Sweet Sixteen (Numerical Odyssey Edition!)

The march (get it? MARCH) continues…

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With the real March Madness (not the Red Wings imposed madness) right around the corner, we’ll be one of the first on the block to start digging out the incessant NCAA tourney references, even if it’s on a hockey blog. As all of you probably already know, the Wings hit the ice to take on the Wild tonight, which will officially kick off the final 16 games of their ‘09-’10 regular season campaign. With all eyes on the Wings, the question that continues to cost us sleep and beat us over the head is whether or not the Wings will get it done and make the playoffs.Everyone has an opinion, and one of the more interesting ones comes from the Detroit News’ Dana Wakiji, who believes that a soft closing schedule will ultimately propel the Wings into the postseason.

A sampling:

Here’s how I think they’ll fare in their final 16 games:

Thursday vs. Wild: If the Wings can’t beat a team that managed just 11 shots against the Panthers, they’re in worse trouble than we thought. Win.

March 22 vs. Penguins: It’s the grudge match. Win.

March 24 vs. Blues: The Wings have had problems with the Blues this year. Win.

March 30 vs. Oilers: This is a must-win. Win.

April 1 vs. Blue Jackets: This is another of the league’s worst teams, so another must-win. Win.

That makes 12 wins in the final 16 games. It should be more than enough to get the Wings in the playoffs.

How do I put this nicely….

WTF?!?!?!?

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Tags: Playoff Push

Let It Burn: Flames 4, Red Wings 2

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Wings getting hot…

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Before I dive into the scene around the Red Wings right now, I want to take a second and mention something that has forced myself and probably everyone else here at the Fanball network to take a step back and put things into perspective. We received notice yesterday that Sean White from the Tampa Bay Lightning blog Bolts On Ice passed away last week. While I didn’t know Sean personally and didn’t really have much correspondence with him, anytime you lose someone from within a community – especially someone so young (29 years old) – it’s cause enough to stop and be thankful for all of the good things that do exist in each of our lives. Yes, we are a passionate group when it comes to hockey, and yes, there is no doubting the emotional connections to our team, but seeing another member of the community go at such a young age is nothing short of a reality check when it comes to one’s priorities in life. I ask that you keep Sean’s family in your prayers as they cope with such an unfortunate loss.

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Tags: Calgary Flames, Dan Cleary, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Valtteri Filppula

The Chase: Drew Miller

We still love you, Drew…even if we sometimes wish you were Ryan.

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If you follow this blog, you know I’m constantly trying to figure out exactly how many points it will take to get the Wings into the playoffs and off of the stress train. This year, I’ve been putting all of my eggs in the James Mirtle basket. Mirtle puts together his best guesses of how many points it will take to get in the playoffs each and every year, and he’s been locked on 94 points in the West for some time now. Yesterday, Mirtle dropped the new knowledge on us (full article here):

The playoff push is updated with 94 pts as mark in West and 87 in East. Toronto, Columbus eliminated.

It’s been stuck at 94 for a few weeks now, and Mirtle thinks it will stay parked there unless the Calgary Flames decide to get…hot. Naturally, the Wings stand in between the Flames and the proverbial hot-streak tonight, and vice-versa, as both teams are winners of two in a row. It’s as big of a regular season game as we have seen for some time in Detroit.

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Tags: Drew Miller, Playoff Push

Weekend of Win

Huet looks surprised that the puck stayed OUT of the net…

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Two divisional matchups. Two wins. Two points apiece.

I’m sure there will be plenty of folks out there who declare that the Wings have put the ‘Hawks and Predators “on notice” with a pair of wins this weekend, but I don’t see it that way. I see a team that looks like they are ready to do business in the race for the NHL playoffs. Moral victories and feel good moments have no place in that locker room right now. It’s all about two points every time they hit the ice, because those points will take care of the pressure that’s on the shoulders of this team right now. “Statements” aren’t important right now. The only statement that means anything is two more points in the column and another step forward towards the playoff picture.

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Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, Danny Cleary, Darren Helm, Drew Miller, Jason Williams, Nashville Predators, Patrick Eaves, The Jimmah Howard Experiment, Todd Bertuzzi, Valtteri Filppula

Back to the Drawing Board: Canucks 6, Red Wings 3

At least Hank got his money’s worth…

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Since the Red Wings decided to mail it in last night, I’m going to follow suit. But before I embrace the mantle of “apathy”, I’ll leave you with this thought: this thing is effectively a crapshoot now. There’s nothing in the cards – or in the Wings play, for that matter -  that says that this team is going to string together any amount of wins in order to actually secure a playoff berth, despite them telling you otherwise. We’ve heard all season that it’s just a matter of time before the team clicks and zeroes in on the postseason, but it’s blatantly obvious that any playoff appearance will be more about the luck of the draw than it will be about the Wings doing themselves any favors to get in.

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Tags: Fail, Vancouver Canucks

Trade Deadline and Raising Money

As I mentioned earlier today, I’ll be participating in the live blog that Michael Petrella is hosting over at TPL tomorrow for the NHL trade deadline. As you may also know, we are closing in on the big day for all of the “Herm 2 Hockeytown” festivities in Detroit, and we are currently making a push for more donations to help the children that are a part of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

So here’s what I’m going to do: DM me (@chollis) or post all of your trade predictions for the entire NHL (not just the Wings) either in the comments of this post or in the comment section of the open thread announcement post at TPL. You have until Midinight Pacific to get them posted, at which point we’ll cut them off and no more entries will be accepted.

For each correct trade prediction, I’ll donate $5 to the Herm 2 Hockeytown charity. Now what makes it “correct”? Just name a player and tell me where you think he’s going to wind up. Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh goes through? Five bones to deserving children. That said, don’t post Ponikarovsky to Pitt and then turn around and say “Caputi to Toronto” in the next tweet or comment. I’m willing to spend a little cash here, but don’t think you can take me for a fool. My full discretion applies to all predictions. Also, I’m limiting it to one donation per correct trade. So if 800 of you say “Poni to Pitt” it only garners one donation. Otherwise, I’m off to rob the nearest bank tonight. Finally, I’ll go all the way up to $100 tomorrow, but that’s where I am capping it.

So what are you waiting for? Start making some predictions and let’s see if we can raise some cash for kids!

Tags: H2H, Trade Deadline

Changing the Tune: Red Wings 3, Avalanche 2

Let’s tighten up that five-hole, eh Jimmah?

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Another tough one to watch last night, as the Wings came roaring out of the gate last night, only to squander a lead against the Avalanche and then inevitably lose in the shooto…

Wait, what? We won? No.

Really?

Yes indeed Red Wings fans, the lead blowing Red Wings coughed one up last night but managed to stay disciplined in the third and sneak one in on the powerplay to secure two point and one of those ever elusive road wins in Denver last night.

I’ll give you the jump to compose yourselves.

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Tags: Johan Franzen, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom

Olympic Wings: Final Numbers

Men’s and Women’s: It’s all the same in the rafters.

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A quick cherry to top the gold medal sundae served up on…Sunday. *sad trombone*

Here are the numbers from the Olympic semifinals and finals, along with the final overall numbers from the 21st Winter Olympic hockey tournament for the Wings that took part.

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Tags: Brian Rafalski, Pavel Datsyuk, Valtteri Filppula

Final Thoughts from Vancouver

Rafi: You have no reason to hang your head.

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Most of you who read this blog with some regularity already know that I live in Seattle. If you didn’t know, well, now you do. Seattle is an interesting city when it comes to sports. I can say with certaintly that the most popular team out here right now is the MLS’ Seattle Sounders FC. The city is rabid for the team and part of me is glad that a metropolis like this can get behind a sport, even if it is soccer. However, people tend to forget that professional sports and Seattle have a rocky history. It’s tough when a franchise like the NBA’s SuperSonics get shipped out of town, leaving in their wake a city that may not have always rallied behind their team with butts in seats, but who put on a vehement show of support in the waning hours of the franchise’s stay here in the Emerald City.

Seattle is also an outdoor town. With winters full of gray skies and rain, the first signs of sunlight prompt everyone out of their houses and into the sun. It’s not uncommon to see folks walking through the city in shorts, even when it’s 40 degrees in the middle of February. As long as there’s sun, people will come. Yesterday was a particularly nice, sunny and mild day, one perfect for all of the aforementioned Seattle-ites to be out and about, enjoying the weather and basking in the warm sunlight that eludes us most of the winter months. In that vein, I decided that I was going to enjoy the weather by walking to our gold medal viewing party, an easy 15 minute stroll into the downtown area from where I live. As expected, throngs of people were out and about, taking in a beautiful day.

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Tags: Brian Rafalski, Gold Medal Game, Sidney Crosby, Zach Parise

The Bertuzzi Conundrum

To re-sign or not to re-sign…

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It seems like just yesterday that Todd Bertuzzi was a points “machine” (use that word VERY loosely) for the Red Wings, inevitably causing many of us to start kicking around the idea of a new deal for Todd and Petrella to start worrying about the sanctity of his upcoming day of matrimonial bliss. Yes, Big Bert seemed to be the man of the hour fore the Red Wings, starting with his two goal performance against the Ducks on December 11th and wrapping up with a nice two goal Christmas gift on December 26th against the Blue Jackets. In that span, Bert also struck twice against the Predators, en route to landing himself 8 goals and 2 assists over an eight game stretch. Things were good in Bertuzziville.

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Tags: Alex Tanguay, Colby Armstrong, Henrik Zetterberg, Lee Stempniak, Mike Comrie, Pavel Datsyuk, Raffi Torres, Todd Bertuzzi