Sopel signs with Chicago

The big news of the day for Wings fans is that Brent Sopel has signed with Chicago for an alleged $1.5 million. He has been trying out with the team since training camp and even travelled to Toronto today to play in tonight's game. However, he was held out of the lineup leaving the Wings with only five defenseman because he had signed this deal with Chicago seemingly out of the blue.

Sopel signed his one year contract with Chicago after turning down an offer by Detroit. Now that Sopel is out of the race for the remaining defensive spot on the Wings roster and with Kyle Quincey breaking his hand, it looks like Derek Meech has won the roster spot. Had he not made the team, he would've had to pass waivers to get back to Grand Rapids and he would have been picked off.

Wings vs. Maple Leafs game recap
The Wings lost tonight against Toronto in their second to last preseason game, 6-4. They will face the Maple Leafs again tomorrow evening, but this time at the Joe. One thing that really stands out after glancing at the official boxscore is the number of times defenseman Niklas Kronwall is on the scoresheet- one goal and two assists. For someone who doesn't score much at all, that sounds like a great game for Kronner. Center Kris Draper scored two goals while Dallas Drake notched two assists in the loss.

It looks like the Wings got into penalty trouble tonight with twice as many penalties as Toronto (12 penalties to Toronto's six). Goaltending prospect Jimmy Howard played the entire game with Chris Osgood as backup. He allowed six goals on 31 shots.