It's about that time of year when the Wings will get their annual spate of injuries rolling. We've been really lucky so far.
These are good times for the Wings, I must say. Leading the West, only 1 pt behind the Rags for the Prez, and everything seems to be working pretty well.
Strong defense -- Ian White is really filling the hole left by Rafalski's retirement. That guy is rock-solid -- it's a real head-scratcher to me, why the other teams he's been with the past few years let him go.
Fine goaltending from Howard. He got the write-in vote for the All Star game, and he really deserved the recognition. He's matured into a very good NHL goalie, rewarding the team's patience with his development. Just don't see nearly as many softies, as we used to when "The Pylon" was in there.
Offensively, the Datsyuk-Franzen-Bertuzzi line has really clicked of late. Bert is really rejuvenated by the set-ups and constant pressure Datsyuk provides, and Franzen is always deadly. Zetterberg has had a slow start, but he's been looking better of late. Hudler is contributing, Filppula is having that breakout scoring-season we've been waiting for forever, and everyone else is performing up to snuff.
All that said, the division is tight as anything, and only ten pts separate the Wings from the last playoff-spot. You can't afford to lose any games. That 6-game losing streak the Wings wallowed in early on really set them back. It's going to be very hard to top the Blackhawks for the division, as things stand now. It's probably good that there won't be any coasting, though, as that leads to bad habits, like taking whole periods off.
Posted on Jan 18, 2012, 11:28 AM from IP address 24.172.179.7
