Detroit Red Wings Updated: December 17, 2002

Team      GP  W  L T OTL GF GA PTS 
DETROIT   30 17  8 4   1 96 76  39 
ST LOUIS  30 16  8 4   2 98 73  38 
CHICAGO   31 14 13 4   0 70 73  32 
COLUMBUS  30 11 14 3   2 90 94  27 
NASHVILLE 30  7 14 5   4 62 82  23 

Team News

by Andrew Loughrey, Detroit Correspondent

If any other team in the league loses its Hall of Fame head coach; its team captain, who just so happens to have been a captain longer than anyone else in NHL history; and Dominik Hasek as their starting goaltender; we would be discussing its poor start to the season and pointing to these facts as perfectly legitimate excuses. Instead, the Red Wings players and coaches are not looking for excuses. They all know that the Winged Wheel is more than just a logo on the front of their sweaters. From the owner on down, the aura this team exudes is "success," and everyone from the waterboys to the assistant coaches to the healthy scratches knows they are on this team to contribute to its success. That, my friends, is why Detroit has not started slowly and why no one is really discussing the absence of Bowman, Yzerman and Hasek.

Caution: Slow Children At Play
As we move into the second third of the season, Detroit finds itself having to hurdle several obstacles. The first and most obvious hinderance has been injuries. Although every team must deal with injuries at some level, the Red Wings largely avoided major injuries during their run last season. The odds seem to have caught up with them this year. Instead, the Dallas Stars have been injury-free this season and seem to be reaping rewards relegated to the Red Wings until recently. More on the injury front in a few...

Another roadblock has emerged: perennial doormats like Minnesota and Anaheim have jumped out to surprisingly good starts, while recent stalwarts Colorado and San Jose have stumbled a bit out of the gate. Solid teams like the Avs and Sharks, who have not really gone through any drastic changes, are always a threat to break out of their respective funks. And you have to take games against emerging successful teams seriously, no matter how poorly they played in past years. The end result is tougher games during the regular season, as fewer contests are guaranteed wins for any team. Although Detroit may not get the kind of separation in the standings that comes from complete dominance over lesser teams (see last year), the Wings still enjoy first place atop the Central Division. Detroit's 4-1-1 record over the past six games leaves the team one point ahead of the St Louis Blues.

That's the way it was and we liked it. We loved it.
Detroit found itself in some strange situations throughout the past fortnight. It began with Detroit's third straight win over Anaheim this season; a hard-fought affair in which Detroit was outshot 30-27, but CuJo only surrendered one goal. Next up, the Red Wings scored five goals against the Coyotes, but check out when each goal was scored: the first two goals were scored in the opening 1:37 of the game; the next two came 51 seconds into and 19 minutes, 59.6 seconds into the second period; finally, Nicklas Lidstrom deposited an empty-net goal with 13.8 seconds left in the game. Goals scored in the opening or closing moments of a period are generally regarded as momentum-shifting goals. What happens when five momentum-shifting goals are scored in one game by the same team? The same thing that generally happens when a team scores five goals any time during the game.

The Wings extended their unbeaten streak to four games when Brett Hull slapped in a trademark one-time goal in the final minute against his former team. Unfortunately, the Wings left Dallas with more than just a tie - apparently, some food poisoning came along for the ride. A Senate subcommittee is forming to investigate if the cheesesteaks were tainted by al-Qaida operatives. Hold the phone, Mabel, let me get this straight. The team got on its plane and was offered something called a "Philly cheesesteak" that was prepared in Dallas, Texas? I have lived in Philly for the past nine years, and let me just say if you ever find yourself about to take a bite out of something called a "Philly" cheesesteak, throw it away. The real thing does not have the word "Philly" in front of it...and it can be found at Pat's King of Steaks at four in the morning.

The only good thing about the bout of food poisoning that wrenched the stomachs of many of the Wings players is that it occurred at the beginning of a three-game homestand. Players like Tomas Holmstrom and Igor Larionov were able to rest and recover in the comfort of their own homes. Detroit's overtime win against division rival St Louis (and the three days off before the next game) greatly helped the recovery process. The bad taste that returned to the Wings' mouths last Thursday was not a resurgence of the food poisoning; rather, it was the 3-2 loss to Minnesota after outshooting the Wild 38-23. (The Minnesota Wild?!? I still don't understand it. I mean, they have to cool off eventually, right? The undefeated preseason was fun and all, but where is this continued success coming from? I guess the hockey gods are so pleased to have a team back in Minnesota, they decided to have a little fun with all of us this year.)

Anyway, things returned to normal (sort of) as the Red Wings defeated the Blue Jackets this past Saturday. Then again, a score of 4-3 after the first period isn't exactly normal, is it? It is somewhat alarming that Columbus was able to put four pucks by Curtis Joseph on only 18 shots, but at least the Wings never trailed throughout the game. And thanks to Detroit's largest offensive outpouring since scoring seven against Pittsburgh on October 25, the foundation of the next winning streak is now set.

Ohhh...my ovaries...
Poor culinary choices aside, Detroit is having as much luck keeping themselves healthy as Tony has had keeping his hands (and other body parts) off of crazy Russian women. If anyone knows of a place to get a good deal on some spare knees, please contact the Detroit Red Wings organization. Sheesh! First, Stevie Y and Jiri Fischer have work done on their knees. Now, Pavel Datsyuk's day-to-day knee injury has developed into a two-to-three week stretch, and Manny Legace's day-to-day knee injury has prompted head coach Dave Lewis to call up Marc Lamothe to backup CuJo until Legace is ready to play again (hopefully within a week).

Mathieu Dandenault receives the non-food related bizarre injury of the fortnight award. A Brendan Shanahan shot deflected off a stick and struck the side of Dandenault's face early in the third period during the Wings' loss to Minnesota. Can you say, "non-displaced orbital fracture"? I think it means he broke his eye socket, but his eyeball didn't fall out in the process. Anyway, Dandenault's injury does not require surgery - he just needs to let it heal. Look for Mathieu to return to the ice as the calendar flips to 2003.

Another whippersnapper
To maintain and expand their grip on the Central Division, the Wings still need to commit to a stronger defensive effort. Youngster Patrick Boileau will have his opportunity to prove himself worthy thanks to Dandenault's broken eye socket. Boileau impressed Red Wings coaches in the preseason and was one of the last three players cut from the starting squad at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, Boileau has flourished with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, becoming the highest scoring defenseman on the team with 13 points in 22 games. Detroit coaches think his game is tailor-made for the Wings' system. If any of the other young blueliners (Kuznetsov, Wallin, Bykov) struggle over the next game or two, look for Boileau to step into the lineup for his shot.

Paint by numbers

4 = green
Four just may be Kirk Maltby's new favorite number. Maltby is tied atop the league with four shorthanded goals, and he just signed a contract extension that will keep him in Detroit for four more years.

7 = red
Sergei Fedorov is leading the league with seven game-winning goals. Sergei has 17 goals overall, which means roughly 41 percent of the goals he has scored this season are game winners.

9 = white
The good guys in Detroit have nine shorthanded goals, which leads the league. In a season where Detroit is routinely granted fewer power plays than their opponent, scoring with a man in the box has almost become a necessity.

30 = purple
The Red Wings have played 30 games so far this season, all without the rehabing Steve Yzerman.

42 = grey
The NHL's oldest current player, Igor Larionov, turned 42 on December 3. Chris Chelios is probably older than Larionov, but Chelios has misplaced his abacus and can no longer remember his age on his own.

A look ahead
This is my last report of 2002. Look for the next Red Wings update on January 14, 2003. As such, a super-size dose of upcoming games follows. Only five of the next 13 games will be played in the friendly confines of Joe Louis Arena. Considering the caliber of teams Detroit is about to play on the road, I fully expect an improvement upon their current 6-5-2-0 road record.

12/17 at New York Islanders (11-15-4-0)
12/19 vs Dallas (18-7-6-1)
12/21 vs New York Rangers (12-16-4-1)
12/23 at Columbus (11-14-3-2)*
12/26 vs Columbus (11-14-3-2)
12/28 at Nashville (7-14-5-4)
12/29 at Dallas (18-7-6-1)
12/31 vs St Louis (16-8-4-2)
1/3 vs Phoenix (10-15-5-2)
1/5 at Chicago (14-13-4-0)
1/7 at Tampa Bay (15-10-3-3)
1/8 at Florida (9-10-7-4)
1/11 at Philadelphia (15-7-6-1)*

* indicates yours truly will be in attendance for that game

Weren't you in Dude, Where's My Car?
So that's it for this go 'round, true believers. Detroit is fending off St Louis as best it can. In fact, the one point that separates the two squads in the standings can be traced back to Detroit's overtime win against the Blues in their first meeting of the season. Detroit grabbed two points for the win, and St Louis (Jennifer) garnered one point for taking the Wings to overtime. That one point difference is the only variance in Detroit's 17-8-4-1 record and St Louis' 16-8-4-2 record.

Will the Red Wings succeed in ascending to the summit of the Western Conference? Will the Wings begin to see their team goals-against average go down? Will I be hopelessly pummeled in both Columbus and Philly? Will Saruman's evil forces overpower the remnants of the Fellowship? Will Fox ever again broadcast a new episode of Futurama on the East Coast? Which Leonardo DiCaprio movie will be the bigger bust? Will I remember to put on pants before I leave the house tomorrow? These questions and possibly even a couple more will be answered in the January 14th Red Wings Special New Year Double Report Blowout Bonanza. Until then...Happy (Sunshinin') Holidays!