Detroit Red Wings

[ericdaoust]

I'm really liking the one way contract for Mursak next year. Great sign for his development as he's not stalling in the Red Wings pipeline despite strong competition from Tatar.

[Dean Youngblood]

Red Wings' Brian Rafalski (back spasms) out Saturday; Johan Franzen to miss Monday's game in L.A.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index....gs+-+MLive.com)

[Riverboat Danglers]

hey dean, i havent got a alot of chances to see the wings play this year. how is kindl looking out there on the back end. do u think hes gonna develop into a kronwall type where he can put up 30-40 pts a year and be relied on in his own end or he is he going fall more into the mold of a guy like brad stuart who had alot of things going for him back in his junior days but turned into a solid 4/5 guy on the backend

[dyzfunctioned]

hey dean, i havent got a alot of chances to see the wings play this year. how is kindl looking out there on the back end. do u think hes gonna develop into a kronwall type where he can put up 30-40 pts a year and be relied on in his own end or he is he going fall more into the mold of a guy like brad stuart who had alot of things going for him back in his junior days but turned into a solid 4/5 guy on the backend

I'd love to see him turn into a Kronwall type but it hasn't looked good.

[Dean Youngblood]

hey dean, i havent got a alot of chances to see the wings play this year. how is kindl looking out there on the back end. do u think hes gonna develop into a kronwall type where he can put up 30-40 pts a year and be relied on in his own end or he is he going fall more into the mold of a guy like brad stuart who had alot of things going for him back in his junior days but turned into a solid 4/5 guy on the backend

The ice time just isn't there for Kindl (yet). At the moment, he is being utilized more as a Brad Stuart mold than a Kronwall mold. However, I have been more impressed with Kindl than I have with Ericsson so that bodes well for the future. Kindl is going to take some time. The real assessment will be when Lidstrom retires and/or Rafalski leaves town. Kindl's timing has just been unfortunate. If he can continue to play well then that is good but I have a feeling that by the time Lidstrom retires (after next season is my guess), the Wings will introduce Brendan Smith into the lineup and he will compete with Kindl for any offensive minutes (if Kindl even gets a shot). Down the road, Kronwall, Kindl, and Smith will be competing (plus Rafalski).

[Dean Youngblood]

Detroit Red Wings' Trade Activity on Trade Deadline

...Nothing...

Jimmy Howard was signed to a two-year/$4.5 million extension

From Rotorworld

Things haven't always gone smoothly for Howard this season and his 2.79 GAA and .908 save percentage in 47 starts certainly isn't that impressive. That being said, this is a reasonable contract for a young goaltender who has the ability to be a great starter on a team that's always a Stanley Cup contender.

[mister_mcgoo]

what a goal by Datsyuk tonight on the PP, dancing in from the blue line right into the slot and dings it in off the crossbar, its gotta suck to be the goalie in that situation, the Wings are looking like the best team in the west down the stretch

[ridinryan44]

Lovin the fact that Hudler is back in action. 26 in his last 28, up to 8 goals on the season. He actually had a pretty nice stat line for roto leagues tonight, taking two minor penalties as well. I've always enjoyed watching Hudler, so here's to hoping this lasts and he sticks in the top six next year.

[Dean Youngblood]

Game Preview: Red Wings @ Sharks (March 3, 2011)

Last 10 Games
Detroit 7-2-1
San Jose 8-2-0

Previous Matchups
Feb 22 - SJS 4, DET 3
Dec 6 - SJS 5, DET 2
Nov 30 - DET 5, SJS 3

The game tonight is the fourth and final game of the DET-SJS series this season.
The visiting team has won every game this season (DET is the visiting team tonight)
Detroit has won the past three games at HP Pavilion

Team News
- San Jose is riding a 7 game winning streak
- Detroit lost last night after leading 1-0 when Bobby Ryan scored on a penalty shot in overtime to win 2-1

Who's Hot (courtesy of NHL.com)
- Pavel Datsyuk scored Detroit's lone goal at Anaheim to reach the 20-goal mark for the seventh season in a row.
- Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi has started 19 games in a row and compiled a 1.85 goals-against average. His GAA is 1.64 during the seven-game winning streak.
- San Jose forward Ryane Clowe has the shootout winner in back-to-back games.

Injuries
- Brian Rafalski looks to return to the lineup tonight after missing the past two with back spasms
- Patrick Eaves remains sidelined with an lower-body injury (likely another week)
- Back-up goaltender Antero Niittymaki (LBI), Ben Eager (UBI - DTD), Dan Boyle (UBI-DTD) will miss the game tonight

Starting Between the Pipes
SJS - Antti Niemi
DET - Joey MacDonald

Projected Line Combinations

San Jose

Couture-Thornton-Setoguchi
Clowe-Marleau-Heatley
Mitchell-Pavelski-Wellwood
Eager-McCarthy-Mayers.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Jason Demers
Niclas Wallin-Ian White
Justin Braun-Douglas Murray

Detroit

Franzen-Zetterberg-Bertuzzi
Hudler-Datsyuk-Cleary
Filppula-Modano-Holmstrom
Draper-Helm-(Abdelkader or Miller)
Lidstrom-Stuart
Ericsson-Kronwall
Kindl-Salei


Key Stat - Niemi is 4-1-1 lifetime vs. Detroit (2.14 GAA, .927 save percentage).

Enjoy the Game!

[Dean Youngblood]

I am on the road today so your game prview comes courtesy of nhl.com

Wings and Coyotes try to end slumps

RED WINGS (39-19-7) at COYOTES (33-23-10)

Last 10 -- Detroit 6-3-1; Phoenix 5-4-1

Season series -- Last year's first-round playoff opponents will meet for the fourth and final time this season. Detroit leads the season series 2-1-0, but both wins came in overtime.

Big story -- The Wings wrap up a tough five-game trip in which they won at Buffalo and Los Angeles before losing on consecutive nights at Anaheim and San Jose. The Coyotes are trying to put the brakes on a five-game losing streak that includes a 1-0 loss at Los Angeles on Thursday.

Team scope:

Red Wings -- Yet again, the Red Wings are in the mix for the best record not only in the West, but in the League, trailing Vancouver by just four points. Part of this season's success can be attributed to their impressive road record; the Wings are 22-9-3 away from Joe Louis Arena. But they are 0-1-1 in their first two games this month, and Thursday's 3-1 loss to San Jose left a bitter taste.

"The bottom line is we have to skate better than we did [Thursday] as a group," coach Mike Babcock said.

Coyotes -- It's been a tough week for the Coyotes, who lost a pair of heartbreakers that have left them in danger of dropping out of the top eight in the West. Phoenix rallied from a 2-0 deficit late in the third period to tie Dallas in the final minute, only to give up a goal with just 4.8 seconds remaining in regulation for a 3-2 loss. On Thursday, Phoenix limited Los Angeles to just 18 shots -- but the 18th was a power-play slapper by Jarret Stoll with less than eight minutes left in regulation that resulted in a 1-0 loss.

"We had opportunities to win, had opportunities there in the game and we couldn't find way to score," captain Shane Doan said after the loss to the Kings. "Right now every point is so huge that you have to find ways to get one to give yourself a chance."

Who's hot -- Pavel Datsyuk has been leading the way for Detroit with three goals in his past four games and points in four of the last five games. … For the Coyotes, forward Ray Whitney has 4 points in the past five games.

Injury report -- Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski has missed a week with back spasms and remains day-to-day. … Phoenix remains without defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who is day-to-day with an eye injury.

Stat pack -- Coyotes center Eric Belanger hit the 700-game milestone against the Los Angeles Kings. … Detroit hasn't lost three consecutive games since Dec. 4-8. … The Wings are 7-for-26 on the power play in their last six games.

Puck drop -- Wings forward Johan Franzen became only the second NHL player since 1996 to score five goals when he did it on Feb. 2 at Ottawa. He hasn't had a goal since then, and his drought reached 14 games in the loss at San Jose

Looks like Howard and Bryzgalov are your starters tonight

[Ballsakic]

Boy the Wings blew this game.

[Bomm Bastic]

DY....Does Kindl ever realize his 50pt upside? If so, what kinda time frame?

Thanks, man.

[Dean Youngblood]

DY....Does Kindl ever realize his 50pt upside? If so, what kinda time frame?

Thanks, man.

Does Kindl ever realize his 50pt upside?

I am going to say no. I expect Lidstrom to stick around for at least another season and that will hold Kindl back a year. Kindl will start to see 2nd PP duties by next year at this time but I think Brendan Smith will eventually come in and pass Kindl on the depth chart (offensively anyways).

IMO, Kindl will become a 35-40 (max) point dman and I would expect that to happen a year after Lidstrom shuts it down. Next year, Kindl could see 25 points or so.
If I had to guess, I would look for 35 points from Kindl during the 2012-13 season.

Hope that helps. The Detroit situation is really tricky simply because they rely so much on their veteran defensemen (Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall) and it's tough to gauge when and how their younger defensemen will transition into the organization. Eventually Detroit is going to have to give their younger dmen a bit more leash to work with.

[Bomm Bastic]

Hope that helps. The Detroit situation is really tricky simply because they rely so much on their veteran defensemen (Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall) and it's tough to gauge when and how their younger defensemen will transition into the organization. Eventually Detroit is going to have to give their younger dmen a bit more leash to work with.

Definitely helps, and thanks.

That last part is something that's been on my mind. I originally drafted both Kindl (based on Dobber's projections) and Smith. I dropped Kindl...kept Smith (dynasty league).

So reading this eased my mind some.

Thanks, DY.

[Dean Youngblood]

Preview for tonight's matchup vs. Edmonton Oilers @ the Joe (2011-03-11)

Quick Notes:
- Tonight is the last game of four season meetings. Detroit is looking to sweep the Oilers after beating them the three previous times, 3-1, 6-2 and 5-3
- The Red Wings are currently in the middle of a slump after losing their last four games. This is the longest slump of their season so look for the Wings to come out VERY hungry tonight at home.
- Luckily, Detroit still sits in second place in the Western Conference despite their recent struggles.
- Kris Draper will be a healthy scratch for tonights game (simply due to numbers, not his play)

Last 10:
Edmonton 5-5-0
Detroit 4-4-2

The Hottest Wing
-

Darren Helm has 3 points in his last two games including Detroit's lone goal in Wednesday's contest. He's scored three times in Detroit's last five games and made him the 11th Wing to hit double figures

(via NHL.com)

Slumping Wings
-

Several top-six forwards are mired in goal-scoring slumps. Henrik Zetterberg has two goals in his past 24 games (18 assists). Johan Franzen has one goal in his past 16 games (five assists). Valtteri Filppula has one goal in his past nine games (no assists). Todd Bertuzzi has no goals in his past nine games (one assist).

(via kuklaskorner.com)

Injuries
Detroit Red Wings
- Brad Stuart will be in the lineup tonight. Doug Janik has been sent back to Grand Rapids as a result.
- Detroit will be without Rafalski (DTD- Back), Patrick Eaves (LBI-DTD) and Chris Osgood (Sports Hernia - expect a return soon)

UPDATES
- Defenseman Brian Rafalski (back) said he will return Wednesday at home against the Washington Capitals. (via Ansar Khan)
- Chris Osgood will not return this weekend but hopes to return Thursday in Columbus

Edmonton Oilers
- Sam Gagner (hand), Taylor Hall (ankle), Ales Hemsky (Shoulder), Ryan Whitney (foot), Taylor Chorney (UBI) and Theo Peckham (head) are all out of the lineup tonight....oh boy.

Leading Scorers vs. Opponent

Red Wing Leaders vs. Edmonton
- Daniel Clearly 2GP-3G-2A-5P
- Valtteri Filppula 3GP-2G-3A-5P
- Todd Bertuzzi 3GP-2G-2A-4P
- Hank Zetterberg 3GP-1G-3A-4P
- Niklas Lidstrom 3GP - 0G-4A-4P

Oiler Scoring Leaders vs. Red Wings
- Sam Gagner 3GP-1G-2A-3P
- Ales Hemsky 3GP - 0G-3A-3P
- Theo Peckham 2GP-2G-0A-2P

Goaltending
- Jimmy Howard in goal tonight. Babcock not yet decided about tomorrow in St. Louis. Either Howard or MacDonald. Ozzie not til next week (via George Malik)
- Edmonton is going with Dubnyk between the pipes.

Detroit Lines for Tonight vs. EDM
Franzen-Datsyuk-Cleary
Filppula-Zetterberg-Bertuzzi
Abdelkader-Modano-Holmstrom
Hudler-Helm-Miller

Lidstrom-Stuart
Ericsson-Kronwall
Kindl-Salei

Howard (starting)
MacDonald

Youngblood's Thoughts and Prediction
- I am expecting a game with lots of goals....A LOT of goals.
- Edmonton is without their three leading scorers vs. the Wings (Gagner,Hemsky, Peckham), so I expect the Oilers to struggle in the scoring department tonight.
- Detroit's 4-game losing streak WILL end tonight.

Game Predictions:
1st Star of the Game: Henrik Zetterberg (I am guessing a 4 point night)
Final Score: Detroit 7, Edmonton 1


INTERESTING fact regarding Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch:

Pizza magnate Mike Ilitch and his family saw their tally rise to $1.7 billion last year from $1.5 billion, largely, Forbes says, because of lower costs for pizza ingredients and penny-pinching consumers scarfing down $5 Hot-N-Ready specials

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110311/...#ixzz1GKdma7ql