Big Red Machine

The Avs are in town for the New Year’s Eve game at the Joe.  Colorado is on the second half of a back to back, and it sounds like Craig Anderson will be making his second start in as many nights.  Howard is starting for Detroit.

Last time these two clubs met was a bad 3-1 loss for Detroit, with Howard in net.

Colorado is currently sitting pretty at 3rd in the Western Conference with 52 points.  I, and I’m certain I’m not alone in this belief, don’t think that they’ll stay there for long.  I simply can’t imagine them having the staying power to remain in the top half of the standings after the Olympic break.  They’re going to come crashing down to reality sooner or later.

Some random notes about a couple of Avs–they have a kid named Ryan O’Reilly, and whenever I hear his name called in broadcasts I immediately think of Dean Winters’ character from the great show HBO from the late 90′s to early 2000′s, Oz.  They also called up BU alumnus Brandon Yip from the Lake Erie Monsters part-way through the season.  I’m only mentioning this because he’s Chinese, and as such, one of the rare Asian players in the NHL (Richard Park, Devin Setoguchi, Paul Kariya are the others active off the top of my head).  So, huzzah.  Represent.

Only thing I’m really going to say about this game is, let’s please get some goals by someone other than Bertuzzi.  I’m frustrated seeing how the offense has dried up, and they’ll need to get some quality shots on Anderson to score.

I’m heading to Detroit tomorrow from Ohio for the game.  This season I’ve got a record of 1-2, so I’m hoping to get to .500.

The usually polite Sammy’s telling Sweden to go Eff themselves, and the typically Zen Osgood is getting frustrated and calling out Babcock’s goalie “rotation.”  What is this world coming to?

Howard’s been hot recently, winning games, and playing extremely well even in losses (see: Monday’s 0-1 vs Columbus).  Osgood hasn’t played since they were shutout 0-3 in the first part of the home and home vs Chicago on 12/20.  And he ain’t happy:

McCosky:

“I know how to do that [make good on his next opportunity],” he said. “I don’t think I have to prove that. I know how to play, I just have to play — that’s all there is to it. It’s not a matter of earning an opportunity. You have to get into some games and get into a groove and then I can play like I can. It’s not that I don’t know how to do it.

“But if you don’t play, it’s impossible to get to that point. I’m a goalie, OK, and I’ve been playing for 20-some years since Juniors. What I say (about goaltending) is closer to the facts than what he (Babcock) would say.”

Osgood pointed to the board in the dressing room that shows the Wings in 10th place, three points out of a playoff spot.

“It’s got to be sooner than later,” he said. “Listen, you’ve got to be a good team guy. For us, it’s all about winning and getting into the playoffs. That’s the main thing for me, no matter what.”

He goes on to say that while he’s happy that Howard’s playing well, he thinks he should be getting more starts in order to get ready for the playoffs, where it’s more or less a foregone conclusion that Osgood will be the starter if we’re in.  Osgood seems to think that he’s played ok in the starts that he’s gotten.

I’m not going to argue that point.  I’ve questioned in the past about him not getting enough starts to have a fair chance to get into a groove.  Yes, Jimmy has outplayed Osgood this season, and when it’s a battle to get into the top 8 right now, you need every win you can get.  So of course Babcock’s going to ride the hot hand.  Hey, maybe he’s got a timeline in mind already for when he wants to get Osgood into more games.  Maybe he’s waiting to see if Howard hits the wall, and subs in Oz at that point.

But at the same time, Osgood has only played 18 games so far this season, well under half.  He also sits at 396 wins (on that note, let the guy get his 4 more to reach 400).  He needs to play in order to get ready for the playoffs.  It’s irresponsible to assume that Osgood is going to just throw the switch come the post-season without building up to it–just because he did it last year doesn’t mean he’ll do it again.

There’s a little over half the season remaining, so will Osgood see more starts then?  Maybe after the Olympic break?  Or is it possible that Babcock is quietly pushing Osgood into a backup role, without having the wherewithall to actually say it?

Babcock’s explanation:

“It’s amazing how it works,” Babcock said last week. “If Ozzie had a good night the other night in Chicago (3-0 loss), then he would have started (the next game) and we wouldn’t be talking about this. Just play the guy who’s playing the best — it’s that simple.”

Absolute lies.  Babcock’s a sports psychologist–he’s got a reason for what he’s doing, and it’s not as basic as starting whoever has been playing better.  You give the guy one start, with a depleted roster up front, against Chicago, and he played ok.  So you change goaltenders for the next game and the team plays better as a whole, though to the same score.  And that guy gets a run of starts.

I dunno–doesn’t sound simple to me.

That was one of those games that proves that low scoring, tight games are no less entertaining than high scoring barn burners.  That feeling of “this is fun to watch” was quickly washed out when Lebda lost Modin, who scored in OT.  In a strange way, I feel less upset about the Wings having been shutout, maybe because it was a 1-0 final score, and also because it was really a game for the goaltenders.  Ridiculous, both of them.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: none
Columbus: Frederik Modin (Tyutin, Pahlsson)

Pluses
+ The Wings finally got things started on time.  They were alert in the first, with a good amount of jump to their game.  They seemed more engaged than I’ve seen recently, crashing and banging around.  If Mason hadn’t decided to play like his Calder-winning, Vezina-nominated self from last year, I feel like the Wings would have won.
+ I remember when Brad Stuart was given his contract extension of $3.75mil per for 4 years, some people thought it was a little on the high side.  Doesn’t look like it now, does it?  He has been worth every single penny and more this season.
+ Pavel looked more like his Datsyukian self, even though he didn’t score.  I was so certain he was going to win it in OT.
+ Ritola played 9:40, with 1:35 spent on the power play.  He got 2 SOG, 1 hit, and a takeaway.  He also drew a tripping call in the 2nd.  I thought he was good–looked motivated.  He battled for pucks along the boards, and had some good defensive moments when it came to keeping the puck in the Columbus’ zone, and a nice chance on Mason.
+ Nice to see May finally do his job and drop the gloves with Boll, who had roughed up Pavel earlier.  And Janik had a less successful fight, but still good to see him with some fire.

Minuses
- Our power play still sucks.  Couldn’t score on the 5-4, 4-3, of 5-3.
– Columbus blocked a ton of shots, but I felt like the Wings weren’t really peppering Mason with too many difficult ones, anyway.  They have absolutely got to stop with the perimeter shots, because they don’t do anything.  Babcock mentioned it during an interview with Bob Harwood on VS, and I simply can’t figure out why they’re not crashing the crease, when it’s clear that’s what they both want, and need to do.
– The Wings really got outplayed physically.  Hits were 39 to 13.
– I hate listening to Joe Beninati.  Not only does his voice make me want to stab sharp things into my eardrums, but he uses such horrid, flowery, overwrought phrases in his broadcasting.

Wings don’t play again until Thursday, back at the Joe against the Avalanche.  I’ll be there.

My picks for the stars of the week 12/21-12/27

#3: Valtteri Filppula
He didn’t put any points up in his return against Columbus, but Flip was clearly a steadying force out on the ice. As I mentioned in my game recap, it was so relieving to have one of the top players back, and not have to worry about horrible blue-line turnovers

#2: Brad Stuart
The guy hasn’t really gotten any press for it, but he’s been a stalwart on the blueline this season.  He’s not putting up points, but he’s done a helluva job just being steady on defense.  He’s on the power play, penalty kill, and even strength, and is really just doing it all, quietly.

#1: Todd Bertuzzi
I can’t not go with Bert for first star, as he netted both goals against Columbus to win the game.  And I’m still amazed with his backchecking and defensive work ethic.

This is going to be quick, as I don’t have a lot of time this afternoon.  Steve Mason will be starting for the BJs, and Howard’s in for Detroit.

Leino will be sitting in the press box tonight, because Babcock isn’t happy with his competitiveness.

Who I’m looking at to have a good game: I want to see how Ritola’s going to handle being tossed in as a replacement for Leino.  Babcock has blatantly said that “He better shoot the puck and he better not be on the outside.”

And just to note, Columbus just traded Jason Chimera to Washington for Chris Clark and Milan Jurcina, but I doubt that’s going to have any bearing on tonight’s game.

The 3rd episode of The Obstructed View is up, so go listen or subscribe via iTunes.

This week’s episode features Kris from Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle, Tyler from The Triple Deke, and Kyle from Babcock’s Death Stare, and as always, hosted by Chris from Motown Wings and produced by Brian.

Good stuff this week, including more Leino bashing, and what Brian Rafalski would look like with hair.

Quick note on the Swedish Olympic roster which was just announced.  Lidstrom, Kronwall, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom have been named to the team.  Noticeable snub?  Mikael Samuelsson.  According to @sportsnetmurph (host for Canucks’ broadcasts), his reply to that was:

“I’ll probably regret saying this, but they can go fuck themselves.”

Right wings who were picked over Samuelsson were Daniel Alfredsson (injured), Loui Eriksson, and Frederik Modin.

Very glad that I was wrong when I said this was exactly the type of game the Wings like to lose.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Todd Bertuzzi (pp; Datsyuk, Lidstrom); Todd Bertuzzi (Rafalski, Lidstrom)
Columbus: Antoine Vermette (Voracek)

Pluses
+ I know that Bertuzzi knew Petrella was in the building when he scored that beautiful power play goal, and also jammed in the easy ricochet for the 2nd.  No curly fries, but still, a great effort.
+ My God was it great to see Valtteri Filppula back on the ice.  And not just because I’ve missed admiring his hair.  You could tell he doesn’t quite have his hands back on a couple shots that he took, but he backchecked and worked hard.  He also went 5 and 3 (63%) in the faceoff circle.  Babcock wasn’t hesitant to use him–he had 17:42 TOI (4:07 PP), with 3 shots on net.  It’s just nice to see one of the top forwards back and in action, and not have to worry about bad turnovers or defensive liabilities.
+ Hello Darren Helm!  Save of the night, this kid, batting the puck out of the net with his stick, then again with his hand to keep it tied at 1.  He also had a good game all-around, 4 SOG, 64% draws won,  2 hits, and just running around and creating energy in 16:23 TOI.
+ Good to see the Wings turn it around in the 2nd after a crappy first period.

Minuses
- What an awful first period.  I watched the Columbus post-game show, and they interviewed Nick, who was pretty blunt in saying they got off to a terrible start.  I don’t know why they can’t seem to wake up on time.
– Holy Crap, Derek Meech.  An absolutely horrendous turnover led to the Jackets’ first (and only) goal of the game.
– I don’t think Nicklas Lidstrom is going to score a goal ever again.

It’s Columbus redux on Monday, which I won’t be able to watch live.

–edit–
Howard is starting, according the News. And I don’t know how I forgot to mention this, but Filppula’s making his return today. And it sounds like Rafalski is feeling better, too.

I’m posting this from my Blackberry, so forgive me in advance if there’s anything weird with the formatting.

This is the first game of a home and home. Last time they met was that 9-1 blowout.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are coming to town sitting 14th in the conference with 35 points. Steve Mason has lost the undisputed number one goaltending spot and is fighting for starts with Mathieu Garon. The Jackets have been in a tailspin this season, even though they were hoping to build off their first ever post-season appearance last spring.

I haven’t heard about who’s starting for Detroit yet, so if anyone knows, please leave a comment. Left Wing Lock has Howard slated, but it’s unconfirmed.

I think we all know that this is the type of game that the Wings love to lose, against a weak team and some pretty poor goaltending. But they’ve got to gain traction in the division, and Columbus should be the perfect team against which they should do it.

I feel like I might as well copy and paste half my game recap from the Sunday game.  Anyway, following Matt on this one, and not dwelling on the loss.  Yeah, it blows to be shutout twice in a row, but I’m trying to be positive and am looking forward to Filppula’s return on Saturday.  Jason Williams is also looking to come back on January 14.

Have a safe, wonderful Christmas everyone.