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.