Little Red Corvettes

Khan(!) spoke with Patrick Eaves after last night's game and got his thoughts on his new linemates:

"I've played with a bunch of players, but these guys have wheels that I have never seen or played with.  It's a joy to play with them. Drapes is an unbelievable guy and leader and brings it every night. Helmer is just scary fast and competitive and causes turnovers with his speed.  He's been really fun to watch in the playoffs. When you're playing with him, you can throw (the puck) in areas or chip it and he'll go get it. I noticed that right away just from watching him in the playoffs.''

Eaves assisted on Detroit's lone regulation goal, registered three shots, recorded five hits (team high), and is really starting to play like we all hoped he would be...that is before he was a healthy scratch for 6 out of the first 10 games.  But the wheels of the "Red Corvette" Line (Draper-Helm-Eaves) seem to be on track.

Those guys are going to continue to be thorns in the oppositions sides...much to my delight.

Wings Win - but the words were taken out of my mouth.

I was going to post a pretty in-depth review of the game Saturday, but Winging It In Motown's MrNorrisTrophy beat me to the punch with a recap that I swear was plagiarized right out of my head. Check it out here. I agree on every point.

The only thing I'd like to add is the fact that Datsyuk completely dominated Ovechkin everytime he was on the ice. I've never seen anyone stop OV like that before. What a performance.

Also, Eaves looked great out there. Great pickup and if he keeps that up, Patrick deserves to be out there every night. He really is a step up from Maltby on the PK and offensively.

Drew will be back as the main blogger soon...currently he's been too busy to blog because he's been to every game so far, including Sweden. Yes, you're sensing jealously here, as I'm stuck watching the games on Center Ice in shitty definition from the middle of Ohio...

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?

Free Agents Looking Good

Thanks to Don Waddell of the Windsor Star for this more in depth synopsis of last night's game with quotes and quips from and about some of our new acquisitions...

"I was more relaxed than I thought I was going to be. I felt under control. The pace of the game was good, but I'm glad (the rookie camp in) Traverse City (Mich.) had some high intense scrimmages as well. It got me ready to get my feet wet tonight.''—Andy Delmore

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Delmore, who spent the last two seasons playing abroad in Germany, picked up an assist while finishing the game with at +/- rating of +1.

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The word is that the line of Draper, Abdelkader, and Eaves was looking good last night. Mike Babcock agrees: "They worked hard. Eaves can really shoot the puck and looks like he can skate.''

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Eaves is going to be playing his heart out for a chance to crack the big squad. I’m pretty sure that Grand Rapids was NOT on his mind when he signed the one-year deal with the Red Wings this off-season.

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Draper cashed Brian Rafalski's rebound at 9:36 and then Jamie Tardif made it 2-1 at 18:08 by converting Abdelkader's centering pass. After a lightweight bout between Tardif and Ian Laperriere early in the third period, the Wings made it 3-1 on a goal by former Leaf Jeremy Williams at 3:25.

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Tardif was busier than I thought. Throwing down with “Lappy”, a guy whom many Wings fans wanted at the ’09 Trade Deadline? Good for you, kid.

Eaves Speaks

Well I'm back from my mini-vacation and have internet access again. Plenty to talk about today, but instead of touching on the goaltending contraversy, I'd thought we start out with something positive from detnews.com.

"It was kind of a crazy week and a half there. I was on my honeymoon, and I found out I was on waivers, so I was a free agent. My agent did all the work and did a great job, and Detroit was an opportunity I couldn't let pass by." --Patrick Eaves

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So the guy goes out and gets married, finds out he's been waived by the second best team in the league, only to get claimed by THE best team in the league. I'd say that's a pretty successful week and a half (depending on the girl he tied the knot with, of course).

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Turns out that Eaves has a history with a couple Wings players including Valteri Filppula and backup netminder Jimmy Howard:

"I knew Jimmy Howard, I played with him in the U.S. program. Then Flip, we kind of grew up playing against each other. I lived a year in Finland, so I played against him over there. We have the same agent so we kept in touch."

It's always nice to have someone you know be on a team that you are just joining. Eaves and Wally on a line? Could be something to look at.

And of course, someone had to ask about all the goals lost to free-agency this off-season. To which Eaves replied:

"I'm looking to help out definitely in that category. A couple guys left and we've added a couple more. We're looking to step in and continue the way of the Detroit Red Wings."

The kid sounds excited to be here...who wouldn't? But the enthusiasm shown by players should be something extremely encouraging for the fans. A mix of angry returning players with a few young and hungry players. Like I said before, this regular season is going to be fun.

One last blurb from Patrick Eaves as he looked around the locker room in JLA...

"Some pretty legendary hockey players in this room, and I hope to be part of their winning ways here. Hopefully help them out and have fun while we're doing it."

Kenny on the Eaves Signing

From Dave Waddell of the Windsor Star...

Detroit signs Patrick Eaves, and a lot of people are talking. As J.J. from Kansas points out, a lot of people are billing this one as "the second coming of Dan Cleary". I don't know want us to get that far ahead of ourselves, but it's hard not to. Especially when Kenny Holland starts singing the praise of his new acquisition...

"I think Patrick is one of those guys like we've had that just needs a fresh start. He's scored 20 goals in this league before and we feel we play a style he'll fit into."

There's more kind words...a lot more, actually...

"We love his potential. We need some players on the team that are cheaper ones too. Given his history, we know he has lots of skill. Our feeling is Patrick is a young kid who maybe has lost his confidence a bit after some injury problems. We think he can come here and find his confidence with the players he'll get to play with."

As for what yet another potential turnaround possible...

"I think we've had success with guys like this because of the leadership and talent in our dressing room. It's an easy room to get comfy in. It's filled with good people, a winning tradition, it's team first and guys make sacrifices. Because of our stability, players coming in get to feed off that. We're not asking them to do something they've not done before."

Greatest professional organ-i-zation in sports. Got it.

It's also rumored that Kenny is looking to make at least one more move with roughly $1.2 mil left to work with. If that's the case, Abadabbadoo will most likely be starting the season off in Grand Rapids.

In Kenny We Trust.

It's Pat

Some of it's interesting, some of it's not. But the clips start to paint a picture of what this kid can bring to the table.

Wings sign Patrick Eaves to a one-year deal

Per the AP:

DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings have signed free agent forward Patrick Eaves to a one-year contract.

The team said Tuesday it would not disclose additional terms.

Eaves is entering his fifth season in the NHL. He had six goals, eight assists and 31 penalty minutes with Carolina last season.

The 25-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta, scored 20 goals for Ottawa during his rookie season of 2005-2006 and had 14 goals and 18 assists a season later.

And guess what? He shoots right. He was also bought out for $1.1 million from the Bruins. According to Emperor Kukla, Bruce Macleod is reporting a $500k salary. This would still leave some room for additional moves to be made.

What do you think of the signing?