Warm-Up: Round 1, Game 2. Phoenix @ Detroit

Warm-Up:

After going up 1-o in the series, the Wings host the Dogs from Phoenix one more time at the Joe this afternoon. After Game 1, there are a few things that we learned:
1. Special teams, special teams, special teams. Our special teams need to continue to dominate, especially in power play situations. Wings should take full advantage of Phoenix's not so great play when they're faced with a penalty.
2. Start on time. No more of this waiting til the 2nd period to start playing.
3. Keeping the penalties to a minimum. This will be tough to do considering the ref's will call just about anything and everything possible on the Wings.


Injuries/Scratches:
Henrik Zetterberg- Lower Body Injury
It would seem that Kindl is a for sure scratch... not sure if Babs plans on rotating forwards. If not, Modano will be sitting.

What To Look For:
Octopi. Boy do I hope I see lots of them.
Apparently, the NHL is doing all they can to stop the octopus throwing traditon for Red Wings fans. LAME. Completely LAME. The NHL now plans on making fans who throw "objects" on the ice pay a fine. First they take away Al's privilege of twirling the octopus on the ice and force him to twirl it in the zamboni entrance...okay,fine, we'll deal with it. But now this? If fans can't throw octopi on the ice, then they shouldn't be able to throw hats for hat tricks. Taking away our octopus tradition is completely ridiculous.

Octopus Count: 6


Predictions:

Final Score:
Stef- 5-2, Wings
Danielle- 4-2, Wings

Player of the Game:
Stef- Johan Franzen
Danielle- Pavel Datsyuk


Go Wings!

The Rundown: One Down!

Everything fell into place.


Special teams were on top of things.
Franzen showed us that the playoffs are his time to shine.
Jimmy was GREAT.
...oh, and the Tuzzi got in a fight.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, it's only the first game.

The Rundown:

So, let me start by saying... I sadly missed the first half of the game due to work commitments... but, when I got home and put on my green shirt... the magic started to happen. I was a bit weary when I came home and saw the Wings were trailing by one.

Let's talk about the goals that the Wings scored tonight....

-How the hell did Datsyuk make that happen? A wrap around goal? He really does know magic tricks.
-Then one from the Mule. I can only pray that he can play the same way he's played in playoffs past...
-Did anyone else think that Rafalski's shot from the blue line went STRAIGHT THROUGH anyone? Like literally through someone... there were tons of players in front of the net.
-And Hudler? That was one BEAUTIFUL goal!




Octopus Count:
Word on the street from someone at the game... 6 octopi.

Broadcaster Quote of the Game:
(In a Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) "Johan Franzen wants to PUCK YOU UP IN THE PLAYOFFFFFS!" -Mickey York


Next Game: Saturday 1PM.

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

Warm Up:

I woke up this morning feeling like it was Christmas Day! Playoff hockey is here folks, it's a brand new season and a brand new game. As we all know by now our beloved Red Wings will be playing their first round against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Wings had the same match up last year and beat the Coyotes in 7 games.

The Wings and Coyotes met 4 times during the regular season. They split the series, each winning 2 games.

This is a pretty tight match up. The final season records for each team looked like this:

Red Wings : 47-25-10
Coyotes : 43-26-13

Injuries/Scratches:
Henrik Zetterberg out with a lower body injury. Day-to-day. (SURPRISE!!!!!)

Mike Modano and Jakub Kindl are the healthy scratches tonight... which means Kronwall is back! He will be ready to scare every Phoenix player who dares to cross his path.


Who To Look For:
Shane Doan - Doan was on top of the Coyotes stats for the season. He ended with 20 goals and 60 points. Doan has been talking some trash too. He's not going to be afraid to play a little dirty either.

Ilya Bryzgalov - One of the biggest goalies in the league. Bryzgalov is going to be tough for the Wings to get the puck past. He went 36-20-10 this season.

The Entire Detroit Red Wing Team... if they show up - If the Wings can get out of this slump that they've been lately (which I think they very well will do) They have to be the team to beat. Examples:

Franzen has always been HUGE for us in the playoffs. He's a playoff player. As long as he can forget about his second half of the season, Mule should be force to be reckoned with.

If you look at our depth, its unbelievable. Valtteri Filppula is great on the ice whether he's setting up goals or scoring them. Then we have the speed of Darren Helm. Helm can skate circles around the Coyote team, and I fully expect him to do so... hopefully he'll get that scoring touch that he's been waiting for for so long. Let's not forget Drew Miller and Patrick Eaves as well, those two have been great on the ice and can really step up when they need too.

Then there is the magic of Pavel. Dangle, Dangle, Score. Need I say more about that man?

If all the pieces of the puzzle come together, there is no doubt that the Wings will be the team to beat. The Wings need to step it up. After all, they choose their own destiny.

Octopus Count:
A new addition to THR. Look for The Octopus Count before and after every game where we will keep track of just how many Octopi we see thrown onto the ice during every playoff game...

Hockeytown Rundown Hockey Challenge:
The Challenge kicks off tonight. We'll be giving updates on standings through out the playoffs.


Predictions:

Series Predictions:
Stef- Wings in 6
Danielle- Wings in 5

Player of the Series:
Stef- Tomas Holmstrom
Danielle- Johan Franzen

Final Score, Game One:
Stef- 5-3, Wings
Danielle- 3-1, Wings

Player of the Game:
Stef- Pavel Datsyuk
Danielle- Justin Abdelkader


Go Wings!


Keep checking in with us at The Hockeytown Rundown. Each Warm-Up for the series will offer new and interesting insight into the series.