Wings vs. Avalanche GP...

1. 2009 hasn’t exactly been good to Wings fans. I think we’re all looking forward to 2010 and the joyous frolicking that surely awaits us in the new year. Before the ball drops in Times Square, though, the Wings have one more game to win. Can they send this less than stellar year off with a bang?
2. The rivalry’s dead and yadda yadda yadda. I don’t care. I still take great pleasure from beating the Avs. Will the Wings pretty please end the year with a good, old-school beat down? It would take me right back to my childhood in the ‘90s.
3. This is the last home game before the Wings begin a 5-game roadtrip out west (and randomly to New York at the end…NHL scheduling win for sure). During that trip, some key guys are slated to come back from injury. Can the guys in the lineup tonight hold down the fort until reinforcements come (see what I did there?)?
4. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
5. Patrick Eaves is out with the flu tonight (thanks, Rafalski), which pretty much negates our theory about it being caused by lack of hair to cover one’s head. As a result, Leino is going to find his way back into the lineup out of necessity (this is becoming a trend). If ever there was a time for him to come back into the game looking like an NHL player, I would think that this would be it. Will he be able to reclaim his roster spot from Ritola with a strong game tonight?

I’m only going to get to see the first half of the game tonight, so there may or may not be a recap tomorrow. One thing that I wanted to mention was that I added up the Wings’ regular season and playoff record for the calendar year of 2009 for my year-end recap…and forgot to put it into the post. This is apparently what happens when you attempt to blog in the middle of the night. Anyway, the Wings have gone 61-36-11 in 2009 so far (obviously one game remains). Here’s hoping that they can bring that win column up to a nice, even 62 by the end of the night.

PS. Happy New Year, Wings fans everywhere!