The Production Line is at it again with Chapter 2 of The Namesake's fictional diary from his trip to Las Vegas.  I have to keep following it, I just have to...

• Towed a monster truck tire up the side of the Luxor;
• Worked on my balance by standing on a pillar next to pool at Caesar's while they took down the Roman warrior statues for their daily cleanings;
• Shuttled guests to/from the airport on my custom pedicab at highway-safe speeds...barefoot; and
• Ran a cool-down 3 miler with the mayor to discuss the city's stimulus funding situation.

And it goes on like this.  So go ahead and click the link for more.

Check out this little "whoops-a-daisy!" from NHL.com talking about Slovakia and their game against Russia tonight:

Their top two forwards are banged up. Marian Hossa of the Detroit Red Wings, who suffered a concussion against Columbus last Saturday, and Marian Gaborik, the goal-scoring machine from the New York Rangers, both managed to play against the Czech Republic on Tuesday night.

Yikes.  Come on, guys.

Hey, why the hell not?

Category #1: NHL Players

USA:

• Brian Rafalski, 36 (Detroit Red Wings)
• Ryan Suter, 25 (Nashville Predators)
• Erik Johnson, 21 (St. Louis Blues)
• Brooks Orpik, 29 (Pittsburgh Pittsburgh)
• Jack Johnson, 23 (Los Angeles Kings)
• Ryan Whitney, 26 (Anaheim Ducks)
• Tim Gleason, 27 (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Zach Parise, 25 (New Jersey Devils)
• Chris Drury, 32 (New York Rangers)
• Dustin Brown, 25 (Los Angeles Kings)
• Jamie Langenbrunner, 34 (New Jersey Devils)
• Paul Stastny, 24 (Colorado Avalanche)
• David Backes, 25 (St. Louis Blues)
• Patrick Kane, 21 (Chicago Blackhawks)
• Phil Kessel, 22 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
• Ryan Kesler, 25 (Vancouver Canucks)
• Bobby Ryan, 22 (Anaheim Ducks)
• Joe Pavelski, 25 (San Jose Sharks)
• Ryan Malone, 31 (Tampa Bay Lightning)
• Ryan Callahan, 24 (New York Rangers)
• Tim Thomas, 35 (Boston Bruins)
• Ryan Miller, 29 (Buffalo Sabres)
• Jonathan Quick, 24 (Los Angeles Kings)

Norway:

• OKT (Detroit Red Wings)

Winner: USA! USA! USA!

Category #2: Our Goalie Really has the Same Job as Jesus Christ

USA: Thomas, Miller, and Quick are all goalies...obviously!

Norway: "Grotnes, a carpenter by trade, was pulled after giving up a fourth goal early in the third period."--via ESPN

Winner: Norway--Jesus saves, Grotnes makes saves.

Category #3: Best Finish in the Olympics

USA: Gold in 1960 and 1980.

Norway: They finished 8th place in 1972. Well...the US finished 8th in 2006 to put it in perspective

Winner: USA! USA! USA!

Category #4: Red Wings Bloggers Living in the Country

USA:

...no representation from the Czech Republic, that is.  Here is the forward/defense roster:

Notice any Oompa Loompas missing?  I guess this one got left back in Moscow...

Ha, even Fedorov made the Russian squad.  But don't worry, kid...with all that extra tax-free money you're making for the next two seasons, I'm sure you can have a duplicate medal (should your country win one) be crafted.  You might even be able to pay off the record-keeping people and have your name inserted onto the roster even after the games are over.  Bitter?  No, like I said before: I don't blame Hudler for leaving, but I can still be angry about it.

There were whispers about another former Wings, Dominik Hasek making a comeback for Vancouver, but that didn't go through.  Pity, for better or worse: Hasek was always entertaining.

You could argue that Tomas Fleischmann is a Red Wing alum, since he was in the organ-i-zation at one point, but was traded away as part of the deal for Robert Lang (d'oh!).

And on the other side of last night's 3-1 victory for the Czech Republic, the always useless Tomas Kopecky, who was probably part of the Slovaks deal to get Hossa signed on the team...losers!  Bitter about that?  Yes, but only about Hossa, no matter what the media tells you.

So Brian Rafalski may be your favorite Michigander to make Team USA for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  But he certainly isn't the only "guy from the glove" that's donning the red, white, and blue for America.  Check this out...

• Ryan Miller (East Lansing)
• Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor)
• Ryan Kesler (Livonia)
• Tim Thomas (Flint-Davison)
• Tim Gleason (Clawson)

And here I was thinking that nothing good ever came out of Clawson.  If Modano had been selected, we would have had 7 guys on the team from this state.  Not too shabby.

No love for the West Side?  I thought that Mike Knuble (East Kentwood) would still have enough in the tank to help the USA.  But apparently Burkie thinks otherwise.

And why is Jenison still showing up on a map that is zoomed out this far?

For some reason, The Free Press decided to take some time to discuss the whole "will Lidstrom retire after this season?" discussion.  Sure, he's 39 and sure, his contract is up at the end of this season.  I'll even go so far as to say his play this season may be a step down from where is has been in the past.  But is his play deteriorating so much as to warrant the retirement talk?

I said a while ago, I think before the season even started, that Lidstrom might retire after this year if he wins the gold medal at the Olympics.  I said he might retire if the Wings turn this season around and win another Stanley Cup. And I said he will retire if he can accomplish both of those (what better way to end a career?)

I think that we're all in agreement that Lidstrom should and most likely will be back next season, but at what price in terms of a cap hit?  Right now he's the highest paid player on the team, but should he be starting next season?  Will King Lidas and Kenny Holland be able to work out a short term deal (I say 2 years) at a number that will help our Gary's Cap situation?

What is Nick saying about all of this?

"I haven't thought much about it.  It's something I'll think about after the season is over."

Lidstrom pretty much has the ball in his court.  And he has earned the right to make the call.  Who would be angry at the guy for wanting equal salary for a couple more seasons?  We know that he's not quite the defenseman he was a few years ago, but he is still one of the best defensemen to ever play the game.  Now, should he decide to go the humble route and take a pay-cut?  That would untie Kenny's hands and give him some wiggle room to pull off a move in the summer time.

So Nick hasn't given it much thought, but I bet Mr. Holland has.  In fact, I'm sure he has.  It's his job to do so, right?  Why I bet they have a bunch of MIT interns running the numbers through some super computer right now, calculating all possible outcomes.

So what's the perfect ending for the Perfect Human?

Perhaps I'm a little late to this party, but did you all hear about the IOC putting the smackdown on USA goalies Ryan Miller and Jonathon Quick's backplate on their goalie masks?  Here's a snippet from wgrz.com:

Miller and fellow American goaltender Jonathan Quick were ordered to remove certain words from their masks that were believed to be in violation of International Olympic Committee rules.

Miller has "Miller Time" painted on the back of the mask, and Quick has "Support our Troops."

IOC rule number 51 bans advertising, propaganda, and demonstrations.

Miller covered "Miller Time" with tape and the word "USA".

Alright, whatever you say, IOC.  "USA Time" sounds a lot better anyway.  Maybe Quick should change that sword into a giant middle finger...so long as it covers up "Support Our Troops".

Not trying to get into a political debate here...just passing along what I read/hear about.  Miller was allowed to keep the slogan "Matt Man" on his mask, which is a tribute to his cousin who lost his battle with cancer.

Comment away.

So our friend Michael Petrella and the boys over at The Production Line caught wind that The Namesake and Brett Lebda decided to spend part of their Olympic Break in Las Vegas.  Here's a tidbit from Rob's version of what The Namesake's diary might look like...

It's a funny thing....oh diary...when you save a plane full of people from imminent death. They just get attached. On the flight out here from Detroit Metro, all I wanted was a quiet seat with an exit row. I'm didn't even bother hoping for the hot stewardess, the free bag of pretzels or the usual rub/tug I get on Red Wings One. I'm a simple man and I like simple things, like the sound of my refrigerator door opening and the the smile I get from the construction guys on Telegraph when their backhoe breaks down and they need me to bust up a mile of concrete with my bare fists.

There's a lot more to the story, so click the ink if that snippet caught your interest.  Needless to say I'll be keeping an eye on it...

Now, let me preface this by saying that I'm not low enough to enter my own contest that will in all likelihood, be judged by me.  But since I'm not revealing other contestant's entries at this time, I thought I'd share with you a pic that I snapped on Sunday evening.

This will give you an idea of what I'm looking for...

Snapped this one from my cell phone as I sat at a light in downtown Grand Rapids.  Yeah, even I'm impressed with the quality of the image my little LG Voyager captures.  What's great about this mile-marker is that it has both A.) "The Future Mrs. Nightmare on Helm Street"'s Red Wing (Valterri Filppula #51) and The Namesake (#43) in one sitting.

What's not great about this number is that I've put that many miles on my 2008 Chevy Malibu 2LT in just 20 months of ownership (plus the 500 miles I've put on it since Sunday).

Anyway, only Darren McCarty's number of days to get me your entries as we get closer and closer to H2H Day.

Again, send all entries to with the subject "I See 43".  No limit on entries per person. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Just like in the summer time, when Red Wings news gets slow, we have to dig into the obscure.  I found this little ditty about the new football coach at Central Michigan University at Central Michigan Life:

The interview was conducted by sports editor, Andrew Stover...

Stover: You grew up in Dearborn, right outside of Detroit. What was your favorite sports team, now, growing up? You said you were a Wings fan.

Enos: I like all of them, but my brother (Gary) and I, huge Red Wings fans. My wife (says) constantly, “Are you talking about the Red Wings again?”

He texted me this morning, “Wings tonight.” So we always know when they’re on. We watch them, so (we’re) avid there.

Well, there you have it.  Dearborn natives are a...unique bunch.  But hey, they brought us the likes of Brian Rafalski and John Vigilante.

It's always nice to find Wings fans in unusual places, isn't it?