Monday is a punch in the face!

Sometimes everyone has a case of the Mondays. For me, I combat this with... FIGHT VIDEOS.   I know that it doesn't work for everyone but it works for me every time. Even now, I just previewed a couple and instantly am in a better mood. Enjoy and Happy Monday!

I owe him a whole lot

 

I don't often talk about my family or my parents but I feel the need to tell everyone a little about my Dad, Leo Holstine on this Father's Day.

My Dad might not have been perfect but I owe him my love of hockey. My Dad had hoped for a son and was expecting to have his only son in 1987 but instead got me. With three girls, my Dad probably thought that his dream of sharing his love of hockey was a long lost dream but he was wrong. My sisters and I learned to love hockey in our own way but I learned to love the game of hockey just like him.

My Dad was born in the Mid-Fifties and would often go to Olympia Stadium with his father and various other family members. Catch him on a day where he wants to tell a story and he will recall one of his favorite memories of Olympia and it really has nothing to do with the players. The story goes that there was a older lady who used to sit in front of my Dad during the game and all she would do is complain about the team and arena. I mean, who really complains about the teams of the 50's? My Dad and his family loved to get bags of unshelled peanuts to crack and eat. Hell, my Dad still does. While other people threw the shells on the ground, my Dad's family would pass the shells down to him and he would fill up the hood of the lady's coat. When the time came to leave, the complainer would go to put her hood on and get a shower of peanut shells. A sort of payback for being a bad fan. Stories like this are often and many when it comes to my Dad. I can say that to this day, he holds the birthday that he spent with Gordie Howe as one of his best.

Many often point out that I dislike the NHL officials more than most. Which is 100% true. Why? Because I got it from my father. Instead of hating the Hawks or the Leafs, we hated the likes of Fraser and LaRue. In Chris Chelios' first game as a Red Wing, my parents were sitting front row. Cheli got into a scuffle with another player and an unhelmeted Kerry Fraser stuck his head between Chelios and the opposing player. My Dad jumped up and could be seen on the television screen screaming for Chelios to hit Fraser because he had an open shot. In later years, my Dad and I would take our complaints about officiating directly to the NHLOA. Some might find this a bit weird but it was a bonding thing that my Dad and I got used to.We have since stopped doing that but we did it for many years.

Until the 2008-2009 season, I had very rarely gone to a single game without my Dad. Every game we had our routine, a routine that I have modified to make my own in the past four years. My Dad and I would go out to eat at a small restaurant in Greektown called The Golden Fleece then take the people mover over to the Joe. I still routinely head to Greektown and take the people mover over before every game. My Dad can't attend the games like he used to due to back problems but I still hold the games I attended with my Dad as some of my favorite. I attended Steve Yzerman's Banner raising with my Dad, Saw championship banner raisings with my Dad, Sat on the glass for the first time on my 20th Birthday with my Dad, and attended my first game ever with my Dad. The picture shown above is one of the last games I attended with my Dad and it is a game that I will never forget.

So Happy Father's Day to all the Dads but most especially to my Dad, Leo Holstine.

Decorating for the Holidays: Red Wings Style

Wife/Husband/Girlfriend/Boyfriend complaining that your plaque of Olympia Stadium isn't festive enough and that your Red Wing memorabilia doesn't have the Christmas touch?



DUMP THEM.



Wait a second... There is an alternate solution.

Just as always, the Red Wings have you covered with holiday gear to show off your team and holiday spirit.


Look! It's hockey playing Santa... and a creepy little Red Wing logo with limbs.... Okay, this one might not have been the holiday design teams' best idea but it's better than pine cones on your table.



Some snow people in a hat. Or is that a bag? Whichever it is, it's probably a good idea for those with children being that it's plush.



Declare your fandom to all that come to knock on your door this holiday season with this door wreath.




Who needs a stocking with some snowflakes and puffy paint when you could have this?



Red velvet hat with a white fur trim. YAWN. This is the Santa hat to rock. In fact, I'm pretty sure Santa rocks this hat.




Mint edible candy canes? PSSSSSSSH. Go with these plastic Red Wing candy cane ornaments. As an added bonus, the children cannot consume these and make your entire house into a sticky mess. Although, I'm pretty sure if children DID try to consume these... they'd end up in the hospital.



You could top your tree with a yellow star to represent the star of Bethleham ORRRRRR you could top your tree with something like this star.




Decorating with hockey equipment brings the locker room onto your Christmas tree



This Santa rocking Wings gear is much less creepy than the first one. Mainly because there is no creepy logo skating beside him. Seriously, what WAS that?



In an effort to make the Canadians feel more welcome in the United States, you could put a Maple Leaf on your tree as I do.



Why do they make Smores into people and dress them up as different characters? I have no clue. Did I buy the hockey player smore? Oh you know it.



Decapitated snowman head on a hockey puck. Does it ever make sense? No. Is it on my tree? Of course it is.



Just in case anyone wants to plan out plays, it's always good to have a rink board on your tree.



GIANT LOGO. That's pretty much reason enough.



It's a head. With a Red Wing hat. And a button that says "#1 Fan". Sure, why not.



Is this a snowman? The marshmellow man? Kyle Wellwood as a Red Wing? No clue but it's got a logo so it made the tree.



No Christmas tree is complete without Al the Octopus going all King Kong on it.

Gobble, Gobble, Dangle

With today being Thanksgiving day, here are some Wings things to be thankful for:



"The Ageless Wonder" Nick Lidstrom

Larry Murphy's love of hot dogs

Mickey Redmond-isms

Tim Horton's at the Joe

The endless entertainment of the threesome bromance of Mike Commodore, Brendan Smith, and Cory Emmerton

The entire team, coaching staff, front office, and ownership for being the best in the league

Pavel Datsyuk as a whole

Tomas Holmstrom's back side

That we are able to interact with the legends of years gone by on a regular basis thanks to an organization that never forgets

Ian White's cheekbone

$9 beers (Try watching college hockey. No beer at all)

Henrik Zetterberg's love of Beyonce

Dan Cleary's lack of eyebrows

Darren Helm growing his hair out AND growing a mustache thus causing the fangirl/puck bunny types to leave him alone

That the Wings do not have cheerleaders

Ty Conklin's mustache

That the Red Wings don't go for a gimmicky third jersey

Seven more years of Niklas Kronwall

That the Wings have found places in the organization for many of our favorite newly retired players

That the Wings aren't last in the league

That it's almost December THUS almost Mursak time

Sweden, Canada, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovenia/Yugoslavia for bringing us some of the best players from outside the United States

That mispronouncing Justin Abdelkader's last name leads to hours of entertainment

That some people don't like "Just for Men" gel (see: Miller, Drew)

Jimmy Howard

That Brett Lebda has settled with a new team... And it isn't ours



Oh yeah... Friends, Family, Health, Happiness, Food, etc. The standard, mushy, Miss America sentimental stuff and what not.


Happy Thanksgiving!

The kid returns tomorrow... Yawn

"Sidney Crosby... has just sneezed"

"Crosby just ate a peanut butter sandwich WITH the crusts"

"Sid will return on September 19th... to Chuck E. Cheese"

"There is no change to Crosby's condition but he did just buy a new hat"

"There were games held today but who cares? Sidney just looked at his skates"

"Crosby's return is essential to the NHL. The entire league is in jeopardy of folding without his return... okay... we made that last part up... But still!"



Since January 5th of 2010, I have heard nothing but progress reports and lots of 'there is no progress' reports regarding Sidney Crosby's concussion and playing status. After months and months of hearing about his return, tomorrow Crosby will return to the ice. Now I'm not going to say that I don't care about his return. I do... to a minimal extent. I never want to see someone that young have their career ended and I am capable of recognizing his talent. Maybe with his return, I can stop hearing about every move he makes. The National Media has really made the situation stale for me. Initially, I cared because I watched how a concussion injury plagued Andreas Lilja when he was on the Red Wings and I understood how frustrating the symptoms are. After months of hearing that he had no change and that there was no time table every day, I began quite frustrated with the coverage. On September 7th, almost every ounce of care towards the situation left me.

In case you live under a rock, September 7th was the day that the plane carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team crashed. The crash claimed 44 lives. Sidney Crosby had scheduled a press conference to update his status on that day. The status update was essentially a "there is no timetable or update but let us explain how concussions work" type of event. Press conferences take time to set up. They take time to get everything together. However, they also can be postponed quite easily. It was that moment that respect for Sidney, all those working on his behave, and the national media diminished significantly. Many media outlets covered the Crosby press conference first and covered the plane crash secondly as a hockey after thought.

44 people losing their lives were not as important as one player's concussion?

26 other professional hockey players were not as important as Sidney Crosby's injury?

Sidney Crosby is an important player, but he's not the only player that matters.

Let's get neurotic in here!

If you are not the superstitious type, you should probably stop reading right about.... now.

I think it's time to lean towards our superstitious sides. It's time to really get neurotic and play up to that side of ourselves. Now if you don't personally have that side, right on. Good for you. Carry on and do whatever you do on game day that doesn't involve this stuff. I, however, am a VERY superstitious person. Just ask my mother. She was banned from watching Wings games for years when she was identified as a jinx. For the record, the jinx eventually went away but I still get nervous when she watches clutch games.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Tonight would be the night to bust out the juice, the mojo, or the lucky charms. Tonight would be the night to do the lucky rituals or things you do. If you didn't watch the first five games and have watched every game since, perhaps you should not watch tonight to see if you are the jinx. But naturally, DVR it and watch it later.

Now I wouldn't suggest that others do something if I wasn't willing to do it myself. I have some items that I exclusively save to wear during the playoffs or important games. I will be wearing those items tonight to see if they help. Call me or any of my neurotic friends fools all you want but the Hockey Gods are serious business. If they have it out for your team, you have to try to change the tide somehow. So this is my own personal effort to try and appease the Hockey God.











Good Luck to the Red Wings tonight.
And if all else fails, may they make their own luck

Motivation and Key points

I'm not a hockey coach but I do know a few things.

To win you have to be aggressive. You have to fight and claw for every point. Everything must be earned. No one is going to hand the Wings a win. No one is looking out for the Wings. No team is going to say "Well, The Wings have dropped five in a row, they're frustrated, and they could really use a win. So, let's just NOT play to the best of our ability." That's not going go happen. It's frustrating but tonight will be a battle. Just as every game has been so far.




A few key-points that I believe the Wings are going to have to do to win tonight:


-Stay in control-
Generally speaking, the other team can't score if the Wings keep the play in their zone.

-Don't take bad penalties-
If they know that grabbing the guy they're chasing with their free hand is going to send them to the box for holding, then they shouldn't do it. Sounds like a very stupid statement but taking stupid penalties needs to quit happening. It's the split decisions type of penalties that need to be avoided. Our penalty kill may be good, but they saw the ice more than they should have last game.

-Put. Pucks. In. The. Net.-
Quite obviously the Wings need to be more offensive. They need to not worry about making the highlight reel by any means. Go for the ugly goals. Go for the scrappy goals. They need take any chances they can take. ANY OF THEM. If they've got the goalie beat on a break away, they need take the shot.

-Jimmah keep on Jimmah-ing-
Last game Jimmy Howard was great. Tonight, he needs to put up the same effort. Especially if the offense continues to struggle.

-If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win-
The Wings will need to have confidence that they can do the 'right' things. They'll also need to remember that they are a talented group and can achieve anything.




Everyone needs a little motivation now and again:



“Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.”