The Wings beat Chicago tonight in overtime to win the conference championship and will go up against Pittsburg in the finals, as they did last year.

Their captain and Norris trophy winner, Lidstrom, didn't play, their leading scorer, Datsyuk didn't play, and yet they keep winning.

Franzen, Cleary, Filppula, Samuelson, Lebda, Kronwall, Hudler - how did they all work out so well? That doesn't seem possible. How did both Datsyuk and Zetterburg develop into stars? How did role players like Holmstrom and Draper and Maltby contribute so much for so long? How can Osgood make yet another comeback and play so well?

And then there are 5-6 starters on injured reserve all of whom are great.

A bunch of new players. Who are these guys? I just got to know the last batch of new players. Darren Helm. Who is that? Scored the winning goal tonight. He is a center, and led the team in hits with 12. Played most of the year on the Grand Rapids farm team. 22 years old.

Jonathan Ericsson? Playing a regular shift on defense, and playing well. Swedish guy, up from the Grand Rapids farm team.

I think that Grand Rapids farm team could play in the NHL and win more games than they lose. The Wings have brought about 20 guys up from there at one time or another over the last couple of years, and never miss a beat. There was one week a couple of years ago when they had seven starters injured, brought 7 replacements up from Grand Rapids and went 4-0-1 with that lineup.

Watching the box score on the first game of the playoffs, and some guy named Abdelkader scored the third goal for the Wings. Who? So I go look up the stats, and to see where he had played previously.

Muskegon High, Muskegon MI... oh, that hotbed of NHL talent. Then Michigan State University.

No minor league record, and now a goal scorer in the Stanley Cup finals. Who needs Datsyuk, we've got Abdelkader to step in.

How do the Wings keep finding these guys?

Hey Mike, I found a way to see the game..it was a good one. The Pitt guys are insane in terms of talent (Malkin, Crosby..) but Detroit eventually locked the game down with their puck position strategy, shades of last year (and faceoffs were surprisingly a HUGE issue for Pitt that really powered up Detroits game in that sense)

Detroit didn't necessarily do it ALL game, especially early when Osgood was honestly their best player, but its startlingly effective once they get it working. Mike Milbury just said they were the *best ever* at that strategy. But given Milburys track record that might be more of a curse than an endorsement ;)

Officiating was fairly lax in terms of letting them play

Michigan State got multiple on-air mentions btw and again just now in the postgame interview

Watching the box score on the first game of the playoffs, and some guy named Abdelkader scored the third goal for the Wings. Who? So I go look up the stats, and to see where he had played previously.

Muskegon High, Muskegon MI... oh, that hotbed of NHL talent. Then Michigan State University.

No minor league record, and now a goal scorer in the Stanley Cup finals. Who needs Datsyuk, we've got Abdelkader to step in.

How do the Wings keep finding these guys?


Darren Helm, 22 years old, 16 NHL games in the regular season, no goals - one of the main reasons why the Red Wings did so well in the faceoff circle, plus 5 goals in the playoffs. It's astonishing... again.

3 Red Wing players played in the AHL playoffs this year before playing in NHL playoffs.

What a team... kick Detroit and the Wings just get better.

What a game... Lindstrom playing hurt... Zetterburg obviously playing through an injury... and yet.

Thanks for the reports. I can see a text play by play, and video highlights as the game is going - but so much happens away from the puck and you need to see the ebb and flow of a game to get a good feel for it.

So many guys have excelled with the Wings that seemed unlikely to at first, or have found a new lease on life. When Holmstrom first came up, I thought the guy can't shoot, he can't skate, and he is dumb as a sack of potatoes. But what he can do is stand in front of the net and take punishment and antagonize the goalies and defensemen, and score goals when pucks bounce off his head. Maltby developed into one of the best penalty killers ever, and is master at getting under the opponents skin and getting them off their game. I once saw Maltby drop to the ice and block shots from the point four times on one PK shift in a playoff game. That kind of stuff gets the whole team going, and all of the Wings do that. I think Yzerman set the example on that when Bowman first came.

Draper - if he had a shot he would score 50 a year - found a niche and contributed. When Hull was approaching 700 goals, everyone on the team was wearing caps and t-shirts - "Hull 700" - except Shanahan. He wore a "Draper 100" cap the whole time. "Hey you guys can all jump on the Hull bandwagon if you want, but I'm with Draper."

When Wings are interviewed, they always say "my job is..." and then they might say win face offs or go to the net or back check or cycle the puck or dig in the corners or play position hockey. There is some sort of discipline and focus there that permeates the team.

The last Red Wing I saw make two dumb plays in a row was Peter Klima 20 years ago. The last Red Wing I saw who wouldn't pay attention to defense was Paul Coffey 15 years ago. The last Red Wing I heard complain about ice time was Luc Robitaille 10 years ago.

Game 2 - exact repeat of game 1, right down to Abdelkader getting the backbreaker. Fewer faceoff wins for Detroit, Pittsburg scores first but it didn't matter...

Too much...

Game 2 - exact repeat of game 1, right down to Abdelkader getting the backbreaker. Fewer faceoff wins for Detroit, Pittsburg scores first but it didn't matter...

Too much...



A lingering theme from last year is not double-shifting Crosby and Malkin enough. Don't see how this is "tactical" -- when they do put em out there they get the WORST matchup (Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Rafalski) anyway so why not put them out there more?

Islander castoffs like Guerin, Satan and Fedotenko sure as hell ain't gonna get it done..

Who needs Datsyuk when you have Abdelkader?

Who needs Datsyuk when you have Abdelkader?




And if Datsyuk were on Pittsburgh HE would be MVP. Best puckhandler in the game by a noticeable amount, best defensive tandem with Zetterberg, plays about 200-300 less minutes per season than the other stars which defaltes his numbers a bit and nevver takes penalties

I just hope this isn't a sweep because I don't get Versus and want to see another game or two

And if Datsyuk were on Pittsburgh HE would be MVP. Best puckhandler in the game by a noticeable amount, best defensive tandem with Zetterberg, plays about 200-300 less minutes per season than the other stars which defaltes his numbers a bit and nevver takes penalties

I just hope this isn't a sweep because I don't get Versus and want to see another game or two


Ice time - good point. The Wings always spread ice time around a lot.

When I was in high school, a young couple opened up a little pizza place near us. Seemed like kind of a goofy theme - "Little Caesar" - but the pizza was good and Mike and Marian were good folks. Worked like dogs. "Better than the line at the GM truck plant" he said to us once. I remember many a night in there with the Red Wing game on the radio, Bruce Martyn doing the play by play - Mike was a big fan.

If you had told me then that a day would come when Mike and Marian would own the Red Wings, and they were in the Stanley Cup finals, and I was hearing on the radio that GM was bankrupt...

When I was in high school, a young couple opened up a little pizza place near us. Seemed like kind of a goofy theme - "Little Caesar" - but the pizza was good and Mike and Marian were good folks. Worked like dogs. "Better than the line at the GM truck plant" he said to us once. I remember many a night in there with the Red Wing game on the radio, Bruce Martyn doing the play by play - Mike was a big fan.

If you had told me then that a day would come when Mike and Marian would own the Red Wings, and they were in the Stanley Cup finals, and I was hearing on the radio that GM was bankrupt...


That is pretty sweet..Lil Caesar's Hot N Ready lives up to its provocative moniker by the way. Seriously, how do you beat a $5 large pizza?

Do you remember those machines they used to have with buttons colored red, blue, green, yellow etc? The idea was it blinked in a pattern and then you had to tap the pattern back by memory. I think you won a free drink or something if you made it far enough, but I'm not sure because I sucked at it..

Watching Game 7 right now..

Detroits a funny team. They can totally "dominate", carry the play and still have the outcome of the game be in doubt. And this effect goes beyond the opposing goalie "stealing" the game or anything of that nature.

Pittsburghs flatout kicking their ass tonight though, which seemed unthinkable for 90% of this series

Watching Game 7 right now..

Detroits a funny team. They can totally "dominate", carry the play and still have the outcome of the game be in doubt. And this effect goes beyond the opposing goalie "stealing" the game or anything of that nature.

Pittsburghs flatout kicking their ass tonight though, which seemed unthinkable for 90% of this series


Yeah they play a really disciplined game, which causes that odd thing - domination without leading.

This just isn't Detroit's year...

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