Friday Prospects -- Rest of the Class
by KyleKujawa on Nov 20, 2009 9:15 AM CST
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Well hello there. Did you guys hear the new joke about the Red Wings goal that didn't count?
Kidding of course. Shockingly, this will be the only Wings' thing you read today that won't be about the miserable blown call by professional referee Dennis LaRue.
Last week, we looked at Detroit's three most promising prospects -- Brendan Smith, Max Nicastro, and Gustav Nyquist. However, Detroit has three more collegiate prospects we've yet to discuss. These guys are all late round picks, taken for very specific reasons but not yet completely paying off. Still, if you hear these names in the next few years, you'll be pleased that you read WIM and already heard about them!
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Quick Hits: The Day After The Goal That Was That Wasn't
by AnimalDrew on Nov 19, 2009 5:15 PM CST
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Wings end winning streak, lose to Dallas 3-1
by joehass on Nov 18, 2009 9:43 PM CST
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You know it's not your night when a goal is disallowed because of a whistle that blew a full second after the puck went into the net.
Brad May's third-period shot sat in the net, but Dennis LaRue ruled that the whistle intended to blow prior to the puck. Instead of a tie game, it remained 2-1, and the Stars put one more goal on the board to end the Detroit Red Wings three-game winning streak.
Alex Auld stopped 32 of 33 shots for Dallas, who played a solid game tonight, taking advantage by going 2-for-5 with the man advantage.
The Stars jumped out to the lead with a Mike Ribero goal that was intended to be a crossing pass. Instead, Jonathan Ericsson, who was on his stomach, swung his stick back, only to deflect the puck past Jimmy Howard.
Just under four minutes into the second period, Matt Niskanen took a pass from Brad Richards and fired a knuckle shot that Howard couldn't react to, to make it 2-0.
But a couple minutes later, Henrik Zetterberg kept his torrid pace going, as Ville Leino's pass set him up and with Richards draped over him, Zetterburg buried it to cut the lead to one.
Between those two goals, May and Krystofer Barch got together for a doozy of a fight: their fifth fight in the past three years. The two of them put on a show that included switching hands mid-fight when they both became tired. In fact, May appeared to deliberately change helmets just before the fight, going from one with a visor to one without.
With 13:36 left in the third, Detroit brought the puck out from behind the net. Justin Abdelkader passed the puck to May. May put a backhand shot from about 10 feet out onto Auld, who drew a whistle with a stop. But Auld hadn't stopped it: he trapped it against the side of the net with the puck very clearly over the line. The Red Wings celebrated as if they had scored a goal.
However, Dennis LaRue ruled that he intended to blow the whistle when the Auld made the stop, marking the play dead. Despite a call from the NHL Operations Center in Toronto, LaRue stuck to his ruling, and the goal did not count.
A few minutes later, with Jonathan Ericsson in the penalty box, Loui Eriksson took a pass from James Neal in front of the net. Howard was overcommitted to the play near Eriksson, and couldn't skate over in time to make the stop.
Howard would end up making 29 saves. The Wings play next on Friday against the Florida Panthers.
Player of the Game: Henrik Zetterberg. And we'll keep making him the player of the game until informed otherwise.
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Quick Hits: 11/18
by AnimalDrew on Nov 18, 2009 5:00 PM CST
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Wings jump up in SB Nation Power Rankings
by MrNorrisTrophy on Nov 18, 2009 8:36 AM CST
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Don't know how many of you take stock in power rankings, but the SB Nation Hockey bloggers vote each week on the top ten teams in the league and the best in each conference.
Finally, we're back to a respectable spot so I feel okay posting this:
| Western Conference Power Rankings | ||||
| Rk (Prv) | Team | Record | SB Nation Blog | |
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1 (1) | San Jose Sharks | 14-4-4 | Fear The Fin |
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2 (5) | Chicago Blackhawks | 12-5-2 | Second City Hockey |
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3 (2) | Calgary Flames | 12-4-2 | Matchsticks and Gasoline |
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4 (10) | Detroit Red Wings | 10-5-3 | Winging It In Motown |
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5 (4) | Los Angeles Kings | 13-7-2 | Battle of California |
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6 (3) | Colorado Avalanche | 12-5-3 | Mile High Hockey |
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7 (7) | Phoenix Coyotes | 11-9-0 | Five For Howling |
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8 (8) | Dallas Stars | 8-5-6 | Defending Big D |
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9 (6) | Columbus Blue Jackets | 11-6-2 | The Cannon |
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10 (9) | Vancouver Canucks | 11-10-0 | Nucks Misconduct |
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11 (12) | Nashville Predators | 9-8-1 | On the Forecheck |
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12 (13) | St. Louis Blues | 6-8-4 | St. Louis Game Time |
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13 (11) | Edmonton Oilers | 8-10-3 | The Copper & Blue |
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14 (15) | Minnesota Wild | 7-11-2 | Hockey Wilderness |
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15 (13) | Anaheim Ducks | 6-10-3 | Battle of California |
The Wings didn't crack the Top 10 but I feel they're on the way to doing so. Just a side note, only Western Conference bloggers vote on the Western Conference while everyone votes on the Top 10, in case you were wondering about the results being different.
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The Patrick Eaves Award Winner -- and more!
by mpetrella on Nov 17, 2009 10:00 AM CST
in Analysis/Reaction
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All of a sudden, things are looking up! After a pretty weak start, the Wings are starting to look like, well, the Wings. Some statistics to prove it:
The Winged Wheelers started the season by going 3-4-2 in the first nine games, on pace for 73 points. But, they are 7-1-1 in their last nine, and are now on pace for 105.
Before this week, Detroit had been outscored 47 - 43. Now, the tables have turned, and they're outscoring the opposition 61 - 52.
The Wings are 5-0-1 when Saturday's hero Henrik Zetterberg scores a goal in regulation. He also leads the NHL in game-winning goals (4).
After the jump, more numbers, fake award updates, and our VERY FIRST WINNER!
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Zetterberg's Hat Trick Seals 7-4 Wings Victory
by joehass on Nov 14, 2009 10:14 PM CST
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It had been 107 games since Henrik Zetterberg had the last Detroit Red Wings hat trick. And with two goals already on the scoresheet, an empty net in front of him, and time running down, there was a question as to whether Zetterberg could get the puck in the net before the green light would come on.
He beat the clock by 0.7 seconds, bringing the curtain down on a wild third period and summoning chapeaus from the spectators.
Detroit defeated the Anaheim Ducks 7-4 in a game that saw a mild first two periods turn into an old school NHL shootout, with the teams combining for eight goals in the third period. Zetterberg finished the night with five points, extending his team lead with 22.
The Ducks, who looked sloppy coming in after their 3-2 shootout loss in Columbus last night, found their sea legs in the second period and put the pressure on with three goals in the third, each one to tie the game. On a night where Ryan Getzlaf would extend his franchise record assist streak to 10 games with three assists to go with his second goal of the season, they just couldn't find the goal to put them over the top.
For the first time in three nights, Jimmy Howard looked shaky, giving up four goals, a couple of which were shots that had him stewing afterwards. But he would be bailed out by an offense that has scored 19 goals in three nights.
The Red Wings jumped out to an early lead on a pair of power-play goals as Dan Cleary had a Niklas Kronwall shot deflect off his glove while Teemu Selane sat in the box, followed by a Brian Rafalski attempted pass to Tomas Holmstrom that misfired and turned into a knuckler that beat Jonas Hiller. That power play came after Ryan Getzlaf received minors for cross checking and unsportsmanlike conduct in a scuffle that featured Corey Perry and Jonathan Ericsson nearly coming to blows, stopped only by Ericsson's helmet failing to come off.
Anaheim scored the lone goal of the second period after Ericsson attempted an ill-advised clear straight up the middle. Getzlaf made the pass to Corey Perry, who easily beat Howard.
Then came the third period. This time it was a poor Howard clearing attempt that would up on Bobby Ryan's stick, wh put it in the back of the net. Ninety seconds later, Rafalski set up Pavel Datsuyk with a shot that Datsuyk simply had to deflect into the net and went top shelf. Just over a minute after that, Joffrey Lupul's shot went through Todd Bertuzzi's legs and past Howard to knot it up at three.
The Henrik Zetterberg show began as Dan Cleary set up a backhander to make it 4-3. With the Red Wings down two men after a Zetterberg penalty and a too-many-men-on-the-ice call, Getzlaf shot the puck under the right arm of Howard to tie the game at four. Cleary set up Zetterberg 62 seconds later who fired a knuckler that handcuffed Hiller to make it 5-4. Two minutes after that, Darren Helm got onto the score sheet, firing a 30-footer that hit Hiller in the left arm, then slowly dribbled into the net to make it a two-goal lead.
Hiller was pulled with 70 seconds remaining, but it would serve no help to the Ducks, as Zetterberg sent the hats onto the ice.
The Wings continue their homestand with Dallas coming to town on Wednesday night.
Player of the game: Henrik Zetterberg. Scoring the first hat trick in 107 games? Five points on the night? Yeah, I think The Mule is on a roll.
Check out the game highlights below.
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[Game Thread] Red Wings vs. Ducks
by joehass on Nov 14, 2009 5:15 PM CST
134 comments
The Detroit Red Wings ride their two-game winning streaking as they welcome the Anaheim Ducks to Joe Louis Arena tonight at 7:30. Detroit beat the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday 3-1 on Henrik Zetterberg's goal and assist and Jimmy Howard's second-straight sparkling performance, stopping 31 of 32 shots.
The Ducks come in after losing 3-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night in Columbus. Todd Marchant and Bobby Ryan scored as Ryan Getzlaf had two assists to extend his point streak to 10 games. Tonight's game is the third of a four-game road trip.
For the Red Wings, Kirk Maltby and Chris Osgood remain questionable with the flu...we'll have to see who will start tonight in the net.
Anaheim Calling has more on the Ducks. The game airs on FS Detroit and Prime Ticket. I'll be following along below during the game. Please join us!
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Quick Hits: Friday the 13th
by AnimalDrew on Nov 13, 2009 5:00 PM CST
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Friday Prospects -- Top of the Class
by KyleKujawa on Nov 13, 2009 2:47 PM CST
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In this week's installment of Friday Prospects, the weekly look into the world that is Detroit Red Wings prospects, we're getting ready to go to school. This week, I profile Detroit's top three prospects still playing in the collegiate ranks.
There was a long period of time in the 1990s and early '00s where if you were a college-bound player, you shouldn't expect to be drafted by the Red Wings. Between 1995 and 2004, Detroit drafted only three college-bound players, and keep in mind the draft was nine rounds at this time. However, since the new CBA changed the rules of the draft in 2005, Detroit has taken eight. Nowhere near an overwhelming majority, but a definite sign of a trend that will continue.
The reason was that, before the CBA was changed, teams held North American player rights (junior or college) for a set amount of time, while you held European player rights indefinitely. Detroit has always been a team that has liked long-term projects, so it just made more sense for them to spend those late round picks on small, skilled European players (the Pavel Datsyuks of the world) and leave them in Europe for three to five years and hope they figure it out on their own. This opposed to a North American player, who would have seen much more exposure to scouts, greatly reducing the chance to find a skilled, diamond-in-the-rough type player.
And then if it came down to a junior player or a college player, it made sense to go junior in most cases. At 18, a junior player has already spent one or two years in the league, so they will be prepared to assume a big role on their team in the next two season before an NHL team has to sign him. Meanwhile, a college player at 18 would either be a freshman, or entering college the next fall. They would not likely get big minutes until their junior year, and then an NHL team would be forced to make a decision on a player who has not had as great of a chanc
But the new CBA changed the rules -- major junior players and European players now have two years to sign, while college players have until they graduate college. Detroit saw the advantage to this, so that in some cases (if a player spent an extra year in junior before going to college), they would have five years to make a decision on a player.
That said, let's take a look at the three most promising college prospects.
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