The Detroit Red Wings opened the 2010-2011 with a bang this weekend. On Friday night the Wings pounded the Anaheim Ducks 4 - 0 at the JLA (with a goal scored by new addition and great player Mike Modano) and then went to Chicago on Saturday and beat the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks 3 - 2 in their home opener. A great start for the Red Wings that will help relieve some of the disappointment of last year.
This is not to say the Wings are "going all the way" this year. Chicago is still a great team and the season is long. Still, it's nice to see the team get off to such a strong start.
The Wings will face the hated Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night...let's hope for a three game winning streak after Tuesday!
Showing posts with label Chicago Blackhawks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago Blackhawks. Show all posts
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Wings Sign Lidstrom, Stevie Y Departs
The Hat Trick is back for the occasional post as we work out way through the move from Washington, DC to Philadelphia. One nice thing about this move is the Hat Trick does get to enjoy the Stanley Cup Finals living in a city that is in the Finals...although the mood was a bit bleak after the Blackhawks took a 2 - 0 series lead but it appears the Flyers are back in it after a 4 - 3 victory on home ice this past Wednesday. This should set up an interesting Game 4 tonight here in Philly.
Red Wings Captain Nicklas Lidstrom signed a one year, $6.2 million contract this week to play another season for the Red Wings. There had been a lot of speculation that Lidstrom would retire after the 2009-2010 season, especially with the Wings being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. At 40 Lidstrom has definitely had a long and solid career but The Hat Trick is happy to see him come back for another year. He is one of the few players left from the great Red Wings teams of the 1990s and I still remain nostalgic for that time, even though the Red Wings teams of 2000s have been pretty solid as well. Good luck Nicklas and I hope you have a great year, especially if it is your last in a Red Wings sweater!
On a sad, though highly expected, note the Red Wings will finally lose "Stevie Y" Steve Yzerman. After almost 25 years of service to the Red Wings organization as a player, team captain and team vice president Steve Yzerman will join the Tampa Bay Lightening as their new general manager. While it's sad to see him go, this is the next logical step for Yzerman's post playing career and the Hat Trick congratulates him as he makes this next big step. Maybe after some time in Florida Stevie Y will be able to come back to Motown and lead the Red Wings as an executive! Congratulations Steve and thank you for all the contributions you have made to the Red Wings over these many years.
Red Wings Captain Nicklas Lidstrom signed a one year, $6.2 million contract this week to play another season for the Red Wings. There had been a lot of speculation that Lidstrom would retire after the 2009-2010 season, especially with the Wings being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. At 40 Lidstrom has definitely had a long and solid career but The Hat Trick is happy to see him come back for another year. He is one of the few players left from the great Red Wings teams of the 1990s and I still remain nostalgic for that time, even though the Red Wings teams of 2000s have been pretty solid as well. Good luck Nicklas and I hope you have a great year, especially if it is your last in a Red Wings sweater!
On a sad, though highly expected, note the Red Wings will finally lose "Stevie Y" Steve Yzerman. After almost 25 years of service to the Red Wings organization as a player, team captain and team vice president Steve Yzerman will join the Tampa Bay Lightening as their new general manager. While it's sad to see him go, this is the next logical step for Yzerman's post playing career and the Hat Trick congratulates him as he makes this next big step. Maybe after some time in Florida Stevie Y will be able to come back to Motown and lead the Red Wings as an executive! Congratulations Steve and thank you for all the contributions you have made to the Red Wings over these many years.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Wings Continue to Improve Playoff Position
The Red Wings continue to look strong with 95 points and sitting in the sixth playoff spot. They are one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings (94 points) and behind the Nashville Predators who sit in the fifth playoff spot with 96 points. Conceivably the Red Wings could pull into the fifth playoff spot with a win against the Predators today (Saturday, April 3) at 2:00 P.M. EDT. Even though the Wings are on a seven game winning streak it seems the best they can hope for in the playoff lineup is the fifth spot as it is unlikely they can catch the division-leading Chicago Blackhawks who have 103 points as of now. Regardless, the Wings have done a fantastic job of putting together a series of wins that puts them in great contention to compete in the playoffs.
Let's Go Red Wings!
Let's Go Red Wings!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Wings Need to Step It Up
If the playoffs began today the Detroit Red Wings would be playing golf instead of playoff hockey. How times have changed. The Wings, as my readers well know, went to the Stanley Cup Finals last year (for the second year in a row) and lost in seven games to the Penguins. In 2008 the Wings won their most recent Stanley Cup. Now they would not get in if the playoffs started today...crazy.
Free agency really hammered the Wings in the offseason with a lot of talent in the 2008 and 2009 teams not being resigned due to salary cap issues. Goaltending has also been a problem. Injuries have been a BIG problem throughout the season. Another issue is that the Chicago Blackhawks have really developed in a caliber hockey team and the Wings have to play the Blackhawks a lot due to being division rivals. So a lot of things are going on that impact where the Wings now find themselves.
However, all is not lost. The Wing are hanging on in the ninth spot in the Western Conference rankings (the top eight make the playoffs) so they need to win as many games as possible and hope that the Calgary Flames lose a couple themselves. The 4 - 2 loss to the Flames on March 9 was not what the Wings needed to do. There is still a lot of time left in the regular season to right the ship and slip into the playoffs in the eighth seed...and a dangerous eighth seed the Wings could be!
The last time the Red Wings didn't make the playoffs: the '89-'90 season when the Hat Trick was a senior in high school. That makes you think how good Wings fans have had it all these years.
Free agency really hammered the Wings in the offseason with a lot of talent in the 2008 and 2009 teams not being resigned due to salary cap issues. Goaltending has also been a problem. Injuries have been a BIG problem throughout the season. Another issue is that the Chicago Blackhawks have really developed in a caliber hockey team and the Wings have to play the Blackhawks a lot due to being division rivals. So a lot of things are going on that impact where the Wings now find themselves.
However, all is not lost. The Wing are hanging on in the ninth spot in the Western Conference rankings (the top eight make the playoffs) so they need to win as many games as possible and hope that the Calgary Flames lose a couple themselves. The 4 - 2 loss to the Flames on March 9 was not what the Wings needed to do. There is still a lot of time left in the regular season to right the ship and slip into the playoffs in the eighth seed...and a dangerous eighth seed the Wings could be!
The last time the Red Wings didn't make the playoffs: the '89-'90 season when the Hat Trick was a senior in high school. That makes you think how good Wings fans have had it all these years.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
NHL Releases 2009-10 National TV Schedule
The NHL released its national television schedule on August 20 for the 2009-10 season. Thanks to the "Winging It In Motown" blog for dissecting when the Wings will be on a national broadcast.
Some interesting items:
Some interesting items:
- The Red Wings and the Washington Capitals have the most games nationally televised with Boston and Pittsburgh coming in at 21 nationally televised games each.
- The first Wings game that will be seen nationally is against the St. Louis Blues on October 2 on the Versus network.
- Last game April 11, 2010 at the Chicago Blackhawks on NBC.
- The following item is only interesting to the Hat Trick...the Wings will be seen nationally at the Columbus Blue Jackets on my birthday...December 28!
Even with lowered expectations for the Wings upcoming season the Hat Trick is happy to see that the Wings still hold fan attention for nationally televised games. The Hat Trick is also personally selfish for this since a cost-cutting measure became necessary and I cancelled by NHL Center Ice package which I had for the sole reason of seeing all the Red Wings games. Now if only the Hat Trick can figure out how to watch some of these games on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and avoid the Versus/NBC crowd altogether!
Salary Cap Impacts Signings
It was an interesting week for Red Wings signings. Trying to generate some offense for the coming season after losing some offensive power with the departures of Hosa, Samuelsson and Hudler (largely due to salary cap issues) the Wings have signed former team members Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi to one year deals. Williams got dealt to the Blackhawks at the trading deadline in 2007 and spent the 2008-2009 as a free agent signing for the Atlanta Thrashers before being dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since playing for the Red Wings at the closing of the 2007 season Bertuzzi spent the past two seasons in Anaheim and Calgary.
We'll see if this helps the Wings situation but the Hat Trick is not hopeful...I think the days of the Wings dominating ended with the Game 7 loss to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. The loss of Hosa, Samuelsson and Hudler real have a real impact, especially with Hosa going to the resurging Chicago Blackhawks (under the leadership of General Manager Stan Bowman, Scotty's son, where Scotty is also a consultant). For Red Wings fans used to being one of the elite teams, we may have to adjust our expectations as the 2008-2009 season gets started.
We'll see if this helps the Wings situation but the Hat Trick is not hopeful...I think the days of the Wings dominating ended with the Game 7 loss to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. The loss of Hosa, Samuelsson and Hudler real have a real impact, especially with Hosa going to the resurging Chicago Blackhawks (under the leadership of General Manager Stan Bowman, Scotty's son, where Scotty is also a consultant). For Red Wings fans used to being one of the elite teams, we may have to adjust our expectations as the 2008-2009 season gets started.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Red Wings Are Stanley Cup Finals Bound!
The re-match is on as the Red Wings will face the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second straight year after beating the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime. It was a tight game and the Wings definitley looked a little slow and tired at times but did pull it off. The loss of several key players including Captain Nick Lidstrom didn't help. The Wings go on to face a Penguins team that, unlike last year, now has that vital playoff experience that is needed to win the Cup. Add in a relatively easy Eastern Conference series against the Hartford Whalers...er Carolina Hurricanes...and this is going to be nothing like last year when the Wings essentailly ran over the Penguinis to win their 11th Stanley Cup.
The Wings have until Saturday to get rested, get ready and get the mental focus needed to beat the Penguins. It's liekly going to be a though series and they need to take it seriously if they want to repeat like they did in '97 and '98.
The Wings have until Saturday to get rested, get ready and get the mental focus needed to beat the Penguins. It's liekly going to be a though series and they need to take it seriously if they want to repeat like they did in '97 and '98.
Getting Ready For Game 5!
The Hat Trick is excited...it's 3 - 1 against the Blackhawks and the Wings can win it all and head to a back-to-back match-up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. As far as the Hat Trick is concerned, the Wings have dominated this series even if they did lose a game. Here's the recap...
Game 2 - Wings win a close game that goes into overtime...good, solid win, go 2 - 0.
Game 3 - Appeared to be a major Wings loss, down 3 - 0 in the second period only to come back, tie it 3 - 3 and go to overtime. Lose in overtime on a bad puck bounce. A win for the Blackhawks but a token victory at that...how can you expect to compete for the Stanley Cup when you let a team come back like that?
Game 4 - Wings destroy the Blackhawks 6 -1 without Captain Nick Lidstrom. Enough said.
Game 5 - We'll see what happens...hopefully the Wings can be like the Penguins and put the desperate 'Hawks away and move on to the Stanly Cup Finals.
LET'S GO RED WINGS!!! LET'S GO RED WINGS!!! LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!
Game 2 - Wings win a close game that goes into overtime...good, solid win, go 2 - 0.
Game 3 - Appeared to be a major Wings loss, down 3 - 0 in the second period only to come back, tie it 3 - 3 and go to overtime. Lose in overtime on a bad puck bounce. A win for the Blackhawks but a token victory at that...how can you expect to compete for the Stanley Cup when you let a team come back like that?
Game 4 - Wings destroy the Blackhawks 6 -1 without Captain Nick Lidstrom. Enough said.
Game 5 - We'll see what happens...hopefully the Wings can be like the Penguins and put the desperate 'Hawks away and move on to the Stanly Cup Finals.
LET'S GO RED WINGS!!! LET'S GO RED WINGS!!! LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Game 1 - Good Win For Wings
The Wings fared well in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with a 5 - 2 win over the Blackhawks. The game was pretty tight throughout the first and second periods until the Wings pulled away with a 4 -2 lead in the third period and an empty-netter to finish the 'Hawks off with a 5 - 2 final score.
While this is a good start, the Hat Trick definitely disagrees with many of the pundits who are already willing to crown the Wings as the Western Conference Champions. There is still a lot of hockey to play and the Blackhawks didn't get to the Finals by accident. Game 2 tonight should be interesting to say the least.
While this is a good start, the Hat Trick definitely disagrees with many of the pundits who are already willing to crown the Wings as the Western Conference Champions. There is still a lot of hockey to play and the Blackhawks didn't get to the Finals by accident. Game 2 tonight should be interesting to say the least.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Wings - Blackhawks Drop the Puck
The Wings and Blackhawks just dropped the puck on Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at the JLA. Should be a great series...memories of the Western Conference Finals between these two teams back in 1995!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Red Wings Advance to Western Conference Finals
The Red Wings were victorious Thursday night in Game Seven against the Anaheim Ducks, winning 3 -4. Unfortunately the Hat Trick missed a good part of the game, including the end, due to a thunderstorm and the vagaries of Direct TV…of which the Hat Trick is very disappointed but that is another rant. The Wings will face fellow Original Six team, the Chicago Blackhawks, for the right to go to the Stanley Cup finals. Game One of that series begins tomorrow at 3:00pm EDT.
Needless to say the Hat Trick is pleased that the Wings seem to not experiencing a major case of “Stanley Cup Hangover” and managed to hang on playing a tough Anaheim team that had knocked off the number one seed (and President’s Cup winner) San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. I’m also happy about the Chicago series because it means there is only a 45 minute flight between the two cities…no need to haul out to the West Coast. Hopefully the Wings can continue to hang on when playing a young and inexperienced, yet hungry, Blackhawk team. Finally, it was important that the Wings persevere after getting hosed by the Zebras in Game Three (see previous post).
The Hat Trick was also sad to see the Washington Capitals destroyed in their Game Seven appearance, 6 – 2. Finally, the Hat Trick was dismayed that the Boston Bruins fell to the Hartford Whalers…err…I mean Carolina Hurricanes…in Game Seven of that series. Apparently being the number one seed did not work out well for either the Sharks or the Bruins in 2009. The Hat Trick was really hoping for an Original Six match-up in the Finals but it is not to be this year.
Final 2009 Playoffs Trivia note: Five of the Original Six teams made the playoffs this year! The only team to miss the playoffs was the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Needless to say the Hat Trick is pleased that the Wings seem to not experiencing a major case of “Stanley Cup Hangover” and managed to hang on playing a tough Anaheim team that had knocked off the number one seed (and President’s Cup winner) San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. I’m also happy about the Chicago series because it means there is only a 45 minute flight between the two cities…no need to haul out to the West Coast. Hopefully the Wings can continue to hang on when playing a young and inexperienced, yet hungry, Blackhawk team. Finally, it was important that the Wings persevere after getting hosed by the Zebras in Game Three (see previous post).
The Hat Trick was also sad to see the Washington Capitals destroyed in their Game Seven appearance, 6 – 2. Finally, the Hat Trick was dismayed that the Boston Bruins fell to the Hartford Whalers…err…I mean Carolina Hurricanes…in Game Seven of that series. Apparently being the number one seed did not work out well for either the Sharks or the Bruins in 2009. The Hat Trick was really hoping for an Original Six match-up in the Finals but it is not to be this year.
Final 2009 Playoffs Trivia note: Five of the Original Six teams made the playoffs this year! The only team to miss the playoffs was the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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