Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

I NOW Consider Brian Lashoff A Hall Of Famer

05/04/2013 at 10:30am EDT

You couldn't have been surprised. Go back and watch the game. The Poultry Priority was clearly DeKeyser. They ran him, pressured him and finally knocked him out for the series. It's sound. And Brendan Smith can expect the same treatment. So can Kindl and Lashoff. It's what smart people do to young men. Well, we're talking about Bruce Boudreau here. It's obvious enough that even an idiot can figure it out.

Half of Detroit's defense wear bibs. They drool and make toddler mistakes.

Meanwhile, Ken Holland's big offseason signing continues to sit. Ian White continues to stew and seethe. And you know he is.

And our Uncle Mike doesn't give a single shit about that. Not one.

He's a free man, Babcock. No one expects the Wings to do jack squat during this playoffs that will end around Chief's Initiation time (August). As a result, he can do whatever the hell he wants. He can experiment. He can get young kids time in situations they'd never, ever, not ever experience anywhere else.

And it's genius. He's a genius and we'd better all recognize it. Nobody else would do this. Absolutely nobody would sit White and Colawhogivesafuch in favor of...Brian Lashoff? You literally have to laugh at the balls on Babcock. Fantastic.

Dan Bylsma is losing his mind right now. He hasn't slept since the, um, Islanders erased a 2 goal deficit, then beat the UNBEATABLE Pens on a typical Fleury goal. A couple of them actually. And Fleury could very well be broken, too. Watch his reactions. Warming, like urine in a snowmobile suit.

Mike Babcock had cocoa last night, played some Boggle and is still asleep, enjoying the slumber of a stress-free man.

If the Wings advance, they face Chicago. No ifs, ands or shivers about it. That's a tall order and Uncle Mike is well aware. Step outside our 19-sided box and consider what he's thinking. This series, and the next, is a postseason primer for the next five years. Nyquist's game winner is collateral for that kid. In the right spot, in the perfect time, to receive a glorious pass from a guy who chose that moment to bring us what amounts to a five-million dollar toe drag. Every minute every Wing sees in this playoff (with the exception of the Cup Holders who've seen every conceivable playoff situation) makes this team better by a whole lot in the coming years.

This defense, our "weakness", is going to be one of the league's best next year. Unbelievable when you consider who we just lost. Unbelievable. The offense will need to be discussed because good men are aging. But the pharmacists tell me that nifty teams build from the blue line out and Tick Tock has been building, right under my nose apparently.

James Fuching Howard had a horrendous third period. Horrendous. And it's worrisome because he hadn't been that shaky the entire regular season, all 11 games. Yes, he was rescued. But the pets never should have been in danger. Oh, I know. DeKeyser was hurt. The defense absolutely collapsed. Getzlaf's idiotic backhander fired them up. But it still shouldn't have happened and that implosion falls on Howard. It just does and that's why he got paid what he did, when he did. How he performs tonite is what we should expect the rest of his career. He either comes back very strong or he's shaky again, affected by Game 2. It's going to tell us just what kind of playoff goalie we have, and will have in the future.

I've scheduled a Live Blog this evening, just FYI. It's Saturday and you have no lives. I'd recommend you start prepping very early.

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About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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