CCHA Semifinals: Michigan 5, MSU 2

That was an interesting one!

Talk about one or two plays completely changing the momentum of a game. Michigan State scores in the first period, it gets waived off. They get a short-handed breakaway that leads to a penalty shot, Billy stops it.

From that point on, the next 45 minutes or so were all Michigan. Hensick and JMFJ were just dealing out there. Porter missed a great scoring chance and then buried one just a few seconds later. TJ added a three-point night to his Hobey resume (including the nice "Kessel" into the empty net to pad the stats).

Sauer played well again tonight--even though he looked shaky at times, he managed to keep the puck out of the net for the most part. Hard to really blame him on either goal. We had a great angle on the first tally and it's pretty unlikely that he ever saw it (and MacKenzie made a great shot). On the other goal, when a guy like Kennedy has a shot through traffic ten feet from the net, he's probably going to bury it.

The game got a little hairy toward the end--would've liked to have seen Michigan close out the game--but thankfully Kolarik put a laser into the top part of the net so it never really got to the point where we had to be nervous (great feed from "Drew Cogs" by the way).

Summers to forward has to be considered a great success. Since he's moved up front, he's had something like 7 points in 8 games, including 3-1--4 in two games against the Spartans.

The guys that really deserve a call tonight, though, are our penalty killers. They had to kill off a lot of power plays for the Spartans, and they rose to the challenge. High marks for all of them tonight. The power play wasn't as good. Too much passing around the perimeter. Too many guys giving up open looks at the net trying to find the perfect pass.

Overall though, that was a great effort out of pretty much everyone on the ice tonight. I hated to see that letdown at the end, but for the most part that was a championship caliber performance. In a year with no clear-cut favorite, they've got a shot if Sauer keeps playing the way he's been playing for the last couple of months.

Time to send a message to college hockey with a big win over the #1 team in the country tomorrow night (and it'd be nice for TJ to pot a couple against Dave Brown to maybe sway some Hobey voters as well).

Lastly, JMFJ Sr. got into the act tonight during his dance (courtesy of letsgokings.com):

That is great stuff right there! It's funny that he was wearing the shirt, even funnier that it got on TV, given what the shirt means. Funnier still that KMFJ (Jack's little brother, Kenny) was wearing one of The Store That Yost Built's "JohnsOWNED" JMFJ shirts.

I love that family. JMFJ could without a doubt be playing in the NHL next year, and I highly doubt that anyone would blame him for making the jump the way some of the others were criticized. But it's going to be a sad day at Yost when we stop getting to see Mr. Johnson dancing (and of course, his son playing).

Here's the JMF Feature from Fox Sports tonight:

CCHA Quarterfinals Game Two: Michigan 8, Northern Michigan 3

Well if anyone still needed a reason to vote for Hensick for Hobey, that should've settled it. What a performance out of the best player in the country! Nice for that kid to get a hat trick in his last game at Yost.

Thoughts on last night's game:

-Hensick, as stated above, was awesome. I'm pretty sure he's the best passer I've seen since I've been following college hockey. I don't think I've ever seen anybody with that ability to put a pass right through the slot no matter where he's at in the offensive zone.

-Cogliano put on a show as well. One of his goals--I believe it was our third of the night maybe?--was a nifty little play where he pulled the puck out of the corner, got to the center of the ice all alone, and kind of back-handed-slap-shotted the puck into the net.

-Despite the piss-poor save percentage that he had working for awhile, Billy was actually decent. Hard to fault him on any of the goals. The first two were complete breakdowns by the defense--one against Santorelli, which you know isn't going to end well. Then the third goal was a shot from the blueline that got tipped on its way through. He also made some pretty big saves in the third period. Not his best performance of the year, but he didn't revert back to early-season Billy by any means. We can win a championship with the way he's playing right now.

-JMFJ had a nice game out there, though I was happy he made it through without getting ejected or anything like that. There are few things I enjoy more than watching him wind up for a slapshot and let one rip. He stung Stewart on one of them--though he didn't knock his mask off unfortuantely. He also had one of the most amazing moves that I've seen when he was coming down the wing. He absolutely froze the defenseman, cut toward the net, and roofed one. The goalie barely got his shoulder on it and it ended up on top of the net. The roof would've blown off that place if he would've scored...it was buzzing even though it just ended up netting a stoppage of play.

-I was less happy with Hunwick's play last night--mainly because he took another stupid penalty that ended up with the puck sitting in the back of our net. Just a needless slash, and they scored like 15 seconds after the call. We can't have our senior captain doing that. I understand he's a defenseman and they take penalties, but you have to play smarter.

-If the power play is ever going to get going, now would be the time to do it....

-The crowd last night was as good as it has been the entire season. Loud for most of the game, some clever chants from the students, and the place was packed. Great way to close the year.

-It was also great of Red to get Mike Mayhew into the game at the end. He also made a couple of decent saves. He had one for his career coming in...which was iffy if it was actually a shot on goal. So it was nice to see him make a couple of legit stops between the pipes.

-Based on the way Jack's dad was waiving to the crowd and the way the players were patting Jack on the head as he was leaving the ice, I gotta believe he's gone. Though I always read way too much into that stuff. I'd love to see him back, but he's ready for the next level. Anything after the first year was gravy...still hoping for seconds, but I think I'll have to settle for watching him on Center Ice next year.

-I've never been a Pio fan, but after a steady dose of Hoberg, McInchak, and a few of those other jokers, it makes me really happy to see him doing our game. He might not get everything right, but you never get the feeling that he's making things up as he goes along.

-That whole "Sweep of Miami" thing? Yeah. That's why I wanted no part of Jeff Jakaitis. Jakaitis vs. Brown should be a nice matchup, even if the score is going to be like 1-0.

-Well...I guess we can't tie MSU this time when we play at the Joe. Hopefully the boys come out with more spark than they had in the GLI Championship.

-I'm playing in the CCHA Media Game at the Joe on Thursday. That will be an absolute thrill for me to skate on the same ice that so many of my heroes have skated on. I'm already giddy thinking about it.

-Lastly, a brutally honest take from NMU coach Walt Kyle during his FSN interview in the second intermission (courtesy of Tech Still Sucks II):
Shireen Saski: "How do you stop the Michigan offense?"
Walt Kyle: "End the game."

Ouch.

CCHA Quarterfinals Game 1: Michigan 4, NMU 1

My thoughts, in response to DC Nole's Game Wrapup at The Yost Post:

I completely agree with a lot of [James's post]...particularly that Billy played very well and looked confident doing it. He didn't give me the feeling that he was making saves by accident. That was in contrast to a lot of the games this year where he played well, but looked shaky doing it. Very nice to see.

TJ had 2 assists but he could've had at least 5 if the guys on our team were finishing plays tonight. It amazes me how every pass he makes somehow goes right through the slot. It doesn't matter where he's at or how many guys he has to go through, it's getting through. Brian (mgoblog) made a great comment tonight that if Andy Hilbert were on this team, TJ would probably have 80-90 points. So true....

Stewart was VERY shaky in the first period (the first two goals were really weak) but he turned the game on that save on Rohlfs. If it became 4-0, lights out. But instead they got a little momentum from the save, then came down and scored a goal that Billy would probably like back. Suddenly it's a hockey game again.

We must've hit 5 posts tonight.

Hensick had a highlight reel assist on the 3rd goal. The goal itself was ugly...Lebler and someone else both had pops at it and missed. Then it finally just snuck across the goal line. But TJ had the puck out by the blueline, 3 guys were on him. He hit the brakes, spun around em and had open ice to move toward the goal. Prettiest move he's made since that goal he had against ND in Fort Wayne a couple years back.

I thought we did a great job of keeping Santorelli in check. I barely noticed him out there tonight. Olver got robbed a couple times though.

Matt Hunwick played a really good game tonight IMO. Nice goal (even if the guy probably should've stopped it), he was pretty good about getting back on D, and he made a couple of really nice defensive plays. Definitely one of his better performances this year. Still not sure how he was 1st team All CCHA.

Loved the guy walking around with JMFJ written on an inside-out t-shirt (and the dry-erase board giving it some love too). It's definitely spreading!!

JMFJ Shirts

The phenomenon is sweeping the country!

From letsgokings.com to GoBlueWolverine, to here, to The Wolverine, to Michigan Hockey Net, mgoblog, USCHO, and even MLive, the world is learning who "JMFJ" is.

To commemorate the career of the man, the myth, the legend......there are shirts for Wolverine fans and Kings fans alike.

Questions, comments, requests? Let me know.



The Shop That Yost Built

JMFJ

I really wish I could be this excited about a Wings' prospect. Actually I wish we had offered up Kronwall in a package if the Canes were aching to give away the best defense prospect not in the NHL. If you want proof that the Hurricanes made the wrong move letting this guy go, just read on.

The LA Kings fans over at letsgokings.com are having way too much fun Chuck Norris-izing Jack Johnson. They've dubbed him JMFJ, which obviously stands for Jack Mother F***ing Johnson.

The linked thread is absolutely hysterical. It gets better as the thread moves along. They've got some great photoshops in there. Here are my favorite lines (some/all of which are obvious modified Chuck Norris ones, but it doesn't make it any less funny to me):

JMFJ once ate a whole cake before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.

JMFJ died ten years ago, but the Reaper's too afraid to tell him.

JMFJ's Rice Krispies are too scared to go Snap Crackle Pop, they just sit in the box going "Shhh, here he comes."

JMFJ makes no wishes when he sees a shooting star. He calculates when he smacked the ****ing puck out of orbit.

Hockey officials decided to rename it regular "Overtime" instead of "Sudden Death" because they already lost 244 hockey players when JMFJ took the wording literally.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because JMFJ told the chicken, "Get to the other side of the ****ing road!"

I went on Millionaire and put JMFJ on my phone-a-friend list, and they just gave me the money.

And my favorite of the Photoshops:

Goodbye Ahman

According to the NFL Network, Ahman Green has reached a contract agreement with the Houston Texans, to rejoin old head coach Mike Sherman.

Even though he's on the downside of his career, it's sad to see him go. I felt the same way when Dorsey Levens left. He's going into the Packers Hall of Fame, he was only 40 yards or so away from becoming the team's all-time leading rusher. I'm guessing Houston offered far and away more than the Packers were prepared to go, so he had to take the money. I think he's got a couple good years left in him, but word was he wanted $5 million per, and that's a lot of money to offer a guy on the downside who has been beat up. I would've liked to have had him back--particularly so he could get the rushing record, but once I see the final dollar amount, I imagine I'll be pretty happy that Thompson balked.

He gave the Packers some great years, and I've really enjoyed watching him. I wish him nothing but the best in Houston. Good luck, Batman.

The Packers still have some options at tailback. It's not a great free agent crop, but word is they've been in contact with Travis Henry's agent. I cringed when I read that name, much in the way Bears fans probably cringed when they saw Thomas Jones was coming to town. But I pulled up his nfl.com profile and he actually had a pretty great year in Tennessee last year. 1,200 yards, 4.5 a carry and 7 touchdowns, despite only starting 13 games. Lynch could very well be the man when Green Bay picks at 16 if they don't sign anyone via free agency. They could do a lot worse than Henry though. And I didn't think I'd be saying those words anytime soon.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed on the Randy Moss rumors. We've heard conflicting reports--CNNSI says they haven't even made contact--but I think there's way too much smoke around this rumor for something to not be going on. Either that or Randy is toking up. I don't necessarily believe the Packers will give up on Rodgers for him--unless they're convinced that he's not the guy--but a pick this year and a conditional pick next year could probably get it done. That would give the Packers a WR corps of Moss, Driver, Jennings, Robinson, and a couple guys who looked great down the stretch in Ruvell Martin and Carlyle Holiday. The latter intrigues me. He showed some outstanding hands in that game against the Bears. He caught a couple of balls that I wouldn't have blamed Driver for dropping.

Lastly, a quick comment on the Wings game today. Once again, we get killed on a typical Osgood goal. They were playing like crap for two periods, Detroit fights back to make it 2-2 and then Colorado scores a softie through the five hole on their first shot of the third period, a few minutes after we tied the game. Ridiculous. He's now 7-3-4 on the season, which means that when he plays, we're just as likely to lose the game as win it. And considering most of his games have been against the likes of Columbus, Chicago, St. Louis and LA, that's not saying much for him. His save percentage has dipped to .897 and his GAA is now up around 2.70. Again, not good when you're playing the weak sisters of the poor.

Today wasn't completely Osgood's fault. Schneider had some horrendous turnovers, our defensive zone coverage wasn't real good, and our offense failed to capitalize on some great chances (Holmstrom missed on a penalty shot, Langfeld took too long when he had a wide open net, etc.) but when we were buzzing and we had all the momentum on our side, you simply can't give up a dribbler through the five hole on their first shot of the period. That's a save that has to be made. It's inexcusable.

Frankly, the only reason he's on the team anymore is because he's Holland's baby. There was no reason to bring him back after the performance he put in last season, and there was DEFINITELY no reason to give him a two year extension.

On the bright side, Kyle Calder was an outstanding pick up. He's fast, he goes in the corners, and he works his butt off. Just what we needed on our second line. He's only been here three games or so, but I'm really impressed. I'm already at the point that I'd like to see him brought back next year. Good kid and I think he's going to do some good things for us.

Breaking Down the Wings Trade Deadline Pick Ups

Anyone who has read anything of mine (blog, message board posts) knows that I'm not a Ken Holland fan. But I can give credit where credit is due, and his moves at the NHL trading deadline were absolutely brilliant.

The Kyle Calder trade was an upgrade on so many levels: He'll crash the net unlike Williams. He'll go in the corners unlike Williams. He's a free agent after the season, Williams still had another year. And he's not Jason Williams.

I can't begin to express how happy I am that I never have to watch Williams run the point on the power play again. He was absolutely terrible back there.

Both players probably needed a change of scenery. Williams was brutal in the playoffs last year, and hasn't been nearly as good this regular season as he was in 05-06. Calder had a huge year for Chicago last year before moving on to Philly, where he disappointed.

But the players seem to be going in opposite directions. Before the trade, Williams had scored something like 4 goals in his past 18 games, and his line (Cleary/Lang/Williams) had gone completely stagnant. Calder, on the other hand, started the year with just 4 points in his first 37 games and was a -23 in that span. In the 23 (or so) games since then, he had an 8-9--17 line and was just -8 (playing for the worst team in hockey, mind you). He acclimated himself pretty quickly, tallying a goal on his first shift, adding an assist, and was a +2 in his first game as a Wing.

While he won't be the answer, he does have some grit (despite being small), he'll do the dirty work in the corners, and he's great on the forecheck. Anytime you pull a player-for-player swap, and not only get the better player, but also free up future cap space, you did a good job.

If the Calder trade went off without anyone batting an eyelid, the Wings' other move most certainly did not. Todd Bertuzzi is headed to Detroit.

I have mixed feelings on this one, solely because of the Steve Moore incident. That was a shameful act, and while I don't think he meant to hurt him as badly as he did, it was still a cheapshot. And it was the final act of a complete overreaction by the Canucks team to a hit by Moore on Naslund that was probably not even illegal.

Now, I do feel that he was remorseful. He took his medicine for the hit. And hopefully he's a better person now because of it. But I really do feel that the Wings are a bunch of likable guys. I can't think of a bad guy on that team. And maybe Bertuzzi isn't a bad guy. But the onus is on him to prove that. Because he will be forever linked with that lapse in judgement.

Character issues aside, he could really help this team. He's the type of big, talented forward that we have needed for years--but that aren't especially easy to acquire. And on a day when the asking price for players was just going up, up, up, the Wings got him for virtually nothing, including all sorts of conditions in the trade to protect themselves if they a) tank in the playoffs again, b) don't get any use out of Bertuzzi because of his health.

He is a medical risk. He hasn't played since early in the season, and back injuries can linger. But they swear he's going to be close to 100% when he comes back, and if that's true this could be a huge addition. Even in a down year for him last year, he still tallied 71 points and 25 goals. Maybe he's not the 45-50 goal scorer he used to be. But he's big. He's skilled. He's physical. And based on what we gave up for him, he's pretty low-risk.

I liken this to the Hasek acquisition. You don't know if he's going to be healthy, but this team probably wasn't good enough to win the Cup without him. And if he DOES stay healthy, he sures up a major area of need on the team.

We changed our second line from Cleary-Lang-Williams to Bertuzzi-Lang-Calder without giving up a top prospect, without taking on any salary for next season, and the only way we give up a first round pick is if we make it to the Western Conference Finals or farther. Hard to argue with that.

Great job, Kenny! Now just don't use that added cap space to drastically overpay #13.

Does this make the Wings the favorite in the West? Probably not. I'm as big of a homer as there is, and I still like San Jose. They've run our show several times this year, and they're ridiculously deep up front. They aren't as good on the blue line or in goal (as long as Hasek is healthy) but they're good enough.

The top 4 in the West (Detroit, Nashville, San Jose, Anaheim) are all great teams. And that ignores the sleeping giant in Dallas, and a team in Calgary that improved as well. It's a wide-open conference. It's just too bad that with Zetterberg, Cleary and Samuelsson out, the Wings probably will not catch Nashville...meaning we need to keep our fingers crossed that Dallas holds off SJ for the 5 seed. I want no part of SJ in the first round....

Edit: It should also be mentioned that the Wings had a deal in place for a guy I really wanted in Owen Nolan, but due to his wife's pregnancy, he didn't want to leave Phoenix and the Coyotes honored that request even though he has no no-trade clause. He would've been another really good fit and Kenny gets another atta-boy out of me (not that he cares) for that one. The Coyotes should also be given some good pub for looking out for one of their players, even though they weren't obligated to do so.