Can YOU feel the love tonight?
WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
The Wings and Blues meet for the fifth (of six) times this season. So far, the Wings are 1-3 against the 13th place Blues. Awesome. Puck drops at 8pm Eastern.
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
1. Johan Franzen comes back after missing the last 55 games with a knee injury.
2. The latest on the trio of forwards injured in the Kings game: Homer is a maybe, SNP is a go, and Eaves is a no.
3. Jimmy Howard gets the start again, his sixth in a row and 24th start in the last 26 games. Mike Babcock cares not that you think he’s being overworked.
NOW WHERE WERE WE?
The last time these two teams met was December 9th. It was a 1-0 shutout (yes, for real). Jimmy Howard was in net and Ville Leino (MEMBA HIM?!) was a healthy scratch for only the third time this season. The Wings were victims of yet another questionable call, on an apparent goal against Ty Conklin, but that doesn’t really narrow it down to jog your memory, does it?
OH, HI AGAIN / MEMBA ME?! / BEST NAME NOMINEE
:: Ty Conklin is a Blue now.
:: Chris Osgood is a Red Wing now (sort of).
:: Roman Polak and Carlo Colaiacovo are the BNNs.
THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit lost to L.A., in heartbreaking fashion, 4-3 on Saturday afternoon.
–St. Louis got whooped by Colorado, 5-2, on Monday.
RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 27-21-10 (3rd in Central, 8th in West) :: 12-13-6 on the road.
—The First Team Named After a Movie :: 25-25-9 (4th in Central, 13th in West) :: 9-16-5 at home
BLUES YOU SHOULD KNOW
Boyes :: McDonald :: Oshie :: Perron :: Backes :: Tkachuk :: Buddy Guy :: Kariya :: Eric Johnson
EXPECTED LINEUP
Zetterberg — Datsyuk — Franzen
Cleary — Filppula — Bertuzzi
Draper — Helm — May
Williams — Miller — Maltby
Lidstrom — Rafalski
Ericsson — Stuart
Lebda — Meech
Howard (starting)
Osgood
Nicknames courtesy of our good friend, Krononymous and her sarcastic love for Elton John. I added a few OBVIOUS ones (Osgood and Cleary).
Scratch
Oh hey, we’re back here again. There are not enough bodies to have a healthy scratch.
Injuries
Andreas “It’s Getting Late, Have You Seen My Mates, Ma Tell Me When the Boys Get Here” Lilja
Niklas “Don’t See Lights A-Flashing, He Plays By Sense of Smell” Kronwall
Tomas “You Better Get Back, Honky Cat” Holmstrom
Patrick “Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer” Eaves
Honorable Mentions (Too Good NOT to Mention)
Johan “But the Fever’s Gonna Catch You When the Bitch Gets Back” Franzen
Brad “You Can’t Plant Me In Your Penthouse, I’m going Back to My Plough” May
Brett “Hey Papa Legba, hoo-boo-be-do, Hey Papa Legba, No One Gonna Bother You” Lebda
Jonathan “I’m Not the Man They Think I Am At Home, Oh No No No, I’m a Rocket Man” Ericsson
Dan “God It Looks Like Daniel, Must Be The Clouds In My Eyes” Cleary
Ville “Philadelphia Freedom!” Leino
Chris “The Less I Say, The More My Work Gets Done” Osgood
Ville “Philadelphia Freedom!” Leino
Chris “The Less I Say, The More My Work Gets Done” Osgood
QUICK THOUGHTS
1. If Homer can go, after all, it’ll likely be at the expense of Brad May. He’s a game time decision.
2. The Wings are on a bit of skid, and there aren’t many worse times to be on one.
3. Anyone else concerned about Kronwall’s tweak? This will be his third missed game in a row, after leaving early in two of the three games he’d played since his return from his 29-game injury. Feels an awful lot like the Wings are panicking a bit and rushing guys back maybe before they’re ready…
4. There are three games left before the Olympic break. I want all six points.
5. Obligatory Simpsons/Elton John reference: “I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do. My gift is my song, and this one’s for Apu.”
WHAT WE LEARNED vs. the Kings
Hell, even a three goal lead isn’t enough to feel comfortable. I liked the old NHL better.
BLUE WE COVET (JJ Special)
I asked JJ to come up with a Blue worth having. His answer was so obvious, I almost kicked myself for not thinking of it, but that’s why we have a resource like JJ:
He’s loyal, hard working, and he’s at least 30 IQ points smarter than Barrett Jackman:
Honorable Honorable Mention:
Bob "And I'm gonna be hiiiigh…as a kite by then" Probert
Editor's note – Is the 8th place notation here an optimistic thing? Because I got all excited this morning thinking we'd magically picked up 2 points on Monday night and moved ahead of NASH.
Stop toying with my emotions. And my math skills.
Also, can we go triple honorable mention with a Lion King reference…
Brad "I can see what's happening, and they don't have a clue" Stuart
…given that he'll be out there with Ericcson? Is it too early to go animated soundtrack?
…or should we just call it a day and look for honorable mentions using lyrics to Disney songs?
Chris "Now I stuff you with bread, It don't hurt 'cause you're dead" Osgood…?
Little Mermaid?
Still too early?
This is what happens when you grow up in a family of 6 kids.
Derek "She don't have a lot to say, but there's something about her" Meech
Last Little Mermaid reference. Promise.
…OK, OK, let's just settle down here and go back to Elton with:
Thomas "Laughing like children, living like lovers" Holmstrom
…and the next obvious one:
Jonathan "Rolling like thunder under the covers" Ericsson
(that one's for all the Jonhnny Rig she-fans out there)
I now have a medley of Elton John running through my head thanks to you two. This is worse than waking up with a hangover and amnesia down in sunny Tijuana.
I saw five comments and thought, "that's pretty good for an hour and a half since posting time", but they were all from Rob, haha. Bored or just hit with "artistic inspiration?"
The Homer and Big Rig names really did make me laugh. You guys come up with some good ones.
The line between boredom and artistically inspired…it's so thin around here.
For shits…one more:
Brett "I know it's not much but it's the best I can do" Lebda
Kudos for having the stomach to even review the lyrics to "Daniel". There are some places even I fear to tread.
You could say I am technically freaked out by the "tweak" and the fact that he's waiting for a better brace to arrive before he gets back in the line up. Can someone intercept this thing and make sure it doesn't get to him before the Olympics? I kid. No, I don't.
If we're going with Disney tunes, then I'm nominating some Beauty & The Beast:
Jason "No one shoots like Gaston" Williams
and
Brad "LeFou I'm afraid I've been thinking" May
Uh oh, don't get me started on Disney ones…
The best ones off of the top of my head:
Valtteri "Behind that fair facade" Filppula
Mike "I'll make a man out of you" Babcock
And some non-Wings ones:
Ville "Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?" Leino
Kyle "Boy was I a fool in school for cutting gym" Wellwood
This could be a dark and dangerous road since I'm reasonably certain I've memorized every Disney song lyric ever sung.
Kris, I'm game for Disney shit ALL. DAY. LONG.
5 siblings. 2 of them more than 10 years younger. Plus, I was born in the golden age of Disney blockbusters.
On that note:
Chris "Don't you dare close your eyes" Osgood
Boom.
Also, my sincere apologies (and this part is geniune) for talking all over everyone on Sunday. I blame my lack of coherence and the random outbursts on the early taping.
I could go around the league with every line from the songs in Aladdin.
Dany "Never had a friend like me" Heatley, maybe?
Phil "Take some from column A, have ALL of column B" Kessel.
Georges "It's barbaric but, hey, it's home" Laraque?
Pavel "Can your friends do this?" Datsyuk.
@ JJ: Aladdin…
Alex "He's got seventy-five golden camels" Ovechkin?
Maybe a little retro back to the Anna days…
Sergei "Heard your princess was a sight lovely to see" Federov
Yeah, I grew up on the early '90s Disney classics. And if I wasn't already obsessed, the whole working at WDW thing definitely put me over the top. This could really go on all day.
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