Oct. 28 :: Tell Me You’re Not Taking This Seriously

WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN
Team TPL is on the road and in the airportz as the Wings renew their burgeoning rivalry with the San Jose Sharks tonight. Puck drops at 7:30 PM tonight. NHL Network will be screwing all of you Center Ice owners (Disch) and Gamecenter Live owners (Me) yet again.

NOW, WHERE WERE WE
The Wings went from suck to blow after starting the season red hot, and now find themselves with a 5-2-0 record and 10 points. SanJo has been picking up the pace after a slow start, and sports a 4-3-0 record.

BEST NAME NOMINEE
Torrey Mitchell. Sounds like 1) A woman and 2) A washed up singer from the 90’s.

THEIR LAST GAMES
:: Do you really want to remember? 4-1 loss to Team Beej.
:: The Sharks continued rolling along on their road trip, knocking off the Preds 3-1 on Wednesday.
:: Last time these two teams met, Detroit ended up on the golf course. A 3-2 Game 7 win in San Jose for the Sharks, before they headed off to get beat down by Vancouver, an annual tradition.

MEMBA ME?
No former Wings on the Sharks. Somewhere, Todd Diamond cries a single tear for Andreas Lilja.

OH, HI AGAIN
Ian White used to play in San Jose. I’m glad he doesn’t any more.

TYPING WITH PURPOSE
Henrik Zetterberg :: Pavel Datsyuk :: Buckets Cleary
Jiri Scuttles :: Valtteri Filppula :: Johan Franzen
Patrick Eaves :: Danger Helm :: Todd Thunderchief
Tomas Holmstrom :: Justin Abdelkader :: Salt N Pepper Miller

Nicklas Lidstrom :: Ian White
Brad Stuart :: Niklas Kaboom
Jakub Kindl :: Johnny Shitbox

Jimmy Howard
Ty Conkblock

COCOON OF SELF-BANISHMENT
Jan Mursak [left ankle]
Mike and The Commodores [knee]
Fabian Brunnstrom
Cory Emmerton

The TPL Name Game “Three Stars”
Just like last season, submit your nickname suggestions (follow the theme!), and we’ll use our Facebook page to allow people to vote for the best… the winner gets a free TPL t-shirt!
PETRELLA: Fabian “I’m A Parenthesis?” Brunnstrom
DISCH: Nick “You’re So Pretty. You’re Exactly What I Want to Look Like In Fifteen Years” Lidstrom
HOLLIS: Jonathan “Isn’t Ten Million Just a Number?” Ericsson

QUICKLY…
:: As I mentioned, all of us are out and about doing travelling, so keeping an analysis at the minimum. Frankly, there doesn’t need to be much analysis done on this one. The Sharks, a team that has become a rival (albeit one-sided) after meeting the Red Wings in the playoffs the last two seasons are in town, and they are heating up. The Wings on the other hand, have lost that identity that they had in the first five games of the season, and need to get things going. If they don’t come out jumping tonight, sit back and expect a long game with an unfavorable ending for the good guys.
:: Henrik Zetterberg has been quiet early on, which is never a good thing. One point and one assist over the first seven games isn’t going to cut it.
:: Joe Thornton has owned Detroit in the last six regular season meetings, scoring five goals and adding four helpers. He’s looked dangerous early this year, so definitely an area for emphasis on the backcheck tonight.
:: Mike Babcock seems  overly frustrated with this club right now, and it shows in his lines. With six different combinations against Columbus, Babbles has the blender on high and hoping something turns out. If the pairings get crazy tonight, it probably means  things aren’t going well. Here’s to stability.
:: PROGRAMMING NOTE: The recap for tonight may be a little late, given the busy schedule, but we’ll have a full pre-game up tomorrow no matter what. I’ll set up some loss candy before I hit the town tonight though, just in case things don’t go so well.