Big Red Machine

Hey, Chicago?  Congrats on winning against the Grand Rapids Griffins.  This is not being bitter as a Wings fan, it’s a fact that Detroit iced about half of the team they had when they played in October.  So here’s a pat on the back for shutting out a Red Wings team without the majority of their firepower.

That being said, the Wings really shat the bed on this one.  I wouldn’t say that Osgood laid a total egg, because the entire team played like crap.  No jump, no legs, no motivation.

Also: is it just me, or has Ken Daniels taken to just yelling directly at the goalies this season?  Right in the middle of his play by play, when Osgood lost the puck, he just shouted, “sit down, Chris!” when it was under him.  Ken did this earlier this year also, when he told Jimmy to just grab the puck.

NHL Network was airing the 2009 Winter Classic before the game, and holy hell was it depressing to see guys like Mule, Lilja, Filppula, and even Hudler out there.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: none
Chicago:  Duncan Keith (pp; Toews, Versteeg); Brian Campbell (Sharp, Ladd); Dustin Byfuglien (Madden, Keith)

Pluses
+ Umm… Hossa was held to 0 shots on goal.  He was on the ice for Campbell’s goal, and so was +1, and had 1 takeaway.  I had also said in my preview that more than seeing Hossa get demolished, I wanted to see him held off the scoresheet.  Not quite, but close.  And I guess I should have specified that I wanted a win, too.
+ Patrick Eaves took a hard shot off the foot, but he did come back after getting an X-Ray.

Minuses
- It took 13 minutes and change for Detroit to get their first shot on goal, by Datsyuk.  13 minutes.  That’s ridiculous.  The end total was 20 shots.  Nowhere near enough when the Blackhawks are currently the best defensive team in the league.
– The last two goals that Osgood let in were pretty soft, and quite a few people in my Twitter feed were calling for him to be pulled in favor of Howard.  I’m sorry, but no.  I said in my preview that he was the player I was looking at to have a good game.  He didn’t have a great night, but it wasn’t horrendous either, by any stretch.
– Because when you spend as much time in your own zone as the Wings did, you’re bound to get scored on.  Way too many times to count, they were just incapable of clearing their zone, and got hemmed in.  There was so much standing around in their own zone, it was mindblowing.
– Good God did Doug Janik have a brutal game.
– We got absolutely wrecked in the faceoff circle.  16 to 29, ‘Hawks.  If you want to play a puck possession game, you have to possess the puck.  And the easiest way to do that is by winning faceoffs.  Datsyuk went 6:10 and Helm was 3:10.  Draper was perfect at 3/3.
– Along with Helm, Leino needs to ask for some new hands for Christmas.
– I frigging HATE that stupid Fratellis song they play at the UC when they score.  It makes it all the more obnoxious when the ‘Hawks score.  Also, real classy, Chicago, with the constant “Detroit Sucks” chant.

Wings are going to have to pull their heads out of their asses by Wednesday and wake up.  I am extremely curious to know who will be starting in net for Detroit.

I started typing this on Facebook, before I realized that it was long enough to really write up a complete blog post.

Marian Hossa has signed with the Chicago Blackhawks for 12 years at $62.8 million, for a $5.23 million per year cap hit.

I wonder if there is an equivalent phrase in Slovakian to "burning your bridges"?

Have fun playing Detroit 6 times next year, Hoss. Oh, and don't forget the playoffs. Maybe it'll be 'psychologically difficult' like it was this year for you to play against Pittsburgh.

Also, I'm stunned that Dale Tallon actually gave him a contract of this magnitude.  He's clearly following the Ken Holland school of management by offering a longterm front-loaded contract to circumvent the cap and still let a guy cash in.  What stuns me is that Tallon must realize that Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith are all up after the 09-10 season.  NHLnumbers.com is down right now so I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but I know that Toews and Kane are a steal, both being in their rookie contracts right now.  Keith is an upcoming defenseman who will also be due a massive pay raise.

And then there's Brian Campbell.  He signed last year at $7.1 million per year and hasn't exactly been the sparkling defensive player they were hoping for.  He's on the books for 7 more years.

Kevin Allen of USA Today (@kausatoday) twittered: With TSN saying Hossa signed with Chicago for 12 years, I have 'Hawks at $34 mill for eight players in 2010-11 witn no Kane, Toews, Keith

A few hours later, Nikolai Khabibulin left Chicago to sign with Edmonton.  So the Blackhawks have Huet as their starter, who has a $5.625 million cap hit and who was replaced by the Bulin Wall partway through the season.  Huet played two games in the Western Conference Finals, but he was horrid.  Chicago has got to get a very competent backup, and unfortunately there aren't many left.  They tried to trade him but were not successful thus far, and are stuck with him for 3 more years.

Detroit Red Wings coach made a comment during the post season that he couldn't wait for Chicago to get into cap trouble, and it looks like the time has come.  It'll be interesting to see what Dale Tallon will do to keep their key players and ice a deep, competitive team, and do it around the big contracts they've given out.

Marian Hossa needs a talking to.