SSDD Hits the Road...

Hey there, sunshines, I’m heading out of town for a long-awaited (and much-deserved, if I do say so myself) vacation. I’ll be back in touch in time for the second game against Chicago. Until then, I’ve set up some stuff to auto-post during my absence. I don't expect to be online at any point, unless I decide to text in some tweets if I see anything ridiculous. I recently did a mini series of Q&As with some of the Wings bloggers who live overseas. They’ve got some great stuff, and I’m pretty excited about the "project." Guilherme from Red Wings Brasil will be kicking off the series bright and early tomorrow morning for your reading pleasure. The Wings’ marketing team wasn’t kidding when it proclaimed that Hockeytown has no limits.

Wings 3, Coyotes 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Well another game, another injury. At this point, I’ve given up hoping for the Wings to finish a game without an injury and resorted to just hoping that they’re short-term. Ericsson’s knee certainly didn’t look good. He went down immediately and wasn’t putting any weight on it as he was helped off the ice.
• That’s twice this season that the Wings have given up a goal while a defenseman was injured. That’s just a cruel, cruel joke.
• There is not one single thing that I like about this season. Not one thing. And yet I keep coming back night after night after night. That says nothing good about my state of mind.
• Mickey informed me that Kris Newbury played 2:20 in the first period. In that short time, he managed to take two penalties and score a goal.
• Kris Draper got the primary assist on Kris Newbury’s goal. I’m pretty sure I should’ve gotten the secondary assist just based on name association.
• The penalty kill continued its dominance tonight. The units had several key kills to keep the Wings in the game and Patrick Eaves came up with a huge shorthanded goal in the first period.
• The powerplay, however, continued to be a miserable failure.
• Meech’s goal was every bit as unexpected as Newbury’s was. Imagine that. Two different guys getting their first goals of the season for the Wings. It wasn’t quite as fun as that game last month when everybody netted their thirds of the season, but I’ll take it.
• Don’t look now, but the Wings have a winning streak going.
• The first period looked pretty good. It was one of the Wings’ better starts. Somebody must’ve set their alarm clocks an hour early tonight or something. They let up a little after Meech’s goal, but managed to hold on for the win.
• Bonus: No overtime, so it didn’t turn into a three-point game.
• The Wings could not clear the puck when Phoenix had an empty net at the end of the game. I’m pretty sure I scared my roommates by yelling at the TV.
• Before the game, they played a clip of an interview with Bertuzzi in which he was wearing a silver puffy vest. I texted some sort of sarcastic comment to Twitter, but it never actually showed up in my feed. However, exactly two hours later, it popped up on Twitter. Literally as they were showing more of the same interview. It’s like Twitter was holding that text just waiting for the right moment. At the suggestion of @jennyquarx, I’m going to send a text that says “curly fries” before the game on Thursday. If I remember…
  

GP Answers:
1. The Wings have had trouble with consistency so far this season. They’re coming off of a couple strong performances over the weekend. This is a good chance to string some wins together and start climbing the conference standings. Will they show up to play tonight, or will we all be banging our heads on the wall by the end of the game?
The biggest plus of the game was the way that the Wings came out in the first period. I’m so used to seeing them sleepwalk through the beginning of games that I was actually confused when they scored.

2. Jimmy Howard’s getting the start tonight. With the exception of that one goal against Anaheim, he had a good week. He would’ve skated away with two wins if the offense had done anything worthwhile against the Blues. Who would’ve thought at the beginning of the season that his play would be the least of our worries right now? I think we were all pretty pleased with the way he bounced back from that tough loss to St. Louis and the softie against Anaheim. His confidence has to be at an all-time high. Will he continue to create a “goalie controversy” here in Detroit?
He made the saves he needed to. He looked a little shakier than he has over his last couple of starts, but he got the win, and that’s what matters.

3. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
Not tonight. During one of the Wings’ powerplays, I really felt like this was the night he was going to score. I even said as much on Twitter. If I’m still copy/pasting this when I get back from vacation, I’m going to be really frustrated.

4. How many sticks is Pavel Datsyuk going to break tonight? Any takers on a prediction on his average number of broken sticks per shift?
I don’t think I noticed any break tonight, but I was only half-watching the game.

5. How many glorious scoring opportunities is Zetterberg going to send wide? It’s time for him to stop drinking the Mikael Samuelsson Kool-Aid.
I only noticed one. Not that it really matters if I answer my crazy, passive-aggressive, sarcastic questions to myself.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Patrick Eaves
He was all over the place tonight. Not only did he net the shorthanded goal that put the Wings up 2-0, but he had a ton of good chances. I think I like him up on the second line.

Brian Rafalski gets the Golden Facepalm
This might be a little harsh, but he was the lone man back right in front of the net after Ericsson got hurt. He tried to make a play on the Coyote who was walking in, but ended up kind of listlessly spinning around in front of Howard. Honestly, it looked like all three Wings down low just kind of gave up on that play, but Rafalski was front and center, so it’s his turn to get picked on.

What I learned:
The Hockey Gods have officially declared war on the Wings.

Wings vs. Coyotes GP...

Wings vs. Coyotes @7:30 PM

1. The Wings have had trouble with consistency so far this season. They’re coming off of a couple strong performances over the weekend. This is a good chance to string some wins together and start climbing the conference standings. Will they show up to play tonight, or will we all be banging our heads on the wall by the end of the game?
2. Jimmy Howard’s getting the start tonight. With the exception of that one goal against Anaheim, he had a good week. He would’ve skated away with two wins if the offense had done anything worthwhile against the Blues. Who would’ve thought at the beginning of the season that his play would be the least of our worries right now? I think we were all pretty pleased with the way he bounced back from that tough loss to St. Louis and the softie against Anaheim. His confidence has to be at an all-time high. Will he continue to create a “goalie controversy” here in Detroit?
3. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
4. How many sticks is Pavel Datsyuk going to break tonight? Any takers on a prediction on his average number of broken sticks per shift?
5. How many glorious scoring opportunities is Zetterberg going to send wide? It’s time for him to stop drinking the Mikael Samuelsson Kool-Aid.

Wow, this turned into a crazy mess of passive aggressiveness. It’s finals week though, and I have no problem using that as an excuse. All that stands between me and my vacation is approximately 15 pages of writing…that all needs to get done by the end of the night. This is going to be a good day.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about The Obstructed View by now. If not...where have you been for the last 12 hours? If you’re interested in reading about its evolution and the list of bloggers who are involved, check out Chris’ post at Motown Wings. I’m already looking forward to next week’s episode, which I’ll be able to listen to without cringing every few minutes when I have to hear my own voice.

The Obstructed View...

Hey there, sunshines, your friendly neighborhood Red Wings bloggers have an early Christmas present for you. We're excited to announce that the first episode of The Obstructed View, our unofficial Wings podcast is now live and available for download. You can subscribe to it at iTunes, or download it from our website.

This week's episode features Chris Hollis from Motown Wings, Michael Petrella from The Production Line, Casey from Winging it in Motown, Brian Kiernicki, and yours truly. Come listen as we discuss the events of the past week, Petrella's new-found love for Todd Bertuzzi, who's hot, who's not, and what to look for over the course of the next few games. After listening to the podcast, you'll probably realize that I'm a lot more eloquent in writing than actual speech. Hopefully I'll be able to sort out my technological issues and I'll sound a little better the next time around.

Confessions of a Red Wings Fan...

The Wings’ current injury situation has become downright farcical. In light of the epidemic, I can only assume that we, the citizens of Hockeytown, have done some things to offend the Hockey Gods. Somebody out there spent the summer punching babies and it’s about time we got to the bottom of that. We need to take this opportunity to confess our sins so that we can atone for them and return to those days of sunshine and joy when the Hockey Gods smiled fondly down upon us from the rafters of the Joe. I'm coming clean about some things I've done that may have invoked their ire, and I'm joined by some other Wings fans in the hopes that we can appease the Hockey Gods.

Now I know the last couple of games since I started working on this post have been alright and the Wings seem to have escaped injury, but there have still been a couple of close calls (Rafalski and Helm took pucks to the face and Lebda looked like he might've been hurt for a while.) and I'm not willing to take any more chances.

So here goes nothing:

I, Kris, tormented my puppy during the playoffs by doing things like strapping a stuffed Al the Octopus onto her back (Look how defeated she looks here...poor Penny Lane.), putting red and white pompoms in her collar, dressing her up in a Shanny baseball-style jersey, and trying to train her to bark when the Wings scored. I may also at one point taken away all of her toys except her squeaky penguin chew toy so that she would be forced to gnaw on that one during the Finals. There was literally nobody happier to see the playoffs end than my dog.

I also admit to making fun of Valtteri Filppula’s hair. All the time. I’m truly sorry.

Over the summer, I clicked on a shortened link on Twitter and accidentally ended up on a puck bunny website. I sincerely apologize for this horrendous mistake and promise that it will never happen again.

At Hockeyfest, we sat on the bench and jumped over the boards like we were doing a line change. I’m pretty sure that this upset the natural order of things and was simply unacceptable. The fact that my sister can’t even skate and was pretending to take a shift at the Joe had to be deeply upsetting to the Hockey Gods. I’m so sorry for encouraging this type of behavior.

@RedWingsQueen19 chimed in with this confession:

I confess that I had so much hate towards Todd Bertuzzi and wished he was never aquired. I regret it, he proved me wrong so far

@jennbikegirl admitted to wishing injury on Brett Lebda:

My confession: when I heard about Raffy's back, my 1st thought was, why not Lebda? Basically wishing injury on him = bad!

Michael Petrella from The Production Line, however, had the most significant confessions to make. I think after reading his first story, all of the “intent to blow” nonsense will make sense:

I played hockey for a long time: I started skating as soon as I could stand up, and played competitive hockey all the way through college. I like to think of myself as a good sportsman, albeit one with a filthy mouth that never stopped running. Two stories stand out as examples of things I may have done to anger the Hockey Gods -- perhaps bad enough to create this rash of injuries to the team I love so dearly.

During a game I was playing in high school, I ended up on my butt, right along the goal line as a goal was scored against my team. It was so obviously a goal, and I figured everyone knew, that I reached in with my hand and angrily threw the puck back toward center ice in anticipation of another faceoff. But, it was must have been LaRue officiating because the ref skated over, waving emphatically "NO GOAL! NO GOAL! NO GOAL!" In my head, I'm thinking "really?" because I threw the puck only after I figured it was so apparent that everyone in the building saw it. Evidently, only I had seen it, and I didn't say a word. What I did amounts to no less than cheating, and I'm sure the Gods have had it in for me ever since. (P.S. the goal wouldn't have mattered as we lost by a good margin anyway...)

While in college, I was much more of a role-player, in the Kirk Maltby-mold, so I didn't get a ton of ice-time at that level, but cherished the few minutes I received every night. During the last weekend of the season (of my Junior year), we were playing in Wisconsin. We played back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday nights, as is pretty common in collegiate hockey. On Friday night, a senior who had played his heart out for our team for four years was injured by a fairly dirty hit. The kid got two minutes, but with a pretty severe knee injury, my teammate was going to miss his final game of collegiate hockey. I'll never forget his face - he was so upset because he never missed a team function, and now he was going to have to watch the last game of his college career from the press box. The following night, I spent every second of my ice-time aimed at retribution. I was offside more in that game than the rest of my collegiate career combined, because I didn't pay attention to the puck, only #21 in black. At one point, I even broke a stick on the back of his knee. As the final horn went, I took another three or four steps and tried my best to put him through the glass. He was about eight inches taller than me, so I ended up on the ice. I'll never forget what happened next because, even though these two stories aren't indicative of the kind of player I was or man I am, it taught me an important lesson. He took off his glove, and extending his hand to me, helping me back up. He said to me, "I know what you were trying to do, and I would have done the same. You played me hard, good game." Even though my teammate was the one on crutches, I couldn't have felt any worse.

I played hockey at some level for nearly twenty years, and it's fair to say that these two examples are the only ones I'm not proud of. And I'm just superstitious enough to think that the Hockey Gods noticed...

So there you have it, Hockey Gods. We’re all very sorry for the many things that we have done to offend you. We take full responsibility for our actions and hope that you can forgive us. Now can we please get back to our regularly scheduled programming of dominating performances and an elite roster? And, if it’s not too much trouble, could you throw some puck luck our way? We sure could use it.

Sincerely,
Hockeytown

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

• The night began with a turkey feast with my little sister’s Girl Scout troop. We dined on the turkey that I won while turkey bowling at the Joe the day before Thanksgiving. It was pretty tasty for something I picked up on the ice at a hockey rink and then carted around the stands for two periods.
• After seeing Helm take that puck to the face, one of my 12-year-old Girl Scouts suggested that the Wings should do the same to Nashville, that they should “aim for the nose, because that hurts the most.” Obviously, I’ve been a good role model. The girls did spend a lot of time distracting me so I missed large portions of the game.
• Unfortunately, I missed the goal in OT because I was too busy wrestling with my brother to prevent him from deleting an awkward picture that I took of him. I caught it on the replay though and managed to salvage the picture, so all is well. Although I have to say that when I walked back into the family room and saw the celebration, I actually thought they were replaying the end of last night’s game.
• Bert’s first goal was the result of a spin move that actually worked. It was incredible. His second goal was another beautiful “goal-scorer’s goal.” I’ve never quite figured out what that means, but it was fantastic.
• I don’t know if this makes me a bad person or not, but I was actually kind of relieved when I realized that Jordin Tootoo was the injured Predator. I certainly never want to see players get hurt, but if one guy had to go down...I feel like silencing the whistles was a public service. I was just glad that I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the game listening to them.
• The Wings’ PK streak ended at eight games and twenty-seven straight kills during the second period. While it was disappointing to see the streak end, it was going to happen eventually. That’s a pretty darn good run, and they need to keep up the good work. Now if we could just get that powerplay sorted out.
• Pavel Datsyuk had two assists tonight. Ken and Mickey originally wanted to award Miller’s goal to him, but his shot had clearly gone off the crossbar.
• Miller’s goal got reviewed briefly, and even though the replays clearly showed that his stick was below the crossbar…I was nervous that they would find some excuse to call it back.
• Not only did the Wings score first, but they also built up a two-goal lead. I was totally confused...until they let Nashville tie the game during the third period and force overtime.
  
• I never really had anything against Shea Weber before, but he certainly earned his way onto my list tonight.
• Since nobody was able/willing to believe what happened during OT last night, the Hockey Gods went and made it happen again. I think we’ve finally arrived in Wonderland because none of this makes any sense at all. I keep looking around and all I see is Todd Bertuzzi grinning at me like a gap-toothed Cheshire Cat.
  

GP Answers:
1. Ville Leino finally picked up a point last night, and Todd Bertuzzi came through with two goals. They’ve been the focus of much of the criticism for underproduction this season. Can the two of them build on the Anaheim game and keep putting up points?
Leino wasn’t completely invisible, but he still needs to do more. Bertuzzi, However, stole the show again. When he broke the scoreless tie in the second period, he had accounted for the last three Wings goals. He now has four of the last five. Not only that, but he’s also scored two straight OT game-winners. Yeah, I know. It’s hard for me to believe too. I love how confident he looks and how much fun he seems to be having out there. If he keeps this up, he may just make a convert out of me.

2. I haven’t seen the Wings’ starter announced anywhere, but I haven’t exactly had a lot of time to go looking for it. Based on the back-to-back rotation thingy Babcock likes to do, I’m assuming we’ll see Osgood in net tonight. Will we get treated to playoff Ozzie or regular season Ozzie tonight?
Osgood was fine. I’m not entirely sure what he was doing on the second Nashville goal, but there was so much else going on during that play that I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

3. During the post-game last night, Mickey Redmond was already getting feisty about those stupid train whistles the Nashville fans seem to enjoy using all the time. Keep in mind that this is also the same franchise that used to do the ridiculous screechy air-quote fangs. No team has the right to be that obnoxious, especially one that’s never won a playoff series. How long will I last before I have to mute the TV to keep from throwing things at it?
I had to watch the first period with the TV on mute anyway and then with Tootoo gone there was little whistle-blowing for the remainder of the game. My TV was quite relived to be saved from being pelted with whatever was within my reach.

4. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have been missing an absurd amount of shots that they should be putting on net and/or burying. The Eurotwins need to collectively recalibrate their targeting computers or something. Datsyuk had the game on his stick during the final minute of the Ducks game, and hit the side of the net. Zetterberg had a great scoring opportunity in close at one point and sent his shot about 300 feet wide of the net (Go ahead, challenge my measurements if you want. I dare you.). It’s like the two of them have caught Mikael Samuelsson cooties or something. Will they be able to figure out their issues tonight, or will I spend another game pulling my hair out?
Datsyuk had two assists tonight, but they both had issues putting the puck on the net. If they start burying half of their chances…

Cookies and Cupcakes for Todd Bertuzzi
He scored two goals tonight, including the overtime winner. If that doesn’t earn you free dessert, I don’t know what does. His second goal came off of an absolutely ridiculous shot move. Please, please let this carry over and get him on a roll. (Copy/pasted from last night’s Post Game Snipes with the exception of the one correction. I don’t know what to make of this.)

Derek Meech gets the Golden Facepalm
I don’t know if the second goal can really be pinned on him, but he’s due for one of these and I couldn’t single anyone else out who I felt deserved this.

What I learned:
Maybe my dad was right about Todd Bertuzzi…

Wings vs. Predators GP...

Wings vs. Predators @8 PM

1. Ville Leino finally picked up a point last night, and Todd Bertuzzi came through with two goals. They’ve been the focus of much of the criticism for underproduction this season. Can the two of them build on the Anaheim game and keep putting up points?
2. I haven’t seen the Wings’ starter announced anywhere, but I haven’t exactly had a lot of time to go looking for it. Based on the back-to-back rotation thingy Babcock likes to do, I’m assuming we’ll see Osgood in net tonight. Will we get treated to playoff Ozzie or regular season Ozzie tonight?
3. During the post-game last night, Mickey Redmond was already getting feisty about those stupid train whistles the Nashville fans seem to enjoy using all the time. Keep in mind that this is also the same franchise that used to do the ridiculous screechy air-quote fangs. No team has the right to be that obnoxious, especially one that’s never won a playoff series. How long will I last before I have to mute the TV to keep from throwing things at it?
4. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have been missing an absurd amount of shots that they should be putting on net and/or burying. The Eurotwins need to collectively recalibrate their targeting computers or something. Datsyuk had the game on his stick during the final minute of the Ducks game, and hit the side of the net. Zetterberg had a great scoring opportunity in close at one point and sent his shot about 300 feet wide of the net (Go ahead, challenge my measurements if you want. I dare you.). It’s like the two of them have caught Mikael Samuelsson cooties or something. Will they be able to figure out their issues tonight, or will I spend another game pulling my hair out?

I may or may not be watching the game tonight. We’ll see how this whole cookie-baking party goes down.

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

• I felt like the game was going to be a good one because during the pre-game show, Mickey York made an Elin Nordegren joke and then Ozzie almost nailed Ken Daniels with the puck while he was standing on the bench doing an intro. It didn’t let me down.
• Rafalski took a puck to the face during the first period and scared me half to death as he laid on the ice. He returned after receiving some stitches and ended up making a great play to knock a sure goal off of a Duck’s stick.
• I still don’t have any idea what happened during that scrum in front of the Wings’ net with two minutes left in the first. I thought the puck was in the net, but then the replay showed that it wasn’t. But it looked like the referee had signaled for a goal. Then they went to Toronto to review it and that should’ve made me feel better, but I didn’t get my hopes up because I’ve been burned in the past. they ended up getting the call right and the Wings got a powerplay out of the whole mess. This was a little weird because we had all assumed that Jimmy Howard was the one getting called for the penalty. Since the call was against Anaheim, whether or not the puck was in the net probably wasn’t relevant, but I’m okay with whatever was going on since they came to the right conclusion about the goal.
• The Wings’ PK hasn’t allowed a goal in the last 8 games. That’s incredible considering how dismal it was to start the season.
• The powerplay managed two goals tonight. This was especially exciting because I had almost forgotten that you could score on those things. They had 11 opportunities, though, so anything less would’ve been pretty pathetic.
• Brett Lebda got shaken up during the second period. It looked like something with his shoulder. While he was wandering around on the ice, Anaheim scored their first goal. The fact that the Wings sustained an injury and gave up a goal on the same shift pretty much sums up this season. He returned to the ice shortly after, so I don’t know what his problem was. I can tell you, though, that I’ve never been that relieved to see Lebda on the ice in my life.
• It is surprisingly frustrating to watch the game without a clock. Especially when there’s a powerplay.
• Howard made a couple of good saves on a scrum in the first. It felt like it took absolutely forever for the whistle to blow. I would’ve been pretty angry if the puck had gone in with all of those intent to blow calls and quick whistles that have gone against the Wings this season. One of the quotes of the night came from @mserven in response: “Holy mother of LaRue, what does a RW goalie need to do to get a whistle?” You can bet that “Holy mother of LaRue” will be popping up here at SSDD in the future.
• The Wings second goal looked an awful lot like the Ducks’ second goal. Maybe karma finally decided to turn in their favor.
• More fun came during the post-game interview when Trevor Thompson compared Todd Bertuzzi to a pre-teen. While sitting right next to him. It was a pretty gutsy move as far as I can tell. Bert, to his credit, didn’t kill him.
• Mickey York opened his game recap with this quote about Rafalski’s puck to the face: “The Wings needed another injury like they needed a hole in the head. And four minutes in, they got both.” I really can’t think of any way to follow that, so I’m just going to move onto the next section.
  

GP Answers:
1. Ville Leino makes his glorious and injury-mandated return to the lineup tonight. How will he respond to his benching and Babcock’s less-than-kind comments about him? Please let this little stint in the press box be more effective than the last one since it made absolutely no difference in his play.
He looked a little better tonight and picked up an assist on the Wings’ first goal. I still want him to do more, though.

2. I really feel like I should not have to go into every game wondering if the Wings are actually going to be able to put a puck in the net. But that’s what it has come to. I don’t know who’s starting for Anaheim, but they’re going to make the red light behind him turn on at least once tonight, right? Please.
There was a while there when I was wondering if the Wings were heading toward another two-game goalless streak, but they came through in the third period and overtime to win the game. Good lord, did that feel good.

3. Looking at the Wings’ lineup tonight makes me want to hide under the bed in the fetal position. I just…have trouble accepting that as their second line. Maybe this makes me arrogant, but is this for real? I think we’re all, as Jessie from Bingo Bango said, waiting find out that this season has been one big joke right from training camp. The Wings have been playing their games in undisclosed locations and those guys we’ve been watching lollygag around the ice are just impostors. Like in that movie Dave, except the real ones are healthy and not in a coma. And they’re just waiting to surprise us as a giant Christmas present.
Yes. That lineup was, in fact, real. And it even managed to eke out an overtime win. I don’t even know what to make of this season.

4. Every time the Wings play Anaheim, I have to ask myself the same question: What will the Ducks do tonight to make me hate them even more?
The Ducks answered this one during the second period on the play that began with Corey Perry elbowing Ville Leino in the face. Getzlaf chimed in with a hit on Abdelkader, who then ended up fighting with Perry. I use the term fighting generously because the only clip they really played showed Perry sitting on top of Abdelkader and wailing away. It was pretty classic Duck goonery. I did like Abdelkader’s spunk when he was flat on his back on the ice and still swinging at Perry.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Todd Bertuzzi
He scored two goals tonight, including the overtime winner. If that doesn’t earn you free dessert, I don’t know what does. His second goal came off of an absolutely ridiculous shot. Please, please let this carry over and get him on a roll.

Jimmy Howard gets the Golden Facepalm
He played pretty well again, but that second goal has to be stopped.

Pavel Datsyuk gets an Extra Facepalm (?—please help me come up with something better to call this.)
He had the game on his stick, wide open in front of the net during the final minute of regulation. If Bertuzzi hadn’t come along to save the day (No, I can’t believe I just typed that either.), Pav would’ve taken a lot of the blame.

What I learned:
No matter how many hours of hockey I watch and obsess over, there are still moments that can completely baffle me. And I kind of like that.

Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Wings vs. Ducks @7:30 PM

1. Ville Leino makes his glorious and injury-mandated return to the lineup tonight. How will he respond to his benching and Babcock’s less-than-kind comments about him? Please let this little stint in the press box be more effective than the last one since it made absolutely no difference in his play.
2. I really feel like I should not have to go into every game wondering if the Wings are actually going to be able to put a puck in the net. But that’s what it has come to. I don’t know who’s starting for Anaheim, but they’re going to make the red light behind him turn on at least once tonight, right? Please.
3. Looking at the Wings’ lineup tonight makes me want to hide under the bed in the fetal position. I just…have trouble accepting that as their second line. Maybe this makes me arrogant, but is this for real? Is that actually our second line? I think we’re all, as Jessie from Bingo Bango said, waiting find out that this season has been one big joke right from training camp. The Wings have been playing their games in undisclosed locations and those guys we’ve been watching lollygag around the ice are just impostors. Like in that movie Dave, except the real ones are healthy and not in a coma. And they’re just waiting to surprise us as a giant Christmas present.
4. Every time the Wings play Anaheim, I have to ask myself the same question: What will the Ducks do tonight to make me hate them even more?

Wings 0, Blues 1: Post Game Snipes...

• I missed the majority of the game tonight thanks to a variety of unfortunate circumstances. I guess I didn’t miss a whole lot though. You know, something like a goal…
• Cleary managed to get hurt during the five minutes of the game I was able to watch. This was exactly what I needed to make my day more enjoyable. At first I was hoping he just got the wind knocked out of him, but I don’t recall seeing him on the ice afterward. In his post-game interview, Babcock said he was being tended to in the training room. I don’t know what that means, but the way things have been going this season, it’s probably a serious upper-body injury that’ll keep him out of the lineup for three months.
• Nick Lidstrom apparently hit two goalposts tonight. Seriously.
• The Wings second line tonight was Bertuzzi-Abdelkader-Cleary. Yeah, I said “second.” Not fourth. This is really what it’s come down to.
• According to the box score, the Wings had six powerplays. And scored on exactly zero of them. That’s just not acceptable. The fact that the PK killed off four penalties is a small consolation, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that the powerplay couldn’t find a way to finish.
• The box score also tells me that they had 42 shots on net. And scored on exactly zero of them.
  
• I saw the replay of that no-goal call when Bertuzzi and Rafalski knocked it in after it was covered by Conklin’s pad. I would have loved it if they let the goal stand, but I’m not particularly surprised by it. It was probably the right call, and even if it wasn’t, it was far less obnoxious than some of the other ones we’ve seen recently. Or maybe I’m just too jaded at this point…
  

GP Answers:
1. Abdelkader will be centering the second line tonight, which is not bad for a guy who was supposed to be in Grand Rapids this season. He’s played very well over the last stretch of games. How will he look after getting bumped up to the scoring lines?
I don’t know. The five minutes of play that I did see didn’t tell me much. There wasn't a whole lot of scoring going on, though.

2. Datsyuk and Lidstrom got points on Sunday against the Rangers. Will finding the scoresheet wake the two of them up from their offensive slumps?
Well, that’s a big, fat no.

3. Jimmy Howard has created a huge, giant, enormous goalie controversy here in Hockeytown!!! Now that he’s the shiny, new, official, media-anointed starter how will he look tonight? Having to ask that question every night is no fun (but to be fair, I always ask the same of Ozzie), but he still terrifies me in net sometimes.
Guy let in one goal all game. You can’t expect much more from a goalie in the NHL. The Blues didn’t have a ton of shots, but he made enough saves to give the Wings a chance to win. When you only give up one goal, your team ought to at least get a point out of the game.

4. The Wings haven’t exactly been tearing it up at home recently (1-4-1 in their last 6 home games). Can they turn things around and make the home crowd happy?
No. It turns out that they couldn’t even score a goal. There was nothing to celebrate at all. They're now 1-5-1 in their last seven (got it right this time!), including three shutouts.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Jimmy Howard
I don’t know if anyone else was on their game tonight, but Howard only gave up one goal tonight, and I’m of the belief that no starting goalie who limits the opposition to a single goal deserves to take a loss.

All of the skaters get the Golden Facepalm
Okay, Ty Conklin played well tonight. That's no excuse though. Even with all of the injuries, the Wings still have enough talent that they should be able to put at least one puck in the net every night. Three shutouts at home in the last seven games? Inexcusable. Unacceptable. Disgusting. I don't care what adjective you want to use, that just can't happen.

What I learned:
The fun never stops during Finals week. Never ever.