And now you're stuck with me.

Now with Drew on his way to Sweden, you bitches are stuck with me. I'm a bit like the Brent of the Triple Deke, here for a post occasionally, except without the effort or the writing talent. And of course, I have my first law school exam on Friday, so reason would think that hockey would be #2 in my life right now. But fuck that. Seasons starting tomorrow and I'd watch Atlanta play the local Mite house team right now. So law school can wait.

A few little comments to maybe get all of your opinion on:

-Did anyone see anything out of Eaves in the preseason? I only caught him here and there and wasn't that impressed.

-Time Warner finally got a deal in place for Center Ice, now I just need to convince them that they need to put NHL network in my package for the 35 Wings games the network carries.

-It truely seems that the Wings are excited as hell to play in Sweden and I say good for them.

-Howard will be fine in net. He had the best save percentage in the preseason of any Wings goaltender who isn't known for a photoshopped beach ball scoring behind him. The Wings need to figure out how to play in front of him.

-On that note, Conkblock, who I liked, has also been horribly overrated by the media. He's a solid goalie, noting more. Did he really play that well last year, or did Ozzie play that bad. We won't miss him.

-Everyone is picking the Flyers this year. Really? I see them as a Slapshot sort of meathead team. Yes, I know that the Chiefs won the Federal League, but its a fucking movie, that shit doesn't happen in real life. And jesus, Pronger is no Reg Dunlop.

Plus can you see Briere really fitting into this team? I see a bench brawl in their future and Briere crying on the bench, until he sees his lover Sidney in the stands. Briere skates out to center ice and strips off his uniform - with the arena band getting into the act by playing "The Stripper." Suddenly, the teams stop fighting and stare in amazement at Briere, who shouts, I'm gay for you Cindy. And later we'd find Bobby Clarke dead, of a gunshot wound to head, and a note saying he couldn't live another day knowing that he signed a man as flaming as Danny boy.

-Dear Chief, please come back. Signed - Wings fans everywhere.

Passing the Torch (for now)

Well, it's almost time for me to take my leave...so this will be the last post before I embark on my trip across the pond. I leave you in capable hands, I'm sure Chris will take good care of my readers (few, though you may be).

I promise that I will try and get to an Internet cafe' to post when I can, though I can't grantee when or how often. I put $30 bucks on my calling card, so if I don't use them all talking to my better half, I'll keep Chris posted so that he may transfer my commentary onto you.

Say it with me now: LET'S GO RED WINGS (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap)...LET'S GO RED WINGS (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap).

For all of you, I'll be bringing home 4 points in the standings as a souvenir.

Bon voyage.

Survey Results: Bert is the Man

The fourth installment of the NOHS Sidebar Survey are in...

Which addition will have the biggest impact (good or bad)?

Todd Bertuzzi 28 (46%)

Jason Williams 14 (23%)

Patrick Eaves 17 (28%)

Other1 (1%)

So for better or worse, most of you think that Todd Bertuzzi will have the biggest impact on the 2009-2010 season. A sound choice, seeing as he's starting on the 2nd line with Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary. Bertuzzi should easily topple the 20 goal mark playing with these two. Hopefully he can keep his PIMs and injuries down to a minimum this year, while still bringing size and grit to the table. For all of you nay-sayers that are still lingering out there, my tolerance for you is about to run out...as soon as the puck drops on Friday.

The second place vote-getter Patrick Eaves is going to absolutely work his tail off to contribute to this team. With mainstay Kirk Maltby nipping at his heels for the final forward roster spot, his margin for error will remain at almost zero. Will he be able to return to his 20 goal scoring prowess? We'll have to wait and see. Doesn't hurt to have Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm (when he returns) on your line.

Jason Williams, I believe, has the second best chance at making an impact on this team...even though he received third place in the votes. Playing on the 3rd line with Ville Leino and Valteri Filppula could be a match made in heaven. With Wally's play making ability, Leino's shot, and Williams' ability to do both pretty evenly, this line could see each player on score 15+ goals this year. That kind of production from your 3rd line would be absolutely magic. Oh, he's also playing point on the 2nd PP unit...looked good in pre-season too.

And one poor sucker thinks that the most contribution will come from a player NOT one of these three. Who, I ask you, who?

Chirping from a Bitter Brittle Blues Blog

Found this pile of dung from St. Louis Game Time:

We Get to Embarrass the Red Wings at Home.

Everyone's focusing on this as a homecoming game for the obnoxiously Swedish Detroit Red Wings. Frankly, between the PR for the Wings and the Hawks, you'd think that they were playing each other. Frankly, though, when you think about it - half of the Central Division has been invited to be a part of this. We were considered the toughest division in the NHL last season, and we're being considered that again this year. It's nice that the league's recognizing it. And, of course, nothing would be funnier than beating the snot out of Detroit. Once'd be cool. Twice would be hysterical. Let's aim for two times.

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Pssh. Aim away, slugger. It ain't happening. You should fall to your knees and...thank the hockey gods if you manage to squeak a single point out of this trip. Mad about your first round collapse after being the league's hottest team the second half the 2008-2009 regular season? You should be. But guess what? You lost to a mediocre Vancouver team, you showed no heart and had bad goaltending. I don't think the return of Erik Johnson clears up either of those issues. The Red Wings on the other hand, are hungry. You are simply the first in the cross-hairs. Get ready to be beaten. We'll see if you think THEM apples are hysterical.

Slight Expansion of Duties

If you people happen to make it over to Winging it in Motown today, you'll notice there's been an update to their author's list...upgrade? That remains to be seen.

That's right, Christy of WIM asked me to join their staff as an official author and post a daily "Quick Hits" section on their site, listing all of the juicy and random Wings' tidbits that I seem to find over the course of the weekdays. I'll probably publish a few posts that go beyond that, but the overwhelming majority of my creative writing will be exclusive to my baby, The Nightmare on Helm Street.

I'd also like to congratulate Mike of The Production Line and Kyle from Babcock's Death Stare for also joining WIM's staff and thank Christy for the opportunity to further contribute to Red Wings Universe.

My first post on Winging it in Motown, however, will not be until after I return from Sweden.

Zetterberg Hopes to Play Tomorrow

More from Helene St. James of the Free Press, who's already over in Stockholm...

Update from Stockholm: The Wings have wrapped up practice for the day (they were outnumbered something like 3-to-1 by Swedish media) and all are expected to play tomorrow at Karlstad against Farjestad in the last exhibition game of the season.

I wonder what the media has been like for...who are the Red Wings playing again? At least the Blues have uniforms that are the same color (basically) as the Swedish flag. I wonder if that's why they got invited in the first place.

The one guy who is most questionable is Henrik Zetterberg, whose groin has given him problems now since training camp. He told me today that he felt good, however, and hopes to play tomorrow. I expect Zetterberg will be in the lineup tomorrow - he knows fans in Sweden are expecting to see him, and since Mike Babcock said he will dress 13 forwards and 7 defensemen, Zetterberg won't have to push himself if there are any flareups.

Helene, I most certainly agree with you. If Dan Cleary can play with two pulled groins in the SCF, then Hank can play with a tender one in his home country. I would expect that it would take something far worse to keep our Swedes off the ice for this one. Hank will play, "mark it, Dude".

Ingen vila för den trötte

Alright, I'll stop doing that....but it means "No Rest for the Weary", as Helene St. James reported here, sleep and jet lag is proving to be an issue for the team that arrived in Sweden yesterday...

"We were all kind of hemming and hawing when we found out we had to skate today. But I think now everyone is happy about it. You kind of get the legs going instead of just lounging around in bed."--Kirk Maltby

Kronwall decided to help Maltby out by taking him on a little tour of his home town:

"We need to stay up to be able to sleep well. I think any time you fly over here, when you first sit down to relax, that's when it's hard to stay awake. So let's get going, get the body working and then get a good night's sleep."--Nik Kronwall

Not everyone followed Kronner's advice, however. There was about an hour and half of free time before the Wings took the ice. Kris Draper breaks it down for us:

"We got in, checked into the hotel. We had about an hour-and-a-half before we came to the rink. And you know what? It was good to get a skate in. You couldn't stick around the hotel or you'd be sleeping all afternoon, and then you wouldn't be able to get on the right time. We're well aware that we've got to try to adjust right away because we're playing on Wednesday. And before we know it we're playing back-to-back games and then going back home. So it's going to go fast. Guys were trying to get a lot of sleep on the plane. I think most guys felt pretty good when we landed. But that hour-and-a-half at the hotel, I don't think there were too many guys that stayed awake, that didn't have a little nap. Then it's a matter of keeping yourself busy and trying to stay awake and get on that new clock right away."

An hour and a half doesn't seem like too long a time, depending on how quickly and how deep their sleep was during their little cat nap. If you ask me, there is NO better way to get jet lag and bus legs out of your system then getting a nice crisp skate in. Nothing too demanding, but not some fluff skate where you don't even get a sweat going.

"Basically what we thought is we left at a really good time to travel because you're going to sleep on the flight, which is a real positive. Now our day here, if we didn't practice, they'd have napped this afternoon, and then they'd be up half the night."

Apparently Holmstrom didn't sleep a wink. He watched two movies (probably something like the Jonas Brothers 3D Experience and Hellboy 2) and then paced the aisles of the plane.

To ensure that nobody hit the sack for the night too early, there was a mandatory team dinner at 7:30 PM. "There's lots of Swedes that don't want to go to the team meal, I imagine, "said Babcock. "But the reality is we're here to get points and prepare."

Travel is nothing new for Detroit, who being in the Western Conference, is always in top running for most-traveled-team during the regular and post-season. But this is a little different, since they are used to a 3 hour maximum time difference. One can only hope they pull themselves out of this funk by tomorrow so they don't get embarrassed and lose...like the Florida Panthers did.

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Why did Florida get to play overseas anyway? Ah forget it, who cares...

Zetterbergs Ljumske mår bättre

Sorry...just practicing (thank you, Google Translator). It means "Zetterberg's Groin is Feeling Better", as reported here by Helene St. James who is currently in Stockholm...apparentyl she got the whole week to go over there.

"This is the best I've felt since it happened, so that's positive. We'll see how it reacts to this, and go from tomorrow."--Henrik Zetterberg

Mike Babcock, also quick to quip, had this to add:

"He gets back to Sweden, maybe smells that fresh air, or something like that, will make him feel better."

Zetterberg and Cleary will both play on Wednesday...not sure about Big Bert.

TSN: Wings still Cup Threat

TSN.com posted this little preview of the Wings as they do their own 30 teams in 30 days, just as NHL.com had a few months earlier. This should be interesting....

What They Did In The Off-Season:
The Red Wings took the off-season approach of if it ain't broke, why fix it? The team chose to tinker with their roster rather make wholesale changes to a team that was one game away from repeating as Stanley Cup Champions.

What moron would make wholesale changes to a team that won 7 out of 13 Stanley Cup Finals games in two years? This should come as no surprise. There is no better GM in the league, period.


Johan Franzen was rewarded for a career season with a new eleven-year deal while promising rookie Ville Leino re-upped for two more years in Motown. Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Ty Conklin, Tomas Kopecky and Aaron Downey were all allowed to seek greener pastures elsewhere while it appears as though both Darren McCarty and Chris Chelios have played their final NHL games.

Let's get one thing straight: those players that left, left for selfish reasons. Sammy wanted more money and a bigger role, same with Downey and Conklin. Hossa left for more money and Kopecky followed him because Hossa probably commanded him to do so. If they wanted the best chance of winning a Stanley Cup, they would have stayed put. Let's move on...

After not receiving the offer he was looking for, Jiri Hudler signed with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL, setting off an international transfer incident that saw the Winged Wheel lose the promising youngster for nothing. Undaunted the Wings added Jeremy and Jason Williams, Todd Bertuzzi and Patrick Eaves in free agency while offering defenceman Andy Delmore and goaltender Dan Cloutier another shot at NHL glory.

Lose him Hudler for nothing? We kept him for nothing. His arbitration was more than fair so after he makes his tax free money, the "youngster" will be back in the Winged Wheel. It's almost a garuntee. Cloutier is gone, Delmore is Grand Rapids (for some reason). Really, Delmore looked better than Meech and Lebda. Dude has a heavy shot and has proved he can play with the big boys. Sending him to GR is the only move that has me baffled at this point.

Biggest Issue Facing The Team:
Despite losing several key pieces this summer, the Wings enter the season in their traditional position, legitimate Stanley Cup threat. Detroit remain the model NHL franchise thanks to rock solid ownership, astute management and perhaps the best scouting staff in the business. Additionally, the Wings are amongst the deepest teams in the NHL, featuring a scoring punch from all four lines as well as one of the top defensive corps in all of hockey.

Bingo bango, I'll take the whitefish.

The only question is: how long can the Wings stay at the top. While they have done a phenomenal job at integrating a younger generation of superstars into the mix, a good portion of the core of the roster are all on the wrong side of 30. While Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are as dynamic a duo as you will find in hockey, the team remains incredibly dependent on players such as Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Chris Osgood, the youngest of which is 35. One way of looking at this is to say that the Wings are experienced; the other way is saying that they are old.

Incredibly dependent on Draper and Maltby? Someone didn't do their research. Draper is fourth line and Maltby is our reserve forward, just one step ahead of Derek Meech. Oh and the dynamic duo? Not playing together...ever. Mike told us so.

The NHL is a young man's game, and father time may finally be catching up with Detroit. That being said there are about 29 other general managers who would love to have the Wings problem. The Red Wings are as intelligent and well coached as any team in the league. Even if they take a step backwards they are far too talented to fall much further than second in the Central Division. Fortunately for management, the Wings are not the type of team that will rest on its laurels. While most would consider back-to-back Finals appearances a success, Detroit looks at it as a partial failure as they were only able to come home with a solitary Cup. Last year's loss likely weighs heavily on the team's shoulders. A chance to exorcise those demons by making another run at the Stanley Cup should be motivation enough for another big season.

Haven't you been reading? These guys are angry about the way last season turned out. One game away from back to back Cups has them frothing at the mouth. You better believe that motivation isn't going to be a factor this year. I'm guessing that rubs off on the new guys as well. This is going to be a much more entertaining regular season, count on it.

Player To Watch:
Considering his credentials there may be no more maligned player than Chris Osgood. At some point ‘Ozzie' must wonder what he has to do to prove that he is an elite talent. He has three Stanley Cup rings to go along with two Jennings trophies and a pair of All-Star game appearances. While he struggled through a mediocre regular season, he more than redeemed himself by helping lead the Wings back to the Finals. Still every year there are those that point to the Wings goal tending as the team's biggest area of concern.

I'm still saying he has it fixed. Forget about the pre-season. Ozzie is a pro and knows that he can't have another regular season like last year. We'll be just fine.

Is it Wednesday yet?

"You Have WHAT on Your iPod?"

Ok, so I know that George Sipple posted this almost a week ago, but I couldn't let this one go...

The Red Wings found out today that among the songs on Jason Williams’ iPod is “That’s Not My Name” by the Ting Tings.

Oh boy, J-Willz...I'm guessing you couldn't get to the skip button fast enough on that one. His explanation was this:

“You gotta try to please everybody. My girlfriend has some nieces and nephews who ask for downloads once in awhile. I try to keep everybody happy. I try to have a variety. It’s one of those songs that I probably wouldn’t listen to all the time. I have a bunch of songs, 50,000, whatever it is. There’s going to be some bad songs on there. I think the majority I have on there are good. Whoever complained, I’d like to hear what’s on their iPod. I’m sure they’ve got some really bad songs on theirs.”

Come on now, everybody has those songs that they don't want their friends to know they listen to. Admittedly, my guilty musical pleasure includes some the teeny boppers you see on the Disney Channel (the female ones, don't worry). Anyone else want to 'fess up?

Wings Beat Penguins and Trim Roster

It was nice to finally hear Mickey and Ken Daniels call last night's game against the Penguins, even if they spent most of their time acting like a morning radio talk show (making bad jokes and laughing at themselves). Still, a win is a win against Pittsburgh and there were some great things to take away from this 4-1 win.

The Examiner posted this late last night...

Brian Rafalski paced the Red Wings attack on Sunday with four assists, and Pavel Datsyuk and Jason Williams had a goal and an assist each. Johan Franzen and Ville Leino also scored for Detroit while Pascal Dupuis scored the Pittsburgh goal. Jimmy Howard had a strong game in goal for Detroit playing all 60 minutes and facing 26 shots.

I have to admit, Howard looked pretty good last night. The one goal that Pittsburgh did score was a fluke shot that would have been wide if not for bouncing off of Derek Meech's skate. He also stopped Jordan Staal on a breakaway and then on a penalty shot, and stopped another breakaway later on. Jason Williams is looking good on the point on the second powerplay line (there, I said it), and Leino is getting better and better.

The final group of cuts came, and there really aren't any surprises:

The following players were assigned to the Red Wings primary affiliate Grand Rapids in the American Hockey League (AHL): forwards Mattias Ritola, Johan Ryno, Francis Pare, Evan McGrath, Jeremy Williams, Kris Newbury and Jan Mursak; defensemen Jakub Kindl, Logan Pyett, Andy Delmore, Doug Janik and goaltender Thomas McCollum. Joining Helm on the short-term injured list is Cory Emmerton who will report to Grand Rapids as soon as he is healthy (one week). Andreas Lilja has been placed on the long-term injured reserve list, and Brad May has been sent to Grand Rapids on an AHL tryout.

The Griffins should be pretty stacked this year especially with Larsson and McCollum between the pipes. Ryno and Ritola have made big steps forward from last year, Williams and Newbury will certainly help and having veterans like Delmore and Janik as well on the blueline won't hurt.

Here is your roster that loaded a plane and left for Stockholm right after the game...

Forwards

Johan Franzen (LW) - Pavel Datsyuk (C) -Tomas Holmstrom (RW)

Todd Bertuzzi (LW) -Henrik Zetterberg (C) -Dan Cleary (RW)

Ville Leino (LW) -Valtteri Filppula (C) - Jason Williams (RW)

Kris Draper (LW) -Justin Abdelkader (C) - Patrick Eaves (RW)

Reserve: Kirk Maltby

Defense

Nicklas Lidstrom - Brian Rafalski

Niklas Kronwall - Brad Stuart

Jonathan Ericsson - Brett Lebda

Derek Meech

Goalies

Chris Osgood

Jimmy Howard

I'm expecting Lebda and Meech to scrap over that last spot until one of them can be moved and Lilja comes off of LTIR. Ericsson and Lilja should prove to be a formidable pair. You may notice that Maltby is the odd man out of the forward corps. And rightfully so, his contributions of late are marginal at best, Eaves on the other hand, is a potential 20 goal scorer (maybe not while logging fourth line minutes) and has showed excellent potential in the pre-season.

Day after tomorrow, I'll be leaving on a jet plane...god, I can't wait.

It's not the post-season.

Leafs - 5 Red Wings - 4 (SO)

Good News:

-The Wings, when interested, are better than any of the other 29 teams, or hell an all-star team of the rest of the league combined.

-Johan "Motherf'ing" Franzen plays for the Red Wings. I can see Toskala in two years in one of those old Nike commercials:

Unable to stop Johan Franzen, Maple Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala is forced to become a taxi driver. "Franzen with his fancy Bauer skates. I never knew what he was going to do, go top shelf, bottom shelf, glove side, stick side! Johan Franzen exposed a weak stick hand, with his strong skating and stickhandling, I couldn't stop him. Are you Swedish sir? That's good, because I'm not picking up Swedish people."

God, what great commercials those were.



Bad News:

-Osgood looks worse than regular season Osgood last year.

-Except for about five minutes of each game, the Wings would rather be somewhere else. And it shows.

Other thoughts:

-Why didn't the Wings put a bid towards Jonas Gustavsson? Makes sense to me...watching the highlights, he seems to fit the bill of what he was advertised as.

-It's preseason, so why am I even making any judgments at all? Hell I only watched five minutes of the game, I should shut the f' up.

-Has an alumni team ever beat the current team in college sports? Because I think it is going to happen today. It's game time.

Entertainment at Ford Field (of course, its not the Lions)

This happened this past weekend at Ford Field. This is way more entertaining as any preseason game...that the Wings get their ass kicked in (as it is 3-1 right now...but really, who cares?)

Read the description first. Then enjoy probably one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

Toronto's "Monster" Will Star Tonight

Just in, from The Toronto Star. Big rookie free-agent signee, goaltender Jonas Gustavsson will make his exhibition debut at JLA tonight against the Wings.

Here's what the 24 year old tender, nicknamed "The Monster" had to say about tonight's game:

"They've got a couple of good Swedish players but I can't really focus on them. At this level, every player is a good player. It's going to be a tough game. But this is where you want to be, these are the teams you want to play against. I see it as a big challenge, not something scary."

Former Wings whipping boy, Ron Wilson had this to add:

"We'll just ease him into the action. Hopefully, we don't have a first period like we've had the last two starts, where he's going to be under the gun. Unfortunately, I'm half expecting that to happen because of the lineup they have and, in some cases, the lineup we have. (Henrik) Zetterberg is not playing but they have some great Swedes (in the lineup). It could be interesting as they jostle him around in front of the net. That's a big part of the learning, when you've got some of these guys standing in front of him — Franzen and people like that. It'll be a good test."

Just exudes confidence, doesn't he? I guess all those beat downs before getting ousted as San Jose's bench boss has him expecting to lose to the Wings before the puck drops. I dig it.

Oh yeah...he sure looks monstrous, doesn't he?

More on GR Arrivals

So this morning, I posted about the seven guys who were sent down to Grand Rapids, but the details were scarce. I look to rectify that right now...thanks for griffinshockey.com.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Thursday sent seven players to the Grand Rapids Griffins, their American Hockey League affiliate. The Wings assigned defensemen Travis Ehrhardt, Sergei Kolosov and Sebastien Piche, along with forwards Jamie Tardif and Tomas Tatar. Additionally, forwards Francis Lemieux and John Vigilante were released from their tryouts with Detroit and have joined the Griffins on AHL contracts.

Yep. Got it. That's what I posted earlier, let's dig a little deeper into some of these guys.

Kolosov, Tardif and Lemieux all played for the Griffins last season, while Ehrhardt and Vigilante previously signed with Detroit and Grand Rapids, respectively.

Vigilante used to play for the Plymouth Whalers, and possibly has the coolest name on the Griffs (aside from Mattias Ritola, of course).

Piche, 21, earned second-team all-star honors in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season, when his 23 goals and 72 points in 62 games for Rimouski led all league defensemen. He signed with the Red Wings as a free agent in March.

I had no idea who this kid was when I posted earlier today. Looks like the kid can play. Just coming out of juniors means he's young. 72 points as defenseman is quite impressive for Major Junior Hockey in Canada. What kind of points did you have to get for first-team all-star honors?

Tatar, 18, made a strong impression with the Red Wings in training camp after becoming Detroit’s second choice (60th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The left wing played his first pro campaign in Slovakia last season, posting 15 points (7-8—15) in 48 games for Zvolen, and he led Slovakia’s World Junior Championship team with 11 points (7-4—11) in seven outings, helping his country to a surprising fourth-place finish in the tournament.

All stuff pretty much already known...but a reminder never hurts. This kid ripped up Grand Rapids and would probably be playing for the big club in any other organ-i-zation. Could be the youngest player to wear the Wings since Jiri Fischer joined the Detroit blueline club at 19 years of age. Don't expect Tatar there this year, but who knows what he'll accomplish in the AHL/OHL.

Get your Griffins tickets, people. They're going to be worth the (modest) price of admission.

More on May

With tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs looming, the Toronto Sun posted this about pro-tryout Brad May…who just happened to be a Leaf last year.

This is what Kenny Holland had to say yesterday about May, who’s had close to 150 fights in his professional hockey career.

"Brad is known for his physical play and dropping his gloves, but more than that, he's a tremendous team guy and he'll be in the lineup (tonight). In the playoffs, (there are few fights), but in 82 games some nights you have to protect yourself. We usually protect ourselves with a good power play, but if things get out of hand, Brad can play on our fourth line and bang some people. He has a dimension we don't have right now with fisticuffs."

Ahem, “bang some people”, Kenny? I’ll leave that one alone out of respect for our General Manager. Just so we make sure that by “banging people” Brad May knows that Kenny isn’t implying anything that has to do with either back-licking or cabbie slapping.

May continued to show excitement for his chance to make the team.

"If I get added to this group, I just have to do what I do. Looking around this room is exciting, but I can't get caught up in that. I know what my role is ... it's not just fighting, I can play this game. But because other guys don't (fight), that's irrelevant. I know what I have to do."

That’s right, Brad. What you have to do is work your butt off to make this team on a 2-Way contract, and then go play in Grand Rapids and amuse me when I go to Griffins games and watch you fight. Having May in Grand Rapids could be beneficial not just as a call-up for when the Red Wings need him, but also as a mentor to the European-heavy AHL squad, who could use someone like May to help toughen the kids up a little.

To Grand Rapids

The Canadian Press reports this section from its hockey transactions...

DETROIT RED WINGS-Assigned D Travis Ehrhardt, D Sergei Kolosov, D Sebastien Piche, F Jamie Tardif and F Tomas Tatar to Grand Rapids (AHL). Released F Francis Lemieux and F John Vigilante and assigned them to Grand Rapids.

Seven go to Grand Rapids, though we'll see if 18 year old Tatar stays there or goes to Plymouth. Either way, it looks like I'll be seeing him play at some point this year.

Chris and I will also be in Grand Rapids this weekend to play in the GVSU Alumni Hockey Game tomorrow...that's almost as exciting.

May/Helm/Zetterberg

No, it's not a line combination...detnews.com has posted news about all 3 of these players.

Brad May:

Apparently, Mike Babcock wanted to bring Brad May into the Red Wing fold four years ago, but was never given permission to do so...

"Yeah I pushed for him a long time ago and I never got him. He used to thank me when we played against him. He'd say, 'Thanks for trying to get me signed.' I know he provides a physical presence and I don't feel we have much of that. We've had Aaron Downey in the past but we didn't have any this year."

May seems to be happy about getting the opportunity. Who wouldn't? After 17 seasons and over 2,100 PIMs, when the phone stops ringing until Detroit comes calling, he better be damn appreciative.

May had this to add:

"There are so many great young players coming up, you have to vie for your spot every year. But I am hopeful. Detroit is an Original Six team, a storied franchise, great players, great organization and it's my opportunity. I just have to be me and do what I can do. I still feel like I have a lot to offer."

Darren Helm:

Helm has only been ice the ice three times since his incident at training camp. He has pain in his shoulder just from skating and shooting. No chance that he makes it back in the lineup for the games in Stockholm.

How are your spirits, Helmer?

"For me to go out and practice at 60 percent isn't really going to do anything for me. I am just trying to find a way to back to 100 percent."

He will be traveling to Sweden with the team, but in all likelihood, it will be #8 Justin Abdelkader taking the ice in his stead. You got to feel for the kid, he was finally getting his shot at the big club, opening the season in marquee games overseas, and he's going to have to sit and watch the first few games...tragic.

Henrik Zetterberg:

Hank skated for about 10 minutes of practice yesterday and will not play in tonight's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (as Khan[!] had told us yesterday). Babcock has been talking about reducing Zetterberg's average ice time from 22 minutes to 18 minutes a game.

"When you are in a game you want to play as much as possible. If a coach wants you to play less minutes, he knows it's not popular with the player but it might be good in the long run. Players want to play as much as possible."

I guess it's in the interest of Zata's longevity, but come on...he's not an old man. Just his groin get healthy and pair him with Pavel at the first sign of trouble this season. Seriously.

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Oh and Daniel Larsson will be making the trip as well to see his family and friends and to also make sure that Jimmy Howard never gets comfortable.

Thursday's Clip

Just listen to Piere McGuire...



Only wasted a little time proving that it was indeed a goal.

Way to go, Brett.

Reader Pulse: Background

I just wanted to take a quick pole of what you guys think of the red background. I've received a couple complaints that the color with white text is a little hard to read. I wanted to differentiate this site from other Red Wings blogs, but I obviously do this for you guys, so if you want NOHS to go to the standard white background color, just let me know.

Friday's Lineup vs Maple Leafs

Khan(!) has your lineup for tomorrow night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and yes, Brad May will be playing against his former team. This is probably a good thing since the Leafs are now all "Burked" up and are dropping the mitts left and right.

Here's how the lines are looking:

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Bertuzzi-Filppula-Cleary

Draper-Abdelkader-Ritola

May-Newbury-Pare

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Lebda-Ericsson

Osgood

Howard

Still no Zetterberg...**sigh**

Henrik Zetterberg skated briefly at the start of practice and took the ice afterward but continues to be hampered by a groin strain, which almost assuredly will keep him idled through the weekend. Zetterberg is confident he'll be ready for the start of the season. He might be able to play in the final preseason game Wednesday against Swedish club Farjestads.

We'll all consider ourselves lucky if this is the extent of Zata's injuries for the year.

Oh and about Brad May, no way he travels to Sweden next week, no Cap room. I wouldn't be surprised if he does indeed become the new Aaron Downey, though I garuntee he will not be as well liked. Did I mention Chris loves Aaron "There will be Blood" Downey?

Post the pic, Chris.

Babcock Playing Roster Cards Close to the Chest

Freep.com's George Sipple posted this today about the pending final roster spots...

Of course with Darren Helm out with a sprained shoulder joint, everyone is wondering who is going to take his place. To which Babcock replied:

"Real good question. One I'm going to find out myself."

Gee...thanks for clearing that up, Uncle Mike. Seriously though, what is this lineup going to look like when it's all said and done?

"We haven't talked about our roster once since camp started. We go into Philadelphia last night with about a quarter of a lineup, and they've got their real team. It's pretty evident very quickly some guys can't play. ... We've got three games in three nights here on the weekend, so we're going to play a lot of people that probably won't be on our team."

Pretty much echoes what Chris said in his post about Philly beating up on Grand Rapids. Babcock went on and in true fashion, answered questions with more questions...

"Guys who might play on a line with two good players have had to play more with players of their own class. If you can't survive that, you're not going to make the club. So who is on our team? I don't know the answer to that. How much is it going to be financial? Are the best players going to start the year? Is the tie going to go to the veteran like it always does in Detroit? Those are questions that we're going to answer here in the next few days."

Don't ever play poker with this guy...you will lose. While we all wait for Babcock and Ken to put the final pieces of the winning puzzle together, I have to turn my attention back to being more than a little worried about these groin injuries. Precautions? Sure, but Sweden and the St. Louis Blues are about a week away and those players injured have not gotten enough time to be ready for the games next Friday/Saturday. Or have they? Mike?

"We'll get a couple practices together. We'll get an exhibition game and have all NHL players playing together. That part of it, if you could take the travel out of this situation, this would be the best thing that could happen to us."

So where does Patrick Eaves fit in? How about Kris Newbury and Jeremey Williams? Do any of these guys have a shot at filling that last spot instead of Justin Abdelkader or Kirk Maltby? I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

Lidstrom Talks about Stockholm Games

Dave Waddell of the Windsor Star posted this early this morning. A conversation with captain Nick Lidstrom and a bit from Kenny Holland about Sweden, and the real reason they're going over there....

"The only reason we're going is because of No. 5 and the rest of our Swedish players. I know how much it'll mean to Nick to play at home."--Kenny Holland

Holland has apparently never supported playing NHL games over in Europe, but he was willing to cast aside personal opinions and put the interest of his players before his own in this case.

Lidstrom seems to appreciate it:

"It's another thing you can look back at having the chance to play with the Wings in Sweden in front of your own fans. It's something I never thought would happen. It's tough to compare to winning Stanley Cups or Olympic gold, but it's something that will be a good memory for me and my family."

Lidstrom is just three points shy of 1,000 in his career. When asked about the chance to achieve this milestone in his own country, Lidstrom had this to say:

"First, I didn't think I'd reach 1,000 games let alone reaching 1,000 points. It's something I'm very proud of to be closing in on. It would be nice to get it there because a lot of friends and family will be at the games. If not, I might as well do it in Detroit."

The short off-season (long as it may have seemed to us, the fans) has not been kind to teams traveling across the pond to start the regular season in recent years. Not one coach out of the four that started the season in Europe kept their job throughout the entire regular season. Here's your captain's thoughts on the hangover of their trip:

"We'll have a lot of time to get back on to U.S. time. Going over all the guys are excited, not just the Swedes on the team. I don't see it as being a big hurdle with all the days we'll have between games. I always find it easier traveling from Sweden to U.S. getting used to the time."

You better be ready. Those two games in Stockholm may prove more important for reasons other than the fact I'm flying all the way out there to see them. Getting off to a good start is extremely important in today's NHL. Plus they have the all-but-ordained 2010 Central Division Champs Chicago Blackhawks when they get back. Chicago gets two poof games against Florida in Helsinki...I want blood.

Brad May gets Tryout

Found this on redwingscentral.com...

DETROIT — Brad May spent this past summer wondering if he'd ever get a 1,002nd chance.The veteran of 1,001 regular-season NHL games was without a team, without a training camp, without a contract through July, August and most of September. This morning, however, May was skating at Joe Louis Arena with the Grand Rapids Griffins, brought into town by the Detroit Red Wings on a professional tryout.

Oh lord, here we go again...

"I've been through a lot of different things, but I've never had a summer like this. The phone wasn't ringing off the hook. I wasn't waking up to messages every day. This happened and it was right. Now it's work. It's out of my control. That's what you have to do as a player, just show everything you have.''--Brad May

A pipe dream, you say? Not according to Kenny Holland:

"He brings a physical element and that's something we don't have. Now, he's 37 and he wants to see what he's got left and so do we.''

May went on to try and butter us up a little...

"First of all, I want to play; I want to make this team. The second thing is to be part of this tradition, a winner. I had a great opportunity to win a few years ago and it's infectious. You want to do it again.''

Flattery will get you nowhere, Brad...except with me. I don't care who it is, I love seeing/hearing compliments for this organ-i-zation (obviously).

Drapes and Malts have to wonder what the hell is going on if they bring in a 37 year old to fill a grinder role on the team. Bertuzzi was supposed to bring the grit, wasn't he? Ericsson can scrap, he tuned up Corey Perry about 8 rows in front me during game 1 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

Do we really need/want this guy?

Cloutier Decision Coming Soon

If any of you take any stock in Chris's f'ed up mask analysis, hold on to your hats...according to Khan(!), Kenny is considering taking Dan Cloutier...

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Apparently Holland said a decision will be made on Thursday, and added this...

"He's in a tough spot because of the number of goalies we got (in the system. He played a good game, looked sharp. He's gotten better over the week.''

Jimmy Howard probably had a voodoo doll made at camp, I'm guessing that thing looks like a pin cushion. If, however unlikely, Cloutier does get signed, it would almost certainly mean that Jimmy Howard would start the last year of his contract in the oh-too-familiar city of Grand Rapids.

Dan had this to say about the opportunity:

"They brought me along slowly in camp because I hadn't played in so long, gave me some practice time. Where that's going to take me, I don't know.''

Hopefully, to another team. Any KHL interest Dan? Please?

Philly beats up on Grand Rapids

That's what the title should have said to last night's game. Philly played just about everyone in this preseason tilt. The Wings played almost noone.

Here's a taste of who the Flyers had dressed...

"Danny" Briere
Carcillo (Ok I know he sucks, but he is a fantasy beast)
Carle
Carter
Gagne
Hartnell
Pronger
Richards
Timonen


Now here's the Wings top players that played...

Lidstrom
Rafalski

So basically, who gives a flying f*** about that game.

But Osgood, please don't let five go in ever again, I don't care if you are playing for Team Jamaica in Mighty Ducks 2 and you are facing Team Iceland and all your team is hurt from the pre-faceoff hipchecks that were thrown, stop the puck five more times than you did and we won't have any problems.



Or we send you back to the Islanders.

Wings Lose 5-2 to Flyers

Well...I guess the thing to take away from last night's game is, um...it wasn't a loss to that other team from Pennsylvania. I repect the Flyers, I do, their fans too. No matter how bad the Flyers have been in the past, and there has been some bad seasons, at least THIS Pennsylvania franchise has never gone bankrupt (twice) and almost left town. I know we've lost three in a row now, but it's just the preseason, so relax.

The Big Rig put in an unassisted slap shot from the point. Look to see a lot more of that clapper this year, it won him the Hardest Shot Competition in the AHL a couple seasons ago. The Kris's teamed up for the only other goal scored by Detroit, as Newbury put it the biscuit in the basket resulting from a give and go with Draper.

The Wings had yet another 3-1 first period in the opposition's favor and never really recovered.

Ozzie played the whole game and faced 30 shots total.

Tuesday Night Clip

Raf doing his thing on PP...



More of the same in '09-10. (I was at this game)

Griffins Bobblehead Vote is Back

From griffinshockey.com:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins are once again calling on their fans to choose among five nominees for a fan vote bobblehead giveaway sponsored by Great Lakes Chrysler Jeep.

The winning bobblehead will be handed out at the Griffins vs. Manitoba Moose game on March 6, 2010. Fans can choose either head coach Curt Fraser (bobble fists), play-by-play broadcaster Bob Kaser, current Red Wings center Darren Helm, goaltender Daniel Larsson, or zamboni driver Duke (zamboni bobblehead). Voting opened today at griffinshockey.com and will conclude at noon on Monday, Oct. 19, with the winner being announced at the Griffins’ home opener against the Abbotsford Heat on Friday, Oct. 23.

Last season's inaugural promotion resulted in 2,500 Justin Abdelkader bobbleheads being given away on March 21, 2009.

Now I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but the title of this blog should give you some indication as to who I'm pulling for...even though he won't be a Griffin this year.

Big Bert Primed for Success

Helene St. James of the Free Press posted a few good quotes here from Todd Bertuzzi and Head Coach, Mike Babcock...

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"He's in way better shape. He's way quicker than he was last time here. So now we need a big-time effort each and every night, and I think we're going to get that."--Mike Babcock talking about Todd Bertuzzi

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What does Todd have to say about his team?

"They play a different style than anyone else -- they play different defensively and different in the neutral zone, different offensively. You've got to be in the right position at the right time, because you're expected to be there. So it's just a matter of paying attention and having some reliable guys on your line to kind of get you through the first couple (times), and then it starts coming more naturally and you can do things at a lot higher tempo. It's pretty evident why they've been successful the past 10 years. Their system is high tempo, high speed and puck possession. And I think as an offensive player, that's the kind of style you want to play."

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So a leaner, quicker, Todd Bertuzzi is drinking the kool aid? We shall see. Let's hope that the plethora of penalties that the Wings have been accumulating is due to young angst, and not just a preview of things to come. I'll be weary of our PK until they can consistently prove that I don't have curl up into the fetal position every time a Wing heads to the box.

Son of Anarchy, Fan of Wings

I told you that no Red Wings reference is too small for me to post. Whether it's some kid playing ACHA D2 hockey, or the man pictured below. You may know him from Sons of Anarchy. He's also been in over 40 movies including Blackhawk Down, Open Range, and Silent Hill.

Happened upon this little ditty from monstersandcritics.com, where it turns out actor Kim Coates has a good taste in hockey franchises despite being from Canada, which is traditionally anti-Detroit.

Coates is a son of Canada, who came down our way and has become an American citizen. He even roots for the Detroit Red Wings, his favorite hockey team. “It’s like Canadian law or something when you’re born; you’re handed a hockey stick where I’m from in Saskatoon, but just a few blocks from where I grew up, Gordie Howe was born, and I’ve been a Detroit fan since I was a kid.”

Sticking with the team has paid off over the past 12 years hasn't it Kimbo? I don't know about you, but I love finding out people like this are Wings fans...sure made me like John C. McGinley a whole lot more.

Poppin Cherries & Wings vs. Rangers

As some of Drew’s readers know, he’ll be gone for a couple weeks, as the lucky bastard has tickets for the Wings games in Sweden. So he asked me to fill in for a few days. Yes, I’m Drew’s former goaltender during our college hockey years, so right off the back you know I must be a little off. And just to top it off, I’m now working on my third degree (J.D) at the Ohio State University. A goalie and a Buckeye, lucky you eh? I’m a shit writer, I know it, but hey, there is other blogs out there, so you don’t like it, you can read those till Drew gets back. And, at least I'm not talking about Corsi numbers. Think of the positives here.

Anyways, as so famously promised, here’s a few thoughts on the game last night and other random musings.

09/21/09 Rangers – 4 Wings – 2

• I got to the game early in the second period, and by that time, the Rangers were on Power Play #27. And up 3-1. I heard Eville had a nice goal, but apparently, Stuart shit himself a few times in the first. And some commentators were angry at Kindl. Don’t know much else, because it seems that the NY station that I was streaming from hasn’t ever heard of replaying goals after the period they are scored in.

• Wow is it nice just to watch hockey again, even if it is on my laptop and have to consistently find new streams as they die faster than Billy Mays alone in a room of blow.
  
  

• Speaking of which, since I now am a resident of the drive-thru state, I was planning on for sure getting NHL Center Ice to watch the Wings. However, as a Time Warner subscriber, it looks like the NHL and Time Warner have yet to reach an agreement. Hey Bettman, how about you go in the corner and die?

• Larsson is a certified midget. Can he even touch the crossbar? The Wings should hire Nogoalov to teach the kid a thing or two. Learn how to deal with his size issues. Just watch the video, the kid can’t be scored on. Ok, just saw a reply on Canadian TV and while none of the goals were bad goals, it would have been nice of him to get one. He probably needs one more year down in GR at least, give him some time to grow a little.
  
  
  

• Ryno looked good. Another huge Swede. He’s got some hands and looks way too much like a combo of Frazen and Big E out there. He’ll be a hell of a player in a couple years. Plus he’s like 6’100’’ or something like that.

• Can Filppula not put on size? He’s getting more and more confidence with the puck, but man, he still has the strength of a 10 year old girl.
  
  
• The Rangers announcers were all over Gaborik the entire game, as if he was walking on water himself. All I can tell you is that, while talented at hockey, his true skill is aerobatics.
  
  
  
• Speaking of groin injuries, Jesus, as the Triple Deke pointed out earlier, is it even possible to have 3 groin injuries on the same team this early? Bertuzzi, Zetterberg and Clearly, all out right now with groin injuries. ALL ON THE SAME LINE. It’s almost as contagious as herpes in the Ducks locker room.

• The Rangers announcers also loved Andy Delmore and talked about him more than any Red Wing. Apparently he’s a big deal over in the Eastern Conference, which tells you all you need to know about the East.
  
  
• In two hours, I get to meet with the Senior Vice President of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Should be interesting, as he’s serving as my adviser/mentor this year. I’m committed to consistently referring to the Jackets at the BJ’s in his presence.
  
  
• Comment of the night at A2Y: JJ from Kansas with the following little ditty:
  
  I really hope Seal’s children grow up to be golf phenom and get a marketing deal with Taylor Made: “Taylor Made, the only clubs for baby Seals.”
  

• The two NYR goaltenders are, along with the Manatee in Anaheim, two of the biggest cheaters in the league. Jesus, look at this tight rise.
  
  
  
  If they had pads that fit them, both Valiquette and Lundqvist would be exposed as the skill-less, soul-less goaltenders that they are.
  

• After the prediction that he will score two goals in an entire season, Maltby shows the world that he has been sandbagging for the past 10 years and is actually a gifted sniper. Who knew?
  
  
• Haha, I’m watching the Canucks/Flames, and there is an a commercial for regular scissors on right now. “Been struggling through life having to use your hands to tear your paper apart? Well Canada, do we have a treat for you...”

• Back-up controversy? I’m as big of a Howard supporter as there is, living in Grand Rapids the past few years, but with performances like that, Dan Cloutier might be worth another look. Plus, I uncovered an interesting factoid while studying tort law today...
  
  Since 1980, the Wings have never won the Cup without a goalie leading the team in wins during the regular season with a f’ed up mask. Notice:
  
  · In 95, Vernon lead the team with 15 wins. Normal helmet. Result? Lost to NJ in finals.
  · In 97, Ozzie led with 23 wins and again in 98, with 33 wins. Result? The Cup. Twice, bitches.
  · In 02, Hasek lead the team with 41 wins. Result? Yup, Cup #3.
  · In 08, Osgood and Hasek tied with 27 wins each, but each has a f’ed up bucket. Once again, the Cup was ours.
  · In 09, Conklin came in and won 26 games. You know the result. We Conkblocked ourselves…
  
  With that in mind, I hope that we see Dan ‘Beachball’ Cloutier again tomorrow at Philly. He only had 8 saves tonight, but he looked sharp. I’d love to see him and Howard split against the Flyers. Not saying I’m convinced yet, but I’m not against it either. Plus he already dropped his glove in the first 5 minutes on the ice in an altercation with Voros. I enjoy a goalie that doesn’t dive with every slight slash to his chest, arm, or whatever (this means you Osgood). However, I do like goalies that can stop a puck from center ice (this means you Dan.)

• Wings play again tomorrow at 7 at Philly.
  

Well, that’s it, took longer to post the thing than it took to write it. I look forward to throwing a few thoughts at you guys along the way. Hopefully Cloutier (it's sad that I think the longshot of a backup goalie is our enforcer) shortens the life of Pronger tonight. Go Wings!

Kronwall: Ticket Hogger

Just talked to Chris, apparently his inaugural post will be occurring at around 10:10 AM...not sure why he picked such a precise time, but for his thoughts on last night's game, please stay tuned.

In the meantime, I found this from the Windsor Star's Hockey on the Wire. Apparently Nik Kronwall is excited to play at the Ericsson Globe in Sweden...who would have guessed?

Niklas Kronwall doesn't get many true home games anymore, so the Detroit Red Wings' defenceman is planning to take full advantage of his team's trip to Sweden to open the NHL season. The Stockholm native will play in front of family and friends when the Wings play the St. Louis Blues Oct. 2 and 3 in his hometown. Kronwall has already lined up 120 tickets for the two games and the requests are pouring in.

By my estimations, he's spending around $10,000 on those tickets (not considering any tickets given to him for free). Yeah...I think it's safe to say that he's excited.

So chances are, I'll be seeing at least some of Kronwall's family and friends, whether I recognize them or not. I'll bet you a Kroner that they wear pointy shoes just like he does.

Fresh Meat

Well folks, 7 days and about 9 hours from now, I'll be on a plane heading for Scandinavia to see our Detroit Red Wings take on the Brittle Bitter Blues from St. Louis. One of the parties in my travel group (okay, it's my sister), insists that her Jim Balsillie supporting phone will have international service and I should be able to post from abroad.

I've never been one to leave my faith in technology, especially when it comes down to international blackberry phone service...it's just a rule I have, I've decided to pass the torch to my old college roommate and teammate. You've seen him cherry-picking comments on A2Y as moore00, but on here, he is only known as Chris. Chris is a man-pretty, self-hating goalie who LOVES going to school. He also loves the Detroit Red Wings, so at least we have that in common. Up until this point, he has been the designer of both of the NOHS banners. Chris has decided to take his man-crush on Triple Deke Tyler one step further and start writing for me in my absence. Hell, I might just keep him on if you guys like what he has to offer. He's got a post for you today, but I don't think he's up yet, so stay tuned.

I'll be posting throughout the day and until I leave. As always, all feedback, good and bad, will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.