The Anti-Wings

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Wings. This is a team that was outshot 52 to 24 and somehow managed to win... they waltzed into San Jose and won 4-1... the goaltender is the best player on the team... and yet they're not even a top 8 team in the West. It's the exact opposite of what we've come to expect from this storied franchise.

The Wings finished their West coast trip with a 3-1 record, proving they're capable of beating any team in any venue. Yet, they still can't consistently put the puck in the net. When they scored 4 goals in San Jose, it was their first 4 goal game (not including an empty-netter) since November 30th. During the same stretch last year, they scored four goals or more TEN times, including six games where they netted six. But the lack of goal-scoring was expected with the loss of talent. The Wings have stayed competitive thanks to two developments - Jimmy Howard and defensive discipline. Since the beginning of the year, the defense has improved greatly in reducing turnovers. They don't press, which means fewer offensive opportunities (notable in Lidstrom's goal-scoring drought), but they also don't give up many odd-man rushes. And Jimmy Howard has simply been a Godsend. True, both the Kings and Sharks missed glorious opportunities to light up the scoreboard, but we must credit Howard for blocking everything that came his way. He gave up zero soft goals on the road trip, and singlehandedly frustrated the super-talented Sharks and the somewhat-talented Kings.

As of today, the Wings are one point shy of the 8th playoff spot. I believe it's crucial for the Wings to move up to a comfortable playoff position so they don't wear themselves out. Under normal circumstances, the team would be in fine shape, since key players (Zetterberg, Franzen, Cleary, Kronwall, Filppula) already took extended mid-season vacations. Yet, this is an Olympic year. Zetterberg and Lidstrom will have to log long hours for Team Sweden. Rafalski will be the key defensemen for Team USA. Only the Canadians will get a vacation (Bertuzzi, Cleary, Helm, Drapes, etc).

If the Wings manage to move up to the 4th or 5th spot, they can take their foot off the gas a bit and start to finalize their personnel. Key contributors like Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, and Abdelkader may find their roles greatly diminished once the injured players return. One player who cemented his spot on this team is Darren Helm. The young center almost singlehandedly won the games in LA and San Jose. In the waning moments of a 1-1 game in LA, Helm sped past the Kings' defense to win a puck deep in the LA zone. He fought off two defenders and rushed toward the goal. His "shot" ricocheted off the goalie's stick and slipped between his legs into the net. Extremely lucky, but Helm's hustle earned the luck. Against the Sharks, with the Sharks pressing deep in the Red Wings zone, Helm - without his stick - somehow stole the puck from a Shark defensemen, and sent it out of the zone. Instead of going to the bench for a stick, Helm raced after the puck, beat the defensemen once again, and threw the puck deep into the Sharks' zone, while sliding on this stomach! A few minutes later, Helm's line iced the puck twice and thus were forced to stay on the ice for an extended shift. He won the faceoff and cleared the puck out of the zone. But Helm and Patrick Eaves didn't leave the ice. They continued to forecheck. Eaves's tenacity forced a turnover, and Helm picked off the pass, raced toward the net and scored. Beautiful, aggressive play. Helm is already a fan favorite. With more plays like that, he'll soon enter Darren McCarty-level popularity.

Pistoned
I'm not sure if the Piston's season has actually started yet because the game last Saturday was some sort of exhibition. It was nice of the Piston organization to let the Boulan Park Middle School hoops team wear their uniforms and take on the Sixers. It must've been quite a thrill for those youngsters to actually play against a real NBA team!