John_PyperFerguson's blog
Showdown in hockeytown and march of the penguins
Thursday May 08, 2008 @ 01:59 PM EDT
In the past couple of years, “Pypes” has made appearances in various TV shows such as The L Word, Cane, and Brothers & Sisters. He loves to cheer on his Vancouver Canucks but lived for a short time in Calgary, AB, and will be providing commentary on his second favorite team, the Calgary Flames, throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Heh heh heh, there’s gonna be a gun fight! Sheriff Mad Dog Morrow with his right hand man, Marvelous Mike Modano, and their merry band of deputized Stars are coming to Dee-Troit Citah. Showdown in Hockeytown!
I figure this to be the first real test for the Motor City Boys, who haphazardly made their way through Nashville and barely needed to show up against Colorado in their role of overpowering brute. Their fan base breathes a collective sigh of relief and so, true to form, the dedicated Wings fan has been lulled into a sense of false security – puffing up their chest and proclaiming hockey superiority, pretty much sealing the fate of the Presidents Trophy winners. Truly, what Red Wings fan isn’t shaking like Don Knotts on the streets of Mayberry when the playoffs start? These guys have a reputation to disappoint. The Ducks last year and years before when they were known as Mighty; the Oilers; the Flames; the Kings!? If it wasn’t for a sixty-foot drifter, the Canucks would be on that map too! Do you see a pattern here? So these over-confident fellows are once again ripe for the picking.
Meanwhile in Dallas, they get tougher and meaner and more low down and ornery by the second. Morrow is a man on a mission and clearly wants to hoist Lord Stanley with out the Brett Hull (question mark) Stanley Cup winner. Sure a goal is a goal…but really… is it? Has it ever been? Just ask anyone in Buffalo. Hull went and got the real deal with the Wings but looks to get one more for his ole line mates –this time from the front office. Dallas is possessed and focused and, oh, did I even mention Marty Turco? He’s a Brick…umph…house – sing it!
Without Scotty Bowman, there’s a posse from Dallas with fresh bread roasting on the campfire and it smells like toast.
Stars in 6
Now for the battle of PA – and you thought the Democratic primary was a fight – look out! The high-flying Flyers, who have knocked off the Caps and the Habs, go face-to-face with another four letter word, the Pens. Ice birds slip-sliding on their fat little bellies, but oh so at home on the rink.
While the Philly’s have Mr. Be-like-Iron minding the net, the Birds have Fleury, and just like in the Hitchcock film there are just too darn many of them. Since the Flyers failed in their attempts to draft Tippi Hedren, they will be overwhelmed. A murder of…. of… does anyone know what you call a lot of swarming Penguins? Sid the Kid, Malkin, Hossa and the rest of the colony are moving that puck with a never-before-seen creative flair. Surf’s Up! It’s March of the Penguins and they will preserve the egg, and yes, have Happy Feet as they go on to skate for Lord Stanley. Yes, a fat lady will sing in Philly but it won’t be Kate Smith.
Pens in 5 or 7 – they’re gonna have to win it in Antarctica.
NHL is a registered trademark and the NHL Shield, NHL Connect and Hockey In the Home are trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and their unauthorized use without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. is prohibited. 
10 Comments - 1 Reply
mchiconsky
May 16 2008 07:52
Are you still blogging?
Is there something wrong with my NHL Connect? I haven’t seen anything new from the West Celebrity bloggers for this whole Finals round. Did you stop liking hockey?
TeamCarrier
May 14 2008 16:49
NOT
Join the bandwagon for the Pens. Every team you picked LOST.LETS GO RED WINGS!!!
jleWings
May 12 2008 22:43
uh oh - looks like "Sheriff Mad Dog" is in trouble
The only thing “ripe for the picking” is the last win in a SWEEP of the Stars. Wings 5 Dallas 2. The Stars played a very competitive game, but were still no match for the Wings.
mchiconsky
May 10 2008 18:53
Ya need two teams to play!
The Canucks have been a good team for a while now, even with this past disappointing season, and I can certainly understand a Canuck fan rooting for Dallas against the Wings, But you’ve lost perspective. Wings are #1 seed, Dallas is down the ladder. Dallas played great against two good teams, but the Wings played great (7 straight wins, 9 out of 11 overall) as well and they keep getting better. Turco’s truly a great goalie and I rooted for him when he was in oollege, but he’s goose eggs in the Joe in the pros. Some teams are just able to get in your head and the Wings are in his. Morrow has played fabulous, but not as fabulous as the Mule. Modano is still a brilliantly dangerous player, but not as brilliantly dangerous as DatsyukDallas doesn’t have a Datsyuk/Zetterberg team up. Dallas doesn’t have Nick Lidstrom, the man that shot that 60 foot drifter at just the right time and place. The Wings can roll 4 lines and they can all score. Dallas has trouble against puck possession teams and the Wings are the best puck possessors in hockey. Traps don’t work against fast skaters catching perfect head man passes on the tape (Kronwall to Samuelson to Filpulla SCORE!). All in all it’s going to be a great series and there will be plenty of applause and cheers of delight to go around, but the Wings are going to take it to the next level.
texas_girl66
May 10 2008 12:24
"Sheriff Mad Dog Morrow"
Love it!
I can’t wait to see how my boys do now that they’ve rested up from the “two games in one” they played the other night. Time to clip the Wings!
jleWings
May 08 2008 22:52
seriously.
Ah, now see… reading your blogs has been fun. I don’t necessarily agree with your conclusions, but you certainly are… colorful. I thought you were smarter before I read this blog though. Stars in 6? Very wishful thinking. I hope you watched the game tonight. Dallas was smoked. They looked tired… listless… outplayed… and most importantly – out-SKILLED. The 3rd period all they could do was try to put the hurt on the Wings because they knew they were toast. Turco looked more like a sh**house than a brick house. Keep hating though… victory is so much sweeter when you can prove everyone wrong. One more note: 16 or 17 playoff berths in a row is hardly a “reputation to disappoint.” ALL other sports teams wish for that kind of success.
Kyle_720
May 08 2008 15:10
Wrongo
You’re quite wrong about this Wings team. They played great last year. And they’re playing even better this year. Will this be tougher than Colorado? Sure it will. But the Wings match up well against Dallas. You’ll see.
YankeeDevil
May 08 2008 14:41
I like the contrast
Getting lucky in round 1 against the Predators to not even having to show up to beat the Avalanche.
TeamCarrier
May 08 2008 14:31
Canucks
You need to focus on you’re day job because you don’t know $hit about hockey.You root for 2 losing teams and you’re favorite team didn’t even make the playoffs. Wings in 6. LETS GO RED WINGS!!!!
YankeeDevil
May 08 2008 14:23
very entertaining
You should switch careers to writing fiction short stories.