I had a lot of fun throwing some at the game opinions of the Boston game, and with sitting only about ten rows from the ice during the Detroit game, I feel like I had a great opportunity to take in the game in a completely different perspective. I apologize if some of the opinions are a bit broken and piecemeal, but I hope you enjoy;
– I want to take a quick second to really appreciate some of the staff who work the games. I attended with my father and a co-worker of his, with his eight year old son experiencing his first NHL game. We sat down just as warmups were ending, and did not have time to get the eight year old over to the entrance in an attempt to get a high five or a puck. My dad opted to go and speak to one of the attendants to see if there was a practice puck laying around for the kid to have, and a short time later, they gave him not only a practice puck, but also an official game puck. To say that is just fantastic barely does it justice. For a team that badly needs to set some roots in both young and old fans, I can only imagine how much that meant to this kid.
– Ethan Moreau is a big dude. While his on ice play does not match the play that he made a name for himself earlier in his career, I was truly surprised at his stature.
– Fedor Tyutin is starting to give me cold sweats. Each time he touched the puck, I questioned his decision making abilities. His timing appeared a bit sluggish, and his inability to take shots on the powerplay was exhausting. Not only that, for at least the second straight game, his powerplay passing was so suspect, that I think the Wings players simply waited for him to turn over the puck. How he still gets powerplay time escapes me.
– The just under 40 shots by the Jackets failed to impress me. What blew my mind the most was the decision to not take the shot in the middle of the ice, yet make the pass to the outside for a weak’ish’ shot at a bad angle, often blowing the puck past the net and sending Detroit on their own rush. Columbus really needs to work on getting their shots from closer to the center of the ice, rather than way on the outside.
– Mason was shaky for a better part of the game. While he settled down after the first goal was scored, he never seemed to pull in the puck. Certainly getting in the way is an important criteria of being a goaltender, but rebounds were plentiful for the Columbus number one. It has started to make me wonder if he will be able to get over his confidence issues in Columbus, based on how the fanbase and media react to his losses (note, that is not an absolute statement. Just an opinion that I have, that he is always the first to blame for a goal, unlike when Garon lets some in).
– To any Detroit fans who read this, don’t come into Nationwide with a dead sea creature and expect to not get tripped while running down the aisle. I can’t believe that people think it is appropriate to do something like that in an away building, and it certainly mocks the home crowd for being welcoming to away team fans. I’ll be the first one to stand up and cheer if someone manages to stop one of these idiots before the make it into throwing distance.
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