RW
Distinguished Gentleman of the Post
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 387
Location: Seat 10, Row 8, Section 226B
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 Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject: October Reflections |
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After finishing the month of October, the Detroit Red Wings will now take a short, mini, vacation from play and heal some nicked up bodies, Hasek (Hip), Kronwall (Groin) and Franzen (Face), That and also recover from two long West Coast trips. The Red Wings are now off until next Wednesday when they will face Nashville in Detroit for the start of a 9 game Central Division set of games. The schedule is really weird this year.
So far, the Red Wings have played eight of the fourteen games completed on the road and have an impressive 6 - 1 - 1 record for 13 road points. The Red Wings' home record is an equally impressive 5 - 1 - 0 for 10 points. The team leads the next closest NHL team by 3 points, Ottawa at 20 points. The Red Wings lead the next closest Western Conference team, 3 teams, with 16 points. The Red Wings have also just completed their first ever, Western Canadian Road trip, sweep of Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. That's right, for all their success over the past 15 to 20 years the Red Wings have never come out of a Western Canadian road swing without at least a tie on the record and that was only done once in 1993 with a 1 - 0 - 2 record. This was the 21st three game Western Canadian road trip in Red Wings history. A very nice accomplishment by any measure.
Right now this team looks incredible. Their main goalie, Hasek, is a little banged up and as usual has started a little slowly at 4 - 2 - 1 with a 2.68 GAA and a .877 Sv%. What happens, Their backup, Chris Osgood, merely steps in and goes 7 - 0 - 0 with a GAA of 1.43 and a Sv% of .936. Will poor Jimmy Howard ever get to play goal for Detroit? The first line of Zetterberg - Holmstrom - Datsyuk is dominating every team they play. They seem to score at will. Nobody seems to be able to shut them down. To top that off, Henrik Zetterberg goes out and leads the NHL in goals scored, 12, and overall points with 24. Zetterberg is also playing so well in the defensive end that he can be considered a serious Selke Trophy candidate. Zetterberg also just tied the Detroit franchise record for most points in consecutive games to start the season which was set by Norm Ullman back in 1960. (Ah..... I remember it well)
To make the Red Wings start this season even more impressive the victories have not come against, what up until now has been considered a soft touch, the Central Division. There have been only two Central Division games played so far by Detroit. Those games were aginst a rejuvinated Chicago which resulted in a 0 - 1 - 1 record for Detroit. No, these victories have been at the expense of the more highly regarded Pacific and Northwest Divisions. Against those divisions The Red Wings have posted a sparkling 11 - 1 - 0 record. I'll be honest. I would have been satisfied and completely happy to take the current home record and have gone .500 on the two west coast road trips we've completed. I never expected this start of the season. I thought our second line, the kids looked a little weak and wondered about scoring outside of the top line. I still think the Red Wings need another bigger scoring veteran forward but I'm not as concerned now that it does not appear to be such an immediate need. Hudler, Filppula and Kopecky have really turned it up a notch after a slow start. I have no worries about goaltending either. Another really nice surprise is how well Derek Meech has done in replacing the oft injured, again, Nicklas Kronwall.
The next nine games will be against the Central Division. This will be much harder than most people anticipate. It will not be an easy 9 win march through a bunch of cup cakes for an easy 18 points. The central will be much more competetive this year. St. Louis, Columbus and Chicago are all much improved, especially Columbus. I will be happy to come out of this next string of games with a 6 - 3 record. That would give Detroit 35 points at roughly the ¼ point in the season. That result would put us nicely on the way to a 110 point season and a good shot at taking the Central Division and receiving a # 1 seeding in the Western Conference. It is certainly a better start than I ever anticipated at the beginning of the season.
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"The greatest victory a man can win is victory over himself."
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi |
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