Friday, January 22, 2010

something to believe in


in these turbulent times, when a daily bloggin' girl can get so busy she doesn't touch a computer for 2 1/2 days, the world needs something steady to hold onto. and during dangerous days like these, when five old timers can change the course of american politics by watching a hillary clinton movie, us folks gotta make sure somebody's got our backs... luckily, just when i needed them, the fugly mugs of the '96-'98 detroit red wings showed up - fists flailing - and improved my outlook on life tenfold.


it's probably safe to assume that the majority of my readers were NOT all losery little pre-teen dykes tomboys during the scotty bowman days, so imma catch you up...

claude lemieux, of the colorado avalanche, acts like a little bitch and takes a cheap shot on red wing kris draper during the western conference finals of the 1996 stanley cup (the hit is right around the 1:12 mark):


he totally fucks up draper's face, and we don't see our buddy kris again for almost a year... meanwhile, the avalanche take the western conference and go on to win the stanley cup:


the wings and avalanche meet up several times during the 1996-1997 season, but bitch-ass lemieux doesn't dress for any of the games until the fated fight night at the joe. the '97 wings-avalanche brawl is everything hockey, and my life, should be:


so tonight, re-watching these videos, i found myself back in that cloud-themed, baby blue bedroom in which i spent countless nights secretly watching red wings games on my black-and-white television... i love everything about the footage, from mccarty's turtle-making beating on down; but when mike vernon (over whose sudden placement as first string goalie above chris osgood caused me some sleepless nights) landed that left hook on patrick roy and then fell on top of that french canadian bitch, my 9-year-old self knew that my hockey team, and my life, were gonna be just fine.
Posted by caitlin cullen at 11:43 PM
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4 comments:

  1. KatieJanuary 23, 2010 at 8:56 AM

    I can't even begin to describe all the ways that I love this. One thing's for sure: I'm sure glad we we're doing the same things at 9 years old.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaggieJanuary 23, 2010 at 4:43 PM

    as a golab, my entire adolescence revolved around hockey. i can remember watching this fight with my mo while mike and doug were at the game. i might be wrong, but i believe mike has a picture of this in our "hall of fame" (laundry room).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sofia NelsonJanuary 23, 2010 at 5:38 PM

    i never watched hockey as a kid, still don't. yet, my heart broke a little while picturing little mini dyke caitlin reveling in secret as a bunch of burly bearded men beat on each other on ice.
    if only you had been allowed to put your skating skills to use on the hockey rink, my oh my what could have been.

    ReplyDelete
  4. EliJanuary 23, 2010 at 11:14 PM

    you already know how much you've converted me to appreciating pro-sport rivalries. it's the wings dude! perfect end-of-hiatus entry.

    ReplyDelete

if you say something mean, the new me's gonna come out and bust some skulls

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