There is an unfamiliar wind of flattery blowing through today’s intriguing matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s unclear if there are Phil Jacksonian mind games involved in Mike Babcock’s comments that the ‘Hawks are “the best team in hockey.” On one hand, he might be right since Chicago’s ridiculously good. On the other hand, the Wings and ‘Hawks are supposed to hate each other, right? It’s not very nice to try to reverse-jinx Chicago, ‘Babs.
Anyway let’s study the architecture of this Detroit-Chicago game by taking a look at some of the banter in the newspapers and blogs for each team.
Detroit The Detroit Free Press features that curious bit of Babcock flattery.
“They score like crazy,” Babcock said. “They’ve got good depth through all their positions. They got good size up front, mobile on the back end. The bottom line is they’re the best team in the NHL right now.
Two interesting pieces from the wonderfully ‘stached Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.
First, he discusses Brett Lebda’s “tenuous grip” on a starting position. You see, folks, journalists can’t burn bridges and complete such sentences appropriately. It should have read “Lebda has a tenuous grip on a starting job ... because he’s notably mediocre.” On the bright side, you should try saying his last name like those overweight SNL Bears fans. Just replace “Dit-ka” with “Leb-da.” Try it, it’s fun. Alright, fine, don’t. *sigh*
McCosky also brings to light the Red Wings’ problems in net. Could starting Jimmy Howard ruin Chris Osgood? Hey, look on the bright side, Cristobal Huet makes about $3.5 million more than Howard and Osgood combined. That’s gotta hurt.
Finally, Winging it in Motown covers a lot of bases in their Morning Skate post.
Chicago
The Chicago Tribune points out that today represents a “role reversal” for the Blackhawks and Red Wings.
The Northwest Herald discusses Adam Burish’s recovery from a knee injury. Believe me, any guy whose beard is manly enough to withstand the blunt force of a skate is welcome in my lineup.
Finally, here’s the Associated Press preview of the game.