Call it a hat trick for Mother Nature here in the Beltway-Baltimore-Annapolis footprint.
Perhaps for the first time since the NHL was playing all games on outside rinks, or at least since 1883 when Baltimore started keeping official weather statistics, never before has this region received two storms of at least 20" of snow in the same season. We're on course today to make it three.
Blizzard warnings are going up in about an hour and should stay in effect for eight to 10 hours. While I've railed a bit about how little resolve people in this region have to co-exist with nature's winter wrath, I have to admit these are big storms, even for a Michigander-turned-Marylander.
Maryland, as a state, averages about 20" of snow each year. We're almost past 70 and on pace to get to 80 inches in 2009-10. Today the NOAA and several local weather forecasters warned of a cell forming for next Monday that could produce...wait for it... another significant snowfall.
In a word? Awesome! Can we get to 100 inches for the season? If we're to set records, let's set 'em big!
PEDESTRIAN RED WINGS: As I've watched the Red Wings fumble from afar through a miserable season, I've noticed two things.
The Red Wings are a tired, slow team. Longtime grinders like Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, and perhaps even certain Hall-Of-Fame defenseman Nick Lidstrom seem to be well past their best years, at times even appearing out of gas. Last night Lidstrom got beat badly on a stretch pass, hasn't scored much all season and is starting to make turnovers he's never made in his career.
Second, the European style that has been the team's benchmark over the years seems to limit the Wings of late. For years the Wings have been the most-skilled puck possession team this side of the Soviet Union Juggernaut of the 1970s. If there was a face-off to be won, the Wings won it. Wins in regulation became the norm and many times, overtime and shootout situations showcased the Wings' special teams dominance.
This season the Wings have been remarkably inefficient on the power play, haven't been able to bury sure chances and the unrelenting chances the Red Wings used to pepper opposing netminders with have become benign. As a result, Detroit has shown a penchant for turning potential wins into overtime and shootouts into losses.
I've noted commentators who seem to delight in calling games in which the Red Wings remain competitive but fold late in defeat. In part, that's because the Red Wings have been the most consistently competitive team in the NHL over the past 20 years, but some of the glee taken in Detroit's not-close-enough efforts over the past 20-25 games has been over the top for sure.
Perhaps Father Time has caught the Red Wings from behind. For the first time in General Manager Ken Holland's career with the Wings, the time to rebuild rather than re-load may be knocking at his doorstep.
Regards...
~T.C. Cameron hasn't officiated or written much for the past week as snow blankets the Mid-Atlantic, burying all writing and refereeing opportunities. Buy his 2nd title, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, at online retailers everywhere.
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