Red Wings vs. Coyotes Game One GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Coyotes 0

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

• Turnovers—Defense killed the Wings during the last half of the season. Figuring out this issue will make life much easier for the Wings (and their fans).
• Intensity—Which team will come out flying? Can the Wings “flip the switch” to start the playoffs after floating through the end of the regular season? Game One is huge in terms of setting the tone of the series, but you knew that already.
• Goaltending—Jimmy Howard's been hung out to dry far too often. He needs to step it up and give the Wings a solid backstop. Especially since the only other alternative at the moment is Joey MacDonald.

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

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

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Twenty-two...

Caption Mondays: Jeffy Neuie won for the second week in a row.

Ref: That's it! No more hockey until you clean this ice up!

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill managed to continue his impressive trivia run.

This week's question: Who was the most recent Red Wings goalie to lead the league in regular season goals against average?

The Answer: Chris Osgood led the league with a 2.09 GAA in the 2007-08 season. That year, he and Dominik Hasek combined to win the Jennings Trophy. Prior to Ozzie, the last Wings goalie to lead the league in GAA was Terry Sawchuck. Pretty good company, eh?

Caption Mondays Volume 22...

What are the guys saying as they watch Pavel Datsyuk's fight in the season opener?

Red Wings 4, Maple Leafs 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Hey, look, I'm actually writing a game recap! This one comes to you courtesy of the fact that I have to work in the morning and had to skip a night out with my roomies. And also my rage over the Lupul goal/Howard's injury. It's always nice to put a good rant down on paper (or, you know, the internet) every once in a while.
• The first was one of the best periods I've seen the Wings play in a while. Passes were crisp. Their puck possession was dominant. Even though it ended tied at one, the Wings looked to be in control.
• The second was a little rockier, and the Wings found themselves in penalty trouble toward the end.
• They took a 2-1 lead into the premature intermission thanks to a classic Homer deflection in front of the net. How sad is it that his first reaction to the goal was to look over at the ref to make sure he wasn't going to wave it off?
• Since Dion Phaneuf's shot broke a pane of glass during a Toronto powerplay with a couple of minutes left in the second, the teams took intermission early to avoid a long delay. This kind of played in Toronto's favor since they got clean ice for the second half of their powerplay, but it ended up not mattering. The Wings took another penalty right before the carryover time wound down anyway.
• The real disaster came in the third period when Jimmy Howard went down with an injury. I've got some ranting to do about the ensuing goal, but I'd happily spot the Leafs ten such goals if it meant that Jimmy finished the game healthy. All this talk of the Baby Pegger (who, despite being my favorite goalie prospect for his Training Camp snipe, I have absolutely no desire to see in a Wings uniform right now) possibly being called up has me in full RSV mode.
• Just to be clear, in the NHL, this is not a goal, but this is. Listen, I like to think I'm a pretty smart lady, but I once again find myself confounded by events in an NHL game. I fail to see how a goal can be called back one night because a goalie initiated contact with a skater who was outside of the crease because of “incidental contact,” and then a few nights later, have a goal stand when a player bumped into the goalie in the crease and proceeded to fall on his back, pinning him to the ice. Take the jerseys the players are wearing out of the question. Only in the NHL does this make sense. Or at least we're supposed to think it makes sense. Or something. I'm not sure anyone really gets it.
• Luckily for the Wings (and my sanity), Jiri Hudler put them back in the lead for good with a quick shot off of a rush.  Check out this picture of his celebration at your own risk.
• Justin Abdelkader was all over the ice tonight. He must've had at least thirty brilliant chances. He didn't finish any of them, but it was a nice effort. Plus, he got into a fight after a big hit on Rafalski, which was also nice to see.
• It looks like Rafalski got lucky after the hit, as his knee brace protected him. It looked pretty bad at first though. I would've been pretty happy if that was the scariest moment of the game. Now that the playoffs are approaching, I'm becoming increasingly paranoid.
• Nick Lidstrom broke up a great scoring chance for the Leafs with a brilliant defensive play. You know, just another day at the rink for him. Sorry, boys, he's just better than you. It's not mean; it's just a fact. Please never leave us, Nick.
• On the other end of the defensive spectrum, Brett Lebda played exactly as you would expect Brett Lebda to play.  How's that Stanley Cup experience treating you now?
• Hey Maple Leafs fans: Todd Bertuzzi's empty net goal effectively ended your team's slight playoff hopes. TAWD Bertuzzi. Hahahaha. Snack on that for lunch.

Hero: Joey MacDonald
He's been astoundingly solid in his last few games, and performed admirably after taking over for Jimmy in the third. I still don't like it one bit, but I guess it does offer some glimmer of hope.

Villain: Joffrey Lupul
Bet you saw that coming, eh?

Final Thought:
This injury nonsense is making my annual post-season nervous tics come early this year.

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Twenty...

Caption Mondays: Sara Neuie took back the Caption Mondays title this week.

Hobo: Ugh, this whole hockey thing is hard work, no wonder my hair is always sweaty.
Rig: I wish Eaves wouldn't stand so close to me, he's distracting the girls from my prettiness.
Raffy: Pfffffb *pretends he has awesome hair like Rig and Hobo*

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill also continued his trivia dominance.

This week's question: Which Red Wing has recorded the most career All Star Game points?

The Answer: Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe tallied 19 points in his 23 All Star Game appearances.

Caption Mondays Volume 20...

The guys do not look like happy campers here.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 39-19-8

Kings: 36-25-5

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

4-33-37, +/- 14, 18 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Dustin Brown

21-23-44, +/- 17, 59 PIM

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

• This one's going to be brief since I have to wake up insanely early to hit the road tomorrow morning.
• Jimmy has me worried.
• When did Darren Helm learn how to finish? I'm liking it.
• I was stunned to find out that Rafalski hadn't scored a goal until tonight. He scored on two long shots that probably should've been saved, but I'll take whatever I can get.
• Ken Daniels credited Helm with a “Datsyukian deke.” Little brother was excited because it had been a long time since he'd heard that. Evidently it made his day.
• How about that backcheck from Tomas Tatar to keep the game tied in the third?
• On the same play, Stuart fell victim to a nasty headshot that only went down as “roughing.” Yeah, right. It was from the blindside, he was vulnerable, the head was targeted, and there was an injury on the play. Am I missing anything? This is the kind of hit the NHL's supposedly trying to crack down on. I would imagine that it'll be looked at by Colin Campbell tomorrow.
• That penalty kill during OT was phenomenal. I'm not normally one to hope for shootouts, but in that case, it was better than the other likely outcome.
• I'm not used to this whole winning shootouts thing. It's a bit confusing.
• Why is Z so BAD at the shootout?  I really feel like he should be better.

Hero: Brian Rafalski
He picked up his first two goals of the season tonight.

Villain: Tom Kostopoulos
He laid a textbook headshot on Stuart and lucked out with only a 2-minute roughing penalty.

Final Thought:
I'm going to be offline for a little while as I get settled into my new digs. I have no idea how often I'm going to be able to watch games for the rest of the season. I'll be keeping up with captions, trivia, and GPs, but recaps may be few and far between. It's hard to tell at this point.

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Nine...

Here's your belated weekly wrap-up. I hope everyone's holidays were fantastic.

Caption Mondays: Sara Neuie wins this week by making sense of the chaos going on on the Wings' bench during the stoppage in play.

Homer: For sure! I totally catch Nick belting out Dancing Queen when I was, eh, at his house last night! He was, eh, dancings too.
Stuart: For real? Dude, that's worse than when Kronner stopped by while I was watching Finding Nemo... What? It's a good movie!
Ericsson: You really think it will work?
McCrimmon: I'm telling you, just be yourself and the other kids out there will love you. And bringing in homemade Swedish meatballs never hurt anybody...
Rafalski: This score concerns me. Not as much as the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan, but still pretty troubling. *sigh* I wonder what my wife made for dinner?

Trivia Tuesdays: Clark's on a roll. He won this week again.

This week's question: What was the last season in which a Red Wing led the NHL in scoring? Who was it?

The Answer: Gordie Howe led the league in points in the 1962-63 season. He had 38 goals and 48 assists in 70 games.

Caption Mondays Volume 9...

This one was taken during the third period of that awful 5-0 loss to the Kings.  What are the guys chatting about here?

Red Wings vs. Sharks GP...

Red Wings: 15-4-2

Sharks: 11-7-4

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

0-10-10, +/- 3, 2 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Joe McCarthy

2-2-4, +/- 0, 6 PIM

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 12-3-1

Wild: 9-6-2

1. The Minnesota Wild bore me. I know that's not nice, but I'm pretty sure everybody but Minnesota fans agree with me.
2. The powerplay had a bit of a resurgence during the third period last game. I'm hoping that'll be a spark that gets them going. Babcock is mixing up the units for tonight, so maybe they'll start to build some momentum.
3. I want to see the top line get going again like they were at the start of the season. Will they be able to get back to dominance against a weaker Wild team tonight?

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

0-6-6, +/- 8, 2 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Cal Clutterbuck

6-0-6, +/- -2, 16 PIM

Red Wings 6, Oilers 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Well, that was fun. The Wings started the game flying like bullets downtown (har dee har har) and never gave Edmonton a chance to get going. This was one of those wins where you sit back and relax because, well, the Wings are going to win. It's kind of the equivalent of putting your car in cruise control on the highway.
• I think Mickey Redmond said, “hot to trot,” at the beginning of the game. I have no idea what it means, but it sounds terrible.
• The clips of players thanking the veterans were nice, but incredibly awkward. My favorite was Jimmy Howard's. The sideways glance at the end sealed it.
• Hey, Jiri Hudler, welcome back to the NHL. How was Russia?
• You know what I liked about most of the goals the Wings scored tonight? They were ugly goals. They were scored from close range with traffic in front of the net. The Wings have a tendency sometimes to try to get too cute and make the highlight reel fancy pants plays, but goals like the ones from tonight win playoff games.
• Dan Cleary is the frontrunner for the title of Most Improved Over Last Season on the Wings.
• Bertuzzi's play to set up Cleary's second goal was impressive. Didn't Chris Chelios switch his hands on the stick like that on the point from time to time? I'm not sure I've ever seen it actually result in a goal, though.
• Penalty shots make for great drama, but when you have a great offensive team like the Wings, it almost seems like a waste.
• Immediately before Franzen scored I was telling my friend that he'd been stuck on goal number 99 for a while and that if he scored, he was liable to go on a tear. As soon as I finished talking, he swatted the puck into the net. You could kind of sense that he was going to do something good tonight. He was flying right from the start.
• Tomas Holmstrom was doing his usual Homer thing in front of the net tonight.  He was rewarded with a pair of goals.  
• I find it oddly amusing when Pavel Datsyuk hits people. I don't even know why. It just makes me laugh for some reason. I kept rewinding the part where he knocked Dustin Penner down over and over again on the DVR.

1. The Edmonton Sun posted a game preview article that featured this as the intro: “Welcome to Detroit, where the forecast, as always, is muggy, with a chance of murder. When you’re trying to breathe a little life back into your year, this is not the place to visit. And not just because they use more white chalk at crime scenes than they ever did in the schools.” There's nothing like a good old knee-slapping murder joke to introduce an article about hockey. I hope the Wings live up to their billing in the article and dominate Edmonton like they did last week.
I spent the evening downtown (although sadly not at the game), and the only thing I saw outlined in chalk was the Oilers' season (see what I did there?). Okay, to be fair, there was also a chalkboard at Astoria, so I guess there were things outlined there. I'm pretty sure the chalk was yellow, although I'll be the first to admit that I was a little distracted by the delicious and fattening (for you, Neuie) baked goods.

2. Mike Babcock was shuffling lines in practice yesterday. Will changing things up help spark things?
I'd say that six goals counts as a spark.

3. Brian Rafalski's return made an immediate impact on Monday. How will he look in his second game back?
The defense didn't really have a whole lot to do tonight. Rafalski was just fine.

Hero: Dan Cleary
That dude has been on fire.

Villain: Dustin Penner
It was hard to pick a villain for this one. There really wasn't a whole lot of hockey-related stuff to hate on. I went with Penner for breaking the shutout and netting the Oilers' first goal.

Final Thought:
This is totally unrelated to hockey, but after we ate dinner downtown, my friend and I were standing on the edge of the street waiting for traffic to clear. A helpful homeless man saw us waiting and decided to assist us in crossing the street by jumping in front of a bus and telling it to stop. I really thought the bus was going to run him over and was actually reaching for my phone in case I needed to call 911. The bus managed to stop, and the guy stood there in front of it waving us across the street. We were quite content to just wait for the crossing signal, but he insisted that we cross and we obliged since he had just had a near-death experience in order to get us on our way. According to him, he runs this whole town, so it was no problem.  Just another day in Detroit.

Red Wings vs. Oilers GP...

Red Wings: 9-3-1

Oilers : 4-7-2

1. The Edmonton Sun posted a game preview article that featured this as the intro: “Welcome to Detroit, where the forecast, as always, is muggy, with a chance of murder. When you’re trying to breathe a little life back into your year, this is not the place to visit. And not just because they use more white chalk at crime scenes than they ever did in the schools.” There's nothing like a good old knee-slapping murder joke to introduce an article about hockey. I hope the Wings live up to their billing in the article and dominate Edmonton like they did last week.
2. Mike Babcock was shuffling lines in practice yesterday. Will changing things up help spark things?
3. Brian Rafalski's return made an immediate impact on Monday. How will he look in his second game back?

Red Wing Zen:

Ruslan Salei

0-3-3, +/-2, 22 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Nikolai Khabibulin

4-7-1, 3.42 GAA, .896 SV%

Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• I don't know what the first period looked like. I also don't know what all but the final 1:22 of the second period looked like. Why? Nobody's been able to explain that to me. Somehow, the recording that I had set to begin at 7:30 didn't begin until 9:06.
• I'm told that the first two periods weren't that exciting anyway, so maybe it's better that I only got to watch the third period. Sadly, I also missed overtime for other DVR failure-related reasons.
• What I did get to see of the third period looked like solid Red Wings hockey. The Wings were carrying the play to the Coyotes and playing their standard puck-possession game.
• You know what Justin Abdelkader has done since coming back into the lineup? He's made those around him better.
• You know what Jiri Hudler has done? Nothing.
• How nice was it to see Rafalski back in the lineup?
• Zetterberg's overtime tip-in was beautiful hockey.

1. We get to see how the Wings bounce back from a less-than-stellar performance in Vancouver on Saturday tonight.
They definitely looked better in the portion of the game that I got to see. It's hard to make an assessment based on such a small sample, though.

2. How about playing a little defense tonight?
There were more turnovers than I would've liked to have seen during the third period, but it was a much improved effort over Saturday night.

3. The Wings dropped their last game against the Coyotes, so here's hoping they find a way to solve Bryzgalov this time around.
It was indeed a much happier outcome than the last time around.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
He came through with the winner in OT. Not only was it a pretty tip-in, but it also ensured that we wouldn't have to witness a shootout tonight.

Villain: Lee Stempniak
I still haven't witnessed the Jimmy Howard writhing in pain incident, but perhaps that's for the best. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous. And stabby.

Final Thought:
Have you ever ordered a Coke in a restaurant and gotten served a root beer? That's what it feels like to come home, sit down on the couch, and prop your feet up expecting to watch your recording of a hockey game only to discover that someone decided that you shouldn't be able to watch the Red Wings that night.

Red Wings 2, Flames 1: Post Game Snipes...

• I'm still baffled by the high-sticking penalty that Dan Cleary drew in the first period. There wasn't a call. Then there was a call. Then the wrong guy was in the box. Then everything worked out the way it was supposed to and benefited the Wings. It doesn't quite compute. I blame Brad Watson.
• Modano finally picked up goal #2 as a Wing. The whole third line had a really good night tonight. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out when Hudler's back in the lineup on Friday.
• The penalty kill looked phenomenal tonight. The powerplay...not so much. The Wings need Rafalski back.
• Modano and Abdelkader scored on almost the exact same shot.
• Salei's high-sticking penalty near the end of the third was definitely a penalty. What I didn't understand was the fact that there was no call when his leg was taken out from underneath him from behind. Seems to me that if that hadn't happened, there wouldn't have been a high stick.

Hat Trick:
1. The Wings kick off a roadtrip out west tonight in Calgary. Here's hoping they get off on the right foot.
It was a solid effort tonight. I feel like the score was closer than the game was.  The Wings looked good and the Flames never really seemed to get anything going.

2. Jimmy Howard's back from his brief back spasm-y hiatus. How will he look in his return?
He looked great. He didn't seem to miss a beat at all. So far this season, Jimmy's been easing everyone's minds.

3. Also making his return is everyone's favorite defenseman, Jonathan Ericsson. Will he make a case to stay in the lineup when Rafalski returns, or is Kindl going to step up and steal a spot?
I didn't really notice either of them tonight. For mistake-prone, young defensemen, that's definitely a plus.

Hero: Dan Cleary
Cleary was everywhere tonight. Everywhere. I was sure he was going to score with the way he was playing, but he settled for an assist on Modano's goal.

Villain: Mark Giordano
he scored Calgary's lone goal to put them ahead in the first period.

Final Thought:
Murph gurgle. Tell me that didn't just give you the heebie jeebies.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 6-2-1

Flames: 6-5-0

1. The Wings kick off a roadtrip out west tonight in Calgary. Here's hoping they get off on the right foot.
2. Jimmy Howard's back from his brief back spasm-y hiatus. How will he look in his return?
3. Also making his return is everyone's favorite defenseman, Jonathan Ericsson. Will he make a case to stay in the lineup when Rafalski returns, or is Kindl going to step up and steal a spot?

Red Wing Zen:

Todd Bertuzzi

2-7-9, +/- 6, 6 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Matt Stajan

1-7-8, +/- 1, 2 PIM

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.

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.

2010-2011 Player Profiles: Nicklas Lidstrom...

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 12 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Nicklas Lidstrom

2009-2010 Regular Season: 82 GP, 9-40-9, +/- 22, 24 PIM

2010 Playoffs: 12 GP, 4-6-10, +/- 7, 2 PIM

Season Highlight: Scoring his 1,000th career point with an assist on a textbook tip-in by Henrik Zetterberg.

Season Lowlight: His goal drought that seemed to last for an eternity.

Lidstrom's numbers suffered a little bit last season, and it spurred talk from the national media about an imagined decline into mediocrity for TPH. Those of us who watch him play night in and night out know better, though. Through all of the Wings' injuries and struggles, he managed to anchor the blueline and keep things in order. Folks like to point out that his offensive output dipped significantly, but those numbers don't take into account the fact that he was the one holding things together during the darkest days of the injury plague. Re-signing him this summer was essential and it makes the Wings a legitimate contender again.

Watching him at training camp this year was fascinating because it's fairly obvious even in drills that he's head and shoulders above the rest of the defensemen. He's still got plenty of good hockey left in him. He and Brian Rafalski have been split up to start the season, and so far Lidstrom has looked good with new partner Kronwall. Then again, he's TPH and there's really nobody he doesn't look good with. Expect more of the same brilliance from him this season. I don't care what the Norris voters say, there still isn't anyone better out there on the blueline than Lidstrom. At camp, we were disappointed to see that he and the Circus line were on the same team because we wanted to see him go head-to-head with the Eurotwins. The consensus was that he was the only defenseman in the NHL that we would trust to be out there marking Datsyuk.

What he needs to do to make me smile: Keep being perfect.