"I Love My Life" (Wings 4, Blue Jackets 0)

Okay, it's probably a little early for the "I love my life" sentiment - but I saw a fan yesterday at the Joe proudly carting around exactly that on a sign and I had to admit, I was pretty much feeling it after watching that game.

Yesterday night the Wings took a 2-0 lead in the series, posting a 4-0 shutout victory against the Blue Jackets in a phenomenal game that will hopefully really set the tone for the rest of this series.

The good:

• Chris Osgood, once again looked great. He didn't steal the show quite the way he did in the first period of Thursday's game and he wasn't tested quite as much, but he still made a few fantastic saves - and more importantly made every save he needed to, earning his 14th playoff shutout. Osgood's SV%, which settled in at a seriously questionable .887 through the regular season, sits through these two games at an unreal .978, and he's sitting at 88 minutes of shutout time.

The crowd once again cheered on Ozzie's rising to the occasion - my throat hurts from chanting "OZ-ZIE OZ-ZIE!" so much!

• The team is firing on all cylinders right now - 11 players picked up a point in yesterday's game, and the Wings' 8 playoff goals so far have come from 7 different players (congrats to Jiri Hudler for being the one with two). The stars have done their parts, and so have the third-liners. Everyone on this team is hungry and it shows. The Wings are simply outclassing the Blue Jackets. It's a strong statement, but the series so far is giving a lot of backing to John Grigg of THN's comment on the matchup: "Mason did all he could, but Detroit is just too good. Any of the Wings’ top-nine forwards could play on the Jackets’ top line and there may not be a Blue Jacket blueliner who could make the Red Wings. It’s that simple." I hope so.

The Bad:

• Columbus will come out harder and even more desperate in Game 3 on home ice - but does anybody think the Wings can't shut them down right now?

The Ugly:

• With 8:39 left in Game 2 and the Wings up 4-0, Antoine Vermette, whose play has been less than stellar in the series so far, took issue with Pavel Datsyuk and responded by hammering him into the ice from behind and then effectively climbing on top of him. A dirty play by a frustrated player, and the sort of thing the Wings are going to have to watch out for - the Blue Jackets ended the night with 34 minutes spent in the box. However on the bright side, the Jackets haven't yet acted out too poorly thanks to frustration; things could be much worse - and the encounter spawned one of the greatest Datsyuk quotes yet: "He just used me like pony," Datsyuk said. "He was on top of me. I don't like being the pony. I want to be on top."

The WTF?:

• Maybe he thought it was his team's only hope (a legitimate concern), but someone should probably tell Jakub Voracek that you're only allowed to have one stick at a time...

That's all I got - Game 3, hopefully another dominate performance from the Wings, is Tuesday night in Columbus. GO WINGS! (Sidenote, the Griffins are up on the Hamilton Bulldogs two games to zero as well!)

Gotta Want it to Win it (Wings 4, Jackets 1)

Okay, Hockeytown, time to relax. Your worst fears have been assuaged - this team is as hungry as ever. Your Red Wings want to repeat and have no intentions of settling for mediocrity. Nevermind what parts of this season looked like - the boys have turned it back on. Granted, it has to stay that way, but nobody can complain about the effort we saw last night at the Joe, and if they keep up that kind of energy, it's going to be a great trip through the playoffs.

Of course it didn't start out that way. In the first twenty minutes the Wings not only started off a bit flat, but also spent a tremendously frustrating amount of time in the penalty box, allowing the Blue Jackets a number of nice scoring chances. Lucky for them, however, at least one Wing had his head firmly in the game - Chris Osgood quickly stole the show, played with a swagger that suggested he at least had definitely turned it on for the playoffs. When Osgood's name was announced in the starting roster, the packed Joe Louis chanted the first round of "Oz-zie! Oz-zie!" - but it was tentative, hopeful but also nervous. Not so after the flurry of diving, sprawling saves he made to hold the score 0-0 after the first period.

Despite their success early on, the Blue Jackets, playing their first Game 1 ever, looked lost out on the ice for much of the game. Rookie goalie sensation Steve Mason couldn't save them from the swarming Red Wings once the team turned it on, and Osgood stole his Hot Goalie show, backstopping the Wings to a 4-1 victory. Osgood had some words to say about his performance in both this game and the regular season:

“I don’t doubt myself ever,” Osgood said. “People that don’t know me do. I’ve played for 15 years. I have the most wins in Red Wings playoff history for a reason, not because I’m a bad goalie.”

Exactly the sort of swagger you want to hear from your number one this time of year.

Osgood wasn't the only story of the game, of course. Rookie and NPI favorite Jonathan Ericsson scored the game winner (although it was the Jackets' Manny Malhotra who effectively put it behind Mason), his first career playoff goal. The Wings' third line of Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, and Mikael Samuelsson was huge - Hudler had a goal and two assists, while Filppula notched two assists of his own.

The other Wings goals came from Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen, while Columbus' was scored by RJ Umberger.

If the Wings can keep up the pace they set in Game 1, the series could be over quicker than expected - the playoffs are here, and the boys know it:

"It's been hard to find excitement before the games," Franzen said, alluding to the Wings' 2-5-1 record over their final eight games. "We were really looking forward to this playoff start. You feel it in your body. Your legs get a lot faster. Everything's more exciting."

As infinitely frustrating as it is to watch your team flounder, looking disinterested and bored, it makes it that more invigorating to see them like they played last night. Hopefully they can keep it up as the playoffs progress, but for now, the goal is to pick up another victory tomorrow night, Game 2 at the Joe. GO WINGS.

(Besides, when the opposition is already accusing you of cheating, you know you're doing something right.)

Go Big or Go Home. Playoff Preview: Detroit vs. Columbus

It's official - playoffs are here. And I'm going to suck it up, stop being a terrible blogger who hasn't posted a single thing since December 10th, and get back into the grind, because now things are serious. Forget this 'work' nonsense that's been consuming my life, forget the constant driving down to the Joe (I've gone to 20 Wings games [and 1 Capitals game!] this season, including the Winter Classic, and posted about exactly zero of them), forget the desperate attempts to have a life outside of NHL Center Ice on my TV - the playoffs are here.

Yesterday night the playoff schedule hit the internet - although we already knew the Detroit Red Wings would start the post-season off against familiar Central Division foe, the Columbus Blue Jackets...so here we go.

Keys to Winning:

First and foremost the Wings have to play like they care. The team this season has an uncanny ability to turn it off as easily as they can turn it on. It's no secret that the Wings have a huge lineup of devastating forwards - Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Marian Hossa, Johan Franzen, and on down the line. Unfortunately if the team decides to play lackluster hockey (see: Sunday's game against the Blackhawks) all the offense in the world can't save them. The talent levels are there (can you think of anyone on the Blue Jackets you really want to compare to the Wings top line talent?), but they have to want it to win it, and you know the Blue Jackets, making their first post-season appearance ever, want it. Equally important, the Wings have got to take this series seriously. Yes it's the Blue Jackets, yes again, and no it might not be a team that inspires fear in its opponents...but the last time the Wings blew them off they lost 8-2 at home.

Another huge, possibly the hugest, part of this series is going to be goaltending. The Red Wings' Chris Osgood, who took over the starting role from Dominik Hasek around this time last season, has strugging mightily this season, looking shaky at best. Meanwhile the Columbus Blue Jackets are riding rookie sensation Steve Mason and his 10 shutouts, .916 SV%. Looks pretty impressive standing next to Ozzie's 2, .887. Wings fans can hope for three things, however - first of all, that Ozzie gets it together. His game against the Predators last week, despite ending in a loss, was one of his best games all season long, and he has plenty of playoff experience. Second, that the Wings offense steps it up enough to solve Mason (the Blue Jackets have three 20 goal scorers, the Wings have five) and the defense, which has also faultered this year, can protect Osgood a little better. Third, the playoff-inexperienced Mason chokes under the pressure. Come on Wings, let's teach them that there's only one "Stevie Franchise".

Finally, the Wings are going to have to solve Rick Nash. The guy has two hat tricks against the Wings already this season and whether it be luck or skill, Nash has got our number. It's got to stop right now, or we're going to be in for a long summer.

Schedule:

Thursday, April 16		at Detroit, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
Saturday, April 18		at Detroit, 6:00 p.m.	TSN
Tuesday, April 21		at Columbus, 7:00 p.m.	TSN
Thursday, April 23		at Columbus, 7:00 p.m.	TSN
*Saturday, April 25		at Detroit, 7:00 p.m.	VERSUS, TSN
*Monday, April 27		at Columbus, TBD	TSN
*Wednesday, April 29		at Detroit, TBD	VERSUS, TSN

Around the Web:

The usual Detroit culprits can be found at:

• Winging it in Motown
  
• On the Wings
• Gorilla Crouch
• Abel to Yzerman
• Hockeytown Blog
  

And if you're into the Blue Jackets, or just want to read about the competition, check out:

• Bethany's Hockey Rants
• The Neutral Zone Trap
• Carry the Flag
• Puck-rakers
  

If you blog for either team and would like to be added to the list please feel free to let me know!
Last and probably least:

Dammit, Red Wings, if for no other reason please, please knock the Blue Jackets out fast so we won't have to deal with any more of this Ohioan rivalry nonsense - the Wings are NOT U of M and the Jackets are certainly no OSU. Stop the crossover! Stop it now! Please!

Plus, as my mother points out, the Wings should be well rested for this series - they haven't really played in about a week. Wings in 6, GO DETROIT!

In the past few days...

1. Wings' Czech madman goaltender Dominik Hasek has retired (for real this time):

"I know it's 100 percent the right time to say good-bye," Hasek said. "Physically, I feel great. It's all about passion and motivation. I just don't feel I'm ready to compete at the highest level. I don't want to disappoint anyone."

Say what you will about Hasek (and there's plenty to say), but his contributions to the Wings and to the position of goaltender itself, cannot be discounted. While his play did drop off this season, he still backstopped the team in part to the victory we've all been basking in. He combined with Osgood for the lowest GAA in the league even without looking as strong as he has in the past. And don't forget last year when he was the legitimate #1 and helped take the team to the Western Conference Finals. Dom even handled himself incredibly gracefully despite the disappointment of losing his job to Chris Osgood in the playoffs - which, don't lie, we didn't all expect. At any rate, I wouldn't have minded him sticking around another year if he'd decided to, but this is a good decision for him. The Dominator always wanted to be number one, and what better way to go out but on top, with another Cup-winning season as your last memories in the NHL.



2. Stanley Cup winning coach Mike Babcock has signed a contract to be back for three years. Babcock is the first coach to win 50 or more games each year for his first three with a team - and now he will have the chance to do it for three more. The Wings announced yesterday that Babcock signed a deal worth $1.5 million a season and loaded with bonuses, which makes him one of the highest paid coaches in the league - as well he should be.

Babcock is a Jack Adams finalist this season, and for good reason. Of course he has an amazing team to work with, but his coaching style itself is an absolutely huge part of the Wings' success. Says Ken Holland:

"I think Mike has been the perfect fit for our team. He's pushed our team to be harder, go to the harder areas. He's challenged our team to play harder every night and I think our team for the most part every night plays hard. A large portion of that credit goes to Mike.''

Very true. He knows when to push the team, when to back off, when to take them to resorts in Pittsburgh, and he seems to have maintained a good relationship with them on top of it. Every time you hear the players talk about Babcock it feels like genuine respect - and that's one of the most important things for a coach. And the man has a record, these past three years, of 162-56-28. 162-56-28! I for one am thrilled that he'll be back for another three years, looking to tie Scotty Bowman as the only coach to record four straight 50-win seasons. Here's to you, coach - I for one am hoping he can take it to six.

Plus, he has absolutely perfect hair.



3. (And the most important) Nick Lidstrom and Chris Osgood are bringing sexy (and Stanley) back:

Justin would be proud, boys (and how cute is Nicky Lidstrom singing "We're bringing sexy back"? Oh so very.)

It's that time again...

Everyone (including me!) is on vacation this weekend - even those players who nabbed themselves a spot at the All Star game don't exactly sound like they're headed off to be on the job doing slaving away. Case in point (I was just going to embed this video, but blogger is a whole lot of four letter words I don't feel have any place in this post right now, so I had to link it instead).

Red Wing goalie Chris Osgood interviews former Wings-now Blue Manny Legace. Sounds like those two are certainly excited to be back on the ice playing with each other. Here's to hoping they can get that under 10 goals mark they're aiming for!

The All-Star festivities are just beginning - I'll either be playing host to a bunch of friends bereft of both VS and the NHL Network, or out bar-hopping with them until we find a place that will serve us both Molson and the current most reasonable facsimile to hockey, so I won't be around to liveblog until (possibly) tomorrow, but both the ladies at both Scarlett Ice and Interchangeable Parts have promised a riveting evening of exactly thus, so swing by, I will be!

Speaking of vacations...

The Wings sent Niklas Kronwall out to the Detroit Auto Show with a mic and have been putting up videos of him perusing the cars, talking to people, and whatnot. This last segment, however, has him running into former Wing, and one of my all-time favorites, Jiri Fischer:

The interview is interesting (boys and their motor vehicles...) but my favorite part is how happy they seem to be to see each other. I just love the way the whole organization has treated Fischy, and how happy he always is to still have a niche to fit in here. Looks like they had fun!

Last but not least, we here at NPI hope everyone has a great All Star weekend, and of course...

GO WEST!
(Don't tell Elly...)

Things that make me happy.

The Red Wings losing their past two games to Minnesota and Ottawa do not make this list, and thus will only be given a cursory mention - I missed both games TOCing Bronco hockey (don't ask about the miserable losses), though I did record the Ottawa game and do intend to watch it eventually, but you can read all about at On the Wings, where Matt did a great job recapping it.

The Wings take on the Atlanta Thrashers tonight and I will probably miss the majority of it as well - but I'm hopeful that it will be the end of this marginal losing streak.

Meanwhile, the NHL makes me happy. Why?

• Chris Osgood still looks like he's still twenty because of Noxzema.

• Steve Schrader suggests things like that the Wings could "spark some interest in their stars" by "offer[ing] to help fans assemble their stuff from Ikea." Henrik Zetterberg can put together my oversized leaf canopy any day.
  

• Andrew Raycroft doesn't want to watch the Leafs suck either:
• 
  

• Ty Conklin is now 10-0-1 with .949 sv% and a 1.72 gaa. What on earth is going on? (Also I am famous on the Pensblog, but I think my sign pales in comparison to this beauty in the center. I kind of wish I'd come up with that.) Yahoo suggests, "If Conklin continues to play this well, look for him to remain the Penguins' starting goaltender even after Marc-Andre Fleury returns from his high ankle sprain." I can hear Elly wailing from here. Conklin is also the deciding factor in my move from dead last to 8th of 12 in the IPB fantasy league. Seriously. He did more than Vinny Lecavalier. I don't get it either.
  

• The Oilers are winning! Perhaps it can be attributed to Ales Hemsky's recent dental decision - I don't know, I sort of liked the toothless look, and I still miss his curls, but you know what? This I can live with.

• I can skate backwards (okay this has nothing to do with the NHL but I just succeeded today, leave me alone)!

All in all, hockey is good, isn't it?

"Andreas Lilja's had a strong game, I think..." (Wings 4, Sharks 2)

Wings 4, Sharks 2

Edit 7:22AM Sat.: I'm not sure how I forgot this the other day, but I think the most important thing to be gleaned from this game is that I never need to hear "Joe Thornton's going to feed him a juicy one from back there" ever ever again.

Sorry this is late - I was iffy on staying up for the game at all since I had a monster Japanese test this morning, and even after I decided I would I was stymied by my computer overheating midway through the second and wrecking all my game notes to that point. And because of that, sorry if this is a little choppy - if I miss anything, Chisty (here at Winging it in Motown) and Matt (here at On the Wings) have my back, I'm sure.

We were told at the beginning of the game that despite the buzz about injuries to Nick Lidstrom (ribs) and Henrik Zetterberg (hip flexor), both would be playing - good news for us, especially since Zetterberg went on to continue his point streak at 8 games - a career best for him.

The first period was frustrating, and looked a bit bleak, with a penalty right off the bat leading to Mike Grier scoring the first goal and giving the Sharks their only lead of the night. The penalties continued and the wings spent 6 minutes on the PK in the first period, but the worst penalty-related issue of the game was the non-call on Kyle McLaren and his dumb yellow visor, who rode Dallas Drake into the boards before he even touched the puck. Drake immediately left the ice and was taken to the dressing room at the end of the game. He didn't return, and will be tested today to see just what the extent of he injury is. McLaren made his presence known again later in a fight with Aaron Downey, who's quickly becoming popular in Detroit. The announcers commented that it was nice to see him take his helmet off to make it a fair fight - something we've been seeing a bit too little of lately. Downey ends up shirtless in the penalty box (hmm, I don't think "Aaron Downey shirtless" is going to garner too may google hits yet...but I'll restate it just the same), and we're treated to an example of just how easily the new RBK jerseys do indeed tear. We're informed that "The Wings do carry an extra set of jerseys on the road...we think." Well they did - apparently they learned from Ottawa's mistake.

It was a good night for Red Wings defense, with Nik Kronwall notching his first goal of the season to tie the game at one, Brian Rafalski picking up three assists on the evening, and Andreas Lilja even playing well - maybe he's heard the buzz about his actions as of late, because he certainly showed up, making two great shot-blocking plays and later on taking a really good penalty. Related to defense, Chris Osgood continues to look phenomenal - he looked extremely confident, coming far out of the net to play the puck a number of times, and stopped 23 of 25 shots including a few stand-out saves yet again, and has looked better thus far than Dominik Hasek, who is a notoriously slow starter and will hopefully pick his form back up soon.

The top line of Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Holmstrom continued its dominance, being responsible for two goals, the second and fourth. Their combined numbers this season? 13G, 19A and a +/- of 17. The third line also looked strong last night, despite Draper's goal streak coming to an end, but the second line - the Money Line, though I haven't heard them called that lately, of Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, and Tomas Kopecky needs to step it up. Filppula was projected to have a great season this year, but so far hasn't put any points up - as mentioned by the announcers (complete with a nice little squiggly line graph of just where his shooting lanes were), he needs to stop looking for the pass and shoot the puck more. Maybe he needs to have a chat with Ales Hemsky? He did get a really nice chance, but the goalpost denied him. "What does this kid have to do," the announcers asked, "to pick up a goal?" You and me both. The other goal came from the unlikely source of Matt Ellis, who captained the Grand Rapids Griffins this year (Kopy gave a nice interview on how Ellis used to yell at him and Hudler for playing ping-pong in the locker room before games). It was his first NHL goal, and Hudler scooped the puck out of the net for him to keep - no hard ping-pong feelings, I suppose.

Overall the game was good, despite the sketchy first period - both teams looked good, there was a substantial amount of scoring, some nice plays, and a fair share of scrums and pileups, and it ws great to see the Wings dominance of the Sharks continue past last season's playoffs.

The next game is against Phoenix Saturday evening at 10:00 PM. It's Homecoming weekend at Western and I have to work hockey tonight, football tomorrow afternoon, and volleyball in the evening, so I might not get a chance to see most of it. As always, BtJ, On the Wings, and Gorilla Crouch will have any news I can't get to. Tracy of True Coyote Love will be covering the game from the other side of the pond - hey Tracy, we're coming for you!

Around the League...

• The nhl.tv feature has been an interesting new addition to all the teams' websites, even if it's very hit or miss. (CapsChick has a great preview of highlights and lowlights). Of course I checked out the Wings' and more specifically the video highlights of practice the day of Henrik Zetterberg's (who does, all you google searchers, appear shirtless along with Nick Lidstrom - come on guys I'm just trying to get you to try for things that aren't "Rod Brind'Amour's girlfriend") birthday. Kris Draper nailing him with shaving cream is great, but the best part of the video in my opinion comes from the follow exchange between Chris Osgood and Kirk Maltby:
• Osgood: It's Hank's birthday? Pav and Hank? Pav's going to dance for Hank 'cause they're in love.
  
• Maltby: Well if one celebrates, the other's gonna - they're the Eurotwins!
• Osgood: Pav and Hank are going to dance to Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Does your backup reference Bonnie Tyler in casual conversation?

• So I know there was a big (and rightfully so) hullabaloo about just how amazing it was that Kevin Weekes felt the need to include porno music on his website (why does his guy have a website?) when it was first discovered, but now I'd like to invite you all to check out the man's new pads. Um. What? Seriously?
  

• And speaking of players with their own website, Zetterberg's store is now open, full of lots of expensive black clothes, red T-shirts and sweatshirts, and free posters bearing intense photos of the guy. But someone tell me, where's my I (heart) Hank shirt?

• Elly's going to be away for the weekend yet again. She told me to mention "a different" Penguin. I'm working on it.