Abel to Yzerman
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GDT - Game #36: Red Wings at Blackhawks (7:00)
by Jeff OKWingnut on 12/20/09 at 12:09 PM ET
Comments (25)
The Wings four (4) game winning streak has been snapped at Dallas yesterday, eh? Unlike the Delicate Genius, I won’t comment on the game; I didn’t see a minute of it. Instead, I was in shopping Hell. I am unsure which pain would have been worse, watching the Wings lose, or trying to find a fuching parking spot anywhere within reasonable walking distance of the Sooner Mall?
I do know this, the home and home against the ‘Hawks is Huge, with a capital “H”. CHI lead the West with 47 pts, having played 33 games. DET is in 8th with 41 pts, only 6 pts back; but DET have played 35 games. At one time. I recall Holland stating that you could realistically make up 2 points every ten games. The home and home is Big Time if the Wings have any hope to catch the ‘Hawks. Just to make this series more challenging, the ‘Hawks goalies are playing outta their minds at the moment.
Take a number?
Standings:
DET: 35 GP, 18-12-5, 41 pts (8 in Conf, 3 in Central), 98 GF, 93 GA, Last 10 6-3-1, Streak Lost 1
CHI: 33 GP, 22-8-3, 47 pts (1 in Conf, 1 in Central), 100 GF, 71 GA, Last 10 6-3-1, Streak Won 3
Wings goal differential is +5, ‘Hawks = +29
Stats (rank):
DET: .586 point% (13), 2.71 g/g (19), 2.57 ga/g (9), 0.91 5-5 f/a (23), 18.9 pp (17), 81.5 pk (15), 33.6 s/g (2), 27.9 sa/g (6), 52.5 fo% (5).
CHI: .712 point% (2), 2.91 g/g (7), 2.06 ga/g (1), 1.24 5-5 f/a (6), 19.3 pp (13), 85.6 pk (2), 32.9 s/g (3), 24.5 sa/g (1), 53.4 fo% (3).
Goal Differential/Game = DET +0.14, CHI +0.85
Player Stats:
DET Skaters:
POS Player GP G A PTS +/- ATOI
L Henrik Zetterberg 34 10 22 32 5 19:51
C Pavel Datsyuk 33 8 20 28 7 20:29
R Todd Bertuzzi 35 10 11 21 -3 16:35
L Tomas Holmstrom 35 13 6 19 2 16:04
R Dan Cleary 30 7 9 16 -8 18:22
D Brian Rafalski 32 2 12 14 6 23:53
D Nicklas Lidstrom 35 1 12 13 9 25:00
D Niklas Kronwall 21 5 8 13 3 21:18
C Kris Draper 34 6 6 12 4 12:36
D Jonathan Ericsson 31 3 7 10 -7 18:24
R Patrick Eaves 25 4 6 10 7 13:36
D Brad Stuart 35 2 6 8 -4 23:22
C Darren Helm 28 3 5 8 0 14:27
C Jason Williams 15 2 5 7 -5 15:38
L Drew Miller 33 4 3 7 3 11:49
C Valtteri Filppula 11 2 4 6 -6 17:32
D Brett Lebda 32 1 5 6 -3 14:29
L Justin Abdelkader 32 3 3 6 -3 10:39
L Ville Leino 32 3 3 6 -8 14:14
L Kirk Maltby 27 3 2 5 1 9:56
C Johan Franzen 3 1 1 2 0 18:41
L Brad May 24 0 1 1 -3 7:18
D Derek Meech 19 1 0 1 -2 11:39
C Kris Newbury 3 1 0 1 1 9:02
D Doug Janik 3 0 0 0 0 14:03
D Jakub Kindl 2 0 0 0 -2 1 0 12:59
DET Goalies:
Player GPI W L OT GAA PCT
Jimmy Howard 20, 11-7-1, 2.36, .916
Chris Osgood 17, 7-5-4, 2.70, .900
CHI Skaters:
POS Player GP G A PTS +/-
R Patrick Kane 33 10 24 34 18:58
D Duncan Keith 33 5 21 26 26:48
R Patrick Sharp 33 10 15 25 10 18:21
C Jonathan Toews 27 10 12 22 16 19:28
R Kris Versteeg 32 10 9 19 7 17:28
D Brian Campbell 33 2 16 18 10 23:15
D Brent Seabrook 31 3 13 16 12 23:45
R Troy Brouwer 33 8 7 15 4 15:54
R Dustin Byfuglien 33 9 3 12 -2 16:31
D Cam Barker 33 4 8 12 2 13:43
L Andrew Ladd 33 5 6 11 6 13:25
R Marian Hossa 11 5 5 10 2 19:57
C John Madden 33 5 5 10 -3 16:21
D Niklas Hjalmarsson 32 1 6 7 11 20:00
C Dave Bolland 13 2 4 6 3 19:23
D Brent Sopel 32 1 4 5 -1 13:56
R Tomas Kopecky 31 1 2 3 -8 9:38
L Ben Eager 19 2 1 3 2 7:58
C Colin Fraser 33 0 3 3 -3 9:15
D Jordan Hendry 11 0 3 3 3 8:25
R Jack Skille 5 1 1 2 -2 7:22
L Bryan Bickell 7 1 0 1 3 8:45
C Jake Dowell 2 0 0 0 0 6:18
CHI Goalies:
Player GPI W L OT GAA PCT
Antti Niemi 9, 7-1-1, 1.76, .927
Cristobal Huet 25, 15-7-2, 2.09, .913
Injury Report:
DET:
Dan Cleary (LW/RW) Shoulder injury (Mid-January)
Jason Williams (RW/C) Broken fibula (Mid-January)
Henrik Zetterberg (C/LW) Separated left shoulder (Early January)
Niklas Kronwall (D) Sprained left MCL (Sidelined indefinitely)
Andreas Lilja (D) Concussion (Sidelined indefinitely)
Valtteri Filppula (C/LW) Broken right wrist (Late December)
Jonathan Ericsson (D) Left knee injury (Sidelined indefinitely)
Johan Franzen (LW/RW) Left knee surgery (Mid-February)
CHI:
Adam Burish (C/RW) Knee surgery (Sidelined indefinitely)
Ben Eager (LW) Upper body injury (Day to day)
David Bolland (C) Back surgery (Sidelined indefinitely)
Niklas Hjalmarsson (D) Illness (Day to day)
HOT and NOT:
DET: Hot:
Brian Rafalski (D) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Nicklas Lidstrom (D) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Pavel Datsyuk (C/LW) 4 pts in last 2 GP
Todd Bertuzzi (LW/RW) 4 pts in last 2 GP
Drew Miller (W/C) 5 pts in last 4 GP
Tomas Holmstrom (LW/RW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Jimmy Howard (G) 4-2-0, 1.67, .939 in last 6 GPI
DET: Not Hot:
No Cold Players
CHI: Hot:
Brent Seabrook (D) 3 pts in last 3 GP
Brian Campbell (D) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Patrick Kane (RW/LW) 4 pts in last 2 GP
Jonathan Toews (C) 3 pts in last 2 GP
Kris Versteeg (W/C) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Troy Brouwer (RW/LW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Marian Hossa (RW) 8 pts in last 8 GP
Patrick Sharp (W/C) 3 pts in last 4 GP
Antti Niemi (G) 4-0-0, 1.21, .955 in last 4 GPI
Cristobal Huet (G) 1-1-0, 1.01, .967 in last 2 GPI
CHI: Not Hot:
Matt Niskanen (D) 0 pts in last 11 GP
Cam Barker (D) 0 pts in last 10 GP
John Madden (C) 0 pts in last 7 GP
George has the lowdown of the game at Snapshots:
The Red Wings begin a home-and-home series--and a three-in-five slate--against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight (7 PM, FSD+/WXYT) hoping to both rebound from their 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday and disprove those who insist that the 22-8-and-3 Hawks, who have won 3 straight and 5 of their 7 December games, including a 5-4 shootout win over the Boston Bruins on Friday, are the new kings of the Central Division hill. . .
. . . The Wings expect to start Chris Osgood against Cristobal Huet in the nets.
Heck, even the Q-Stache noted the Wings good play in spite of their injury plague:
That’s one team you know that’s not going away,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Winning hockey games is one of their strengths. (By) finding ways to win despite the adversity they’re dealing with, they should be commended.
I noted this in yesterdays GDT, but NHL.com actually crunched the numbers:
Given the MASH unit being trotted out in Detroit night after night, the Wings’ ability to stay in the thick of the playoff hunt is an impressive feat. But it’s possible that despite having three blueliners on IR, Detroit’s defense might actually be getting better. In October and November, the Wings gave up an average of 2.73 goals per game. In December, however, opponents are averaging just 2.11 goals per game against the Winged Wheel.
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Comments
There is a evil thought in my head this fine morning about an eye for an eye. I really have a sick desire to see Stuart take out Kane or Hossa for the rest of the season. Only fair for what happened to Franzen 
Posted by Behind_Enemy_Lines from the darkness on 12/20/09 at 02:53 PM ET
Hossa’s adding 1 pt per game to an already slick offense.
I didn’t think I was bringing up politics in the previous thread, I was talking about scams and politicians pocketing millions on the backs of the middle class, which I think we can all get behind.
I’ve gotta find that Jesus-Riding-Dinosaurs photo, just about spit all over the monitor. Was that monkey’s? Nice.
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 03:09 PM ET
The history of Red Wings in Brasil (not my photo here).
I think the translation is “Yzerman shoots, he scores!”
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 03:13 PM ET
I really like when we have a rivalry game that means a lot more to them than it does to us.
And Kronwall would have a better shot at crippling Hossa, but I’ll settle just fina for some Stuart crushing.
Posted by Guilherme from Brazsil on 12/20/09 at 03:22 PM ET
but I’ll settle just fina for some Stuart crushing.
Posted by Guilherme from Brasil on 12/20/09 at 02:22 PM ET
I’ve been thinking about that all day.
Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!
Posted by Kate from Pa. on 12/20/09 at 05:02 PM ET
Thanks for the GDT, Okie.
The Red Wings will have to bring their “A” game regardless of who is on the ice.
L.G.R.W.
Posted by stonehands-78 from the beginning ... a WingsFan, on 12/20/09 at 05:18 PM ET
Niemi had a really weak game in Chicago’s last, but they pulled it out. I haven’t seen Huet in a bit, but all the goals scored against were of the hard-working, crash-the-net variety. Their defensive positioning is good. Their blueliners are excellent at taking the right angle to cut a guy off at the boards and choke off the rush. We’re going to have to do some work behind the net tonight.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 12/20/09 at 05:20 PM ET
Re: Brazilian Carvings
Posted by RWBill from sticking 6 inch sewing needles in my eyes on 12/20/09 at 02:13 PM ET
Well they ARE an Original Six team.
Posted by Cap'n Bill from The State Down South on 12/20/09 at 05:48 PM ET
Well done Okie.
Not sure I “want” to watch tonight but like a car wreck on the side of the road, ya always do.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 12/20/09 at 06:34 PM ET
If you can see the sky right now Jupiter and the Moon are dancing together real close in the southern sky, just above the Brasilian carvings, the brightest things in the sky.
Mercury may be visible below and right (west) of the moon. If you don’t have too much ambient light where you live you could see Mercury with the naked eye.
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 06:43 PM ET
Well they ARE an Original Six team.
Posted by Cap’n Bill from The State Down South on 12/20/09 at 04:48 PM ET
That is good, maybe why Herm has been drawn to hockey.
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 06:44 PM ET
CHI: Not Hot:
Matt Niskanen (D) 0 pts in last 11 GP
What the hell???
Posted by sedna from california on 12/20/09 at 06:48 PM ET
I have no words to describe this. I have an affinity for all mammals, well almost all, especially the cat family.
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 06:48 PM ET
DET: Not Hot:
No Cold Players
Is this a first, Jeff? For anybody?
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 06:50 PM ET
I have no words to describe this. I have an affinity for all mammals, well almost all, especially the cat family.
I have a couple… HELL NO.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 12/20/09 at 06:55 PM ET
The picture’s cute until you realize the tiger stole that dude’s wallet.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 12/20/09 at 06:57 PM ET
Niemi had a really weak game in Chicago’s last, but they pulled it out. I haven’t seen Huet in a bit, but all the goals scored against were of the hard-working, crash-the-net variety. Their defensive positioning is good. Their blueliners are excellent at taking the right angle to cut a guy off at the boards and choke off the rush. We’re going to have to do some work behind the net tonight.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 12/20/09 at 04:20 PM ET
I saw that, too.
You have to keep in mind that they were not playing the Red Wings.
They’re going to be better...or worse...but never the same when it is against the winged wheel.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from the "NOT QUITE DEAD PIRATE" on 12/20/09 at 06:59 PM ET
the cat may be sizing up how many meals that dude will be.
Posted by RWBill from Back aboard the Hasek. on 12/20/09 at 06:59 PM ET
FYI: NHL Network is replaying last year’s Winter Classic. 10 minutes left in 1st period.
Posted by Seaner in Sharkville on 12/20/09 at 07:20 PM ET
Dirt bag Red Wings lose to the real team of America. Chicago sweep the rest of the regular season series? You bet!
Posted by Ripper on 12/21/09 at 01:22 AM ET
Found this interesting/vomit inducing stat in George’s wrapup:
The Wings went 0-for-2 on the power play to drop to 5-for-53 over the past 15 games. The Wings haven’t scored on the power play in six of the last seven games. “A lot of it has to do with guys putting in more minutes, so when you get out there you’re a little more tired than you might normally be because we don’t have a lot of depth,” said defenseman Brian Rafalski. “We just have to keep it simple and keep getting shots.”
Whiskey dick indeed.
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 19 on 12/21/09 at 01:59 PM ET
Per Khan(!):
The Detroit Red Wings have reassigned forward Kris Newbury to Grand Rapids (AHL), They will recall Mattias Ritola from the Griffins later today and he will be in the lineup for Wednesday’s game against Chicago at Joe Louis Arena. . .
The Wings liked the grit that Newbury provided, but they need more offense and Ritola is more skilled. Ritola has seven goals and seven assists,along with a minus-4 rating, for the Griffins.
but they need more offense , maybe a bit of an understatement there.
NHL.com currently has DET averaging 2.64 G/G, good for 21st in the League.
Ritola’s Bio, from the Griff’s site
Position: LW
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 205 lbs
Shoots: L
Date of Birth: 03/14/1987
Birthplace: Borlange, Sweden
Drafted: Detroit’s 4th choice, 103rd overall, in 2005 NHL Entry Draft
Last Amateur Team: 2005-06 Leksands IF (Sweden-Q)
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 19 on 12/21/09 at 03:20 PM ET
Wally looks to be back on Saturday, 26 DEC, McCosky via George:
Sending Newbury back to Grand Rapids leaves the Wings temporarily short one centerman. Presumably, Kris Draper, who has been playing forward, will move back to center for the game Wednesday against the Blackhawks.
But Holland said that all signs point to center Valtteri Filppula returning on Dec. 26.
“There’s nothing official yet, but that’s been our target for a couple of weeks,” Holland said. “That’s what we are hoping.”
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 19 on 12/22/09 at 10:42 AM ET
Tuesday practice notes from Khan(!):
Comments from Babs on Ritola (can anyone else hear the ricola commercial?):
Ritola joined the team for practice on Tuesday, after being recalled Monday from Grand Rapids.
“Good for him and good for us,’’ coach Mike Babcock said. “He almost made our team in exhibition. Hasn’t gone probably as smooth for him as he’d like (in Grand Rapids). That’s what happens lots of times when guys almost make your club. They have a bit of a dip.
“He can hang onto the puck, he can really skate. We just think it’ll give us a little more tempo in our game.’’
Jimmy Howard will start in goal.
Here are the lines they skated with:
Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Leino-Abdelkader-Miller
Draper-Helm-Eaves
Ritola-Filppula (Maltby and May working in)Filppula practiced hard, competed in all the drills and said he feels good. But he’s not playing Wednesday, for sure. So Draper probably will move to center. Perhaps Ritola will play with Helm and Eaves, Draper with Maltby and May.
On defense:
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Stuart
Meech-Janik
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 19 on 12/22/09 at 04:01 PM ET
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Well, that’s it, then - when they get back trade Kronwall and Ericsson for prospects and picks since they clearly hurt the defense.
And Mitch Albom is an oblivious dork.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 12/20/09 at 02:11 PM ET