More photos » by Larry MacDougal - AP

Halloween 2009: I was working in the lab late one night, when my eyes beheld an eerie sight, for my monster from his slab began to rise, and suddenly to my surprise... Helm did the mash, Helm did the monster mash

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The Red Wings went 2-0-1 since my last Numbers post. Am I good luck? Obviously. I think I might just keep these posts coming every Tuesday after all. But, things haven't always been pretty. Our defense is still getting beat up - and our goaltenders are letting in some weak ones. Which leads us to this:

Last Tuesday, Chris Osgood was pulled seven minutes into the Vancouver Canucks game, marking the second time this season there has been a goalie change in a Red Wings game. Last season, the second goalie change came on January 29th, when Ty Conklin relieved Chris Osgood during a 4-1 loss to Dallas. Mike Babcock is the new Mike Keenan. But with less mustache. That's MacLean's business...

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More photos » by Larry MacDougal - AP

Appropriate players for the title...(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal)

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Hey folks, sorry for the lack of content over the past few days. Halloween weekend takes more out of you than you'd expect I guess. Add on some surgery for me and various other things, I just wasn't able to get my mind in that mode. But after a brief break, we're ready to continue bringing you the Red Wings coverage and insight you've come to expect.

With that said, here are a few things for you to peruse prior to tonight's game against the Boston Bruins:

• We've got a new layout! You may have noticed the subtle but good changes to the layout and design of the site. This is a SBN wide change and I personally think it looks great.
• NESN (the FS-D of New England) did a Q&A with us and the link to that can be found here. Give it a read through.
• The Wings went 2-1-2 over the West Coast road trip, earning 4 much needed points and now sit four points behind Chicago in the Central Division. Maybe this PANIC!wasn't needed quite yet?
• More than just four potential points were lost over the road trip as the Wings lost a crucial part of this year's offense with Valtteri Filppula being injured for 6-8 weeks following a broken wrist.
• To add to the injury/inactive woes, three defensemen have come down with the flu. Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, and Jonathan Ericsson. We probably won't see until later in the day which players actually are fit enough to dress for the game tonight. 
• Don't look now but Pavel Datsyuk is starting to roll. Six points in his last three games as he finally starts to gain some momentum with his play heading into tonight's game against a banged up Bruins team. Speaking of those injuries, the Wings will get to go the whole night without having to think about Milan Lucic and Marc Savard. 

More photos » by Gary Malerba - AP

Gotta love the look on Leino's face as he scores his second of the year (AP Photo/Gary Malerba)

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Wings got the second win of the year, this time against a very good Capitals team. Here are a few of the things I've noticed in the game last night:

• Osgood played pretty awesome last night. Sure, the first goal was kind of weak but Oz clamped down after that and had some incredible saves. Two huge saves during powerplay chances were probably the difference in the game, including the incredible desperation toe save on Ovechkin. The second goal was hard to put on Oz as Kronwall was screening him on the shot. Something must have switched his game to the "on" position since returning from Sweden and hopefully it continues at this level.
  
• Since when does Valtteri Filppula hit like he did last night? Although not credited with any hits in the box score, Fil had at least two big hits. The first was against Tyler Sloan and Fil put him on his butt with a solid and clean hit. The second wasn't as big but any time you put a skater like Alex Ovechkin when you're the target is impressive. I remember two or three impressive hits in the Chicago game too, and I like it. Oh and he had two assists, no biggie. 
• Many of you may have seen that Brad May was wearing a different number last night. What number? 24. Gasp! Apparently, Chelios didn't care when May asked him though so my mood of "what in the crap?" went to "oh okay, well that's cool." I thought it was respectful of May to ask Cheli before assuming the number on the jersey. Also liked how May was the leader in hits last night with 5, second in the game to Ovechkin who had 10.
• Derek Meech has been a solid fill in for Brett Lebda. The only real blunder I've noticed so far is a dangerous hit he put on Capitals Quintin Laing that resulted in a boarding penalty. Otherwise, Meech has played a smart, well positioned two games thus far. Meech and Ericsson seem to work well together and have a good sense for what the other is going to do defensively. Although on the ice for the Bradley goal last night, Meech played the puck well and forced the shot to the near post, something you often aim for, but it somehow squeaked through Oz. I'm starting to really like this switch on defense. 
• The more I see Jason Williams' powerplay goal, the more and more I like it. Although Theodore was screened, the shot was perfectly placed in the top corner of the net, no chance for a butterfly goalie on a shot that fast.
• Hmmm...Kind of odd that we've scored 3 goals in all four games thus far. Oh well, I'll take it.
• This is the one where I get tomatoes thrown and the big prop hook to pull me off stage. I like the way Todd Bertuzzi is playing so far. I don't think he's the same player he was during his first stay in Motown...he's better. He hasn't had all too many quality chances to prove that he still has the scoring touch but I like the game he is playing. He is hard skater and crashes the net often looking for rebounds. I liked the pairing with Zetterberg and Datsyuk last night because i think he gives them better protection than Holmstrom while still doing a similar job. I may change my mind in the future but I think he is doing a solid job so far in his second stint with the team.

by NIKLAS LARSSON - AP

about 1 month ago: Detroit Red Wings Henrik Zetterberg (right), and the rest of the Red Wings, during the national anthems before of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct, 3 2009 in Stockholm. (AP Photo/Niklas Larsson)

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Oh hi!

In a few seconds, I'll get to what will become the weekly By the Numbers feature, but I wanted to get a few housekeeping things out of the way first...

First, I wanted to take a quick second and thank Christy and Casey for inviting me to join the Winging it in Motown family -- and congratulate Kyle and Drew, both of whom I've enjoyed reading and can't wait to see what they've got in store for WIM. 

Anyway, many of you might be familiar with The Production Line (and I thank you for reading), but for those of you that aren't, here are a handful of things that you should know about me -- right from the start.

1. I'm a big fan of lists. Charts, too. But mostly lists. 

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More photos » by NIKLAS LARSSON - AP

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Starting the season in Sweden, the home of 8 of the Red Wings players, should have put things on a positive note right? Without a win in either of the two games and losing the lead in both games, the team undoubtedly boarded the flight home to Detroit with a sour taste. So what's there to take away from the trip overseas? There's some good, some bad, and some ugly.

The Good

Offensive production was pretty good in the opening two games. The team scored early and often (twice in both opening periods) and continued to produce great offensive chances. The Wings were +11 in the shooting column for the first game and +1 for the second, registering more than 30 shots in each contest. A lot of these shots were from great spots on the ice in the first one and a half periods of each game but were then limited to the point and to the perimeter as St. Louis adjusted defensively. Another good sign is how well the Wings fared in the face-off circle, winning about 57% of the draws for the weekend with Datsyuk hitting about 70% in the circle. The offense showed that it's still powerful despite the loss of the players from last year but it can't be called upon to do everything to win. 

The Bad

The penalty killing units continue the woes from last year, allowing 4 goals in 9 opportunities to the Blues. I know it's early but 56% kill rate will dig a big hole in the goal differential column if it stays this poor. I don't expect it to but there needs to be a rapid adjustment to the scheme for the penalty kill to get the confidence back in this team that it can play with the disadvantage. Another thing that was bothersome was the inability to change the offensive attack when the Blues adapted to the Detroit game plan. The middle of the ice started out fairly open but the Blues clamped down defensively and forced the puck to the perimeter and forced the Wings to try to beat them from the point. Sound familiar? Game 6 and 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals fit this description perfectly. The Wings need a new plan of attack when the puck is forced outside and I trust Babcock will come up with something sooner rather than later.

The Ugly

The defense and goaltending was particularly forgettable in these two games. Both games exhibited the definition of complacency following an early lead. Not to take anything away from the Blues on this one but the defense handed these two games to the Blues. I hate to lead the player bashing brigade but Brett Lebda is showing me all the more reason to root for a roster move. He was on the ice for 6 of the 9 goals scored in the two game set. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that one of them came on the powerplay but he was constantly out of position on the remaining 5. I appreciate the aggressiveness of trying to jump up in the attack but when he is at the front of the attack and leaves a forward to play his spot, the line needs to be drawn. The goaltending didn't help that much either this weekend as both Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard let in at least two very soft goals. The difference between Ty Conklin being the backup and Jimmy Howard being the backup is pretty clear. I'm not ready to sell Howard down the river yet, given that it was only his 8th career start he still deserves the chance to prove himself but I think with the soft goals he has given up, that window of opportunity is closing fast.

MrNorrisTrophy's "MVP of Sweden": So who was I most impressed with in the two games to open the season? Although it is tempting to put Kirk Maltby with his shorthanded goal and assist, I picked Niklas Kronwall. He played solid defense while contributing a powerplay goal and assist in about 23 minutes of ice time per game with 6 shots blocked...and because he's from Sweden

Niklas Kronwall

#55 / Defenseman / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 6-0

Weight: 192

Born: Jan 12, 1981

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Maltby, Rafalski, Datsyuk, and Osgood are all crucial parts of the 2009-2010 team in their own roles(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Gearing up in anticipation for the 2009-2010 NHL season, the folks at SB Nation have been running a series of season previews for each team. Today, you guessed it, is the day for the Detroit preview to be up. We here at Winging It are running our own preview and James Mirtle over at From the Rink will have his Detroit preview up. Be sure to check his out as well as ours and of course link them to your friends--yes, that was a shameless plug.

2008-2009 Season Review: After winning the Stanley Cup in 2008, the Red Wings were pretty much an automatic favorite for winning the 2009 Stanley Cup after adding Marian Hossa and Ty Conklin from the Penguins. I guess that's why they play the games then huh? Hossa was one of the key players throughout the regular season, scoring 40 goals and 31 helpers. In contrast to those high numbers during the regular season, Hossa's skills went missing in the playoffs and it hindered the rest of the team's success. I don't pin the whole loss of the Cup on Hossa because it is a team sport after all. Last year's team seemed to go through the motions at times, seemingly disinterested in what was going on on the ice. There were two games in which the opposition put up 8 goals and several games that slipped away for unknown reasons. Call it the Stanley Cup hangover if you want but I call it lack of chemistry and inexcusable complacency. I think the mindset of "offense offense offense" was deadly for the defensive focus and created lapses in good play. 

Oh, there were good times too. I mean how can you go to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and call it a bad season? There were so many times I felt the team was unstoppable and they looked so quite often. How else would they have garnered the number 2 seed? The Winter Classic was an incredible game in an incredible atmosphere at Wrigley Field.  Or the 6-0 demolishing of the Sharks at the hands of Pavel Datsyuk's 2 goals and 2 assists was pretty incredible too. I've already done two posts on the great moments from last year's season so let's get to the rest of the preview shall we?

The remainder of the preview follows the jump...

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More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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Chris Chelios, D

Full stats after The Jump

How he came to Detroit: A former Stanley Cup and Norris Trophy winner in Montreal and a key gear in the Chicago defense, he came to Detroit by way of a trade in 1999 that sent Anders Eriksson and two first tround draft picks in exchange for Chris.

Impact of his stay: It would be near impossible to summarize the value that Chelios brought to Detroit in a short paragraph but Chelios was an immediate impact on the team and contributed to the defensive mindset of the club. 

Highs in Motown: A stay in Detroit that long is hard to narrow down to a small list of his accomplishments. A short list of accomplishments though would include two Stanley Cup rings, a +40 rating in 2002 that led the league, every single season spent was a + in the +/- column, over 150 points, and oh yeah, two Cheli's Chili Bars. Chelios was a big part of the defense and gladly accepted mentoring responsibilities with young talent.

Lows in Motown: I can't really think of all too much that I can really criticize Chris for during his stay. He may have had some low offensive numbers but defensemen are often given leeway in that department. I suppose the only real low is that he is no longer a Red Wing. 

Replaceable? The organization wouldn't have let Chelios go if they didn't think they had a better player waiting in the wings. The unexpectedly rapid maturation of Jonathan Ericsson has developed the situation where the Wings have several young options at the position and would like to keep them there at the expense of the vet. Chelios' numbers were becoming pedestrian but I don't think any of the young players can replace the leadership and experience he had.

Overall "Grade" for his stay: I think it would be ludicrous for me to award Chris with anything less than an "A". He was a stalwart on the blueline and when his skills started to waver in comparison to the developing young talent, he took things in good stride and quietly stepped aside for the better of the team. A great player statistically but probably more impressive was Chelios' selflessness and willingness to do whatever was best for the team.

In the end, Chris Chelios is one of the guys that I feel was truly a crucial asset to the team. He was one of many anchors on the defense and a big part of the Red Wings success throughout his stay. He continually took paycuts (and playing time cuts) to stay with the team and did everything that was asked of him by the coaching and higher ups. Like I said, once his skills were starting to be overmatched by the young guys and the additions of guys like Rafalski and Stuart, Cheli vacated his spot without the noise you'd expect from a guy with his resume. I know I'm not alone in saying that I wish Chris could/would stay but then again I can understand that he wants to still play consistently. I wish him the best of luck if he continues down the NHL path or a happy retirement if he decides that's best.

Let's hear your thoughts on the end of Chelios' career in Detroit.

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More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

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Marian Hossa, RW

How he came to Detroit: Everyone knows the story here. Hossa left the Penguins following the 2008 Stanley Cup Finalsto join the Red Wings. Hossa's decision to leave Pittsburgh for Detroit drew the ire of many Penguins fans, and deservedly so. Now he will draw the ire of fans in Motown as he moved to division rival Chicago.

Impact of his stay: Hossa came in and was an immediate impact with the team. As one of the strongest players with the puck, Hossa continued to showcase what we briefly saw during his stay in Pittsburgh that given proper support, he is near unstoppable. He boosted interest and expectations for the defending Champs but in the end lost out to his former team.

Highs in Motown:  During the regular season, Hossa was the biggest continual contributor to the offense and it was one highlight reel goal after another. 41 goals and the dominance that Hossa displayed created great opportunities for linemates. Hossa won several games on comeback wins or shootout goals, showing his clutch scoring. Even in the playoffs, Hossa did showcase at times his clutch scoring in the final game against the Blue Jackets, tallying two goals in a short span. 

Lows in Motown: From about March 27 until the present. Hossa went missing in the playoffs and the location of the Cup parade shows it. Aside from the three  games (one in each of the Western Conference rounds) in which he tallied two goals, Hossa didn't score any more goals but notched a few assists. And then there's the whole leaving the team for the rival thing...

Replaceable? As much as I hate to say it, no. The guy was a one man wrecking crew and on several occasions brought the Wings back into a game or won it for them. It will be incredibly difficult to replace the points that Hossa put up for the little bit of capspace remaining for the Wings. 

Overall "Grade" for his stay:  I'd have to give Hossa an A- or B+. If he had showed up in the playoffs, I would have no problem giving him an "A".   .

In the end, it would be impossible to evaluate Hossa's statistical contribution to the Red Wings but I know I'm fine with the departure because of the reputation that he has garnered from his recent free agent exploits.

But let's hear what you all have to say on it too.