Round 1; Phoenix Vs. Detroit- The Skinny

Here is a great run down of Phoenix and Detroit. Gives a good over view of both teams.

At first blush, this looks like the NHL's brash, new kids on the block looking to mess with a legend in the playoffs. But let's go a bit deeper.

There is no doubt the Coyotes are the NHL's surprise team this season, rising from a murky future in bankruptcy court last summer to becoming a strong and inspiring team. But it is a squad that GM Don Maloney added a fair share of veteran talent to, so the Coyotes aren't pups.

And the legendary Red Wings have been a team taking on a younger look this season, but fair's fair, and a lot of the cogs from Motown's back-to-back Cup finalists remain in place. Still, the Red Wings recovered from a horrendous string of injuries late in the season to become a team no one wants to face in the playoffs.

So, what does this mean for hockey fans? A series that is closer than you might expect and one that has the potential to shock and awe.

The Coyotes won't wow anyone with their offensive arsenal -- their leading goal-scorer Radim Vrbata, had just 24 -- and they had just two players with at least 50 points. What the Coyotes do have is depth across all four lines. Nine forwards had at least 10 goals, and 10 had at least 20 points.

They also have Lee Stempniak, a revelation who scored 14 goals in his first 18 games after arriving at the trade deadline.

"I don't think anyone would have predicted that he'd be as good as he's been," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. "But we knew how good he was capable of being, and he's been that and more. It's been a lot of fun to watch the ride that he's been on, and we want to keep him going for another two and a half months."

The statistics aren't as gaudy as they were in seasons' past for the Red Wings. Pavel Datsyuk's 27 goals led the club and Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg tied for the points lead at a pedestrian 69. Compare that to 2007-08, the last time the Wings won the Cup. Then, Datsyuk had 31 goals and 97 points and Zetterberg had netted 43 goals and 92 points. In addition, Johan Franzen had 27 goals, Dan Cleary 20, Tomas Holmstrom 20 and Valtteri Filppula 19.

Injuries conspired against the Wings' forward this season, with Franzen playing in just 27 games, Holmstrom 68 (still 25 goals), Filppula 55 and import Jason Williams 44. But the good news in Detroit is the start of the playoffs coincides with a return to health of the Wings' core group. Franzen's return was especially energizing for Datsyuk.

"We really feel the runs we've had over the last few years and our summers being short and our ability to train hasn't been as good," coach Mike Babcock said. "And I thought that affected us early and maybe helped with all the injuries we had. I believe that some of the guys that haven't played much hockey, whether that be Zetterberg … he had a good break. Williams had a good break. Filppula. Lilja. And Kronwall. Who else am I missing? Cleary. Lots of guys have had -- Franzen -- lots of guys have had long, long layoffs, they should be a lot fresher."

Todd Bertuzzi netted 18 in the regular season, Darren Helm had a productive 11, Patrick Eaves scored 12 and waiver pickup Drew Miller had 10 goals and 9 assists. So the numbers are not as startling as in seasons' past, but the hope in Detroit is the healthy forwards will have four rounds to strut their stuff.

Phoenix's top six is easy to overlook due to the outstanding play of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, but its not goaltending alone that has the Coyotes allowing the fewest goals per game in the Western Conference.

Keith Yandle emerged as an anchor on the blue line, with 12 goals, 41 points and a plus-16 rating. Zbynek Michalek is a shot-blocking machine, and Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin are experienced veterans. Jovanovski also has 10 goals, and Aucoin has earned the nickname "The Closer" for his shootout prowess.

"You go through the defensemen and the blue lines that are going to be in the playoffs and I would put our blue line against anybody," Doan said.

Reports of Nicklas Lidstrom's demise were greatly exaggerated, although his offensive game dropped a bit to 9 goals and 40 assists. Still Lidstrom was, well, Lidstrom, playing over 25 minutes a game, going plus 21 and just being the giant security blanket he has been for all these years.

Brian Rafalski, 36, also saw a dip in offensive production (8 goals, 33 assists) but, like Lidstrom, his overall game remained strong with 24 minutes per game and a plus-22.

Brad Stuart was a fixture in the lineup all season and played 23 minutes per game. Brett Lebda has 63 games under his belt this season and Jonathan Ericsson had 62 games. Derek Meech was used in 49 games to fill in for injured defensemen like Niklas Kronwall (48 games) and Andreas Lilja (20 games). They spent a lot of the season watching because of injuries, but will nestle in nicely on the blue line come the start of the playoffs.

There's little doubt Bryzgalov is the Coyotes' most important player, and quite possibly will be a Hart Trophy finalist. His 42 wins are a single-season franchise record, he's was second in the League with eight shutouts, and he ranks in the top 10 in the NHL with a 2.20 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.

The goaltending torch has been passed to rookie Jimmy Howard, who used his four years of AHL seasoning to good effect. Howard wrested the job away from veteran Chris Osgood and on many nights was all that stood between the injury-wrecked Wings and defeat. His 37-15-10 record, 2.26 goals-against average and .924 save percentage have him in the Calder Trophy discussion.

All Dave Tippett did was arrive a week before the start of the regular season and guide the Coyotes to the best season in franchise history. He's kept the focus on the ice and closed the dressing room to all the off-ice issues that have surrounded the franchise since the summer. He has to be the favorite for the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL's top coach this season.

Mike Babcock should also be mentioned in the talk about coach of the year honors this season for the job he did keeping a team that was admittedly in a transition season productive despite the influx of new faces and a long list of injuries. When the regular season was over, the Wings were in the playoffs for the 19th-straight season, reached 102 points, and were a team no one wanted to face in the first round.

Tippett's tactics are all over the improvements here. While the power play is only marginally better than last season -- it's converting at 14.6 percent efficiency, up from 14.5 -- the penalty kill has seen the greatest improvement, going from 76.8 percent (28th in the League) to 84.5 percent (sixth).

The Red Wings connected on a 19.2 percent average, ninth best in the League during the regular season. Considering all the players out with injuries and not having Marian Hossa this season, that's none too shabby. Killing penalties was the bane of Detroit's existence last season, but in 2009-10, the Red Wings were 10th in the NHL with an 83.9 percent success rate.

Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix -- Bryzgalov has proven to be a true No. 1 goaltender since coming over from the Anaheim Ducks in 2007-08, but really has blossomed this season, winning a career high 42 games and posting a 2.29 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. Plus, he inspires great confidence among his teammates.

Johan Franzen, Detroit -- Knee surgery sent him to the long term injury list for 55 games and took a strong intangible out of the Red Wings' lineup. It's no coincidence that the Red Wings' rebirth this season coincided with "The Mule" rounding into form. Just 10 goals and 11 assists in 27 games won't win you the Hart Trophy, but Franzen is out for bigger game in the postseason.

Coyotes will win if... If Bryzgalov is lights out and the Coyotes continue to pay close attention to what got them here in the first place, namely Dave Tippett's system. The Coyotes don't have superstars, but they do win when embracing the team concept.

Red Wings will win if... Like Phoenix, all the Red Wings need to do is continue the strong play that has followed them since the Olympic break. And avoid injuries, oh how Mike Babcock and Company want to avoid injuries at this late date.

Source: http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=525042&navid=DLDETPlayoffCentral

Regular Season Game 1 Recap

Well, it looks like Detroit has some issues they need to address already with the loss against St. Louis on Friday. Henrik Zetterberg has been quoted saying he knows he needs to play better. I am glad players can awknowledge this because some don't and just continue to not play good instead of improving. Zetterberg will improve as the season goes on. Here is the game recap:

STOCKHOLM -- It was considered a Detroit home game here at the Ericsson Globe and the Swede-heavy Red Wings had the sellout crowd on its side throughout the late-starting first game of the 2009 Compuware NHL Premiere-Stockholm.

Too bad the St. Louis Blues spoiled the party.

Paul Kariya scored twice and B.J. Crombeen had the other as the Blues showed the same fight and resiliency they had in the second half of last season when they shocked the NHL by making the playoffs as the sixth seed in the West after being dead last on Feb. 12.


"There is no give up in this team, that's for sure," said Kariya, who watched from the sidelines last season as the Blues went 19-7-3 over the final two months of the season. "We got off to a horrible start (Friday) because I think we were a little hesitant in the first period, but we calmed down toward the middle of the second and started to play our game."

The Blues scored first on a goal by Jay McClement 7:54 into the game, but Jonathan Ericsson, Kirk Maltby and Ville Leino gave the Wings a 3-1 lead 7:17 into the second period.

"They were schooling us is what it's called," Blues coach Andy Murray said.

"We had them bent real good," added Wings coach Mike Babcock.

"Then we started to play like we know we can, the way we did in the preseason and the way we finished last year," McClement told NHL.com. "We just have to keep that up for all three periods."


One and a-half was enough on Friday as the Wings struggled with turnovers and a disjointed power play. They were 1-for-5, but failed to score 1:36 of a 5-on-3 advantage late in the first period and only capitalized in the final 10 seconds of Alex Steen's double-minor for high sticking early in the second.

Leino scored off the rush with a snap shot from the left circle that Blues' goalie Chris Mason told NHL.com he had no chance at stopping.

"Did we score on the power play?" Babcock asked rhetorically in his post-game press conference. "Yeah, we got one, and it was on a line rush. They made a couple of decent saves and blocked shots, but we could have won the game on the power play. I thought our penalty kill was real good tonight, but the bottom line is you have to score on that 5-on-3 and I didn't think we got much done in the first half of that 5-on-3."


The Blues started their five-minute and five-second barrage with their only power-play goal in four chances. Kariya's low wrist shot beat Wings goalie Chris Osgood on the stick side 12:31 into the second period.

Just 2:08 later, McClement, the center on the Blues' fourth line, drove the net and put the puck on Osgood, who left a juicy rebound in front -- and since nobody checked out B.J. Crombeen, the sturdy winger was able to jam it in to make it 3-3.

"I just tried to get it on net and obviously B.J. did a good job," McClement said. "Those are the goals our line has to score this year. We're not going to score a lot of pretty ones, so we have to get it on net and hopefully get second opportunities."

Kariya, making the most of his second opportunity after multiple hip surgeries last season, broke the tie just 2:57 later when he got in alone on Osgood and beat him with a deke to his forehand and a shot low to the stick side.

Todd Bertuzzi turned the puck over in Blues' defensive zone and Darryl Sydor was able to slap it all the way up ice toward Kariya and T.J. Oshie, who had just come on the ice. Kariya broke past Henrik Zetterberg as Oshie tapped the puck up to him. He came in alone on Osgood with Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski trailing the play.

"If you go through the scoring chances like I just did, they didn't have that many -- but we gave up some beauties," Babcock said. "That Kariya breakaway goal in the second period; when you're trying to put your D on and off the ice, you just can't do that. It comes back to haunt you. We did it a few times and the puck ended up in our net. You can't play defense on a turnover. It doesn't work like that."

Roughly 5:30 into the third period, Detroit had a fantastic chance to tie the game but Mason came up with the save of the night, stoning Johan Franzen by sprawling across the crease and getting enough of his catching glove on his shot to direct it away from the net.

Pavel Datsyuk slotted the puck across to Franzen after making an absolutely stunning move to get around Blues defenseman Erik Johnson, who admittedly was taken aback by the inside-outside razzle-dazzle from the Wings' Russian center. Franzen whacked a one-timer toward the net, but Mason would have none of it.

Franzen skated away, down the left wing wall, cursing at himself for the missed chance.

"It's not an ideal situation when you have Datsyuk with the puck," Mason said. "He made a great play and I think it just actually nicked my glove and went off the side of the post. It's a little bit of fortune, but I'll take it."

Source

Three Stars of the Game:
Paul Kariya

Chris Mason

Kirk Maltby

Wings Regular Season Opener- Game 1 Preview

Fri: 10/02/2009

LIVE ON TSN(HD), VERSUS(HD) Radio: 97.1 FM

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- More than a few players will feel right at home when the Red Wings and St. Louis Blues open their NHL seasons with a home-and-home series Friday and Saturday in the Swedish capital.

Eight players who will lace up their skates are originally from Sweden.

"I would say the Red Wings could be the second national team back home," Detroit center Henrik Zetterberg said. "People are really fired up for this. We have a lot of fans in Sweden."

Zetterberg missed all eight of the team's preseason matches in North America because of a sore groin, but he scored a goal in his comeback as the Red Wings routed Swedish Elite League club Farjestad, 6-2 on Wednesday, in their preseason finale on the larger European ice surface.

Zetterberg, one of Detroit's top players, should be joined by fellow Swedes Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Thomas Holmstrom and Jonathan Ericsson at the Ericsson Globe arena. Andreas Lilja, another Swede, is injured, while Swedish rookie Daniel Larsson is Detroit's third goalie.

The St. Louis team includes Swedes Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen.

Detroit has been the NHL's leading club for developing top Swedish players, starting in 1972 with Thommie Bergman, who played 246 games in six NHL seasons.

Lidstrom's long career with the Red Wings started in 1991, and Friday's opener will be the 39-year-old Detroit captain's 1,331st regular-season game.

A six-time winner of the Norris Trophy awarded to the NHL's best defenseman, Lidstrom hails from a city close to Stockholm and will have plenty of family members and friends at the games this weekend.

"It's like a dream for me, to get the chance and return to Sweden during fall," Lidstrom said after Thursday's practice. "I can't remember the last time I was home at this time of the year. And then having the Red Wings here and play for a team that I have represented for 18 years, that is really big."

After falling one win short of repeating as Stanley Cup champions in June, the Red Wings lost forwards Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler, Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Kopecky, who all signed with other teams.

"We lost almost 90 goals," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "Even though a lot of teams have gotten better, I still think we're a Stanley Cup contender because our defense is as good as anyone's defense and I like the rest of our team."

St. Louis thrashed Linkoping of the Swedish league 6-0 in its final preseason game Tuesday. That game was also played on the larger European ice surface, but the season openers will be held on an NHL-sized rink.

"Our last three games we played pretty good as a team," said Blues forward David Perron. "We got better every game we played, which is good. We're ready for the season now."

The game Friday will mark only the second time in league history that NHL teams will begin their regular season in Sweden, one of Europe's top hockey nations and the winner of Olympic gold at the Turin Games. Last year, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators split their opening weekend series in the same 14,000-capacity arena.

Fan interest is huge for the doubleheader with the games selling out in a few hours.

Source

I unfortantly won't be able to see the game :[ I will be at work BUT I do get updates regularly so I will know the score to the game :] But even if I was home to watch the game, I wouldn't be able to watch because I don't get Versus thanks to Comcast trying to make Direct TV pay an arm and a leg for them to keep Versus. Oh well. GO WINGS!!!

A funny

I am sorry I haven't updated but I had a mini vacation. Wednesday or Thursday look for a blog update :)

There are no first name bases

Here is a video about the players and nicknames.

Live Charity Event during Game 4

The Detroit Red Wings do more than just play hockey, they participate in charity events just as much as they play hockey. During Game 4 there will be a live auction to help out youth hockey players who have sustained spinal cord injuries.

DETROIT -- The Red Wings and FOX Sports Detroit are joining forces to raise money for two injured youth hockey players with a special live charity auction to be held during the broadcast of Game 4 of the Red Wings first round playoff battle with the Columbus Blue Jackets (Thursday, April 23, 6:30 p.m. EDT). The auction will feature two of the most unique items ever offered on an auction: the sticks used by Red Wings forwards Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby when they played in their 1,000th NHL games.

The sticks were autographed by the players and originally presented to coach Mike Babcock as a gift from Draper and Maltby. With the players’ support, Babcock, in turn, is donating them to benefit Kyle Cannon and Derek Zike, who recently suffered severe spinal cord injuries while playing youth hockey.

Throughout the FOX Sports Detroit broadcast, the Red Wings will be accepting bids for the hockey sticks used by Maltby during his 1,000th career game played on February 27 against the Los Angeles Kings, and by Draper during his 1,000th career game played on February 2 against the St. Louis Blues. Personal donations in any amount will also be accepted with the first 50 callers to make a $50 donation receiving a special autographed photo of Draper and Maltby.

Cannon, a 14-year-old high school hockey player from Oregon, Ohio, was injured Nov. 30, 2008 when he was checked into the boards head first during a hockey tournament just outside of Dayton, Ohio.

Only six weeks later, Zike, a 17-year-old Chicago Fury player, lost an edge during a game in Ann Arbor, Mich., and was propelled into the boards. Both players suffered spinal cord injuries and underwent treatment at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital where they were visited by Babcock.

Fans can place bids over the phone beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 23 by calling 313-396-7438 during FOX Sports Detroit’s Game 4 broadcast. Bid increments and auction updates will be announced on-air throughout the game. Payment via credit card and check will be accepted.

Fans will also be able to follow the bidding online via the WingsLive in-game blog on DetroitRedWings.com.

http://redwings.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=418962&page=NewsPage&service=page

Playoff Last Stand

I took footage of the opening celebration from the game last night but it didn't turn out that great but luckly the Wings posted the video online :)

Here we GROW again!

The playoffs are almost there and it's always a fun and exciting time for Hockey fans. Traditions are always followed. One of the biggest traditions in hockey is the playoff beard. The Stanley Cup playoff beard traces its origins to the early 1980’s when the New York Islanders began the tradition on their way to winning the Stanley Cup four years in a row. Since then, the playoff beard has become an annual tradition for both players and fans.

With that being said, the Detroit Red Wings have announced their 2009 Stanley Cup playoff run slogan. The slogan for this year is "Here we grow again." The breads are back and let's enjoy this playoff run!!






Photo gallary: http://redwings.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=MediaGalleryPlayer&galleryId=11049

Lack of blogging

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of blogging. I've been working and haven't had much time to update.

On March 17th, I attended the Detroit game against the Flyers. Got there early so I could par take in the $3 beer special (had 2 beers for the price of one! AMAZING!). Went down towards the glass so I could watch the pre-game skate. Got some good pictures (will post a few). When I came back to my seats I met some very nice guys from Montreal. They were really cool to talk to and I kept the updated on the score of the Montreal/Rangers game. It wasn't until the 3rd period that Detroit started to make the game exciting. I did manage to lose my voice the next day from cheering so loudly. Opps! Overall, good win (Flyers haven't won in the Joe since 1988) and like always, it's fun to be at the Joe :)

Picture time!


Zetterberg and Hossa


Congrats Maltby on 1000 games!


Opening faceoff


Karen Newmen signing autographs. She sings the national anthem every single game.


Final Score!!! GO WINGS!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

If you're going out celebrating for St. Patrick's Day, PLEASE have a designated driver. I would hate to hear about losing a loved one or hearing about another family going through such a horrible situation all because of your own stupidity.

Also, I will be attending the Detroit Red Wings game tomorrow against the Philedelphia Flyers. Game recap to come soon after. LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!!

It's that time of year again

Playoffs are just right around the corner. The Detroit Red Wings have clintched the playoffs after yesterday's 4-0 win over Columbus. With that being said the Detroit Red Wings will be putting tickets up for sale for the first and second round of the playoffs.

DETROIT -- The defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings will begin selling
tickets for the first two rounds of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs at Joe Louis
Arena on Friday, March 20 at 10 a.m. EDT. Fans can celebrate “April in The D”
with a special $30 ticket for Game 1 and Game 2 of the first round of the
playoffs courtesy of Tim Horton’s and FOX Sports Detroit.

"In these uncertain economic times, it's even more important for the Red
Wings to have great partners like Fox Sports Detroit and Tim Horton's step
forward,” said Steve Violetta, Red Wings senior vice president of business
affairs. “Thanks to their support, fans will have an opportunity to see their
Wings begin defense of the Stanley Cup in home games one and two at the Joe, for
only $30.”

In addition to the special $30 ticket, most individual playoff tickets
remain locked in at last year’s reduced prices (down between 17-37 percent over
2007 playoff prices for the first round alone).

Fans can purchase single-game playoff tickets beginning at 10 a.m. EDT on
Friday at the Joe Louis Arena box office, all TicketMaster locations, including
Hockeytown Café, Hockeytown Authentics in Troy, Mich., or charge by phone at
800-745-3000. Fans also can purchase tickets by logging on to
DetroitRedWings.com. http://redwings.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=413699

I find it great that there will be $30 tickets for the fans to get. It gives those fans who normally can't afford playoff tickets a chance to get tickets and see a playoff game. Way to go Detroit!

Wings take first place

"It's been a battle,'' Red Wings center Kris Draper said. "San Jose doesn't give you much room to work with. We lose a game, they win a game, create that three- to five-point gap.''The one thing the Detroit Red Wings have not seen all season is the first place standing in the NHL. However, last night that changed. Detroit beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 plaving them in a similar spot, first place overall. The Wings have 94 points, one more than San Jose and Boston. San Jose however, has played three fewer games than Detroit.

It's been a constant battle for the Wings who have been slowly chipping away at San Jose all season long. Kris Draper was quoted saying:

"It's been a battle,'' Red Wings center Kris Draper said. "San Jose doesn't give
you much room to work with. We lose a game, they win a game, create that three-
to five-point gap.''
(http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2009/03/detroit_red_wings_3_colorado_a.html)

Last nights win against Colorado was their first win this season (1-1-2). Colorado was just returning after a long losing road trip out East and they're saddled as the last place team in the Western Conference. However, last night's win didn't come easy as Colorado did battle against the Wings scoring two goals and Colorado was the first to get on the score board.

How long will Detroit stay in first place? Hard to say. But while they are there, they might as well enjoy it.

Melt down

Saturday, February 27, 2009, probably was the first time you would of seen Detroit Red Wings fan turn the game off. That game was the worst played game by Detroit in a long time. You can't even put blame on the goaltenders because the whole team played horrible. It was a complete team melt down. The defense, which has been struggling all season, left our goaltenders out to dry. This game was embarrassing to watch and I can image how embarrassed the players must be. Even Detroit's captain admitted to being embarrassed.

"It's embarrassing, the kind of start we had," Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We knew they always play well in the first 10 minutes, but we didn't respond at all as a team. We came out flat and it's very disappointing." ~ http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2009/02/nashville_predators_8_detroit.html

Wings fans can only hope the team has truly learned from this game. It is a good thing this happened during the regular season and not in the playoffs. A game like that during the playoffs is harder to shake off. Wings fans don't want another night where they turn off their TV sets because they're embarrassed or fed up with how their team they love so much is playing as if they don't care. Here's to a winning game on Tuesday against St. Louis!!! *cheers*