Wings Bully Buffalo, Claim Win in Home Opener

In what could only be called a lop-sided affair, the Detroit Red Wings did exactly what coach Mike Babcock asks for always: Start on time.  Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk scored :36 apart in the 1st period and never looked back as the Red Wings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in their first match of the season.

Detroit dominated the puck for the majority of the game, which says as much about the Sabres as it does the Red Wings, considering the Wings were booked for seven penalties before the end of 40 minutes, including two 5 on 3 chances for Buffalo.  Detroit kept their composure through it all, the PK units working splendidly and were perfect while a man (or men!) down.

Samuelsson opened Detroit's scoring with a wicked redirect off of a Cory Emmerton shot, beating Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller up high.  Not long after, the magic man weaved his skills yet again as Pavel Datsyuk gobbled up a loose puck and wound a ridiculous backhander past Miller to extend the lead to 2-0 just before the 13 minute mark of the game.

The Red Wings locked things down fairly well for the remainder of the match, until a miscue by Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard ended up in front of his gaping net. Playing the puck behind the cage, his attempt to rim the puck around the boards was blocked and flew out front.  Despite his best efforts, Jimmah wasn't able to get to the shot from Zemgus Girgensons, and the lead was cut in half with about 7 minutes left to play.

The Wings managed to hold the line despite some obvious scrambling after the Buffalo goal, and even as Ryan Miller left his net in the late stages of the 3rd, Detroit persevered and held off the Sabres for their 1st Eastern Conference win.

I'll quickly go over what stuck out to me as I wrap things up for the night:

The Alfie-Weiss line is going to be scary - I'm not talking some of the time, I'm talking ALL the time.  No production on opening night, fine...but WOW did they ever pressure Buffalo all night long! Alfredsson came to Detroit hungry, and does it ever show as he let total howitzers go every chance he got.  Weiss was hard on the puck as well, getting a number of quality chances.  If they can mange to motivate Johan Franzen, their vegetable of a line-mate, they will be a fearsome line to try and defend against.

This defensive corp is legit - When the Wings needed to lock things down, they did so.  A much younger group of defensemen than most of the Hockeytown faithful are used to have shown that they learned much from last year's shortened season.  What makes them seriously deadly, however, is how well they seem to be reading the play and pressing the attack.  Datsyuk's goal should show an assist from Jonny Ericsson, as him bull-dozing into the offensive zone set up the whole play.  Multiple times all night the Detroit defenders made similar plays driving deep into the zone when it was prudent to do so and help stimulate more offense.

Just because you're good doesn't mean you can be sloppy - A few of the calls I had reservations about, but Detroit could have very easily ended this game with far fewer penalties.  This was an issue at times last year, and it CANNOT persist this season. It's great that Alfie and Weiss helped out on the PK, but that is NOT why we brought them here.  We need to stay out of the box and keep generating pressure and generating goals.

We're only one game in, but things certainly look promising.  We'll see if the Wings can keep things rolling on Friday when Detroit heads to Carolina for a date with the Hurricanes.

Light the Torches, Cleary Re-Signs with Wings

This should be interesting.

I've decided that this latest bit of Wings news is just the thing to bring me out of my offseason hibernation, because wow, there's gonna be some wicked division in Red Wings Nation over this one...

Dan Cleary, who was reported to be as good as signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, has signed a 1-year, $1.75 million deal to remain with Detroit.

Wings management had made it CLEAR (I'm so funny) that they didn't want to see the 34 year old veteran head elsewhere, but couldn't meet the terms that Dan was asking for. The issue of cash and space, however, now becomes significantly larger.

Cleary's signing was unforeseen at this juncture, so fitting the Red Wings under both the roster limit AND the salary cap is going to be at the very least tricky and very likely also painful.

The number of solutions Detroit has at its disposal are not large, and many fans cringe at the thought of implementing many of them, from moving Gustav Nyquist and Danny DeKeyser down to Grand Rapids, to waiving or trading journeymen like Patrick Eaves or Jordin Tootoo.  I know I personally don't like either of those options, but the Wings have put themselves in this position. It's now up to Detroit to try and find the lesser of all evils to make this roster and this salary budget work.

And it's left to the fanbase to go to all-out war between those who agree with the added cap and roster strain of bringing Cleary back, and those who don't.

Feel free to turn the comment section below this article into a battleground, as I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on this sudden and surprising news.

Where do the Red Wings stand?

Alfredsson joins his Swedish
 teamate Zetterberg in Detroit

After signing Weiss and stealing Alfredsson from the Sens, most Red Wings fans are ecstatic with the prospect of next year's team. But what do they have to do before dropping the puck?

As they stand right now, the Red Wings have 2.3M left in cap space and they have to sign pending RFAs Gustav Nyquist, Brendan Smith and Joakim Andersson, so they have to make space to sign everyone.

The Winged Wheel's forwards, as they stand now, they have 14 forwards signed, plus 2 pending, making for 16 forwards. Here's what it looks like :

Abdelkader - Datsyuk - Zetterberg

Franzen - Weiss - Alfredsson

Nyquist - Helm - Tatar

Tootoo - Andersson - Miller

Extra : Eaves / Bertuzzi / Emmerton

LTIR : Samuelsson

Ericsson - Kronwall

Dekeyser - Smith

Kindl - Quincey

Lashoff

Howard

Gustavsson

This team is in a bind. Because of ''injuries'', Samuelsson can't be bought out; he's not going to play a lot and look for him to fill Ian White's role last year as the scapegoat who won't play unless a lot of injuries take a toll on this team. Also, look for Tootoo to get increased minutes. In the big bad East, goons like Parros, Thornton and to a lesser extent, Neil and Prust will always challenge stars and Tootoo, although he isn't a heavyweight fighter, will at least bring some energy and spunk and is willing to fight.

I do believe that the next year's Wings have a lot more going for them than last year's edition. First, the rookie will have more experience. Nyquist, Tatar, Smith and Andersson will all have bigger role entrusted in them, playing a solid 3rd line and being trusted, for Smith anyways, with bigger PP minutes. Second, next year's team will be more balanced, with Datsyuk and Zetterberg on the first line, plus Weiss, Franzen and Alfredsson completing the scoring, something Cleary (15pts in 48 games) and Filppula couldn't quite do last year. (Although, there is a rumor that Cleary is going to get re-signed.) Cleary is passed his expire date because of his knees and he is taking up a roster space that could go to a younger player, like Tatar or Nyquist. Holland has to let go of his loyalty to old players and let Cleary go to Dallas or even Anaheim.

Now, for what needs to be done.
Look for Emmerton to be sent down to Grand Rapids or waived. He was a serviceable 4th line C, but with the return of Helm, Andersson is going to be the 4th line C, plus Sheahan or Ferraro can be our first call-up.

Also, there has been a rumor of Edler being shopped and Detroit's interested. With the departure of Raymond and possibly the oft-injured Booth, Vancouver needs secondary scoring. A package of Tatar and Quincey, plus draft picks to even out, I think Edler could come to the Red Wings and it would help open up roster spots.

And here's a blockbuster that could help : Tatar / Nyquist + Quincey + 1st '14 for Zach Bogosian. He's young (22 years old) and would fit great with Kindl or even Kronwall, plus it would open up a roster spot.

I know it's clichéd, but it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings and the Red Wings are far from being done this summer.

Wings Make Waves On Day 1 of Free Agency

Hockeytown fans have woken up to a very different-feeling team.

With only a pair of moves and a pair of departures, the Red Wings have, in almost all eyes, become a much more legitimate playoff threat compared to last year.  They lost Valtteri Filppula who sought richer soil in which to plant his roots, which the under-achieving forward found in Tampa Bay.  The Wings also effectively lost Swiss forward Damien Brunner, who snubbed the Red Wings' 2 and 3-year offers, also looking for those greener pastures.  No deal has been signed for Brunner, but the writing is basically on the wall that he will land elsewhere.

What the Red Wings gained, however, far exceeded what they lost.


Detroit was targeting Florida forward Stephen Weiss from the very start as a potential replacement for Filppula should the team not be able to retain him.  Detroit sealed that deal and inked Weiss to a 5-year contract just under what Flip would have commanded.  At $24.5 Million over 5 years, the Wings get a better 2-way player and a somewhat more consistent scoring threat out of Weiss than what they had with Filppula.

The second acquisition for the Red Wings yesterday was much more of a surprise: Detroit, with promises of greater chances to win his first Stanley Cup, managed to lure away Daniel Alfredsson from the Ottawa Senators on a 1-year, bonus-laden $5.5 Million deal.  The former face of the Ottawa franchise and formerly the longest serving active NHL captain had told his former team on a call that he would not be rejoining them next season, which was as much a shock to them as it was the rest of the hockey world, but the Red Wings gladly welcome his leadership and skills into the locker room.

With RFAs left to sign and little cap space left still available, we may not see much more movement from Detroit this offseason, but what we HAVE seen has at least been very interesting and exciting to watch unfold.  Who knows? Maybe Kenny Holland has one more trick up his sleeve before next season...