12/20 :: Wings and Hawks renew acquaintances

On By mpetrella





WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?

Sunday, December 20th. 7pm Eastern. Red Wings at Chicago. I’ll be hosting the Game Thread at Winging it in Motown. Stop by and say hello.
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
1. Chris Osgood starts finally, and it’s an important one. We hope he has the fire.
2. Our first crack at Marian Hossa – who was injured the last time these teams met.
3. Games against division rivals are big – especially on the outside looking in.
NOW WHERE WERE WE?
The Wings and Hawks met last on October 8th. It was the first game in North America for the Wings this season, and also their first win.
WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE THEN
Everyone and their mother has been placed on IR (yet, I haven’t received a call to fill in), and the Wings have struggled a bit. Lately, they’ve played better, but they’re still looking up at Chicago in the standings.
OH, HI AGAIN 
The Blackhawks famously have two former Red Wings: Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky. Kopecky has been a healthy scratch lately, but Marian Hossa has been on a pretty good run since returning from shoulder surgery.


MEMBA ME?! 
Likewise, the Red Wings have two former Blackhawks, but they’re both injured. Neither Dan Cleary nor Jason Williams will be available for this game against their former squad.

BEST NAME NOMINEE

Dustin Byfuglien. If anyone on the planet can tell me how that’s “BUFF-LIN,” it’d be greatly appreciated. Honorable mention to Niklas Hjalmarsson.

THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit lost to Dallas, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon.
–Chicago defeated Boston, 5-4, in a shootout on Friday night.
RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 18-12-5 (3rd in Central, 8th in West) :: 7-6-3 on the road.
–Chicago Blackhawks :: 22-8-3 (1st in Central, 1st in Wast) :: 15-3-1 at home.
BLACKHAWKS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Dave Bolland (injured) :: Marian Hossa :: Patrick Kane :: Helicopter Down :: John Madden :: Patrick Sharp :: Jonathan Toews :: Kris Versteeg :: Cam Barker :: Brian Campbell :: Duncan Keith :: Brent Seabrook
EXPECTED LINEUP
Bertuzzi — Datsyuk — Holmstrom
Leino — Abdelkader — Eaves
Draper — Helm — Miller
May — Newbury — Maltby
Lidstrom — Meech
Rafalski — Janik
Lebda — Stuart
Osgood (starts)
Howard

***Injuries
Andreas “Megatron” Lilja
Johan “Bumblebee” Franzen
Valtteri “Starscream” “Hot Rod” Filppula [courtesy good friend of TPL, Baroque]
Jason “Arcee” Williams
Niklas “Sideswipe” Kronwall
Dan “Ironhide” Cleary

Jonathan “Shockwave” Ericsson

Henrik “Soundwave” Zetterberg
QUICK THOUGHTS
1. Marian Hossa might want to shut Red Wings fans up real early — look for him to be on a tear.
2. Likewise, I assume some Red Wings would love to shut Marian Hossa up — look for Brad Stuart to go all KABOOMY on him.
3. This would be a great game for Chris Osgood to pull off a big win.
4. Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi connected against Dallas and had three points each. With all the injuries, it’s nice that somebody’s picking up the slack. Even if it includes Dumbass McGee.
5. Look for Justin Abdelkader to give more of an effort. I’m not used to not seeing him for sixty minutes.
WHAT WE LEARNED vs. the Stars
The Red Wings are not good at ping-pong. (Courtesy @goaliemom31)
HAWK WE COVET (JJ Special)
I made no secret that I wanted the Wings to take a run at John Madden this past off-season, but one could argue we have a lot of players in his mould. I’m a big fan of Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp – at least when the latter isn’t spearing our captain in the nuts.