The good old hockey game.
The adjusted NHL divisons for the upcoming 56 game season which begins 13 JAN 2021. Games will all be intradivisional. Top four teams in each division will make the playoffs. Within the pandemic creating travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada, all seven Canadian teams will be in the same division. As a Blackhawks fan, it is nice to see them back in the same division as the Red Wings.
The Chicago Blackhawks played their final game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit tonight. Opened in 1979, the NHL Red Wings ownership made a bold move locating the arena in downtown Detroit when the city was attempting to revitalize the district amid crumbling urban blight. Around the same time, the NFL Lions and the NBA Pistons fled the city for Pontiac, Michigan, some 30 miles outside of downtown Detroit. My first visit to Detroit was 1980 when I attended a jazz festival in downtown Detroit. From that point, I spent the next two decades traveling to Detroit for business on a regular basis. The Joe was the first NHL stadium outside of Chicago that I ever visited. I went to many games during those twenty years and still have vivid memories of seeing Steve Yzerman play in his rookie year. Having grown up a Blackhawks fan in Chicago during the “Original Six” era, I always loved the rivalry between the Hawks and the Wings. And having been to some other stadiums around the league, I have to say that Blackhawks and Red Wings fans are the most enthusiastic. Now, with the Blackhawks separated from the rest of the Original Six by conferences, they only play Detroit twice a year, once in each city. So the rivalry is gone and now The Joe will be gone. However, with the new arena opening later this year, the good news for Detroit is that now all the major sports teams - Red Wings, Pistons, Lions and Tigers - are all in the same vicinity, straddling the line between the Downtown and Midtown districts. Along with the Fox Theater, the Casino, and some good bars and restaurants, the city center has finally become the entertainment destination they were hoping to be back during my first visit in 1980.
R.I.P Gordie Howe (1928-2016)
A couple of Chicago Blackhawks greats played in the Alumni Game in Minneapolis prior to the Blackhawks and Wild outdoor game at TCF Bank Stadium. Blackhawks fans will never forget the 1990 blockbuster trade that sent Quebec native Denis Savard to the Montreal Candiens for Chicago native Chris Chelios. From 1994-1997, they were teammates after Chicago required Savard in a trade. Savard is still affiliated with the Blackhawks as an ambassador for the team. Chelios was traded to Detroit in 1999 and although he still had some good years with the Red Wings, in his autobiography, he makes it very clear that he would have preferred to finish his career with the Blackhawks.
Source: nhl.com
Paul McCartney with his Epiphone Texan which he has had since 1964, and has been adorned with a Detroit Red Wings logo sticker since 1976.
After blogging about the Zappa Plays Zappa live internet broadcast earlier today, I almost forgot about the show. I played 2 1/2 hours of racquetball after work, and when I left the gym, all I wanted to do was get my tired ass to a Buffalo Wild Wings to drink beer and watch the Red Wings-Lightning game.
After Tampa Bay beat Detroit to win the series, I suddenly remembered the show. My first thought was, “What a shame. I’m missing it!” My next thought was, “Wait...this is why I have a smart phone!”
I pulled up the broadcast and ended up catching about 2/3′s of the show. Although it was a bit difficult to hear the show above the BW2 din, I know virtually every note of every Frank Zappa song, so it was not hard to pick up on what was being played.
Dweezil Zappa is an incredible guitar player. Dare I say as good as his dad? Maybe! Sheila Gonzalez was tremendous on saxophone, keyboards and vocals.
Some of the excellent numbers included: Cosmic Debris, The Grand Wazoo, Zombie Woof, Sinister Footwear, My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama and Montana. The young man with the Zappa mustache tattoo was cool. Did anyone notice the the guy in the audience with the Pipco T-shirt?
As a veteran of dozens of Frank Zappa shows, I know he would be proud of his son.