). But we needed him to be great. It's looking like Legace can't handle the pressure of being the starting goaltender in the playoffs. Plus his constant whining about his teammates did not help the matter. In this series, Legace had a 2.65 GAA and a .884 save percentage. His opponent's goalie, Dwayne Roloson, played these six games and ended with a 2.50 GAA and a .929 save percentage.

Manny Legace, who took the defeat hard in his first playoffs as a No. 1 goalie, summed up his mood, and possibly some of his teammates. "I feel like going out and hanging myself," Legace said. "I really feel hollow inside."On the winning goal, Legace said, "I didn't even see (Hemsky). I thought it was a one-and-one and (Samsonov) threw it across and bang, he was there."

- Brendan Shanahan: For having so much experience and actually reviving his game in the regular season, what happened? He had 40+ goals during this season and could only manage one goal and one assist in this playoff series. I wonder what he'll do this off-season: retire? Or will Holland offer a significantly reduced contract?

"We were in such control, and then to give it away like that, it's just embarrassing," Brendan Shanahan said. "It summed up the whole series. We were playing great hockey, playing great hockey, and then it was a 6-7 minute collapse. Who has an answer for that?"

The Ugly

- Jason Williams: He had two points this series (1 goal, 1 assist) and that's all the good he did in the past six games. I like the guy, I've personally interviewed him and whatnot. But he had so many errors (-3 rating) that really impacted the game and series. His stupid penalty caused a power play allowing the Oilers to tie it up in the elimination game. The Wings need to get rid of him – I don't care if we have to send him to Grand Rapids, we cannot afford his mistakes and he has too many of them.

- Andreas Lilja: He had one assist and a -4 rating. Yikes. His poor defensive coverage resulted in numerous goals at critical points in the game. Unfortunately, Holland recently signed him to a 2 year, 2 million dollar deal. I don't have much else to say aside from yikes.

- Mikael Samuelsson: He's been streaky all year and then the Wings go and sign him to a bloody three year deal! He had one assist, -1 rating, and 6 PIM (4 of which came in the elimination game). Why did Holland not wait until the postseason to sign Samuelsson to a contract? Why?

Mediocre
I'm not going to detail this guys; they weren't bad/ugly but they weren't good either.
- Tomas Holmstrom (3 points, 6 PIM, -1 rating)
- Johan Franzen (3 points, 4 PIM, 0 rating)
- Niklas Kronwall (3 points, 2 PIM, 0 rating)
- Dan Cleary (1 point, 6 PIM, +2 rating)
- Brett Lebda (0 points, 4 PIM, +3 rating)

+/- Rating
Only five Detroit players actually had a + rating in this series: Draper, Maltby, Chelios, Lebda, and Cleary.

Thank You
I'd like to thank all my readers for checking out my blog, especially during the postseason. I enjoy writing for BtJ and I plan to continue doing so over the summer and into the 2006-2007 regular season. I appreciated your comments on games, signings, and other random stuff I have posted on in the past.
I will not have internet connection while I'm in Cincinnati for surgery. So until I return home and feel up to posting (either Thursday night or later), there will be no further updates on this blog. Please check out Abel to Yzerman, On the Wings, and Kukla's Korner for any Wings updates or playoff reactions during the next week. Also check out the blogs that I've linked to on the right side of this page for comments on playoff action around the league. Thanks again!

Game #6: Oilers 4, Wings 3

Pregame
- The Captain is playing in tonight's game. Knowing that Steve Yzerman will be playing makes me feel a whole lot better about the game today. Obviously he's going to be in pain, but hopefully that will inspire the Wings into action. It will be Yzerman's 196th playoff game; his experience and passion will certainly be an asset.

Those are the types of performances that define Yzerman, who usually saves his best for the biggest games. He has become comfortable in the suffocating atmosphere that is the chase for the Stanley Cup. He has learned to push the inevitable butterflies to the side and attack these games with the steely eyed determination necessary to make a personal impact as well as set the tone for his team."Early in my career, (I'd) be extremely nervous, where I found myself always extremely nervous without a lot of experience," said Yzerman. "I found in the last few years I've just gotten much more comfortable and you kind of know what to expect and you know what it's all about."

- We must get the first couple goals in order to establish our style of play. We also cannot afford stupid defensive errors and Lidstrom needs to be on fire tonight! Manny can't be average – he needs to be great or amazing for this series to head back to Detroit on Wednesday. The Oilers are going to be flying today with their crazy loud Rexall crowd behind them.- The Wings have over 1600 playoff game experience among the roster; let's use that veteran experience and knowledge to our advantage.

- I would get such joy in seeing the Wings score a goal while Pronger was in the box. I just can't believe he has 0 PIM this series – very impressive.

First Period
- The first three minutes provided numerous opportunities for the Wings from the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Kris Draper, and Pavel Datsyuk. (Shots: 4-1 in favor of Detroit)

- Oilers get the first power play. Blast it. Mikael Samuelsson is heading to the box with 15:41 left in the first thanks to his hooking ability. The Oilers are 6/31 on the PP this series…The Wings were able to successfully kill this penalty.

- The PP gave the Oilers some momentum and have had some nice scoring chances of their own. (Shots: 6-4 in favor of Edmonton)

- Mathieu Schneider was called for high sticking so the Oilers go on the power play, again. Crap crap crap. Manny made a couple key saves and Maltby blocked the last shot of the PP. This penalty was also successfully killed by the Wings. (Shots: 12-6 in favor of Edmonton)

- Zetterberg scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Steals the puck from Spacek (who had intercepted a Samuelsson pass) and dekes Roloson to get his 6th goal of the postseason at 14:36 into the first. Lilja was also given the assist. It's the second time this series that the Wings have scored first. When was the last game? Game #1. Wings 1, Oilers 0

- Samuelsson is going to the penalty box. Twice in one period! Ugh. Way to get the assist, but the Oilers are going to score on the power play – it's only a matter of time. We don't want to give them 25 million chances tonight. We can't afford this.

- Draper and Maltby had a great shorthanded chance on the penalty kill. The two went 2 on 1, but Roloson made the save.

- Chris Pronger *finally* got a penalty for interference (17:09 into the first)! Woohoo! So it's 4 on 4 for 1:20 minutes and then we'll get 40 seconds with the man advantage. It's just very comforting to know that Pronger won't be on the ice during this time.

- Neither team scored on their respective power plays.

- Obviously, I would've liked a two goal lead but at least we have a lead. And Manny has been reasonably solid tonight.

End of First Period: Wings 1, Oilers 0
(Edmonton outshot Detroit, 15-10)

Second Period
- Apparently Cheli blocked a shot and hasn't played this period, yet. Don't know any more information than that. (a little less than 4 minutes into the second)

- Spacek called for hooking Robert Lang (15:06 left in second). Lets go Wings! Man…Tomas Holmstrom called for interference – this sucks. 1:36 of 4 on 4 hockey then a short Oilers power play. No goals scored.

- Shots favor Detroit, 5-1. Roloson just made a big save on Dan Cleary. Roloson has been playing pretty well tonight.

- Chelios is finally back in (9:20 left).

- Yzerman hit the goalpost making it two hit goalposts hit in 6 minutes. Craziness! I'm liking what I'm seeing – they aren't in their typical second period slump.

- Mickey Redmond: "You gotta say it's the Dwayne Roloson show."

- Pronger is going back in the penalty box thanks to a high sticking penalty. After winning the face-off, Yzerman makes a sweet pass to Robert Lang (to the left of Roloson) after receiving the pass from Lang (who got it from Schneider). Lang scores!!!!!!!!!!! What did I say about how sweet it'd be with Pronger in the box and a Wings goal? Goal came 14:02 into the second period while on the power play. Wings 2, Oilers 0

- Wings have outshot the Oilers, 10-1, this period. The Wings must keep up this intensity; we cannot afford to become lax and make costly errors.

- Yzerman has been coming out to take the face-offs and then go to the bench. Yzerman has been looking fantastic today – the Captain certainly is something else!

- I love this comment from someone on the Lets Go Wings forum: "Man, any more whining by the Oilers fans in the arena, and they might as well start handing out free pacifiers." I thought Horcoff really was offsides, sharp call by the officials.

- Another great LGW comment about the Captain: "I think I've run out of words to describe how much I appreciate Steve Yzerman these days. What he's done tonight (in the second period especially) on that back of his is just amazing."

End of Second Period: Wings 2, Edmonton 0
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 17-2)

Third Period
- For a change, we're actually seeing the Wings actually playing like themselves. Let's just hope that they can keep this up in the third and make it 3-0 or 4-0!

- Jason Williams took an incredibly stupid penalty; it didn't save us from a potential goal and it had no value whatsoever. Oilers PP starts with 17:17 left. And 13 seconds into the PP, Fernando Pisani scores at 2:56 into the second. He scored off of Ryan Smyth's rebound. We cannot take stupid penalties – ugh. The Wings must rebound from this; we cannot hand the momentum over to the Oilers after we've dominated for most of the game. Wings 2, Oilers 1

- We cannot lose our composure. We still have a lead, but we won't for long at this rate of stupidity.

- Brett Lebda got injured and went off to the bench – from the quick look at Lebda, it appears to be shoulder related. Edit: He is now back on the ice.

- Wow, the Wings have only spent 4 nights at home. While the Oilers have been in Edmonton eight nights. So much for home ice advantage.

- Pisani makes a nice deke to tie the game up at two and get his second goal of the game with 13:20 left in the third. Crap. The Oilers have momentum and the Wings were playing so well in the first two periods. Ahhh. I'm panicking now; we need to go on a PP or something and get some offensive opportunities. Wings 2, Oilers 2

- Kronwall is tripped and the Wings go on the power play with 12:08 left. We have to score here to get some of the momentum and back in the game. Plus it would be nice to quiet the Rexall Crowd – man they are loud! Couple good chances in the PP, but no goal.

- Wooo!! Johan Franzen drills it into the net with 9:53 left in the third for his first goal of the postseason (and the career). Cleary and Maltby were given credit for the assists. Wings 3, Oilers 2

- Lebda has now left for the training room. Shots are now even at 5 apiece.

- Crap. Oilers will go on the power play. Please let the Wings kill this penalty – ahh. Dan Cleary called for interference. You can see Yzerman giving some words of advice to his teammates and then winning the face-off.

- Man! The Oilers bloody scored. Manny is arguing about the call. Please no goal. Please! Crap – not looking good. There was a high stick in the play – that should've been called before. This sucks! Oh wait, there was a kicking motion by Hemsky's left foot, will they notice that? There was a high stick and kicking motion – ahhh. Wings 3, Oilers 3

- That was an awful awful awful call. The goal should not have stood and I'm bloody pissed off. The Wings better be angry too and respond! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I don't understand how that could be a goal. I realize they couldn't rule no goal because of a high stick, but the refs should've made that bloody call before Hemsky even started kicking. Absolutely fricking ridiculous.

- Hemsky scores with 1:06 left in regulation. If the Wings lose, I'm going to be so pissed off. I want to cry. Who was guarding Hemsky? Man. Oilers 4, Wings 3

End of Third Period: Oilers 4, Wings 3
(Edmonton outshot Detroit, 13-9)

Overall
- I am so fricking upset. It would be one thing if we lost because the Wings played poorly / the Oilers played great. But that didn't happen – that third goal never should've happened. The Wings played mediocre for those first two goals, but I am sooo pissed off about the third.

- The Wings deserved that game. Ahhhh. I can't even talk right now. I'm so upset and frustrated. And I am asking all Oilers fans to please not leave a comment and gloat because I am so upset about tonight's game. I'm not an idiot thinking that the Wings deserved to win all the games, they got themselves into this precarious position. But, tonight's game is a different matter.

- And now I have to drive down to Cinci tomorrow morning to prepare for an incredibly sucky surgery on Wednesday. Man this totally sucks. I want to hurt something – ugh.

Stats
- Detroit outshot Edmonton, 36-30.
- Detroit went 1/6 on the PP / Edmonton went 2/6 on the PP
- Edmonton won 62% of the face-offs. Wow.
- Edmonton defeats the President's Trophy winners in the series, 4-2.

Final Thoughts Tonight
- I'll post some more tomorrow morning before I head to Cinci after I've had the night to sleep on it. (Mainly I'll talk about who needs to go and who should stay…)
- If that was Yzerman's last game…I don't even want to think about it. Please don't retire Yzie.
- I would not want to be Ken Holland right now – he has a lot of work to do this off-season with this great regular season / early round playoff exit team mess.
- I want to say congrats to the Oilers; they played with passion and pounced on all the Wings mistakes. Roloson played a great series and really kept them in tonight's game. While I won't be cheering for the Oilers in future playoff rounds, they did pull off an upset and it was not by luck.
- Until the team learns to play a full 60 minutes of hockey in the playoff games, we're going to always be booted out in an early round. This whole series the Wings struggled to play 40 solid minutes per game, much less 60.
- Someone on the LGW forum brought up a good thought, we may have been screwed over by a ref's bad call (or two or three or four) but the Wings had many chances and could never capitalize. There has been bad reffing throughout the entire series; the Wings need to learn to rise above it and still win these games.
- Tonight's costly errors in defense cost the Wings those first two Oilers goals – not the refs. What happened to our coverage? While I totally disagree with the third goal standing, our coverage on the other three goals was just awful. I'm not placing complete blame on Manny. He had to deal with a breakaway, poor defensive coverage, and the puck being kicked in. He certainly wasn't great (like we needed him to be), but he was not the whole reason we lost tonight in my opinion.

Miss Sports Blogger 2006

Kent @ Sports Guy North is hosting a Miss Sports Blogger 2006 poll. All of his nominees were solely based on the writing and content of their respective blog. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the poll had started until Alanah brought it to my attention so the voting has already begun!The nominees include:
- Anne Ursu @ Batgirl
- Acid Queen @ Sweet Tea, Barbecue, and Bodychecks
- Alanah (1/2 of the VCOE crew) @ Vancouver Canucks Op Ed
- Stephanie @ Zany Sports Lady
- Christy @ Behind the Jersey (that's me!)

Here's why Kent nominated me:

Speaking of anti-Oilers, this blogger is a Red Wings fan through and through. Her claim to fame in my books is her Behind the Blog posts where she interviews other hockey bloggers, A classy move from a class act.

Speaking of the BtB posts, I'll be starting those back up after my knee surgery on Wednesday morning.Please go check out his website and vote in the poll on the right of the page. Whether you would like to vote for me or one of the many other awesome contestants, just go vote!