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2011-12 NHL Season Preview: Detroit Red Wings

Sep 29

Posted by Chris in Season Previews | 3 Comments

Key Offseason Losses: Brian Rafalski (retirement), Kris Draper (retired), Chris Osgood (retired), Ruslan Salei

Key Offseason Additions: Ian White, Mike Commodore

Last Season Ranking: 3rd in the West

Offense: Top line scoring isn’t a problem in Detroit with guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the lineup. If both players stay healthy, they are both capable of producing at a point-per-game pace. Don’t worry about them. Instead, this is the year for guys like Filppula and Hudler to prove their worth.

Detroit fans have been waiting for a breakout season from Valtteri Filppula. He has the skill, he has the hockey sense, now he just needs to put it together into one cohesive season. At the very least, Filppula should be a 20-goal, 50 point player with the Wings. He has yet to top 40 points in a single season. This could be his year if he centers the second line with Henrik Zetterberg on the wing. Filppula so far has impressed in the preseason and needs to carry that confidence into the regular season.

Hudler had a disappointing season last year after returning from the KHL. Fans called for Hudler to be traded, and Hudler responded with intense offseason workouts with UFC trainers. The result? Well, Hudler is in a contract year and the Wings expect him to be back into the 20 goal, 50 point range again. Coach Mike Babcock has alternated Hudler on Datsyuk’s wing at times this preseason, which could spark his offensive production if it carries over into the regular season. If Hudler doesn’t produce, however, he will likely be on the trading block come March.

The Wings would love to see more consistency from Johan Franzen, who scored five goals in one game against the Ottawa Senators last season and then went scoreless for more than 20 games. But Franzen, along with Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi, provide the Wings with solid depth scoring. Expect the Wings to be among the league leaders in goals scored per game again this season.

Defense: Hockeytown breathed a collective sigh of relief when Nick Lidstrom announced his return, especially after Brian Rafalski blindsided Wings fans by announcing his retirement. But this season may be the year of a different Nik as Niklas Kronwall looks to shoulder more responsibility.

Kronwall will get heavy minutes this season and will fill roles usually occupied by Lidstrom on the penalty kill. Coach Mike Babcock wants to use Lidstrom sparingly, leaving room for Kronwall to blossom into a top defender.

Newcomer Ian White has bounced around the league the past few years, but he may finally find a home with the Wings where he will be counted on to help replace some of the offense the team lost when Rafalski retired. White, a good puck-moving defenseman, will see power play time and will likely be paired with Lidstrom this year, putting the chances of having a career season offensively firmly within reach.

Mike Commodore will help add some toughness and grit to the blue line, something the Wings lacked previosuly, while Jakub Kindl will likely challenge Commodore for the 6th spot on the blue line. Kindl has shown promise in limited playing time in the past and needs to prove his merits as an NHL defenseman.

Goaltending: Playing with the Wings, a goalie doesn’t have to steal many games. But Jimmy Howard was a big reason why the Wings were able to force a Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks in the spring. Coming into his third full NHL season, Howard needs to show more of that poise consistently throughout the season. This isn’t a make-or-break year for Howard, but he’s shown how good he can be and now he needs to realize that potential all season long. Expect Howard to win 30+ games this season.

Behind Howard will be a familiar face in Ty Conklin, a former Wing returning to the squad after a stint with St. Louis. If nothing else, Conklin is solid and capable when he’s called upon and should be a great addition to the roster.

Playoff Prediction: Playoff bound. The Wings are contenders, and with $5 million in cap space they could be big trade-deadline buyers as well. The team looks solid now and they could look even better when the playoffs start in April.

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Lidstrom Sets Timetable on Possible Return

May 17

Posted by EB in News | 1 Comment

Detroit Red Wing defensman Nicklas Lidstrom has set a timetable to decide if he intends on continuing his career. The date: July 1st.

Lidstrom, at the not-so-young age of 41, is coming off of his 18th season with Red Wings, posting a 62 point season. Lidtsrom’s focus on offensive play was noted on both ends with 16 goals this past season and a -2 overall rating. Still though, Norris Trophy winner in 6 of the last 9 seasons, Lidtsrom has plenty left in the tank.

Far too often we as fans have a narrow minded sight of our hockey players, that their lives are all things hockey. We tend to forget that there is indeed life outside of hockey, as much as we wish to think otherwise. Lidtsrom is married to his wife Annika and has four sons. The desire to be a father may outweigh the desire to play.

“It’s just a matter of knowing if you want to play again, if you’re motivated to play another long season,” Lidstrom said after game 5 against the Sharks.

As a professional athlete, there still is the drive to compete. Coming off of a loss to the San Jose Sharks in an emotional 7 game series may leave Lidstrom itching for more.

“I think regardless if I play or not the team is going to be strong next year,” Lidstrom said. “They got a great core, a great group of guys that are in their late 20s or early 30s that are still top players in this league. So I think the team will be fine.”

The Detroit Red Wings ended the regular season with 104 points for 3rd seed in the Western Conference and 1st in the Central Division. The team still has a solid core of players in Hernrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk. And it is best not to forget young goaltender Jimmy Howard who has proven he is playoff ready, a 7-4 record and a .923 save percentage in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Having made the playoffs 20 years in a row now, it seems more likely than not that number 21 is a lock.

July 1st will be a date marked on many calendars, Red Wing and NHL fans alike. The possibility of seeing one of the greatest defensman to play in the NHL leave has not sunken in for most. It will be a shame if Nick intends to retire, a hall of famer guarantee. Let’s hope though he has one more year in him, not only to see if he can hoist the Stanley Cup one more time, but to at least be forewarned of his final year, so all fans may enjoy it a little bit more than normal.

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Phoenix Coyotes Win Game 7, Here’s Why

Apr 27

Posted by Matt in News | No Comments

Coyotes captain Shane Doan scares off opponents with the Doan face

Coyotes captain Shane Doan scares off opponents with the Doan face

While I’m not on the Phoenix Coyote bandwagon, like EB, and I root for my hometown Detroit Red Wings, I just don’t think they have what it takes to win Game 7 in Glendale tonight.

This series has been very well coached from the beginning. Some errors have been made here and there, but overall you have, arguably, the league’s best coach in Mike Babcock, going against a sure thing for coach of the year in Dave Tippett. The biggest difference I notice between the two, is how their respective players show up for every game. While the Coyotes are playing their hearts out every night, some Red Wings appear to only show up when they want to.

Mike Babcock often says he loves the playoffs because it keeps you honest. His team knows what they need to do, but lately its been a challenge for them to actually get on to the ice and do it. On the other hand, Dave Tippet’s squad knows how to bring it each and every game. They are playing high energy, physical, playoff style hockey. Plus, not only are they playing to keep their season alive, but they’re playing for their coach too. Somewhere along the line, this seems to have been lost for the Red Wings.

While coaching isn’t everything, some of the philosophies remain strong. Babcock is also a fan of telling the media that the Red Wings best players need to be their best players. This means guys like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Lidstrom, and so on, all need to step up. When the only guys showing any urgency are players like Helm, Abdelkader, Eaves, and Miller, you have to question who is playing playoff hockey? They may not be all stars, but every shift they go out there and lay everything on the table. The same cannot be said about the Red Wings big names recently.

When it comes down to game time, the players decide everything. Right now, everything is going the way of the Phoenix Coyotes. Tonight’s home crowd is going to be rowdy, full of energy, and ready to celebrate a series clinching victory. Ilya Bryzgalov will be in a position to lead his team to victory. His all out effort, and save after save performance will give his players and the home crowd a giant boost from the get go. On top of that, the strong defense and penalty killing we saw in Game 6 will return tonight.

It’s not so much that Phoenix will be good enough to win, but more or less that Detroit will be bad enough to lose. Rookie goaltender Jimmy Howard faces a lot of controversy after calling the Coyotes latest victory “lucky.” In his first playoff series, and first game 7, I don’t think he has what it takes just yet. He has been shaky, at best, in four out of six games thus far. While he will come to play tonight, a soft goal or two will lead to the ultimate demise of the Red Wings Stanley Cup dreams.

Prediction: Ilya Bryzgalov outplays Jimmy Howard in a battle of the netminders, while the Coyotes defense and penalty kill will stifle the Red Wings once again. A close 3-2 game down the stretch will be sealed by an empty netter for the Coyotes, who will advance to play San Jose in round two. Final score, 4-2, and the Doan face haunts the Red Wings all summer.

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Detroit Red Wings

Sep 30

Posted by Chris in Season Previews | No Comments

The Detroit Red Wings have arguable been the most successful franchise in the NHL since the lockout and the formation of the “new” salary-cap era. This past summer, however, the once invincible-looking Red Wings seemingly took a huge step back as they lost several players to free agency – including Marian Hossa, who opted to sign with Central division rival the Chicago Blackhawks. Before proclaiming that the age of the Winged Wheel has ended in the Central Division, however, you need to remind yourself of three things about the Wings: They still sport some of the best defensive depth in the NHL, they have an incredible knack for overcoming adversity and they won the Cup in 2007-08 with a roster that looks pretty similar to their current one.80538014GS010_NASHVILLE_PRE

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will again be called upon to lead the Red Wings up front this season. After a sluggish regular season, Zetterberg upped the ante in the playoffs and finished with 24 points in 23 games, including 11 goals. Zetterberg should have no problem bumping right back up to 80-90 points this season. Datsyuk, calm and shifty as ever, should be able to leave some nagging injuries from the playoffs behind him and perhaps become the first Red Wing to score 100 points in a single season since Sergei Federov. These are two of the best forwards, and often most overlooked forwards, in the NHL right now.

Budding stars like Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen will be called upon to fill help lead the secondary offense and fill the voids left be departed free agents. Franzen, who had 34 goals last season, needs to put in a consistent effort night in and night out. Under those circumstances, Franzen could easily top the 40-goal mark and could be a fantasy hockey sleeper, especially if he gets significant time on the top line with Datsyuk. Filppula, the Finnish center who often shows flashes of brilliance, also needs to show more consistency throughout the entire season.

While the free-agent additions of former Red Wings Todd Bertuzzi and Jason Williams baffled some, others believe they will certainly help establish more offensive depth for the Red Wings. Jason Williams has had a stellar pre-season thus far and looks right at home with his old Red Wings teammates and could be a dangerous threat playing the point on the second power play unit. Todd Bertuzzi came into training camp looking fit and feeling healthy. If he can find his hands near the net, expect big contributions out of him playing the wing alongside Zetterberg. Bertuzzi’s big question mark is health, however. The big man needs to find a way to stay out of the press box and stay on the bench with his teammates.

The Red Wings defense is scary good, but needs to tighten up some if they are to go deep into the playoffs. Defensive lapses hurt this team last year, but an abundance of scoring power propelled the Wings to more wins than they might have had otherwise. Both forwards and defenseman alike need to tighten up their game if they are to stay on top of the Central division. But with veterans like Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski leading the pack, and players like Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson making names for themselves quickly, this defense still looks to be at the top of their game and should be able to contain even the fiercest offenses in the Western Conference.

Goaltending remains somewhat of a question mark for this organization. Chris Osgood had a subpar regular season only to turn up his play to Conn Smyth caliber in the post season last year. Which goalie will show up when the puck drops later this week? Jimmy Howard, the new backup goaltender replacing Ty Conklin, has looked soft in several of his NHL contests in previous seasons. Howard will get plenty of opportunities to show his stuff, however, as he is slated to play around 30 games behind Ozzie. It’s do or die for Howard, who the Red Wings have billed as the goalie of the future for several seasons. The future is now for the Wings.

The future certainly is now when you consider that Darren Helm, Ville Leino and Jonathan Ericsson are all considered rookies this year despite the fact that Helm and Ericsson played through most of the playoffs with the Wings last spring. Their play catapulted them to a new level and now the Wings want to see what these young guys are made of as regulars to the roster. If they play half as good as they did in the playoffs, expect big things.

The Detroit Red Wings may have lost some talent, but they are a team that knows how to win. Even without Hossa, this team is stocked full of potential all-stars. And come next April, the Detroit Red Wings will again be in the postseason as a serious contender for the Stanley Cup.

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