By Twig:

The Blues suck in real life and in fake life. The Red Wings out-shot the Blues 44-31 and finally beat them 2-1 in a shootout. A great performance by both goalies, but Howard comes away with the win.

It didn't look good early, though. The Blues scored on their second shot of the game and took a 1-0 lead despite being out-shot 8-2 at the time.

The Blues had a chance to put Detroit away early in the second period with an extended 5 on 3, but Howard shut the door on all 3 shots he faced.

"The Blues suck." said Howard

Full recap after the jump:

Detroit took the second game of our fake season by a score of 3-1 on the road against Buffalo.

Detroit started Gustavsson tonight and he did not disappoint, stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced. Enroth got the nod for Buffalo, stopping 26 of Detroit's 29 shots.

"So this is what it's like?" said Gustavsson, who later elaberated. "This is what it's like to have a decent team in front of you?" Gustavsson then began laugh so hard he cried.

Dan Cleary got Detroit on the board first with just 6 seconds left in the first period. Buffalo's defense seemed to get complacent as the period came to a close and left Cleary wide open in the slot for a rebound goal.

Rest of the recap after the jump.

I, like many of you, am Michigan transplant.  Today I find myself in Columbus,OH, which I like to describe as a great city in a terrible state.  It's not Michigan, but it's not bad.  And at least it has hockey, even if it is the Blue Jackets. 

So with the lockout, one of the few things to do in town is now out of the picture.  But someone forgot to tell the Jackets, as I received a phone call today from their ticket sales office trying to get my to buy tickets. 

You got to be f'ing kidding me. 

Now, the guy was very nice, as I was back to him.  He's just doing his job and the Jackets need money.  I get that.  

But what a kick to the balls.  Trying to sell me a product that not only sucks, but they won't even provide.  Talk about the owners not really getting it.  For whatever reason, this pissed me off more than anything else so far.  Just proof that the owners think that the fans are going to come back, not matter how many times they kick us when we're down.  

Hit the jump for more on the NHL trying to use us to win the PR battle:

Detroit's first game of our simulated season started out strong and the Red Wings beat the Predators 6-2.

This is all fake.

Recap after the jump:

Seems like decades ago to some. Seems like yesterday to others. For us hockey fans, it was 3 Lockouts ago. 3 Lockouts in my young life. Many different owners over the course of the 3 events, many different players and many different issues regarding the league but one constant: Gary Bettman. The players hate him. The fans hate him. God hates him. And the worst part is that he knows this and goes on the attack whenever he is faced with any sort of criticism by fans/media.  I hate him as much as the rest of you lot, but what really gets me is this:

I am as anti-Union as it gets. I have been told that a players’ Union is necessary because of how much they get paid. Which is bullcrap. Unions typically begin because people want more money, implying they are started because of how little a group of workers is paid (in truth, most unions begin because the unions themselves and their bosses want money). When it comes to an issue of compensation, I can never whole-heartedly, honestly, and consciously back a union. I’m like Ron Francis in the sense that I believe in working for what I agreed to be compensating for however long that contract is valid.

Hit the jump for more from Sully: 

The Red Wings season would have started this Friday, but as you all know, we've been locked out and there's nothing we can do about it.

Or is there?

Terrible news this morning.  From WXYZ:

Former Red Wings public address announcer Budd Lynch has died at the age of 95.

Sources say Lynch passed away at the Oakwood Skilled Nursing Home on Rotunda in Dearborn at 5 a.m. A representative from the R J Nixon Funeral Home in Wyandotte says arrangements are pending.

Spurred on by a kick-a$$ movie poster by Josh Howard, this is part two of a four part series showcasing our feelings on Bettman and the NHL.  

By Chris:

Gary Bettman.  So much to say about the man.  Is he great at his job?  Many argue yes.  The game has grown and he keeps the owners happy.  He won the first lockout and he’ll probably win this one again.  It’s not his job to be liked by the fans they argue.  As long as the owners are happy, that’s all that matters. 

But I have a slightly different opinion.  He’s not just the ringmaster of the owners, you should think of him as the CEO of the NHL and the owners are each a significant shareholder.  Not a perfect analogy, I agree, but I think it is close.   He’s there to make the shareholders more money - that’s it. 

Looking at it like this, I think is where Gary fails flat on his face.   One second of listening to him speak and you know the man’s an attorney. Not just any attorney, the kind that has been born and bred to be a bloodsucker since the day he was born.  And here’s the problem with that - he runs the league like an attorney, not the way a CEO of the league should. 

Hit the jump for more on why Gary is just terrible. 

Chris Note:  Spurred on by a kick-a$$ movie poster by Josh Howard, this is part two of a four part series showcasing our feelings on Bettman and the NHL.  

By Twig:  

Unsurprisingly, Gary Bettman has cancelled the first month of games.   So how do we show our anger over here at NOHS? 

With a movie poster of course! 

What a beauty eh?  Josh hasn’t lost his touch over the summer and really seems powered by the hate. 

But this time, it’s not just a movie poster, it’s the combo meal.  We’ve had each member of NOHS’ explain his feelings towards the NHL’s dictator vampire soul sucking terrorist commissioner. We were going to have each be one paragraph and all be contained within this post, but the hate spilt over and this is going to be a multiple post series.  We’ll start with Jordan’s feelings on the devil himself:

Dear Mr. Bettman,

I would just like to say that I hate you. Why have you taken the sport that I love and run it into the ground? Why have you taken the great traditions that us fans hold so dear and soil them with your dirty money hungry hands. This sport needs dynasties, not parity. It needs a Red Wings / Habs cup final. It needs its superstars to play in cities where fans come in droves to cheer them on, not cities with cacti and tumblweeds. I hate you, and I hate what you have done to our sport.

Jordan

Drew and Josh's thoughts are after the jump: