Warm-Up: Round 2, Game 6 San Jose @ Detroit

Warm-Up:

"We're not a team that's going to give up. We're going to keep battling until its over."
-Nick Lidstrom

Once again, ladies and gents, the season is on the line. The Wings need to win this one to force a game 7 back in San Jose. If the Wings can play a complete game (not just the third period), I believe they will come out with a win.

And that's what we all need to do... Believe.

Hometown Hero, Mike Modano will suit up tonight to after Mike Babcock announced this morning that Johan Franzen is scratched. Franzen had just over 9 minutes of ice time on Sunday night and didn't play in the third period

Also, The Sharks will be without Rayne Clowe tonight... there's been various reports on what's wrong with him. Some say he has 'flu like symptoms' others say he has an 'upper body injury' ... either way you look at it, he's just recovering from being kronwalled.

Injuries/Scratches:

Jakub Kindl and Jiri Hudler are the healthy scratches.
Johan Franzen out with an ankle injury/lower body injury.

Other Notes:

It's now or never.
Alright boys, let's do this.

Go Wings!

Warm-Up: Round 2, Game 4 San Jose @ Detroit

The Warm Up:

They say history repeats itself. Tonight- it better not.

It's do or die time.
It's now or never.
Tonight Hockeytown, we need to believe.
Believe that our boys can come flying out onto the ice tonight. Believe that even though we're down by three, we're not out. Believe that this team has what it takes to win game 4 just so that our season can see a few more days (hopefully weeks). It's not going to be easy, but if any team has enough heart to do this, it's the Red Wings.
_______

The Wings host the San Jose Sharks tonight at 7. All the pieces need to come together for the Wings tonight, otherwise they'll spend tomorrow reserving tee-times.


Injuries/Scratches:

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

Other Notes:

There's a lot of talk around town about the end of careers for some of the guys on the team. Modano, Osgood, maybe Lidstrom, maybe Draper. We all know that these guys are towards the end of their careers but for god's sake, can we PLEASE save the retirement talks for after the playoffs? Our guys have more important things to worry about right now.


Let's do this boys.

Go Wings!

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 2, Game 2 Detroit @ San Jose

The Warm-Up:

Let's not hit the panic button yet. After a tough over-time loss on Friday night, the Wings are looking to come back to Detroit with the series tied 1-1. Though game one wasn't their best game, the Wings aren't a team to let one game get them down. I'm looking forward to seeing the Wings come out strong and willing to do whatever it takes (minus the penalties) to win this one.

We'll also be forced to listen to NBC announce the game this afternoon.

Injuries/Scratches:

Kris Draper, Mike Modano, and Jakub Kindl are the healthy scratches today.


Other Notes:

Happy Birthday to Patrick Eaves!

AND! A big congrats to Hockeytown Rundown-er, Stef for graduating today!!!


What to Look For:

The Wings need to stay out of the penalty box today. In game one, the Wings had 6 penalties called against them, while San Jose only had 2. We'll also need to see some spark coming from guys like Franzen and Helm.

Predictions:

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

Player of the Game-
Stef- Brian Rafalski
Danielle- Valtteri Filppula


Go Wings!

Warm-Up: Round 2, Game 1 Detroit @ San Jose

The Warm-Up:

After what seemed like months without Red Wings hockey, our boys in red and white will hit the ice and take on the San Jose Sharks tonight. As we all know, the Sharks were responsible for knocking the Wings out of the playoffs last season and the Wings will be sure to fight as hard as they can to make sure history doesn't repeat itself this time around.

The Sharks won 3 of the 4 regular season match-ups between these two teams. It will be interesting to see how they match up tonight, both teams have strong lines, lots of goal scorers. Special teams will also be important through out the series.


Injuries/Scratches:

Kris Draper, Mike Modano, and Jakub Kindl should be the healthy scratches this evening.

What To Look For:


Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm. These two guys made themselves known in the first round, I can only see them getting better from here.


Other Notes:

Happy Birthday to the one and only, Mike Babcock!

Predictions-

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

Player of the Series:
Stef- Pavel Datsyuk
Danielle- Darren Helm

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

Player of the Game:
Stef- Pavel Datsyuk
Danielle- Danny Cleary


Go Wings!

Warm-Up: Round 1, Game 4

Warm-Up:

Well, here it is. Game 4. What some call the toughest game to win. The Wings have everything lined up perfectly for them to sweep the series tonight against the Coyotes and send them back home to Winnipeg. Tonight's game is sure to be physical right from the start.

Reckless Shane Doan showed us in game 3 that he's more than willing to try and take out our Captain... The Wings better not put up with that tonight... unleash the power of the Tuzzi and Abby.

And hopefully the Wings will continue to take advantage of the poor play of Ilya Bryzgalov... Bryzgalov looked like he was on a different planet Monday night, not even moving or attempting to block shots that came his way.


Injuries/Scratches:

Henrik Zetterberg - Lower Body Injury
Chris Osgood- groin

Jakub Kindl and "32 year old" Mike Modano are the healthy scratches tonight.



Other Notes:

Hopefully our Wings learned a few lessons from the Canucks last night on what NOT to do in game 4.

Predictions:

Final Score-
Stef- 5-3, Wings
Danielle- 4-1, Wings

Player of the Game-
Stef- Danny Cleary
Danielle- Pavel Datsyuk


Here's to hoping we get to bring out the brooms tonight. 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

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!

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.

Stef's Playoff Superstition Rundown

It’s that time of the year, PLAYOFFS! So here is a rundown of my playoff superstitions:

1.· Playoff shots! Playoff shots are taken while watching the game for each goal the Red Wings score and for a game win. I cannot have any other alcoholic beverage during the game. Shots taken at home (not at the bar) must be taken out of my Red Wing shot glass. *Danielle has came up with a Red Wing shot list with a specific shot for each Red Wing; I may be tailoring my shots according to the list. 

 2.   Facebook profile picture must be one related to the Red Wings.

3.  I must fly my Red Wing flag from my car. It can only be flown after the regular season is over and only for the duration of time the Wings remain in the playoffs.  

4.  On occasion, musical chairs have been played to change the luck if the game is not going well.

5.  I now have Red Wing pajamas that I must where throughout the playoffs.

6.    If the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup, I must go to the parade. *Good luck for future years.

Other Superstitions:

·                    1.  My winter classic jersey is to be worn at every original 6 game that I attend. 

·                     2.  Apparently I cannot where my Hudler jersey if he will be playing the game because it gives   
            him bad luck.

The Playoff Routine

The Playoffs. They come with hopes and dreams of Lord's Stanley Cup. They also come with the anxiety and frustration of yelling at the TV, celebrating goals by screaming at the top of your lungs, and many "superstitions." Over the next few posts, Stef and I will be sharing our playoff superstitions... some may seem over the top... some may seem outright foolish... but anyway you think about it, there is no way that what we do in our own personal life have anything to do with how the Wings perform on the ice... right?

Here's just a rundown on some of my superstitions for game day:

1. Must change my facebook status every game day to something Red Wings related. Said status must end with a list of 3 or 4 of my favorite Red Wings numbers. Kind of like the lottery. Example status:
LET'S GO RED WINGS!!! <3 43 <3 55 <3 51 <3 44 <3
(yes, hearts are included)

2. Facebook picture is changed to a picture of one of the Wings scoring a goal, saving a puck, starting a fight.

3. Wear the hideous, old, torn, lime green Hockeytown Cafe shirt. This shirt is probably about 9 years old now but, I wear it EVERY playoff game day. (and yes, I wash it after every wear)

4. The Playoff Bracelet. My Aunt used to make charm bracelets. One year she made red and white Red Wings themed bracelets with a little goalie charm on it. I call it my "Osgood Bracelet" ... looks like I can't call it that anymore.

5. The Car Flag. This tradition started last season. I put up the black "Hockeytown" car flag up on the back seat drivers side window. Any other window is a fail.

6. Red Nail Polish. Red Nail Polish is necessary during the playoffs. Not only do I support my team with my choice of color. It also stops nervous habits... such as biting my nails.

...That's it... for now... until one of my roommates tries to convince me that I have to wash dishes every game day...

Go Wings!