Thursday, October 12, 2006

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR! . . . Caps vs. Wild, October 12th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!

Tonight, from the Land of 10,000 Potential Outdoor Rinks . . . Our Caps visit their wrath upon the Minnesota Wild, which begs the question . . . Wild what? Maybe Girls Gone Wild? When did “Wild” become plural, anyway? And isn’t that use of the singular so 1980’s, so World Football League . . . the Philadelphia Bell . . . the Chicago Fire . . . the Shreveport Steamer (what, they cleaned carpets in the off-season?) . . . the Minnesota Wild. Hey, join the 21st century, guys.

Visiting the folks in Minnesota does, however, put me in mind of a song . . . Hit it!

Who can turn the world on with his smile?
Who can take a nothing play, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you guy, and you should know it
With each deke and every little movement you show it

Goals are all around, no need to waste it
You can make the shot, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all


How will you help us win this game?
This rink is awfully big, guy this time you can’t be too tame
So it's time you started hitting
It's time you let someone else do some hurting

Goals are all around, no need to waste it
You can make the shot, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all

As for the game, these aren’t your father’s Wild. This bunch actually looks at the net. Marian Gaborik, or “Bondra Lite,” has earned a reputation for being a goal-scorer, but he was a Ferrari skating in the sand of the (beware – head-shaking moment ahead) Wild style of defense-defense-defense . . . more one of boring their opponents into submission, or “Devils Lite.”

But now, with Pavol Demitra, Mike Rolston, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Todd White (hey, he’s got two goals, same as our own Alex O.) to jump start the offense, the Wild look like a team dangerous at both ends.

For the Caps, they’ll be looking to celebrate Mike Green’s 21st birthday with their second win. It looks as though Brent Johnson gets to trade his baseball cap for a mask tonight and stand between the pipes – “stand” being a term of imagery . . . if all he does is stand, it’ll be a long night. Maybe The Peerless should use the term, “man the crease,” but that conjures all sorts of other images, most not suitable for a family column.

It looks as though Boyd Gordon and Matt Pettinger – a good portion of energy among the forwards (energy = “pain in the ass to the opponent”) will be on the shelf for this one, although Matt Bradley could return, if Mike Vogel’s take is on target. Even so, with A-squared showing signs of being on the “hot” side of a streak and Brent Johnson getting a chance to shine, all signs point to a good night for the home side (as if The Peerless would be picking anything else) . . .

Caps 4 – Wild 3

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mohawk