Detroit Dances with Nashville

Detroit (43-20-8) @ Nashville (36-25-10)

The Red Wings, who have found themselves on the right side of the scoreboard recently, look to keep with the pattern of success when they visit the Predators. Jimmy Howard, who is currently tied for the lead in goaltender wins with Carey Price at 34, will get the nod this evening.

In related news, it seems my man Pavel Datsyuk will be missing tonight's game, which saddens me like the loss of a firstborn child.* I always hate seeing Dats miss time, not only because of how good he is by himself, but how much he helps improve the team as a whole.

*(Merely being jovial, apologies to anyone who has lost a firstborn son.)

Also, it's been confirmed that Johan Franzen will also miss tonight's game due to "wear and tear".

Hopefully there's still plenty of spark in the Wings who remain healthy, we need to keep this run going!

Enjoy the game, Wingnuts! Let's Go Red Wings!!

Wings Hope to Clip Caps at Home

Detroit (41-20-8) VS Washington (41-20-10)

The Red Wings face an unfamiliar foe tonight as they take to the ice at Joe Louis Arena to square off with the Washington Capitals. Detroit has been making a good effort of recovering from their recent 4 game winless streak and look to maintain their winning ways this evening against a very hot Washington squad.

Jimmy Howard, who was likely looking forward to getting decent help in net with the return of Chris Osgood, is undoubtedly groaning in his mind as Joey MacDonald was called up today to play backup. Osgood is apparently still feeling soreness from the sports hernia that has kept him out of the lineup since mid-January.

Washington won on the road last night against a persistent Canadiens team, and have stretched their current win streak to 9 games. It is without a doubt that the Caps will come out hungry to keep their streak alive. It's up to the Red Wings to shut down the cruising Capitals and earn another important 2 points to keep San Jose off their tail.

Enjoy the game, Wingnuts! Let's Go Red Wings!!

Oh, and just to add, no lucky shirt tonight. Here's how the records look going into tonight:

LUCKY SHIRT: 10-5-0

NO LUCKY SHIRT: 6-6-2

Wings Look to Get Over a Different set of Blues

Detroit (40-20-8) @ St. Louis (31-28-9)

Quick update today, work stuff has me crazy lately.

The Red Wings finally snapped their 4 game winless streak last night against Edmonton, and now look to start a pattern of winning as they take on the Blues.

Jimmy Howard will get the go again tonight, and the noly line information Coach Babcock has revealed is that Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will not be paired up on the road.

St. Louis is on the wrong side of .500 in their last 10, going 4-6-0. This is a good chance for Detroit to take an easy 2 points; then again, weren't we all thinking that abut the Oilers?

Enjoy the game, Wingnuts! Let's Go Red Wings!!

Wings Need Remedial Lesson in Urgency - Wings/Coyotes Pre-Game

Detroit (39-19-7) @ Phoenix (33-23-10)

Class is in session, Red Wings, and I hope you're listening. Absence from this class will NOT be tolerated!

Detroit takes on Phoenix tonight and I, for one, hope that we can begin to scrape our dignity off the pavement, because I've gotten fed up with not seeing any dignity on the ice. There's not one player, down to the last man, who is not a target of this lashing. Let me spell it out for you, Wings: You are -not- competing! You have one and all been lazy, unenergetic, cowardly, hesitant and sloppy in your play over the last slew of games and it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing for you, because you are a team far superior to the product you've been putting on the ice recently, and it's embarrassing for us fans who already damn well know that exact same thing!

I understand there are still some injuries, but guess what? That's not an excuse. We don't have near the injuries now that we had 2 months ago, and we somehow managed then, didn't we? If I were coach Babcock, I'd start thinking about whose asses are going to be warming the bench the most, because if my players aren't going to show up to play, I don't want them playing.

Now...Phoenix is 5-4-1 coming into this match tonight. They're middle-of-the-road right now, and there's no reason why good, hard play won't bury the Desert Dogs this evening. Think you can muster that for once, guys...?

Since Detroit seems to need my guidance -so- much (Detroit has lost 3 of the last 4 games I have NOT done a Winning Formula for after putting up a 5 game winning streak previously...), guess what's making a comeback?

Ears open, Red Wings! It's The Geek's Winning Formula!

1.) Shoot! ...Please? - It's come down to begging, now. I'm castrated before you, beseeching you, my boys, to PLEASE SHOOT THE PUCK! Remember that adage from that guy, uh...oh yes, Wayne Gretzky? The one about missing 100% of the shots you don't take? Could we make that a mantra for tonight's affair...? Thanks.

2.) Create Pressure - Really, Detroit, this one and done stuff has got to end. When you -do- take shots, there is nobody jumping to loose pucks, it just gets lapped up the the opposition defense and cleared out...every...single...play. San Jose showed us what creating pressure looks like at the start of Thursday's game, and we let it turn into complete domination numerous times, guys getting caught in the defensive zone for shifts upwards of 2:15!! Hope you watched the tape and took some notes, boys...

3.) Chemistry: Not Just for Geeks - This one is easy, fellas: Work together instead of trying to be a hero. If the chincey pass isn't going to work, don't force it. It still isn't going to work. If you can't push the play forward, send the puck to a teammate who has a better chance. Please, just stop with these high-risk maneuvers that HAVE NOT BEEN WORKING. Maybe when you boys get used to the simple stuff again, the more difficult plays will start o, oh I dunno, come naturally again...?

60 minutes of smart, determined hockey wins the day 9 times out of 10. Any less effort than that costs you the day 8 days out of 7.

Rant over...for now. Now, let's see what happens next.

Enjoy the game, Wingnuts! Let's Go Red Wiugs!!