|
|
 |
Puck, Game at The Joe Warms Cold Day for Writer’s Son
By Mark Weisenmiller
|
My son, Alex, whose love for the Detroit Red Wings runs deeper than I can fathom, and I journeyed to the Motor City to watch the Wings’ Feb. 29 game against the San Jose Sharks in Joe Louis Arena.
We stayed at the Atheneum Hotel in the section of the city known as “Greektown,” an area of older buildings that were gutted and transformed into chic shops and ethnic restaurants. They have since been joined by a casino.
More than in any other American city with an NHL club, the residents of Detroit love unconditionally their hometown team. As my son and I left a Greektown restaurant to go to
|
|
Center Ice Magazine reporter Mark Weisenmiller, left, with his son and future Red Wings star Alex, traveled from Tampa to “Hockey Town” to see the Red Wings and San Jose Sharks game in late February. |
“The Joe,” as the arena is called by the locals, our waiter said, “Enjoy the game and root for the Wings! They’re going to have a tough time because they have a lot of injuries.”
Among the Red Wings who were sidelined that night were defensemen Chris Chelios and Brian Rafalski, captain Nicklas Lidstrom and forward Dan Cleary. Fortunately for Detroit, defenseman Niklas Kronwall and goalie Dominik Hasek were back in the lineup after recovering from injuries.
That Leap Day morning, my son and I had awaken to see the streets and cars below covered with snow. The snow didn’t stop falling at noon, as the TV weathermen had forecasted. It continued most of the day.
To kill time before the game, Alex and I visited a few of Detroit’s many excellent museums, one of which was the Detroit Historical Museum. It featured a major exhibit titled “The Fabulous Five” – the Red Wings’ Gordie Howe (“Mr. Hockey”); former Wings great Steve Yzerman; Joe Louis, who dominated heavyweight boxing in the 1940s; former Detroit Pistons star Joe Dumars; and Hall of Fame Al Kaline, who roamed right field for the Tigers.
We arrived at The Joe early so we could see the Wings in their pre-game skate and hoping that Alex could get a players autograph. He didn’t, but the Wings’ Kris Draper did flip a practice puck, with the Red Wings crest on it, to an usher, who gave it to Alex. Draper now has a friend for life.
Eighty seconds into the game, the Wings made a mistake in their own zone that led to a Sharks goal by center Joe Pavelski, who fired a high, hard wrist shot past Hasek.
Ahead 1-0, the Sharks came out as if powered by a high octane fuel for the second period, scoring early again. Devin Setoguchi got the goal at the :52 mark.
The Red Wings needed a break and got one when the Sharks were called for a penalty and Henrik Zetterberg’s slap shot ricocheted off of the skates of three or four skaters and past Sharks netminder Evengi Nabokov to trim the San Jose lead to 2-1.
Already uneasy over the deficit, the hometown crowd became angry following the third Sharks goal. The play began with San Jose defenseman Craig Rivet’s slap shop, which was deflected into the protective netting above the glass behind Hasek. The puck landed near Hasek’s left skate, and Devin Setoguchi quickly shot it into the Red Wings net.
None of the on-ice officials saw the puck hit the netting, and the goal stood even after the TV replay was reviewed.
The angry Red Wings fought back. When two Sharks were whistled for penalties in short order, the Wings Mikael Samuelsson scored during the two-man advantage.
Still, the Wings fell to San Jose 3-2. My son and I went home happy for having witnessed his favorite NHL team in action at home.
The partisan crowd? Well, all they could talk about as the exited The Joe was that third goal. One fan told Alex, “It’s too bad the Red Wings lost because of something that they couldn’t control.” |
|
|
|
|
