Big Red Machine

(I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that the first thing that came to mind when I started writing this wrapup was “Phoenix Down.”  Clearly I’ve been playing too much Final Fantasy in my off time.)

Now that’s what I’m talking about.  I had faith in this team that they would bring it.  And boy did they ever, dismantling the Coyotes 6-1.

Pavel had 2 goals, Zata had 3 assists, and Nick had 2 power play goals and an assist.  They were, rightfully, 1-3, the stars of the game.  The big boys stepped it up and brought their A game when the team needed it.  Rafalski and Filppula also had 2 assists apiece.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Pavel Datsyuk (pp; Lidstrom, Rafalski); Pavel Datsyuk (Zetterberg, Rafalski);  Nicklas Lidstrom (pp; Filppula, Zetterberg), Brad Stuart (unassisted); Todd Bertuzzi (Filppula, Zetterberg); Nicklas Lidstrom (Rafalski, Franzen)
Phoenix: Vernon Fiddler (unassisted)

+ Detroit tore out of the gate.  This was an outstanding exhibition of classic Red Wings hockey.  Puck possession, defense jumping up, solid forecheck, and crashing the net.  A perfect penalty kill, including a 3-on-5.  A 3/7 power play conversion rate.  50 shots on goal to 33.  5 takeaways to Phoenix’s 9 giveaways.  Talk about finally putting the skate to the throat.  This was utter domination by the Wings.  This was them saying “if you think we’re done, go fuck yourself.”

+ What a relief to see the special teams all back to normal.  The first power play unit got cranking, and the PK was functioning like it should, rather than that weird anomaly from Games 1 and 6.

– Jimmy really probably should have been more prepared for that faceoff in which Vernon Fiddler just slid the puck between his legs right off the draw.  There’s just really no excuse for that.

+ Happy Birthday to Nick Lidstrom.  2 power play goals and some seriously ridiculous defensive play just reinforced the fact that he’s probably actually part android, because there’s no way he played anything like a 40 year old.  He had 7 SOG (plus 5 missed shots for 12 total), played 23:59, and looked like The Perfect Human he is.

+ Nicole from the Red Wings set up a very cool video chat, drawing on the #redwingscommune get-togethers that have been happening in Detroit.  Lots of fun, and a great way for us out of staters to join in.  With this, however, came the revelation of my secret identity.

See, I’m actually Pavel Datsyuk.  And Nick Lidstrom.  And Brad Stuart.  And… well, maybe not Todd Bertuzzi.  Every single time I got knocked off the #redwingscommune video chat, the Red Wings scored.  Every.  Freaking.  Goal.  All six of them.  Which of course led to jokes that I’m actually running off to score for the Wings.

Yep.  That’d be me.  Goal scorer extraordinair.

+ Speaking of goals, those Pavel Datsyuk goals were just beautiful.  Sublime, as my dad likes to call Pavel.  1:41 apart, and 2 minutes into the period, Datsyuk took control and set the tone early in the second.  That pass from Z to spring him and then the curl-and-drag by Pavel… what a thing of wonder.  I know this is kind of mean, but I can’t deny that I enjoyed seeing Bryzgalov just sitting there and look utterly defeated after Pavel’s second.

- Helloooo penalties!  I don’t understand how Darren Helm gets called for Diving, when right before that Keith Yandle got a nice 8.5 for his dive on the Drew Miller “trip.”  It’s the playoffs.  Referees need to learn to let the two teams play.  Cue the tinfoil hat accusations, which I don’t necessarily agree with, but you have to admit they were a little whistle-happy in the 2nd period, overall.

+ One good thing that came from said penalties?  Brad Stuart zipping out of the box to pick up the loose puck and flip it home.

= Weirdly, Zetterberg didn’t have a great night in the faceoff circle.  He went 7 and 11.  Conversely, Datsyuk went pretty much the opposite, at 12 and 7.  Wings barely held the advantage, 37 to 31.

– Where, oh where have Mule and Cleary gone?  Moving into the second round, the Wings are going to need scoring from everyone.  And against the Sharks, having a physical presence will be important again.  These guys need to step it up.

+ Congrats to the Coyotes though, for having a great season, and (now that it’s over) for putting up a good fight and giving us great hockey.

+ I knew they would do it.  Thanks, boys.

Not even kidding.

I received the opportunity to conduct a phoner interview with Brendan Shanahan, currently the VP of Hockey and Business Development (or, as his Twitter profile says, VP of “blah blah blahblahblah”) at the NHL.  I had a double-take moment where I debated the validity of this offer, and then immediately had a moment of panic after accepting.  I’m not a journalist (or a pharmacist, for that matter).  There’s a reason I have a career as a publicist, rather than working the actual media side of things.  But I think I got some decent questions in, and hopefully a little bit of insight from one of the game’s greats.  Maybe nothing Earth shattering, but hey, give me a break–I was talking to Brendan freakin’ Shanahan.  I’m surprised I managed to be coherent at all.

---

Gatorade REPLAY is a documentary series that takes rivalry games between some of the biggest high school sports rivalries in the nation, and re-pits them against each other to determine a winner (I believe the games chosen are typically, if not always, ties).

For season 2, REPLAY is taking the Detroit HS hockey powerhouses Detroit Central Catholic and Trenton from a 1999 game, in which the game was stopped at a 4-4 tie and never resumed, due to the nearly fatal incident of a player having his jugular slashed on the ice.  Eleven years later, players from those teams will be undergoing an 8-week training and nutrition program to get themselves back into game-shape for the rematch.  The program was created by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, and will be conducted with local help from the Velocity Sports Performance center in Canton, MI.

So what does Brendan Shanahan have to do with all this?  He and Scotty Bowman are going to be honorary coaches–Shanahan for Trenton, and Bowman for Catholic Central.  I asked Shanahan how his chances are, and if he feels he’s at a disadvantage coaching against the legendary Bowman, to which he offered a sarcastic, “Against the winningest coach in NHL history?  Nah.”

Practices were run on Saturday and Sunday during a “Pro Training Day.”

The game will happen May 9, 3:00pm ET (doors at 2pm), at Compuware Arena.  Tickets are available for $10 starting April 24 at Kennedy Ice Arena at the Sports Service sotre.  Tickets can also be purchased on April 26 in the Catholic Central gym.  Tickets can also be won at Meijer through April 25 (today).  The game will be tape delayed on FSD (air date and time tk–check listings).

Learn more about the series at replaytheseries.com.

---

I was really interested in talking to Shanahan about some of the things the NHL is doing in terms of social media and fan outreach, and how, as a former player, he feels it’s worthwhile.  He’s fairly active on Twitter, and can often be found offering insights and humorous comments on memorable events, such as when he scored the 2002 empty netter and subsequently gave Yzerman a bloody nose from rolling around on the ice in celebration, or how he actually hurt Patrick Roy’s shoulder when he went sailing into him during The Brawl.

Getting Shanahan on Twitter was something that I know several of my friends joked about the minute we heard about his hiring at the NHL, and so it was a pleasant shock when I heard he had actually joined on.  It’s important because as a valued voice and a highly respected former player (and personally a favorite and hero of mine), Shanahan getting on board with the blogs for NHL.com and Twitter shows that the NHL is really taking social media seriously, as an effective method of communication.

“The NHL asked me to blog at the Olympics, and then I kind of fell off of it, and picked it back up again.  I get on [Twitter] every once in a while and try to be involved.  For the most part it’s been fun and I have had a good experience.  I try to keep it pretty simple and talk about the subject at hand.”

He added that he was surprised that the first day he signed up for Twitter, he traveled to Vancouver, and then logged on to find he had over 2000 followers in that short time (in no way, am I surprised at this.  The tweet announcing that he was on Twitter was RT’d like wildfire).

Shanahan commented that “I think it’s great” that players can use Twitter as a platform for communicating with fans directly. “Some of the conversations I have with players after games, where they’re just devastated after losses; I’m able to offer a glimpse of that,” continuing to add that getting those views from the players allows fans to connect with their favorite team and players, knowing that they’re all just as passionate and feel the same way about outcome of a game.

Guys like Dan Ellis (@dellis39), who interacts with his fans, and also talks about harmless, random things that are still entertaining and simply funny, are a good example of using the direct line to fans effectively.  It’s certainly made me more fond of him as a player, even though I don’t care for the Nashville Predators one bit.  (Along this note, I was catching up on episodes of the Grindcast podcast with Craig Custance and Sean Gentille of The Grinder blog over at Sporting News, and they have a hilarious segment talking about Ellis’ Twitter account in Episode 4.  I highly recommend listening to it).

Shanahan himself has also done similar, Twittering about things from his dog, to comparing the cleanliness of subway systems in NYC versus Toronto, and what line he rides (it’s the F train, for the record), to jabbing back and forth with Sean Avery (@seanaverydotcom, and talking about LOST: “One time I just made a comment about the TV show LOST, and all of a sudden I was getting hundreds and hundreds of responses about LOST.” With a mix of personal thoughts and hockey-related comments, it’s an extremely effective way to draw in more fans.

But there is, of course, the need for discretion, and understanding by players about how to make social media work for them.  Regarding players using Twitter, Shanahan said, “Players can do it, they just need to learn some parameters.  I’m a little bit of a guinea pig for the players… as we have younger players coming into the NHL now, they’re more comfortable with it–some of the older guys don’t care for it.

He added, “I’ll probably talk about this Gatorade REPLAY game on Twitter.  For someone who wants to get a message out, and talk about a good story, it’s a great way to get the word out.”

This last comment, of course, is something that Red Wings fans are extraordinarily familiar with, given the roaring success of Herm to Hockeytown.

---

I also wanted to ask for some of Shanahan’s thoughts on the playoffs, particularly the Red Wings series with the Coyotes.  Again, I’m not going to pretend like I had any deep, insightful questions–I was shaking the entire conversation, and, to be honest, kind of terrified to voice my opinion.

I asked if he was surprised at all by what the Coyotes have been able to accomplish this season, given the ownership and financial issues going on.  He replied that he doesn’t think that kind of stuff really bothers the players:  “It’s a great story, what Tippett has been able to achieve, [but] the ownership stuff doesn’t really touch the lockerroom.” He also stated that he does think the Wings will win the series, but isn’t really surprised that the Coyotes have made it a tough series, and that it’s been good hockey between the two teams.

With Game 6 this afternoon, and the chance for the Wings to close out at home, Shanahan said that the important thing for them to do is to “start well.  A good start is important.  It’ll be a tough game to play from behind.  With the travel back and forth [across the country], it’s less taxing to play with a lead.  They need to pour it on in the first 10 minutes.” This is a fairly common sentiment among the Red Wings bloggers as well, and I admit I feel ridiculously happy that I can say, to an extent, that Brendan Shanahan agrees with what I think the Wings need to do in order to win the series.  Yup.

More seriously, there have been a few interesting story lines and developments this post-season, including but not limited to, the Avalanche actually giving the Sharks a decent run for their money (maybe this shouldn’t be surprising at all, actually, given the Sharks…), the 70 too many men on the ice penalties been called so far this round, the goaltending musical chairs in Montreal, and more.  So I had to ask, what’s the biggest surprise to Shanahan so far, this post-season?

“I’m surprised that the Devils got knocked out early.  They have a good caoch, good depth.  But after the Kovalchuk trade, they weren’t able to really gel as a team.  It’s a team game, and you’re not going to win [if you're not together as a team].”

And, of course, when asked about his favorite playoff moment for himself, Shanahan unsurprisingly replied with, “They’re all special, but the first Cup is the most memorable.” It was certainly one of the most cherished moments for us fans, too, Shanny.

---

It was a dream come true to be able to talk for 10 minutes with Brendan Shanahan, and I have to say thank you to Fleishman PR for reaching out to the bloggers, and allowing me this amazing opportunity and honor.

And damn, I forgot to ask about the story behind this photograph.

A fun treat: the Joe Louis Arena goal horn as a ringtone.  Download it here.  I edited it down from a longer, 20 second ringtone, to the horn going off three times.  Marlon did a favor of humoring me by calling my phone so I could hear it, and it’s AWESOME.  Easily the best, most obnoxious ringtone on the face of the planet.  I’ll leave the file up throughout the playoffs.

As for the game, I don’t think I breathed the entire time the Wings held onto that 1 goal lead.  I’ve never been so relieved to get the safety goal.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Henrik Zetterberg (pp; Kronwall, Rafalski); Pavel Datsyuk (Franzen, Lidstrom); Henrik Zetterberg (Bertuzzi, Stuart)
Phoenix: none

– I missed the first 10 minutes, roughly, of the 1st period due to the awkward 6:30pm ET game start.  I did get home and fired up GameCenter Live just in time to hear Mickey and Ken Daniels trying to explain the Filppula non-goal.

– Looking at the faceoff stats after 1 period, I couldn’t even believe it.  7-20, in favor of Phoenix.  Shots were 17-9, Detroit, though, and the Wings did manage to even up on the draw to end at 30-31.  But that aside, 7-20 is just unacceptable.

+ I said after Game 3 that if Howard still looked shaky tonight, then I thought it might be time to pull him in favor of Osgood.  But Jimmy pulled up his big-boy pants, and has clearly taken to the Chris Osgood School of Zen in how he did not let Game 3 affect him tonight.  He was stellar in getting his first career playoff shutout.

– Niklas Kronwall has been absolutely brutal all series long.  Saler pondered if he was maybe injured, but a physical injury wouldn’t be causing his complete lapses in judgment and decision making.  My opinion has been if he’s not going to make the smart or even acceptable play, then he should at least step up in the hitting.

+ 5 goals in 4 games for Mr. Zetterberg.  He’s playing like the Conn Smythe winner of 2 seasons ago.  This is what the Wings need, and he’s giving it to them.

+ The PK was awesome tonight.  Less sitting back than we’ve seen, I think, and they were much more active in regaining the puck to shovel it down the ice.

– That said, can we please stop with the unforced turnovers?  My God, it just gives me a heart attack every time, because I could just see a bad giveaway leading to a tying goal by Phoenix.  Thank God Jimmy was on his game, because if he’d had a similar outing to Sunday, the result would have been drastically different.

= Every time I hear Petr Prucha’s name being mentioned in the PxP, I actually do a double-take.  I’m so used to him being a healthy scratch with the Rangers under Tom Renney that it’s weird to hear that he’s actually playing.

= Poor Helm was told to stand down by the ice after the game for the three stars, but it was actually Pavel who was the 3rd star, not Helm.

+ Speaking of Helm, he led the team with 7 hits.  Stuart was next with 6.  Franzen and Datsyuk each had 4.  It was good to see them pick up the physicality, and use it effectively.  Hits were 43-27, Detroit.  43!

= Mickey York totally called Crosby “Sidney the Kidney” during the intermission.  I don’t know if he was going for Sid the Kid, and then realized he’d said Sidney, but whatever.  It amused me.

+ It wasn’t a perfect game for the Wings, despite the shutout.  It wasn’t one of those brilliantly executed games where they just outplay their opponent in every regard.  But they ground out the must-win, from goaltending up to the top lines.  And that’s all that ultimately matters.

I don’t want to talk about it.  I really don’t.  That game sucked in more ways that I know how to express.

The only plus from Game 3 was Shane Doan getting upended by Jimmy Howard and crashing into the boards, and going out for the remainder of the game.  Except even in the long run, the Coyotes seemed to step it up after it was heard that Doan wasn’t going to return, and the Wings let them.

They really shat the bed on this one, and I’m too irritated to write much more than that.

I WILL say, however, that I am not on board with any of the calls to bring in Osgood.  Look, I’m a huge Osgood supporter, which is no secret around here.  And yes, Jimmy hasn’t been stellar.  He’s let in bad goals both in terms of difficulty and in terms of timing, at least one per game.  But it’s not like the team up front has bailed him out much.  What does annoy me is that he’s letting in softies that, were is Osgood, everyone would be screaming to pull him from net.  If Ozzie had allowed a goal 29 seconds into the game, I know for certain my Twitter feed would have blown up with anti-Osgood tweets.  Jimmy’s getting the benefit of the doubt, I assume, because it’s his first ever playoffs.  At least that’s how I’m looking at it.  The thing is, he needs to make those imperative saves.  And if he doesn’t shore up tomorrow, then yeah, I’ll be wondering if Osgood shouldn’t get his fair shot.

Let’s. Go. Red Wings.

My former roommate, and recent convert to Red Wings nation (and hockey in general) back in New York IM’d me shortly after the game ended and made a comment that caused me to laugh a little:

ok, don’t get me wrong, i’m glad we won
but i wish that the entire game had been like the last 5ish mins

The Wings were flat for the first period and a half.  But guess what?  I couldn’t care less.  They won.  We won.  They cranked it up and played like the 2008 Detroit Red Wings rather than the 2006 Detroit Red Wings.  They get to go back home to the JLA with one win, and we got 7 goals and free curly fries courtesy of Mr. Zetterberg.  I’ll take it.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Henrik Zetterberg (pp; Filppula, Kronwall); Pavel Datsyuk (Franzen, Holmstrom); Valtteri Filppla (Bertuzzi, Ericsson); Justin Abdelkader (unassisted); Henrik Zetterberg (Bertuzzi); Valtteri Filppula (pp; Stuart, Kronwall); Henrik Zetterberg (EN; unassisted)
Phoenix: Keith Yandle (Hanzal, Vrbata); Wojtek Wolski (unassisted); Matthew Lombardi (Doan, Wolski); Shane Doan (Fiddler, Morris)

– I don’t exactly understand why the Wings thought that playing the dump-and-chase for the first period and a half was going to be effective, but they did.  And it made me want to tear my hair out.  It was like watching the 3rd period of Game 1 all over again.

– We can thank Dennis Larue for the even, consistent, and unbiased officiating.  Because when Sami Lepisto drops his stick, we all know that’s actually a slashing penalty.

+ I’m convinced that the Wings turned it around mid-way through the 2nd period because I changed my shirt.  Hey, whatever we think works, right?  Hell, I’d change my underwear every intermission (yeah, I was totally going to say “every period” but, ah, poor choice of words there) if it would mean the Wings played like they did the second half of the game.

+ On a more serious note, hey, wow, look what happens when you start winning faceoffs, possessing the puck, getting secondary and tertiary chances, and hitting people.

– The 2nd period reminded me of a trend from last year’s SCF games against the Penguins when the Wings would score, and then allow Pittsburgh to score immediately after.  Can’t get caught celebrating your goal still after the puck drops again–and they seemed to rectify that in the 3rd.

+ It was nice to see the Wings really wake up after Filppula’s first goal.  Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Flip, Lidstrom were just very ON from that point on, and the pace of the game completely changed.  The three forwards had 6 SOG a piece, and each scored at least a goal.  This is what Detroit needs from their top 6.  Is that the flip of the switch that we’ve been waiting for? (Get it?  Flip?  Filppula?  ’Cause he scored the goal that…oh… nevermind).  Speed can kill a team, and from about the 10 minute mark in the 2nd, it felt like the Wings were just taking it Phoenix, fast and furious.  The turning of the tide was punctuated by the fact that Detroit did not allow a Coyotes’ goal mere seconds after Flip’s.  Keep the pace uptempo and fast, and they’ll continue to “turnstile” the Coyotes, who can’t keep up.  That was the best hockey I’ve seen the Wings play all season, and that’s the team that will rip Phoenix to shreds.

+ Holy Justin Abdelkader, that puck strip and goal was shades of Datsyuk.  I was on the fence about replacing J-Wills with Abby, since quite frankly, there were other players who didn’t play up to par in Game 1, but I can’t deny that having his physicality injected into the lineup helped.  He got the goal, 2 SOG, and 5 hits in 8:27 TOI, and went 6 and 5 in the faceoff circle (54.5 win percentage).  In short, he completely outplayed Kris Draper, statistically.

– Shane Doan is still a massive jerkoff.  Just sayin’.

+ I never thought I’d say this, but I was never more relieved when Versus ended their coverage of the Blackhawks/Predators game in time for the 2nd and 3rd of the Wings/Coyotes game.  Rick Peckham and Daryl Reaugh actually have done a very good job on the broadcasts, and Reaugh also gets bonus points for managing to talk about the long change in the 2nd without sounding like a complete douche, ala Eddie Olczyk.

I am now trying to figure out how I can get my ass down to Phoenix for Game 5… we’ll see how that ends up working out.

Not exactly the way we wanted to see the Wings kick off the playoffs this year.  To top it off, the power blew in my side of the apartment building shortly after the game was over, and I sort of lost several of my thoughts that I wanted to post about.

+ Firstly, the Wings had a pretty strong 1st period.  20 shots on goal, it was a virtual shooting gallery out there.  The downside is that Bryzgalov was doing his best impression of a brick wall, but I felt like the Wings took the play for most of it.  Yes, it was a bit more scrambly than I would have liked to see, but they seemed alive.

Brian made a valid point that Phoenix was a team that has had a lot of off-ice issues with ownership, who absolutely sucked last year, and who is playing in their first playoff game in how many years?  Of course they were inspired by the home crowd, and translated that into their level of play.  I realize that you really just hope to walk away from the road series with one win out of two, but I would have liked to have seen it in Game 1 rather than Game 2.  I don’t believe that you’re “supposed to lose” Game 1 on the road.  These are professional athletes, and this is their job.  Get it done.  Give me visible, tangible proof that the Wings are hungry and bitter to win in the postseason.

- Special teams are what demolished the Wings last night.  I don’t know what happened to the solid penalty kill, which was one of the few highlights this season for a time, but it certainly wasn’t there during the game.  The Wings allowed all 3 of Phoenix’s goals on the power play.  Conversely, Detroit only scored once on the PP, out of 7 opportunities.  That’s not good.  Detroit might live or die by special teams this post-season, so I hope that gets turned around quick.

- Was Henrik Zetterberg playing with anyone?  Who were his linemates?  For all I know, it was a snail and a sea urchin, because I certainly didn’t see anything out of Bertuzzi, other than when he got shoved over standing in front of Bryzgalov (seriously Bert, you’re gigantic; you shouldn’t be falling over like a leaf in the wind), and I occasionally spied the fabulous flowing locks of Valtteri Filppula.

– Shane Doan is a douche.  I never minded him before this season, but now every time I hear someone talk about how great it is that he’s made the playoffs, and how no one deserves it more, and how he got snubbed for the Olympic team, the more I want to roll my eyes and point to a highlight reel of his dirty hits.  Color analyst Darryl Reaugh made the interesting comment early in the game of “there’s a lot of hitting to hurt in this game.”  Yeah, and a lot of it was done by Doan.  He brought the physical play, yes, but not in a clean way.  I’ll be looking to see if the refs crack down more on it, or if they let it go.

– To that point, the Wings need to be more physical.  Kronwall needs to step up and Kronwall someone (I nominate Doan).  Stuart dished out a hit here or there, and Helm was bouncing around like a pinball, but I’d really like to see guys like Bertuzzi, Cleary, and Datsyuk get in on the physical play.  When Datsyuk is hitting guys, it usually means he’s riled up, and that he’ll have a ridiculous game.

+ I don’t think Holmstrom’s ever even had possession of the puck that far away from the net before in his life.  What a bomb.

– Were there any snakes thrown at ALL?  Pathetic, Phoenix fans, pathetic.

– I cannot believe that the high stick on Lidstrom didn’t get whistled for a 4 minute double.  I believe that’s what they call in basketball, a “flagrant” foul.  I saw Nick Lidstrom get whacked in the face by a Phoenix player’s errant stick, him bleeding on the bench, but apparently neither referee did, given no penalty call.  That should have been 4 minutes, no question.  Say what you want about conspiracy theories, or tinfoil hats, that’s clearly bullshit.

= Howard didn’t stand on his head, nor did he have a complete meltdown.  The defense didn’t aid him very much, particularly during the kill.  He looked a little shaky at times, like on the Yandle goal.  But it was his first career playoff game, you can’t expect him to play like a veteran, even if he’s seemed like it during the regular season.  We all know the playoffs are a completely different animal.

And I’m already stressing to the high heavens.

Kind of quick, slap-and-dash post here, since I’m at home for lunch, but I need to run back in time for a 1pm meeting.

For the first time in 10 years, the Red Wings are starting the playoffs on the road, rather than in the friendly confines of the Joe Louis Arena.  Instead they’ll be at Jobing.com Arena (winner of the worst arena name possible) in Phoenix.

But we all know that in Phoenix, when the Wings come to town, it might as well be a home game.  I know there are some calling for Wings fans to “stay away” but they can shove it.  I’ll be looking for Serven, Bingo Bango Jessie, and Sullyosis to be proudly sporting the red and carrying the flag for the Wings tonight.

Starting on the road will not be the only difference this year.  Last year we all wondered if the Wings, specifically Chris Osgood, could flip the switch and play like the team that won 2 years ago.  This year the Wings had a monster post-Olympic season, and are on a roll.  They haven’t relaxed, sitting pretty on top of the division, resting their stars in preparation.  They’ve been pushing their way up the standings, fighting for their playoff lives, and playing what are essentially Game 7 situations every night.  I like it.  I like that they’re ready for what’s to come, and that they’ve had a certain level of intensity up to this point.  I like that they won’t have to flip the switch from completely dark to on.  They should be warmed up, and ready to gun it tonight when the puck drops.

James Tiberius Howard has never seen a second of Stanley Cup Playoff ice time in his life.  He will be up against Ilya Bryzgaloz, who has played 16 career SCP games with the Ducks in 06 and 07.  I’ll freely admit that I’m more worried about Bryzgalov than I would have been about the Wings facing Luongo.  I think he could steal a few games if the Wings aren’t careful, don’t drive the net, and aren’t all over him with Homer’s ass parked directly in front.

Going back to the Golden Boy for a moment, he’s exhibited remarkable poise this season.  I know, I know, he’s 25, but he’s still a rookie, especially when it comes to post-season play.  Can he keep up his solid play and not have a crisis or a meltdown under the pressure?  I’m interested to see what sort of leeway Babcock gives him if he does.  Osgood, afterall, has been relegated to a statboy, more or less, charting faceoffs more than he actually sees minutes on the ice.  This is Howard’s time to become the Red Wings goaltender, and make it his team.

Other players I’m looking at to have a strong series:
Pavel Datsyuk, after something of a disappearance last year due to injury.
Johan Franzen for his absolutely clutch playoff performances.
Tomas Holmstrom will be key in terms of getting to his office and driving Bryzgalov nuts.
Todd Bertuzzi, please remind us why Ken Holland thought it was a good idea to sign you.

The Wings will need secondary scoring IN ADDITION to production from the top lines with Datsyuk and Zetterberg.  Clearly, this is stating the obvious, but guys who are being paid to chip in a few goals need to actually do that.  These include Williams, Bertuzzi, Filppula, Cleary, and maybe Eaves.

Also?  Big Rig Jonathan Ericsson.  Everyone gushed over him after his playoff performance last year, and he’s had a rocky regular season.  I want to see him channel some of that awesomeness and play like the defenseman we saw back then.

Ultimately, I just want to see a cohesive team, where the parts all work together smoothly rather than a bunch of jumbled lines and parts and pieces doing things on their own.  Bring it, boys.

Let’s Go Red Wings.

What a shit show.  They had a 2 goal lead with 1:30 remaining and they blew it.  Tippett pulled Bryzgalov with almost 2 minutes left in the game, and I knew that Phoenix would at least get a 3rd goal.  But Jesus, you know what kind of season it’s been when you expect your team to give up a late goal.

I missed most of the first period while half-paying attention and talking to my mother on the phone. I had intended to go back and re-watch more intently during intermission, but my DVR recording got cancelled. Which was just a sign of things to come, I suppose.

+ I did get to see the Pavel goal, although not the entire play around it.  That was apparently his first goal in 7 games.  He looked dangerous all game long, and was one of the best fowards on the ice.  According to the boxscore he had 1 takeaway, but I saw almost a takeaway per shift in the second half of the second alone.  Babcock said in the post-game scrum that he had the puck on a string quite a bit, and I’d have to agree.  He ended the night with a goal and an assist.

- I don’t know if it was Versus, my cable box, or fuck knows what, but I had zero sound for the 2nd and third periods.  None whatsoever. I would normally rejoice being saved the pain of listening to the horrible announcers on VS, but I can’t deal with dead silence.  I ended up streaming the radio off 97.1, and just suffered through that being about 1:15 behind.

+ Thank God for Patrick Eaves.  He scored 11 seconds after the Coyotes did (yet another goal seen from a mile away).  That’s what it means to have a good shift after a goal against, and the third line of Draper-Helm-Eaves is totally responsible for that happening.  They were great.

+ Wings looked much more awake after Eaves’ goal.  Good sustained pressure by the Wings in the end of the second.

+ Two goals by Nick.  I loved the second one he got, just popped it in a wide open net on the power play from Doan knocking him over during the little scrum that ensued around Howard.  Now that the blue line is getting healthy and stronger, he can focus on offense a little more and not have to cover all the defensive holes.

+ Datsyuk and Zetterberg got a little scrappy, which I loved.  I’m really a fan of the Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary line.  Cleary is more willing to set up in front of the net ala Holmstrom than Bertuzzi is.  He’s also quicker, and is able to keep up with the Eurotwins better.

+ The Wings looked confident; way more than we’d been seeing recently. They looked like they weren’t going to allow the Coyotes push them around.

- And then the wheels fell off.  Complete and utter collapse.  A minute and a half remaining in the game with a 2 goal lead and they blew it.  I don’t even care if it was goaltending, lack of coverage by the D, inability to get the puck out of the zone, whatever.  I’m blaming the whole damn team for not being able to hold on for a minute and a half.  To state the obvious, Nick missing that empty netter was huge.

- Brad Stuart with a -3 tonight.  No one else was worse than -1, and Rafalski was actually +3.  I am really hoping that once Kronwall settles back in, that Stuart can start playing a little more physical.  He had to put that aspect of his game on the backburner with Kronwall out, but now he can start being grittier in front of the net.

– SOG were almost dead even each period with 8 in the 1st, 12 in the 2nd, and 14 and 15 for Phoenix and Detroit, respectively.  OT was telling though, as Phoenix got 3 shots and Detroit just 1.  And Phoenix scored and Detroit didn’t.

= Kronwall had 0 points, went -1, 1 blocked shot, a hit, and giveaway, and took 30 shifts for 21:57.  It was such a relief to see him out there, and not have to worry about a boneheaded play from the likes of Lebda or Meech.  He’ll get his sea legs, so to speak, back quickly I think.

- I was not impressed with Howard.  Not saying that every single goal was his fault, but he looked tired.  According to Left Wing Lock, Osgood is your starter for tonight anyway.

So, the player I’m looking at to have a good game is Osgood.  I said on TOV this week that he needs to STFU.  I just want to see him play, to the best of his ability and not whine about the situation he’s put into, or the end result.  He’s not sitting on the bench for a month straight between starts, so no blaming “rust” this time.

I would also like to not see the Wings blow a 2 goal lead.  Or any lead, for that matter.  Minnesota is creeping up the standing, and the Wings can ill afford to have them making a run.

It’s (yet again) another must-win.

The big news here is Niklas Kronwall’s glorious return to the blue line.  With that, Meech is the odd man out, and will return to his familiar spot in the press box.  I am stoked for this.  It means we finally have 2 solid defensive pairings, and now Brad Stuart isn’t going to have to scramble around trying to cover for his partner.  Kronwall should also help out the power play, as he had been really heating up before he got hurt.

The goalies will be Howard vs. Bryzgaloz.  As the first game in a back to back, with Wednesday’s game against Minnesota, will Osgood get an opportunity?  And if he does, will he keep his mouth shut?  I’m getting ahead of myself…

Wings are sitting back in the playoffs at 8, but only because they’ve played one fewer game than Calgary.  If they lose, they’re back to 9 because Calgary (somehow) has more wins.  Win, they’re still in 8th, but have further solidified their position.

I want to see a team that plays all 60 minutes.  They know they need the points, but I want them to show me by dismantling the Coyotes.  The Yotes aren’t a high scoring team–they’ve got 139.  Sadly, the Wings are behind them in this regard also, with 131 on the season.

Who I’m looking at to have a good game: Nik is the obvious choice here.  I miss seeing him just blast someone on open ice.  And I think beyond that, just his return to the lineup will be a confidence booster for a team that seems to need it.

Also, in case you are interested, NHL.com is offering a free preview of GameCenter Live tonight.  There are 7 games on tap, though Phoenix/Wings is on Versus.  I can vouch for the service that when it works, it’s awesome.  When it sucks, it really sucks.  It actually makes me glad that the Wings game is on TV because I won’t have to worry about bandwidth overload.

That was the best game the Wings have played this calendar year.  And now that I’ve stated the obvious, I was thrilled to see that they followed up a good game on NYE versus Colorado with another strong outing.  Maybe the ship’s turning in the new year.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Tomas Holmstrom (Lidstrom, Rafalski); Tomas Holmstrom (Lidstrom, Datsyuk); Pavel Datsyuk (pp; Bertuzzi, Rafalski); Darren Helm (EN; Stuart)
Phoenix: Matthew Lombardi (Lang, Yandle)

Pluses:
+ The Draper-Helm-Eaves line was the best out there, along with the top line.
+ Textbook tip-ins by Holmstrom on his two.  They’re always talking about other players being great at net-front presence, but Homer is still the ultimate player for that position.
+ I am hoping, hoping, hoping that the fact that Pavel has scored 2 goals in the last 2 games means he’s starting a streak.
+ Even Helm couldn’t miss this time on the breakaway, with an empty net.

Even:
= There was really nothing to be done on the Phoenix 5 on 3 goal.  It was, admittedly, a beautiful play.

Minuses:
- Terrifying moment almost halfway through the first period, when Howard had abandoned the net for the extra man on a delayed call, and the Wings missed on a pass an almost scored in their own empty net.
– Stop stealing Nick’s goals, Tomas.  He needs them.