You made it.
Your patient waiting for the end of July, August, and September has been leading up to this week. The excitement to see the new guys step out for the Winged Wheel will get its payoff on Friday.
Hockey season is here. Let’s take a look at the upcoming week in Wings’ land:
Monday – Waiver Wire & WIIM Radio!
We’ll be recording a new episode of WIIM Radio on Monday Night to release later in the week. We’ll have an open post up for questions then, so be ready for that.
Otherwise, Monday at noon is the last waiver deadline before the roster deadline hits, so if a player isn’t on waivers by midday, assume that guy’s staying with the club.
Tuesday – Roster Deadline
The 23-man roster has to be set by 5pm EST on Tuesday. This is when players who clear waivers at noon will be assigned, other players who are waiver-exempt will be assigned, and players not ready to go yet will go on injured reserve.
This is also the deadline for being cap compliant. Datsyuk’s trip to LTIR will give them all the space they need to be within compliance, but sooner or later, Detroit will have to clear a bit to ice the roster.
Wednesday – The Season Officially Starts
Four games kick off the meaningful NHL schedule at midweek. NBCSN has hitched their wagon to the vaunted Blackhawks/Rangers rivalry that we’ve heard so much about in recent seasons. Those two teams drop the puck at 8pm. If you’re looking for a meaningful game involving division rivals, you can tune into Montreal vs. Toronto at 7pm. Later on, if you’re still on the edge of your seat from the heated vitriol-fueled ragefest that is the Hawks/Rags rivalry night game, you can stay up late to watch one of two west-coast games!
Thursday – Everything is Boring, Get to the Red Wings Already!
There are seven games on the NHL calendar for Thursday, including WPG-BOS, OTT-BUF, and PHI-TBL. I’ll probably watch all three of those at the same time just to kill time waiting for a game I care about to roll around on Friday.
Friday – ZOMG RED WINGS HOCKEY IS HERE!!!!1!1!ONE!
Detroit opens their season at home against a team there’s a good chance they’ll be ahead of in the standings already. Toronto comes to town for a 7:30 showdown. FS-D will have that broadcast. I’ll be interested to see how the crowd handles player introductions. There was some booing last season of particular players.
Also there’s some crap about how one of Toronto’s coaches used to be with Detroit. I guess if they want to honor Jim Hiller, they can. Whatever.
Saturday – MOAR RED WINGS HOCKEY
Immediately after doing hockey stuff to the Maple Leafs on Friday, the Wings will have to board a plane to Carolina in preparation for Saturday night’s game against the Hurricanes. That game goes down at 7pm on FS-D.
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Stay tuned to WIIM for Red Wings news & updates as we get ready to kick off the 2015-16 NHL season. Thanks and LGRW!
