The second Monday of every October, we, the United States of America (the greatest country in the world…hi Graham!), celebrate Columbus Day. A national holiday to celebrate Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas. Well this year, the third Friday of October 2011, the members of Hockeytown (No Limits), will be celebrate Columbus Day 2.0. A new holiday for Wings fans to celebrate the destruction of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A win tonight by the Red Wings would give them a start to the season that hasn’t occurred in a long, long time (see bullets after the jump). Not only would Detroit be having a historic start to the season, but a loss for the BJs would give them an historic start to their season too. In the 2001-02 season, Columbus began the year without a win through their first six games. The Jackets started that year 0-2-4 (W-L-T). Their worst start to a season ever, before this year. Currently, they’re 0-5-1. A loss tonight would make them winless through their first seven games.
What’s that playoff slogan the NHL has been using lately? History will be made? Well, why wait until the playoffs to make history? Christopher Columbus made history when he discovered America. The Red Wings and Blue Jackets will make history tonight.
The Cannon is your SBNation Blue Jackets’ blog.
Puck drop is just after 7:30p ET
The Expected Lineup
Henrik Zetterberg — Pavel Datsyuk — Danny Cleary
Jiri Hudler — Valtteri Filppula — Johan Franzen
Justin Abdelkader — Darren Helm — Todd Bertuzzi
Tomas Holmstrom — Cory Emmerton — Drew Miller
Jakub Kindl — Jonathan Ericsson
Jimmy Howard (starting)
Scratches: Two of the five guys listed will be scratched tonight. I personally believe tonight will be the Red Wing debut of #76. With the team playing back-to-back nights, we know Homer will be scratched either tonight or tomorrow. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Eaves, Emmerton, Brunnstrom will be your 4th line tonight and Homer, Emmerton, Miller will round out the lineup tomorrow in Washington. We’ll find out later if you guys can start calling me Nostradamus. UPDATE: I am not Nostadamus. In fact, I am the exact opposite. Patrick Eaves and Fabian Brunnstrom will be your healthy scratches for tonight. Andrew Miller (as SBNation apparently refers to him as) and Homer will be in the lineup.
Injuries: Mike Commodore (knee) and Jan Mursak (ankle)
Suspensions: The one and only, Brendan Smith (careless headshot)
| BLUE JACKETS | HOW THEY MATCH UP | RED WINGS |
| 2.0 (25th) | Goals Per Game | 3.3 (5th) |
| 3.2 (23rd) | Goals Against Per Game | 1.3 (1st) |
| 6.7% (27th) | Power Play % | 5.3% (29th) |
| 76.2% (25th) | Penalty Kill % | 81.8% (20th) |
| Prospal (3 goals) | Goal Leader | 3 tied with 2 goals |
| Nash (6 points) | Points Leader | 2 tied with 4 points |
- The Red Wings are 45-11-1-6 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Blue Jackets. Detroit’s winning percentage vs the Jackets is .770. It’s the second highest winning percentage against a single team in franchise history (The highest is an .806 winning percentage against Tampa).
- The last time the Wings started a season with five consecutive wins was the 1972-73 season (They began the year 6-0-0). In the 1997-98 season the Wings started 5-0-1, but the fourth game of the year was a 4-4 tie with Calgary. Remember the days when games weren’t decided by a skills competition?
- Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen, Detroit’s leading scorers, are tied for 75th overall in league scoring, yet the Wings are undefeated. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what we call depth.
Prediction: The Blue Jackets fail to get their first win and the Red Wings remain undefeated for a clash of the titans tomorrow in the nation’s capital. Final score is 4-1 and Pavel Datsyuk is your player of the game.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
