Warm-Up: Round 2, Game 3 San Jose @ Detroit

Warm-Up:

The Wings host the Sharks tonight for game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Final. Our boys are down by 2 in the series, making tonight a must win... otherwise I'll turn on the panic button... and that won't be pretty. Babs is switching up the line up tonight, he's sitting Drew Miller and putting in Kris Draper. Also, Babs is splitting up Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, putting them on the first and second line respectively.

On a personal note... I think that Kindl should be out on the ice instead of Ericsson or Salei... just my opinion though.

Lines for tonight should look something like this then-

Franzen, Datsyuk, Holmstrom
Bertuzzi, Zetterberg, Cleary
Abdelkader, Filppula, Hudler
Draper, Helm, Eaves



Injuries/Scratches:

Mike Modano, Drew Miller, and Jakub Kindl are the healthy scratches tonight

Other Notes:

What/Who To Look For:

Douglas Murray- This guys is definitely letting his presence be known out on the ice.

Those guys in stripes on the ice playing for San Jose. They're real good this time of year.

Also, lets hope Jimmy is wearing his mittens and scarf tonight, there's sure to be some snow showers coming his way.

Predictions:

Final Score-
Stef- 3-2, Wings
Danielle- 2-1, Wings

Player of the Game-
Stef- Johan Franzen
Danielle- Tomas Holmstrom

Go Wings!

Warm-Up: Round 1, Game 3 Detroit @ Phoenix

Warm-Up:

Tonight (and by tonight I mean a half hour before my bed time) the Wings will be skating on the ice in Phoenix for game 3 against the Coyotes. (What? They have ice in Phoenix? Weird. They might as well be playing in Winnipeg at this point.) Not to mention, it's almost a home game for the Wings considering the amount of transplanted Wings fans out in the desert.

The Wings have won the first 2 games of the series at home and look to continue their success. And, according to Detroitredwings.com, Inthe 20 straight years the Wings have gone to the playoffs, they have a 19-4 record in series in where they have won the first two games.

Also, I managed to screw myself over today by walking into the kitchen, making cookies, and doing the dishes. If the Wings win tonight... hello new playoff superstition.

Injuries/Scratches:

Henrik Zetterberg- Lower Body Injury
Chris Osgood- Not even worth noting anymore...

Jakub Kindl and Mike Modano are the healthy scratches tonight.

Other Notes:
In case you haven't noticed by now, the Octopus count and Playoff Challenge stats are now on the side bar

What To Look For:

FRANZENSTIEN!!!!!!

Ed Jovanovski is expected to play tonight after leaving game 2 early. Jovanovski was hit hard into the board by Darren Helm and was in rough shape afterwards. It should be interesting to see if he has any retaliation planned...


Predictions:

Final Score:
Stef- 3-2, Wings
Danielle- 4-2, Wings

Player of the Game:
Stef- Tomas Holmstrom
Danielle- Darren Helm

The Rundown - "It's Like Shooting Ducks at a Circus"

Yes, Mickey Redmond said that. I think he was going for "Like shooting ducks at a carnival." Either way, you can always count on Mickey to bring some afternoon entertainment.... and for the sports announcer quote of the game.

The Wings won their second straight tonight by defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-2.... ALSO... with the win comes another Central Division Title. The Wings won their 9th Division Title in 10 years, way to go boys.

Onto the Rundown...

It was nice to see Pavel Datsyuk back in the line up tonight after missing 8 games. It was also quite obvious that Pav was happy to be back in too. Pav had one assist tonight and his presence on the ice was a great addition to the team.

Darren Helm started the scoring for the Wings with helpers from Eaves and Rafalski. Helm now has 12 goals this season... building off of his career best.

Lidstrom added another one towards the end of the first, which looked like it was tipped in by Datsyuk... but wasn't.

In the second Tomas Holmstrom scored what he would consider a long shot. Homer's goal was outside of the crease, facing the goalie. I couldn't believe my eyes. Homer scored a big boy goal. (Don't get me wrong. I LOVE that Homer gets goal after goal after goal right in front of the net... it's just odd to see him get a goal the way he did tonight. Way to go Homer.)

FINALLY Franzen scored a goal in the third. Franzen hasn't been too hot on the goals lately, so its nice to see the Mule net one.

Also, in the third, big boy Johnathan Ericsson took a puck to the face. Goodbye pretty boy looks.


Let's keep the W's coming our way. Up next - The Hurricanes, Wednesday. (Where I hope my favorite Swede, Nik Kronwall will make his return... pleasepleaseplease!)

Side Note- I WANT THE PLAYOFFS TO START! Getting that itch for some play off hockey... so close!

Go Wings!

The Rundown: NOT THE JIMMY!

First Period-

• LOL Brett Lebda.

• What an atmosphere. Gotta love the original six match ups. such a loud crowd. octopus thrown before the game even starts.. .you know its going to be a good game.

• "lets go red wings" "go leafs go" "lets go red wings" "go leafs go" GOD! I LOVE match ups like this because of the crowd alone.
  

• GOAL! Hank scored a great goal with helpers from Hudler and Lidstrom. 

Darren Helm waiting to make a play.

• "Helm can go from zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds" ... Just like a Mercedes Benz, right Mickey?

• Blue 43 has nothing on red 43. anyways, blue 43 Kadri scored, 1-1.

• First Period ends with everyone tied up, 1-1. 

Filppula getting smashed against the boards for going after the puck.

• Turned on CBC during the first intermission. Don Cherry never fails to show us the perfect suit. Then he provided us with this great line... "Fillapov or whatever his name is." Apparently, Don Cherry thinks that Finland is a part of Russia?

• Coaches Corner finished just in time for me to listen to Larry Murphy! yesss! win! HOT DOG JOKE! ....this game just has "win" written all over it.
  

Second Period-

Kronwall's shot from the blue line

• Kronwall made a great shot from the blue line and Holmstrom tapped it in for the goal. It was a pretty goal, but what got me was Homer's reaction to it. Immediately after it went in he checked all around to make sure that the ref wasn't going to call it back. Hilarious... sort of... actually, it kind of sucks that Homer has to do that now... BUT! Wings up 2-1.

• Abdelkader went after Daryl Boyce after Boyce laid a hit on Rafalski. Rafalski left the game to go get medical attention in the locker room. So anyways, Abby saw the hit at center ice then went after Boyce and dropped the gloves. Abby got a few good hits in. I liked it. 

Abdelkader and Miller checking Leaf's into the boards.

• So that was weird. A shot at the glass.. glass cracks... second period ends early. Which means that the third will be 22:01 long.

• Now, the only time I remember something like this happening, where time or something was changed was during the Winter Classic where the Caps and Pens had to change sides halfway through the third because of poor ice conditions.

• Do you guys know of any other time when there is some change like this to the game? Does this happen more often than I think it does?

• By the way... those Red Wing Commercials with Huds and Z playing chess STILL crack me up.

Third Period-

Jimmy Howard ready to make a save.

• Scary incident where Jimmy ended up on the ice, injured. One of the Leafs, Lupul, put the puck in the net to tie everything at 2-2 while lying on top of Jimmy. Jimmy left the game and looked like he was pretty shaken up.

• Joey MacDonald came in immediately. Lets all hope that Jimmy is alright. 

Dog pile on Joey Mac.

• Hudler scored a goal quick to regain momentum. 3-2, Wings.

• Bert scored an empty netter to make the final 4-2, Wings. Because of this win, the Leafs probably ended any hopes of going on to the playoffs.
• JoeyMac brought in a great effort to end the game.
  

Next up for the Wings: The Chicago Blackhawks, Monday night.

Go Wings!

Jiri Hudler wins first star of the night with a goal and an assist.

{Photo Credit belongs to Stefanie Mullins}

The Rundown: Don't Call It A Comeback

Well, the Penguins prevailed, but the game was awesome. Tonight's game got me way too excited for the play-offs, especially with the comeback that the Wings almost successfully pulled off. I was also told to leave Joe Louis Arena via text message so that the Wings wouldn't lose. But just so everyone knows... I wasn't at the game anyway. So you can't blame me.

The Rundown:

• The first period saw two Penguin goals by Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz. Every time I heard the name Kunitz, it reminded me of a friend of mine with the last name Kubitz... thinking out loud now...

• During the first it seemed like Modano was the only one attempting to shoot the puck, yet nothing got behind Brent Johnson.

• The second period wasn't looking too bright for the Wings... or for Jimmy Howard. Jimmy let in 2 more goals in the second. Another goal by Dupius and then one by Tyler Kennedy. After that, Jimmy was out. JOEY MAC in.

• Zetterberg took the opportunity to rally his troops and get them motivated. Z scored a goal late in the 2nd which was just the beginning of a comeback.

• The third period started and Detroit came out hitting and playing a lot better. Wings scored 3 goals. Filppula, Cleary, and Modano. Fil and Mikey Mo were feeding off of each other all night, if these two stay together in the line-up only good things can happen.

• After the Wings tied things up at 4, over time came... then the shoot out. Joey Mac looked pretty solid until he had to face some random guy off the street named James Neal. I have no idea who this guy is, but he was the only one to score in the shoot out. Pens win 5-4.

• Side Note: I just googled Neal... apparently he was traded not too long ago to Pittsburgh from Dallas. hmph.

• This was a pretty good game for both sides. I was excited for this match up all day today, and both teams definitely delivered.

• Mike Modano tied Guy Lafleur for career goals tonight... which made him start trending on twitter. haha. Way to go, Mikey Mo!

• Tomas Holmstrom also recorded his 500th career point with an assist tonight.

• Up next, the Vancouver Canucks, Wednesday night.

Go Wings.

Warm-Up: Pittsburgh @ Detroit

The Warm-Up:

Well kids, it's good versus evil tonight as the Red Wings welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins into Joe Louis Arena. These two teams have quite a history (as of the past few years) building up and I'm sure tonight's game will have a play-off feel to it. The Pens and Wings faced off once already this season and Pittsburgh won as a Crosby-less team 4-1.

Penguin Matt Cooke also took a hit on New York Ranger, Ryan McDonagh. Cooke has a hearing today to see how bad of a suspension he'll get for the hit. Which is a good thing... hopefully he won't be out on the ice tonight to take out any of our guys.


Injuries/Scratches:

Tonights match up should be interesting as both teams have some of their superstars injured. The Pens have Sidney Crosby out with a concussion. Crosby has missed a large part of the season and has been practicing lately, however no one quite knows when the Penguins will see him return to the line-up. Evgeni Malkin is also out for the rest of the season with a pretty brutal knee injury. Brooks Orpik- a guy who's known for roughing up some of the Wings is out with a broken finger.

On the Red Wings Front...

Listed as "questionable" for tonight's game-
-Jiri Hudler - flu and upper body injury.
-Johan Franzen - groin injury.
-Pavel Datsyuk- lower body injury.

Then...
-Chris Osgood - hernia related stuff... STILL.

Other Notes:

If Osgood was available to play, we would be able to have 4 complete lines out tonight and 8 d-men. But because of cap reasons, the Wings will be dressing 11 forwards and 7 d-men. UGH. It should be interesting to see how things work out tonight.

Predictions:

Final Score-
Stef- 4-2, Wings
Danielle- 3-1, Wings

Player of the Game-
Stef- Tomas Holmstrom
Danielle- Mike Modano

The Rundown: Shark Attack

First of all, I apologize for the untimely updates. After this week, they'll be on time. Promise.

Anyways, the Sharks beat the Wings last night 3-1, much as I predicted. The Sharks dominated pretty much the entire game. Joey MacDonald didn't have the best game either...


Onto The Rundown....

• The Sharks scored early in the game. I wasn't too surprised by this. In fact, I kind of expected it. I felt that if the Wings didn't come out strong, it would just all go downhill. With the loss the night before, the Wings needed to start the game off with making a statement... like scoring first... so much for that.

• The Wings went on a power play and Nik Kronwall scored. Oh wait, no he didn't. The refs called the goal back. I thought it was a bit ridiculous, it seemed like Franzen was pushed into Niemi.

• But no worries, the Wings responded right away. Modano had a nice shot to the net and Holmstrom tipped in the puck. Wings tied it up 1-1.

• Unfortunately, that would be the first and only Wings goal of the night.

• The first ended with the Wings and Sharks in a bit of a scruff. Kronwall slashed Thorton and Thorton retaliated. This got me thinking... how cool would it be to see Kronwall just fight someone. I mean, we all know Kronwall can hit... very well... but he's not much of a fighter. I would just once like to see him in a fight. Either he'll just dominate and completely pound someone into the ice, or he'll just get his ass kicked. hmm...

• The Sharks scored 2 more times during the game. The third goal made me think that JoeyMac has ADD or something... The guy can save the puck... then he just kinda wanders away from the net or looks up into space and stops paying attention to whats going on in front of him. He's let in quite a few soft goals this season, making me way to nervous every time he's between the pipes.

• Next up, the Wings go to Phoenix to take on the Coyotes.

Go Wings.

The Rundown: The First Rule of Fight Club...

I really don't like Dallas. I never have, probably never will. Well that's two losses in a row for the Wings. Dallas came out fighting. Literally and figuratively. I'm also sure that this might have been the most penalties the Wings have taken in a game this entire season. (Not sure on that one, but it seems totally possible, right?) Anyways... to the Rundown.

First Period-

So the first power play for the Wings came very fast. I thought for sure the Wings would go up 1-0 on this power play... but it didn't happen.

And then.. what? Darren Helm scrapping a little bit? I like it.

Jimmy made some pretty good saves in the first, up until Mike Ribiero found an open spot in the net and scored late in the period. Minutes later Eriksson had a nice shorthanded goal that put the Wings down by 2. Dallas even out-shot the Wings 12-8 in the first... which only means trouble.

I want to point out that I think Mursak came out playing really strong. He's showing a lot of potential and I can't wait to see what he will do once he finds himself a permanent spot on the roster.

Second Period-

Holy penalties. There was a combined total of 38 penalty minutes in the 2nd period alone. 38 minutes. More than half the time of the game. I know this isn't a high number compared to a number of other games played in the NHL this season, but for a Red Wings game? I'm impressed.

Anyways, Krys Barsch scored in the 2nd. Which I don't really care about because he spells his name K-R-Y-S.

I was quickly losing interest in the game now that the score was 2-0 in favor of Dallas and the Wings weren't really playing "Red Wing Hockey"... so I was pretty confused with the whole Franzen situation. It seemed to go on for awhile and I was just waiting for the gloves to drop. I was also waiting for Franzen to reach over to some guy and just take the mouth guard out of his mouth. Kind of like this...



That video still cracks me up every time.

Also, after that little mix up, whenever the camera went to Jimmy he had the devil in his eyes. Jimmy was ready to just punch a guy. Kind of like what he did to Crosby that one time.

Third Period-

Dear Johnathan Ericsson,
There are many times when I curse at the TV because of things you do. However, during the third period of tonight's game, you dropped the gloves and fought Steve Ott. I loved every moment of it. I hope that soon you stop making bad plays at the wrong time and continue to do more things that make me happy. I don't like referring to you as the "good-looking hockey player who can't play." Hopefully the one hit that Ott got on you will change things around.
Love Always,
Danielle

So Ericsson and Ott fought. It was enjoyable. Ericsson came out on top. It was also the first hockey fight that one of my room mates saw. Also enjoyable. I should mention that I'm in the process of turning a non-hockey house around and turning it into a hockey friendly environment. Even if they deny it, they know the game is growing on them. They don't know what's coming their way when the playoffs start.

Holmstrom scored with a little under 5 minutes left in the game. So at least we didn't get shut out.

Broadcaster Quote of the Game:
"Star light, star bright, first goal I see tonight" -Mickey York. ...Creative. I wish Murph would start talking about hot dogs again.

Predictions-
Well, Stef and I were both wrong with the final score and player of the game. I must admit though, I was so excited when Homer scored. Called it.



What's Next:
Wings @ Buffalo. Mr. Westland makes his return!!!!!

Warm-Up: Dallas @ Detroit

The Red Wings welcome the Dallas Stars into the Joe tonight after coming off a loss to the San Jose Sharks. It's also Jason Williams first game in the Joe with a Stars uniform. I wouldn't comment on something like that, but when I was younger I was crazy for Williams. I don't know why I'm even admitting it now, but now its out there. Take it or leave it.

Jimmy is starting in net tonight.

Last time these two teams met, Eaves made the citizens of Hockeytown happy by providing them with free curly fries. Eaves won't be in the line up tonight, his spot will be taken by Jan Mursak.



Predictions-


Player of the Game
Stef- Jiri Hudler
Danielle- Thomas Holmstrom

Final Score-
Stef- 3-1, Wings
Danielle- 4-2, Wings.


Go Wings!

Tune in after the game for the Rundown.

Lidstrom: The One and Only Wings All-Star

Captain Nick Lidstrom

Red Wings Captain Nick Lidstrom has been named one of the captains for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.

This will be Lidstrom’s 12^th appearance in the All-Star Game and his first time as captain. Unfortunately  for Wings fans, Lidstrom will be the only Red Wing to play in the NHL All-Star Game.

On a positive note, this should assure that the Wings will be rested during the All-Star break. In addition, injured Wings Dan Cleary, Pavel Datsyuk, and possibly Tomas Holmstrom are expected to return in the first game back from the All-Star break.

The NHL All-Star Weekend will take place January 28-30^th.

2011 NHL All-Star Schedule:

Friday January 28^th: Fantasy Draft at 8 pm (ET)
Saturday January 29^th: Skills Competition at 7 pm (ET)
Sunday January 30^th: NHL All-Star Game at 4 pm (ET)

More Clipped Wings

Tomas Holmstrom and goaltender Jimmy Howard added their names to the Wings injured list. Both Wings incurred an injury during the January 14^th game at Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

Jimmy Howard

Howard bruised his knee during the first period of the game. The injury likely occurred while he was trying to block Derick Brassard’s shot on goal. He did not return for the rest of the night. Howard is expected to only be out for one game.

Tomas Holmstrom

Holmstrom broke his right hand late into the third period.  RJ Umberger took a shot at the net which hit Holmstrom directly in the hand. He won’t need surgery to fix the break but he is likely to be out three to four weeks.

In the end, the Wings lost the game 3-2 in a shootout.