US Airways Does Away With Beverage Charges

This week US Airways released a statement that they are stopping their policy of charging for beverages, including soda, coffee and water, effective March 1. Never popular with passengers or cabin crew, US Airways decided to stop the practice noting that none of the other major airlines followed suit.

The Hat Trick applauds this decision as I feel that the "nickle and diming" of the American air traveler has gotten to an almost preposterous place. Of course it could always get worse...Ryanair, a major European "no-frills" airline, indicated this week they are considering eliminating free use of toilets on aircraft and charging a pound (about $1.43) to use the facility...don't get any ideas US Airways!

Wings Getting Pasted...

Just put Baby East Coast Wing to bed only to discover that the Wings are down 5 - 0 against the Nashville Predators in the first intermission. Kind of hard to come back from that, even with two more periods to play...looks like the Wings are a little hungover after Wednesday's decisive win against San Jose and a victory last night at the JLA against the struggling Los Angeles Kings.

Wings Pound Sharks

The Hat Trick is happy, if belated, to report that Wednesday's "Big Game" against the Sharks at the JLA was all Wings, all Night. The Wings skated to a decisive 4 - 1 win over the Western Conference leaders...a great way to end the season series with them...the next time they meet could be in the playoffs. Henrick Zetterberg played exceptionally well and scored twice; Ty Conklin was solid in goal. The Wings looked solid in both offense and defense and showed they can handle the Sharks.

The other potential drama of the evening didn't really pan out as Claude Lemieux only played about five minutes in the entire game although he was booed loudly and often during the night!

Wings - Sharks, Draper - Lemieux

The Hat Trick has been a little busy lately with job search activity so hopefully my readers have not been that sad! Update from the last post…the Wings ended up losing against the Blue Jackets and have gone on a 2 – 2 -1 streak since which included a 5 -2 loss last Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. The only positive in that game was seeing Red Wings Goalie Jimmy Howard play, a former University of Maine player (and the alma mater of Mrs. Hat Trick!).

Tonight the Wings host the San Jose Sharks at the JLA (Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings) with game time at 7:30pm EST. This is a big game for several reasons. The Sharks currently have the #1 seed in the Western Conference with a five point lead so it is important for the Wings to win this remaining game and they have had trouble handling the Sharks this season, having lost two of the past three games.

Adding to the drama will be the return of Claude Lemieux to Detroit after a long hiatus. Lemieux is best known for injuring Chris Draper in the 1996 playoffs between the Wings and the Colorado Avalanche in which Lemieux caused Draper facial injury after a real cheap shot. The result in 1997 was a huge brawl at the JLA between the Wings and Avs featuring Darren McCarty pounding Claude before cheering fans and then a massive fight between players, including both goal tenders going at it. Detroit went on to destroy the Avs in the playoffs and won their first Cup since the 1950s. Several clips of the brawl are caught on You Tube including this one:

Lemieux is back in the league after retiring and Chris Draper is still a Red Wing so tonight has some added drama and should be a good game to watch.

Wings Down 1 - 0

Update: Looks like the Wings are down 1 – 0 after a goal by Left Winger Raffi Torres at the end of the first period. Ironically no penalties in the period…lets hope the Wings can get on the board in the second when the Hat Trick can watch it live after putting Baby Hat Trick to bed…

Wings at Blue Jackets

The Hat Trick is happy to see that the Red Wings have returned to their winning ways after a disastrous slump that included a 4 – 2 loss to the Washington Capitals on January 31. Tonight the Wings face the division rival Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio with a six game winning streak in place. This is a big improvement over the five game losing streak they compiled in January although the Hat Trick didn’t panic this year (unlike last winter during the six game losing streak the Wings endured) because things worked out pretty well for the Wings last year (for the non-hockey fan readers…the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup). Tonight Detroit will be looking for a win in a season high seventh game consecutive win streak.

Columbus also has a lot on the line tonight as they are working hard to get into the top eight in the Western Conference standings, guaranteeing them a playoff spot. Currently outside the top eight, the Blue Jackets are only two points behind the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild who are tired for the eight spot in the Western Conference.

Should be a good game between division rivals…hopefully the Red Wings can avoid any Friday the 13th curses and get that seventh win!