There was a lot to be mad about in the Red Wings' latest collapse Tuesday night against the Capitals. "Here's what I'm mad about," says Valenti: The overly-positive TV broadcast on Fan Duel Sports Detroit "made me more upset than anything."
Play-by-plan man Ken Daniels "is as good as it gets," Valenti says. But the unrealistic optimism on the part of Daniels and analyst Chris Osgood about the Red Wings' dying playoff hopes is too much for Valenti to bear: "I watch the games and I'm seething."
"Ease up on the hope-ium. Mix in a water. Ken Daniels is as good as it gets. But where in the manifesto of calling games in this town do we have to become the Kremlin? I remember when they traded for Petr Mrazek, Osgood was literally talking like we had traded for Vasilevskiy: ‘This is a guy capable of getting hot and carrying the team.’ When? Pre-Covid?
"Do you ever get upset at the broadcast? Whether it’s the stat overlays about Axel Sandin-Pellika and how someday this kid’s going to fly in on a Swedish helicopter, or last night, 'Well, if Ottawa can beat Montreal in regulation and if the Flames can do this and we can do this,' ay-marone, just call the game!!"
Valenti says he's not asking for the hometown commentators to "rip the team." He knows that's unrealistic. But "watching that Wings broadcast last night, that was offensive to me, particularly the notion that "if this team does this and that team does that and I guess the winning lottery numbers and it’s a full moon, we might be tied in things!"
"Stop! Stop!! Call the game. Just like last week, they're falling apart against Utah, 'Ohhh, roll that beautiful Pellika footage.' Enough! He’s not even on this side of the globe. ... The Wings are falling apart! It’s the third straight swoon. I don’t need Baghdad Bob. Just call the effing game! 'Oh, they tried hard last night.' They lost 4-1! I can’t take it. I watch the games and I’m seething."
With their loss to the Caps, the Red Wings dropped three points out of a wild card spot with four teams to jump. Their playoff odds are down to seven percent.