Final Verdict on the Hossa Signing (DET 5, ATL 3)

It might have taken ten games, but nothing says it better than this goal, Hossa's first from this past game against his former team, the Atlanta Thrashers:

YEAH.

This Ain't a Game, it's a God! Damn! Massacre!

Any day now I'll stop making unclever titles out of bands I don't even particularly care for (Fall Out Boy today, in case you were curious). Anyway between all the homework I've been (not) doing and all the cleaning of my apartment, I didn't get to sit down and watch anything all that in depth tonight - but I've got a couple quick recaps for a few different games these past couple days.

Elly already elaborated on the Leafs vs. Pens last night, and of course the Pensblog always does a nice job with that too - I couldn't get the game at all and only heard the last few minutes on Leafs Radio. Sounds like it would have been a good one though - every time I refreshed the box scores there was a new goal. Even though I'm mad we didn't win, hey, we got a free point! And I'd be lying if I said I didn' t love seeing the little Staal pick up that hat trick (for more than just a ridiculous inside joke we have, really). I never disliked the Pens, but lately I've really gotten attached. There's just no denying how fun a team they are to watch.

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Tonight I did watch the Wings vs. Flames which is where the dumb title came from - at least to start. Kiprusoff letting in those three goals so early was unbelievable. I don't think I've ever seen that man get pulled before. It was just what the Wings wanted though, and they came on strong after getting shut out in St. Louis the other night and started off beautifully, which is something they've struggled to do lately. I don't know why this game was such a blowout though - other than Calgary's admittedly awful road record. The Wings looked like the were 300% more in this game than the Flames, who were making bad plays, bad turnovers (and tons of them), bad giveaways...

They did finally start to pull it back together at the end though with that little three goal rally - I admit, for a minute I started to think maybe this game was going to be some big cosmic joke on Joey MacDonald and what looked like a sure victory (finally!) would end up being a ridiculous come from behind Flames win. Luckily I was wrong, because I might have had to go bitch out the hockey gods for being that mean to someone who's been playing so well and deserved it so much lately. For better recaps, I'm willing to bet On the Wings will hook you up sooner or later.

Stats to note:

Henrik Zetterberg: 4 points - will he ever make it to five? I am optimistic!
Kristian Huselius: Ruins is 15 game points streak, does not contribute to my fantasy team. Damn you!
Joey MacDonald: Finally a win!
Nashville: Has reason to worry again.
Dom's age: Mentioned twice, even though isn't even playing.

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Then, after an hour or so of struggling, I managed to catch the last period of the Oilers vs. Thrashers, which turned out to be just the game I wanted to see the Oilers play. It's been tough, these past few weeks, being an Oil fan and watching them struggle, especially after learning to love them through last years playoffs where they seemed like they could do no wrong (unless you're talking about Ty Conklin), but this was the first game in a long time that they looked like the Oilers I knew. They were skating fast out there, and hard, and coming up big for it. I don't have much else to say because let's face it I saw one period of this game on a three by three inch screen that froze up every few minutes and looked more like little blue blurs than hockey players, but I have to say go Roloson! The guy was getting harassed here and there all game long - and it was just beautiful to watch him get up after being bowled over by some Thrasher and just leap on the guy.

More stats:

Joffrey Lupul: 1G 1A - Look at that, a contribution!
Petr Sykora: 3A - Keeps the point streak rolling.
Ales Hemsky: 2A and some beautiful attempts
Dwayne Roloson: Gets a mention just for trying to kill a man, and because I feel bad for how many times the refs tried to molest him.

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Last but not least, nothing official has been said about Manny Legace after he pulled himself from the game the other night and Sanford started in net when the Blues were taken down by the Flyers yesterday, so I am still officially worried, though it's probably nothing. But nhl.com has run an article on him that does a great job showing exactly why I love him so much. Some of it I'd never heard before either, like how he'd been so discouraged from trying to be an athlete when he was younger, but I was especially impressed by the way he talked about playing against Detroit - he never came out and said it, but you can tell how much those games mean to him from what he did say. I even love the way he comes across still a little vindictive - he wants to win those games against Detroit to prove that he isn't just a goalie who looked good because he started behind a good team, and it's a little unexpected out of him, and I love that.

Here's to hoping he's all right - I'm still looking for updates.