Columbus Blue Jackets (at) Detroit Red Wings: The Live-Blog

Pre-Game Skate:  They are wearing the uniforms of the Detroit Red Wings...but.  The Wings host the Blue Jackets here tonight minus 5 starters and minus their first and second string goaltenders and it all makes you have wonder for just how long the Wings can carry on (they enter tonight's game first in their division--the Central--and second in Western Conference 4 points back of first-place Vancouver) with all these injuries.  Here's the current list of wounded Wings: Pavel Datsyuk, Dan Cleary, Mike Modano, Tomas Holmstrom. Brad Stewart, Jimmy Howard and Chris Osgood.  How can this not have an impact?  But, Detroit has points in 12 of their last 15 games, including last night's 3-2 shootout loss to these Blue Jackets in Columbus.  Dating back to their last game before Christmas Detroit has gone 7-3-2, a win percentage of .667.  Play .667 hockey all season and you wind up with a 109-point season which is pretty good.  Here's the thing.  Right now, the difference between being second in the West and 12th in the West is 15 points.  That's 11 teams separated by 15 points.  And Detroit is 9 points ahead of the 8th-place Chicago Blackhawks.  I don't have to tell you the top 8 make the playoffs.  That lead, 9 points, can disappear in a hurry if you, say, lose four in a row while the team chasing you, say, wins 4 in a row.  So we shall see what we shall see.  The teams are out, the line-ups are being announced, and we will--as they say--be back with the opening face-off, right after this.


7:10pm:  That didn't take long.  Derek Brassard has just scored his 10th firing his own rebound past Wings goalie Joey MacDonald at the :33 second mark.  After Rick Nash won a face-off circle to the left, Brassard fiRED a close-in shot that MacDonald got a piece of before hit hit the post and came right back out in front.  Brassard made no mistake with the second chance.  All of this happened just :33 seconds after the aforementioned opening face-off.  0:33 OF FIRST PERIOD: COLUMBUS 1, DETROIT 0.


7:16PM:  Oh, my.  Now it's 2-0 Columbus.  Grant Clitsome let this little wrist shot go from just inside the blue line and the thing hit Detroit's Justin Abdelkader in his left knee and skipped off the ice and bounced past MacDonald.  We haven't yet played 5 minutes and the Blue Jackets have a big lead.  4:12 OF FIRST PERIOD:  COLUMBUS 2, DETROIT 0.


7:21pm:  If I have to leave you suddenly tonight it probably means I've been arrested for watching NFL football on my computer, illegally.  (I've got the Ravens-Steelers on.)  So, I'm trying to watch the hockey game and the football game, and write.  Plus, I'm picking the 3 Stars of tonight's game here and I have to stay focused on that because I don't want to look like a fool later.  Those picks go on the Official Boxscore, you know.  That means they become a part of hockey history, forever.  So, I don't like to mess them up.  Good football game, though.  Down early 21-7, Pittsburgh has stormed back to take a 24-21 lead over Baltimore with 6 minutes left in the game.  Good stuff...


7:39pm:  It started badly but ended well for Detroit, this first period.  The Wings got 2 goals in the last 2 and a half minutes and are, somehow, tied here 2-2 after one.  Johan Franzen made a great pass to an open-in-the-slot Valtteri Filppula and he rifled it home for his 11th goal of the season and a 2-1 game with 2:26 left in the period.  With 39.9 seconds left in the first, Drew Miller, behind the goal line in the Columbus end, banked one in off the left skate off Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason to tie the game 2-2.  Hard to believe.  And with under 2 minutes to go in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have first-and-goal at the 1 with under 2 minutes to go in a 24-24 tie.  Wow, etc.     END OF FIRST PERIOD, DETROIT 2, COLUMBUS 2.  (AND THE STEELERS UPSET THE RAVENS 31-24)


8:06pm:  The tie didn't last long, but then again, neither did the 3-2 Columbus lead which the Blue Jackets grabbed at 2:57 on a breakaway goal by Matt Calvert.  That's because Jonathan Ericsson scored exactly a minute later at 3:57 to re-tie this thing.  Franzen lost Calvert in the neutral zone and he took a perfect in-stride pass to go in and score on the backhand on MacDonald (nice deke) but for the second time tonight Mason was victimized when a shot from behind his own red line banked off his backside and in.  Calvert's goal was his second, Ericsson's his 3rd.  12:50 LEFT, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, COLUMBUS 3. 


8:12pm:  Columbus coach Scott Arniel looks like he thinks he needs a new goalie as Brian Rafalski scores from the slot on a shot which Mason got most of, but not all of.  The puck had just enough left on it to slide across the goal line between Mason's legs as the Blue Jackets goalie was, once again, unable to corral the disc in the crease.  It's Rafalski's 4th and it gives Detroit their first lead of the night.  The goal comes at 8:02.  10:50 LEFT IN THE SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 4, COLUMBUS 3.


8:37pm:  The scoring flurry to begin the period turned out to be the only scoring of the period. So Detroit, 15-0-2 (.941) when leading after two periods, leads two periods into this one.  MacDonald made his best save of the game late in the second with a kick save and a beauty off  Fedor Tyutin with about 3 minutes left in the period.  He dropped his left pad to deny Tyutin on a rebound.  Franzen had Detroit's best chance of the period but Mason blockered him on a shot from right out in front.  The Wings had 14 shots in the second, Columbus 13.  For the game, Detroit has a 23-22 edge in shots on goal.  AFTER 2 PERIODS: DETROIT 4, COLUMBUS 3.


8:57pm:  Columbus has now scored a goal within the first three minutes of the start of each period tonight.  Their goal in the 3rd, at 1:10 by R.J Umberger, has tied the game.  Unberger beat Nicklas Lidstrom to a rebound (you don't exactly see that every night, now do you?) and tapped it past MacDonald to tie the game 4-4.   1:10 OF 3RD PERIOD: DETROIT 4, COLUMBUS 4.


8:59pm:  Kris Draper has just restored Detroit's 1-goal lead at 3:32 of this 3rd period.  Draper--who earlier tonight got his 200th career assist and who is making a strong case for first star considerations--deflected a shot on goal before shoveling the rebound home with but one hand on his stick.  It's the 4th of the year for Draper, and it's a big one,.  3:32 OF 3RD PERIOD: DETROIT 5, COLUMBUS 4.


9:26PM:  The Draper goal is standing up and the Columbus net is empty with 1:14 left in the game.  Stay tuned...


We're watching Green Bay-Atlanta, too, just in case you were wondering. The NFL keeps kicking us off, but every time they do, we find the game somewhere else on the web.


AND COLUMBUS TIES IT WITH 1:04 LEFT.  NASH, LEFT CIRCLE.  MacDonald went down and the shot went up.  Bad goal.  AND NOW A REVIEW OF A POTENTIAL GAME-WINNER BY NASH ON A WRAP-AROUND WITH 8-SECONDS LEFT.  STAND BY.  


9:31pm:   No goal.  Overtime.  Detroit is playing their 13th game in the last 21 nights and its overtime.  Just like last night.  


9:33pm:  Franzen scores, Detroit wins 6-5!  Franzen was alone in the left circle and went high blocker side on Mason.  Off the post and in.  A great shot and the Wings win.  Gee, we were going to give Franzen a star tonight but went with Ericsson instead.  Maybe they'll change it for me.  

Flyers (at) Red Wings: The Live Blog

The big question of the day, the one I know all of you have had on your mind all day long, has been answered.  Yes, I could make it from Ford Field to the Joe Louis Arena in time to make the 5pm face-off for the Wings-Flyers game...


5:11pm:  We're sort of flying (heh, heh, the Wings are playing the Flyers, right?) by the seat of our pants after rushing over from the Lions 20-13 season-ending win over the Vikings.  About all I can tell you is that this really ought to be a good game.  The Wings (24-9-5, 53 points) lead the Western Conference and one of only 2 teams in the NHL to have not lost in double digits yet (Vancouver with 8 is the other), face Philadelphia, (23-10-5, 51 points) tied for 2nd in the Eastern Conference.

5:18pm:  For the next :48, the Wings have a 2-man advantage here.  With Detroit already on the power play, Claude Giroux shoots the puck in the stands and that is delay of game, which is just wrong.  Detroit does not score.  The Wings are a little cute early, going for the extra pass and not getting the shot on goal. 11:00 left in first, DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 0.


5:26pm:  A typical home-ice start for Detroit--they dominate the opening minutes and have outshot the Flyers 8-3.  But, no goals for the Wings.  I saw a troubling story at the Lions game.  A Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher, Alfredo Simon, is suspected of murder in the Dominican Republic:  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5981183  A spokesman for the Orioles says Simon says he is innocent.  (We really weren't trying to be cute there, its just the way it came out.)  Simon remains at large at, as we say, press time.  Of course, these days, press time is real time, right?

5:35pm:  I know this is going to sound silly and I neither expect nor deserve your sympathy, but I am surprisingly tired right now.  This is not a good sign.  How can you get tired watching spectator sports?

5:43pm:  The period ends with Jeff Carter getting about as good a chance as the Flyers got in the first, set up all alone between the circles with about 3 seconds left in the first.  He shot wide.  Detroit outshoots Philadelphia 9-8 in the first.  It was, as expected, a good period.  I think we'll take a break and check out-of-town scores or something.  After 1: DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 0.  


6:00PM:  The second period starts.  Checking NFL during intermission scores wore me out.  GB is down 3 to Chi and if Bears win, Pack misses postseason. Giants lead.  If they win and GB loses, NY is in.  TB won, if GB and NYG both lose, they are in. Otherwise the Bucs will spend the playoffs thinking about how a loss at home to Detroit of all people cost them a playoff spot. Meanwhile, at the :51 mark, Philadelphia opens the scoring when #51 for Detroit, Valtteri Filppula inadvertently (as opposed one supposes to advertantly) tips a shot fired by Philly's James vanRiemsdyk past Jimmy Howard, his own goalie.  DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 1.  


6:11pm:  Howard makes about as good a save as we've seen all season, going post-to-post to deny Daniel Carcillo but it doesn't even matter because before the Wings can clear the zone, Carcillo tips in a shot fired from the blue line.  He scored less than 5 seconds after that great save by Howard.  Oh, well.  The time of the goal is 5:32.  DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 2.


6:21pm:  No change in the score and the fans are in foul humor.  From time to time one or more of them will shout, "Skate!"  Like that's going to help.  Meanwhile, for the second game in a row, the opposing coach is somebody who played in the first game I ever broadcast.  Remember I mentioned my first play-by-play job was as the voice of the IHL Flint Spirits?  Peter Laviolette, currently the head coach of the Flyers, was one of our best defensemen that year.  It's a long way from the IMA Sports Arena to the NHL, I can tell you that much.  (Actually, it's only 60 miles or so, but the distance in this case is not measured in miles.)  STILL DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 2.


6:30pm:  Now Scott Hartnell has scored and it's 3-0 Philly and this is not going at all well.  Booing begins.  The "F" word is heard.  Hartnell was in close and when Howard went down he went high.  Howard didn't leave much of an opening but these NHL guys don't need much of one.  The goal is at 14:24.  DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 3.  


6:39pm:  The period is over and Philly gets 3 goals on 19 shots in the middle twenty.  Many boo as the Wings skate off.  Fans are brutal.  Fans are unbelievable.  You get the feeling that the score may as well be 300-0 the way that period went.  Time to check more out-of-town scores.  Oooh, GB has come back to lead the Bears.  More on that, and this one, later.  (My god, they just booed the intermission remote car race!)  AFTER 2: DETROIT 0, PHILADELPHIA 3.

6:55pm:  Chris Osgood replaces Howard to start the 3rd period.  The announcement is cheered by the crowd.  I'm going to say this is because it is the first appearance here at home by Osgood since he won his 400th game last week.  The Flyers scored at :51 of the first and now Detroit has scored at :51 of the 3rd.  The goal is by Detroit's #51, Filppula.  A blast from 20 feet, give or take. He put in the proper net this time, at least.  EARLY 3RD: DETROIT 1, PHILADELPHIA 3.


7:02pm:  It turned out that Dwayne Roloson's overtime win over the Wings here on New Years Eve (he was the game's #1 Star as selected by, oh yeah, me) was his last as an Islander.  Steve Yzerman traded for him, so he's a Lightening, now.  If you haven't noticed, Stevie's got Tampa going good, real good.  They lead their division and are tied with Philly and Washington for 2nd in the East.  And now Yzerman has his goalie.  13:00 left, here.  DETROIT 1, PHILADELPHIA 3.


7:17pm:  Hey, now.  Henrik Zetterberg just scored on the power play and the Wings have played themselves back into this one.  It's the 14th for Zetterberg.  He was in close and went high with a backhand to beat Brian Boucher and Detroit is down by only one.  The fans?  They are no longer booing.  Imagine.  The goal comes at 12:28.  DETROIT 2, PHILADELPHIA 3.


7:30pm:  And we're done.  The Wings had a few chances down the stretch, pulled Osgood with 1:10 left but couldn't tie it up.  And now Detroit hits the road for 5 in a row and 6 of the next 7.  So, we'll talk to you later...
FINAL DETROIT 2, PHILADELPHIA 3.

Lions 20, Minnesota 13: The (sort-of) Live Blog

11:55am:  Pregame Warm-up.  We bid adieu today to the 2010 Detroit Lions today with a Ford Field ceremony which will feature a National Football League game between the Lions and the Minnesota Vikings.  These sorts of things (National Football League games against Minnesota) typically do not go well, for Detroit.  As any Lions fan can tell you, Detroit has lost 6 straight to the Vikings, 16 of the last 17 and 20 of the last 22.  This is the 99^th all-time meeting between Minnesota and Detroit.  The locals have managed wins in only 30 of the previous 98. 

But, hey, the Lions have won three in a row and that hasn’t happened in a while.  And they ended their 26-game road losing streak (an NFL record, thank you) a couple of weeks ago and 3 weeks ago they won a game against a division foe for the first time in years so who knows?  Maybe this is the day they end this losing streak to the Vikings, no? 

The last time the Lions had a four-game win streak was in 1999.  That streak began with a win over Minnesota and when it ended the Lions were looking oh-so-good with a 6-2 record at the halfway point of that ’99 season.  Detroit proceeded to go 2-6 in the second half, finished 8-8, missed the playoffs and everybody got fired.  In the 11 years which have passed since then, the Lions have won as many as 8 games in a season only once (9-7 in 2000).  Additionally, the Lions are 2-20 vs. Minnesota since that win over the Vikings in ‘99.

Look, don’t tell anybody, but there appears to have been some sort of a mistake made here.  I am sitting in the front row of the pressbox this afternoon—an upgrade from the third-row seat I normally occupy.  I feel like a kid again.  In other words, I feel like an usher will be coming along any minute now to kick me out of the good seat I just snuck into.  (Okay, into which I just snuck.)  So, as I said, don’t tell anybody…

1:19pm:  The Lions actually look good to start the ballgame.  They held the Vikings to negative yards or no gain on 3 of Minnesota’s first 8 plays then drove from their 25 to a first and goal at the Vikings 8.  It was here, at the Vikings 1, that TE Tony Scheffler fumbled into the end zone after catching a short pass from Shaun Hill.  Minnesota’s Jamarca Sanford recovered in the end zone…maybe.  The ruling on the field—a fumble recovery for the Vikings—is under review.  My guess is that an overturn is coming.  Sanford appeared to go out of bounds before the recovery.  If he did, then the question becomes, where do you spot the football?  We are unsure up here in the box, and when I say “we” I mean “me”.  There isn’t another reporter within a dozen seats of me.  THE RULING ON THE FIELD STANDS.  It’s a fumble into the end zone and Minnesota has the ball, first and ten, at their own 20.  A good drive, spoiled. 

1:28pm: The Vikings get a pair of 20-yard pass completions from rookie QB Joe Webb (Brett Favre is inactive again today and his NFL career thus ends with him in street clothes on the far sideline) and the Vikings move into Detroit territory at the 40.  Lorenzo Booker is some kind of wide open inside the Lions 5 but Webb overthrows him badly and the Vikings miss out on a sure touchdown.  They end up punting, pinning the Lions at the 5.  That fumble not only cost the Lions a chance to score, it cost them about 93 yards of field position.  END OF FIRST QUARTER: DETROIT 0, MINNESOTA 0.

1:50pm:  Webb could have strolled to a first down but elected to throw deep across his body and he threw it right to Detroit’s _____ and the pick gives Detroit 1^st-and-10 at their own 31.  Detroit gets POT (Points Off Turnover) as Dave Rayner hits a 55 yard field goal.  It is tied for the 3^rd-longest field goal in Detroit Lions history.  The kick comes 6:45 left before halftime.  DETROIT 3, MINNESOTA 0. 

2:20pm:  The Lions complete what was probably their nicest drive of the season—a 15-play, 94-yard beauty—when Hill throws his 16^th TD pass of the season, a 7-yarder, to Nate Burleson 0:28 left before halftime.  It is the 6^th TD catch of the season for Burleson and it comes with Calvin Johnson on the bench.  Johnson isn’t listed as injured and he’s in uniform on the sideline.  Why he isn’t in the game is the question.  Meanwhile, halftime arrives and the Lions have shut down Adrian Peterson.  His 80-yard run may have been the key to the Vikings win over the Lions in week 3 and he ran for 118 yards this Tuesday past in Minnesota’s upset win at Philadelphia.  In the first half today, Peterson has carried 7 times for only 8 yards.  HALFTIME:  DETROIT 10, MINNESOTA 0.

2:44pm:  Dave Raynor’s second field goal of the day—a 37-yarder this time—ups the Lions lead to 13-0.  The Lions drove to the Vikings 18 on their first possession of the second half but the drive stalled.  Calvin Johnson, Detroit’s Pro Bowl wideout  He has not been thrown to by the Lions today.  I am not sure that he has played a down for the Lions today.  I have no explanation for this.  9:58 left in the 3^rd:  DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 0.

2:57pm:  And just when things were going so well…Hill makes his first mistake of the game, failing to spot Vikings DE Jared Allen who had dropped into coverage and is there to intercept the Lions QB and return it 36 yards for the score which puts Minnesota right back into the game.  This takes place with 6:03 left in the 3^rd quarter.  We learn, from sources, that Calvin Johnson, who has not played today, is going to play today on an emergency basis only.  He’s generally sore, especially, apparently in a shoulder.   DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 7.

3:04pm:  In spite of the score, it is being reported by ESPN that Vikings interim Head Coach Leslie Frazier has been named Minnesota’s new Head Coach.  The Vikings have the ball and are driving.  END OF 3 QUARTERS: DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 7.

3:14pm:  Minnesota drives to the Lions 9 but that’s it and Ryan Longwell makes a 27-yard field goal to make it a 3-point game.  12:05 left in the game.  DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 10.

3:29pm:  You have to give the Lions credit here today.  Just when Minnesota got back into the game, the Lions take them right back out of it.  Detroit goes 77 yards in 8 plays (it took 2:36) and Maurice Morris finishes it off with a 5-yard TD run.  We are under 9-and-a-half to go now.  DETROIT 20, MINNESOTA 10.

3:46PM:  Longwell gets another field goal, a 48-yarder, and if the Vikings recover the on-sides kick they have a chance.  If they don’t, they don’t.  We have 1:55 left and Minnesota has only 1 timeout left.  Burleson recovers the kick and Detroit should be able to kill the clock.  

3:51pm:  They do, but not before Minnesota gets one last chance with 0:20 left.  A wild, lateral-filled last lick chance ends the game.  The final play lasted for over 30 seconds but there were flags on the field due to forward laterals and whatnot and the referee said simply, "Game over," when the Vikings were finally tackled.  The Lions had to punt the ball to Minnesota in the waning seconds as they were unable to completely kill the clock, but in the end it made no difference.  And now, it's off to the Red Wings-Flyers game.  What a day...

FINAL: DETROIT 20, MINNESOTA 13.

New York Islanders (at) Detroit Red Wings: The Live Blog

Pre-Game Skate:  Greetings and Happy New Year (!) from the Joe Louis Sports Arena as we join you for Detroit's annual New Years Eve Ice Hockey Classic.  And here's one for you right off the hop.  You don't see this every night: The Wings are tonight hosting a team, the Islanders, which are exactly half as good as they are.  That's not me talking, it's the standings.  Detroit comes into the game with 52 points, the Islanders have 26.  Do the math, people.  Do the math...

When I was the broadcaster in Grand Rapids our coach, Guy Charron, once confided in me prior to a New Years Eve game that he didn't like having our team play on New Years Eve because he felt that all the women being dressed up for the holiday constituted an unnecessary distraction for the boys--that all in all it was yet another obstacle for his team to overcome.   So, way to go, girls.  Your slinky cocktail dresses, your long nylon-clad legs and your high heels, your luscious ruby-red lips and all the rest of your feminine wares are, as it turns out, all it takes to make the players lose focu....what is it we were talking about?  I forgot.

I mention this by way of addressing the larger, overriding issue and it is of course, this:  all coaches in all sports ARE IDIOTS.  Thank you.

At the risk of being accused of stealing material (and perhaps rightly so now that I think of it), I have lifted the following word-for-word and verbatim from an ESPN.com article summarizing the Isles 2-1 shooutout win last night over the Pittsburgh Penguins--the team which began the night last night with the best record in the NHL.  Sidney Crosby brought a 25-game scoring streak into the game but Islanders goalie Rick Dipietro took care of that as part of a 37-save performance:

Crosby's streak of 25 games with at least a point -- tied for the 11th longest in NHL history -- was snapped by the Islanders and goalie Rick DiPietro, who stopped the Pittsburgh captain and the rest of the Penguins' high-powered offense in a 2-1 shootout victory Wednesday night.  Crosby had scored in every game since Nov. 3 at Dallas. The run, in which Crosby had 26 goals and 24 assists, was the longest in the NHL since Quebec's Mats Sundin had a 30-game streak during the 1992-93 season. Crosby also had goals in five consecutive games before being shut down by the Islanders, the team he has victimized the most -- along with Philadelphia -- with 62 points in 33 career games. Crosby also was denied on Pittsburgh's second shootout attempt when DiPietro made a pad save. That left the game in the hands of DiPietro and Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, the only goalies to be chosen No. 1 overall in the NHL draft.

Thanks, ESPN!  I'm sure we found all of that very interesting.

Detroit is even more shorthanded than they were when the week began and when the week began they were without Pavel Datsyuk, one of the best offensive players in the whole NHL, Dan Cleary, their leading goal scorer and Mike Modano, who happens to be pretty good.  Add Patrick Eaves to the list.  He got hurt the night before last en route to scoring his first career hat trick.  He has six goals in his last seven games, but he's out tonight.

And now a little surprise.  DiPietro will not start tonight in spite of his stellar performance last night.  Dwayne Roloson starts in goal for the Isles.  It is about time to begin...

7:15pm  The Wings begin this one as they so often do here at home--they are all over the Islanders and now they go on the power play.  Detroit has scored a PP goal in 6 straight games and are 6-8 (.750) in their last 2 games.  Roloson's had all the answers so far though: the Wings get a second power play moments after the first expires but cannot score.  Detroit has outshot the Islanders 7-0 in the first half of the first period.  New York is coached by Jack Capuano--hired on an interim basis six weeks ago on account of the previous coach not being very good.  In an oddity, we have a connection, Capuano and I.  The very first game I ever broadcast was a game in which Capuano played.  He was a Muskegon Lumberjack and I was the voice of the Flint Spirits in the International Hockey League.  We were at the L.C. Walker Arena in Muskegon.  It was a lot of years and a lot of miles ago.  MID-1ST: DETROIT 0, ISLANDERS 0.


7:25pm:  Detroit scores on their 9th shot on Roloson when Johan Franzen beats him from low in the circle to the goalie's left off a nice behind-the-net feed from Henrik Zetterberg.  It his Franzen's team-leading 17th goal of the year.  It comes at 11:52.  Shots on goal:  Detroit 10, Islanders 0.   LATER IN THE 1ST:  DETROIT 1, ISLANDERS 0.


7:31pm:  Todd Bertuzzi goes for Goaltender Interference at 13:17 and at 13:22 (0:05 into the Power Play in other words) the Islanders get their first shot on goal and their first goal.  Andrew MacDonald fires it from the line, Jimmy Howard stops it, and Nicklas Lidstrom bats the rebound out of mid-air into his own net.  I think maybe he was distracted by a girl sitting behind the Detroit net who was wearing a shiny top--the kind a girl would wear, I don't know, because it's NEW YEARS EVE?  The goal is credited to John Tavares but I will not be surprised if they wind up giving the goal to MacDonald.  5:23 left in the 1ST: DETROIT 1, ISLANDERS 1.


7:45pm:  The Wings ends up outshooting the Islanders 12-3 in the first AND THEY TRAIL 2-1.  New York gets a goal with 2.7 seconds left in the period to take the lead.  It was a backhander from out in front of the stick of Tavares who thus gets his second of the game and his 12th of the season.  Both New York goals come as a direct result of Islanders offensive zone faceoff wins. END OF THE FIRST: DETROIT 1, ISLANDERS 2.


8:07pm:  We're about 5 minutes into the second and the Islanders still have that one-goal lead.  They did change the scoring on that first New York goal, by the way.  It was pretty clear from the replay that they would.  Matt Moulson (no relation to the popular Canadian beer) has been credited with the goal.  This makes my job tougher.  I'm selecting the 3 Stars tonight and it would have been an easy call had Tavares had 2 goals.  Which, for a while, he did.  But now he does not.  What to do, what to do...  12:00 TO PLAY IN 2ND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, ISLANDERS 2.


8:19pm:  The Wings fall to 0-3 on the PP as Niklas Kronwall surveys the banners in the rafters after he's denied by Roloson following as pretty a give-and-go with Franzen as you are likely every to see.  Kronwall was all alone between the hashmarks but Roloson came across to stop him.  It was the best chance the Wings had during their most recent chance with the extra man.  8:00 left in 2nd:  DETROIT 1, ISLANDERS 2.


8:28pm:  Another face off lost in the Detroit zone winds up in the Detroit net and now the Wings--in spite of a 22-11 advantage in shots--trail 3-1.  Jesse Joensuu (I'm not going to lie to you, I've never heard of Jesse Joensuu) tips a wrist shot from the line out of midair past Howard.  The goal, his 3rd of the year, comes at 15:13.  LATE IN THE 2ND PERIOD:  DETROIT 1, ISLANDERS 3.


8:36pm:  It's the Wings turn to get one late in a period as Valtteri Filppula bangs a rebound into an all but vacant New York net with 8.4 seconds left in the 2nd.  The sequence begins with a Lidstrom shot from the line.  Filppula comes up with the puck after it caroms right to him off the post to the right of Roloson.  Rollie the Goalie wants a do-over, citing interference in the crease by Bertuzzi.  Roloson may have a case, but there is no call forthcoming and the Wings, outshooting the Islanders 13-11 in the period and 25-15 through 40 minutes are back in the game.  It is Filppula's 9th goal of the year.  AFTER 2 PERIODS: DETROIT 2, ISLANDERS 3.


9:05pm:  Seven minutes gone in the 3rd and the Wings have held the Islanders to a single shot on goal in the period (they have 8 on the NY net) but still trail by one.  Detroit sees another power play go by without a goal.  They are 0-4 on the PP.  Bertuzzi had the best chance as he tried to slam one by from the top of the crease but Roloson was in position...again.  3RD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, ISLANDERS 3.


9:12pm:  Tomas Tatar--making his NHL debut tonight--tips a shot past Roloson and the Wings have tied the game.  It's pronounced TAH-tar (his nickname has to be sauce, right?) and the Game Notes say he enjoys going to the gym.  Who enjoys going to the gym?  Anyway, what a thrill for the second-year pro.  His first NHL goal at 10:18.  (Spoiler alert:  I have to turn in my 3 Star selections in a couple of minutes.  We're going to give the #1 star to the kid because, hey, why not?  He's got the biggest goal of the game, right?  We may as well make the night extra memorable for him.  Helm is #2, Tavares #3.)  3RD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, ISLANDERS 3.


9:29pm  OVERTIME.  Bertuzzi was all alone in front with about half a minute left but the pass went right through him and that was the last chance in regulation.  So, on the last night of the year, we play extra time...

9:38pm:  Ah, the Islanders score a power play goal with 1:03 left in overtime and the Wings will have to settle for a point tonight. Franzen was called for holding while Detroit was on the power play in the OT and when the Isles went a man to the good, Tavares found P.A. Parenteau (speaking of NHLers I haven't heard of) open in the circle to the right of Howard and he slammed it home.  It's his 9th of the year.   So, the Wings lose in overtime--no doubt a case of too many beautiful women here in the building on a New Years Eve night.  Thanks for everything in 2010!  It was a big year for me what with the getting back in the press box and all (I don't see my colleagues doing cartwheels over it, but it was big for me) and I thank you all.  We'll next file from Lions game Sunday afternoon and then will head straight from Ford Field to here for the Wings-Flyers game Sunday evening.  Right now, I've got a couple pretty girls waiting for me at home.  Happy New Year, everybody!  FINAL: DETROIT 3, ISLANDERS 4 (OT).

Vancouver Canucks at Detroit Red Wings: The Live Blog

No Pre-Game Skate for you tonight as I was, truth be told and I always do my best to tell you the truth, goofiing off down in the press room when I should have been doing my job.  Sorry (not really).  Tonight come the Vancouver Canucks here to take on a Red Wings team which has been--somewhat surprisingly--struggling of late.  After going 17-4-2 (.783) to start the season, the Wings have won only three of their last nine.  They do have points in 5 of those 9 games, 3-4-2 (.444), but the drop off of late has been somewhat impressive.  After being on pace for 128 points in their first 23 games, Detroit has played at a 73-point pace in these last 9. Maybe I wasn't goofing off as much as I thought, no?

I've missed the last couple of games and it's good to be back.  I had to go back into the hospital last week as my heart (once again) began beating irregularly.   The episode lasted for only a few hours but they kept me for a couple of days to infuse a medication via an IV stuck in my arm.  I'm fine now, thanks.  In fact, I was back on the ice yesterday and--aside from a gross inability to stop the puck (WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?  YOU'RE A GOALIE!  YOUR ENTIRE JOB CONSISTS OF GETTING SOME PART OF YOUR BODY--ANY PART, IT DOESN'T MATTER--IN FRONT OF THE DAMN PUCK AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT)--I had no problems whatsever.  So, again, I am fine.  I am probably being a little hard on my (lack of) goaltending ability.  I've been playing with a torn post-tibular tendon.  And here I didn't even know I had one.  It turns out I do--we all do.  It's in the ankle.  While it sounds bad, it doesn't hurt much, but it does impair my skating: I'm sort of one-legged out there.  But, you didn't come here to hear about my health issues, now did you?  It's the Wings and 'Nucks so we shall turn our attention to that, forthwith.

7:55pm:  We've played a little over 7 minutes--no score.  Vancouver has had the two best scoring chances in a game in which they have been out shot 8-4.  I wonder if this is going to turn out like it did the last time I was here, a week ago Monday where the Wings outshot the Kings 51-26 and lost 5-0.

7:57pm:  It won't.  Dan Cleary just finished a 2-on-1 taking a nice cross-rink feed from Todd Bertuzzi and burying one high glove on 'Nucks netter Roberto Luongo.  Cleary has now scored 15 goals and has moved into the team lead, breaking a tie with Johan Franzen.   Cleary came into the game with only 2 goals in his last 9 games.  Hmmm.  We just outlined the Wings difficulty winning games in their last 9.  Coincidence, or no?  You be the judge.

8:20pm:  The period ends with a Vancouver flurry.  There were, in point of fact, a lot of those Vancouver flurries in the first, a period which saw the Canucks outshoot Detroit 17-14.   END OF THE FIRST PERIOD:  DETROIT 1, VANCOUVER 0.


8:39pm:  They called a crosscheck on Brian Rafalski that wasn't (I mean it was a really, really weak crosschecking call and I wouldn't say that if I didn't think it because, really, I don't care who wins.  Indeed, as a highly skilled broadcast journalist I'm not allowed to care) and it takes Vancouver 0:15 to cash on on this bit of largess from referees Chris Rooney and Don VanMassenhoven.  There were no penalties in the whole first period and we've had three called in the first 3  minutes here of the second.  The Vancouver goal is scored by one of Sedin brothers (Henrik in this case, but Daniel got an assist) at 1:11 of the second period.  DETROIT 1, VANCOUVER 1.


8:47PM:  Valtteri Filppula goes hard to the net--they always tell you to go hard to the net--and because he does he is right there (Johnny-on-the-spot as the old-time broadcasters would have said) to bang in the rebound of a Cleary shot.  The goal is scored at 6:29 and is the 8th of the year for Filppula:  DETROIT 2, VANCOUVER 1.


8:59PM:  Another cheesy call (Filppula, closing hand on puck) and another power play goal for Vancouver. It, again, takes them less than a minute to score it (penalty: 10:33, goal: 11:21, elapsed time: 0:48) and again Sedin is the goal-getter.  It's Daniel, this time though and that's about the only difference.  DETROIT 2, VANCOUVER 2.


9:04PM:  I forgot (and  this is a heck of a thing to forget) that we were just informed that Pavel Datsyuk has sustained an upper body injury and will not return to tonight's game.  Datsyuk, dumped in front of the Canucks net in the first period, fell on the stick of a Vancouver defenseman.  I noticed him getting some medical attention on the bench a few moments later. I hope its not a case of a broken rib or two.  (This is not because I want Detroit to win--we covered that.  It's because I enjoy watching Datsyuk play.  He's one of the best players in hockey.)

9:13pm:  Twenty seconds to go in the period (okay sticklers, 20.2) and the 'Nucks take the lead when Brad Stewart flubs an easy (EASY) hold-in at the Vancouver line and an odd-man rush against Detroit ensues.  Adding insult to the injury (the injury in this case is two-fold as you (1) hate to give up a goal in the last minute of a period--especially when it's (2) the tie-breaking goal) is the fact that former Red Wing Mikael Samuelsson scores it.  The Sedin who figures in the scoring this time is Henrik.  That's 3 Vancouver goals tonight--and 4 points by a Sedin.  The period ends and this time the Wings hold 'em to 13 shots on goal, down from 17 in the first.   But, they give up 3 goals.  AFTER 2: DETROIT 2, VANCOUVER 3.


9:32pm:   Less than 0:40 into the 3rd and Wings goalie Jimmy Howard makes two of the best saves I've seen him make all year.  He stopped a slot shot by Henrik Sedin (him, again) with his toe and then made a brilliant glove save on Sedin who swooped in for his own rebound.

9:33pm:  Detroit gets a huge break.  Henrik Zetterberg is actually behind the Vancouver red line when he tries to backhand the puck out in front and it hits Luongo and bounces into the net at 1:54.  A softy for Zetterberg (11) and the Wings have the thing tied on a fluke at 1:54.  DETROIT 3, VANCOUVER 3.


9:52pm:  At least the Sedin twins weren't in on this one: Howard overplayed a shot by Jeff Tambellini from the circle to his left and Tambellini rang it off the post and crossbar loudly enough that we could hear it way up here.  Howard moved a little too far to his left and went down a little early and, while he didn't give Tambellini much net, he gave him enough and now he and the Wings trail.  Under 6 to play, now.  DETROIT 3, VANCOUVER 4.


10:00pm:  Nick Lidstrom sneaks in from the left points and by going to the net he's right there (Johnny-on-the-spot, even) to fire in a rebound and tie the game with 3:54 to go.  Rafalski shot from the right point and Lidstrom just cruised in from the line to hit the back of the net on the power play.  Detroit had been oh-for 3 on the power play in this one, but not anymore. We approach the final minute of regulation time:  DETROIT 4, VANCOUVER 4.


10:07PM:  Overtime.  The Wings--outshooting Vancouver 15-6 in the third and getting those 2 great Howard saves on Henrik Sedin in the opening minute of the period--have forced overtime and so will get a point tonight when a few minutes ago it looked as though they almost certainly would not.  A great goal on a great play, a smart play, by Lidstrom late in the third gets them the point.

10:10pm:  Henrik wins it, but it's Zetterberg, not Sedin.  A nice hold at the line by Darren Helm precedes a blocked Rafalski shot which caroms right to Zetterberg in the left circle and he one-times it by the startled and late-to-react Luongo.   The second goal of the night and 12th of the year for Zetterberg comes at 2:59 of overtime.  It is the only shot on goal in the OT for Detroit, who outshoot the Canucks 45-39 in the game.  Detroit is off to St. Louis tomorrow--the rest of us are off to get in some last-minute shopping.  Detroit's next home game comes on New Years Eve and we will talk to you then.  Merry Christmas and good night from Joe Louis Arena.  FINAL:  DETROIT 5, VANCOUVER 4 (OT).

Kings 5 (at) Wings 0: The Live Blog

I've been interviewing NHL coaches for 30 years now and I have yet to meet any, not one, who knew anything--anything at all--about goaltending.  The closest was Scotty Bowman and that's because he admitted he knew nothing about it.  Ask Scotty a question, any question, about netminding and his answer never varied a single syllable: "The goalies," Scotty would say, "Put the numbers on themselves."  Scotty looked at the Goals-Against-Average and the Save Percentage and went with the guy with the best numbers.  He never considered, never cared about how they came to get those numbers.


Comes now Los Angeles Kings coach Terry Murray.  On Saturday, in a 3-2 overtime loss to Minnesota, his goalie, Jonathan Quick twice misplayed the puck with his stick and in each case his miscue led directly to a Wild goal.  Murray said this to the LA Times after the game about Quick's twin blunders: "Those are not fluke plays. Those are giveaways.  A puck on your stick, that's concentration, that's making the right play, the right decision with the puck."

Here's the thing, Terry.  The goal stick is a marvelous instrument when it comes to doing that which it was designed to do, which is to block a hockey puck travelling at a high rate of speed.  As an implement for stick handling and for passing a hockey puck, well, not so much.  It's a little, um, unwieldy. 


But, whatever.  Goalie Quick, perhaps out of embarrassment over what happened Saturday, stopped 51 shots--the most saves he's ever had in a game--and turned in one of the greatest shutouts you will ever see on Monday night as the Kings rolled the Wings 5-0 before a sparse Joe Louis Arena audience.  We were there, and this is what we wrote as the evening wore on...


Pre-Game Skate:  It's probably two miles as the crow flies from my seat here in the Press Box at the Joe Louis Arena to Ford Field where my concern is that full-scale rioting has broken out.  It was announced yesterday that the Giants at Vikings game--scheduled to played Sunday in Minneapolis but cancelled when the roof collapsed at Mall of America Field (better known by its old name, The Metrodome)--and would be played here in Detroit, tonight, at Ford Field.  The Lions announced that anyone with a ticket to the Lions-Packers game Sunday could use that ticket to see the Vikings-Giants and that free admission tickets would be distributed starting this morning at 9 at the stadium box office.  I really think the Lions thought that 20 or 30 thousand fans might show up for the game tonight.  Instead, fans waited for as long as 9 hours overnight in single-digit temperatures, replete with wind-chills that made it feel like it was way below zero, for those free tickets.  Around 10:30, the Lions sent out a press release best described as "panicked" saying the distribution of the freebies was being immediately terminated, noting that Ford Field seats 64,500 and that tonight's was a "first-come, first-served" event and, further, that just because you had a ticket either from yesterday's game or one of the free admission tickets distributed this morning did not mean you were going to get in to see the game.  I have had visions all afternoon of a stampede of fans racing for the best seats and all sorts of mayhem ensuing.  I guess I'll find out how things turned out when I get home tonight.

I have to tell you, this is no screwing around weather we are having here in Detroit tonight.  Typically I would be reluctant to discuss my underwear choices with you but tonight I will confess that I am wearing my hockey underwear (the longjohns players wear beneath their uniforms) under my dress slacks just to keep me safe and warm for the 5-7 minute walk from my car to the arena door.  This place is located right on the Detroit River, and the wind whips through the area as hard as does "The Hawk" in Chicago.  It's cold enough that you could die, literally die, walking this evening between the building and the parking lot.

As I mentioned, I don't know how many have turned out at Ford Field, but it looks like they have all gone there instead of here.  Tonight's crowd is remarkably small.  I'm sure a good part of the reason is, again, the weather. Just about all the schools in the area were closed today and the roads, even tonight, are just awful.  It took me almost an hour and a half to get here.  Usually I can make it in less than half an hour.

8:00pm:  While I was banging on about the weather and the situation at Ford Field and whatnot, they started the hockey game.  We are, in fact, better than halfway through the first period and there is no score.  The Wings are doing what the Wings do, pouring it on early, looking to take the lead.  They have out shot LA 8-3 so far.

8:02pm:  The out shooting the Kings thing doesn't, as it turns out, matter at all as LA's Wayne Simmonds gets his 5th goal of the year at 13:27.  Jimmy Howard gives up an ugly rebound--the original long-range shot hit him in the midsection and looked like it would be rather easy for him to corral, but instead the puck bounded a dozen or so feet dead out in front of the net, these things happen--and Simmonds was right there to fire it along the ice through Howards's pads.   DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 1.

8:06pm:  The fact that the Kings have scored first might, oddly, auger well for Detroit.  In each of their last 3 games against Los Angeles, Detroit has led and Detroit has lost.  Still, LA has won only twice in their last 18 games here at the Joe Louis Arena. The Kings started the season looking like they themselves were the Detroit Red Wings, going 12-3-0.  Since, they are 4-7-1.  They are tied for second in the NHL in Home Wins (11) and 27th--out of 30--in Road Wins (5).  And they are having trouble scoring goals.  They are last in their division in Goals For and have scored more than two goals in only 2 of their last 8 games.  The Kings are starting a 5-game road trip here tonight after going 3-0-1 on their just-completed homestand, which featured a 3-2 overtime win over Detroit.

8:12pm:  The period is over and that goal by Simmonds is all we have to show for it.  END OF FIRST PERIOD:  DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 1.


8:30pm:  The second period begins...

8:41pm:  12:30 left in the second, still 1-0 Los Angeles and now, for the first time in the game, a power play.  Todd Bertuzzi gets tripped so the Wings are a man to the good.  As was the case here against Montreal Friday, Detroit is up against a solid penalty killing unit: LA is 5th in the League on the kill.  The Wings have, as the PP begins, out shot LA in the game 20-11.  Tomas Holmstrom has a golden chance just as the PP begins but Jonathan Quick--who has been terrific tonight, just terrific--makes a snow angel and somehow makes the stop with his paddle extended at full length along the ice.  A brilliant save if ever there was one.  All in all, the Wings get 7 shots on the power play, an extraordinarily high number, but they fail to score. Then, just 0:11 seconds after the Kings kill it off, Detroit goes right back on the PP.  They get a couple more shots this time, but again, no joy.

8:54pm:  Detroit has now out shot LA 33-11.  Once again, it doesn't matter.  It doesn't matter a bit.  Or, if you prefer, a whit.  Oscar Moller, called up from the minors (Manchester, AHL) only Saturday, gets his first of the year, and again it's a rebound that costs Howard.  The puck had rolled behind the Wings netminder but it looked like it would come to rest before it reached the goal line when Moller tapped it into the net at 13:39.  DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 2.


9:09pm:  The second period is over and the Wings are still not on the board.  Second period Shots on Goal: Detroit 27, Los Angeles 11.  For the night, shots are 38-17, Red Wings.  For the night, goals are: DETROIT 0, LOS ANGLES 2.  For the record and for those of you scoring at home, Detroit is 2-5-1 (.313) when trailing after 2.  Los Angeles is 8-0-0 (1.000) when leading after 2.

9:19pm:  A correction.  Shots on goal in the second period were 26-11, Detroit, not 27-11 as had been announced on the PA here.  Sorry, these things happen.  You should be able to get over this and move on.
In a note totally unrelated to our game here, I think I'll watch that Vikings-Giants game when I get home.  They are showing it at midnight on NFL Network.  It always takes me a few hours to fall off after experiencing the excitement of NHL hockey, so what the heck.

9:26pm:  We are all of 0:23 into the third and this game just ended.  Another rebound: another LA goal.  Howard was left hanging out to dry on this one as Anze Kopitar, on an odd-man rush after Howard had made the first save, beat the Detroit defense to a rebound the Detroit defense should have gotten to first and Kopitar buried it high in the net. I'm not saying Detroit can't come back and score three goals in the 19+ minutes remaining, I'm saying they won't.   DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 3.


9:31:  Make it 4-0, and not even three minutes into the 3rd some are leaving.  Seconds after the Kings hit the crossbar loudly enough to make our ears ring all the way up here in the pressbox (imagine how it sounded to Hoawrd just a foot or so away!), Drew Doughty redirected a pass behind the helpless Howard at 2:59.  DETROIT, 0 LOS ANGELES 4.


9:33pm:  At 3:11, a dozen seconds after the 4th LA goal, Justin Abdelkader gets a double minor for high sticking and this third period is, officially, now off to the worst start of any third period, ever.

9:36pm:  Uh, it just got even worse.  The Kings get a power play goal and have now scored 3 goals on 6 shots so far in the period.  Jack Johnson, ex-UM star, is the goal-getter this time and the score looks as bad as this game looks for Detroit.  DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 5.  The Wings have not lost any game this year by more than 3 goals.  That stat is, obviously, in jeopardy tonight.  It's gotten so bad now that some of the scouts are leaving the pressbox and the building--all the better to beat the traffic, etc.

9:52pm:  Is Jimmy Howard slumping?  It's a tough charge to make after the way he played here on Friday, when the Wings were outshot 20-4 in the 3rd period against the Canadiens but Howard held 'em off in a 3-2 Wings win, but in his last 11 starts--including tonight's--Howard has allowed 4 or more goals 5 times.  If Detroit fails to score in the next 3:19, they will have been shutout for the first time this season (29 games).  This especially hard to explain given that Detroit has already established a new season high in shots on goal with 49.

9:58m:  The scouts have all left now and so have most of the fans.  I don't know why they are bothering to leave early at this point.  Traffic is not going to be an issue getting out of here tonight--there can't be more than 3 or 4 thousand left in the building as Budd Lynch announces that we have reached the final minute.  Some in the crowd greet the news with a cheer.

10:00pm:  A lot of booing as the horn sounds, more than you'd expect given all this team has given these fans over the past couple of decades.  The Wings got 51 shots on goal tonight.  LA goalie Jonathan Quick had 51 saves.  You don't see that--a 50+ save shutout--every night, I can tell you that.

The St. Louis Blues come in Wednesday.  We'll be here as long as they let us in, and if they do, we'll talk to you then.

FINAL:  DETROIT 0, LOS ANGELES 5.

Green Bay Packers 3 (at) Detroit Lions 7–The (sort of) Live-Blog

Okay.  Here’s what I wrote in real time while at Ford Field today during the Packers-Lions game, an upset by Detroit which can largely—if not entirely—be accounted for by the game-ending injury sustained by Packers Quarterback Aaron Rogers late in the first half.  Although, who knows?  It was a 0-0 game when he left.  Today’s was the first win by Detroit since October, 1988 in which the Lions scored as few as 7 points.

(We post this now and not as it happened because. as I point out once again, Ford Field charges $30 for internet access and paying that much would seriously damage my game coverage profit margin.)

What a weekend. We got to see the Montreal Canadiens—the most storied of all NHL franchises—Friday night and now this afternoon we’ll see the most storied of all NFL franchises, the Green Bay Packers. That’s true, isn’t it? In terms of history and tradition it’s the Canadiens in hockey, the Packers in Football, the Yankees in Baseball and the Celtics in basketball, don’t you think? At any rate, with this as a backdrop, we say welcome to Ford Field on a snowy, wintery Sunday afternoon.

We always tell you: READ THE GAME NOTES! It is a Cardinal Rule of sportscasting. You learn so much when you do. To wit, here’s what we have come up with this afternoon to prepare you, pre-game, for today’s game. The information comes (indeed the information has been lifted, cut and pasted directly from) the Green Bay Packers Official Game Notes, which they call “The Dope Sheet.”  For the record, they are the only team in the NFL to call their game notes that and there’s a story behind it.  Green Bay’s first publicist may have invented the very concept of game notes and when he did, he called them, “The Dope Sheet.”  In his honor, the Packers have retained that title for their notes.  Anyway, here’s the pertinent “Dope” for today’s game:

• No other NFL teams have played every year since 1932, when the Packers and the Lions, then known as the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans, began their yearly home and home series. This is Game No. 163 in the all-time series. Green Bay leads 89-64-7 overall, trails 36-40-3 in Detroit and are 6-2 at Ford Field.
• The Packers’ 10-game winning streak against the Lions is tied for No. 2 among NFL series behind only New England’s 14-game winning streak against Buffalo. The Packers have won 18 of the last 20 against Detroit.
• Green Bay Head Coach Mike McCarthy is 9-0 against the Lions since taking over coaching duties in 2006.
• The Packers have a 20-8 (.714) mark against NFC North opponents under McCarthy, which ranks first among NFC North teams.
• QB Aaron Rodgers has a 109.1 passer rating in nine career starts in domes, with 2,599 passing yards, 18 TDs and just four INTs on 198-of- 296 passing (66.9 percent). His 109.1 passer rating indoors since 2008 ranks No. 1 in the league among NFL quarterbacks over that span. Rodgers has topped 300 yards passing in four of his five career starts against Detroit.

So, now that we have a firm grounding in the history and statistics surrounding this series we are ready to begin, which is a good thing as the (8-4) Packers have just been introduced. Now, the (2-10) Lions trot onto the field accompanied by the usual pyrotechnics: the fog machine, the cannon shots, the loud music and the rest.

The big pre-game news here at Ford Field, by the way, is the announcement that Ford Field will host the New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings game here tomorrow night. The roof of Mall of America Field (formerly the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome) collapsed overnight due to the weight of accumulating snow so the game there today was cancelled (it would have been even if the roof had not caved in because the Giants happen to be stuck in Kansas City, snowed in and unable to fly to Minneapolis) and has been re-scheduled for tomorrow night here at Ford Field. In a delicious irony, this means that the first Monday Night Football game ever to be played at Ford Field will NOT feature the Detroit Lions. There is a rumor that tickets will be free and will be available at the box office starting at 9 a.m. We’ll let you know as soon as we have a confirmation on that. I’d like to come myself, but I can’t. The Wings are hosting the Kings Monday night as I am expected there.

1:03pm: Kick-off. Logan returns, Detroit holds, and the Lions start at their own 8. Typical Lions, don’t you think? The Lions—in a remarkable turn of events, actually try to get the ball to Calvin Johnson, a.k.a. “The Best Receiver in the NFL” not once but twice on the opening series. The first is a bad throw by Drew Stanton, but the second one, on 3^rd down, isn’t. The thing is, Johnson, who complained (and rightfully so) about the Lions inability to get him the ball in an interview earlier this week, naturally flat out drops it when the Lions do try to get him the ball and Detroit’s three and out. It’s Lions football in its purest form.

1:08pm: Landon Johnson forces a fumble after a 12-yard Aaron Rogers pass completion and the Lions recover at their own 28. How about that? Detroit stops a Green Bay drive and gets the ball back. The fans, many of whom have apparently stayed home due to the snow, are delighted. There are many, many Green Bay fans here today, but not quite as many as the number of Chicago fans who joined us here last week when the Bears fans actually outshouted the Detroit fans, especially in the second half.

1:15pm A stupid play by Stanton: The Lions had driven to the Green Bay 27 when Stanton, pressured, lobbed it into the end zone for an easy interception by Tramon Williams. This one has some hang time to it. When it was in the air you could tell—and I said out loud—“That is going to be picked off.” And it was. Had Stanton merely thrown the ball out of bounds, Detroit would have at least had a chance to try a field goal. Instead, 1^st-and-10 Packers at the 20, still no score with about 9 minutes left in the first.

1:19pm: Turk McBride sacks Rogers on 3^rd and one so Detroit winds up getting the ball back. It was a huge 62-yard punt by Tim Masthay of the Packers but Logan returns to the 29 before getting smacked down big time and the Lions have their 3^rd possession of this first quarter. It goes nowhere—3-and-out—for the second time in those 3 possessions.

1:28pm: Three-and-out for the Packers, too with the big play a tackle for loss (5-yards) by Ndamukong Suh. This game has turned into a battle of the punters. Stefan Logan—Detroit’s presumptive MVP—picks up 11 on first down but that it. Stanton missed Johnson badly on third down which is too bad because Johnson had a step and if you get the ball to him in stride a step is maybe all he needs to take it to the house but the trow was way behind him and incomplete.

1:35pm: There are flags all over the field and nobody knows what the deal is. A long pass to Greg Jennings is bobbled by Jennings, plucked out of midair by Detroit’s Amari Spievey and he returns 37 yards out to midfield but a block in the back on the return moves the Lions back to the 35. Still, it’s the Lions second takeaway of the first quarter and as we move into the final minute of an turnover-filled quarter, the score remains 0-0. The Lions again fail to garner points off the turnover—another three and out for Detroit and the punt it away. End of the First Quarter: DETROIT 0, GREEN BAY 0.

1:46pm: Green Bay has to punt again. That makes 7 punts today for these two teams today combined and we are only a couple of minutes into the second quarter. Green Bay is playing an altogether mediocre game so far. It’s almost as though they realize a game consists of two halves and they’ve seen how the Lions have done in second halves this season.

1:49pm: The Lions use Calvin Johnson on a reverse and it gains 11. There’s a way to get him the ball. A play later Clay Matthews sacks Stanton for a loss of, get this, 19 yards. It’s 3^rd and 25 and so Stanton, trying to pick it up, instead throws his second pick of the game. It’s almost as good as a punt into the end zone, though. Green Bay starts at their own 29.

1:57pm: Make it 8 punts today as Masthay boots it away again for Green Bay. We’ve got 6:43 to go before the half and there is still no score.

2:28pm: Sorry, we’ve been away for a few minutes as I’ve had to do a couple of live updates on Ron Cameron’s show on WDFN. The story is right now that we are at halftime and it remains scoreless. The big story though came late in the quarter when packers QB Rogers, tackled at the end of a long gainer, slammed his head against the Ford Field turf and sustained a concussion. We have been told that Rogers, who was standing on the sidelines wearing a baseball cap while his replacement Matt Flynn was in there for Green Bay’s final possession of the half, will not return. So, this is now a battle of a second-string QB, Flynn, against a third-string QB, Stanton. For the record, Stanton was 3/8 for a grand total of 21 yards through the air in the first half with 2 interceptions. The game has featured 12 punts so far. It has hard to imagine that any of the preceding 162 meetings of these two teams featured less actual football action than has the first half of this one. Halftime: DETROIT 0, GREEN BAY 0.

2:45pm: Detroit’s Landon Johnson is placed on a backboard and carted off the field. The good

news is that Johnson you could see Johnson move his left leg.

2:47pm: Green Bay is moving the ball to start the second half. They began at their own 29 and have it now first-and-ten at the Lions 31.

2:51pm: We have our first points of the game and they go to Green Bay. Mason Crosby kicks a 42-yard field goal. The way the Lions offense looks today, Detroit may now be hopelessly behind. Meanwhile, it is announced that Landon Johnson has sustained a neck injury but does have movement in his extremities. With 10:55 left in the 3^rd: DETROIT 0, GREEN BAY 3.

2:56pm: Punt #7 for Detroit and now Stanton is 3-for-11 on the day. Meanwhile, we can see just a little sliver of outside from our press box seat and it looks like it is really coming down out there and it looks like it has really been coming down since an hour or so before this game started. I wonder how many inches will have fallen by the time we get out of here this afternoon.

3:07pm: DeAndre Levy intercepts Flynn in the end zone to end a Green Bay drive which had begun at the Packer 10 and which saw Green Bay move all the way to the Lions 9. In other words, just when it looked like Green Bay was going to go in and score and make it a ten-point ball game, Flynn throws a terrible ball and now Detroit has the ball at the 9.

3:11pm: With less than 3 minutes left in the 3^rd, the Lions finally complete a pass to Calvin Johnson. And it’s a big one: 44 yards. Stanton had, up until that time, thrown for 24 yards in the game, total. The Detroit drive stalls three plays later so Dave Rayner comes on to attempt a 48-yard, game-tying field goal. He yanks it left, no good. We’re down to 1:17 left in the 3^rd and that Green Bay field goal is holding up. End of the Third Quarter: DETROIT 0, GREEN BAY 3.

3:29pm: Stanton hits Will Heller with a 13-yard TD pass and for the first time today they can play the Lions fight song on the PA system. It’s an impressive Detroit drive—right on down the field: 80 yards in 12 plays, taking 6:37 off the clock. Stanton just dumped it off to Heller around the 20 yard line and the big TE ran over Packers and fell into the end zone for the first Detroit score of the day. The Lions lead. Can they hang on for the remaining 7:55? DETROIT 7. GREEN BAY 3.

3:39pm: I don’t know how to break this to you, but the Lions are going to win this game. There’s 5:27 left and the Lions still lead 7-3 after the Packers again couldn’t move it and Masthay had to punt for the 7^th time in the game. Detroit is now in a position to run the clock out if they can pick up a first down or two. Or not. The Detroit punts comes with 4:06 left, so the Lions wound up burning less than 2 minutes off the game clock. The key miscue was Stanton’s incomplete pass to Calvin Johnson on third down. Johnson broke one way, Stanton threw it the other, and the Lions, once again, had to kick it away.

3:45pm: Green Bay took over at their own 9 with 3:58 to go and now, at the 2 Minute Warning, they are at midfield. You have to be thinking that the Lions failure to burn clock when they had the chance the last time they had the ball is going to wind up killing them. Again.

3:57pm: It doesn’t. Green Bay had 3^rd and 1 at the Detroit 31 and Flynn tried to throw long. It was incomplete. On 4^th and 1, same thing. Flynn tried to go long and again it was incomplete. When the Lions took over on downs there was under a minute to go and Detroit, with Stanton throwing an incomplete bomb on 4^th down to burn the final 0:03 off the game clock, holds on for the win. Detroit’s ten-game losing streak to Green Bay ends. It was a win nobody saw coming as Detroit goes to 3-10 while the Packers fall to 8-5. Detroit plays their next 2 in Florida (at Tampa and at Miami) before closing it out (it being the 2010 season) here against Minnesota on January 2^nd. Again, the Vikings-Giants game is here tomorrow (Monday) night and its free. I’ll be at the Wings-Kings game and we’ll talk to you then. FINAL: DETROIT 7, GREEN BAY 3.