Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 5-4-0

Wild: 4-3-3

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings 5, Senators 3: Post Game Snipes...

• How great did it feel to drop the puck on the new season? Birds were singing, there were rainbows, and unicorns frolicked in my living room. Actually, that's a lie. It was pouring outside and I was trying to clean pizza sauce off of the couch when the game started, but that's how I felt in my mind.
• I pretty much love Budd Lynch. His voice makes me happy. Sometimes I wonder if the players slip him cash to mispronounce their buddies' names as a joke. That's what I'd do if I was a hockey player, anyway. Either way, I love it.
• I think Ozzie's officially the most beloved goaltending coach of all time, judging by his introduction tonight.
• The pre-game ceremony with Brad McCrimmon's family was nice. It was super sweet (and a little heartbreaking) when his son put on the jersey that he was presented.
• If I had to predict which one of the Wings would give the most awkward hugs, I'd choose Pavel Datsyuk.
• It's a good thing that they switched to those low-energy goal lights at the Joe before the opener what with the Wings scoring five goals and all.
• I know some people want to panic about the three goals that the Wings gave up towards the end of the game, but I'd like them to take a deep breath and a chill pill (yeah, I actually used that phrase). They let up on a big lead late in the game against a lousy team. Of course, in an ideal world, the team would be absolutely flying for every minute of every game, but that would only be realistic if they were all robots. Nick Lidstrom aside, that's just not the case. Let's wait and see for a few more games before we start hyperventilating, ok?
• Speaking of Lidstrom, Datsyuk's apparently been teaching some of his dangling tricks. He pulled a nice move waltzing in on Anderson for his goal.
• Cory Emmerton is evidently the first Red Wing in possession of a Twitter account to score a goal in an NHL game. Because you needed to know that.
• I liked pretty much everything about Bert's goal.
• So how about those special teams, eh?
• We're only one game in, but consider me sold on the Ian White signing. He was impressive all night. I will, however, continue to call him Not-Kirk-Maltby until further notice because I don't handle change very well. That's what happens when you take over the number of one of my childhood icons.
• Please, pretty please let Hudler continue doing what he did tonight all season long.

Final Thought:
There is nothing worse than spending the hockey off-season in Florida. I'd take a never-ending Michigan winter with permanent hockey season over four hockey-less months in this live-in oven.

Kris Draper Calls it a Career...

This has been kind of a rough summer for Wings fans. Sure we all breathed a huge sigh of relief when Lidstrom announced that he'll be returning for another season, but we've now dealt with three retirement announcements. At this point, I'm just wondering which of my childhood icons will be hanging up his skates next week.

I never quite got around to writing about Ozzie last week. His announcement came in the middle of a crazy work week that was followed by a long weekend visiting home. I did at least crack open a Pepsi in his honor as I sat at my desk reading the text updates from his conference call. I'm going to miss that guy. He's never gotten the respect he deserves, and that's a shame. If things go as they should, though, he'll end up with his name in the Hall of Fame at some point.

Draper's retirement hit me the hardest of the three we've seen this summer. I'm not really okay with the fact that the entire Grind Line is now retired. I really got into hockey during what I like to call the Glory Years, and those guys were a huge part of that. Obviously I don't know what it's like to be a fan of another team, but I can't imagine another town that loves its blue collar guys like we do here in Hockeytown. Draper never had the kind of stats that his teammates did over the years, but he'll go down as one of the Wings' legends anyway. He was always one of those players who was just so “Detroit” that fans couldn't help but love him. How can you not like a guy who works as hard as he did every single game? He never had those shifts where it looked like he was just going through the motions like you see from some other players around the league. Every time he hopped over the boards, he was going full speed ahead, doing the dirty work, driving opponents crazy, and kicking the Wings into gear when they needed it. And he was almost always grinning. You can't put a value on that, but I promise you that it's more than a dollar.

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?

Red Wings vs. Stars GP...

Red Wings: 37-17-6

Stars: 31-23-6

Red Wing Zen:

Chris Osgood

5-3-2, .903 SV%, 2.77 GAA

Point and Laugh:

Jason Williams (Who?)

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

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Sixteen...

Caption Mondays: Crater had my favorite this week.

“Happy 400th win Ozzie!" *Kiss*

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill takes home this week's non-existent prize.

This week's question: Who was the first Wing to record 100 points in a season? What year did he do it?

The Answer: Gordie Howe tallied his 100th point of the season on March 30, 1969. He finished with 103 points in 76 games that year.

Caption Mondays Volume 16...

Caption Monday returns this week after a laziness-induced hiatus.  Since it's Valentine's Day, I decided to go with this charming picture of Ozzie and Piet Van Zant sharing a moment.

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Thirteen...

Caption Mondays: Someone with the unusual name “Anonymous” (Is that French?) won this week.

Osgood: Did you drug my Pepsi?
Bert: Don't worry, it will keep you focused.

Trivia Tuesdays: TimFill got the answer this week.

This week's question: Which player has the most all-star game penalty minutes in Wings history?

The Answer: Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe racked up 25 penalty minutes in 23 all-star appearances.

Caption Mondays Volume 13...

What are Bert and Ozzie up to here?

Red Wings 5, Oilers 3: Post Game Snipes...

• The fourth line was buzzing tonight. It paid off with goals from Darren Helm and Kris Draper.
• I barely noticed the top line except for a couple of shifts in the third period.
• Ozzie played great until he gave up that weak tying goal. In other words, you could say that it was a typical Chris Osgood game.
• I had my fingers crossed that Ken Daniels would say, “Petry dishes...,” when describing a pass by the Oilers' Petry. Alas, he did not. I'm a total nerd.
• Franzen did his best Brad Stuart impersonation and scooped a puck off of the goal line on a fluky play when the puck popped up in the air and landed behind Ozzie. How close was it to going in? Close enough to fool the spotlight operator into prematurely starting a celebration.
• I hate the jump-into-the-boards goal celebration. I keep hoping for the day when I get to witness someone go right through the glass live. I don't know about you, but when I'm happy, my first instinct is not to propel myself into walls.
• It was another 3 GAA game for the Wings.  I spent some time looking at goalie stats this afternoon, and they're not looking pretty lately.

Hero: Todd Bertuzzi
He came through with two goals after seemingly going ages since his last tally.

Villain: Ales Hemsky
Because he picked up two assists and I still haven't gotten over 2006.

Final Thought:
I was really hoping for Tuzzifries at the end. What gives, Todd?

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

• Another year, another “Oh look, the Wings showed up to play one period of hockey” recap.
• Someone yelled at Filppula on the twitters shortly before he scored his goal. I can't remember who it was, but it was excellent work.
• You know who's playing good hockey right now? Henrik Zetterberg. Not that that's unusual, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
• Raise your hand if you were shocked to see Ozzie out there at the start of the third. I was.
• Somewhere partway through that game in Colorado, the Old Man found his mojo and has looked good ever since.
• Ozzie was able to completely relearn his goaltending technique a few years ago, but he seems unable to figure out the trapezoid rule. In his defense, it's a really stupid rule, but it's not like it's new anymore
• The 5-on-3 powerplay the Wings had in the first period was one of the worst 5-on-3s I've ever seen. They barely even got the puck over Philly's blue line.
• Mule couldn't have bought a goal tonight with his entire season's salary.
• I didn't see exactly what happened to Brad Stuart when he went down. At first, I thought he took the puck in the face. While getting nailed in the back of the head isn't great, it's probably better than the face. They never showed a replay at the Joe, so I was left diving for my phone to check my always-reliable Twitter feed to find out what happened.
• Because we bought tickets so late, our seats weren't together, so we “upgraded” during the first intermission. We befriended some Flyers fans who had evidently staked out the same row of seats. Even though they were rooting for the wrong team, they were nice and knew hockey. It was more than I could say for the two obnoxious Wings fans near us who we were secretly hoping would fall down the stairs.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
He's been great over the last few games as he took on a much bigger load with Datsyuk's absence. I hope he keeps his roll going and that his wonky back holds up.

Villain: Daniel Carcillo
For scoring a goal and being Daniel Carcillo.

Final Thought:
I miss Pavel Datsyuk...the most.

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 3 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• First of all: congrats to the old man on win #400 tonight. You kids stay off his lawn now, you hear?
• This game was a tale of two Ozzies. The second goal he gave up in the first period was incredibly typical of his play for the last two seasons. Then, he somehow found another gear and played like a crazy man for the rest of the game, looking like he did back in the '09 playoffs.
• I loved the celebration after the game. I especially loved the fact that Draper was the first one out to congratulate the old man.
• As those of you in the twitter crowd know, Jenn Ho caught Ozzie drinking a Pepsi during practice on the first day of training camp this fall. I don't think it's a coincidence that he played like that in the Pepsi Center.
• So that Jiri Hudler guy scored a goal. I'm not sure what's up with that.
• During an interview, he referred to Tomas Holmstrom as a “Swedish Terminator.” I loved it. I loved it a lot.
• How about the powerplay tonight? It was absolutely lethal.
• Did the Wings even touch the puck during the second period? It's been a while since I've seen them get worked over like that. Ozzie absolutely stole the game for them during that stretch. He was especially spectacular during the 5-on-3 kill.
• Toward the end of the game, the Wings fans in attendance got a couple of, “Ozzie! Ozzie!” chants going. I want to track each and every one of them down and hug them. Way to represent Hockeytown.
• That late-game tying goal was oh-so-reminiscent of the game against Dallas. I was crushed. I was sure the Wings were going to blow it for Ozzie. Luckily, the Wings got a powerplay late in OT and were able to salvage the victory for him.
• I'm not normally one to talk to my TV and try to vicariously coach the players (the playoffs being the obvious and understandable exception, of course), but this game had me mumbling things about shooting lanes and making shots count during OT.
• Jan Mursak wasn't terribly noticeable, which is good for a rookie making his NHL debut. The one thing (other than the penalty he took) that stood out was when he hustled back to negate a break for the Avs. It was a small play, but it stood out in my mind.
• How many times over the course of your Wings fandom has there been an odd-man rush against the Wings that's caused you to panic until that glorious moment when you realize that Nick Lidstrom is the man back? As soon as you see TPH back there, it seems like the odds are suddenly stacked in the Wings' favor, despite being outnumbered on the rush. Please don't ever leave us, Nick.

Hero: Chris Osgood
The old man stole the show tonight. It would've been good form to make him the hero on the night of his 400th win as a congratulatory measure, but this honor (Oh look, I've gone and developed an exaggerated sense of self-importance.) was earned, not given out of a sense of decorum. I want to see more of this edition of Ozzie.

Villain: Matt Duchene
He opened the scoring for the Avs in the first period, and then almost ruined the game by tying it up late in the third.

Final Thought:
Even the most die hard of Ozzie haters has to feel good for the guy tonight. It's been a long time coming.

Red Wings 3, Stars 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

Note: This has evidently been sitting as a draft since Sunday night. I figured I might as well post it instead of wasting the effort I put into it (not that I really worked that hard at it). I thought about deleting the bullet about how bad the Wings are at overtime, but I decided to let it stay.

• I thought things were going well when Pav and Eaves got the Wings off to a fast start. Getting going on time is always an issue with these early games, but the Wings seemed to find their legs early on. Unfortunately, as the first period wore on, Dallas woke up and pushed the Wings back on their heels.
• It's always nice to see the Wings get a Budd Lynch goal since they give up so many of them.
• The “Ozzie! Ozzie!” chant from the fans at the end was a sure-fire jinx. The crowd did the same thing at the end of Game 5 of the '08 Finals. I'm glad I wasn't watching the game live, because I would've been cringing.
• I hate overtime. Why are the Wings so bad at it? At least it didn't go to a shootout.
• Ozzie deserved better from the team in front of him after they campaigned to get him the start at home for 400. I hope they give him a better shot next time he gets a start.

Hero: Patrick Eaves
He should be acknowledged for his two-game scoring streak. And his love of ping pong.

Villain: Loui Eriksson
Way to ruin Ozzie's fun.

Final Thought:
It would've been really nice for the old man to get 400 in front of the home crowd. Here's hoping he gets another chance.

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

• It's easy to get caught up in the ridiculousness of the Wings not getting a single powerplay tonight (and yes, it was ridiculous), but to do so would overlook the fact that the really didn't look all that good.
• Chris Chelios was honored before the game. The Blackhawks fans thanked the Chicago-native for spending the best years of his career in their uniform by booing him. All because he was traded to Detroit and found a home in a more successful and better-run organization. I'd be willing to bet that at least 95% of the fans there last night had no idea about any of his achievements while on the Hawks or why they were booing the man.Mickey Redmond was especially offended by the fans' behavior. He went on more than one rant about their lack of class.
• I'd really like to adopt Mick as my unofficial grandpa. Both of mine are long gone, so I'm kind of in the market for a new one. I really think he'd liven up Christmas dinner. He and my dad could prop their feet up by the fire and sip ginger ales while swapping stories about the good old days when men were men and hockey players used wooden sticks. Then we could play a family game of Cranium and he could say, “Bingo Bango!” every time his team successfully completed a challenge. After the kiddies went to bed, we could switch to euchre, and he'd say, “Look out!” every time we were close to euchring our opposition. Then Larry Murphy would inexplicably come down the chimney and leave a tray of dollar hot dogs under the tree. Admit it: you'd want to be a part of a Mickey Redmond Christmas.
• Pavel Datsyuk continued his streak of 18,492 consecutive games in which he did something that made me laugh out loud because of how absurdly good he is.
• I'm glad that the majority of the Wings' fanbase exists to cheer on and support the Wings, not for the sole purpose of hating another team.

Hero: Patrick Eaves
He got the Wings' only goal tonight. It seemed to give the Wings new life for a while and get them back into the game.

Villain: Tomas Kopecky
Oh, so now you want to act like you know how to play hockey?

Final Thought:
I certainly hope the Wings put on a better show on Sunday when Ozzie's going for his 400th win. He deserves that.

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

• The Wings got off to quite a start with two goals before most people were even in their seats. I don't have much for this one because I spent most of the game daydreaming about the epicness I'd just witnessed at the Big Chill (more on that later).
• The game was another one of those Eurotwins nights that I love so much.
• Ericsson got into what was allegedly a fight, but really just looked like a hugging contest.
• We watched the game at the viewing party at Motor City Casino. I was particularly fond of the free pizza. They also had trivia contests, giveaways, and games. One of those games was an Xbox set up with NHL '11. People were playing this while the game was on. Why? You can play video games at home. No need to drag yourself to a casino in Detroit.
• My favorite part about Datsyuk's goal was how nonchalant he was about it. When he took the pass from Zetterberg in the corner, he looked like he said, “Eh, I guess I'll score now.”

Hero: Chris Osgood
He played stellar last night. I was really hoping he'd pull off the shutout so I could say that neither one of my teams surrendered a goal all day, but it wasn't meant to be.

Villain: Patrick Elias
He scored early in the third period to get the Devils on the board and give me a reason to boo for the first time that day.

Final Thought:
The game was the perfect cap to a perfect day.  I couldn't have asked for a better day of hockey.

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

• The Wings looked terrible tonight. They looked like they slept through the entire first period.
• Fittingly, during his first intermission interview, TAWD looked like he was about to doze off at any moment. It pretty much summed up the Wings' play.
• If Ozzie had given up that third goal, the internet would've collapsed from the massive outpouring of hatred and criticism.  I'm not blaming Jimmy for the loss, but it was a terrible goal to give up at that point in the game.
• Pav's shorthanded goal was quite nice. I figured that four-minute PK would be a turning point in the game since failure to kill it would've put them down by three goals and a successful kill would've given them some momentum. When the Wings ended up scoring on it, it seemed like they had a good chance to get back in the game.
• Martin Erat looked ridiculous after he got high-sticked. Yes, he got hit with the stick, and yes, he got cut, but good lord, I thought he'd lost an eye the way he was flopping around on the ice. Think about how Mike Modano reacted to having a tendon severed and a nerve damaged in his wrist. Now imagine if that had happened to Erat.
• The lights at the Joe flickered momentarily during the third period. I'm sure it inspired a plethora of witty “they're so poor in Detroit...” jokes from other fans. Almost immediately afterward, the Preds scored.
• Way to toy with my emotions, Wings. I'd pretty much written the game off when they were down by two late, but then they went and scored with an empty net. It made the last minute of the game exciting, at least.

Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
Go ahead and tell me that he and Zetterberg aren't the top two-way forwards in the league. Go ahead.

Villain: Martin Erat
Every time the Wings play the Predators, I like that man a little bit less. And I don't mean in the “oh, I hate playing Rick Nash because he's so good against the wings” sense.

Final Thought:
Hey, boys, wakey-wakey. It's not February yet. It's too early to slip into the mid-season funk.

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

• Draper and Ozzie both came back from injuries tonight. Ozzie played well. Draper didn't get much playing time, so it's hard to pass judgment.
• The Kings have yet to give up a powerplay goal while at home. That's crazy considering that we're more than a quarter way through the season. I was hoping that the Wings would be able to end that streak, but they sadly did not.
• Ozzie got called for a trapezoid penalty. We can all pretty much agree that this is one of the stupidest things the NHL has ever come up with, right? If we're going to restrain the goalies, at least add some humor to the game by using a shock collar or chain.
• Another road game, another LGRW chant by the Wings faithful in attendance.
• Brad Stuart drilled someone late in the first period. Later on in the game, he knocked Davis Drewiske down. He followed that up with a little nod at Drewiske as he was down on the ice. I love the swagger.
• Ericsson started the scoring with a goal late in the first. I didn't see the puck go in the net at first because I was focused on Zetterberg who looked like he was going to slam into the endboards. Datsyuk picked up the assist on the play while Homer was causing his usual mayhem in front of the net.
• Rig looked dangerous in the offensive zone all night. He had several good chances after scoring his goal. It was definitely one of his better nights.
• Justin Williams tried to stickhandle past Datsyuk at one point and ended up just looking silly. Homer finished the play by coming in and knocking him down. It amused me.
• I was still settling onto the couch for the second period when LA tied up the score.
• Luckily, Bertuzzi put the Wings back in the lead shortly afterward. Ken Daniels yelled, “Snipe!” when he scored. Personally, when I hear the word “snipe” associated with Bertuzzi, I assume it involves a rifle and ghillie suit. After the game, someone asked him about his snipe, and Bert responded by asking for a lawyer.
• The Wings started out with a strong first period, but gradually faded as the game wore on. You could tell that they were feeling the effects of playing back-to-back games. They looked a little more lively during overtime, but the Kings ended up winning on a goal that came off of a Lidstrom turnover.
• Any team that doesn't have two syllables in its name should ban its fans from doing the, “Let's go, ______!” chant. It just sounds stupid.
• After the game, the Kings' mascot rode an ATV out to center ice and pretended to be having a seizure. This was after the Kings celebrated their OT goal in the same fashion that teams usually use for Stanley Cup clinching goals. It's still December, sunshines.

Hero: Jonathan Ericsson
He had the Wings' first goal, but more importantly, he looked good tonight. I kept noticing him for positive reasons, instead of after mistakes. I wish he could play like that consistently.

Villain: Anze Kopitar
He got the Kings' goal in OT to seal the win.

Final Thought:
I'll take 5 out of 6 points on a roadtrip all season long.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 17-4-2

Kings: 14-10-0

Red Wing Zen:

Chris Osgood

2-2-0, 2.76 GAA, .893 SV%

How fitting is it that the random number generator landed on #30 for his return from injury tonight?

Point and Laugh:

Davis Drewiske

0-5-5, +/- -2, 13 PIM

Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 2: Post Game Snipes...

• I was concerned about how the Wings would start this game since it had an early start time, but they actually looked pretty lively in the first period.
• During the pre-game show, FSD did a segment where they asked players about their hidden talents. Darren Helm's talents were walking on his hands and doing the Worm.
• I've had a long-standing suspicion that when Chris Osgood is on the bench, he's doodling instead of charting faceoffs. The hidden talents segment made me positive that I'm right, as Ozzie revealed that he likes to draw pictures.
• Jiri Hudler claimed to be a good BBQer. I'm not sure I'd want to eat something he cooked.
• The Circus line looked threatening all night. Zetterberg, in particular, had a lot of good chances and looked dominant with and without the puck. He didn't end up with any points to show for it, but it was definitely one of his best games of the season.
• We were subjected to the Blue Jackets' hideous third jerseys for the second game in a row. I'm sorry, are Wings fans being punished for something? Evidently Mickey Redmond likes them. He said something about Columbus looking like a whole different team when wearing them. Ken Daniels responded by saying that they looked like the Florida Panthers. Boom.
• Kronwall and Helm scored fourteen seconds apart in the second period. Just like that, the Wings went from trailing to being in the lead. That's what this team can do to you.
• The penalty kill in the third period was outstanding. The Wings out-worked and out-played the Blue Jackets for all of Filppula's double minor, as well as the two-minute 5-on-3 kill in the middle of it. The fans at the Joe were on their feet applauding the team. Everything about it made me smile.
• Filppula ended up with the game-winner for the second game in a row. I'm guessing his finely-tuned fashion sense finds the ugly third jerseys the Blue Jackets were wearing objectionable.
• The Wings were 0-5 on the powerplay tonight. Ouch.
• After the game, FSD showed a slo-mo replay of Jimmy Howard squirting water on his face from the water bottle. It prompted my little brother and I to laugh hysterically. Was that really something we needed to slo-mo?

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
He didn't pick up any points on the evening, but he was dominant throughout the whole game. I was really convinced that he was going to score tonight. Obviously, I was wrong, but that doesn't take away from his effort.

Villain: Steve Mason
He looked like he'd been shot after Abdelkader's goalie interference penalty. The little peek he took to make sure the ref had noticed his acting was cute, too.

Final Thought:
That's not a bad way to close out Thanksgiving weekend at all.

TP:60 Episode 3...

The latest episode of TP:60 posted this afternoon for your listening pleasure.  Check it out here.  Saler joins Hollis and Petrella for a discussion that includes Chris Osgood's play, Helm's Halloween costume, and the Kindl/Ericsson debate.