Babcock vs. Rafalski

Today will without a doubt be a historical day in Canadian and to a lesser extent American sports as the undefeated United States go for Olympic glory against the hockey super-power of Canada.

Last night, Red Wing Valtteri Filppula took home Bronze as Finland beat Slovakia 5-3, to officially end their "Cinderella" story Olympic run. Today Brian Rafalski will do better than that, the only question is, how much better?

Today, they're on opposing benches, as Rafalski, the tournament's leading scorer and possible MVP thusfar, will be met by Mike Babcock's team. Tomorrow, they'll be pulling in the same direction against the Colorado Avalanche back in Detroit. One of them, still riding high in the glory of victory, one still feeling the disappointment of an Golden opportunity lost.

While no players from Hockeytown are wearing the Red Maple Leaf for Team Canada, Red Wing influence reigns supreme on the Gold-medal favorite. Aside from Detroit's Mike Babcock managing the bench, Steve Yzerman is the team's Executive Directive with Wings' GM, Ken Holland his Associate Director.

For Brian Rafalski, he holds the honor of being the last remaining Red Wing with a shot for Gold. Eight other Red Wings; Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Kronwall and Franzen for Sweden, Datsyuk for Russia, Filppula for Finland, Tollefsen from Norway and Kolosov for Belarus, began the Olympic tournament.

With only hours left until puck-drop, both nations prepare for an historic battle between the biggest rivalry in international hockey for the last two decades. The U.S. looks to avenge their loss on home soil in 2002 with a role-reversal of winning Gold in Canada.

The Canadians, on the other hand, seek vengeance of their own for last Sunday's shock loss to this same U.S. squad as well as the incredible World Junior Championship upset at the start of the year when Team USA's juniors ended Canada's five-year winning streak in the Gold-medal game of that tourney. Further to that, Canada seeks redemption for their embarrassing 7th-place finish in the 2006 Torino Winter Games.

I, for one, cannot wait for the puck to drop on this historic affair. Regardless of the outcome, the game is without a doubt the best possible scenario for the NHL. Let's just hope the game lives up to the anticipation.

The New In-Depth Statistics

A new page has been added to WOW, for "In-Depth Statistics". Within you'll find four unique statistical charts all intended to display two Red Wings' players effectiveness whilst playing together 5-on-5. They're a very simple, very clear tool for evaluating line combos and defense pairings. I hope you enjoy!

Canada and U.S. for Gold on Sunday!

A perfect demonstration of the greatness that is hockey. It's all I could think as I witnessed the drama at the conclusion of the Olympic semi-final between Canada and Slovakia.

With a 3-0 disadvantage heading into the final frame, Slovakia turned up the pressure as the period progressed and their chances of Gold slipped. Canada seemed to merely cling onto their lead as the Slovaks out-chanced, out-shot and, most importantly, outscored their star opponents... but only by two.

Sadly for the ex-Wing, Marian Hossa and his team, that third goal to force extra time proved to be just out of reach as Pavol Demitra was unable to convert on two golden (pun intended) chances in the final few minutes, with the latter being with under 15 seconds to play.

As a result, Steve Yzerman's Team Canada will face their southern rivals just a week after the preliminary round 5-3 U.S. win over Canada, which happened to be the most-watched sporting program in Canadian history. A mark that will very likely be surpassed this Sunday.

The game will give Team USA a chance to avenge the 2002 Salt Lake City Gold-medal game, where Canada captured their only Olympic Men's Hockey Gold in the past 58 years, with a 5-2 win over the United States.

The last step to the Final wasn't quite as nail-biting for Team USA, as they stormed Finland, shelling Miikka Kiprusoff and then Niklas Backstrom for six goals in the first 13 minutes of the game. Red Wing defenseman Brian Rafalski grabbed two assists to continue his prodigious impact to the team now with 4 goals and 4 assists in his 5 games to lead all players in points for the Olympic tournament. The awe-inspiring start set up the win as they cruised to a guaranteed medal with a 6-1 decision.

Despite remaining undefeated and having beaten Canada less than a week ago, Team USA will head into this game as underdogs against the star-studded line-up lead by Stanley Cup-winning Red Wing coach, Mike Babcock.

Officially, Brian Burke's squad will be the home team, being the top seed after the preliminary round, but the Canadians will enjoy the home-crowd advantage and will look to draw energy from them.

After the shakey start to their Olympic campaign, Canada seems to be back on track and ready for another chance at the U.S. -- this time with much more at stake -- but throughout the entire tournament the Americans have shown about enough weaknesses to write on the head of a matchstick. There's no reason to anticipate anything different from them on Sunday, when Gold is on the line.

This game truly is a dream match-up for hockey-lovers all over the world and promises to be yet another demonstration of why our game is the best in the world. Hopefully, the world is watching.

Five Red Wings to Leave Vancouver

It was a bittersweet night overall for Red Wings in the Olympics as five Wings bowed out of the tourney with no medals, while two others advanced to the semi-finals guaranteeing at least a Silver for one lucky Detroiter.

The game heavily anticipated to be the match-up for the Gold-medal took place last night in the quarter-finals as Steve Yzerman's Team Canada took on Pavel Datsyuk and his Russian compatriots. The amount of goals in the affair was not surprising but the distribution of them was certainly expected, as Canada lit up Russia 7-3. Team Canada, lead behind the scenes by Detroit's Steve Yzerman, Mike Babcock and Ken Holland, are all of a sudden right back in the hunt for Gold; particularly given the night's proceeding events.

The defending Olympic Champs, and highly-favored Team Sweden were to be Team Canada's semi-final opponent. That is, until Slovakia shocked them last night, sending Red Wings Franzen, Kronwall, Lidstrom and Zetterberg back to the D.

With names like Hossa, Chara and Vokoun in the line-up getting past Team Sweden was definitely not an impossible task, but the Slovaks went against the odds as they defeated the star-studded Scandinavians, 4-3. Having beaten Team Russia and now Team Sweden in the last week, it's not beyond imagination to think they could also beat Canada. They've proven they can beat the big teams, but you have to think if Babcock's boys are on their game, as they were last night, such a task would be next to impossible.

On the other side of the brackets, one Red Wing will earn the honor to play for the Gold on Friday night.

Finn, Valtteri Filppula and U.S.A.'s Brian Rafalski will meet in the other semi-final guaranteeing a medal for at least one of them. Team U.S.A. edged Anaheim's Jonas Hiller and Team Switzerland 2-0, yesterday before Finland also snuck by the Czech with that same scoreline.

Red Wing Players Excel, Front Office Struggle

With the knockout portion of the Olympic Men's Hockey tournament to begin today, many Red Wings representing their home countries are in a great spot for a medal. Every full-time Red Wing at the Olympics will get the bye in the first-round of the knockout stages and await their quarter-final opponents.

The four teams earning the bye after the preliminary round, U.S.A., Sweden, Russia and Finland, all have Red Wings on their roster.

Lead by Wings' D-man, Brian Rafalski with 4 goals and an assist, Team U.S.A. sit atop the standings after an undefeated group stage with an unexpectedly good shot at the Gold. After their shock 5-3 win over the heavily favored Canada, the American will next see the victor between the Switzerland vs. Belarus clash.

As usual, Team Sweden is littered with talent out of Hockeytown in the form of captain Nicklas Lidstrom, defenseman Niklas Kronwall, and forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Sweden is also undefeated thusfar in the competition and await the winner of Slovakia and Norway in the quarters.

Valtteri Filppula and Team Finland had been very strong until they met arch-rivals, Sweden. Despite the 0-3 shutout loss to the Swedes, they still earnt a bye through the first-round and will see either Latvia or the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

Russia and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk are probably in the most unenviable position of the top-four seeds. After winning two games with a surprise shootout loss to Slovakia in game 2, they finished as the #3 seed and will play Canada or Germany in the round of eight.

Meanwhile, members from the Red Wings' front office that are involved with Team Canada's Olympic bid, find themselves in a much less auspicious position.

Despite the slow start Team Canada has had in the tournament, they are definitely a team no-one wants to face and the current draw means that if Canada beats Germany tonight, only one of these teams favored to face-off in the Gold-medal game, Canada and Russia, can get a medal.

Sunday's loss to their southern neighbors puts Stevie Y.'s squad in a tough spot. While Gold is still within reach, having to beat Russia and Sweden en route to the Final is never a comfortable situation. Still, the trio from Detroit, GM; Steve Yzerman, Associate Director; Ken Holland and Head Coach; Mike Babcock, are still optimistic of their Gold-medal chances.

They still run a team that undoubtedly has the deepest talent in all positions. After Brodeur's shakey game against the U.S., Canuck Roberto Luongo will start against Germany and has the chance to hold that mantle for the rest of the tourney. All Canadian eyes will be on them tonight at 7.30pm EST as they try to turn momentum in their favor.

The knockout stage begins today:
3.00pm EST - Belarus vs. Switzerland, with Grand Rapids Griffin, Sergei Kolosov for Belarus;
~winner to play U.S.A.
7.30pm EST - Germany vs. Canada;
~winner to play Russia
10.00pm EST - Latvia vs. Czech Republic;
~winner to play Finland
Midnight EST - Norway vs. Slovakia, with Griffin, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen playing for Norway.
~winner to play Sweden

Wings in Vancouver

A brief summary of the international experience of each Red Wing taking part in the Olympics:

Pavel Datsyuk -- Russia

International Mens Debut: 2001

Olympic Record: 2002 - Salt Lake City (Bronze), 2006 - Torino (4th)

International Achievements: Olympic Bronze (2002), World Championship Bronze (2005)

International Stats: 41 GP, 7g, 21a, 28pts, 10PIM

Valtteri Filppula -- Finland

International Mens' Debut: 2010
Olympic Record: None
International Achievements: None
International Stats: None

Johan Franzen -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 2005
Olympic Record: None
International Achievements: World Championship Gold (2006)
International Stats: 13GP, 1g, 3a, 4pts, 12PIM

Niklas Kronwall -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 2003
Olympic Record: 2006 - Torino (Gold)
International Achievements: Olympic Gold (2006), World Championship Silver (2005)
International Stats: 24GP, 3g, 12a, 15pts, 32PIM

Nicklas Lidstrom -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 1991
Olympic Record: 1998 - Nagano (5th), 2002 - Salt Lake City (5th), 2006 - Torino (Gold)
International Achievements: Olympic Gold (2006), World Championship Gold (1991), World Championship Silver (2004), World Championship Bronze (1994)
International Stats: 36GP, 9g, 13a, 22pts, 12PIM

Brian Rafalski -- USA

International Mens' Debut: 2002
Olympic Record: 2002 - Salt Lake City (Silver), 2006 - Torino (8th)
International Achievements: Olympic Silver (2002)
International Stats: 15GP, 1g, 7a, 8pts, 8PIM

Henrik Zetterberg -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 2001
Olympic Record: 2002 - Salt Lake City (5th), 2006 - Torino (Gold)
International Achievements: Olympic Gold (2006), World Championsip Gold (2006), World Championship Silver (2003), World Championship Bronze (2001, 2002)
International Stats: 60GP, 12g, 26a, 38pts, 22PIM

New addition to the roster, defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, and Grand Rapids Griffin, Sergei Kolosov will also participate in the Olympics representing their home nations of Norway and Belarus, respectively. Both are yet to play an NHL game in the Winged Wheel.

This will be Tollefsen's international mens debut for Norway, while Kolosov rejoins his compatriots for the first time on the international stage since the 2008 World Championships.

Detroit 4, Ottawa 1

The Sens were Red Hot... that is, until they met a determined Detroit team.

The recent form of each team had been at almost polar opposite, with Ottawa winning 13 of their past 14 and Detroit riding a 4-game losing streak. One the ice however, it seemed the reverse was true. From the opening face-off, the Wings looked like a driven team, unwavering in their quest to snap a costly losing skid.

Kirk Maltby got the scoring underway just over nine minutes into the first period, and Pavel Datsyuk consolidated the lead, making it 2-0 exactly seven minutes later. Ottawa outshot Detroit 10-8 in the period, despite the deficit on the scoreboard.

About a third of the way through the second frame, the Senators looked to be building momentum with a goal from Peter Regin, by virtue of a nice play by Alexei Kovalev, and looked to be close to tying it up. A familiar nervousness seemed to come over the crowd at the Joe Louis Arena until Daniel Cleary tipped in a powerplay goal to restore the two-goal lead for Detroit.

The third period was the seal of a steadfast squad as Detroit gave Ottawa almost no chance to get back into the game, outshooting them 16-7 and topping off the win with an empty-net goal from Johan Franzen giving them the 4-1 final result.

The open-netter gave Franzen his 2nd goal since his return totalling three points in the three games. Jimmy Howard was exceptional with 29 saves while his teammates amassed 40 shots in total.

This game was the last before the Olympic break for the Red Wings.

Preview vs. Ottawa; Filppula Out

The Senators make a rare visit to the Joe Louis Arena tonight and will try to continue their hot streak and in turn, continue the Wings woes. Ottawa has won 13 of their last 14 games while the Red Wings have lost 4 straight.

Detroit expects Niklas Kronwall to be ready to play tonight. If he is good to go it'll be only his sixth game since he sustained a knee injury against Montreal on November 21, 2009. Kronwall also hopes to use tonight's game as a minor tune-up in preparation for representing Sweden as they attempt to defend Olympic Gold.

Kirk Maltby will replace Valtteri Filppula tonight, who is listed as day-to-day with a groin strain, and hopes to be fit to play for Finland in their first Olympic game.

"I'm concerned,'' Filppula said. "I definitely want to play (in the Olympics). I want to play tonight, too, but we'll have to see how it is. It's much better today than it was yesterday.''

Tonight's affair could also mark the final game of the season for Kirk Maltby as he battles through shoulder problems. Ken Holland said recently that Maltby would require surgery either now or at the end of the season. Surgery now would all but rule him out for the rest of the season.

With Brad May recently being waived, Patrick Eaves' foot injury and now Filppula's groin trouble, the Red Wings may end up short on forwards. Mike Babcock said he will dress seven defensemen and Derek Meech may play forward if necessary.

Jimmy Howard and Brian Elliot are expected to start in goal for their respective teams.

Sharks 3, Red Wings 2 (SO)

Last night at the Joe, the Red Wings were forced to meet their mortal enemy. No, not the Sharks, the shootout.

After a much more inspired and hunger-filled effort from the Wings, they still couldn't quite manage to squeeze two points from the affair, as they fell to a 4-8 record in shootouts for the season, and 27-21-12 record overall. The loss was made even more costly as the Stars leap-frogged Detroit in the standings with their 3-1 victory over Calgary.

Despite the setback, the overall performance from the Red Wings was quite positive, particularly when compared to preceding lackluster performance in St. Louis on Tuesday.

"We played well. We played with good tempo. We looked like a hockey team," said Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock. "We had every opportunity to win."

Against the top-of-the-West San Jose Sharks, Detroit was for the most part dominant, doubling up the Sharks shot total, 52-26. That lop-sided statistic was not translated on the scoreboard however, as some defensive lapses and some outstanding goaltending from Sharks' goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, saw the game tied at two at the end of regulation.

Further positives for the home team were the performances of Johan Franzen and Jimmy Howard.

In just his second game back from a four-month layoff due to a major knee injury, Franzen again showed he hasn't lost a step. Amazingly, timing seemed to be as normal as the Mule registered 6 shots and 1 powerplay goal on the night, with a touch under 21 minutes of ice-time. His line combo with Datsyuk and Zetterberg looked very dangerous all night, and was only kept from doing more damage by the superlative efforts of Evgeni Nabokov.

Not to be outdone, Jimmy Howard was also fantastic allowing only 2 goals in 26 shots, neither of which he could be blamed for. One, from a powerful play in the crease by Thornton, and one from an ugly defensive lapse from Howard's teammates. The Sharks, while heavily outshot, had some huge chances themselves but were also stymied by the play of their opposing goalie.

Goalscorers for the night were Franzen and Jason Williams for Detroit; and Joe Thornton and Michigan-native Dwight Helminen for San Jose with Patrick Marleau netting the game-winning shootout goal for the Sharks.

The Wings hope to continue to build on these positives, when they host the red-hot Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, and try to go into the Olympic break with a win and maybe even with a provisional playoff spot.

Preview vs. San Jose; Kronwall out

After a grueling and, at times, disheartening road trip, the Red Wings return home with a chance to sweep a season series against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks and turn momentum to their favour heading into the Olympic break. Detroit's bid to get back into the playoff picture may be boosted by the addition of Tomas Holmstrom into the lineup.

"It was a big difference from yesterday to today,'' Holmstrom said. "It's going to be a big test for sure. I need to get these games. It's going to be a tough one for sure, but I may as well get into it right away.''

Brad May will skate in the pre-game warmups as a back-up should Holmstrom be unfit to action. Homer is recovering from a bruised left knee he sustained in Los Angeles last week.

Niklas Kronwall is also being troubled with knee problems. Since suffering a realtively minor sprain in November, he has had difficulty returning to full health and, although the condition of his knee is reported to be improving, he has been ruled out for tonight's clash with the Sharks.

"It feels better today than yesterday, so I'm taking a step in the right direction,'' Kronwall said.

Detroit will need to be at their best tonight after a less than impressive outing against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. They'll look to take advantage of a travelling road team, as the Sharks are on the second of back-to-back games tonight after a 3-0 shutout loss to Steve Mason and the Blue Jackets. Wings' fans might also take heart in knowing that in the 3 previous meetings this season between these two rivals, a much more undermanned Detroit team has won all three, two of them fairly easily.

Jimmy Howard is expected to start in goal once again.