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.

Bring On 2011

For the Detroit Red Wings, the 2010 pre-season has now drawn to a close, leaving the Red Wings faithful eagerly awaiting the season opener this Friday (Oct 8) against the Ducks.

It wasn't the most auspicious lead-in to the season, as Detroit went 3-5 in their 4 home-and-home series'. The Wings were able to split each series with Chicago, Toronto and the Rangers, but lost but their games to Pittsburgh. I could go in-depth into the performance of the team and some individual efforts, but what's the point? The pre-season is seldom if ever even a rough reflection of what to expect from the upcoming regular season. 3-5 record or not, the Red Wings have a damn good team [again] and here's why:

Top three lines
Detroit will be icing the same first line that won the 2008 Stanley Cup, an unignorable threat for every opponent in Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Holmstrom. This trio will form one of the most formidable top lines in the League, but the real danger comes from depths below.

Unlike the Blackhawks, the Red Wings will be one of very few, if any, teams to boast three lines that are genuine scoring threats. Babcock can think himself a lucky coach to have the likes of Filppula, Hudler, Bertuzzi, Franzen, Cleary and newcomer Mike Modano at his disposal for a 2-3 punch combo. This poses quite a headache for opposing coaches when added to the stress of dealing with Hank, Dats and Homer.

On the back end, it's more of the same; stability, experience and offense.

It's fair to say veterans Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski have probably seen the peak of their careers, but their value on the PP and first pass out of defense make them of great assistance to the forwards corps. Also worth mentioning, is the fact that in Lidstrom, Detroit will be receiving just about the best non-physical defensive skill-set in the world today.

A little further development from younger guns Nik Kronwall and particularly Jonathan Ericsson could act as an addition to the team to go along with free agent acquisition, Ruslan Salei. Interestingly, the blueline pairings will begin the season a little juggled from last. Earlier today Babcock announced a few switches:

Lidstrom -- Ericsson

Stuart -- Rafalski

Kronwall -- Salei

In net, we just need to hope for more steadiness from sophomore, Jimmy Howard. You don't have to look too far back to see examples of major slides from great rookie seasons (Mason and Price), but it can be done. But Niklas Backstrom and Pekka Rinne will tell you great second seasons are possible. If in this case it is not, you could do a lot worse than have a 3-time Cup Champion goalie come in and hold down the fort.

How that's a good hockey team right there. Even Pierre LeBrun knows it. Bring on 2010/11!