You're right, this has nothing to do with hockey. But it is one of the first images that pops up when you search for "Brazil" on PicApp.

Whew. Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been all over the place this weekend. Grand Rapids to Novi to Detroit back to Grand Rapids, couple deadlines to meet in that span, the real NCAA tournament going on in the meantime. All of this means there was not a ton of free time. But I'm all situated now, so let's have fun talking about hockey.

H2H

What an experience. I knew it would be an interesting day as soon as I walked in to see Herm getting off the elevator with a mob of people, then seeing him minutes later with cameras shoved in his face. It was really interesting to get to meet the people behind some of the names that frequent this blog and the others out there whose names I recognized. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello, sorry to anyone who I missed because it was pretty packed, nothing personal. There were just so many people and I was pretty bad at checking out name tags. Several times already I've seen on Twitter or something that so and so was at H2H, and I thought to myself, really? how did I miss them?

From a personal standpoint I'd like to thank everyone who gave me words of encouragement, whether it was about my writing, (attempted) humor, or even the banner. I'm not trying to sit here and be like "everyone thought I was awesome!!" because that definitely isn't the case, but it was new for me so it was equally flattering and inspiring. I wouldn't be doing this if I was just talking to myself all the time, so I really wanted to make sure everyone knew that it did mean something to me, and it'll hopefully result in even more cool things in the near future.

On a side note, Casey Richey does one of the best celebrity impressions I've ever heard and we absolutely need to dedicate an entire podcast to hearing this particular celebrity talk about the Red Wings. I don't want to spoil the surprise as to who it is, though.

Minnesota

Fittingly, Detroit capped off a perfect even with arguably one of the most perfect efforts of the season. After the team was really carried by Henrik Zetterberg, Valtteri Filppula, and Todd Bertuzzi for the past three games, it was the other top line of Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Holmstrom that stole the show. If Franzen and Filppula can play in the playoffs anything close to how they've been playing recently, Detroit has themselves two more elite level players that they did not have for most of this season (injuries for Mule, injuries and inconsistency from Filppula).

I sat next to Casey for the game and he said near the end of the 3rd period, "I don't think there's a team in the NHL scarier than Detroit right now." I absolutely agree. As positive as I like to be, I had doubts this season as to how a team with so many inconsistent offensive pieces in place and a complete inability to hold onto a lead could possibly make a run deep into the playoffs. Well, over the past ten games the team has really worked out those bad habits and are playing some really complete, convincing efforts.

Even if Detroit cools down before the end of the year, when you think about the overall composition of the West, anyone can take it. Chicago's goaltending is bad and it's only getting worse. Evgeni Nabokov isn't exactly stellar in San Jose right now, a team that is a little too shaky in the opening rounds to deal with a bipolar goaltender. Vancouver is actually pretty solid this season, but Roberto Luongo has had a rough month and a half, and the team does have Mikael Samuelsson. There isn't a top seed I would be uncomfortable with Detroit playing.

And beyond that, there's an unwritten universal sports law that you have to lose before you can win. And this season, it's youth that's been driving the West. Phoenix and Los Angeles haven't sniffed the playoffs in a long time, and although Colorado was there in 2008 (ending in a series they'd probably like to forget), I'm sure any fan would tell you it's a way different team with a way different nucleus. I would be surprised if any of these teams went deep. Chicago made a deep run last year despite having very little playoff experience, but overall it takes a year or two of going out early before you've got the focus enough to really knock off the experienced teams, like, let's say, Detroit.

Nashville

I could say a ton of things about this game, or I could save everyone a bunch of time and just say that it was a highly entertaining goaltending battle between Pekka Rinne and Jimmy Howard. The best part of it was for once, Detroit won the battle. That isn't a slight towards Chris Osgood either, because Jimmy has lost his fair share of 2-1, 1-0 games and the blame doesn't usually fall on the goalie in situations like that.

Perhaps the most interesting note was the shootout. On the last episode of The Obstructed View, we talked about why Detroit is terrible in the shootout and who we should be using to break the team's slump in a skill where they should have some success. Luckily for us, almost every player that was brought up in that discussion got their chance. And here's what we know:

Datsyuk -- Tried the move that he can sometimes cut to the backhand, but didn't really sell it and just snapped one into Rinne's pads. It's worked for him before, but it hasn't worked recently, and the 6'5 Rinne barely had to move. You've got to get him moving and that move just didn't cut it.

Williams -- Pretty much always does the fake forehand to backhand shelf move, which usually works despite its predictability. I didn't think he got all of it that he could.

Zetterberg -- Finally tried an actual deke after just shooting randomly his past few tries. He really sold the move but had no angle when he was done, so it was another failed attempt.

Franzen -- Just tried to pick a corner and missed pretty badly. I was in support of him shooting when we talked about TOV, but I was hoping he would use that reach to draw the goalie to one side and quickly snap it high to the other side. This attempt just looked lazy.

Bertuzzi -- Took him a few minutes but he did about 17 dekes and beat Rinne. I know people don't like to call Bert smart but he got Rinne backing into his net (aka getting smaller) and had him moving all over. Brilliant move.

Filppula -- Looked like he was trying to go fivehole. Maybe it's because Rinne's pads are tall, but I think he wants you to think there's room there. There just isn't if you're going in straight on.

Miller -- Pretty standard Miller behavior, straight on and a strong shot that just stopped short of the line. I'd like to see him a little earlier in the shootout since he's technically beaten the goalie on both of his attempts. Nice to have a guy who can disguise a shot and pick a side with using some reach.

Holmstrom -- A couple nice moves but he was in way too close. Would have been hard for him to score even if he was able to elevate it. Homer does have solid stickhandling skills for how ugly of a skater he is.

Eaves -- Never again.

Draper -- I was really expecting a patented breakaway special where he puts a shot into the goalie's chest. I like that he went wide but I felt like he shot too early. Gotta get Rinne moving.

Kronwall -- This isn't just a thing I'm talking about in here, I was yelling at the TV about you need to get Rinne moving. Kronwall, a defenseman (the first ever to shoot for Detroit, I believe?) did and the five hole was wide open. Beautiful.

So what did we learn? Well, as pretty as it is to watch our team pass there is not a whole lot of creativity. I'd like to see more of Datsyuk and Bertuzzi, and some Franzen if he'll look a little more interested next time. Maybe if we go to extended rounds just go right to Miller and see what he can do. I wouldn't count on seeing Kronwall again, but maybe next time he'll get the nod over Draper and Eaves. Hopefully Brad May will get the nod over Eaves as well. Kidding of course, Eaves has a really great shot, but people are going to remember this attempt.

This week

Edmonton. Columbus. Nashville. Philadelphia. If Detroit wants a shot at 5th those first two games need to be wins. Detroit needs to play bad teams like they're good ones. No more getting embarrassed by Edmonton, please.