Henrik Zetterberg

Sochi-Bound Red Wings

March 25, 2012

There are almost two years until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia however the gears of preparation are well into use. Canada has tapped Red Wing legend Steve Yzerman to return as executive director for Canada. Wings GM Ken Holland will be a key member of Yzerman's support staff, however it's doubtful Yzerman and Holland will be the only two people with Red Wing ties at Sochi.

Of course rosters change and the Red Wings are in for a moderate overhaul over the next two seasons but there are some shoe-ins to be Olympians, some players who would be on the bubble if selections were today and some youngsters that may push for a bid as they develop.

The Undoubted

<...

Wings lose in OT; Extend losing streak to 6

March 21, 2012

Eric Huffman

2 Comments

It was a frustrating night for the Detroit Red Wings...again.

Ryan Callahan scored the OT winner with a perfect assist from Michael Del Zotto to give the Wings their sixth consecutive loss. So what went wrong?

The Wings showed a poor display of defense tonight, especially in the third period, leaving Callahan with 8 total shots on goal. The Wings also looked very slow in the third, leaving Ty Conklin virtually all by himself in the net.

But that wouldn't phase Conklin too much as he had 32 saves along with .942 save percentage in the game. Safe to say he was the Wings strongest player tonight.

The Wings were scored on in their first penalty kill attempt, but th...

How would the proposed rule changes affect the Wings?

March 15, 2012

Robert DAurelio

0 Comments

The GM meetings in Boca Roaton just recently wrapped up and GMs discussed some rule potential changes that on the surface, wouldn't largely affect the game. More relevant topics could have been discussed, like head shots, concussions, and the potential lockout that is staring everyone in the face. The speed of the game, head shots, and concussions all have seemed to increase since the 2004-2005 lockout (REVENUE has also increased too, every year, *cough*). The subtle point of revenue increasing is likely the reason there are only small rule changes being proposed, with the GMs likely thinking 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. As long as the game continues to...

Kings seek home ice revenge against Detroit

March 13, 2012

Eric Huffman

0 Comments

Last time the Detroit Red Wings played the Los Angeles Kings, things ultimately went their way.

After being down 3-2 in the 2nd period, the Wings turned it up and got some late game heroics from Valterri Filppula and Darren Helm. On home ice, that seems to be the way the Wings get things done.

Now, the the 4th ranked Red Wings (Western conference) have to perform on the road, a task that has been less than stellar all season. The Kings will be looking to capitalize on the opportunity.

The Wings are not hopeless though, as they will have their all-star goalie Jimmy Howard back in net, after being out with an injured finger. Howard is third in the NHL in wins.

The Ki...

Wings ride momentum into Nashville

March 10, 2012

Eric Huffman

0 Comments

Friday's game against the Los Angeles Kings was a breath of fresh air for Wings fans.

After the third period heroics of Darren Helm and Joey MacDonald, the Wings were able to comeback after trailing the Kings. With no signs of Niklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Ericsson or Todd Bertuzzi, it was quite the relief.

What type of contest will the Wings have on their hands tonight in Nashville? Not an easy one.

It can't be said enough that the Wings road performance has left much to be desired this season. So upon looking at who tonight's possible impact player might be, Henrik Zetterberg should be acknowledged first. With Datsyuk out, he has de...

Injuries Are Mounting. Are you scared?

March 4, 2012

Robert DAurelio

1 Comment

Lidstrom. Datsyuk. Howard. Bertuzzi. Ericsson. Kindl. Eaves. All banged up. Can the Detroit Red Wings win another Stanley Cup with their best defenseman, forward, and goalie out? Up until this point in the season, the Wings have been relatively healthy and have definitely played like it. Now, we are at a point where the “law of averages” has kicked in, and the once healthy Red Wings are starting to pile up injuries. Maybe the better question is, can the Wings win their division?

The Red Wings may play next with seven starters out of the lineup. That’s scary, even if we are talking about the 2002 Red Wings. Is this team getting old? Does Mike Babcock run them too ha...

Wings Tame the Wild in Dominating Fashion

March 3, 2012

Eric Huffman

1 Comment

It was the type of game you could only dream about, as far as the Detroit Red Wings are concerned.

What began as a game that could still be turned around after the first period, turned into domination in every aspect of the game as the Wings crushed the Minnesota Wild in 6-0 victory at home.

Surely, the Minnesota bench lost a bit of confidence as Valtteri Filppula scored off a Zetterberg and Kronwall assist 35 seconds into the first period. The forward would get his 20th goal of the season, but maybe he was just lucky.

The Wild tried to regroup, but that led to no positive results as Brendan Smith earned his first NHL career goal before the end of the first period, givin...

Injury-Riddled Wings and Wild Meet Tonight

March 2, 2012

A.K. Bennett

3 Comments

It's been four months since the Wings and Wild met, and much has changed since. Tonight's game (7:30 PM, Joe Louis Arena) will be their final matchup of the regular season. The Wild stormed out of the gate and held a top spot in the West until December, but have fallen to playoff bubble status since. Detroit overcame an inconsistent first quarter of the season and is mired in a gridlock with Vancouver, St. Louis and the New York Rangers for the top spot in the league.

Minnesota leads the season series 2-1 and 2 of the 3 games have gone to overtime. Mikko Koivu (1G, 2A) and Devin Setoguchi (1G, 1A) lead the Wild in points against Detroit. Ian White and Johan Franzen both have...

Should the Red Wings Have Traded for Jeff Carter?

March 1, 2012

Robert DAurelio

3 Comments

When news broke that Pavel Datsyuk was out for 2-3 weeks from a minor knee surgery, everyone in Hockeytown panicked. After a few minutes, a few tweets, and a few deep breaths later, we were assured that Pav was going to be okay and in fact it was just a minor surgery. It was taken as a precaution so the Wings’ best player would be 100% come playoff time.

I’m not one to generally panic, since the Red Wings have been in stretches without their best players before. However, the Winged Wheel has had a great season going so far, and we are entering into a portion of the season where points are at a premium. We all saw what happened last year in Game 7 of the Western Conferenc...

Late Surge Can't Stop the Avalanche

February 25, 2012

A.K. Bennett

2 Comments

The Red Wings put forth a similar effort to their past two games against the Avalanche but lost by one again. The Avalanche's top forwards provided consistent offense scoring in each period. The Red Wings maintained little consistent pressure during the first two periods and were unable to catch Colorado with a strong surge in the third period.

Colorado came out firing and were up 2-0 before three minutes had ticked off the clock. Gabriel Landeskog scored from the low slot just 1:35 in off a pass from newly acquired Steve Downie. Downie who was part of the quasi-three way trade with Tampa Bay that sent Kyle Quincey to Detroit was a key factor for Colorado in the game.

<...