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SON OF A BITCH. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Well things are going a little bit better and a little bit worse at the same time. The Red Wings have won three in a row, but they lost Jonathan Ericsson doing it. Darren Helm is potentially back no Thursdsay, but if he isn't, it'll be EIGHT regulars not dressed for the game. Some disturbing injury numbers:
--Only FIVE players have played in all 33 games: Todd Bertuzzi, Tomas Holmstrom, Brad Stuart, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Henrik Zetterberg.
--Andreas Lilja has missed 75 straight games (including playoffs).
--By my count, the Wings have lost 139 man-games to injury. Last year, they lost 193 all season.
--At this pace, the Wings will have lost 328 man-games by the end of the season. Let's hope the trend stops. Soon. 
--Patrick Eaves, Brian Rafalski, and Darren Helm have each missed two different stretches of games this season.

I caught a lot of flak regarding Todd Bertuzzi's recent offensive explosion (which I welcome with open arms), but allow me to present some interesting numbers regarding our #44:
--Prior to Friday's two-goal game, Bertuzzi was on pace for 11 goals. He's now on pace for 19.
--The only players with worse +/- than Todd (-6) are Jonathan Ericsson (-7), Dan Cleary (-8), and Ville Leino (-8)
--Of the players that have played 20 or more games, Bertuzzi ranks sixth in penalty minutes-to-points ratio (1.41:1). The rest of the list looks like this:
1. Brad May (38:1)
2. Kirk Maltby (3.6:1)
3. Justin Abdelkader (3.5:1)
4. Brett Lebda (3:1)
5. Jonathan Ericsson (2:1)
For the record, the low-man on this list is Pavel Datsyuk (0.08:1, two penalty minutes and 24 points).

We've already discussed Justin Abdelkader's woes at the dot - so where does he rank now that he's had a few games on the second line? Well, still the bottom:
FACEOFF PERCENTAGE (more than 50 draws taken)
1. Pavel Datsyuk (58.8)
2. Valtteri Filppula (54.5)
3. Darren Helm (53.9)
4. Kris Draper (53.7)
5. Henrik Zetterberg (51.0)
6. Dan Cleary (48.8)
7. Justin Abdelkader (41.6)

CHRIS CHELIOS AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings defensemen with the fewest goals scored in the most games played. The player must have played in at least 3/4 of the team's games. The award is named for Chris Chelios, who scored 23 goals in his final EXACTLY 600 games as a Red Wing (regular season and playoffs).*
1. Nicklas Lidstrom (1 goal in 33 games)
2. Brett Lebda (1 goal in 30 games)
3. Brad Stuart (2 goals in 33 games)
4. Brian Rafalski (2 goals in 30 games)
5. Jonathan Ericsson (3 goals in 31 games)

DANNY CLEARY "SACRAFICE YOUR FACE" AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most blocked shots. Award is named for Dan Cleary, who is used to becoming synonymous with "black eye" and/or "broken jaw."*
1. Darren Helm (22)
2. Dan Cleary (16)
T3. Pavel Datsyuk (15)
T3. Henrik Zetterberg (15)
5. Justin Abdelkader (12)

DEREK MEECH AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wing with the most games spent in the press box. Award is named for Derek Meech, who was a healthy scratch 35 times last season.*
1. Derek Meech (15)
2. Brad May (8)
3. Patrick Eaves (7)
4. Kirk Maltby (5)
T5. Brett Lebda (3)
T5. Ville Leino (3)

GREG STEFAN AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings goaltender that makes you question how they're in the NHL and you aren't. Award is named for Greg Stefan, who played nine seasons for the Red Wings, but only three that had a goals against average under 4.*
1. Jimmy Howard (10-6-1, 2.40, .915)
2. Chris Osgood (7-5-4, 2.70, .900)

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most shots to miss the net. Award is named for Mikael Samuelsson, who literally must have been aiming for the 11th row.*
1. Henrik Zetterberg (59)
2. Todd Bertuzzi (33)
3. Ville Leino (31)
4. Tomas Holmstrom (29)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (27)

PAST AWARD WINNERS:
The GoodFellas Award :: Patrick Eaves
Aaron Downey Award :: Derek Meech