We've Moved.

Hey gang, The Nightmare on Helmstreet has picked up and moved.

You can now find us www.nightmareonhelmstreet.com

Thanks to all our readers who made this whole thing possible.  I hope you like the new diggs.

-Drew

Tomorrow's Lineup vs The Thrashers

As per usual, Khan(!) provides us with some insight...

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Leino-Zetterberg-Cleary

Draper-Helm-Eaves

May-Abdelkader-Miller (Maltby working in)

Lidstrom-Ericsson

Rafalski-Stuart

Lebda-Meech

Howard (starting)

Osgood

Now before you get all frantic looking at that 3rd D-pairing, just read this:

The top two pairs will remain the same (Nicklas Lidstrom-Jonathan Ericsson, Brian Rafalski-Brad Stuart). They'll play against the opponent's top two lines. Then he'll pair one of those players with Brett Lebda and another with Derek Meech to use against the third and fourth lines. And he'll rotate.

Say what?  Would you mind clearing that up for us a little bit, Babbles?

"So we’ll almost have an eight-man block with six players.  It’s way too complicated to explain, but it’ll be simple.’’

Thanks, Coach.  It looks like both Meech and Lebda have been given a vote of no confidence as a pair.  Anyone want to argue with that logic?  I didn't think so.

It's the PK, Stupid

From Khan(!) this morning, following another dreadful perfmormance for Detroit's PK units which greatly contributed to last night's loss...

“You have to fight through it, have to find ways to kill those penalties and not spend as much time in the box. Just got to get back to the basics. Tonight, they're making some good plays, but we were kind of out of position, too. Instead of keeping the box tight, we were spread out a little too much. That gave them some openings."--Nick Lidstrom

Spread out a little too much?  On the first powerplay goal, you could throw a blanket over all four of the Wings, and every single one of them had their eyes glued to the puck instead of...ya know...looking for someone to conver, say like, Jason Arnott.  The guy isn't hard to miss.  Protect the front of your net by taking the body instead of trying to play the puck.  I hate that.

Face-offs were a real problem last night.  Helm and Abdelkader combined for six wins in over twenty attempts.  That is just unacceptable.  Here's what Babcock had to say about it:

"You're chasing the puck.  Those are kids getting lessons on the road, that's part of the process we're in. You just keep plugging and grinding every day."

Fix it, Uncle Mike.

Sour Grapes: 11/23 vs NSH

Well another we put another frustrating game in the books last night.  The Wings prove once again that it doesn't matter how much you out shoot or even out play a team, if you don't cover well in your own zone and don't cash in on your oppourtunities, you will lose.  Let's see what our friends from Music Town had to say about last night's contest.  These comments courtesy of On The Forecheck's game thread:

Dirk Hoag: Let's Go Marty, It's Time To Party! Might he start earning that paycheck? Thank goodness… 2-0 Preds!

Dirk is the proprietor of On The Forecheck.  Though I did respect his oppinion and occasional relevant article during his time at KK, he seems to have fallen back into a world where exclamation points and bad rhyming are acceptable. "Let's Go Marty, It's Time To Party!"?  Sounds like a bad facebook event, doesn't it?

LuvThePreds: monitoring Wings' SB nation site….“Winging it in Motown,” and there’s only been one bash-Nashville comment. Chicago was by far the worst in that department. Mainly, they’re just venting about Bertuzzi’s penalties.

This is somewhat amusing to me, the fact that not only did this person check WIM to make sure no one was saying anything bad about their team...but it looks like they do this on a regular basis.  Yes, I see the irony of making fun of someone for monitoring other teams' blogs, but I do it post-game, dammnit.  That's a big difference.  And oh, Chicago fans lacking class?  I don't believe it.

Hong Kong...

Jerseypredsfan: Phooey! 2-1

Did anybody get that?  Ok, that one was bad, I'll admit.  But these fans aren't really giving me anything to go with.  You think anyone over at the A2Y Liveblog used the word "phooey"?  I'm guessing not.

EXPECTATIONS: getting noticed on nhl.com again!!!!

Your obligatory CAPS LOCK and exclamation mark abuse post...there's one in every family.  And getting mentioned on NHL.com is cause for that much excitement?  Sounds like your "EXPECTATIONS" are pretty low for a team that plays in the NHL.

And the winner is...

Lil cutie: Erat's back baby!!! Erat fans can come out of the closet

Please do...it's nothing to ashamed of.

Surprisingly respectful and fairly well spoken game thread, small as it was.  Abel to Yzerman had almost 18 times as many comments, but that is why the Chief is the master.  So...enjoy it while it lasts, Bubba.  Remember that you took the regular season series last year, yet you were still golfing when mid-April rolled around.

"The punishment should be five games and skating lessons."

That's what Brad May told the Detroit News when talking about Georges Laraque's punishment...

"If they summon you to Toronto, it's at least four games.  He probably didn't mean to hurt him, Georges is just too heavy on his skates. The punishment should be five games and skating lessons."

Like I told a co-worker today at lunch, if Don Cherry can't even defend a Canadian cheap-shotting a European... you KNOW it was a dirty play.  Here's what Dan Cleary had to say:

"We have to get rid of plays like that.  Clearly he was beaten and he was trying to stop him and he stuck his leg out. That's when guys get hurt. We have to send a message that we can't do that -- whether it's to a player on our team or another team."

Nobody seems to be against Laraque getting suspended, and not just in Detroit's camp.  Here's a tidbit from Stu Hackel of the New York Times:

Even in Montreal there are demands that Laraque be punished. On Rue Frontenac, web site of the locked out Journal de Montreal employees, Pierre Durocher noted yesterday that he had gotten a number of emails from fans condemning Laraque’s recklessness.

Come on, Colie Campbell.  Time to prove me wrong for all the times I've called you a sniveling coward.  Another injustice has been done to Detroit, do you have the brass to do something about it?  You are the NHL vice-president after all...

Tonight's Lineup vs NSH

With Khan(!) missing in action, the Free Press has provided us with a little insight as to what our lines will look like tonight vs The Predators.  Some interesting defenisve pairs...

Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Leino-Zetterberg-Cleary

Draper-Helm-Eaves

Miller-Abdelkader-May

Maltby (scratched)

Lidstrom-Ericsson

Stuart-Meech

Rafalski-Lebda

Osgood (starting)

Howard

Coach Babcock on his pairings on defense:

“I thought Rafi and Lebs kind of share the same politics, so they can talk to each other about politics.  I thought Big E is from Sweden and Nick is from Sweden, so that works good. And then I thought Meechie and Stuie are from the West, so why not? No, really, honest to God what we did is, we got through the morning skate so far. We’re a work in progress. We’re going to figure it out.”

Um....yeah...what he said.

Awaiting a Decision on Laraque

From NHL.com this morning...

"There were four refs on the ice and they didn't call anything.  If they called a match penalty it would be different. There was no intent, there was no reason why I would try to go and hurt him. It was a pure accident, that's why they called it tripping, so I'm not worried at all."--Georges Laraque

No intent, huh?  Your knee just sort of accidentally stuck itself out?  Why would you try and hurt him?  Maybe it's because you're a goon.  You're not paid to score goals, block shots, kill penalties...you're paid to enforce.  What's more believable: that it was purely accidental, or that you were frustrated because you were already taking a bad penalty so you made a stupid decision?  I'm thinking it's the latter. 

Basically, whatever suspension he is handed down isn't long enough.  This was a fourth line player taking out a top echelon defenseman.  Laraque may get 1-5 games, but what about Kronwall?  He could be out for two months.  If you ask me, a blatant cheap shot such as this should see the offender be suspended for the duration of time spent on the sideline for the victim.  Think Georgey boy would think twice about sticking his leg out if that were the case?