Niklas Kronwall – that’s right … defenseman Niklas Kronwall – scored the winning goal in the shootout against Predators goalie Pekka Rinne.

Overall, the game was more than a solid effort from the entire [...]]]> The Detroit Red Wings won a close-fought, playoff-style hockey game in the 11th round of a shootout against the Nashville Predators last night.

Niklas Kronwall – that’s right … defenseman Niklas Kronwall – scored the winning goal in the shootout against Predators goalie Pekka Rinne.

Overall, the game was more than a solid effort from the entire team. There was little evidence that the Wings players are any less than fully healthy. And there were few signs that players were mentally tired as they had been for most of the season.

In addition, the WIngs have started making a case, and it’s not a hard case to make, for Jimmy Howard as a front-runner for the NHL’s Calder Trophy, which is given to the league’s best rookie each season. In fact, a strong case could be made for Howard as the league’s MVP, though it is highly doubtful that the MVP award will slip away from Alexander Overchin of the Washington Capitals, who is having, by anyone’s account, a remarkable season.

The win did wonders for helping the Wings secure a playoff position for this year. They are now in sixth place, eight points about ninth-place Calgary. However, Calgary has a game in hand and plays on Sunday.

If the playoffs started today, the Wings would pack their bags and head to Vancouver to play the Canucks and their Olympic gold-medal-winning goalie Roberto Luongo.

Obviously, with seven games left in the season, and just a couple of points separating positions five through eight, there is going to be a lot of shuffling in the west. The Wings are in a good spot. They have a light travel schedule and play against the Columbus Blue Jackets twice. If for some reason they don’t make the playoffs at this point, there would be no one to blame beside the 22 players wearing the winged wheel each night.

It’s hockey, right?

Well, we thought we’d seen this before … but we hadn’t. In yesterday’s road game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Wings [...]]]> We’ve seen this before. The Red Wings put in a better-than-solid performance with few missteps and lots of shots on goal. Still, they end up short.

It’s hockey, right?

Well, we thought we’d seen this before … but we hadn’t. In yesterday’s road game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Wings showed they are still a force in this year’s playoff.

With .02 seconds left in overtime, Henrik Zetterberg nailed a backhand shot behind Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo to give the Wings a 4-3 win.

This is significant for a few reasons. First, it gives the Wings two points out of last night’s game. They’re still in eight place in the Western Conference playoff hunt, but they now have a two-point cushion on Calgary. And, it helps them keep pace with Nashville, who are currently four points ahead of the Wings.

So, does this game mean that the Wings are a lock to make the playoffs? Far from it. But they showed a tremendous amount of determination and will to grab two points last night. And that may be the determining factor on whether they make it to this year’s postseason.

Still, Wolverine fans can take cold comfort in a 2-1 win over 17th ranked Northern Michigan University in the CHHA tournament at Joe Louis Arena.

University of Michigan fans are already hoping for a better football season and licking their wounds from a basketball season that showed occasional glimmers of hope.

Still, Wolverine fans can take cold comfort in a 2-1 win over 17th ranked Northern Michigan University in the CHHA tournament at Joe Louis Arena.

Even better, this tournament win means that the Wolverines will get an automatic berth in the NCAA Hockey tournament. The tournament starts next weekend with the regional semifinals and finals taking place March 26-28.

News, CCHA News, Articles | The Official Site of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association

Then there are other times, [...]]]> Sometimes it’s easy to think that the Red Wings’ management team is just shopping around for pity, working the refs out whenever they can. Why? That’s been a part of hockey for a long, long time. And the Wings have done it so well for so long.

Then there are other times, like today, when it’s hard to discount the hockey conspiracy theorists. The Wings lost a game in the shootout when a puck that wasn’t called a goal by the goal judge was eventually deemed a goal by the NHL’s Committee of Knowledge in Toronto.

I’m not going to rant too long about this. The Wings got a point on the road, they’re getting healthy and it’s looking like they might have enough steam in their engines to hang around in a playoff seed until April. But only time will tell.

Here’s some blurry web video from Yahoo! Sports. I’ll try to post something later with better quality if I can find it.

Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille become Hall of Famers | Freep.com | Detroit [...]]]> Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille were teammates on the 2002 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. And now they’ll join the Hockey Hall of Fame together. The induction ceremony is on Nov. 9 at the Hall in Toronto.

Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille become Hall of Famers | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

And Nicklas Lidstrom was certainly stiffed by the league’s voters in his efforts to bring home a fourth-straight [...]]]> Why does it seem ironic that Pavel Datsyuk, whose unfortunately-timed playoff injuries helped bring down the big red winged machine, wins this year’s Selke (Best Defensive Forward) and Lady Byng (Most Gentlemanly Player) Trophies?

And Nicklas Lidstrom was certainly stiffed by the league’s voters in his efforts to bring home a fourth-straight and seventh-overall Norris Trophy, given to the league’s best defenseman.

When there is no joy in Mudville, there is certainly no joy in Mudville.

Pavel Datsyuk wins Selke, Lady Byng trophies | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

The Red Wings were stoned by Marc Andre Fleury and the crossbar, and they came up short against the wunderkind of the NHL, Sidney Crosby and his [...]]]> It’s been a long season and yet if we could have had another 10 minutes or so … maybe it would have been different.

The Red Wings were stoned by Marc Andre Fleury and the crossbar, and they came up short against the wunderkind of the NHL, Sidney Crosby and his Russian buddy-in-uncalled-penalties Evgeni Malkin.

Yes, Malkin’s first goal should have been whistled down for icing. But it was clear at some point in the second period in Game 6 that the Wings were simply out of gas.

Call it fatigue, call it injuries, call it fatigue and injuries, the fact is that it takes 16 wins to take the Stanley Cup home to Sweden for the Summer. The Wings could only manage 15 wins this playoff season.

For the first time in more than 15 seasons, fans of the Red Wings will not be able to watch a Red Wings playoff game at Joe Louis Arena, a [...]]]> We’ve got another casualty in 2009’s War on Everything Detroit, and this time it has nothing to do with the auto industry.

For the first time in more than 15 seasons, fans of the Red Wings will not be able to watch a Red Wings playoff game at Joe Louis Arena, a tradition that’s been named “Joe Vision.”

It’s all because the Red Wings couldn’t obtain rights to broadcast the game.

The Detroit Free Press reports a rumor that the NHL’s request to NBC (Nothin’ But Crosby) and CBC was the reason the Wings couldn’t obtain the rights.

Sad, sad news indeed.