Evil is prevailing

Well, the Red Wings won last night 5 to 1, putting the Red Wings up in the series (3-2). It was an ugly game, and got pretty physical near the end.

Calgary goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff was pulled in the third period and backup goalie Jamie McLennan was put in net. Eighteen seconds later he was suspended for slashing Red Wing Johan Franzen in the gut.

As a hockey fan, it was a distasteful action that has no place in the sport. As a Red Wing hater, it was beautiful. The Red Wings have always been a thug team, relying on intimidation rather than skill, and I liked that Calgary stepped up to meet their style of play.

This is not to say that I approve of McLennan's slash - Like I said, it has no place in hockey. Having said that, Detroit has spent the entire series so far crashing the net and interfering with Kipper, with nothing coming from the refs (until later in game 5 - a goaltender interference was finally called). Seems to me that the refs allowed things to go too far.

Earlier in the game Damond Langkow was clipped by Brett Lebda. Lebda's "hip-check" was nothing more than an ill concealed attempt to injure Langkow, he bent to all four and aimed for his knees. Not surprisingly, before getting up, Langkow punched him in the face. Again, this really doesn't belong in hockey, but it's not surprising it happened as a retaliation for intentionally aiming for another player's knees.

Basically Detroit is living up to their thug style of hockey, and seem surprised that another team has stepped up to meet them in the ring. Kudos to the Flames for not backing down, I'm looking forward to tonight's game.

Still surprised that the King-of-Thugs Bertuzzi has yet to step over the line, but I have a feeling that may happen tonight. Hopefully no one is seriously injured this time...