Leyland Smiling About Smyly

The headline of this article is untrue.  Jim Leyland rarely smiles.  Not even when the subject is a 22-year old second year pro who by all rights should be pitching where every other second year pro pitches, which is to say, "A" ball.  Instead, the 22-year-old to whom we here refer, Drew Smyly, is impressing here in Detroit at the Major League level.

He's impressing me, at least.  Smyly held the Texas Rangers, only the best-hitting team in the American League, to a single run here the day before yesterday and he should have gotten the win but the Tigers gifted the Rangers the game-tying run in the 8th which meant Smyly was no longer the pitcher of record and he took a no decision and the Tigs wound up losing in 11 and that is why they enter player here tonight TIED for the AL Central lead with the Chicago White Sox who are really pitching well these days what with that guy Phil Humber tossing the perfect game Saturday (against the same Mariners who are town here tonight) and with Jake Peavy throwing a 107-pitch complete game shutout last night in Oakland and so on.  At any rate, after the off-day Monday, Smyly's impressive outing was one of the main topics of discussion at The Gaggle™ today.  (The Gaggle™, you may or may not know, is the daily gathering of the media in the office of Tigers Manager Jim Leyland).

I could tell you about it, but let's try something new, shall we?  How would you like to listen to Mr. Leyland yourself?  That would be great, wouldn't it?  I've been working on my (not-so) mad blogging skills, so let's see if this works.  The next thing you see should be an little media player, containing ACTUAL GAGGLE AUDIO!   And, when you hear the question being asked in the middle, that would be me.  Anyway, here's Jim Leyland on Drew Smyly...

(I was going to write more afterwards,  but it was so much of a hassle just getting the audio posted that I need a break...)

The Slacker

I attended my first gaggle of the 2012 baseball season today.  The Gaggle as you may or may not know, is the group presser that Tigers Manager Jim Leyland holds in his office three-and-a-half hours before every game.  It's a pain getting to the ballpark that early, but if you are serious about covering the ballclub, you have to know what the manager is thinking and saying, and to know that, you have to be at The Gaggle.

I've been admittedly remiss in this regard.  The Red Wings had been keeping me busy (not a problem anymore, right?) and I've been travelling the country visiting college campuses with my daughter.  I missed the entire series against Tampa Bay last week for example because we were in Tuscaloosa seeing what the University of Alabama had to offer.

On top of it all, I was a few minutes late to today's gaggle, and I can thank God for that.  Not in the sense of the "thank God" you say when that three-footer you have for par drops, but "thank God" in the sense of, "Thanks, God, for having church run so long this morning that I was a little late in getting to Comerica Park.

I tried to sneak in, but it's a tough sneak when you have to get a tape recorder on the manager's desk when he's sitting right there with his feet resting upon that desk.  Sure enough, as soon as I got my recorder in position, Mr. Leyland (that's what I call him, Mr. Leyland) looks up and says, "Where the heck have you been?"  I was not prepared for this.  In spite of the fact that I am a Gaggle regular--or was last year at least when I hardly missed a one--not once ever has Mr. Leyland referred to me by name. I thought, although I ask plenty of questions, that I had sort of blended into the woodwork as far as he was concerned.  I sort of mumbled something about how I'd been busy with the Wings and my daughter and went back to trying to blend into the woodwork.  Leyland said, "I just want to know I missed you," which I know in my heart is not, strictly speaking, at all true, and I said, "I missed you, too."  Which I had.  I enjoy the give and take at The Gaggle.

Since I was there and all, I had to ask Mr. Leyland why Justin Verlander pitched the night half of yesterday's Day/Night two-game-on-the-same-day deal we had going on here at the stadium since his ERA during the day is about half-a-run lower than it is for night games.  (I can't call it a doubleheader because so to do would violate the Rules of Baseball which plainly state that a doubleheader is two games on the same day played in immediate succession of one another.)  It turns out that Leyland, who first had to say, "It worked out, didn't it?" which it had, of course, had asked Verlander who told him, "Whatever you want Skip." (That's what he calls him, "Skip".)  Leyland then asked Tigers Pitching Coach Jeff Jones who he wanted to pitch which game, and Jones said he preferred to have Verlander go at night.  Leyland declined to elaborate and say why Jones felf that way.  So, I didn't get the answer I wanted, the one which would have satisfied my statistical curiosity, but at least we got some background on what went into the decision and we got to hear from Leyland, and not for the first time, an outstanding example of "what makes [Verlander] such a good teammate."

We're about ready to start the game here.  I'll be busy.  I'm doing updates starting at 2 o'clock eastern from the ballpark.  If you want to turn in, here's where http://www.iheart.com/#/live/1129/?autoplay=true

I hope I don't suck, but it can't be ruled out.  It is live radio, after all.

Motor City Fans Bid Wings Adieu

On the morning of February 21, the Detroit Red Wings sat atop the National Hockey League standings with 84 points.  Today, two months to the day later, they stand not at all, the first team eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

How did they fall so hard, so far and so fast?  

There were nights last season, several of them in fact, when from my seat in the Press Box they looked so good, so dominant that it was actually hard to believe that they team they were playing against was a fellow member club in the NHL.

That seems so long ago now.  

Since that day only two months ago when the Wings were first overall—a date which perhaps not so incidentally coincides with the day Pavel Datsyuk underwent knee surgery—Detroit, including playoffs, went 8-16-3 (.352).  Up until that point, the Wings had been 41-17-2 (.700).

Datsuk missed 11 games after getting his knee scoped.  He would score, including the post-season when he had one, only 4 goals the rest of the way.

 

Not that he was alone, exactly. 

In the series against the Nashville Predators the Red Wings scored 9 goals in 5 games.  Their leading scorers, Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, each had 3 points.  Three.  Five others had 2 points, which means that of the other 12 Wings who appeared in the series, none had more than a single (stinking) point.  And six of them had no points at all. (7 if you count Darren Helm, but you shouldn’t since he was injured in Game 1.)  Niklas Lidstrom, Todd Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary, Justin Abdelkader were among those who failed to get their name on Detroit’s playoff scoresheet.  

No Red Wing not named Juri Hudler scored in the final two games of the Nashville series.  That’s how bad it was.

I’ll say this much.  It wasn’t from lack of trying.  Detroit outshot Nashville 160-116 in the series.  The problem was that Predators goalie Pekke Rinne stopped 94.4% of those Detroit shots.  At the other end, Detroit’s Jimmy Howard stopped 88.8% of the shots he faced. (His regular season save percentage had been 92%.)

But, you know how sports are.  Trying don’t much matter.  Winning does and only that. 

Fortunately, the solution for Detroit is simple: all the Wings’ players have to do —guys like Holmstom and Zetterberg and Franzen and Lidstrom—is to get younger and bigger.  If they work on that in the off-season, getting younger and bigger, they’ll be just fine.

    

Let's Watch Sports in Detroit Today!

Good afternoon and greetings from the Joe Louis Arena where this afternoon the hockey season ends two days after the baseball season began and it is from where the baseball season begain Thursday, Comerica Park, that we will head after the hockey game for game two of the series between the Tigers and Red Sox.  In any event, we speak, of course, of the end of the regular season as no matter what happens today here, the Wings will be in the playoffs when they begin next week.  The question is, against which team will Detroit match up in Round and where will it start?  The Wings, with just this one game here against Chicago to go, could meet anyone of 4 teams in the opening round, and could start the playoffs here in Detroit or in either Nashville, Phoenix, Los Angeles or San Jose.  So how's that for options?  If the Wings win today and Nashville loses tonight in Colorado, Detroit will finish ahead of the Preds by one point and will be the home team in a first round matchup against Nashville. If the Wings lose today either in regulation or otherwise, Chicago will finish 5th and the Wings will be the road team against the Pacific Division winner, be it the Coyotes, Kings or Sharks.

There are hundreds of fans here this afternoon wearing Quebec Nordiques jerseys.  Pat Verbeek says they have been showing up around the league lately because they want a team.  They announced a couple of weeks ago that they'll be building a new, (presumably) NHL-sized arena there with groundbreaking later this summer and now the Quebecers are going around the league in search of a team to put in it.  (They can't have this one.  Perhaps they could try Columbus.)  I, for one, will miss Le Colisee in Quebec City, the home to the Nordiques when they played in the National League (I once saw a Wings game there) and to the Rafales when they played in the IHL.  I did a dozen or so games from there when I was the announcer for Grand Rapids.  One one trip, we brought the wives, stayed at a famous and great hotel, Le Chateau Frontenac overlooking a the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the local papers were calling our team "The Honeymooners".  We beat Quebec both games on the trip and everybody had plenty of, well, you know.  Best. Road. Trip. Ever.   Great town for romance, Quebec City and I know having actually honeymooned there.

While I was having my sex (day) dream, Chicago's Victor Stalberg 5-holed Jimmy Howard on a rebound and his 4th of the season at 10:14 has given Chicago a 1-0 lead and has moved the Wings that much closer to road ice disadvantage in the playoffs.  Marion Hossa, stilled booed here every time he touches the puck, is off for hooking (will everything today have a sexual connotation?) and we will see if the Wings can tie it up.  First Period: Detroit 0, Chicago 1.


The period ends with no further scoring and with each team having had 9 shots.

I was speaking a moment ago about all those Quebec jerseys here today.  You should have seen the Big A in Anaheim last night.  Albert Pujols was making his Angels debut and I'll bet there were 5,000 fans wearing his jersey.  Pujols lined into a double play in his first AB with LA and went 0-3.

And do you know which team signed a big ticket free agent first baseman and moved the guy who had been playing first across the diamond to third?  That's right. The Los Angeles Angels did.  Mike Trumbo, the rookie who hit 29 homers last year playing first base for LA, got himself moved over to third when the Angels signed Pujols (sound familiar?) and he made two errors last night, which means that he got himself completely outplayed by Miguel Cabrera--the other slugger in the AL who lost his job at first when his team signed a new guy to play that position.  The thing is, I'll be Trumbo didn't get a call from his manager asking if it was okay with him they way Cabrera got a call from Jim Leyland asking if he minded.

Also in LA last night, Kendrys Morales returned to the lineup, his first game in almost two years since he broke his ankle in the most stupid play off all time.  Morales hit a game-ending homer a couple of days before Memorial Day in 2010 and in the home plate celebration that ensued, he broke his left ankle so badly that two surgeries were required and it's a bit of a medical miracle that he's still playing at all.

The Wings head down the tunnel and onto the ice for the second period....

We are halfway through and it is still 1-0, Chicago.  That is all... Second Period: Detroit 0, Chicago 1.


2-0,.Chicago as Andrew Shaw buries his 12th at 17:20, seconds after Wings goalie Jimmy Howard made one of his best saves of the season, and seconds after a Detroit penalty had expired.  Patrick Sharp and Hossa get the assists and the Wings--who have scored 7 goals in the 5 games and two periods they've played since scoring 7 in a romp over the Blue Jackets here a week ago Monday--are in trouble deep.  End of Two Periods: Detroit 0, Chicago 2.


If the Wings cannot come back (still trail CHI 0-2 in 3rd) and if Phoenix wins tonight in MIN (8pm EDT), Detroit will play the Coyotes in the first round with games one and two in PHX next week.  If, on the other hand, PHX loses tonight, Wings would likely get the winner of tonight's LA at San Jose game, although there are some scenarios regarding overtime/shootout wins and losses in both the PHX and Sharks games which would result in the first round foe still being the Coyotes.  Still 15 mins to go here, tho..

Johan Franzen (29) sneaks one through the pads of Corey Crawford and as we approach the final ten mins, Detroit's back in it, trailing 2-1.


If Wings lose in reg (down to a min left) will have finished season 7-12-3 in final 22 games and will be the #6 seed in West.  HOLD ON--DATSYUK TIES IT WITH 46.4 LEFT ON AMAZING BACKHAND, BACK-TO-THE-PLAY BETWEEN THE FEET CROSS-CREASE PASS BY HOLMSTROM. AND WE ARE HEADED TO OVERTIME HERE IN DETROIT!  END REG: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 2.


The point the Wings get for getting the game to OT gives them 102 and means Chicago can't catch them in the West standings, so Detroit will play Nashville in the first round.  Both the Wings and Predators have 102 points as I write this.  If they end tied in points, Nashville will have home-ice because they have the tie-breaker.  Down to a minute left in OT.


In shootout now and Datsyuk opens with a move you can't believe and does everything but score then Patrick Kane goes down and makes a move I can't even describe and beats Howard.  Hudler shoots high and if Sharp scores, it's over.  Sharp's slapshot it wide.  Bertuzzi must score to extend the game.  He hits the post and Nashville has home ice in the first round.  FINAL (SO) DETROIT 3, CHICAGO 3.


Off to Comerica Park...

Let's Watch the Wings and the Kings!

We are about six minutes away from the opening face here at the Joe where the Wings tonight host the LA Kings.  Detroit again will be without their best player, Pavel Datsyuk (they have won twice, 2-4-1, in the 7 games he's been out), their best defenseman, Niklas Lidstrom and their #1 goalie Jimmy Howard.  For good measure, also out tonight are: defensemen Jakub Kindl and Jonathan Ericsson and forwards Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi.  That's the kind of list that could easily do in most teams.  The Wings with 89 points lead the Kings (74) by fifteen points in the Western Conference standings, but the Kings are what is know in the industry as a desperate team.  LA is in 9th place in the West, one point out of the playoffs, and are part of the logjam which as we enter action on this Friday night sees 5 teams separated by 4 points.  That's the difference between being in 7th place and 11th.

As far as the injuries are concerned, we've only just today learned today how badly Lidstrom was hurt as it was reported that it was only yesterday that he was able to get a skate on his injured foot and skate at practice.  Datsyuk was back on the ice Monday--13 days after having a knee scoped, and it is hoped that he (and Lisdstrom, too for that matter) will be back in the lineup when the Wings head to the coast next week.  The status of the other injured players is unknown as the league has for some time now maintained a tight-lipped policy when it comes to this sort of thing, but as soon as we know something, you will too!

At 7:29, Jeff Carter (18) scored off a goalmouth scramble with the Kings on the power play.  A shot hit the crossbar and Joey MacDonald reacted for a split second as if he thought the puck had gone in  the net.  By the time he realized that it had in fact not, it was too late and Carter slid the puck under him.  Detroit is 12-12-1 (.500) when allowing the first goal this season, Los Angeles is 24-4-6 (.794) when scoring first.  FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 1.


Henrik Zetterberg (17) ties it at 14:40.  Good quick passing got him the puck at the top of the right circle and his one-timer hit the back of the net before LA goalie Jonathan Quick could move from one post to the other. Valtteri Fippula and somebody else (I missed the name what with all the noise in the building) got the assists.  The goal came on Detroit's second shot of the game, LA leading in Shots on Goal right now 8-2.  FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, LA 1.


The second assist on the Zetterberg goal went to Juri Hudler, for those of you scoring at home.

Ooops.  MacDonald gives up a weak one.  A little wrister from the near right boards sort of knuckled over the blocker and into the net and the Kings lead again at 17:41.  FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, LA 2.


The Kings lead after one, 2-1 and the big story is that Detroit was held to 3 shots on goal, the fewest they've had in a period since they got two way back on Tuesday night in the first period in Philadelphia.  The Kings had 9 shots in the first and it was the 9th, the shot that MacDonald muffed, that has cost them in this one.  Detroit is 7-12-1 (.375) when trailing after the first, LA is 14-1-2 (.882) when leading after one.  END FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, LOS ANGELES 2.


We are past the mid-point of the second period (9:39 remaining) and the Wings still do not have a shot on goal in the period, and have only 3 in the game.  What they seem to be demonstrating tonight is that the Grand Rapids Griffins cannot beat the Los Angeles Kings, but we shall see.  SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, LOS ANGELES 2.


Though shorthanded by injury, the Detroit Red Wings still have Filppula and Zetterberg wearing their sweaters tonight and it's a good thing.  Zetterberg has just scored his second of the night and 18th of the season to tie the game after Filppula, making a 360-degree spin at the top of the left circle to avoid the defense, set him up in close.  Zetterberg's backhand sneaked between Quick's right arm and his body (goalies HATE when that happens) and this contest is even.  The goal came at 15:37.  SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 2, LOS ANGELES 2.


The Wings wound up getting 5 shots in the second half of the period--including the goal by Zetterberg--and so they are hanging in there down there, tied at two after two in spite of being outshot 16-8 after two.  Of the 20 players dressing for Detroit in this game, 5 have been called up from Grand Rapids in the past week or so and those 5 players have a grand total of 18 NHL games between them.  Yet the Wings are tied here, so that's pretty good.  It shows Detroit has some depth in the organization.  And, as I say, they also have Filppula and Zetterberg.

I am not sure when Jimmy Howard, the starting goalie for Detroit, will be back.  He started last Sunday in that 2-1 loss to the Blackhawks here and did not come out for the start of the second period.  I didn't see him get hurt but as a goalie myself, I sort of kind of figured he'd pulled a groin.  It's an occupational hazard.  You butterfly; you hit the ice and spread those pads as far as you can, and your groin at some point lets you know that you are engaging in an unnatural activity.  I think that every season I've played for the last 12 at least at some point I wind up with a sore groin and inevitably it doesn't go away until a month or so after tthe season ends.  Well, it turns out that Howard has a groin pull. He's day to day.  They get better treatment up here in the National League than I do in the beer league, but I'll bet Howard feels that sore groin the rest of the way.  If he doesn't go and really tear it, he'll hurt but he'll play.  They added an assist to Kronwall on the goal by Zetterberg which tied this game late in the second period.  SECOND INTERMISSION: DETROIT 2, LOS ANGELES 2.


We are still tied here just about mid-way through the 3rd.  I'm going to head downstairs now because (did I mention I' playing tonight with a slight groin pull?) it's going to take me a little longer than usual to get to the dressing rooms.  I will update you later when I get the chance.  THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, LOS ANGELES 2.

Let's Watch the Wings and the Blackhawks!

Sure, live everybody else I'd love to be watching the most important sporting event of the day, the final round of The Honda Classic, duh, but here we are at Joe Louis Arena as the Wings host the Blackhawks.  These teams have played four times this season, and each has been decided by a single goal, which makes me think we are due for a blowout by somebody here today.

Speaking of blowouts, I just checked the scoreboard and the Tigers are leading the Braves 17-1 in the bottom of the 7th down in Lakeland where they really ought to think about instituting a "mercy rule" for these spring training games.

I also checked the scoreboard and saw Ohio State 11, Michigan State 5 and was a bit taken aback until I realized that this was not the score, but rather where the teams are ranked.  The game, as it turned out, had not yet begun.  Oops, our first blunder of the afternoon. I am fairly confident it will not be our last.

A Detroit win today will move them back into first place in the Western Conference, and will tie them for first in the overall standings, although the Wings would technically be first by virtue of a better win percentage than the Rangers, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The standings are quite interesting right now.  San Jose got beat by the Blues last night and lost their Pacific Division lead in the process, falling in one night from #3 in the West to #7.  This means that if the playoffs were beginning right now, the Sharks and Wings would meet in the opening round.  Of course, whether or not San Jose even makes the playoffs is an open question.  Here's how the stand in the West as we speak:
#7 San Jose 73
#8 Dallas  73
------------
#9 Los Angeles 72
#10 Colorado 70
#11 Calgary 69

That's five teams separated by four points, and only two of the five are going to make the playoffs.

The teams are out on the ice and we will have the national anthem and then the dropping of the puck and then the etc....

At 3:17, the Blackhawks lead on a power play goal by Patrick Sharp (25).  His shot from the left point appeared to hit Niklas Kronwall and carom in.  Kyle Quincy was off for interference at the time.  First Period: Detroit 0, Chicago 1.


The Wings tie it at 6:03.  Darren Helm made a great play--two of them, really--avoiding checks as he moved into the zone before dropping it back to Kronwall who ripped it from the line, beating Chicago netminder Ray Emory cleanly.  First Period: Detroit 1, Chicago 1.


There's a lot going on out there today.  MSU is off to a good start against Ohio State, leading 14-7 five minutes in with a Spartan win meaning a Big Ten title, and Tigers Woods shot 62 (!) today in the final round of the Honda and is the leader in the clubhouse after moving up 16 spots on the leaderboard.  He is two shots off the lead, though. Lee Westwood, with a 63, moved up an amazing 22 spots.

Gee, I was watching the State game (they are KILLING Ohio State) and I forgot to tell you the first period here is over.  Good period, 1-1 tie.  The Wings hit the post twice neither of which counts as a shot on goal and in that stat, it's Detroit 9-5.  END FIRST: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 1.


Joey MacDonald replaces Jimmy Howard in goal for Detroit to start the second period,.  We do not know why.  I did not notice Howard getting hurt in the first.


38-29, MSU at the half.  The Spartans had a huge lead halfway through the half, the Buckeyes cut it to 5, and the Spartans lead by nine at the break.  I'd rather have the double-digit lead MSU had earlier, but at the same time, I'd rather be up nine than down nine...

The second period is over and the Wings trail 2-1 on a goal by Patrick Kane with 1:19 left in the second period.  The Wings are outplaying Chicago, but are trailing here.  The Wings have outshot 'em 17-13, and have hit the post at least three times, but are down a goal as we move to the third.  It's been tough to update what with the watching of the MSU-OSU basketball game (State's lead has been cut to 3 in what was once a blowout but which is now a too-close-to-call nailbiter) and Rory McIIlroy has won the Honda Classic by two strokes over Tiger Woods and now will become the #1 golfer in the world at the age of 22.  Oh, and that rookie we gave the #3 star to here the night before last, Bendan Smith, got into his first fight in the second period, getting the clear decision over Andrew Shaw.  Don Cherry would be proud.  End of Two Periods: Detroit 1, Chicago 2.


n

Let's Watch the Wings and the Wild!

Wings and Wild are on the ice with faceoff here moments away and here is your stat 'o the night: Minnesota's starting goalie, Josh Harding, has a 1.30 goals-against average and .965 save percentage in going 2-0-1 against the Red Wings this season.

This is the fourth and final meeting of these teams this season, but it is the first time they have played since Nov. 1!

It has taken the Wings (30-802, .775 when scoring first) only :35 to take the lead.  Valtteri Filppula (20) grabbed the rebound of a Henrik Zettterberg shot from the left wing half-wall and spun to beat Harding with a backhand.  17:10 to go, First Period: Detroit 1, Wild 0.


The Wings moved up two spots in the Western Conference standings last night without firing a shot in anger.  Detroit was 4th in the West when the night began, and second in their Central Division to St. Louis, even though both teams had 87 points.  The Blues owned the second tie-breaker, which is total wins minus shootout wins.  The Blues have 36, Detroit 35.  However, when St. Louis lost in Vancouver 2-0 last night, it meant that they had played one more game than Detroit, meaning Detroit had a higher winning percentage.  Winning percentage is the first tiebreaker, so the Wings moved back ahead of the Blues, back into first place in the division and back into second place in the conference.  With the win, the Canucks improved to 90 points on the season.  I think it essential that Detroit win the division.  If they don't, they likely will play Nashville in the first round of the playoffs, and I'm here to tell you, Nashville was a very good team to begin and no club, in my view, helped themselves more at the trade deadline than did the Predators.  Much better to have St. Louis and Nashville knock each other out for 7 games in the first round if you ask me.  If the Wings do win the division, they would be seeded no worse than #2 in the postseason which means they would play (and here's where it gets complicated) San Jose or Chicago or Dallas or Los Angeles or Colorado or Calgary in round one.  The difference between 7th place and 11th place in the West is four points right now.  If the playoffs began right now, just for the record, Detroit would have home-ice advantage in a series against the Sharks.  9:00 to go, First Period: Detroit 1, Wild 0.


Brendan Smith, just called up from minor league Grand Rapids has just scored his first career NHL goal from Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi (they may change the scoring as it looked to me like Justin Abdelkader got a stick on it in the goalmouth scramble which preceded the goal).  The goal comes at 16:04.  2:00 left, First Period: Detroit 2, Wild 0.


Let's meet Brendan Smith, who matched Gordie Howe by scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game here in the first period tonight.  He's a 6-2, 155 pound, 22-year-old second-year pro from Ontario, drafted in the first round, #27 overall, by the Wings in 2007.  And that's about all we can tell you for now.

The Wings outshot Minnesota 13-5 in the first period.  FIRST INTERMISSION: DETROIT 2, WILD 0.


3-0, Detroit.  At 7:05, Darren Helm's pass was blocked by the Wild's Nick Johnson.  The puck came right back to Helm who fired home his 8th goal of the season.  Assists to Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall, although if you ask me, it could just as easily been an unassisted goal.  The did, by the way, change the scoring on the goal in the first period by Smith.  Take away the assist to Bertuzzi and give it to Abdelkader, and you will have it right.  Second Period: Detroit 3, Wild 0.


Did you know...Since starting the season 20-7-3 (.717) in their first 30 games--good for first place in the Western Confernece,  the Wild have gone 8-19-7 (.338) in 34 games since.  They have fallen to 12th in the West, 5 points out of a playoff spot.

This just in at 8:54pm: The Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-9-1 in their last 11 games, have fired coach Ron Wilson, the nephew of the late Red Wings great Johnny Wilson.  Ron Wilson had to listen to the fans in Toronto chant for his ouster earlier this week during a  lackluster home loss to Florida, and tonight he's gone.  It was only a couple months ago, in December, that Wilson signed a contract extension.  Turns out it was a severance package.  It's like the sign in Sparky Anderson's office used to say: Every 24 hours the world turns over on whoever was on top of it..."

I'm picking the Three Stars tonight and I can tell you right now that Filppula is going to be one of them.  He just scored his second of the night and the 21st of the season to make it 4-0 at 16:35.  Then, 1:07 later at 17:42, Ian White got his 7th to make it 5-0.  Zetterberg and Kronwall assisted on the FIlppula goal--a one-timer from the high slot, while the goal by White--a blueline slapper, was unassisted.  As the period ends, we note that Detroit held Minnesota to 5 shots on goal, and lead in shots 24-10 after 40 minutes.  SECOND INTERMISSION: DETROIT 5, WILD 0.


We've 4 minutes into the third, which means I have to turn the Three Stars in about ten minutes from now.  I'm thinking about giving the 3rd star to Smith because he did score in his first NHL game and because he'd remember it for the rest of his life so why not?  Zetterberg has 3 assists, Howard's not been dented yet, and Filppula has those two goals. If I give a star to Smith, one of those three isn't going to get one.  I suspect they won't mind.

Zedtterberg just got his 15th at 5:30.  The Wings passing was such that Harding got caught way out of position and Zetterberg fired into an empty net.  Third Period: Detroit 6, Wild 0.  


The Stars have been picked : #1 Filppula, #2 Zetterberg and #3 Smith and it is 6-0 and I am heading downstairs for postgame.  See you Sunday when Chicago will be in town!