Brent's Sports Blog

I was all set to see the Red Wings hoist Lord Stanley's Cup at the Joe Monday night. And it looked like it was going to happen. Brian Rafalski scored a goal midway through the 3rd period to give the Wings a 3-2 lead. The Joe was a buzz.

Little over a minute to go in regulation. Penguins yanked goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of the extra attacker. With 34.3 seconds to go, Maxime Talbot managed to sweep a rebound past Chris Osgood to tie the game at 3.

34.3 seconds away from winning the Cup. 34.3 seconds! In a matter of seconds, the Joe went from being electric to feeling like a morgue. Who would have thought there would be nearly three more periods of hockey.

The Red Wings locker room was empty. Derek Aupperlee & James Baetens (the two Fox 17 photojournalists who went with me) joined me in the locker room afterwards to get some postgame interviews. All three Detroit TV stations were doing postgame shows, but very few Red Wings players came out to meet the media. Rafalski, Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall were the only players who made themselves available.

Most of the media was huddled around Chris Osgood's locker waiting for him to come out of the showers and talk about what it was like to be 34.3 seconds away and allow the goal at the end of regulation, then discuss Petr Sykora's power play game winner midway through the 3rd OT. But, Osgood never came out. We stayed in the Wings' locker room until 1:40am before we gave up.

Nobody wanted to talk about it and, quite frankly, who could blame them. They were 34 seconds from nervana. They were 34 seconds away from an amazing comeback win and dominating this series. Instead, the Penguins have life and are headed back for game six at Mellon Arena, where they've only lost one game since February 24th.

Even though the Wings lost, and we were only able to interview four players afterwards, it still was amazing to be present for some hockey history. That hockey game allowed you to experience just about every emotion there is.

Getting home at 4:30am wasn't too much fun. Oh well, I guess it was a good thing that I don't have the traditional 9-5 job.

Detroit has to seal the deal tonight because anything can happen in a game 7.

Game 6 was de ja vu all over again - just like how the triple OT game 5 ended. The Pens pulled Marc-Andre Fleury to allow the extra attacker. Less than a minute in regulation. The score was 3-2 Red Wings.

See where the de ja vu comes in?

I was heading out to the set to do my sportscast as the game ended, though I stopped quick to check out one of the monitors. The final :10 was rediculous. Pens get a shot in on Osgood. He couldn't glove it cleanly. Ozzie then sprawled in gthe crease while the Pens Marian Hossa cut in front and managed to poke the puck over Ozzie. The Puck slithered across the crease, three inches from going in. The horn sounded and the game ended.

The Red Wings were Stanley Cup champs for the 4th time in 11 years.

I had to go out to do my sportscast after watching that unbelievable ending. I discovered later that time had expired on the clock as the puck was sliding through the crease, meaning had the puck gone in it wouldn't have counted.

But still.

What a way to out to do a sportscast. Fox 17's Executive Producer, Chris Pantaleo had to run out to the studio to tell me that Henrik Zetterberg had won the Conn Smyth Trophy. By the time I was done with News at Ten, most of the celebration had ended. Fortunately I DVRd the game at home and was able to watch all the celebration.

How 'bout all the story lines that come with this championship. Chris Osgood taking over for Dominik Hasek in the first round and led this team to the title. How 'bout all the former Grand Rapids Griffins on this Wings' team. Guys like Darren Helm and Valtteri Filppula, who started the 2007-08 hockey season in Grand Rapids and finished it hoisting hockey's holy grail.

Personally, the best story is Darren McCarty. Folks, five months ago this guy wasn't even playing hockey. Because of his friendship with Kris Draper, McCarty was signed by the Flint Generals of the IHL back in January of this year. McCarty spent a month with Flint, bussing around the midwest to cities like Port Huron, Muskegon and Fort Wayne. February arrived and the Red Wings signed him and sent him to the Griffins, where McCarty was great. The Wings then called him up in late March and the rest is history.

McCarty experienced everything the game of hockey has to offer in five short months.
From bussing with wannabe 19 year olds in January to hoisting the Stanley Cup in June.
Not too shabby.

I wish that had wrapped it up Monday in game 5 because I was there and wanted to see it. I have seen a lot in my 18 years in the sports broadcasting business but I've never been present to see a Detroit team win any kind of championship.

The only consolation I can take is that it didn't go to a game 7. I would've had to go to the Joe to cover that and, knowing my track record, the Red Wings would've lost.

Wings proved how good they were by winning the Cup in game 6. Until the Wings won game 4 last Saturday the Pens hadn't lost a game at the Igloo since February 24th. It took this Wings team to end that streak and win the final two games of the season there to clinch the cup.

A great night, indeed.
I will show a bunch of highlights and postgame reaction tonight on Fox 17 News at Ten.

Make sure you check it out.

Brent

Last night was a big night in the life and career of Dontrelle Willis. It was his chance to prove he had sorted through his issues and was ready to re-enter the Tigers' starting rotation.

The Tigers need him now more than ever, especially when you consider Jeremy Bonderman is lost for the rest of the season. Armando Galarraga replaces Bonderman in the rotation, meaning Dontrelle had his chance to grab the last remaining spot.

But instead, disaster!

Dontrelle lasted 1.1 innings, allowing 8 earned runs on just 3 hits. He walked 5 and struck out only 2 hitters. Basically, his he had no control, and had no idea where home plate was located. For normal pitchers home plate is 60 feet 6 inches away. Dontrelle was was no where close to that last night.

What hurts even more is that the Tigers can't just give up on Dontrelle. They're committed to him, to the tune of 29 million bucks over the nest three seasons. They just should've never given him a long-term deal before they knew he'd got it right. The Tigers gambled and lost, which seems to be the running theme for Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland these days.

They need to fix him. Problem is, that's clearly easier said than done.

So, what do the Tigers do with him. Keeping him in the rotation isn't an option. Do they send him back to the bullpen? That's probably the best bet right now. Bring him in to face lefties along with Bobby Seay.

Dontrelle Willis is going to have to start over from scratch and re-invent himself as a pitcher. Hopefully Tigers' pitching coach Chuck Hernandez has what it takes to make that happen. If not, it's a 29 million dollar investment wasted.

Tigers traded away all their good minor league pitchers last fall and winter. Boy would Jair Jurjjens be a life saver right now, and I haven't heard of any starters in Toledo who are ready to jump up to the bigs and hold down a spot in the rotation. Do the Tigers try to convert a Denny Bautista or an Aquilino Lopez into being starters? I'm not sure that's the best course of action either. Then there's Zach Miner, who enjoyed some spot starts a few years ago. Miner has had very few good outings this season so what's to say making him a starter will make him better?

I think the Tigers will be making a trade soon. They need to find a proven starting pitcher who can win games for them right now. Who do they give up? Probably more young guys like Clete Thomas, Matt Joyce, Brent Clevlen, etc... Nobody's gonna want Edgar Renteria or Gary Sheffield or any of the older guys. In fact, I would argue that most of the Tigers' everyday players don't have much trade value these days because of the season they've had thus far.

Dontrelle Willis' poor outing last night means the panic button is now being pressed by the Tigers' brass. They now know they can't run that guy out there every 5 days. They need to start trolling for a trade to find somebody who can win games now.

Don't be surprised if Dontrelle Willis goes on the DL again soon with a "tired arm" or "tendinitis" or some other phantom injury or ailment that baseball managers use to make roster moves.

When do the Red Wings and Pistons start playing again?