Wings aim to extend West Coast Win Streak
Tonight when the Red Wings play the Edmonton Oilers they’ll be shooting for their fourth straight win on the left coast. The teams out west have gotten off to a slow start so it looks like Detroit was sent there at an opportune time. Ansar Khan from MLIVE reports that Johan Franzen and Dallas Drake will be added to the lineup.
Franzen will center the fourth line with Drake and Kopecky as Babcock wants to keep intact the No. 2 scoring line with Valtteri Filppula, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler.
If anyone is likely to be moved it would be Hudler. In past games he’s started off on the second line, but Tomas Kopecky has been inserted on the second line. This time around if Huds gets put on the fourth line I’d expect the Mule to play with Filppula and Samuelsson. In that scenario Kopy would center Hudler and Drake.
Mikael Samuelsson has made an impact since returning from injury. Over the last four games he’s been on the ice for 6 even-strength goals for and zero even-strength goals against. He was credited with the primary assist on Jiri Hudler’s game-winning goal in the game against Vancouver.
The second line has been solid over the past two games. Mike Babcock also gave the second power play unit more ice time than the top unit in the game on Sunday night. That might have been due to there being few minutes to divvy up, but Jiri Hudler - Valtteri Filppula - Dan Cleary were on the ice for 2:20, while the DZH line only got 1:40 of power play time. So that will be something to watch.
Henrik Zetterberg is starting to get some attention. Both James Mirtle and Eric Duhatschek wrote about his hot start this season. This is a good sign as it should help the team get some coverage in the metro Detroit area. Along those same lines ESPN’s EJ Hradek wrote this article where he discusses some of the keys to Detroit’s puck possession style of play.
More Mirtle! He reports over at the Globe and Mail that Peter Forsberg is going to participate in an international tournament for Sweden to show off the goods as far as the condition of his ankle and other assorted former (?) ailments.
Some quotes from Forsberg: “I’ve been practicing with Modo for a while and it’s been perfect. But it’s not the same thing as playing in a game.”
“To play with Tre Kronor, it’s perfect for me. It’s going be really fun to play against the best in Europe. And it’s a good test, to see how it works out for me in a game situation.”
“I don’t really know if the foot is all right yet. But this is a positive thing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t play.”
It’s good to see Foppa’s demonstrating to the Wings’ brass that he’s good to go so they can sign him to further bolster their second line. All kidding aside the reports I’ve read seem to indicate Philly and Colorado might be the front-runners when it comes to signing Forsberg. Well if the Avs sign him they better hope he can play goaltender. The Avs are amongst the worst teams when it comes to allowing even-strength goals. If they are serious about aquiring Forsberg they might want to also call Brian Burke and inquire about trading for Ilya Brizgalov too.
Speaking of goalies, some call it a goalie controversy - I call it having impressive depth. Chris Osgood was a bit of an afterthought when he signed with Detroit following stints on Long Island and in St. Louis. But just look at who is sitting near the top of many goaltending metrics: third in goal against average and third in wins. Ozzie is earning his contract right now by keeping the Red Wings afloat while Hasek gets healthy. There’s really no downside to having two goalies on your roster who’ve each won over 300 games. So ride Osgood right now and see where Hasek’s at when he is ready to practice.
Moving along to other ancient players, Legends of Hockey has an article on Terrible Ted Lindsay. The article includes Lindsay’s involvement in forming the NHLPA and is a good read.
Red Wings Central takes a look at how various prospects are developing. The biggest concern at this early point in the season is that Jan Mursak has gotten off to a slow start in Saginaw while former prospect Shawn Matthias - who was sent to Florida as part of the Todd Bertuzzi trade - is tearing it up. Matthias is a big boy at 6′3″ and is putting up similar numbers as uber-prospect John Tavares. It’s looking like the Wings might have come out on the wrong end of that trade but don’t expect Ken Holland to pull a Brian Burke and whine about Burke overpaying to sign Bert away from the Wings.
The Blackhawks have announced they’ll start showing home games in Chicago. It’s about freaking time. But let me get this straight: I’ll be able to finally watch Blackhawk home games but I won’t be able to watch Big Ten football games that are broadcast on the Big Ten Network? Jim Delaney, congrats on your decision to follow the Bill Wirtz marketing plan to grow exposure for your league. Let us know how that works for you.
Gameday Threads
Matt over at On the Wings has his gameday post up. Red Wings Central has their thread up as well. Here is the thread for Let’s Go Wings. No HF Boards thread just yet. Red Wings
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[…] I said at some point during the season that Chris Osgood’s journey back into the fold was an afterthought if we even gave it that much thought. And when he was signed to a contract extension most people seemed okay with the decision due entirely to the low dollar amount of the deal. Little did we know he’d end up backstopping the team to their 4th title in 11 years and the franchise’s 11th title overal. […]