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Leino Dealt to Flyers


Red Wings Leino handles puck against Capitals in Washington

“Fans are SO MUCH NICER in Philly…”

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Not even 24 hours after I posted what I believed to be reasonable and probable moves for the Red Wings over the next week, Ken Holland waves his magic wand and POOF! Ville Leino is a Flyer.

CBC’s Jeff Marek:

Detroit trades Ville Leino to Philadelphia for a 5th in 2011 and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen.

Leino obviously won’t be getting waived on Monday anymore…

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Tick Tock


Detroit Red Wings v Toronto Maple Leafs

Has “The Villain” seen his last action in a Wings sweater?

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Take one last good look, because after tomorrow’s matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, the Red Wings roster is going to start looking quite a bit different. With Johan Franzen primed for a return to the lineup on Tuesday in St. Louis, the Wings are going to have to part ways with at least one member of the current roster in order to free up about $700,000 in cap space to accommodate the Mule’s return.  Speculation has been rampant throughout the Wings blogosphere over the past week about who’s on their way out of Motown, and it may not just be one or two players. With Andreas Lilja working on regaining his form over in Grand Rapids, it’s all but certain he will find his way back onto the roster before the season is out. Add his salary back into the equation, and you’re looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.8 – $1.9 million in cap space that needs to be cleared.

By now, we are all intimately familiar with who is on the chopping block, but for those who may have been living under a rock for the last month, let me run through the names one more time:

The Usual Suspects

  • Ville Leino
  • Brad May
  • Brett Lebda
  • Derek Meech

Outside Chance

  • Kirk Maltby
  • Jason Williams

If They Go, I Go Too

  • Patrick Eaves
  • Drew Miller

Let’s start from the bottom up. Eaves and Miller have all but locked up extensions with the organization, and if either one moves, I’ll commit karakiri. Which brings us to Maltby and Williams. Maltby has been with the organization for far too long for them to ship him off, plus his contract is up at the end of the year, so he’s safe. Williams, on the other hand, is an interesting choice. I’ve mad no attempt to hide the fact that I think he should be offered up as trade bait since he provides the most opportunity to secure something in return, but for a team that is struggling to score points, I don’t think Babcock or Holland will be willing to part ways with one of their power play unit anchors. Despite the attractiveness of shedding his $1.5 million salary, Holland has already said he doesn’t want to carry eight defensemen for the rest of the season, which effectively rules this one out since they could dump Williams and May and have enough room to fit Franzen and Lilja back, but would still be left with a snowman of defenders.

Which leaves us with Leino, May, Lebda and Meech. Three of the four are on their way out and here’s how I think it will go down:

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Power Outage: Ducks 3, Red Wings 1


Detroit Red Wings v Anaheim Ducks

Most of you saw this a few times last night.

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Admittedly, I got to see exactly zero minutes of this game because of the awesome deal that the NHL has in place which blacks out games on Gamecenter Live if they are also being shown on NHL Network. It’s the epitome of frustration when you click on the “Watch Now” button, and it takes you to a screen that says to tune into NHL Network (another paid service.)

That should have been my first clue that things weren’t going to go well.

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Answering the Bell: Red Wings 4, Sharks 2


Detroit Red Wings v San Jose Sharks

“How many has Lebda scored lately, Ken?”

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I’ll admit that when I turned on the game just over halfway through the first period last night, I almost just as quickly turned it off. Down 2-0 in San Jose on the first stop in a three game Western trip did not sit well with me at all. Add to it that the better half wanted to tune in to the season premiere of Lost, and I almost caved.

But then something amazing happened.

Danny Cleary scored. Then the 5-on-3 appeared. 18 seconds later, Henrik Zetterberg tallied. Jimmah held it down in the second and Patrick Eaves and Derek Meech sealed it up.

Don’t call it a comeback.

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Making the Playoffs: A Numerical Odyssey


Detroit Red Wings v Calgary Flames

Let’s all use our heads and figure this thing out!

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If you are like me, you’ve probably been sitting in front of the computer the last two weeks anxiously watching the Western Conference standings after every completed night of hockey. The Red Wings have been lurking around that 8/9 cutoff spot for almost a month now, and it’s really starting to annoy you. Every time the Wings jump into the 8 spot, you rejoice and every time they fall back to 9, you’re heartbroken.

This is no way to live life. Seriously.

Rather, let me suggest you focus your energies on what the Wings need to do in order to lock up the playoff spot for themselves. Yes, much of this is dependent on what happens throughout the rest of the conference over the last 27 games, but I am pretty sure that if the Wings do the following things, we’ll see them in the playoffs come April.

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Fashionably Late: Penguins 2, Red Wings 1 (SO)


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Postgame Thoughts

Let’s start today with a quick history lesson:

Did you know that almost 100 years ago, the National Hockey Association decided that hockey games should be split into three 20 minute periods?

Would it surprise anyone that an informal poll of the Red Wings (and by informal poll we mean watching the first two periods of today’s game) shows that almost 100% of the team are not familiar with this concept?

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Closing Time: Red Wings 4, Predators 2


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Postgame Thoughts

Blegh. What a crap game.

If you’re feeling better about the Wings after the win over the Preds last night, good for you. I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about the win and happy about a couple of other things, but the negatives are outweighing the positives at this point. Let me call on the assistance of my trusty bullet points…

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Happy Trails: Abdelkader Back to GR


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In a move that should be a surprise to no one, Justin Abdelkader was officially sent back down to Grand Rapids today.

Detroit News:

The Red Wings sent forward Justin Abdelkader to Grand Rapids on Friday in anticipation of two player moves this weekend.

Like I said, no real surprise here. Abdelkader didn’t have to clear waivers to make the move, and with Jason Williams returning to the lineup tonight and now, presumably, Tomas Holmstrom making his return on Sunday in Pittsburgh, this was a no-brainer.

There were some making the case for Abdelkader to stay up with the team because of the physical presence he’s been bringing to the table (12th in the NHL in hits), but for a team that has grinding players already in the lineup and is struggling to score points, this move makes alot of sense. Although, I do have to admit that I liked his grit in trying to start a fight at the end of the Minnesota game in one last attempt to make his presence known before heading back to Grand Rapids. Ballsy.

Fear not, though, as Abdelkader can be re-added to the roster if the Wings decide to wake up and get themselves into the playoffs, since the cap and roster limits don’t figure in.

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Talkback Thursday


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Nothing worse than a slow day in Red Wing Land. While the Wings take the day off to rest, I figure I’ll do something similar today too.

Basically, I’m opening up the blog to you. Whether or not anyone participates in this is a whole different matter, but I’m putting it out there so do with it what you want.

Today’s question for reflection came to me because of all of the current debates that are raging around guys like Todd Bertuzzi and Chris Osgood. Some love them, some hate them, some want them gone and some want them to stay. It’s a house divided for sure. But what if we had the power to send one of them packing? Better yet, what if we had the power to send any one of the Red Wings packing?

So my question to you: If you had the ability to cut only ONE Wings player from the roster, who are you shipping out of town and why?

My answer? That guy up above who can’t score, fight or stay on his skates. Peace out Brad.

The floor is yours. Express yo’self in the comments.

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At Least We Didn’t Blow A Lead: Wild 5, Red Wings 2


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Postgame Thoughts

I’ve hit the point where I officially don’t even know how to open up these recaps anymore. I’ve exhausted all of my clever cliches. Anger hasn’t done the trick. Optimism hasn’t worked either. So I’ll stop trying to be witty and funny and just go with the straight truth:

We sucked.

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