Blue Jackets giving out exclusive rivalry t-shirts
The Columbus Blue Jackets are giving away exclusive rivalry t-shirts that say, “Beat Michigan” on one side and “Beat Detroit” on the other side, in honor of the big football game this Saturday and then the hockey game between the Wings and Blue Jackets the next day on Sunday. Of course the t-shirt is gray with scarlet lettering. How do you get a t-shirt? Buy a ticket to either the game on November 18th or 24th against the Wings.
I think this is actually a fairly decent promotional idea. Kids from Ann Arbor hate the Buckeyes and the OSU students hate anyone from Ann Arbor (and sometimes even the state of Michigan). If I have learned anything from spending my time in Cincinnati (on my many trips to see my surgeon), it’s that the entire state of Ohio pretty much hates UM. Unlike Michigan where fans are divided between the Wolverines and Spartans, it seems that Ohio is united in its hatred for the Maize and Blue. I went to the NHL Draft in Columbus this summer and the Columbus hockey fans started a “Detroit Sucks” chant. Thus, it would make sense to start a promotion trying to entice the OSU fans in the Columbus area to come out to a hockey game as part of “Rivalry Week.”
11/15 - Quick Links
The 2 Man Advantage just released their latest episode, as seen below, and they test two defensemen (Chris and Bruno) to see how well they know their partner. Unfortunately, they don’t know each other very well, but it’s an entertaining watch!
The BlueLine: Hockey Talk Radio also has their newest episode up for you to listen to.
Easton Hockey has now added helmets to its production. The all-new Stealth helmet line features Stealth S17 and Stealth S9 models.
“The helmet category is one of the only areas Easton didn’t participate in and the new helmets truly round out our entire product line. We didn’t want to come to market with just any helmet. We wanted a superior design, style, comfort, durability and of course protection. We wouldn’t settle for anything less,†Goldsmith said. “The S17 and S9 are going to make an immediate impact. Our long list of NHLers and our dedicated R&D team contributed to the extensive research that was done in the creation of these helmets. The result is stellar and players will notice right away. The new technologies and design will make for the best comfort, fit, protection, and style on the market.â€
Help UM beat OSU!
You can help the University of Michigan beat Ohio State University in the second annual Wolverines-Buckeyes Challenge for Life. This competition between the two schools is to see which university can sign up the most organ donors. OSU is currently ahead by quite a bit, and they won last year so please visit the website below to sign up. Not only will you help us beat OSU, but you could be saving up to 8 lives and improving the quality of life in up to 50 people.
The Big House and UM’s disabled fans
Over at Big House Football, I address the issue of the Big House renovation and how the stadium has been for UM’s disabled fans.
Datsyuk prefers to pass the puck
Bruce MacLeod of the Macomb Daily had a nice article about how Pavel Datsyuk would prefer to pass the puck than shoot it. In fact, Datsyuk scored only his third goal of the season tonight against the St. Louis Blues. He already has 14 assists in the first 18 games. Datsyuk has taken 58 shots on goal before today’s game. Teammate Henrik Zetterberg, who leads the team in shots, has 96. It makes sense that Hank has 10 more goals than Datsyuk.
Pavel Datsyuk doesn’t like noise. He doesn’t like yelling and he doesn’t like hockey sticks smacked like beaver tails on the ice. Not while the game is on.
Johan Franzen found that out early. After a shift on Datsyuk’s line, the Russian made sure to speak with Franzen on the Detroit Red Wings’ bench.
“Don’t yell,” said Datsyuk quietly. “‘I know where you are.”
Datsyuk doesn’t want his teammates to yell for the puck because he wants the opponents to forget about that player and then when he does pass to his teammate, that player is wide open.
“I like passing,” said Datsyuk. “When somebody scores in an open net after my pass is the best. If somebody says, ‘Would you rather score or have somebody score off your pass?’ … I’d say pass.”
My Greatest Hockey Legend
I was tagged both by the Forechecker and Lucas @ Hockey Adventure to write about my favorite hockey legend as part of Joe’s challenge honoring the greatest hockey legends. The challenge entailed…
What I want to do is get as many hockey bloggers as possible to post an article, a memory, interactive content of some sort, something or anything that honours a favorite retired hockey player.
Anyone who has been reading this blog for let’s say two weeks or more should know that my favorite player has been and always will be Mr. Steve Yzerman. He was named captain of the Detroit Red Wings half a year before I was born. I literally grew up watching him play and turn this team around into the championship caliber team that they are today.
Since I started this blog during the NHL lockout, I have written plenty about Yzerman and this summer I even created a fan website called Behind the Jersey: No. 19 in honor of my favorite athlete. This year, I was hired as a public relations intern by the Red Wings and while I can’t and won’t say anything about what I’ve heard of #19, I can say that my admiration for him as both a person and a player has grown. I still have yet to formally meet him, but I know I will be quite honored whenever it does happen.
For me, I am still blown away by his performance during the 2002 playoffs when he was in an incredible amount of pain and struggled to walk up the airplane steps during the playoffs yet continued to play. That postseason play was actually a big inspiration for me personally as I have had 9 knee surgeries over the last 7 years and am constantly in pain. The fact that he was able to lead the team as a source of inspiration as well as in terms of offensive points to win the Stanley Cup is incredibly impressive. Aside from my parents getting me a car for my 16th birthday, my best birthday present ever was sitting 10th row (1st row behind the zamboni pit) at Yzerman’s retirement ceremony and having the chance to celebrate his wonderful career in person at the Joe.
Speaking of Yzerman, I added a new post to Behind the Jersey: No. 19 with a video clip of a speech he gave to some Navy recruiters recently.
Downey clears waivers, again
Aaron Downey was placed on waivers two days ago and cleared yesterday at noon. GM Ken Holland had to do so in case one of the goaltenders suffered an injury and Jimmy Howard needed to be quickly called up from Grand Rapids. Apparently, Holland will have to do this every 30 days or 10 games to make sure Howard has a spot on the 23 man roster if needed.
I must say that I have been really impressed with Downey. For a scrappy forward, he manages to play smart, but also dish out that big hit or step up for a teammate and fight an opponent when the team needs him. He may not get very much ice time as he only averages 4:08 minutes per game (the lowest average on the team), but he works hard and has a great attitude about it all. I think you’ll agree when you read these quotes from an article in the Detroit News.
“Nothing frustrates me,” Downey, a forward, said. “Why (be frustrated)? What does that have to do with anything? There are worse things in the world. There are people in a hospital right now. Children with leukemia. My brother had leukemia.
“I’m a happy guy. The more I can give to people, the better I feel.
“I can’t control whether it’s raining or snowing in the morning. If it’s cold I’ll put a nice jacket on, get a good cup of coffee, and enjoy nice music on the way to the rink.
“When I’m not at the rink I’m going to enjoy myself rain or shine. I’m 110-percent happy all the time.”
I think it’s great to have such a positive attitude when there is a chance another team could pick you off of waivers and this is his sixth team in the last 11 years. The entire team had to sign pucks for my department to send out for various charities to auction or raffle off at fundraisers last month. A few players would say hi or good bye to the three PR interns, including myself, who were working that day. Downey was the only player who came up to us, shook our hands, introduced himself, and talked to us for about five minutes. I realize that he isn’t a big name player, but I was really impressed by how nice he was to us.
Ansar Khan has another quote from Downey about his positive attitude:
“I’ve got a farmer’s attitude. He just takes the tractor, pulls the plow across the ground, sends up another prayer and says, ‘I never ask why, I never complain, please don’t let my dreams run dry.’”
Say what?
“I’ve been hanging out with (rapper) Eminem,” Downey said. “Life’s a garden, you got to dig it.”
Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1
The Detroit Red Wings won their ninth straight game in a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. My recap of the game is up at Winging It In Motown.
Anyone want tickets to a Wings’ game?
I’m a season ticket holder (in name only), but my parents are the ones paying for and attending the games. They cannot go to the game on November 27th (a Tuesday evening) against the Calgary Flames at 7pm. As such, they have given me the tickets to try to sell them.
If anyone would be interested in purchasing two tickets to that game, please send me an email.
Section 211A
Row 9
Seats 8 & 9 (one of those seats is an aisle seat)
The tickets are $54 each (face value) and I’d ask for an additional $3 for shipping. You could pay for the tickets via PayPal.
If I have no takers by next Thursday (Nov 15th), the tickets will be taken off the market. The first person to tell me they would like to buy the tickets will get them. Thanks!
Wings 3, Predators 2 (SO)
My game recap is up at Winging It In Motown.