Red Wings 5, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Tonight was much more fun than Thursday was. It's always nice when the real Wings show up to play.
• I wasn't planning to go to the game, but my family attended the Hockeytown Authentic costume contest this afternoon in an attempt to win tickets. My brother and sister went in our two-person horse costume and ended up winning. Since my brother had a previous commitment, I got to be my sister's chaperone to the game. You can add our visit to Hockeytown today to the long list of ridiculous things I've done in the name of my Red Wings fandom.
• The team actually got off to a good start this time around. They slacked off a little in the second period, but still managed to hold off the Predators.
• During the second period, there was a play where Nashville had the puck at the blueline and TAWD dove at the defenseman and knocked the puck away. I have to give credit to him for making a nice defensive play, but in fairness to the Predator (I can't remember who it was), I'd give up the puck too if there was a serial killer lunging at me.
• Pavel Datsyuk is a ridiculous human being. Find me a better stick-handler in the NHL right now and I'll eat my hat.
• Jersey foul or not?
• One of the personal highlights of the game for me was introducing my little sister to the fine art of Kesler Dancing.
• There were quite a few people in costume at the Joe. My favorites were the guys dressed as the Blues Brothers who were running around high-fiving people on the concourse after the game. I also liked the dude in a Darth Vader mask that he had painted red. I though pairing it wit a Lidstrom jersey was a bit odd, since I would've thought a TAWD one would be more appropriate.

Hat Trick:
1. Ozzie's getting the start again. Here's hoping he looks better than he did on Thursday.
He looked much, much better, as did the rest of the team.

2. Nashville is inexplicably leading the division right now. Let's fix that.
Well, the Wings tied the Predators in the standings, but the Blackhawks jumped ahead with their victory over Minnesota. No worries, though. The Hawks have already played 13 games, as opposed to the Wings who've only played 9. Despite this disparity, the Hawks find themselves a mere 2 points ahead of the Wings.


3. Is the team going to show up on time for a change?
They looked much more prepared to start the game at puck drop tonight. The second period was a bit rough as they let Nashville carry the play more than any other time in the game, but they rebounded with a stronger third period.


Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
The man is on fire. He looks unstoppable out there right now. I said to my sister tonight that we're truly lucky to get to watch him play every night. Not many other guys out there can guarantee at least one moment of jaw-dropping brilliance during every game.

Villain: Shea Weber
He drilled Ozzie right in the mask near the end of the third period. Luckily Ozzie was fine, and the crowd spent the delay caused by his broken mask chanting “Ozzie! Ozzie!” just like old times. It made me smile.

Final Thought:
That game gave me some much-needed peace of mind to carry me through to Wednesday when the Wings finally play again. At least it's not Thursday, I guess.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

Red Wings: 5-2-1

Predators: 5-1-3

Hat Trick:
1. Ozzie's getting the start again. Here's hoping he looks better than he did on Thursday.
2. Nashville is inexplicably leading the division right now. Let's fix that.
3. Is the team going to show up on time for a change?

Red Wing Zen(ish):

Doug Janik

0-0-0, +/- -1, 5 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Sergei Kostitsyn

(Obviously not from his tenure in Tennessee [see what I did there?], but too good to pass up.)

1-0-1, +/- -2, 2 PIM

Red Wings 4, Coyotes 2: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings looked awful in the first period. Across the board. I'd say I was surprised, but well, I wasn't.
• The thing that everyone is missing with Chris Osgood these days is the fact that he is a backup goalie. Backup goalies give up soft goals and make you cringe when they're in net. It's the way of the world. We're still looking at him as '08 Ozzie and he just isn't that goalie anymore. I think Wings fans will be a whole lot happier if we can realign our expectations to be more realistic for a backup netminder.
• Darren Helm had his best game of the season so far.
• I'm still regretting not smuggling in a bottle of Pepsi for Ozzie. I think it would've helped matters.
• At one point during the game, Pavel Datsyuk did something ridiculous and then passed the puck to Doug Janik who proceeded to blow the entire play. Amanda and I screamed, “JANNNNNNNNNNIK!” in perfect unison. I think we shook our fists at him, too. Or maybe that was just me.
• Pav is a ridiculous human being. He had a shift during the second where he absolutely victimized Pyatt and made him look like a peewee hockey player. That man just does things the puck that nobody else can. Nobody.
• The Commune found out that Gary Bettman was in the building toward the end of the second period. Hearing this news prompted us to exclaim (again in unison), “Well THAT explains it!”
• Mickey's interview with Bettman was much less argumentative than the last one they did. Hearing Bettman speak still gives me the shudders.
• Homer's penalty near the end of the game was killer.
• That was an ugly, ugly turnover by Kronner on the empty-netter, but booing him was uncalled for.
• The Wings could not hold the puck in the zone to save their lives tonight.
• I loved how hard Helm was working on that last shift. The team was down by two with less than a minute left in the game and he was still out there going strong.
• Kat and I rode the People Mover back to Greektown after the game. There were dancing homeless men on our train. One of them did the Moonwalk. Bros were singing “Beat It” for them to dance to. It was epic.

Hat Trick:
1. There's been a lot of talk lately about the third line not producing offensively. Will they redeem themselves tonight?
No, they still look disorganized and not quite on track.

2. The top line stole the show the last time the Wings played seemingly six years ago. Does that mean it's the “second” line's turn tonight? A glitter kittens goal celebration at the Joe with the Commune has the potential to be epic.
It was definitely the Pavel Datsyuk show tonight. Mule did score on the powerplay, though.

3. How many last-minute goals will the Wings allow? That's a sad trend that I've never been able to fully wrap my head around.
None, if you don't count the empty-netter. At least that's something. 

Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
I can't even tell you how many times we just laughed and looked at each other in disbelief up in the stand at the Joe after Datsyuk did something ridiculous. Amanda's mom texted her asking if anyone was going to show up to play the game with Pavel. We got the sense that after the first period, he just said, “Ah, screw it. We're going to lose anyway. Might as well have some fun,” and went out there and skated and stickhandled circles around the Coyotes. He put on a show last night, and it's too bad that the rest of the team didn't really look like they were interested in winning. Plus, he tallied his 600th career point.

Villain: Lauri Korpikosky
He scored the Coyotes' shorthanded goal, and then put sealed the victory with the empty-netter at the end.

Final Thought:
Isn't it sad that slow starts like that are predictable for the Wings?

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume One...

Caption Mondays:  There were some good entries in the Caption Contest from last week. Allison from The Secret Lives of Hockey Players came in with a last-minute submission an hour before the contest ended to take home the prizes. Who knew that Ozzie saved Jimmy's life all those years ago?  I guess we have him to thank for Jimmy's play these last two seasons.  Allison wins some Wings swag from last season, as well as a copy of the program from opening night. I popped her captions into the original graphic so you can get the full effect:

Trivia Tuesdays: This week, Andy from Fight Night at the Joe had the first trivia answer, although Graham wasn't far behind. The question was: The Wings hold the record for fastest two goals scored by the same team in a playoff series. Who scored the goals? How far apart were they?

Answer: Norm Ullman scored the goals 5 seconds apart during the second period. Detroit was playing Chicago in the 1965 playoffs. The Wings won that game 4-2, but ended up dropping the series in Game Seven.

Stay tuned next week for another picture to caption on Monday (although not for prizes this time) and some more trivia on Tuesday in addition to the usual SSDD nonsense you've become accustomed to.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes GP...

Red Wings: 5-1-1

Coyotes: 2-3-3

Hat Trick:
1. There's been a lot of talk lately about the third line not producing offensively. Will they redeem themselves tonight?
2. The top line stole the show the last time the Wings played seemingly six years ago. Does that mean it's the “second” line's turn tonight? A glitter kittens goal celebration at the Joe with the Commune has the potential to be epic.
3. How many last-minute goals will the Wings allow? That's a sad trend that I've never been able to fully wrap my head around.

Red Wing Zen:

Nick Lidstrom

1-7-8, +/- 4, 0 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Eric Belanger

2-4-6, +/- -3, 2 PIM

SSDD Trivia Tuesdays Volume 1...

Welcome to Trivia Tuesdays here at SSDD. Each week, I'll ask a trivia question, usually related to the Wings, and post it Tuesday morning. I'll post the answers on Friday. I'd like to keep a running total of weekly winners, so make sure you comment with a blogger account so I know who you are. This week's question:

The Wings hold the record for fastest two goals scored by the same team in a playoff series. Who scored the goals? How far apart were they?

Happy googling.

Red Wings 5, Ducks 4: Post Game Snipes...

• HOLY EUROTWINS, BATMAN!
• I missed most of the game thanks to the fact that we have Dish Network at work and, well, you all know about how they hate hockey and also probably puppies. Then, thanks to some siblings who have a special talent for DVRing endless hours of useless programming and not deleting it, I sat down to watch what I'd missed only to discover that we ran out of space after the first period. So yeah, we've got 18 hours of Hannah Montana and Suite Life and soccer games that nobody cares about, but not the Wings game. At least I managed to catch the second half of the game on the FSD replay.
• I was driving home from work when Zetterberg scored to tie up the game in the third period. I went from perfectly safe driver to road hazard in a fraction of a second. I still think there should be some kind of ignition lock on my car that prevents it from being started while the Wings are on the radio.
• My dog experienced her first run-and-hide-because-Kris-is-scary moment of the young season when Pav scored the game-winner. She's half Canadian, so I really think she should've been more appreciative of my jubilation.
• Speaking of Pav's goal, that deke was just nasty. Has there ever been a game in which he didn't do at least one thing that was absurdly amazing?

Hat Trick:
1. Round two with Anaheim. I'm guessing we don't see anything quite as dramatic as Datsyuk's Gordie Howe hat trick from opening night, but games against the Ducks always get me riled up.
Pav didn't throw any punches tonight, but I think he got his point across. As usual, he got the last laugh.

2. Old friend Andreas Lilja makes his return to the Joe tonight.
Anyone notice who was victimized by Datsyuk's nasty deke on the game winner? None other than dear old Lilja.

3. TAWD sat out practice yesterday. Is he going to be able to play tonight or will he be hunting for kittens under the bleachers during the game? Or both?
He played (and presumably went kitten hunting as well) and picked up an assist, but that didn't stop Henrik Zetterberg from passing him for the team scoring lead.

Hero: The Eurotwins
This was one of those nights that causes me to assume that their pregame routine involves them wearing rings and combining forces a la Captain Planet. “Dangle!” “Conn Smythe!” “Snot Rocket!” “BEARD!” And light shoots into the middle from their rings and by their powers combined, they become the Eurotwins. Someone needs to get a hidden camera into the locker room to confirm this.


Villain: Teemu Selanne
Selanne found himself Kronwalled during the game and instead of taking it like a man, he went and whined to the media about the fact that there was no call on the play as well as the vast penalty disparity that he imagines goes in favor of the Wings. It would seem that every time the Ducks play the Wings, the Wings get all of the powerplays. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that his teammates are a bunch of goons and thugs. Cowboy up, little boy.

Final Thought:
Imagine if the Eurotwins keep going like this all season. Just take a moment and think about that. You're smiling, aren't you?

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 4-1-1

Ducks: 3-4-1

Hat Trick:
1. Round two with Anaheim. I'm guessing we don't see anything quite as dramatic as Datsyuk's Gordie Howe hat trick from opening night, but games against the Ducks always get me riled up.
2. Old friend Andreas Lilja makes his return to the Joe tonight.
3. TAWD sat out practice yesterday. Is he going to be able to play tonight or will he be hunting for kittens under the bleachers during the game? Or both?

Red Wing Zen:

Ruslan Salei

0-0-0 +/- -1, 12 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Todd Marchant

0-0-0 +/- -4, 4 PIM

Red Wings 4, Flames 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Right at the beginning of warmups, someone fired a shot that cracked one of the panes of glass behind the net. I was standing nearby, so I decided to indulge my photo-geeky tendencies and set up shop right behind it to see if I could get some artsy shots. It was nice to have something a little different than the standard warmup pictures I have a million of. My pictures from the night are on Photobucket, as always.
• There was a very drunk Canadian (I'm assuming he was Canadian) who was way more excited about his national anthem than anyone I've ever seen before.
• There was an odd mixture of colors in the stands tonight. There was a lot of pink in support of breast cancer awareness, but it just made me think that everyone let Homer do their laundry and he mixed the reds and whites (just like training camp). I even wore a pink tank top under my jersey so I could enter the raffle, though I had to borrow it from my mom's closet. I have no pink clothing.
• There were also numerous orange hats being worn in tribute to Kenny Rucker. I love that the organization turned his seat orange and honored him during the game. Little things like that make me love this team even more.
• Datsyuk made two gorgeous passes setting up Zetterberg's goal. It was classic Eurotwins beauty.
• How good was Jimmy Howard tonight? He made a ton of good saves and should've been the first star (Who chose those, anyway?).
• Nik Kronwall gave me a scare when he got taken down in the first period. He seemed to get up slowly and when he was back on his feet, he just kind of stood leaning over at the blue line without moving for 10 seconds or so. (That part got cut out on the FSD broadcast as it was zoomed in on the action.) Luckily, he turned out to be just fine.
• It was nice to see the powerplay convert when Lidstrom fired a shot from the blue line in for his first goal of the season. Even better was the play Datsyuk made to set up the goal.  I seem to remember yelling something along the lines of, "Holy dangle, Batman!" afterward.
• I spotted a pretty epic jersey foul during the first intermission. This lady was in line with a woman in a Mrs. Osgood jersey. T'was the Mrs. Ozzie jersey that first caught my eye, but as I whipped my camera out, I noticed the writing embroidered at the bottom of the Iginla jersey. Bonus foul points for spelling his first name wrong. It also inspired Lauren to create this maxi-jersey-dress/rodeo clown costume paying tribute to all of his middle names.
• I had absolutely no idea how Johan Franzen's goal ended up in the net until I got home and watched on the DVR. It was way down at the opposite end of the rink from where I was sitting and we really couldn't see on the scoreboard. It has to be one of the oddest goals I've seen in a long time. Dude banked the puck off the side of the goalie's head. How can anyone not be thrilled to have the Mule back?
• I got some strange looks for celebrating Bertuzzi's goal by screaming, “GLITTER!!!” and, “KITTENS!!!”
• During the third period, they did a trivia thing during a commercial break. One of the questions was something about how many Honda dealerships there are in the metro-Detroit area. The question was greeted with a round of boos that was way louder than any directed toward a Flames player. It made me laugh.
• I rode the People Mover back to Greektown after the game and it was naturally packed with Wings fans. We got a nice loud LGRW chant going for a while. After it died down, a Flames fan yelled, “Go, Flames, go!” One of the Wings fans responded by yelling, “Hey, who invited the flamer?” It was one of the more entertaining People Mover rides I've had.  Bonus points for it not ending with me getting stuck on the train, and running down the middle of the street through six inches of snow without a coat on back to my departure point.  Not that that's ever happened to me before or anything.

Hat Trick:
1. How's the powerplay going to shake out with the changes Babcock has been making in practice?
The powerplay went 1 for 5 on the night and looked like it had better puck movement in general. One of the final powerplays in the third period was pretty shaky and it seemed like Calgary had more chances than the Wings did, but other than that, I thought it looked better.

2. The Mule is back. This can only mean good things.
Good things like scoring the game-winning-goal? Oh yes.

3. How are the Wings going to look after the ridiculously absurd layoff between games? They always seem to look pretty meh after stretches like that. Also, since I missed Saturday's game, it's been a whole week since I saw a live hockey game. That's just way too long.
They got off to a sluggish start in the first period. Luckily, Howard came to play on time and kept the team in the game until the rest of the guys decided to wake up. I thought they got steadily better as time went on.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Dan Cleary: 0-0-0, +/- -2, 0 PIM
Cleary was on the ice for both goals that the Flames scored. He was a big part of the blown defensive coverage that led to Calgary's first goal. I've been a little disappointed with the whole third line so far.

Curtis Glencross: 0-2-2, +/- 2, 0 PIM
He seemed like he was all over the place tonight. He assisted on both of the Flames' goals and was part of some good scoring chances.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
The fact that he wasn't named the game's first star is borderline criminal.

Villain: Mikael Backlund
He scored both of Calgary's goals. Ouch.

Final Thought:
There really is no better way to watch a hockey game than sitting in Joe Louis Arena.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 3-1-1

Flames: 3-2-0

Hat Trick:
1. How's the powerplay going to shake out with the changes Babcock has been making in practice?
2. The Mule is back. This can only mean good things.
3. How are the Wings going to look after the ridiculously absurd layoff between games? They always seem to look pretty meh after stretches like that. Also, since I missed Saturday's game, it's been a whole week since I saw a live hockey game. That's just way too long.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Dan Cleary

1-1-2, +/- -1, 2 PIM

Curtis Glencross

1-0-1, +/- 1, 4 PIM

SSDD Caption Contest...

I'm going to start a weekly thing where I'm going to post one of the many awkward or goofy pictures that I take of Wings players and invite you, the reader, to caption them. I realize that this isn't exactly an original idea, but I figured I might as well put the thousands of pictures I've accumulated to good use and perhaps be amused in the process. I'm kicking it off today with a super-sized comic-book-style series of pictures. I shot these eight pictures of Ozzie talking to Jim Bedard and Thomas McCollum during training camp last month and I would love to know the story he was regaling them with (You know Ozzie doesn't just tell stories. He regales people with them. Think about it.). I suspect at least one of you crazies had the arena bugged, so I'm hoping you can tell me what was going on during this conversation.

You can either download the image and fill in the blanks below the pictures or just make a list numbering them 1-8. I'm also willing to email you the original pictures if that's more your style. Post a link or your list in the comments or email them to me at snipedangle [at] gmail [dot] com. Entries are due by 11:59 pm Eastern on October 25th.  The prize is a bunch of Red Wings goodies. As always, bring the funny.

Red Wings vs. Coyotes GP...

Red Wings: 2-1-1

Coyotes: 1-1-0

Hat Trick:
1. I want to see the Wings work on tightening up the defense. Even in their wins so far this season, it's looked too shaky at times.
2. Word on the street is that the Coyotes are having a hard time selling out their home opener. I'm shocked. I wonder how many of those in attendance will be Wings fans.
3. Can the Wings rebound from a terrible outing at Dallas and resemble the team we know they are?


I've Got My Eye on You:

Niklas Kronwall

1-0-1, +/- -2, 2 PIM

Eric Belanger

1-0-1 +/- -1, 2 PIM

I'll be roughing it in the wilderness this weekend, so I won't get to see the game.  Accordingly, there will be no recap later.  This is especially sad because the Wings don't play again until Thursday, at which point I'll have gone an entire week without seeing any Red Wing hockey (assuming you consider what we saw in the Dallas game to be Red Wing hockey).

Red Wings 1, Stars 4: Post Game Snipes...

• Well that was pretty ugly. I'm sure it's not exactly the way Mike Modano wanted to make his return to Dallas.
• It was a weird game in the sense that if you glanced at the stats in the box score, you'd probably think the Wings did a pretty good job. They vastly outshot the Stars, only took three penalties, and had plenty of powerplay chances. Those numbers don't tell the real story though.
• It was nice that the Stars honored Modano during the first commercial break. Of course, it would've been nice if they'd showed him a little more respect during the summer.
• The Wings took a penalty within the first minute of the game and allowed a goal seconds later. It pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night.
• The turnovers were coming fast and furious and the entire defense looked terrible.
• The Wings looked a little better in the third period, but that's not really saying much.
• Ozzie didn't look good, but you can't really pin this loss on him.
• My reaction to seeing Johan Franzen go down in the first went something like this: “NONONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!” It was nice that the elbow to the face he took went uncalled. Hopefully we get good news tomorrow, unlike the last October injury he had.
• Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, and Brad Stuart were all -3 tonight. Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg were both -2. Ouch.

Hat Trick:
1. I want to see a solid game from Ozzie.
Oy vay.

2. The Wings are done being paraded around like the Harlem Globetrotters for home openers now, right?
No, no they're not. It turns out that it's Phoenix's home opener on Saturday, too.

3. How will the crowd treat Mike Modano in his return to Dallas?
They treated him well and the standing ovation he got was quite nice.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Patrick Eaves: 0-0-0 +/-0, 0 PIM
Eaves had some shifts toward the end of the game and kept some pressure on the Dallas defense. He logged a lot of time on the penalty kill and did his job pretty effectively.

Tom Wandell: 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM
One of these times, I'm going to pick a guy who does something really notable that I can write about here. I'm just waiting for that to happen. I vaguely remember hearing Ken Daniels call his name and thinking, “hey, that's the guy I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on,” but then Nick Lidstrom made a turnover and I went all bug eyed with disbelief and confusion and that was the last time I noticed Wandell.

Hero: Jakub Kindl
He actually stood out as someone who looked good on the blueline. He definitely made some mistakes, but I like what I'm seeing from him.

Villain: Mark Fistric
He knocked Franzen out of the game with an elbow to the face without even taking a penalty. Those are some serious super-villain skills.

Final Thought:
It always amazes me how the entire team can seem so out of sync on the same night. I could understand one or two guys having off-nights at any given time, but the way the whole team can come out and sleepwalk through a game baffles me.

And Then There Was One...

Classic Kirk Maltby.

Kirk Maltby called it quits on Tuesday instead of spending the year in Grand Rapids, thus making Kris Draper the one remaining member of the famed Grind Line. We're one step closer to the end of an era. This makes me feel really old. Maltby's always been a favorite of mine. I really can't remember far enough back to a time when he wasn't part of the Wings' roster. As much as we loved watching him play, other teams hated facing him. I challenge you to find someone in the league who gave a better facewash than Maltby did. He'll go down as one of the legendary Wings not because of his goal-scoring prowess (though Mickey Redmond loved to remind fans how Maltby scored 50 goals in juniors back in the day), but because of his loyalty and dedication to winning. He was a team guy, and we were lucky to get to watch him for all these years.

I keep thinking back to last season when his perfectly-timed shoulder surgery happened to clear up just enough cap space to alleviate the Wings' crunch. I don't doubt that there was a problem with his shoulder, but I will always suspect that he probably could've held out until the off-season if the Wings hadn't had to fit under the cap. It stuck me then as the ultimate act of team loyalty and (as we all knew it would) that loyalty has been repaid with a scouting job in the organization. I love the way the Wings take care of their good soldiers.

Red Wings vs. Stars GP...

Red Wings: 2-0-1

Stars: 2-0-0

Hat Trick:
1. I want to see a solid game from Ozzie.
2. The Wings are done being paraded around like the Harlem Globetrotters for home openers now, right?
3. How will the crowd treat Mike Modano in his return to Dallas?


I've Got My Eye on You:

Patrick Eaves

1-0-1 +/- 1, 0 PIM

Tom Wandell

0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 5 (SO): Post Game Snipes...

• I missed almost half of the game again due to work. At least we get Versus (unlike FSD...ahem Dish Network) there so I got to glance at the game a little bit.
• I wasn't terribly impressed with what I saw. The Wings gave away a point tonight, and while I find that frustrating, there were several times last season when we would've been breathing a sigh of relief and saying, “thank god they at least picked up a loser point.”
• TAWD (the NHL's official pronunciation guide tells me that this is how his name should be pronounced and by golly I wouldn't want to offend Bertuzzi, so I'll probably never type Todd on this blog again) and the Mule seem to be clicking quite well. Franzen had a pair of pretty goals and seems to be well on his way to that breakout season we've been looking for from him. TAWD's actually been doing good work, meaning that someone in the organization finally found an adequate supply of kittens and glitter with which to stock the locker room.
• DUHG Janik got into a fight. He didn't do a very good job. The way it's been explained to me, you're supposed to hit your opponent in the face with your fists in those types of situations, and he really didn't manage to do that.
• Jimmy Howard looked surprisingly good in the shootout. It's a shame the Wings' shooters couldn't accomplish anything.
• Has anyone ever come up with an explanation for why Henrik Zetterberg is so bad at shootouts? I feel like he should be much, much better.
• Speaking of Z, I could've sworn the Versus announcer was calling him Zett-a-berg instead of Zett-er-berg. I don't know if I'm hearing things or if it was bothering other folks out there. I also thought I heard him describe Brad Stuart as a “flashing defenseman” so there's the possibility that I'm just losing my mind.
• I was thinking during the second intermission that the fourth line was the only one that hadn't scored a goal yet. Then Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves went and combined for a shorthanded goal in the third period. It was quite pretty.
• Pavel Datsyuk's goal was also rather nice.
• The best play I saw from the Wings came during overtime. I really thought they were going to put the puck in the net with the way they were buzzing. Alas, it wasn't meant to be and we were forced to endure the first Wings shootout of the season.
• My dad took that opportunity to insist that I should've aggressively sought out Mike Babcock when we were up at training camp to relay the message that he should have the Wings practice shootouts.  I'm sure that would've gone well.

Hat Trick (now containing a goal, an observation, and a question):
1. I want to see the powerplay make me smile.
It converted in the second period. You can't ask for much more than that. It would've been nice if the Wings had gotten more than one chance on it.

2. There's a good possibility that the combination of the Avs and Versus is going to make me stabby tonight.
Oh yes, stabbiness ensued. For some reason, Versus only comes in on the one TV that has the DVR hooked up to it. This means that the other three TVs I have access to in my house won't play it. However, the rest of the family was watching their recording of Glee instead of acting like civilized people who watch hockey and I was stuck watching a choppy feed on my laptop. None of this would've happened if we'd just been able to watch FSD.

3. The first game was headlined by the top line, and the second game by the second line. Who's going to lead the way tonight?
There was a pretty good mix tonight. There was a little bit of scoring from all over the forward lineup. It's interesting, though, that no defensemen have scored for the Wings yet.


I've Got My Eye on You:

Pavel Datsyuk: 1-0-1 +/- 0, 0 PIM
Pav's goal on the powerplay was quite nice.  He looked particularly good during overtime.  It's a pity he couldn't convert in the shootout.

Scott Hannan: 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM
The feed I was watching was too grainy and stilted to pick out much in the way of jersey names/numbers so I don't have anything to say about him. It was all I could do to keep track of the Wings out on the ice.

Hero: Johan Franzen
A two-goal night is usually enough to qualify for game hero status. I'm especially fond of the way he scored his second goal. (Yes, I copy/pasted that from the last recap. Why mess with perfection, right?)

Villain: Brandon Yip
You could pretty much see where the shootout was heading when none of the Wings' top guys could put the puck in the net. He sealed the deal by finally beating Jimmy Howard and thus reminding all of Hockeytown why we hate shootouts so much.

Final Thought:
I still hate the shootout.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche GP...

Red Wings: 2-0-0

Avalanche: 1-1-0

Hat Trick (now containing a goal, an observation, and a question):
1. I want to see the powerplay make me smile.
2. There's a good possibility that the combination of the Avs and Versus is going to make me stabby tonight.
3. The first game was headlined by the top line, and the second game by the second line. Who's going to lead the way tonight?

I've Got My Eye on You:

Pavel Datsyuk

1-1-2, +/- 2, 5 PIM

Pav stole the show on Friday night with his Gordie Howe hat trick for the ages. He's one of the few players who can guarantee you at least one “how did he DO that?!” moment per game. It's always fun to see what he has in store night after night.

Scott Hannan

0-0-0, +/- -3, 0 PIM

Hannan (ironically pictured in a Sharks uniform face-washing Peter Forsberg above) is a shut down defenseman who spent several seasons in San Jose before heading over to Colorado three seasons ago. He was apparently an all-star once, which I'm assuming is a little-known fact since I had no idea about it.

Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2: Post Game Snipes...

• I missed the entire first period and most of the second due to a combination of work (we're lucky enough to have Dish Network there) and birthday stuff for my bro. I'm probably never going to get to see the DVR recording of it due to the fact that the TV's been claimed for the rest of the day.
• The banner ceremony was ridiculously long. I was pretty happy about it though, because I was stuck at work and I would've missed way more of the game if it had actually started at 8:30. Instead, puck drop wasn't until 9:05 and I was able to get home during the first intermission.
• I arrived just in time to see Jiri Hudler's interview about returning to Detroit. Needless to say, the rest of the evening was spent quoting his, “I missed Ozzie...the most,” line with ever-longer awkward pauses. We even got to see the creepy tongue clucking thing he does with apparent BFF Ozzie after the game. I think having Hudler back makes up for the loss of Brett Lebda, especially since Huds has actual hockey talent.
• I was so glad that the Wings were able to spoil their party. I didn't realize just how much I wanted that until it was tied in the third period and I was
• I'm not sure why the review on Bertuzzi's goal took so long. It looked pretty cut and dry from what FSD was showing. I was starting to wonder if karma was going to even out for allowing Cleary's goal to stand on Friday.
• I was disappointed that I missed most of Kindl's season debut. I've been on the Nugget's bandwagon since training camp and I was excited to see him in the lineup last night. I was told that he looked solid, but I didn't really get to see enough of the game to tell.
• My first reaction to Filppula's game-winner wasn't to cheer or to clap or any of the normal goal celebrations. I just sat there and laughed. Welcome to the Marty Turco era, Blackhawk “fans.” It wasn't a shot on net. It wasn't even a pass. It was just an accident...that ended up in the net. I loved it.
• How about that second line, eh? Remember last December when the Hawks shut the Wings out twice in a row and they were feeling all high and mighty? The Wings' second line back then featured Ville Leino and high-scorers Justin Abdelkader and Drew Miller. Little bit different now, huh?
• How sad is it that when the Wings received their 5-on-3 powerplay in the third period, everyone watching the game began bracing for the inevitable makeup calls? There are days when I hate the NHL. Yet for some reason I keep coming back day after day after day.

Hat Trick:

1. Last night set a tone. Let's see if the Wings can follow through with it.
Starting out the season 2-0 is much better than last year when they went 0-2 in Sweden. Even better is the fact that I'm already having way more fun this season than I did at the start of the last one.

2. Ozzie's getting the start. This should be interesting.
I thought Ozzie looked pretty good from what I saw. He made some good saves in the third period and he made some key saves late in the game to preserve the Wings' lead.

3. Please, pretty please ruin the Blackhawks' banner night.
Mission accomplished. Now let's get down to the business of leaving them far behind in the Central Division.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Henrik Zetterberg: 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM
The whole top line seemed to have a quiet night last night, but that's the beauty of the kind of depth the Wings have.

Niklas Hjalmarsson: 0-0-0, +/- -1, 0 PIM
I really enjoy hearing Hjalmarsson's name called on the broadcast. I didn't get to watch much last night, so I can't really comment much beyond that.

Hero: Valtteri Filppula
A two-goal night is usually enough to qualify for game hero status. I'm especially fond of the way he scored his second goal.

Villain: Duncan Keith
He got away with a nasty elbow on Ruslan Salei during the second period.


Final Thought:
Boy was ruining their party ever fun.

Red Wings vs. Blackhawks GP...

Red Wings: 1-0-0

Blackhawks: 0-0-1

Three Things:

1. Last night set a tone. Let's see if the Wings can follow through with it.
2. Ozzie's getting the start. This should be interesting.
3. Please, pretty please ruin the Blackhawks' banner night.

Players to Watch:

Henrik Zetterberg

0-1-1, +/- 2, 2 PIM

Zetterberg will be leading the first line with renowned pugilist and fellow Eurotwin Pavel Datsyuk. I've been predicting a good season out of both of them, so here's hoping Z is still feeling feisty from last night.

Niklas Hjalmarsson

0-0-0, +/- -3, 0 PIM

I kind of find myself liking Hjalmarsson because of the fact that the offer sheet he signed with San Jose this summer caused the Hawks even more cap problems than they had before. It's possible that this makes him my favorite Blackhawk.

Red Wings 4, Ducks 0: Post Game Snipes...

• This was one of the most fun games I've ever been to. I went and bought a ticket last night on a whim and I'm so glad I did. It would've been more fun if I'd been sitting with the Commune, but the building may very well have exploded if we'd all been together for this. I think I'm going to make it a point to attend opening day from now on.
• Obviously, the big story is Pavel Datsyuk and his Gordie Howe hat trick. I kind of can't believe I witnessed that. Guess he's not taking home the Lady Byng this year.
• As much as I loved seeing him fight, I don't really want to see him do that again. It was a major relief that he didn't get hurt. As much as Corey Perry had it coming to him, it wouldn't have been worth it if the Wings had lost Datsyuk. Still though, the crowd chanting, “Datsyuk Datsyuk Datsyuk” as he was escorted to the penalty box was awesome. I love being at the Joe.
• There are some teams out there in the NHL that I can understand why their fans like them. I may not necessarily agree, but I can see why they might root for them. The Ducks are not one of those teams. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I was sitting near a Ducks fan at the Joe and I was really tempted to ask him that when things got ugly.
• I was also annoyed by the fans in the upper bowl who booed Ozzie when he was introduced before the game. Not cool.
• Jimmy answered all the sophomore slump worries by pitching a shutout in the first game. He had a pretty quiet evening, but he was there to make the saves that mattered.
• The Wings' first goal was quite pretty.
• Even better was getting to see Mike Modano's first goal as a Red Wing. The crowd was absolutely thrilled for him. You could tell it was more than just an average goal celebration in the stands.
• I was stunned when Dan Cleary's goal stood. As soon as the play happened, I figured it was no-goal, and based on the replays that were shown on the scoreboard at the Joe, I wouldn't have been particularly upset if the call on the ice had been upheld. Now that I've seen the replay on FSD, I'm even more shocked. Even Mickey Redmond didn't think it was a goal. Turns out that Toronto thought it was, “a good hockey goal.” Go figure.
• At one point during a commercial break, they had to replay a scoreboard marriage proposal because apparently the couple wasn't paying attention the first time it was shown. Nice.
• In the midst of all the good, I specifically remember some atrocious defensive zone turnovers by Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Filppula, and Kronwall. 
• They were playing Don't Stop Believin' during Brad Stuart's fight. Shouting along with the crowd during the fight was epic. Another awesome moment came when they played Buttercup late in the third. The crowd kept singing after they cut the music for the faceoff, and continued throughout the whole play until we were drowned out by Hey Jude at the next stoppage. It felt like a playoff game at the end there.
• God I hate the Ducks.

Three Things:

1. There's a clean slate tonight. It's a chance to start over and start the march toward what we hope is a celebration in June. Here's hoping the boys start off on the right foot.
I'd call that a heck of a start to the season. If only every game would turn out to be that much fun.

2. How long are the defensive pairings going to stand as they are now?
Well, Ericsson left the game in the second period with back spasms and will be replaced by Kindl tomorrow, so that kind of threw a wrench in things.

3. I still flinch every time the Wings play the Ducks out of fear that the elbows will start flying. Let's just try to get out of opening night uninjured.
Well they lost Ericsson, but it's hard to know exactly what messed his back up. Other than that, the Wings seemed to have survived intact.

Players to Watch:

Darren Helm: 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM
Helm had a pretty quiet night. He won some faceoffs and did some good work on the penalty kill, but I didn't notice him a whole lot.  He did get some rare powerplay time at the end.

Aaron Voros: N/A
Well I really screwed this one up. I chose a guy who didn't play. I'm off to a great start here at ye olde blog this season.

Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
I love that man.

Villain: Ryan Getzlaf/Corey Perry
I can't stand those two. Way to be classy.

Final Thought:
Real, meaningful Red Wings hockey at the Joe is a glorious sight. I think we're going to have more fun this year than we did last time around.

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Instead of writing a season preview, I decided to make some changes around these parts. I had hoped to completely redesign the site for the start of the new season, but I fell a little short. I'm still working on the background image, so SSDD's going to stay ugly for a little while longer until I can finish 'Shopping. I did, however, finally complete the banner I sketched out back in March or April. Naturally, I waited until the night before the Wings' season started to get going on it, but hey, procrastination happens.

I've decided to do away with the GP format I did last season. By the end of the year, it had gotten tedious and I realized that I hated writing them. Since I'm mostly here because I enjoy doing this, it was clear that I needed to make a change. I'll probably end up tweaking this a little here and there as I figure out what works and what's lame (and also because I came up with the idea in the middle of the night just now instead of planning it out during the long off-season). Anyway, welcome to the 2010-2011 Red Wings season. Let's just drop the puck already.

Red Wings: 0-0-0

Ducks: 0-0-0

Three Things (Questions, observations, predictions...who knows what's going to find its way into this section?):

1. There's a clean slate tonight. It's a chance to start over and start the march toward what we hope is a celebration in June. Here's hoping the boys start off on the right foot.
2. How long are the defensive pairings going to stand as they are now?
3. I still flinch every time the Wings play the Ducks out of fear that the elbows will start flying. Let's just try to get out of opening night uninjured.

Players to Watch (I'm going to randomly choose a player using a random number generator from each roster to highlight.):

Darren Helm

0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM

Everybody likes Darren Helm. There's not much more to say about him.

Aaron Voros

0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM

I know next to nothing about Voros, and I'm kind of okay with that. He's bounced around since breaking into the NHL and hasn't really established himself anywhere.  I'm going to do my best to find an awful picture of the opposing featured player to contrast with the implied awesomeness of the Wing's picture above.

2010-2011 Player Profiles: Henrik Zetterberg...

Hey, kids, guess what? Hockey's almost here. That means it's time for me to get back into this whole blogging thing that I've neglected during the off-season. Since I lack the creativity to come up with a new gimmick, I decided to continue the Player Profiles series I did last year leading up to the season. I'll be taking a look at a different player (almost) every day between now and when hockey starts. By my count, there are 2 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Henrik Zetterberg

2009-2010 Regular Season: 74 GP, 23-47-70, +/- 12, 26 PIM

2010 Playoffs: 12 GP, 7-8-15, +/- 11, 6 PIM

Season Highlight: The third period hat trick he scored against Anaheim in November.

Season Lowlight: Ruining part of my vacation when he was injured in December.

Like most of the team, Z had a bit of an off-year last season. His points were down, and he admitted to being mentally and physically tired. He got hurt during training camp and missed most of the pre-season and it seemed like he never quite got up to speed. Then he became a victim of the ridiculous December injury spree that resulted in half of the Wings' roster being filled by Griffins. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he was his usual dominant self and ended up posting the highest +/- of any NHL player despite only playing 12 games. Over the summer, he gave Wings fans everywhere an early Christmas gift by making everyone at his wedding dress up in ridiculous old-fashioned bathing suits.

One of the first things I noticed at training camp was the fact that Zetterberg looked like he was already in a groove out on the ice. Marriage must be treating him well, because he looked good out there right from day one. He's looked good throughout the pre-season as well. Having the extra long off-season and being reunited with fellow Eurotwin Datsyuk seem to have rejuvenated him. I think we're going to see a good season out of Z this year.

What he needs to do to make me smile: Keep doing that Eurotwin thing on the top line.

Red Wings Hospitality Commercial...

If you haven't seen this commercial that was posted on the Wings' facebook page, you're missing out big time.  It involves Johan Franzen spraying his pits with Febreeze, Pavel Datsyuk setting up mood lighting in the visiting locker room, and Chris Osgood vacuuming in full goalie gear.  And there's more.  Seriously, this killed me.  Killed. Me.

Go watch it here.  It will make your life.

Ritola Claimed Off Waivers...

Mattias Ritola is headed to Tampa Bay after he was claimed off of waivers. This vindicates my decision to skip him in my player profile series. Granted, that decision was made more out of laziness than any actual savvy, but it makes me feel good. I know there are some out there who are really disappointed to see him go, but I guess I don't really care that much.

I think the thing people are hung up on is letting go of Ritola's potential. But that's all it is right now: potential. He's got a lot of it, to be sure, but he failed to develop at the rate the Wings hoped and he was out of options. This pre-season was his chance to earn a spot on the roster, but he wasn't particularly impressive. Ken Holland chose to hang onto Patrick Eaves instead, and I think it's the right decision. It's always hard to give up players who show that potential to develop and you definitely don't want to mortgage the future for the moment (ahem, Toronto), but I think Eaves can be part of the Wings' future. He won over a lot of Wings fans last season with his play and his hustle and you can't deny the chemistry he had with Darren Helm. In a perfect world, I would've loved to have seen Ritola pass through waivers and spend time in Grand Rapids, but that's not the way things work.

2010-2011 Player Profiles: Brad Stuart...

Hey, kids, guess what? Hockey's almost here. That means it's time for me to get back into this whole blogging thing that I've neglected during the off-season. Since I lack the creativity to come up with a new gimmick, I decided to continue the Player Profiles series I did last year leading up to the season. I'll be taking a look at a different player (almost) every day between now and when hockey starts. By my count, there are 4 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Brad Stuart

2009-2010 Regular Season: 82 GP, 4-16-20, +/- -12, 22 PIM

2010 Playoffs: 12 GP, 2-4-6, +/- 6, 8 PIM

Season Highlight: The numerous goal line saves he made.

Season Lowlight: His -12 was pretty ugly.

Looking through the posts I wrote last year that mentioned Brad Stuart, almost every single one of them was in reference to a puck he scooped off of the goal line and cleared out of the crease, thus saving a sure goal. I think there was also one about a catastrophic turnover that led to a goal against. I'm not sure what any of that has to do with anything else, but I feel like it kind of sums things up.

This season, he's paired up with Brian Rafalski and I like the move a lot. I've already talked about that, though, so I won't bore you again. With Rafalski by his side and a healthier team all around, I don't see any reason why Stuart's numbers shouldn't improve, especially his +/-. I think he'll be a nice counter to Rafalski's more skilled game. As much fun as it was seeing him and Kronwall together on the more physical second defensive pairing, Mike Babcock's a smart man and I think we're going to see a good season from the defense all around (provided they look more interested in playing hockey than they did during the last pre-season game).


What he needs to do to make me smile: Make smart defensive plays.

TP:60 Season Premiere...

Check out the first episode of the re-branded TP:60 podcast.  Hollis, Petrella, Discher, and the Chief got together to kick off the new season with some hockey talk.  It's worth a listen just for the auto-tuned intro.

2010-2011 Player Profiles: Ruslan Salei...

Hey, kids, guess what? Hockey's almost here. That means it's time for me to get back into this whole blogging thing that I've neglected during the off-season. Since I lack the creativity to come up with a new gimmick, I decided to continue the Player Profiles series I did last year leading up to the season. I'll be taking a look at a different player (almost) every day between now and when hockey starts. By my count, there are 5 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Ruslan Salei

2009-2010 Regular Season: 14 GP, 1-5-6, +/- -1, 10 PIM

2010 Playoffs: 1 GP, 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM

Season Highlight: ?

Season Lowlight: Sitting out most of the season. Also, playing for Colorado.

When I read about Salei's signing, I was kind of meh about it. I didn't really care one way or another. Now, after seeing him at training camp and in the pre-season, I think we're looking at yet another steal by Kenny Holland. He looks solid out there. He's making good decisions with the puck and provides a steady veteran presence on the third pairing that can hopefully counter Jonathan Ericsson's mistakes.

I think he's exactly the kind of guy the Wings need on the third pairing. If he can stay healthy, he's going to turn out to be a good, solid acquisition. He's not flashy and he's not going to dazzle anyone, but that's not his role. He's going to eat up minutes and be a defensive presence that will hopefully rub off on Ericsson or, down the road, Jakub Kindl.

What he needs to do to make me smile: Be smart with the puck.

2010-2011 Player Profiles: Brian Rafalski...

Hey, kids, guess what? Hockey's almost here. That means it's time for me to get back into this whole blogging thing that I've neglected during the off-season. Since I lack the creativity to come up with a new gimmick, I decided to continue the Player Profiles series I did last year leading up to the season. I'll be taking a look at a different player (almost) every day between now and when hockey starts. By my count, there are 7 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Brian Rafalski

2009-2010 Regular Season: 78 GP, 8-34-42, +/- 23, 26 PIM

2010 Playoffs: 12 GP, 3-8-11, +/- 4, 2 PIM

Season Highlight: Olympic Rafalski.

Season Lowlight: The turnover leading to the game-winning goal in Game 5 vs. San Jose.

Rafalski's high point of the season was pretty obviously during the Olympics. When he put on that Team USA jersey, he seemed to flourish and played the best hockey I've seen out of him. I think we'd all like to see a return to his Olympic form this season.

He's slated to start the season on the second pairing with Brad Stuart, and I'm excited about the idea. When I first read about it, I thought it was stupid, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. I know I've said it before, but the theory is that he's “the guy” on the second pairing and he'll step up the way he did when he was “the guy” on the Team USA blueline. The fact that he's already taken maintenance days and had his knee drained are somewhat concerning, but we're used to Rafalski dealing with old man injuries.

What he needs to do to make me smile: Show some of those flashes of brilliance we got to enjoy when he was America's hero.