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Poor Derek Meech. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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For the third time this season, we're able to announce a Fake Award Winner! Winning his second Fake Award of the 09-10 season is....

DEREK MEECH!

Everyone's favorite almost-Red Wing clinched -- for the second year in a row -- the Derek Meech Award (who knew?!) given at the year's end to the Red Wings player that spent the most games in the press box. Meech was a healthy scratch 35 times last season. With thirteen games left in this season, Meech has a big enough lead on any active Red Wing to have clinched the Award again - and could, if he doesn't see the ice again, break his record from a year ago:

2. Brad May (14) -- no longer with the Red Wings
3. Ville Leino (13) -- no longer with the Red Wings
T4. Patrick Eaves (7)
T4. Brett Lebda (7)

Earlier in the week, Casey took a look at Jimmy Howard's numbers compared to the last five Calder-winning goaltenders. It was a great read, so give it a look, but it got me thinking...how do his numbers stack up against other Red Wings starting goaltenders (can we all agree yet that he is, in fact, the starting goaltender?) from the last 25 years? I compared his current numbers (wins, goals against average, and save percentage) to the goaltender that played the most games in each of the last 25 seasons. If it was split nearly down the middle, I took the single 'tender that played the most minutes. Obviously, there's no guarantee that Howard's numbers stay the same -- they could fluctuate up or down (except wins, of course, which is ONLY GOING UP BABY!), but that's why they call them "averages," they are a pretty good meter of your level of play throughout a season or a career

SINGLE SEASON WINS
1 :: 01-02 :: Hasek :: 41
2 :: 95-96 :: Osgood :: 39
T3 :: 06-07 :: Hasek :: 38
T3 :: 91-92 :: Cheveldae :: 38
5 :: 05-06 :: Legace :: 37
T6 :: 02-03 :: Joseph :: 34
T6 :: 98-99 :: Osgood :: 34
T6 :: 92-93 :: Cheveldae :: 34
9 :: 97-98 :: Osgood :: 33
T10 :: 99-00 :: Osgood :: 30
T10 :: 90-91 :: Cheveldae :: 30
T12 :: 09-10 :: Howard :: 27
T12 :: 07-08 :: Osgood :: 27
14 :: 08-09 :: Osgood :: 26
15 :: 00-01 :: Osgood :: 25
For the record, the least amount of wins for a Red Wings starter the last quarter century is Greg Stefan in 1985-86 with 10. TEN! Thus the award named after him below...

SINGLE SEASON GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE 
1 :: 06-07 :: Hasek :: 2.05
2 :: 07-08 :: Osgood :: 2.09
3 :: 03-04 :: Legace :: 2.12
T4 :: 01-02 :: Hasek :: 2.17
T4 :: 95-96 :: Osgood :: 2.17
6 :: 05-06 :: Legace :: 2.19
7 :: 97-98 :: Osgood :: 2.21
8 :: 96-97 :: Osgood :: 2.30
9 :: 09-10 :: Howard :: 2.32
10 :: 99-00 :: Osgood :: 2.40
The worst goals against the last twenty-five years belongs to... YUP! You guessed it. Greg Stefan in 85-86, 4.50.

SINGLE SEASON SAVE PERCENTAGE
1 :: 09-10 :: Howard :: .924
2 :: 03-04 :: Legace :: .920
T3 :: 01-02 :: Hasek :: .915
T3 :: 05-06 :: Legace :: .915
5 :: 07-08 :: Osgood :: .914
T6 :: 06-07 :: Hasek :: .913
T6 :: 97-98 :: Osgood :: .913
8 :: 02-03 :: Joseph :: .912
9 :: 95-96 :: Osgood :: .911
T10 :: 96-97 :: Osgood :: .910
T10 :: 98-99 :: Osgood :: .910
The worst save percentage of this sample group is -- well I'll be damned -- Greg Stefan in 1985-86, at .856. Interestingly, the worst save percentage for a starting goalie in the last 15 years was Chris Osgood from last season, .887.

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More photos » Darryl Dick - AP

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Most Wings fans all know how well the play of Jimmy Howard has been in his rookie campaign. How does he stack up against the past couple of winners of the Calder Trophy and the rest of the current league leaders for goalies.

The last five goalies to win the Calder Trophy are Steve Mason (2008-2009), Andrew Raycroft (2003-2004), Evgeni Nabokov (2000-2001), Martin Brodeur (1993-1994), and Ed Belfour (1990-1991).

As you can see from the stats above, Howard fairs quite well in comparison to all of them. Although he's tied for the lowest number of wins, his season is also not over yet. Currently, his save percentage is 2nd of the 6 listed above and his GAA is 4th of the 6. This is no guarantee that the rest of his season will range out to maintain, improve, or decline these numbers but it's easy to say it's looking good.

So how does Jimmy stack up against the current rest of the league? Here's a quick numbers break down:

• 5th in save percentage
• 6th in goals against average
• 6th in power play save percentage

His numbers stack up pretty well against the rest of the seasoned veterans and only Tuukka Rask fairs better amongst rookies. Given that Rask has played about 17 games less than Jimmy has it's hard to consider Rask over Howard for Calder.

More photos » Jeff Roberson - AP

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Since Johan Franzen has returned from his knee injury, the Red Wings have played 7 games and wrangled a record of 4-1-2, picking up a total of 10 of 14 possible points.

Perhaps more importantly, the offense has picked and scored five goals in two straight games after not scoring more than 4 since the 7-4 win over Anaheim in mid November.

After the Franzen's return, the Wings goals per game numbers have gone from 2.58 goals to 2.69. Doesn't sound like much right? Considering how poor the scoring effort had been all season, it's a considerable gain. The shots on goal per game have gone from 32. 6 to 33 per, a slight increase but looking at the shot charts, the middle of the ice has seemingly opened up for the Wings. Opening the middle of the ice is important for Detroit in terms of setting up their once trademark passing plays that have been a rare occasion this season.

The power play has reached a respectable 19.4%, 8th in the league, and has scored at least one goal in 6 of the 7 games and 2 goals on the advantage twice. In short, he has added yet another weapon on the power play and with his net-front presence, he compliments Tomas Holmstrom pretty well.

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More photos » Paul Sancya - AP

OUT THE WAY BOBBY, I GOT THIS! (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Well, the Olympics are in full swing (did you hear about Team USA??!?) and the Red Wings are dormant. Sort of. The Wings, as a whole, return to action on March 1st - but guys like Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, Pavel Datsyuk, Valtteri Filppula, and Griffins Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and Sergei Kolosov, won't get much of a "break." 

This is the fourth Olympics that NHL players are participating in. Arguably, there's never been a team that needed this time to recover as badly as the Red Wings need it right now -- despite the seven Olympians who aren't doing much resting. In two of the three prior Olympic years, the Wings were eventual Cup Champs - with only the Hurricanes interrupting that awesome trend. Let's take a peek at the Wings record at the Olympic Break, shall we?:

2010 :: 28-21-12 (68 points in 61 games) :: Eventual Stanley Cup Champion: ???
2006 :: 39-13-5 (83 points in 57 games) :: Eventual Stanley Cup Champion: Carolina Hurricanes
2002 :: 41-11-6-2 (90 points in 60 games) :: Eventual Stanley Cup Champion: DETROIT RED WINGS
1998 :: 31-15-12 (74 points in 58 games) :: Eventual Stanley Cup Champion: DETROIT RED WINGS

Make sure you keep up with Motown Wings, as Chris Hollis is doing a fantastic job tracking all the Red Wings in these Games. After the preliminary rounds, Hollis notes that Rafalski is leading the way offensively:
1. Brian Rafalski (USA) 4 goals, 1 assist, 5 points
2. Pavel Datsyuk (RUS) 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points
3. Johan Franzen (SWE) 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points
4. Valtteri Filppula (FIN) 1 goal
5. Niklas Kronwall (SWE) +2
6. Nicklas LIdstrom (SWE) +1
7. Henrik Zetterberg (SWE) Even
8. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (NOR) -2
9. Sergei Kolosov (BLR) -2

More Red Wings numbers and Fake Award Updates after the jump:

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More photos » Jeff Roberson - AP

Mulestache? Sure, why not.

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• It was good for the Wings to actually claw back a bit, but it wasn't exactly how you wanted. You'd hope that the goals would have come from stringing passes together and shooting from good spots, but they came from a deflection off of a skate and a goalmouth scramble. 
• Wings have had very little offense in the middle of the ice. The only guy that was able to do anything in the middle of the ice was Johan. More on that later though.
• Pavel Datsyuk was on all game long. He was fast early on and stayed that way and turned more St. Louis inside out than the fog from Treehouse of Horror V (there you go Petrella). When Pavel is playing his game, he's incredible and that's what we saw last night. A dominant puckhandler with little regard for what the defense threw at him.
• Jimmy Howard was exceptional again. Very little he could have done about the two goals that were deflected and the other goal was bad defense/Bertuzzi hooking. He still needs to improve on his shootout skills but he's also probably one of the biggest reasons they even got to overtime. Oh, and how about that save late in OT on great cross ice pass? Nice. 
• Henrik Zetterberg played a good game last night but still needs to work on the shootout move. He has the hands to make some great moves but lately he's just shot the puck without doing any set-up work. 
• Darren Helm needs to be re-signed right now. The amount of good he has done on even strength and more impressively the penalty kill is impressive. 3 hits, 1 takeaway, and the only positive faceoff percentage for the Wings last night.
• We touched on it the game thread a bit and a few on twitter voice it too, how many of you almost were expecting Ericsson to slam that rebound past Howard late in the game? It flashed right before my eyes. It's kind of indicative of how spotty his play has been this year.
• You want the truth? The Wings did not deserve a point at all last night. St. Louis outplayed them the majority of the game and the Wings were lucky to get a point. "You can't handle the truth. No truth-handler, you. I deride your truth-handling abilities!"

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More photos » Paul Sancya - AP

Look who's back. Back again. Mulo's back. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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In celebration of Johan Franzen's return to the lineup tonight, let's take a look at the players that have missed the most games due to injury, illness, or rehabilitation assignments to Grand Rapids. Please note that these numbers do not include games in which the players were healthy scratches.

TOTAL NUMBER OF GAMES MISSED: 09-10 SEASON
1 :: Andreas Lilja -- 58 (post-concussion) 
2 :: Johan Franzen -- 55 (torn left ACL)
3 :: Jason Williams -- 38 (right fibula)
4 :: Niklas Kronwall -- 31 (sprained left knee)
5 :: Valtteri Filppula -- 26 (broken right wrist)
6 :: Jonathan Ericsson -- 14 (flu, left knee)
7 :: Tomas Holmstrom -- 13 (fractured foot)
8 :: Dan Cleary -- 12 (separated shoulder)
9 :: Henrik Zetterberg -- 8 (left shoulder)
10 :: Darren Helm -- 6 (left shoulder, wrist)
T11 :: Patrick Eaves -- 4 (right foot, left ankle, flu)
T11 :: Brian Rafalski -- 4 (flu, stiff back. flu)
T13 :: Brad May -- 3 (right eye, lower body)
T13 :: Chris Osgood -- 3 (flu)
T15 :: Pavel Datsyuk -- 2 (upper body)
T15 :: Kirk Maltby -- 2 (flu)

As of February 9th, Andreas Lilja has missed the last ONE HUNDRED Red Wings games: regular season and playoff combined. 

Interestingly, ZERO players have missed only one game due to injury. There have been fives instances in which players missed only one game during a specific injury -- but they were either injured again later (or their one-game stint was after an earlier injury). You may notice a trend (also, Brian Rafalski, if you're reading this, stop licking Patrick Eaves when you've got the sniffles):
1. Brian Rafalski :: November 3rd, with the flu. He would later miss games due to a sore back (and the flu again).
2. Patrick Eaves :: November 7th, with a right foot injury. He would later miss games with a left ankle injury (and the flu, as well)
3. Brian Rafalski :: December 23rd, with the flu again.
4. Patrick Eaves :: December 31st, with the flu again.
5. Brad May :: January 2nd, with a lower body injury. He also missed time after taking a teammate's stick to the eye.

In 2008-09, the Detroit Red Wings amassed a total of 193 man-games lost due to injury. As of February 9th, the Wings have lost 279 man-games this season, and are on pace for a mind-boggling 393.

For what it's worth, losing 278 man-games is the equivalent of 4.8 regulars being out for every game so far this season, or playing all 82 games with 3.3 fewer players than you'd like. 

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Come onnnnn, free chicken!

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Since my pleading with Buffalo Wild Wings on TPL isn't working, I thought I'd give it a try here... 

Wings Wings Tuesday is a big deal 'round the Petrella household. If you're not familiar, every Tuesday, BW-3 (don't ask about the "three," it's a long, strange story) has "Wing Tuesday," offering their delicious chicken wings at  a deeply discounted price. Out here, in New York, they're 50 cents tonight (compared to 30 when I lived in Chicago... thanks, New York!). 

Anyway, every time there's a Wings game on a Tuesday, I make it a point to swing by Buffalo Wild Wings and pick up some Sweet Barbecue Wings, take them home (because they don't have Versus -- SHOCKER!) to watch the Wings with some wings. 

There have been FIVE Wings Wings Tuesdays so far this season. The Red Wings are 2-4. Last season, they were 13-3-1, so there's been a huge drop off on Wings Wings Tuesday. That's flat out not cutting it, Buffalo Wild Wings. Perhaps if I got some FREE wings, I'd be less inclined to blame you for the Tuesday struggles. It's not like that'd cost you a lot... I spend $12 in there every Tuesday. BFD.

Anyway, that got me thinking... which days of the week are the Wings playing their best hockey? Well... I crunched the numbers:

SUNDAY :: (1-1-1) :: .500
MONDAY :: (2-1-1) :: .625
TUESDAY :: (2-4-0) :: .333
WEDNESDAY :: (1-4-0) :: .200
THURSDAY :: (9-1-2) :: .833
FRIDAY :: (1-2-1) :: .375
SATURDAY :: (9-5-3) :: .618

NASTY! They're playing lights out on Thursday (for whatever reason), but TERRIBLE in the Tuesday/Wednesday games. They play tonight AND tomorrow. I'm confident they'll start to improve on those numbers...

Statistics and Awards after the jump...

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We tend not to make much mention about the actual broadcasts of Red Wings games around here, but a couple things came to mind.

During our live blog last night, someone noted that Fox Sports West was showing footage of a person in the rafters above Joe Louis Arena. Those who were watching Fox Sports Detroit's broadcast heard exactly nothing about it, but it became very obvious when the play was at the Wings end of the ice that almost an entire section was deserted, and not the "we're late getting out of the Olympia Club" deserted either.

According to a statement released by the Red Wings (but not on their website), three people got up to the fifth floor of the arena. One decided to climb onto a conduit rack (which is clearly not designed to support the weight of a person) and froze there until arena security and the Detroit Police Department could get them down.

While I understand (but don't necessarily agree with) the idea of not showing the fan on the local broadcast, there was no way to not notice an entire section of Joe Louis Arena almost empty, and it would've been nice to have some level of acknoledgement that there was something going on since it was so obvious to those watching it.

Then there's Mickey Redmond. Mickey falls under the category of "Lovable Legend" when it comes to broadcasting games, and I don't think anyone questions his love of the game. But two things last night were particularly irksome:

When talking about the situation involving Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi's comments on Red Berenson, the University of Michigan hockey head coach and collegiate coach of star defenseman Jack Johnson, Redmond was taking Lombardi to task when he added, "He shouldn't have even been talking to him." Him being Gann Matsuda, the writer on Frozen Royalty, a blog on the Kings. I took from that a shot at Matsuda, probably because he's not one from the "old media" group, and because Lombardi's initial defense was that Matsuda didn't understand the rules regarding whether the comment was on the record or not.

Then, during a moment in which Daniels was talking about players returning from the injured reserve list, Redmond dropped a bombshell: that Andreas Lilja (who has been out for almost a year now from a concussion) could come back next week. Ken Daniels seemed completely surprised when it was brought up. When we heard it during the game thread last night, there was some discussion as to whether Redmond misspoke, but that seemed unlikely because, as he was saying it, he used the telestrator to circle Lilja on the on-screen graphic.

The problem, however, is that Ken Holland told Ansar Kahn that wasn't true at all:

"Nothing has changed," Holland said. "I'm not aware of that (Redmond's comment). He (Lilja) has good days and bad days. Nobody has said anything to me that he's getting close."

I know people love Mickey Redmond, and he brings the very definition of both words when it comes to "color commentary." That being said, the first comment was the kind of thing that reminds me of how close to Don Cherry he can be: arrogant, "not the right way, meaning the old way," offputting. The second one was inexcusably wrong. I don't expect Redmond to know who Kirk Herbstriet is, but I'd suggest he take a moment or two to brush up on Herbstriet's 2007 Michigan coaching "reporting" before he decides to do that again.