Red Wings Health in Decline in Dallas

Detroit could potentially suffer yet another setback tonight, as Henrik Zetterberg left this morning's skate with some back soreness. He along with Brian Rafalski, who coincidentally missed the Colorado game two nights ago with a similar problem, will be game-time decisions. Both players are desperately needed in a line-up already missing Mike Modano, Dan Cleary and Pavel Datsyuk.

Preview looks like this:


Looks like the boys will need to be switched on for 60 minutes in this one. I really don't rate Dallas as that good, the Wings have just had two bad games against them so far. I stongly feel their position in the standings will slip before the end of the season, but not enough to miss the playoffs.

One more quick note, it was good to see Hudler score the other night. Hopefully he can build on that and get that confidence back and become that regular contributor we all expect him to be. God knows, especially if Z and Raf are out, someone will need to step it up or there'll be more disappointment in the Big D.

Detroit's Depth Will Be Tested as they Visit Colorado

Lead-Up: The Wings play their second of back-to-back games tonight after defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-1 last night. Prior to that, Detroit had lost 3 of their last 4 games, giving up 4 goals on each occasion.

After riding a 6-game winning streak that began December 10, the Avs have lost their last two prior to the Christmas break. The highest-scoring team in the NHL faltered a little in their meetings with the Los Angeles and Minnesota, managing only one goal in the 120-minute span all at their home, the Pepsi Center. The Avs however, have enjoyed a 3-day break in preparation for tonight's clash with the Red Wings.

More Injury Woes: En route to notching a solid 4-1 win last night in Minnesota, the Red Wings received more bad news from the doctor's office, as the Dan Cleary was revealed to have suffered a broken ankle during the 3rd period of the victory. Cleary joins Pavel Datsyuk and Mike Modano on the Red Wings IR, and will remain there for at least 4 weeks.

In his place will be Jan Mursak, called up from Grand Rapids to make his NHL debut. I can't imagine the excitement he must be experiencing in anticipation of the achievement after spending the last 2 and a half years playing for the Griffins. The Slovenian has notched 10 goals and 13 assists in his 33 AHL games this season.

Less Injury Woes: On the flip-side, the Avs been heavily challenged this season with the most unenviable slew of injuries seen so far. At one stage having up to 10 regulars on IR, the Avs will gladly see the return of both Milan Hejduk and Cody McLeod for this game, slowly getting back to health.

Third Time's the Charm? Red Wings' back-up Chris Osgood makes the start in goal for his third chance at nabbing win #400 for his illustrious career. He vies for the W with Colorado back-up Peter Budaj, who will start in net for the first time since a 6-5 loss in Tampa against Steve Yzerman's Lightning on December 4.

Datsyuk-less Red Wings Face Wild; Game Preview

Game Notes:
- Jakub Kindl will play his first game since Nov. 6, as he fills in for Ruslan Salei. The Wings' brass decided to give Salei an extra day back in California with his family before he returns to the line-up. Rusty has been away from his family all season with his wife pregnant, thus the classy decision to allow him to stay. Another display of why I love this orgnaization.

- Detroit seeks their first win since Datsyuk went down with a hand injury. The first game was a 4-3 loss to St. Louis three nights ago.

- Some hot hands in Detroit include Brian Rafalski (8 assists, last 5 games), Henrik Zetterberg (2 goals, 7 assists, last 5 games) and Nick Lidstrom (5 goals, 1 assist, last 5 games).

- The Wild are riding a 3-game win streak on the back of some hot defense and goaltending. Niklas Backstrom only gave up 1 goal in each of the three wins getting a .970SV% along the way. The opposite has been true for Detroit however, as the Wings have given up 4 goals in each of their last 4 games.

Osgood Seeks #400 Against Blues

Take 2.

After the disaster that befell him against the Stars a few games ago, Chris Osgood gets his second opportunity at reaching the illustrious career milestone of 400 wins. He'll have to get the win however, with a forward line that will be missing its primary component -- Pavel Datsyuk.

Datsyuk was injured in the first period of the Wings' overtime win against the Canucks last night and isn't expected to return for another 4 weeks while he nurses his broken hand. On the bright side, this provides someone with an opportunity to step it up and show they are a top 6 forward. Jiri Hudler, I'm looking at you!

Frankly, Happy Hudler has had a DOG of a season so far (1g, 5a, -7). We've always known he has the skills and the intuition for finding the net, but this season not so much. Why? The only thing I can think, is confidence.

It was a slow start to the season that provided the snowball. That snowball seems to have been growing exponentially to avalanche-like proportions to the point where Hudler seems to be consistently making the wrong decisions with the puck. He's reverted to a "pass-first" mentality which oftentimes, has been his downfall. He also seems to be lingering out of the hotspots he had such a knack for finding in the past. I recall one instance against the Canucks where a big rebound came out to the circle with no defenders around and Hudler skated up from the blueline only to get into a battle for the puck. At that moment I thought, "Two years ago Hudler would've been in position to one-time that one." But sometimes all it takes it one solid game, and all this uncharacteristic play by Hudler will fall by the wayside.

There haven't really been too many hot hands for the Wings of late. Infact, Pavel Datsyuk had been Detroit's most consistent scorer throughout December. But worth mentioning, is the field day Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg had 8 days ago against the Blues. Zetterberg notching up 4 assists with Lidstrom adding an assist to the first ever hat-trick of his incredible career. No doubt the play of this pair will weigh heavily in the minds of the Blues when in their own zone.

A Big Test Ahead as Canucks Come to Town

It was expected to be a tumultuous month of December for the Wings, who after only 10 games, have as many regulation losses as they did in the two months to begin the season. The busy schedule seems to have negatively impacted the Wings' defense, who have given up 15 goals in the last 4 games, getting just the one victory from them. The news gets no better however, as next up is the surging Canucks.

Vancouver's fortunes have quite divergent from the Wings', as the 'Nucks have earned an impressive 19 of their last 22 contested points, with Roberto Luongo heating up in net. Their former captain has won 9 of his last 10 letting averaging a measly 1.69GAA in that span. In the past however, the Wings haven't had too much trouble with the widely touted goalie, scoring 3 or more goals on Vancouver in Luongo's last 7 starts against the Red Wings dating back to 2008.

Preventing goal will need to be the biggest concern however for Detroit. The Canucks have been scoring just a touch under 4 goals a game in their last 11 games with balanced scoring across the board not unlike the contribution seen amongst the Red Wings four lines. An obvious priority will be the Sedin twins and the threat they pose each shift.

It's difficult to say where it's all falling apart for the Red Wings. They haven't been flat out awful, they just don't seem to have been able to make things go the way they want. They have at times, imposed their will on situations within games, but it usually ends with no reward. You can't help but feel this change of fortune for Detroit has impacted the confidence of some of the players a little. Still, all it takes is a couple of big games, and the Red Wings are usually most ready for these 'top-of-the-table' showdowns.

Detroit recently relinquished top spot in the Conference to Dallas however remain leader of the Central Division with Vancouver breathing down their neck at third in the West. A win for Detroit will see them leapfrog the Stars back into first, however a win for the Canucks will tie them with Detroit only staying arrears to the Wings because of the 'shootout win' rule.

The Battered Core of Chicago Gets a Test in Chi-Town; Wings vs. Hawks

The Blackhawks lost a lot after winning their first Cup in a billion years. Unfortunately for them, tonight that list will include Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, two integral pieces of the incredible "core" everyone kept hearing about.

The good news for the 'Hawks is they get back Fernando Pisani -- a monumental bolstering to the line-up, and possibly the biggest, most intimidating ECHL 4th-liner in history, Ryan Johnson. Babcock should definitely have cause for concern. [/sarcasm]

Seriously, there's no excuse for losing this game. The 'Hawks have a 16-14-3 record. Their roster is not that good anymore. This is a team that just shouldn't be beating the Red Wings. If the Wings stay away from the easy areas and are prepared to put their bodies on the line, they will score a lot of goals and win the game.

Sorry, no more time to make a better preview. I suck right now I know. Go Wings!

Back on Track, Wings vs. Kings

Firstly, sorry it's been so long since my last post. I missed a few game previews and such, it was a really busy weekend for me and things still aren't letting up at this stage. Anyway, the good news is the team play stats will be back pretty soon (save for the +/- because of some major, seemingly insurmountable, issues going from PC to Mac) and WOAW will become a little more interesting.

But the first order of business is the Red Wings.

It was a positive weekend for Red Wings' fans, who saw their best players get it done to push the Winged Wheel back on track. Some brilliant goaltending coupled with some Datsyuk magic, got the Wings the full four points from their back-to-back meetings with Montreal and New Jersey.

Onto the game...

The Kings haven't played too much lately. Since the previous meeting on December 4, the Kings have only played two games while Detroit has played four. The Kings, like Detroit, have split results going 1-0-1, beating Calgary but losing a few nights ago to Minnesota in overtime.

The Kings have shown they are a very good young team. But are they ready to take the next step? They sat atop the Western Conference for a little while earlier this season, but it all came crashing down with a few injuries and some slumping stars. Things seem to be headed in the right direction again, but a victory in Detroit would be a very solid affirmation of that. More than just turning things around though, is the importance of those two measly points.

The Kings sit dead last in a Pacific division race that is... well, it's just ridiculous. The fifth-placed Kings are only 3 points in arrears of co-leaders Anaheim and Dallas, but fortunately have two games in hand on Dallas and several on Anaheim. That division is so tight though, that no team can afford to let up. Each team has its dangers and each one has a very real shot at a strong playoff push.

Detroit, well they have a 5-point break on second-placed Vancouver with equal games played. A loss wouldn't hurt too much, but it's not a healthy habit to be dropping games because you can. Especially in this Conference. If the Pens could amass 12 straight wins in the West I would gladly take my hat off and pay my respects to them. But this season seems to be carrying on the old tradition of imbalance between the quality of the two halves of the League.

Team stats below, enjoy the game!

So it's a slump then, is it??

I was wrong. I was so certain the Wings would turn this funk around and get back in the W column. They've been pretty unimpressive of late and unfortunately it didn't change tonight for Detroit. With this 3-2 loss to the Preds at home, the losing streak extends to three, getting just 1 of a possible 6 points. So I guess that means the Red Wings are officially in a slump.

Credit has to go to the Predators who, as usual, played a tight disciplined game and made life frustratingly difficult for Detroit's forwards. The consistent pressure on the man forced some unfortunate errors from the Wings all 'round and Nashville were good enough to capitalize and strike when they could, getting 2 goals from turnovers. Still, the Wings aren't looking as sharp and dangerous as they have in the past.

Anders Lindback, (boy, that guy can cover some crease) was very good, but the Wings didn't make it difficult enough for him. Too many saves from point shots that he could see, too many pucks on the ice that just aren't going to teleport through those monster pads, monster pads that seems to be flat on the ice most of the night. It was painfully obvious that he got into the butterfly whenever the puck was on its way, but I saw way too many shots hit pads that were already in position several seconds earlier. Perhaps it's just because of a little lack of confidence. Luc Robitaille used to say, when you're in a slump just go 5-hole. That probably worked back in the 90's, but in this butterfly dominated world of superior goaltending, not as much.

To be fair, it's pretty difficult [impossible] to go a season without losing three straight games. There are inevitable peaks and troughs throughout the long campaign, but the most polished and consistent teams are those that find a way to minimize those troughs in length and regularity. Detroit needs to end this trough as soon as they can. That won't be too easy though, as Montreal strolls into Hockeytown in two nights time with their new Patrick Roy (yes, one day they will run him out of town too) Carey Price. The kid is playing some beautiful hockey, it's not just hype, so Detroit's forwards will need to get their act together to find some net.

In closing I just want to say one thing: I hate the Habs. Please, PLEASE don't make it four losses in a row. I have too many friends in Quebec.

Red Wings Need to Bounce Back!

It began with such promise two nights ago, as the Red Wings dominated the early play against the Sharks. It all fell apart fairly quickly though, and Detroit fell 5-2 to Todd McLellan's boys, for the first regulation loss at the Joe since October 28.

The Red Wings remain at home for the next few games, the first of which will be a meeting with Nashville. On paper, the Preds aren't quite the team San Jose is, however if Detroit can't avoid a repeat of that sort of capitulation, the Predators will find themselves receiving two points without too much hassle.

Nashville has been enduring some battles of their own. With the loss of #1 netminder Pekka Rinne, will likely have an even more difficult time catching its rivals in the frustratingly tough Western Conference. The 6-foot-6 monolithic rookie Anders Lindback has taken the reigns the last two games going 1-0-1 with a disappointing finish in Atlanta blowing a 2-goal lead to lose in OT during the Red Wings meltdown.

So how do the Red Wings avoid a disaster akin to the one we saw on Monday?

Pretty simple: play Red Wings hockey for 60 minutes.

That's it. Just 60 minutes of hockey. There'll be no excuses for the mental collapses we saw against the Sharks. Some might call it a 'schedule loss' and God knows, in an 82-game season, you'll have them, but this isn't one.

Good news though: it won't be.

The Wings will win this game. I know it. That is all.

Old Enemies Meet Again; Sharks vs. Red Wings

The little hot streak was going to be difficult to maintain dragging it all the way across the continent on a West Coast road-trip, but the Wings performed admirably with their 5 points from a possible 6 effort.

Things don't really get any easier back home though, as the Red Wings get straight back into it with the Sharks, one of their two California victims.

There a few minor changes to the teams that met last week, mostly on the Sharks side with some returns from injury.

The Sharks will enjoy the insertion of both Jason Demers and Niclas Wallin back into their blueline, while Antti Niemi will start with Niittymaki his back-up. For Detroit, the only change form their last meeting with San Jose is having Osgood as Howard's backup. Kris Draper was inserted into the line-up two nights ago in L.A., however he'll be a healthy scratch tonight in favor of Patrick Eaves to make the same line-up that beat the Sharks 5-3 in San Jose.

California Trip Success

Three games against three tough teams all vying for contention in their conference. Getting 5 of 6 points from San Jose, Anaheim and L.A. is no mean feat.

It was unfortunate it had to end with a loss, but there are really very few negatives I can derive from the defeat.

Goaltending -- success! In my opinion, Ozzy had a very solid return after a month off. Los Angeles, while a little banged up right now, are a very talented team and Osgood stood up to the challenge well. Both regulation goals scored by the Kings took fortunate deflections a goalie can do very little about. Howard? Well, as usual Jimmeeehhh was the man.

Work ethic -- present! The Wings had an excuse to take a night off last night, but I was pleasantly surprised to see hard work from all four lines and the defense for most of the game. The top lines did some good things, the third and fourth lines were physical, and the powerplay was pretty unlucky. The team didn't click 100% but I didn't expect it to in the second half of back-to-backs, on the other side of the continent against a Kings team battling to get back into form.

The top forwards -- not too shabby. The top two lines were pretty solid throughout the road-trip, with 3 points each for Filppula, Franzen and Cleary, with Zetterberg and Datsyuk picking up 5 points each over the 3-game span.

The Wings now head back home for a short home-stand to face San Jose, Nashville and Montreal before heading to New Jersey for a quick 4 games in 6 days.

With the exception of the Mike Modano, the Wings are a very healthy bunch after Osgood and Draper's return. One thing I have to say though; is Patrick Eaves sat out last night for Drapes, and I couldn't help but wish he hadn't. Draper didn't do too much, not that you'd expect much, but Draper won't earn a permanent spot on this roster unless he shakes off the rust. He'll get his chance, and so he should -- he's earned the opportunity, but he'll need to make the most of it. As Kirk Maltby will attest to, there are some young, fast, hungry guys down there that want to wear the Winged Wheel every night. And God I love it!!

Red Wings Look for Sweep in L.A.; Game Preview

It's no mean feat to sweep the California road-trip, but the Wings have a chance to do just that tonight. The unfortunate part however, is they have to go through the Kings of Los Angeles to do it.

Admittedly, the Kings have been struggling of late, winning only two of their last 9 games, while the Red Wings have been the opposite, losing only two of their last 11. It's never a simple task to win in Los Angeles though (0-2 in 2009/10), particularly when it's the second of back-to-back games.

Babcock makes a few small changes to the line-up that blanked the Ducks 4-0 last night, with the return of a few injured vets from their ailments. Kris Draper will in his first game of the season after his groin injury suffered in training camp became a sports hernia and ended up setting him back another month or so. Osgood missed all of November with his strained groin but will make his first start since October 30.

It'll be a challenge for Ozzy. There's no doubt he's a champion player and a great servant to the Red Wings organization. He's had some tougher times of late and seems to be finding it difficult to settle into the role of back-up for Jimmy Howard. I hope Ozzy can find a way to get back to form and help Jimmy out with the workload a bit. It's a very serious concern for me how much Howard is being played and I just hope Osgood can make himself a reliable alternative when needed.

It's going to be a tough test, there's no doubt about it. Most of the signs point to a Detroit loss to be honest. Back-to-back games after a rough opponent, [possibly] rusty Chris Osgood in net and just the fact that the Wings have a tendency to lose after some solid wins makes me a little iffy about this one. I guess we'll see just how good the Winged Wheelers are.

Red Wings Head South to Face Ducks; Game Preview

The Red Wings were able to hold serve in the first two matchups of the season between these two teams, shutting out the Ducks on opening night 4-0, followed by a 5-4 comeback victory late in October involving some Datsyuk magic with 12 seconds to spare. However, with the recent upswing in form for Anaheim, tonight's game is shaping up to be even more of a challenge.

The Ducks will, just like the Red Wings, be putting a 3-game win streak on the line as they attempt to take top spot in the Pacific Division. The Red Wings don't have quite as much to play for as they sit loftily atop the Central Division and Western Conference with a few games in hand. That lead however, is likely to decrease as the Red Wings head into their monster December schedule. Games like this and tomorrow night's against the Kings are were you lose points. This little California road trip is a great way to gauge just how good the Wings are.

Detroit's team is unchanged from the one that knocked off the Sharks three nights ago. The main priority for Mike Babcock will be to shut down the Ducks' top line of Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. The trio is without a doubt Randy Carlyle's biggest threat and difference maker.

Sorry for the short and sweet preview this time around guys. Time is limited today. Go Wings!

Osgood is Back, Will Start Saturday Against Kings

Chris Osgood is now back at full health and ready to compete sending Joey MacDonald back down the Grand Rapids.

Howard will start Friday night's meeting with the Ducks and Osgood will have the task of shutting down the L.A. Kings on Saturday night. Osgood missed about a month with a groin injury.

This is great news in my opinion, as Osgood's return (hopefully) will allow Howard to f=sit out more games so he's not burned out from a Kiprusoff-like schedule come April.

The West Coast Trip Begins; Red Wings vs. Sharks

After successfully defending the #1 spot in the Western Conference with a sweep of the home-and-home with Columbus, Detroit heads west for a short tour of California starting with the team that eliminated the Wings from the 2010 playoffs, the San Jose Sharks.

The HP Pavilion was a happy hunting ground for the Red Wings this past regular season but in May, when it really mattered, it was a source of frustration and heartache. I told myself not to comment on the officiating that occurred during that series, but I just wanted to acknowledge it. Yep, I remember. The Wings lost 3 tight games, they could've won which ultimately lead to the series defeat 4 games to 1.

The same Red Wings outfit that knocked off the Jackets 4-2 have made the trip to NorCal, along with a couple extras -- Kris Draper and Chris Osgood. No word has arisen yet on their availability for tonight's game, however it has been confirmed Draper will play in one of these games in CA, and Osgood is a good chance to do the same. Ozzy might even dress as Howard's back-up, however Mike Babcock has stated that Jimmy Howard will not start the game in LA, the second of back-to backs, if Osgood is good to go by then he'll make the start.

The mighty Sharks that ousted the Wings in 5 have had a tougher go if it so far in the 2010/11 season. The team underwent some changes in the off-season and so far the adjustment could've been better, going 11-7-4 and winning just two of their last 6 games.

The biggest change for the Sharks is in net, as Todd McClellan is now working with two new goalies Antero Niittymaki and Chicago's Cup-winning starter, Antti Niemi. Niittymaki's start to the season has been decidedly better than his coutryman's, seemingly winning the starting role for now. He's far from a star goalie however, and Detroit could really take advantage of this. Nitty's no Mason, and if the Wings play the Sharks as well as they did Columbus, they'll surely give Howard a fair bit to work with.

Special teams is a bit of a wash between these two teams. The Sharks wins have fallen, mainly it seems, due to their 5-on-5 play. Special teams are still very strong as one would expect with a roster such as theirs.

Other previews:
On the Wings
Wingin' It In Motown
Nightmare on Helm Street

Howard Lifts Wings to Complete Sweep of Blue Jackets

It was a very solid 4-2 victory with input from all lines and good defensive accountability. The Jackets held a lead midway through the game on the back of a last minute goal from a Derek Brassard tip. It seemed goals would again be hard to come by with Chris Mason dominant up until that point. It must suck to be a goalie against the Wings though, as Nik Kronwall banged away and finally found the net followed by Darren helm taking advantage of a broken play just 14 seconds later to give Detroit the lead. Filppula added a very valuable goal to start the 3rd period but the biggest victory of the night came during a 4-minute period in which Detroit killed off two minutes of 5-on4 and two minutes of 5-on-3 PP time for the Blue Jackets with very little difficulty. That set up the win from there as Detroit moved to 15 wins on the season.

I don't normally make a habit of criticizing other teams, but Columbus will never be a serious threat to contenders with a powerplay like that. Howard had a good game and the PK from Detroit was solid yes, but it wasn't invincible and Columbus was just completely inept with the man-advantage almost all game. Even the late goal was borne of a pretty weak 72 secs of powerplay time. The way the played the 4 minute and most importantly, the full two minutes of 5-on-3 powerplay time was just disgraceful. They took long shots for easy blocks, they made in lanes that weren't open and barely made the Wings chase at all with poor cycling. I'm sorry, but I just had to get that out of my system. Arniel, you gotta fix this ASAP.

Anyway, this is a Red Wings blog so back to them...

It was another game with limited offensive input from Detroit's top scorers. Zetterberg and Lidstrom held pointless however Datsyuk got two assists, with one being on Cleary's EN goal with under a minute left. And this is the difference between this season and last. This is probably a game Detroit would've lost about 12 months ago, when they didn't have the depth they do now. Val Filppula had another two-point night with his second straight GWG and Franzen got a couple of assists. Mike Babcock is usually able to rely on at least one of the bottom three lines to step up if the top line is struggling.

To be fair though, "struggling" wouldn't describe the top line's performance tonight. Zetterberg and Datsyuk were dynamic on several instances and I think they (particularly Z) were very unlucky to not hook-up for some scoring of their own. Hank created several chances but it wasn't meant to be for him, as Mason was up to the task and made things tough for the Wings' forwards.

I mentioned in the preview that I thought this was a very important game to win.

The victory gives the Wings a 4 point lead in the Central (and Western Conference) over Columbus with a game in hand. This gap will definitely come in handy as Detroit heads to San Jose tomorrow to finish off November and head into a 16-game December.

Game Two; Jackets Seeking Revenge in Detroit

Detroit and Columbus will complete the Michigan-Ohio weekend with a matinee affair that frankly, I'm a little worried about.

Detroit was a greatly improved team on Friday, after getting thrashed [pun intended] a few nights before. It was undoubtedly a better defensive effort, however not without its faults. Fact is, Jimmy needed to be outstanding to take the victory. That was mainly because his opponent Steve Mason, was just as prolific as the two young goalies combined for 64 saves with only 3 goals allowed.

Whether or not those two men will start the second game of the home-and-home remains to be seen. For Detroit, Howard has played a lot of games of late and could definitely use a break with a hectic December right around the corner. For the Jackets, while Steve Mason's thrid-star performance was encouraging, back-up netminder Mathieu Garon has had the best start to a season in his career and could help Scott Arniel solve the Red Wings and get back within striking distance of top spot in the Western Conference.

So back to my opening statement in which I expressed concern for the outcome of this match.

I'm still not very pleased with Detroit's performances of late and what I saw of Columbus impressed me greatly. For some reason the Blue Jackets have had great success on the road this year, and I feel they'll be a very determined team heading into the Joe. If the Red Wings cannot match this determination, they'll surely be beaten. I only take solace in the fact that they won Friday's game by the skin of their teeth. A wide margin would surely result in Detroit's patented complacency that kills them in so many winnable games. Also, Detroit sucks before 7pm. I don't know why, but ever since I could remember the Winged Wheel has seemed to struggled in daytime or twilight scheduled games.

It's not all doom and gloom though. At the end of the day, the Wings won without any offense from their top 3 scorers Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk. They also spent a good portion of the first half of the game short-handed without any ill-effects. With this in mind, there's a lot more good that could happen to help them pick up two points in this one.

It's an important two points up for grabs in my opinion. Our boys might be sitting in a pleasant position right now, but it's been a pretty leisurely schedule so far. December's schedule is flat out with several road trips, it'll be terribly difficult to maintain .750pt%. Let's get 'er done while we can!

So Mikey Mo's Out

After undergoing surgery early today for his severed flexor tendon in his wrist, Mike Modano will be out indefinitely. It was pretty much the only negative to come form last night's 2-1 win in Columbus, where his right wrist was lacerated by a skate in the second period. If one were to make a guess, we're looking at somewhere in the vicinity of 2 to 6 months. Pretty wide window, I know, but I'm sure a more specific timeframe will come as doctors follow his recuperation over the coming weeks.

Regardless, the Wings will lose their 3rd line centre for a significant period -- so the question becomes, how will he be replaced?

As with most injuries, Modano's lost ice-time should provide a great opportunity for someone. That someone could well be Justin Abdelkader. I think Abby would make a great 3rd line with Hudler and Cleary. It also presents a temporary reprieve from healthy scratching for Jiri Hudler, Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller. I very purposefully use the word "temporary" because Kris Draper is slated for a return in the next fortnight. At this point, I imagine Drapes would likely rotate with Eaves and Miller and see what happens from there.

Shifting gears, and back onto the main topic, some are suggesting this injury could end the illustrious career of Mike Modano, one of the most decorated Americans to hit an NHL rink. Unfortunately, such a sad thing could happen. If Mo ends up missing the better part of 6 months (or more), it would no doubt be extremely difficult for him to get back into a line-up that is either well into it's Cup-run or worse, eliminated from the competition.

Of course, this is most likely a worst-case scenario for the Michigan-native. I like to think he has a strong chance of being healthy well before the regular season is finished.

Good luck, Mo!

Top Spot Up for Grabs in the West; Detroit @ Columbus Game Preview

I have a very vague memory of the last time Detroit lost a game 5-1. It was about this time last year, I was blind drunk at the Madison Ave Pub in downtown Toronto, in my Yzerman jersey watching the Wings get destroyed by the Leafs. As shocked as I was at the ineptitude displayed the Detroit on that night, even more shocked was I when I witnessed the next game:

Detroit 9 @ Columbus 1

Interesting...

Am I being over-zealous in my pursuit to find some positives from the debacle in Atlanta? Probably, but I guess the point I'm really trying to make is that when they get smashed this team responds. Such is the command Mike Babcock has on them.

But while Detroit's team tonight will be significantly better than the one that walloped the BJs last year, the Jackets have improved their fair share too.

One important stat that sums up the challenge this game should be:

Pts%
Detroit - .737%, 1st NHL
Columbus - .700%, 2nd NHL

Columbus have been on fire of late winning their last five games for their best start in franchise history. A huge part of their record-setting takeoff has been on the road. Columbus has gone an incredible 8-1-0 so far. To juxtapose this stat and make it even more unbelievable, in 2009/10 the BJ's won the grand total of 12 games! They already have 67% of their total wins from 09/10 in just 9 GP.

Luckily for Detroit, this game will be at the Nationwide Arena where Scott Arniel's team have looked more human, going 6-5-0. If however, Columbus are able to please the home crowd and improve their modest record tonight, they will leapfrog the Wings for top spot in the West. I'm not sure if Columbus has been there ever, let alone at this point in the season.

For the Wings, Jiri Hudler returns to the line-up as Drew Miller is the rotated scratch tonight.

A Game Best Forgotten

Thrashers 5, Red Wings 1 -- I think this one falls under the "Never happened" category.

The Wings just never seemed to be too interested in putting in what was necessary to win. A nasty little habit had been creeping up before this game, and for the most part Detroit had been getting away with it, but it had to catch up eventually and in Atlanta it did... big time.

Being the irritatingly fair guy I am, I have to say, Atlanta isn't a terrible team. I daresay they've improved quite a bit since they last upset us 12 months ago. They've got a great young group there and I never realized this, but their defense is actually very solid. A great mixture of experience and offense. This should be a playoff team really. They seem to be coming on of late, but it's difficult to see why their record is so mediocre at this point in the season.

Detroit heads north to Ohio to face the Blue Jackets tomorrow night. I sincerely hope they're more prepared this time around. I seem to recall getting destroyed by Columbus even worse than this not too long ago. I don't want to harp too much on the negatives, but we really gotta watch those turnovers and help the goalie out a little. Jimmy wasn't at his best [again] but he could've gotten by with a little help from his friends. No points for recognizing the Beatles reference.

Perhaps Howard might get a rest. Osgood isn't expected to be ready to play until next week so maybe Joey MacDonald will get his first start as a Red Wing since, I dunno... I guess the days of Manny Legace?? This is just pure speculation, but maybe Howard could benefit from the rest. While I agree with giving Howard a #1 goalie amount of starts, I do not want to see the Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Brodeur type of work overload that kills a team come May. There's no advantage to giving Howard 70 starts a season, particularly with Detroit's lofty position in the standings. The NHL season is a marathon, not a sprint.

So anyway, let's move on and get back on track with a W. Go Wings!

Detroit to Face Hot Goalie in Atlanta; Game Preview

He doesn't have the best winning record of the two Thrashers netminders, but Ondrej Pavelec's stats up against his counterpart, Chris Mason's have won the young "future franchise goalie" the starter's job... for now.

He held a shutout streak that lasted a touch over two hours last week which included a 5-0 drilling of the run-and-gun Washington Capitals. Not to be forgotten is Pavelec's performance in Detroit almost exactly one year ago. The Thrashers held off the Red Wings to a 2-0 win, with the Czech goalie stopping all 40 shots that came his way. Of course, 12 months later this Red Wings team is a little better.

So much so in fact, Mike Babcock's biggest decision right now is which of his fourth-liners sit in the press-box. For the past three weeks or so Drew Miller and Patrick Eaves have been the unlucky pair to be frequent healthy scratches under Babcock's current rotation. Neither player has played particularly bad in fact, both Eaves and Miller traded 2 point games just last week, but such is the depth of the Detroit Red Wings. But will someone else be facing the axe this time around?

The way they're playing now, both Eaves and Miller would be walk-up starts for any other team, perhaps they've earned that status with Detroit. Perhaps Modano, Helm and Hudler should watch themselves. That's the beautiful thing about having this sort of depth -- players can't coast, they've gotta earn it!

Dan Cleary seems to have pulled up nicely after his early exit from the Calgary game with a sore shoulder. Mike Modano also appears to be at full health and ready to go for Atlanta.

Now onto the game.

Anything's possible in the NHL, but I think it's a fairly safe bet that this game won't be a repeat of last year's shutout victory for the Thrash. The Red Wings scoring is very balanced from top to bottom including the blueline, and while there have been off games here and there, the consistency of this attack usually proves to be unfriendly to a goalie's stats -- just ask Jaroslav Halak.

Atlanta will probably need to score at least 3 goals to win, probably more and that's not going to be easy either. Jimmy Howard wasn't stellar against the Flames or Wild, and that's why I believe he will come out very sharp in this one. Howard's not one to get rattled, and doesn't seem to care too much for losing. Atlanta will have their work cut out for them.

Enjoy the game!

UPDATE: As it happens, the speculation was correct; Miller and Eaves are in with Hudler the tonight's healthy scratch.

Dan Cleary Day-to-Day

Mlive has thankfully reported Dan Cleary's shoulder injury, sustained in last night's win over Calgary is only minor. From mlive:

"The Detroit Red Wings will know more about the condition of Danny Cleary when they return to practice Tuesday, but general manager Ken Holland on Monday said the forward does not have a significant injury."

Cleary is listed as day-to-day with a shoulder injury, we'll see if he's available for Tuesday's clash with the Thrashers.

For Those Wondering...

Sorry about the lack of updating, I've been having some major computer issues of late. It got so bad in fact, that I've had to purchase a brand new one. I've had enough of PC's, my girlfriend finally converted me -- I am now a Mac owner. With this I anticipate fewer technical issues.

Later tonight I'll have all the apps that I require to maintain WOAW, so the ticker as well as the game previews will be back to their full glory!

Thanks for reading, Go Wings!

Police Contacted After Red Wings Rob Flames

That was something.

I remember early in this third period thinking to myself, "Looks like one of those 'Write-Off' nights for the Wings -- we're just not getting it done."

Well, the Wings got it done and the Flames must be wondering exactly what it takes to get a W against the Winged Wheel. Some might say less penalty calls from the refs would do it, and that may well be true, but I'm a member of the happy party so I'll dwell on the positives.

Firstly, Detroit played well below standards and Calgary, from my estimation, was very good. Jarome Iginla was a star again and Alex Tanguay looked like he was back in Colorado 10 years ago. Calgary played the Wings hard and looked like a playoffs team. For the first two periods, the Wings not so much. And as a result, the Wings faced two 2-goal deficits in the final frame.

This looks like a job for the Eurotwins!

It's been a while since the Hank and Pav led the boys to victory. With the recent surges from the bottom two lines, heroics from the pair had become much less of a necessity. But it had to happen eventually, and this was the night. In the third period, Pavel Datsyuk got a goal and an assist while Henrik Zetterberg netted two goals -- including the game-tying goal with 3 seconds left.

Not to be upstaged however, was the immortal Nick Lidstrom, who continued his great game (and amazing season) with the game-winner in overtime from a beautiful finish to a play started by hard work down low by Darren Helm and Todd Bertuzzi. Lids finished with a goal and two assists taking his season points total to 20 to lead all defensemen.

One might look at the PP stat 3-7 and think the Detroit powerplay was on fire on this night. But like many stats, this one is very misleading. The Flames were very unlucky to have such a glaring figure result from their efforts. Basically my view of Detroit's powerplay is 4 atrocious PPs, 1 good 6-on-4, and two others they managed to score on. The Wings could just as easily have gone 1-7 and lost this one big. In this way, I think the Flames were extremely unlucky to lose.

You could say it's a good thing, you could say it's a bad thing. I choose to be a member of the former, encouraged by the fact that despite the sub-par performance, the Wings managed to steal two points from a game they had no business getting points in. The thought of what they might do when at their peak kinda excites me. I'm just hoping that becomes a frequent thing after March.

The major negative that deserves to be mentioned is the apparent injury to the red-hot Dan Cleary. Disco Dan left the game in the second period with an apparent upper-body injury. Hopefully details will surface soon.

The win gave Detroit a near-perfect 6-game homestand getting 11 of 12 possible points as they head to Atlanta to face the Thrashers in their first Eastern Conference meeting of the season.

Slumping Blues Meet Red Hot Red Wings; Game Preview

Barely a week ago they lead the NHL, but after a 0-3-1 run in the past 10 days, the Blues are looking to regain that confidence that had them looking down at Detroit and everyone else.

How they're looking
It was all going swimmingly for Blues head coach Davis Payne, whose stingy chargers had won the first 2 games of a small 3-game east coast road trip. In the last 6 games they'd played they'd given up the grand total of 4 goals. That's right... four. Then came the Blue Jackets and the floodgates opened. The Blues were inexplicably smashed that night in Columbus, 8-1. Since their 7-game win streak, the white hot Jaroslav Halak has gone 0-2-1 giving up 12 goals in 64 shots, as opposed to his 15 goals on 239 shots that preceded it. Perhaps he won't be a lock to start the game in Detroit, with back-up and ex-Wing, Ty Conklin displaying in the past he is quite capable of getting a "W" against his former team.

Detroit's recent form has been decidedly better.

The Red Wings have won 9 of their last 11 but will be looking to buck an early trend in the 2010/11 season, of winning streaks peaking at 3 games. Twice this season Detroit has won three games only to lose the fourth.

With the Man Advantage
An interesting factor in this game could be special teams.

Neither team has particularly remarkable stats down a man, Detroit 9th overall and St. Louis 17th and each team's success is even less remarkable on the powerplay (Detroit - 14th, St. Louis - 25th). Chances are however, that Detroit might get a good opportunity to improve their PP% against a team that averages the most PIM/game in the NHL. Take it for what it's worth, but each game the Blues give up 9 minutes of penalties more than the Winged Wheel per game. If that trend holds against in this game, Detroit could ride a win from a strong PP alone.

Injury Riddled Avs Visit Detroit; Game Preview

The Red Wings thought it was bad last year.

Colorado sits tied for the League-lead with 10 players listed on IR putting team depth to the test. Coach Joe Sacco would be pleased however, as the Avalanche have stood strong so far, going without names like Peter Mueller, #1 goalie Craig Anderson and captain, Adam Foote.

The blueline had been stretched so far that Avs' GM, Greg Sherman was forced to make a trade to get Ryan O'Byrne in to help with the rash of injuries to the defensive corps. O'Byrne will be in for his first game as an Avalanche tonight, and another boost could come with the possible return of Adam Foote from his concussion.

The misfortune of the visitors should not be taken for granted however, last night the Avs easily accounted for the Blue Jackets 5-1, a team that had just knocked off the League-leading St. Louis Blues by a record 8-1 scoreline.

Even with all the exclusions, Colorado has some talent that needs to be guarded closely. Youngsters David Jones, Brandon Yip, Matt Duchene are just a few of the names that can leave an opponent in regret.

Detriot on the other hand, has more. If the Wings approach this game seriously and don't underestimate their short-handed rivals, they'll surely use the superior roster to their advantage and take the two points.

I haven't got too much time to get into the Wings, besides it'll just be repetition at this point. One thing I do feel obligated to note is the captain, Nick Lidstrom. Right now he is by far Detroit's best player and easily the best defenseman in the NHL so far. If his season continues this way, I guarantee he'll win his 7th Norris Trophy. This man is a freak.

Red Wings vs. Oilers Game Day Preview

The hope and excitement of a new season was strong in Edmonton. A new-look team stocked with young talent and worlds of promise sparked wild wonderment of the possibilities that lie ahead. But one month later, it's becoming quickly apparent that the path back to the Stanley Cup could be a little longer than initially hoped.

The cellar-dweller of the 2009/10 NHL season Oilers kicked off the '11 campaign in the right fashion with two solid wins, including a 4-0 drubbing of the old enemy, Calgary in front of rapturous fans. The fortunes since then however, have turned quickly -- managing only 2 more wins from the next 11 games of the season for a record of 4-7-2. Interestingly, both of those wins were in Chicago.

Edmonton meets Detroit at the mid-point of their 5-game tour of the East, beating the defending-Champ Blackhawks but falling 7-1 to Carolina two nights later.

The Red Wings season at this point has been almost the inverse of Edmonton's, sitting 4th in the West with a 9-3-1 record. Despite this pleasing start, the Winged Wheel has been far from dominant, narrowly dodging defeat a few times including their 3-2 overtime victory over the Coyotes three nights ago.

Nearing optimum health for the first time in the season, Detroit enjoyed once again having the presence of Brian Rafalski on the blueline. The only players remaining on IR for the Wings are the back-up goalie, Chris Osgood and Kris Draper, who would more or less be considered a depth player at this stage.

For the Red Wings, a return to form for the second line is eagerly awaited. Todd Bertuzzi, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula were setting the League on fire early, a huge part of Detroit's strong start. And while Detroit's form overall hasn't regressed too much, a return in the last 5 games of more than a goal and 3 assists from the trio, would go a lot further to helping pick up a W.

One of the keys to victory for Detroit will be defense. This young Oilers team will without doubt give the Red Wings chances. However, Nikolai Khabibulin won't make it easy to light the lamp, as demonstrated in their recent meeting in Edmonton. In the other end, this talented group of Oilers are sure to generate their share of scoring chances in Detroit's zone. Lidstrom and his blueline crew will be wise to watch some white sweaters closely and give them little space to display their skills. Those collective skills will however, be without captain Shawn Horcoff -- one of the Oil's offensive leaders in the young season.

As displayed in the stats below, all signs point to a Detroit win. Of course that means the Wings will probably lose or need a shootout to win. I guess we'll soon see.

A few updates:
Devan Dubnyk will start in net for the Oilers tonight, and the line-up has been shuffled a little in an effort to get Jiri Hudler on the scoresheet.

JA=MC²; Abdelkader's Great Start

Since October 30 I have been working on a new scientific model to describe the Red Wings. Scribbling away at my whiteboard, with my hair frizzed up and my eyes blinking only when absolutely necessary for the better part of two weeks. I smell like dry-erase pens and toasted cheese. I think my girlfriend might have dumped me at some point this week -- I'm not 100% on that, but it's not important right now because I've done it! A new mathematical formula that I'm sure you'll agree perfectly sums up the energy of the Detroit Red Wings right now.

JA=MC²

Allow me to elaborate:

Justin Abdelkader (JA) is equal to mass (M) multiplied by the velocity of light (C) squared.

This guy is all energy. Since his return he's been the hardest skater, the biggest hitter and also one of the best scorers on the team. He's done it all. He was a depth guy to start the season, a future role-player. But Justin Abdelkader has made his statement this season and made it clear. He is no depth player, the future is now and he is quickly carving his way into being an extremely important role-player for the Red Wings.

Remember when Max Talbot scored two goals in Game Seven in 2009? Of course you do. Sadly, I do too. This is what I invision for the future of this guy. He'll never be outscoring Zetterberg or Datsyuk, but when they've got defensemen all over them and secondary scoring is key, Justin Abdelkader will be there.

With the exception of Dan Cleary he's been Detroit's best performer in the past five games. His numbers aren't extraordinary but they are more than you could hope to get from a third-liner whose main objective is to prevent goals. 2 goals, 1 assist, +5, 1 fight and 1 GWG in his five games. Not bad, 'ey?

The other beautiful thing is he's making his linemates better with his energy.

Is it a coincidence Mike Modano has gone from the one goal in his first eight games to a goal and 3 asissts in his five with Abby? Or how about Cleary going from just a goal and an assist in the first eight to 3 goals and 4 assists since JA's return? Possibly, but methinks not.

The only downside that I can really think of at this point is the quietness of the top two lines in the last five games. Perhaps Z and the Mule are intimidated by the fierce redhead.

In summary, I'd like to congratulate Abby on his performance so far in his short season. He's kept it simple and played with with big E. Nope, not Jonathan Ericsson... energy. All that energy and his 'balls to the wall' style of play have generated the points and helped get the Red Wings the wins.

Keep it up, Abs! We're all rooting for you.

Red Wings Need More From Top Six Against 'Yotes

In the last three games, the Red Wings have received only 6 points from the first line and 2 points from the second but the good news is that by virtue of some solid goaltending and some pitching in from the third line, they won two of those three. That however, wasn't enough against the streaking Vancouver Canucks who took the game away from Detroit in the final period of Saturday night's 6-4 victory.

The Door Revolves
The rotation will continue in the bottom six, as Drew Miller is a healthy scratch to make way for Patrick Eaves. The big inclusion for Red Wings however, will be Brian Rafalski, who returns after a 3 or so week hiatus from knee surgery. Rookie Jakub Kindl will be a healthy scratch and the defensive core will be shuffled accordingly.

The Hot Hand:
He's only played four games since his belated debut to the season, but what a four games it's been! Young Abdelkader isn't the kind of player expected to appear on a scoresheet to have a good game, but in the last three games Abby has 2 goals and an assist to go along with his physical presence... oh yeah, and a fight just to boot.

A Change of Seasons
The Coyotes have had a tough go of it so far in the 2010/11 season. Their 4-5-4 start is in vast contrast to their fortunes last season. Of their two wins on the road this season though, one of them was at the Joe Louis Arena only a few weeks ago.

Red Wings Visit Canucks to End Western Canadian Road Trip

Divisional leaders square-off tonight with Detroit putting their League-best win% (.773) on the line against Vancouver's 5-game winning streak. Definitely two of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, it promises to be an exciting display of hockey.

Patrick Eaves will be the odd man out tonight as Mike Babcock does the rounds on his bottom 6 forwards. A healthy scratch for last night's 3-1 win in Edmonton, Drew Miller wasn't dropped for any particular reason other than the fact he's on an exceptionally deep team. He'll be back tonight however, to form a line with Darren Helm and Jiri Hudler.

In Goal: Jimmy Howard seems to have shown zero effects from his back problems that had him sitting out two games last week. Howard returned for Detroit's Western Canada road-trip, so far stopping all but 2 of the 47 shots headed his way. The victories over Calgary and Edmonton now have him at a 22 game streak for starts without a regulation loss. They also give him some pretty impressive stats in this early 10/11 season, as seen below.

Roberto Luongo is expected to be in goal tonight for the Canucks, even though his back-up Cory Schneider has had the more impressive start and there have been rumblings that he will get his second straight start.

Step it up: Johan Franzen has gone quiet in November after his sick start to the season with 6 goal in 8 games. The Mule has been held pointless in the last two games, something that hasn't happened since April. Franzen is a streaky player, and Detroit will need another streak from him tonight if they want to make it 3/3 in Western Canada.

Red Wings Vs. Oilers Preview

The cellar-dwelling Edmonton Oilers look to get their season back on the right track tonight as they await a visit from the lofty Red Wings.

Detroit (7-2-1) puts one of the best records in the League on the line tonight against one of the worst (3-5-2) but don't let that fool you into penciling down this result too soon.

While struggling with the challenges of injuries, the positions of these two sides wasn't so different last season. Despite that, the Oilers dominated the season series winning all but one game. They've had a tough time taking points taking points in the last few weeks but the talent Edmonton now boasts on the front-end in unignorable -- even at this early stage.

Rookies Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi (did I spell it right?) are future stars of the game. With the talent these three have, it's almost a foregone conclusion as long as they can avoid serious injuries. Their combined production so far this season hasn't been extraordinary with 19 points between them in 10 games, but some incredible flashes of brilliance have been on display more than a few times already. When these boys mature and begin to develop some consistency they will surely prove to be a handful for even the best of opponents. Right now the rookie trio is lead by Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff, and Lidstrom and the Red Wings' defense would be wise to pay attention and stay on their game against this potent attack.

Red Wings At Flames Game Preview

Detroit kicks off a 3-game road trip tonight, enter the Saddledome in Calgary with the Flames seeking revenge.

These two teams met recently a few weeks ago on October 21 when the Red Wings managed to score three unanswered goals to turn a 2-1 1st period deficit into a 4-2 win.

The same goalies are expected to man the nets as with Kiprusoff backstopping the Flames and Jimmy Howard making his return from a minor back injury that had him sidelined for two games. Just as well too!

Chris Osgood was called upon to be Detroit's last line of defense during Howard's recuperation, splitting his two starts. A tweak of his groin during practise on Monday has unfortunately put him on the shelf, hopefully only for a few games also. Joey MacDonald, called up from the Griffins to be Osgood's back-up, will be staying in Detroit just a little longer.

Unfortunately for the home team, the Flames have received little relief from their early injury bug. With Pardy, Kotalik, Moss, Ivanans and Langkow all injured for the first meeting in Detroit a fortnight ago, it seems none of those men will be available for this game either.

Big Jonathan Ericsson will make his return tonight after having back spasms and missing the better part of a month, resulting in Doug Janik returning to Grand Rapids.

IR Movement for Monday

A few interesting developments from today's practise.

- Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Ericsson are ready to go for Thursday's game against Calgary. This means Doug Janik will be sent down to Grand Rapids. But what about Joey MacDonald you ask?

- After a solid game from Ozzie against the Preds, he hurt his groin in practise and is expected to be out up to 3 weeks. So MacDonald will stay with Detroit to be Howard's back-up.

- Rafalski is skating again, and is hopeful to be back in the line-up in a week or so.

So the question becomes, who will sit for Rafalski?

The two most obvious candidates would have to be Ericsson and Kindl. Jakub Kindl has been solid for the Wings and seems to have enjoyed his time on the powerplay. While it hasn't resulted in much offense, I do feel he has shown some promise to be a D-man that can chip in with some points at times. That said, he still has to become more polished and needs to work on his decision making. In most games, there has been at least one example of bad decision-making from Kindl -- but that is a symptom if his limited experience and something that will surely improve with ice time.

Ericsson has been injured for some time so he has no recent play to judge. This next week will probably be an audition of sorts for Big E, but I feel fairly certain that regardless of his play, Kindl will have to sit in the press box upon Rafalski's return.

Why?

Since he cracked the line-up a few years ago, Ericsson has always been given the benefit of the doubt and every opportunity to excel. On this occasion, I believe once again, Ericsson will need to play himself out of a spot rather than have it taken away by Kindl. That could well happen too. We'll just wait and see. It's a great decision for a coach to have to make however -- Ericsson and Kindl as #6 and #7 defensemen gives a very true reflection of the depth this team has.

Game Preview; Wings vs. Nashville

Sorry, my flat outness today won't allow me to put together a proper preview of the game. I do however, have some pretty pictures for you to look at!

Struggling 'Yotes Visit Detroit; Game Preview

It's been a tumultuous start to the season for Phoenix. Last season they were considered the over-achievers of the NHL, and now with lifted expectations and high-hopes, the 2010/11 season has had a rough beginning.

Opening with the NHL Premiere in Europe seems to be conducive to bad starts to the season. Of six teams to do so this season, only two have really been able to move forward with some success once returning to North America. Columbus' 5-3 start and Boston's 4-2 start are the best of the bunch, with the Sharks (4-3-1), Wild (3-3-2), Hurricanes (4-4) and Phoenix (2-3-3) all having a tougher go at it. Columbus is the only team of the six, sitting in the top 8 of their conference.

Despite the bad start, the facts remains that Phoenix is a good hockey club and the European hangover can't last forever. Ray Whitney has been inserted back into the Coyotes' line-up since their last meeting with Detroit at Jobing.com Arena two weeks ago. Not to be overlooked however, is Detroit's major inclusion of Johan Franzen -- whose single missed game happened to be against the Coyotes.

Johan Franzen
Scoring goals is not difficult for this man to do. Ignoring October 14 vs. Dallas when he was injured in the first period and didn't return, Franzen has scored 5 goals in 5 games played. The thing that impresses me most about the Mule, is the way he can find the back of the net in situations most could not. So many times Franzen will score a goal many would dismiss as a lucky bounce. But how frequently does one have to do it until you can no longer attribute success to good fortune? For me, Franzen exceeded that a long time ago. In my mind, Franzen is one of the best goal-scorers in the League and with good health will almost certainly become Detroit's next 50-goal scorer.

Henrik Zetterberg
It was a slow start for Hank, who only managed 2 assists in his first four games. But an offensive outburst for 3 goals and 5 assists in his past three actually has the 2008 Conn Smythe winner at #5 in the League for points/game and leading the Red Wings.

Third-Line Woes
Mike Babcock has stated that although the line-up will remain unchanged for this game against Phoenix, if the third line continues to under-achieve a change will be made with a healthy Justin Abdelkader waiting for his chance. Jiri Hudler (2 pts, -6), Dan Cleary (2 pts, -4) and Mike Modano (1 pt, -6) will need to find the back of the net quick. Not only that, but as clearly displayed in the +/- stats, the trio need to shut-down their opponents.

Update on goalies
Add Jimmy Howard to the injured list with back spasms. Apparently, more precautionary than serious, but Joey MacDonald has been recalled from Grand Rapids to back-up Chris Osgood. Another chance for Ozzy to prove he's not a has-been.

Strong week pushes Wings to top of TSN Power Rankings

Firstly, sorry for the lack of posting recently and no game preview of the Wings and Ducks on Saturday. I've been having some major PC issues of late which culminated in the mysterious and still unexplained inability to log into any of my google accounts. This, of course, makes it difficult to update a blog hosted by Blogger.com (ie. Google). Anyway, all that's in the past (hopefully) and we're now back on board and good to go.

So, it was a pretty successful weekend for Detroit, who find themselves with a somewhat leisurely schedule right now. The Wings week began with a four day break to prepare for home games against the Flames and Ducks on Thursday and Saturday respectively, and now are in the midst of another four day hiatus with another Thursday, Saturday home stand ahead.

The offensively embattled Calgary Flames found ways to find the net early on Thursday and give Babcock's boys more than a few headaches. Calgary was able to double their season total of first-period goals on the back of a strong display of offensive potency from 21-year-old future star Mikael Backlund. Henrik Zetterberg also nabbed his maiden tally of the season with the Wings sporting a 2-1 deficit at the first break.

Detroit's top two lines then began to take over as the Wings scored three goals unanswered to take a 4-2 victory for Jimmy Howard. Bertuzzi, Zetterberg and Datsyuk all getting two points each with Franzen scoring his fourth of the season and his second game-winner.

The Winged Wheelers were able to snatch another victory from behind two nights later, this time against Anaheim.

The Ducks had a one-goal lead midway through the third period and a 2-goal lead midway through the game, but Henrik Zetterberg with his 2 goal, 4 point night lead Detroit to victory, with a little help from his magical friend Mr. Datsyuk. Franzen also added another lazy goal for the game -- a feat he seems to find as difficult to achieve as a bowel movement. With continued health, this man will surely be Detroit's next 50-goal scorer.

#13 roofed the puck over Curtis McElhinney with under 12 seconds left in the game to steal the win as Anaheim agonized over two more points lost.

The game was not without controversy however. Early in the game Teemu Selanne his head down was rocked with a front-on shoulder hit from Niklas Kronwall. The play was without penalty due to the hit being completely legal.

A usually classy Selanne complained about the hit after the game claiming Kronwall was dangerous and got his elbow up. He also admitted he hadn't seen the hit. Perhaps if he actually looked at the hit he might understand that to outlaw a hit like this is to outlaw hitting from the game. The Flying Finn is understandably frustrated with the recent fortunes of his team and the harsh nature of their loss on the night.

The victories give Detroit a 5-1-1 start to the season and gave Jimmy Howard his 20th consecutive start without a regulation loss, tying his teammate Chris Osgood's post-lockout record. The team's recent success seems to have caught the attention of TSN, as the Winged Wheel moved from #7 to #1 in their Power Rankings, leading Central rivals St. Louis in #2 and Nashville third.

Detroit now awaits visits from Phoenix on Thursday, followed by Nashville on Saturday.

Wings and Flames Attempt to Warm Up Offense; Game Preview

I feel like it's not too often that Detroit plays a team with a longer injury list than them. Unfortunately for Calgary, they'll make the first opponent for the Red Wings of the season to fit this bill.

It has been confirmed that Johan Franzen will play against Calgary -- a much needed boost for a team that has scored 3 goals in it's last 6 periods. Franzen's addition will also allow Mike Babcock a full compliment of forwards for use on the powerplay, though one of our PP quarterbacks on defense, Brian Rafalski will remain sidelined for the next 2 weeks at minimum.

Hot Goalies
Jimmy Howard and Miikka Kiprussoff will most likely be given a chance to build on their stingy stats early in the season. Flames' rookie back-up, Henrik Karlsson is a possibility to start however. Brent Sutter and Karlsson himself are keeping their cards close to their chests, but it seems all but a certainty he will start one of the Flames next two games in Detroit and Columbus.

Zetterberg Warmed Up?
Henrik Zetterberg got a couple of assists in the last game vs. Phoenix. Look for another multi-point game from Hank as a return to form for him will be paramount to the success of the Red Wings, particularly if Franzen, Bertuzzi and Filppula continue to light the lamp.

Stone Cold Attack
This might sound like pointing out the obvious, but I think against a team like Calgary moreso than usual, putting the puck in the net more than 3 times will make it tough for them to get the win. Three times in their first five games the Flames have been shutout in regulation -- an incredibly damning stat for Calgary's forward corps. The fact they've been able to go 3-2-0 despite these offensive woes could be taken as a positive however. Another considerable stat is their shooting percentage. The Flames actually get 35 shots a game on goal but goalie's have a .949SV% on them!

Franzen Cleared to Play

Finally some good news from the medical room.

From the beginning of this young season, Red Wings' fans have been forced to watch addition after addition to the injured reserve list, with no subtractions until perhaps now.

Ken Holland confirms Johan Franzen has cleared his baseline test and could be available to play Thursday against the Flames. If Franzen does play, he will only have missed one game from his concussion -- a win against the Coytes, making the 4-day break a very handy one indeed.

Time to Fight Through; Red Wings vs. Coyotes Preview

The embattled Red Wings will have an uphill struggle ahead of them as they enter the ice of the Jobing.com Arena to face the team they eliminated in Game 7 of the Conference Quarter-Finals last season.

Why an uphill struggle? Well, the Wings just had a shocker in Dallas as they never really got out of the gate, losing 4-1. Worse than that however, is the fact that arguably the Wings' best player so far this season, Johan Franzen, has been added to the already crowded list of injured players.

So crowded in fact, Mike Babcock has been forced to dress 11 forwards. With a little luck we'll actually see some returns from injury, with a lot of players "day-to-day" and hopefully not too far away. Maybe with a little more luck, we'll see a cease to this rash of injuries that has been the opening act this season.

The Coyotes have only played two games so far this season as they've sat a week awaiting their home-opener tonight after a split series with Boston at the NHL Premiere in Europe. Whether or not this plays into Detroit's favor remains to be seen.

A Cruel Return to Dallas for Mo

His #9 will one day hang from the rafters of the American Airlines Center, but of all the memories Mike Modano has had in the building, this would rank among the most forgettable.

The Dallas Stars franchise's greatest on-ice servant received a classy standing ovation from the locals but that proved to be the highlight of his night as the Red Wings skated to a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of his former team-mates.

From the get-go nothing seemed to go right for Detroit. Whilst only sporting a 1-0 deficit at the first break, the signs weren't good. A horrible Lidstrom turnover and a Franzen injury... uh oh!

But the second frame was where it got ugly.

The puck seemed to bounce off skates and in on one end, but just couldn't do likewise at the other. Throw in some sloppy coverage and a puck or two off the post, and you got a 4-0 game after two.

Osgood was not good, but neither was anyone else. A consolation PP goal in the third period gave the Wings a semblance of respectability on the scoreboard but not much else.

Moving forward it didn't look to be getting any better. Franzen's concussion was never good news and just to make things worse, Daniel Cleary crashed into the boards in practise earlier today. The updated diagnoses of both were good however, as Franzen said he felt good today and hopes to be able to go Saturday night against the Coyotes and Dan Cleary's knee injury scare appears to be just that... a scare.

It was looking for a while like the Wings may have been forced to dress 16 or 17 skaters in Phoenix, hopefully that's not the case. A reprieve from this tumultuous tackle with the injury bug will go a long way to getting the Red Wings back to winning form.

Wings Look to Rebound in Dallas; Gameday Preview

As the recently humbled Red Wings roll into Dallas today, it looks as though they'll see no help from injury returns, as Ericsson, Abdelkader and Draper are remain sidelined and Rafalski still requiring 3-4 weeks of recovery time from his knee surgery earlier this week.

The line-up that had a disappointing showing against the young Avalanche squad remains unchanged, save for Chris Osgood getting the nod in net at the expense of Jimmy Howard.

Howard had a rough game against the Avs, letting in a few soft goals allowing Colorado to force OT and eventually win in the shootout. The loss however, can't totally be blamed on Howard, who faced 38 shots and was forced to make some big saves on the pressuring opposition.

Osgood re-capturing his form against Chicago last Saturday night will go a long way to getting the Wings back in the 'W' column.

Worth watching will be Detroit's second line of Franzen, Filppula and Bertuzzi. They have been the most dynamic line for the Wings putting up 13 point between them in the first three games.

Red Wings Await Another Rival; Gameday Preview

Detroit will look to continue their solid start to the 2010/11 season as they face the Colorado Avalanche tonight at 7:30pm ET.

The Red Wings have been successful in their last two starts against their two most recent arch-nemeses; the Blackhawks and the Ducks. A win over the Avs will make it a 3-peat over the last 3 significant rivals of Detroit Red Wings history.

Colorado has had a more mixed start to the season, as they split their first two games.

The Avalanche provided the other loss for Chicago this season as they edged out the defending Champs in a shootout in the season opener at the Pepsi Center in Denver. They weren't so lucky last night however as they fell by a 4-2 decision to Chicago's opponent in the 2010 Cup Finals, Philadelphia in Philly.

There are no excuses for the Red Wings in this one.

While they are sporting a few injuries from Ericsson, Abdelkader and Draper, Colorado is probably hurting just as much, as they'll need to get it done without the services of Peter Mueller and David Koci.

The Wings always prefer to have their encounters in front of a friendly audience at the Joe, but an additional advantage is availed to the locals as they await a team that is travelling from Philadelphia in the second of back-to-back games.

Last year I did two 16 hour trips between Philly and Detroit in a week; and probably couldn't have made a pass with a 4-man advantage afterwards. I sure hope the Avs aren't travelling by Greyhound too!

While I'm sure they'll be on a nice jet for no more than an hour in their journey, the Red Wings will still be raging favorites to win this one.

After taking two points from a visit to the United Center with a modest return from the top line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Holmstrom, this game against will be an ideal opportunity to build on their momentum and get the #1 trio back on the scoresheet.

UPDATE: Brian Rafalski underwent knee surgery and will be out of the line-up for at least 3 weeks. Doug Janik has been re-called from Grand Rapids as his replacement.

Lilja Needs to Fire His Agent

Andreas Lilja has signed a one-year $600k contract with Anaheim. This about 3 months after his agent, Todd Diamond reportedly turned down a $1m offer from Detroit because he thought Ken Holland was low-balling his client.

Lilja will now join possibly the worst defense in the Western Conference and a team destined to sit at or near the bottom of their division for $400k less. It was a gamble, and Lilja lost. Big time!

The deal is believed to have up to $150k in bonuses for playing 30, 40 and 50 games in the season. Each milestone earning $50k respectively.

While it's nice to see that Andreas finally has found himself a job and a new home, you can't help but think that as he signed the deal, he regretfully reflected back to the time when he could've signed with the Wings for a significantly better deal.

A quote from him just over a month ago:
"Of course, I regret it (not signing with Detroit. Now that we got here yesterday, got into my house -- we’ve been here five years, it feels like home. The kids like it here. I think I was looking for something else, I guess."

Good luck, Andreas!

A Huge Opening Weekend for the Wings

What's a great way to start the season? Make Blackhawks' fans boo at the final buzzer on the Stanley Cup banner raising night. And just for kicks, throw in a 4-0 shutout win over the Ducks.

It was a perfect way to begin this heavily anticipated season for the Wings, who currently sit atop the Western Conference with Dallas, with 2 wins. Of course, standings don't mean much 3 days into the season, but it's still pleasant to see Chicago sitting on the bottom of the division with just a single point in their 2 games played.

Friday night's affair with the Ducks proved to be a challenging one, for reasons other than the battle on the scoreboard, as Detroit got the win without too much hassle. But true to form, the Ducks continued to be an unignorable physical presence -- one that needed to be matched.

Three fights on opening night?!?

No, just two. But it was almost three. Ruslan Salei's mini-scrap with Andy Sutton was given just a minor for roughing. So Detroit are well on their way to surpassing last season's NHL-low, 19 fighting majors. But that's not the best part. Oh no...

...Pavel Datsyuk!

Yes, that's right. Dats got down and dirty with a much larger, much more experienced (in fights) Corey Perry. Not just that, Pavel held his own as the fight ended with Perry beneath the Russian Roughian™ when the linesmen stepped in. Chuck in a beautiful tip-in goal and a an assist and you've got yourself a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick. I could be wrong, but I believe that would be Detroit's first since Brendan Shanahan. Maybe someone can correct me on that.

A shower, sleep and quick jet west and we're in Chicago to see the 'Hawks unveil and raise their 2009/10 Stanley Cup banner before a rapturous audience at the United Center.

The excitement was quelled, then restored, repeated and finally quelled as the game was neck and neck all night. By the end of the second period the Red Wings twice gained the lead and twice gave it up. It was a see-saw affair played in spurts where each team had their moments of controlling the play. But the Wings improved in the 3rd period.

Filppula scored his second goal of the night, the eventual game-winner as the Red Wings held onto a 3-2 lead to take the two points form the defending Champs and now await the Avs arrival on Tuesday night.

The good news:
Filppula - 2 goals, 1 assist
Bertuzzi - 1 goal, 2 assists
Franzen - 1 goal, 1 assist
Cleary - 1 goal, assist

The secondary scorers have answered the call so far, taking the heat off of Zetterberg and Datsyuk. If this continues and guys like Flip and Mule can get north of 70 points this season, Detroit will certainly prove to make a dangerous competitor for all.

The best news:
Howard - 0 goals against, 21 saves
Osgood - 2 goals against, 26 saves

Solid isn't even fair. Howard didn't need to stand on his head against the Ducks, but he could easily have given up a goal or two if he wasn't so sharp. When challenged, Howard was up to the task and made a statement that last season was no fluke for the sophomore.

Osgood was just as good. With the tougher task of shutting down the Blackhawks, Ozzy was brilliant. The two goals given up were tough to fault him on. A lapse in defense during a 'Hawks powerplay gave Seabrook a lay-up and a fortuitous deflection for Brian Bickell were the only blemishes for Osgood, who was forced to make several outstanding saves to give Detroit the victory.

Up next is Colorado at the Joe Louis Arena at 7:30pm on Tuesday night.

Big Rig Out, Kindl In for 'Hawks Banner Raiser; Gameday Preview vs. Chicago

The Red Wings began the season out of a cannon last night, as they trounced the Ducks 4-0. Better news than the result was the strong performance from Detroit's best with points from Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Modano, Rafalski, Cleary with Datsyuk throwing in a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick for good measure. If that wasn't enough Jimmy Howard stopped all 21 shots for the shutout.

The Wings now face a more uphill battle against the defending Champ Chicago Blackhawks in their home-opener and 2010 Stanley Cup banner raising ceremony.

In the second of back-to-back games, Detroit will be without the services of Abdelkader and Draper again, with Jonathan Ericsson also joining the list of injuries. Big Rig left last night's game in the first period with back spasms. Jakub Kindl will take his place.

Mike Babcock also confirmed Chris Osgood will start in net, as was always the plan with back-to-back games to start the season.