Penguins at Red Wings - Game 2 - Pregame - 5-31-09
PREGAME
-Greetings from a simply beautiful day here in Detroit. Yes, such a thing exists.
-This is the waterfront on the back side of Joe Louis Arena. There are some ugly places in Detroit. This is not one of them:
-The Arena:
-Some Yinzers planning an invasion of Windsor:
-A Mario Lemieux fan:
-Once again, there are Penguins fans here:
-The ice:
-Those sheets on the ice are banners which were dropped from the rafters prior to the start of Game 1 with words like "Grit" and "Sacrifice."
-These are some photos we neglected to run from Game 1. From Julie Rubinstein, who came in from Chicago:
-Lee and Ian Cunningham were in town as well:
-The lone Zamboni:
-One of the cool things about this old barn is the seats. This is the last row of seats in the building:
-Above that white ceiling is all the luxury suites. There basically is no separation from the last row to the first row in this building. Really, really cool.
-Outside, a Jaromir Jagr jersey:
-We spotted these two in Rick Tocchet and Phil Bourque jerseys last week at Mellon Arena:
-The towels being given out:
-This ride is everywhere:
-Another pretty sharp Stanley Cup replica:
-CBC filmed this really awesome skit where Don Cherry "invaded" Detroit from Windsor. Bascially, all they did was dock a United State Coast Guard boat along the riverwalk on the back of Joe Louis Arena, have Cherry board it with a few young ladies, go out on the river about half way, turn around and deboard. The boat with a member of the USCG backing the Red Wings:
-Cherry walking out:
-Cherry boarding:
-The board backing out:
-Going out half way:
-Approaching:
-Docking:
-Conquering Detroit:
-What a suit:
-What did the NHL's American broadcast partner do for a pregame presentation? They filmed the steps.... wow...
-Some more sights around the arena. Some fans offer a critique of Marian Hossa's choice of teams:
-A Steve Yzerman Team Canada jersey:
-Former Red Wings and Penguins goaltender Jim Rutherford would not be happy with this jersey foul:
-This Curtis Joseph Maple Leafs jersey is not a foul on account of the Maple Leafs-Detroit rivalry:
-This Senators jersey foul is just stupid:
-We're all for the supporting the Penguins via Team Canada jerseys, but given the opponent, you could stick with a regular old Penguins jersey:
-Larry Murphy:
(By the way, Murphy sat next to us in the press area in the third period and spilled a Coke on his laptop. Just thought you'd like to know.)
-We have to admit, this is a pretty sharp hat:
-Soooo... if this guy leaves the building... the Penguins will win the game?
-Adam Banks is represented:
-Gordie Howe is signing autographs in the concourse:
-Kevin Stevens:
-Darius Kasparaitis:
-No wonder the officating stunk last night:
-Dan Bylsma is going away from the seven defensemen arrangement and has inserted Pascal Dupuis into the line up in place of Philippe Boucher. The Penguins' scratches are Chris Minard, Alex Goligoski, Petr Sykora, Jeff Taffe, Eric Godard, Dustin Jeffrey, Philippe Boucher, Ben Lovejoy and John Curry.
-Detroit's scratches are Pavel Datsyuk, Derek Meech, Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Aaron Downey, Jakub Kindl, Tomas Kopecky and Jimmy Howard.
-Marc-Andre FLeury an dChris Osgood are the starting goaltenders.
-The national anthem:
