The Rundown: Pride.

Well, that's the season.

Disappointed? A little. But only because the season is over.
Disappointed in the Wings? No, not at all.

The Wings showed us their passion for the game, their determination, and their pride. When they were down 3 games to none in this last series, Jimmy Howard stepped up and said "Why not us?" Those three simple words were just what we needed to hear. Three simple words that made all of us believe in the magic and passion of this team. Three simple words that made the Wings believe and come back to win 3 straight games. There is nothing to be disappointed about. The Wings fought hard. They played hard. To the very last second last night, they did all they could to keep the season alive not only for themselves, but for us as well.

Though things didn't end in our favor, there is still a lot to be happy about. This team gave us one hell of a season full of milestones and memories. Let's reflect a little. Instead of focusing on last night's loss, let's focus on the season as a whole. Let's put things in perspective. Here's some of the best moments this season...

Mike Modano Comes Home- Last summer there was a lot of speculation and rumors about Ken Holland bringing Mike Modano to Detroit. Many were weary at first, but Mikey-Mo signed a 1 year contract with the Wings. Even though Modano's season was cut in half due to that horrific wrist injury, It was still nice to see the hometown hero sporting the winged wheel. Not to mention, he'll probably end up retiring. Modano has come full circle. Starting his hockey playing here in Detroit and coming back to end it. (someone give me a tissue)

Pavel fights- Our Mr. Lady Bing found himself in a fight this season against Corey Perry of the Ducks. Something that we all talked about for days. And let's not forget, in that same game Datsyuk scored a goal and got an assist. (Better known in Hockeytown as the Gordie Howe Hat Trick) Datsyuk joked after the game about being able to open his mind a little more and not having to worry about trying to win the Lady Bing this season.

Chris Osgood's 400th Win- Yeah, we all waited a L O N G time for it to happen. But when that moment came, goosebumps were sent all over my body. Chris Osgood won his 400th career game, an accomplishment that only 9 other goaltenders in the history of the game were able to do. Osgood, who hasn't always had the respect of media and fans, showed everyone that he is hall of fame worthy. Numbers don't lie.

Lidstrom's Hat Trick- Nick Lidstrom is arguably they best defenseman the NHL has ever seen. We're lucky to be able to call him our own. With 4 Stanley Cups, 6 Norris Trophies, and a number of other career achievements (heck, the guy even has a street named after him!) , it's crazy to think that in 18 1/2 seasons, Lidstrom never had a hat trick. That all ended on December 15th. Perfect human, perfect curly fries.

Franzen's Five Goal Game- When he shoots, he scores... and he does it often. On February 2nd, Johan Franzen beat the Ottawa Senators all by himself, scoring 5 goals. Mule gave Hockeytown free curly fries... he even enjoyed some himself.

Bertuzzi's 1000th Career Game- Todd Bertuzzi made it to 1,000 games this year. Through out his career, Bert has experienced a lot of ups and downs and has been one of the most controversial players in the league. Bertuzzi's 1,000 game was well deserved and earned. He even scored the game winning goal in game 1,000. As my Bertuzzi Kuzzi says, Bertuzzi is "#44 in your program, #1 in your heart"

20 Straight Playoff Appearances- We're spoiled. Year in and year out the Wings spoil us with playoff hockey. 20 years in a row, the Wings have found themselves in the playoffs. 4 of those years they went all the way to win the Cup. No other current team in any pro sport has been able to accomplish such a thing. I have a feeling that this streak will continue to grow for years to come.

Other Things That Made Me Smile This Season-

Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader -
These two are really starting to come into their prime. Abby has been able to step up, get in fights, score a few goals, and really make great plays happen. Helm has been able to use his speed to make plays happen, he's been great on the PK, and he's also been able to provide great entertainment every time I see a quote from him in the paper. Example: "With that comes responsibility. I was quoting Spider-Man to you there -- with great power comes great responsibility. I'm excited about it."

Jimmy Howard-
Today, while listening to the radio, one of the DJ's was talking about how for once in Detroit, fans are actually standing behind their goalie with pride. Jimmy's earned it. He's OUR GOALIE. He's our man. He knows that in this town, his job is not so easy. But night in and night out, Jimmy provided us with great saves, great wins, and great chances to win. He was pretty solid through out the entire season and earns all the praise in the world for his efforts.

The Fans-
There is nothing like being a Detroit Red Wing Fan. And I've come to learn that you don't quite understand it from the outside looking in. But once you're in, once you're a fan, you quickly become attached to this team and become proud of what they do every night out on that ice.
There is no better feeling than walking into Joe Louis Arena and realizing that you aren't the only obsessed fan... There is nothing cooler than the Wings having the lead in the 3rd period and hearing everyone in the building sing Don't Stop Believing. There are so many great traditions here in Detroit and we make sure every single one of those traditions live on. There's a reason why Detroit is called Hockeytown, and the fans have a lot to do with it.

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The Future- It's going to be an interesting summer. I want to see what will happen next for the wings, I wish I knew the roster for next season already. I'm hoping and praying that last night wasn't the last time that we all get to see Lidstrom and Draper in the Red Wings jersey.

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On a personal note, I would like to thank all of you guys for reading. Stef and I wanted to do this for fun and for our love of the Wings and we appreciate you're support more than we could probably say. We'll be updating through out the summer to let you all know about trades, signings, and all the other fun stuff Red Wings related.

Until next time, Go Wings!

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.

The Rundown: Abdelkader.

With the win today, the Wings clinched their spot in the playoffs. 20 years.... simply amazing. It's also the 11th straight season where the Wings have reached the 100 point mark.


After today's game I can tell you:

-Shane O'Brien is a little bitch.
-Abdelkader is hot, hot, hot.
-We needed that win, terribly.

Anyways, onto the Rundown.

• This game was intense.

• The Wings came out ready to play. It's nice to see that they realize the predicament they're in.

• So right off the bat, Shane O'Brien thought it would be cute to start a fight. Abby wanted to go after him but was pulled off by the refs. Not to worry though because Todd Bertuzzi gave the fans not one, but two fights with Mr. O'Brien.

• The name of the game today was, "How Many Bad Calls Will Be Made On Homer?"

(answer: too many)

• After going down by three... Babcock called a time out, rallied the troops, and hey, it worked. After that time out... all the magic happened.

• It was all about the young guns today...Kindl got the Wings on the board with a beautiful goal from the blue line. Shortly after, Abdelkader closed the gap a little more to make the game 3-2, Nashville.
  

• Justin Abdelkader was by far the best man out on the ice today. 2 goals, many hits, and great plays... Abby definitely showed his team mates and everyone else what he is made of.

• Jimmy Howard played exceptionally well today too. Howard made some HUGE saves in the third to keep the Wings in it.

• That overtime goal celebration by Cleary was priceless. You could just tell that a ton of weight was lifted off his (and the team's) shoulders.

• The Wings needed this win bad and hopefully only good things are to come from it.

• Tomorrow the Wings play Minnesota. Go Wings!
  

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting

Here are some pics from the Abdlekader - Boyce Fight and some pics of fans fighting in the stands!

A couple of fights broke out among fans in the stands, a couple of them fell down the stairs....

Kronwall started to mess it up.

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}

Warm-Up: Los Angeles @ Detroit

Warm-Up:

The Wings are coming off a painful loss to the Dogs over Phoenix and a not so stellar road trip.

Just like the last few games, tonight is the last match up between two teams. The Kings of Los Angeles will take on our beloved Wings at Joe Louis. The Wings haven't been hot lately, and their record at home is nothing to really brag about.

We've seen it before, and we're seeing it again. The Wings aren't playing their best hockey, but that just makes me think they're taking things a little easy and resting up for the play-offs.

I will say I am quite excited to watch this game tonight, especially since my room mates are all about poking fun at the Kings and "King Cobra" himself, Johnathan Quick.

And lets not forget, the last time these two teams met, the Wings dominated until the last few minutes of the third when they decided they were done playing. The Wings won the game 7-4.


Injuries/Scratches:

Brian Rafalski still out with back problems, Eaves still out with a groin injury. Both have been skating at practice though.

Christopher J. Osgood should be back on the bench or in between the pipes next week. (hopefully)

Drew Miller is scratched for tonight's game.

Other Notes:
There was a video posted on the Wings website yesterday of Justin Abdelkader reading "The Little Engine That Could" to a bunch of fourth graders. It was... AWKWARD.


Game Predictions-

Player of the Game-
Stef- Henrik Zetterberg
Danielle- Nicklas Lidstrom

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