Woot!!! It is my great honor to announce that the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of their Stanley Cup playoff series to advance to the Western Conference Championship series. In a hard fought battle in the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI, the Red Wings outplayed and outlasted the Ducks in today’s game:

Daniel Cleary’s tiebreaking goal with 3 minutes left lifted the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night and sent the defending Stanley Cup champions back to the Western Conference finals. Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller made 36 saves, and Chris Osgood stopped 24 shots for the defending champions, who couldn’t protect an early two-goal lead. Jiri Hudler, Darren Helm and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings, who will next face the Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of Original Six teams. Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry cut into deficits and Bobby Perry made it 3-all at 7:37 of the third.

Much props goes out to the Anaheim Ducks for their amazing play this series. Jonas Hiller is an excellent goalie and he should be very proud of his work this series. But, hellz yeah, I knew my D-Town homies were gonna secure the win at home today. My good friend Mark was in the Joe Louis Arena for Game 7 and he carried all of my love to the Detroit Red Wings today. Congrats guys!! You absolutely deserve the win. Next up, the Wings will face the Chicago Blackhawks for the Western Conference Championship. The winner of that series will battle for the Stanley Cup. Go Wings!! Woot!!!!

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Altho the Detroit Red Wings lost last night’s Game 6 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series to the Anaheim Ducks here in SoCal last night, I have to admit that last night’s game was the most fun hockey game I’ve ever had the fortune to attend. Since I had an extra ticket for last night’s game (David was hosting his friend Diana last night and couldn’t attend) I decided to invite my friend Milo to see if he wanted to come along for the game … he had a better idea and rounded up his two best friends, Dino and Russ, along with his father and we all went to the game together last night (the DSC was deffo in the hiz). I couldn’t have planned it better myself … here are some of the pics that we snapped at last night’s game:

I cannot take credit for the very cool black and white photos … Milo was the one who snapped those pics. Because we got a pretty sweet upgrade, we were sat at center ice right behind the teams’ benches! It was INSANE! I had a hard time focusing on the game cuz I was too bizzy having the best time ever. After the jump, check out a few more pics from last night’s fun …

Last night David and I had a pizza night here at home where we lounged around watching reruns of Friends while stuffing our faces with pizza-goodness. It was one of those perfect, stay-at-home nights :) But tonight looks to be a bit more exciting. I’m venturing down with a few friends (mostly Ducks fans) to the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs to watch the Detroit Red Wings take on the Ducks on their home turf:

The Wings handily defeated the Ducks in Game 5 back in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena to take a 3-2 lead in the series. If they win tonight, they win the series. If not, the teams go back to Detroit for Game 7. I’m *really* hoping the Wings win tonight so I can celebrate with them tonight :) Cross those fingers and toes for my Detroit boys in red :) I’ll be doing as much tweeting as I can from the game … tonight promises to be fun beyond belief!

Last night Josh I got to see Star Trek at an ArcLight Cinema members’ screening just hours before the film opened wide at 12AM today. Since I already formally reviewed the film last week after I saw Trek at the Hollywood premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, I shant go into another full-fledged review … but a few things did occur to me having seen the movie a second time, so I’ll share those with all y’all:

First off … I still love this movie. I think it was even better seeing it the second time. While I was a bit miffed at the major changes done to the ST timeline in this movie, I decided to look at the film without that elitist notion and just see the film for what it is … a truly epic, spectacular blockbuster movie. It really is larger than life. The film clarifies, once and for all, Uhura‘s first name and if you pay attention, you might learn where the Cloverfield monster comes from. I’m convinced that it will be the biggest movie of the year. It’s great … I’m sure many of you are planning on seeing the film today or this weekend, trust me — you’re gonna love.

After the movie, I raced home to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks … while I was stressed for most of the game, I am happy to report that the Wings handily defeated the Ducks by a score of 6 – 3:

The series is now tied at 2 games a piece … the teams go back to Detroit for game 5 on Sunday. Woot!!

Tonight, I’ll be in front of my TV and my computer for the season finale of Dollhouse on FOX and I hope you will be too … and I also hope you’ll join me as I LiveBlog the finale HERE thruout the show. Log on and chat with me … it shall be a blast!!

Last night David and I made the trek down to Anaheim, CA to attend Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs featuring the Detroit Red Wings against the Anaheim Ducks. This was my first chance to see the Wings play on the road and was absolutely thrilled to attend the game to root for my Detroit homies in person. Here are a few pics from last night’s game:

Unfortch, the Red Wings ended up losing to the Ducks by a score of 2-1 (and now the Ducks lead in the series with 2 games to 1) … which is pure genius on the part of the Wings. See, I figured it out … I’m certain that the Red Wings want the Ducks to have a false sense of security on their home ice so that they will come back and win the whole series in the end. Plus, I’m sure they know that I have tix to Game 6 here in SoCal next Tuesday night and they want to ensure that I’ll be able to attend to watch them play again ;) In all honesty, tho, the Ducks played an amazing game of hockey last night … they were really on point and really aggressive. The absolutely deserved the win.

I was very surprised to see so many Red Wings fans in the Honda Center last night. I was certain that I would be among the very few folks sporting a Red Wings jersey but was pretty shocked to see that about 40% of the jerseys in the arena were Red Wings jerseys! Also, and totally randomly, Tina Yothers from Family Ties ran up and “body checked” me while we waited in line to get in the arena. She told me she had to check every person wearing a Wings jersey. I was so shocked … it was Tina Yothers! I wished her a Happy Birthday (as yesterday was her bday) and wished her team good luck (which, in retrospect, I prolly shouldn’t've done). It was just a really fun night … except for the losing part ;) We’ll get ‘em next time! Go Wings!!

Also — I have to say how impressed I was with the way the Ducks fans behaved … I thought there might be some assholeyness from some of the fans but everyone was really cool, really friendly. I love hockey fans like that!

No plans for today … but the weather is beautiful! I’m deffo gonna get out and soak up some sun.

Weee!!! I am so excited for tonight, I can’t even stand it. David and I will be making our way down to Anaheim, CA in a few hours to attend Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs to cheer on the mighty Detroit Red Wings (who are the defending Stanley Cup Champions) against the formidable Anaheim Ducks at the Duck Pond Honda Center. I have never attended an away Red Wings game before so I’m really looking forward to seeing my boys in action here in SoCal … the fact that it is the Stanley Cup playoffs is VERY EXCITING:

The Anaheim Ducks have got themselves a great team this year so I’m sure they’re gonna bring it on their home turf tonight. The Red Wings, as usual, are on fire and are really lookin’ to hang on to the Stanley Cup. Hockey games are THE BEST sporting events to watch live … I’m literally jumping around the house in excited anticipation. David has never seen the Wings play before so I’m excited for him, too. I’m not sure if there are any hockey fans in the hizz but I’ll be posting tweets to my Twitter profile thruout the game.

GOOOOOOO WINGS!!!

So yeah … that’s about it. Happy Cinco de Mayo, y’all … and GOOOOOO WINGS!!

The Detroit Red Wings returned home to Detroit Rock City as heroes today as the city turned out in huge numbers to welcome the boys back to town. Here are a few photos from the Red Wings Stanley Cup Championship Parade which took place in Downtown Detroit earlier today:

They cheered. They chanted. They sounded air horns. If they could have, they would have hoisted the Red Wings upon their shoulders and carried them down Woodward Avenue themselves. This was love, hockey style, as hundreds of thousands of fans jammed downtown Detroit Friday to pay homage to their crooked-smile heroes. They lined Woodward, seven deep at some spots, and mounted trees and utility poles to watch a victory parade for the Wings’ winning of the Stanley Cup. “It’s nice to feel all the spirit and optimism,” said Steve Aller, who ventured here from Jackson. Residents took off from school and work to watch the parade and a rally at Hart Plaza on a sun-splashed afternoon where temperatures reached the 90s. The relentless heat did little to quell the enthusiasm of the raucous throng decked in the team colors of red and white. Because the Wings had clinched the championship in Pittsburgh, this was their first chance to parade it in front of fans. Homecoming was never so sweet. “I’m here to support the Red Wings,” said Kyle Walsh of Sterling Heights. “This is our team and this is how we do it in Detroit.” Traveling vendors sold everything from pins to pennants, programs to player cards. But many fans brought their own props. They came with Wing flags, aluminum foil Stanley Cups, even Lindstrom on a stick. To clarify, it was a life-sized photo of team captain Nick Lidstrom mounted on a pole. Signs were everywhere. “Skipping school to see the Cup: Priceless.” “Be happy Hudler penalties forgiven,” a reference to mistakes by center Jiri Hudler. Another poster thanked the Wings in six languages, English, French, Swedish, Finnish, Russian and Czechoslovakian, one for each nationality represented by the worldly team. “I wouldn’t think of missing this,” said sign-owner Carol Atchison, 54, an elementary school worker from Southgate. With so much love in the air, it was only natural that marriage proposals would follow. Team heart throbs Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk were running neck-to-neck in marital requests contained on posters. One teenage girl even wrote it on her octopus-balloon hat: “Datsuk Marry Me,” she wrote, misspelling his name. Sorry, ladies. Datsyuk is marriage and Zetterberg has a girlfriend, a Swedish pop star, no less. There was even a real marriage proposal as Andy Jones dropped to a knee in front of the Fox Theater and offered a diamond ring to a stunned Jennifer Carlson. Carlson said yes and, as they say in sports stories, the crowd went wild. “I just can’t believe it,” said Carlson, 37, of Saginaw. “Until now he never said a word about marriage. Jones, 42, said the parade was a perfect time because he and his betrothed are big Wing fans. Thousands more watched a post-parade rally at Hart Plaza, where players thanked them for their support. “We just really, really want to thank people for coming down,” Red Wing center Kris Draper said … The parade began with the Detroit Color Guard and a high school band at Hockeytown Cafe on Woodward Avenue. The color guard was followed by the Zamboni ice-cleaning machine float and the Martin Luther King Jr. High School marching band. Almost two hours before the parade, Kim Moss of Troy pulled a little red wagon full of goods away from her parked car on West Lafayette Boulevard. “This isn’t my first parade, you know,” Moss said proudly. “I’ve got this down to a science.” “Actually, I went light today because of the weather. I’ve got sandwiches, three different kinds. I’ve got the water. I’ve got the Gatorade, the umbrellas, the horns, the cookies, the cards, the seats and the cowbells.” “Usually, we bring a Stanley Cup replica and uniforms and things like that,” said her husband, Mike Moss. “But we went light because of the heat.” Off the couple went down Lafayette pulling their little wagon. Tim Evans said he and his family traveled here from London, England, to celebrate the Wings’ win. He said he and his family were hanging out near a tree at Woodward and Congress, before the parade festivities started. At 10 a.m., two buses carrying the Detroit Red Wings and their families pulled up outside the Hockeytown Cafe. The crowd was very raucous, especially when some of the players, including Mikael Samuelsson, got off the bus. In the background, the crowd chanted, “Let’s go Red Wings! Let’s go Red Wings!” The last person off the first bus carried the Stanley Cup, eliciting a huge cheer from the crowd. The first person off the second bus was hockey legend Gordie Howe, which prompted a chant from the crowd of “Gordie! Gordie!”

Woot! This sounds like it was an amazingly fun affair … I really wish I could’ve been there to take in the celebration in person but I am sending all of my love out to Detroit today. I understand that the massive crowd booed Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick when he took the stage (he is currently facing criminal charges of perjury stemming from testimony he gave during a whistle-blowers trial and is not well liked by anyone in the city right now) which is a bit of shame since it should be a happy occasion but Detroiters tell it like it is and I respect them for it. Again, much, much congrats goes out to the Detroit Red Wings for bringing home the Stanley Cup to Detroit, MI, aka Hockey Town, where it belongs. Big ups, Detroit!!!

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Last night I posted my congrats to the Detroit Red Wings on winning the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship and today I’d like to post photos from the Stanley Cup Trophy presentation ceremony. Here are a few pics of the boys in Red celebrating their victory on the ice seconds after they won the championship and a few pics from the Stanley Cup presentation ceremony:

The Detroit Red Wings, stunned to have lost Game 5 at home in triple overtime, played a perfect road game Wednesday night at Mellon Arena, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, in Game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final to go wire-to-wire as the best team in the National Hockey League this season. “It’s never easy,” Wings goalie Chris Osgood said. “Toughest trophy in sports to win; it lives for that name every year, that nickname. It was difficult, again. Pittsburgh is a great young team … gave us all we could handle. Probably one of the most difficult series I’ve played in a while. They have a talented team. They held on right to the end again. They kept pushing us still.” Henrik Zetterberg was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the postseason and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European captain to lift the Stanley Cup aloft. “It felt great being the first guy to touch the Cup on our team,” the classy Lidstrom said. “Otherwise it felt the same as winning the previous ones, where you’re so happy with the end result. You start training camp with a goal, and that is to win the Stanley Cup. You talk about it throughout the season and the way you have to play to be able to be successful in the playoffs,” Lidstrom said. “And we had a good regular season, and we were able to carry that into the playoffs, too, and so that’s something I’m more proud the way the team played in the playoffs, too. It was a tough loss last year against Anaheim in the conference finals, but most of the guys were on that team last year. And this time around, I thought the team really responded well to some of the adversity we faced throughout the run.” The Wings won the Presidents’ Trophy for the best record in the regular season and proved to be the best team in the postseason as well, utilizing the smart, selfless brand of puck-possession hockey that has become the trademark of coach Mike Babcock. “I probably haven’t come to grips with that,” Babcock said when asked his emotions after winning his first Stanley Cup. “But to be able to share this journey with the guys and to be able to share it with the city of Detroit, and obviously my family, that’s very emotional. And I’m sure I’m going to have some emotional moments in the next week just thinking about it. But to have your name on the Stanley Cup, pretty special. The interesting thing is when you’re playing in the Stanley Cup Final like this and it’s a closeout game, the emotion on your bench is so much more than you’ve had to deal with,” he said. “Getting guys on and off the ice is more difficult, and yet we have a real committed group. Nicklas Lidstrom, in my opinion, is a phenomenal leader and captain with his poise and his skill. And then the support group in (Chris) Chelios and (Kris) Draper. And (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg, for their leadership. You know, we have a very special team, and we’re thrilled to be in this situation, obviously.” The Wings last won the Cup in 2002, and prior to that in 1997 and ’98.

Again, much love and respect goes out to the Pittsburgh Penguins for giving us an amazingly thrilling NHL Finals … they proved that they are a team to be reckoned with and really made the Wings work for their victory. All my love goes out to my Detroit boys for bringing the Stanley Cup back home to Hockey Town. I can’t wait to get back to Detroit Rock City to celebrate with my peeps. Put your hands up for Detroit, y’all … our lovely city deserves much props today!

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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! The Detroit Red Wings have *just* defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win this year’s NHL Championship!!!!

Hockeytown is home to the Stanley Cup — again. Using a little Motown magic on the road, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in 11 seasons Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the finals. The celebration came two nights later than expected. The Penguins forced the series back to Pennsylvania by tying Game 5 with 34.3 seconds left in regulation and winning it shortly before 1 a.m. in Detroit on Petr Sykora’s power-play goal in triple overtime. Undeterred, the Red Wings hit the road and wrapped up their fourth straight series on the road in these playoffs. Detroit is third in NHL history with 11 Stanley Cup titles, trailing fellow Original Six clubs Montreal and Toronto.

Much congrats go to the Penguins for a hard fought finals but ALL MY LURVE goes to my Detroit Red Wings!!! HOLLLLA!!!

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