Morning Skate: Herm 2 Hockeytown is upon us.

The event so many Red Wings fans have been waiting for is finally here. Herm 2 Hockeytown goes down today in Detroit as the Red Wings 'net community converges for the event. Oh, and there's a hockey game too.

• Happy birthday to Jimmy Howard! Tiberius turns 26 today. Happy birthday to the netminder, here's to hoping he gets 2 points as a birthday present!
• The Wildren won last night against Philadelphia, 4-3 in OT. Minnesota scored three straight goals after Philadelphia had a 3-1 lead.
• There's a lot  of cool things going on at H2H, including Herm talking to FS-D during the intermission (watch for it!) and Wingspan stopping by the pre-party. Sah-weet!
• Minnesota's top scorer is Guillame Latendresse with 25 goals. The top point getter is Mikko Koivu with 66 points (20 goals, 46 assists).
• Henrik Zetterberg is playing like a man possessed.8 points over the past 5 games with 3 goals and 5 assists. Valtteri Filppula is also playing exceptional: 8 points over the last 5 games with 4 goals and 4 assists. Whatever the hell sparked these guys would be cool if it sparked the other guys too.
• Detroit is 8-1-1 in its last 10. That's pretty sweet record when you're pushing for the playoffs. Since the Olympics, the Wings have turned the page and are finally a consistent team.
• Surely part of that success is the penalty kill's success. They've been exceptional of late and haven't allowed a power-play goal in 10 straight games. That's big when trying to get your team ready for the last couple of games of the season and potentially the playoffs. If you can keep your opponent off the scoresheet when they are on the advantage, you give yourself a great boost in confidence.
• Anybody else notice the return of the Red Wings swagger? It's a sight that had been sorely missed.
• I'm sorry this has been a lackluster preview, I'm too pumped for the game. My apologies to all.