Morning Skate: On to Ohio!

by Casey Richey on Dec 28, 2009 8:55 AM CST in Game Preview

Let's take a quick look at the news and some notes surrounding the Wings game in Columbus tonight:

After starting off blazing hot, Columbus has tumbled to the cellar of the Central Division. The Jackets have lost 12 of their last 13 outings and are struggling to find consistency. The Wings have won 9 of the last 12 against the Jackets (including playoffs). Hopefully it will be 10 of the last 13 after tonight. As you probably know, the most recent of these wins was a 2-1 win with a Todd Bertuzzi special.
Ruh-roh for Ville Leino. Mattias Ritola was called up from Grand Rapids yesterday and is expected to fill Ville's roster spot tonight. Babcock is apparently more concerned with his lack of competitiveness, not lack of scoring. Leino has struggled (and that's saying it nicely) to do much this season and the honeymoon is over for Babcock's patience.
Todd Bertuzzi is second on the team in goals. Say what? Bert's 12 put him one behind Holmstrom for the team lead and who knows when he'll turn in another two goal night. On the sad end of the spectrum, Kris Newbury has as many goals as Nick Lidstrom...what's going on there? Well, at least he's a team leading +8.
Jimmy Howard will start in net again tonight. With the number of starts he's getting, I think it's clear who is the new starter in Motown. Oh, by the way: Jimmy is top 10 in the league in GAA. Sure, he doesn't have as many games played as Ryan Miller, Ilya Bryzgalov or Martin Brodeur but he still has a solid 2.33 in 22 games played.
How will Valtteri Filppula play tonight? I unfortunately missed the first game back for him but did see him making some plays in the highlights. Can he get back to his status as the most under appreciated player on the team by providing great scoring chances every night to the bigger stars while winning the majority of his faceoffs? Let's hope.
Nashville's 3 straight losses (including a 5-4 loss to Chicago last night) keeps the Wings afloat in the chase for second place in the division. A win tonight would help the Wings gain some more ground as they sit only 4 points back of Nashville (or SMASHVILLE if you wish) for 2nd place.
Tonight's game will be on Versus! So get your earplugs ready unless D-MC is on the intermission show.
Predicted scorers: Filppula, Draper, Holmstrom, or Bertuzzi (why the heck not?)

Check back later for line-ups, the game thread, and anything else that comes up.

The Cannon is the SBNation Blue Jackets affiliate, check them out for any Columbus related news.

Poll

Who has the better expression in the picture above?

Filppula

20 votes

RJ Umberger

33 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I’m starting to get the feeling that the Ville Leino experiment might end soon. I think his success last year was due to the fact that the opponents didn’t know what to expect from him. He was great with the puck and protected it well last year, but now teams know the one way to get the puck from him. Just knock him over. He has great hands, but he won’t get a chance to use them if he doesn’t get stronger. His raw talent and his size is a lot like Zetterberg, but the reason Hank is successful is because he is very strong and hard to knock off the puck. Ville spent to much time in Europe and got used to the less physical game over there. I think he would do better spending another year in the AHL and just focusing on his strength training and not worrying about finesse. I’m not ready to give up on him forever, but I don’t think he should be playing with the big boys when everyone gets healthy. Would much rather have Eaves or Miller in there.

by dewman8810 on Dec 28, 2009 3:24 PM CST reply actions

agreed

Leino is simply not strong enough to keep the puck. He’s knocked off so of it so easily. I think I could probably knock him off the puck and I can’t skate worth crap! You put it very well: the difference between Zetterberg and Leino is the strength. Leino has all the makings to be a big time player with his shot and ice vision but he’s just not strong enough for the NHL right now.

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Dec 28, 2009 4:06 PM CST up reply actions