Hockeytown, No Limits

KuklasKorner : The Malik Report : It’s not easy, for sure: St. James ponders Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstom’s fate
I'd hate to see Homer go...but is it time to move on?

Poll: Where would you want a new Detroit Red Wings arena to be built? | MLive.com
Walking distance from Comerica and Ford Field, please.

NHL13 Cover Vote Presented by BlackBerry
VOTE FOR PAVEL...AGAIN.

Around the NHL

Watch Kings, Coyotes in hostile handshake line after Dustin Penner sends LA to Stanley Cup Final (VIDEO) | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports
I hate the Coyotes. I hate Shane Doan. Suck it, Phoenix.

Twitter / TysonNash: Brown will be suspended for that without question!
From the guy who said the Raffi Torres hit was clean.

Blues GM Armstrong wants Russian prospect Tarasenko in St. Louis | ProHockeyTalk
Ugh. Do we really need another lazy Russian in the division?

2011-2012 Buffalo Sabres Report Cards: Ville Leino - Die By The Blade
Introduction: Ville Leino was a massive bust. That argument cannot be denied and it's not what this article will be about. The argument around Leino, I believe, is just how big a bust was he - can he improve on last season or is he simply a sunk cost at this point?

Ducks Sign Top Swedish Elite League Goaltender Fasth - Anaheim Calling
He's the poor man's Quick, he's just Fasth.

NHL Awards 2012: SB Nation Bloggers Select Norris Trophy Winner - SBNation.com
SB Nation's collection of hockey bloggers have teamed up to vote for the 2012 NHL Awards. Today, we reveal our selection for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top defenseman.

Let's Go Red Wings.

So the Rangers still can't take a two-game lead in a series and now face the possibility of yet another round going to seven games after losing last night to the Devils. Meanwhile, out west, we'll have a chance to see a trophy not get touched tonight.

Los Angeles Kings (8) vs. Phoenix Coyotes (3) - 9:00 NBCSN: The Coyotes were dragged from the precipice by their heroic captain and an army of journalists who like to write stupid stories about heroic captains winning games where his team is badly outshot and his goalie gets a shutout. Phoenix is going to have to do one better than that one tonight if they're going to keep their postseason alive. Los Angeles hasn't lost on the road yet and I'm not wholly convinced they're ever going to again. Was Sunday the last snarl of a dying dog or is there fight left in these 'Yotes? Can they stop Dwight King from scoring?

Five for Howling (Coyotes)
Jewels from the Crown (Kings)

Prediction for tonight: Phoenix loses.

Yesterday, we covered how the Detroit Red Wings' penalty kill fared during the regular season. Today, we're going to swing the special teams pendulum to the other side and gauge how the Red Wings did on the power play.

Percentage-wise, Detroit's power play hit at 16.1% for the year. The Red Wings' power play hasn't had a success rate this low since the 2006-07 squad's 17.1% rate (where they still scored 20 more goals on the power play than this year's team). Interestingly, both of those teams gave up the same number of shorthanded goals (11).

The percentage rank for the Wings put them in 22nd place leaguewide, which is the same position they would be in if you rated power play effectiveness by calculating how many minutes of power play time it took for each team to score one goal. Detroit scored one power play goal for every 10 minutes with the man advantage. For comparison, Nashville's league-leading squad took 7:25. Detroit would effectively waste an entire power play between the time the Predators scored and they did.

After the jump, we'll look at the power play effectiveness index and get into some of the individual numbers.

Continue reading this post »

Hockeytown, No Limits

KuklasKorner : The Malik Report : Kulfan: Red Wings GM Ken Holland offers a ‘save the date’ notification of Wings’ roster plans
"[The Red Wings are] never going to go after an unrestricted free agent as hard as they’re going to go after Zach Parise." Yes, please.

Red Wings not likely to have decisions on Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom before June | MLive.com
Well I think we all know what Stuart is doing. We wait for the rest.

KuklasKorner : The Malik Report : Now that’s a leak: have the Red Wings hired an architect to design Joe Louis Arena’s follow-on rink?
If I had to guess, I'd say Yzerman Arena should open up in time for the 2014 season.

Around the NHL

New Jersey Devils Dominate Early & Tie Up Series in 4-1 Win Over the New York Rangers - In Lou We Trust
The Devils are only winning to screw over all the teams that want Parise this offseason.

2012 NHL Playoffs: Devils Defeat Rangers In Chippy Game Four - Blueshirt Banter
Your Rangers perspective.

LA Kings Infographic - Los Angeles Kings | News
This is freakin' awesome.

Columnist wonders if Radulov would follow Roy to Montreal | ProHockeyTalk
Only if Montreal somehow ended up being relocated to Russia...or a bar.

Let's Go Red Wings.

The Coyotes are still alive because Shane Doan heroically stopped all 36 of Los Angeles' shots on goal and scored thanks to things which were beyond his control. What a leader.

New York Rangers (1) vs. New Jersey Devils (6) - 8:00 NBCSN: Out East, we've got a series, as the Rangers keep doing that thing they do where they win odd-numbered games (game 5 and 6 of the Ottawa series have been the only exception so far). The Devils will have to do pretty much the same thing they did in response to their Game 1 loss, since that's exactly what the Game 3 loss looked like. Despite what the box score tells you about Game 3, that was a fun game to watch. Hopefully they can match that excitement tonight.

Blueshirt Banter (Rangers)
In Lou We Trust (Devils)

In Brandon we don't Prust (because he's suspended for tonight after elbowing Anton Volchenkov in the head).

Tonight's prediction: pun wars.

The Detroit Red Wings' season ended in a disappointing fashion as a team that looked like all of its players weren't on the same page was picked apart by a Nashville team which wasn't suffering the same affliction (yet). While the Wings' PK in the playoffs wasn't part of the problem, one could argue their regular season kill was partly responsible for their disappointing seeding and, be extension, their early exit from the playoffs.

Today, we're going to look at how the Red Wings compared to the rest of the pack and to past Detroit teams in the PK to see just how bad it was.

First off, the Red Wings' PK during the regular season succeeded 81.8% of the time, good for 18th place among the NHL this season in that ranking. This is the worst the Red Wings have killed penalties since the 2008-09 season, when they finished 25th. Let's go a bit more into context there.

Continue reading this post »

Hockeytown, No Limits

Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk has goal, two assists as Russia wins gold medal at World Championships | MLive.com
Pavel is the best.

KuklasKorner : The Malik Report : Red Wings at the Worlds, medal round: Pavel Datsyuk’s Russians steamroll Slovakia
More Worlds coverage thanks to George.

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Goalie Never Stops Dancing - YouTube
The Wings should sign this kid as their backup next season.

Around the NHL

Shane Doan saves Coyotes in Game 4, not worried about Kings’ road streak | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports
Juste retarder le déménagement inévitable de la ville de Québec!

Kings Gameday: Kings 101 - Battle of California
Everything you need to know about the San Angeles Kings, from Anze Kopodor to Rod Scoodairy.

2012 NHL Playoffs: Brandon Prust Gets 1-Game Suspension For Elbowing - Blueshirt Banter
Well-deserved.

Avalanche Final Grade 2012: Kyle Quincey - Mile High Hockey
MHH tends to give Quincey an F because he got traded to Detroit, because that's a great reason.

Could The Jackets Do Business In Beantown? - The Cannon
According to Jeff Rimmer, the Bruins are very interested in acquiring Rick Nash for next season. The Cannon takes a look at some pieces that could be on the move.

Down Goes Brown: Each side's major sticking points in the upcoming CBA negotiations
What you need to know how the upcoming lockout.

Let's Go Red Wings.