Well I guess first things first. Zetterberg’s injured. It seems to be an injury a game at this point. Perhaps we should be thankful it’s just one and not multiple. When Helm and Ericsson went down, I was numb, I expected it. But when the future Captain was essentially wrecked in a Kronwallesque hit by his own countrymen, I nearly lost it. How much can one team take? 18 players (minus the goalies) dress for each game. So far 9 regular starters are out with injuries. How many other teams could possible sustain this many set backs? I have an incredibly difficult time keeping all the injuries straight, but here we go:
Lilja, Concussion
Franzen, ACL
Filppula, Wrist
Williams, Broken Leg
Kronwall, Knee
Cleary, Shoulder
Helm, Wrist
Ericsson, Knee
Zetterberg, “Upper Body” My guess his shoulder
Now as far as the Zetterberg nut kick, I have a few theories.
Option 1: The hockey gods are punishing the Wings and all of their fans for the Kronwalled promotions, pictures, jokes, etc. Apparently they really enjoy kicking us while we’re down.
Option 2: It’s the curse of the Hockeytown No Limits Commercial. Just follow me for a second. When the ad first came out, I liked it. The Ericsson chest pump was a little cheesy for my liking but overall a quality ad. But now I’m convinced it’s pure evil. All copies must be discovered, burned, and urinated on by a virgin. Don’t ask, its the only way to undo the curse. Most of the players appearing in the commercial are now injured. Helm, Ericsson, Filppula, Cleary, and now Zetterberg…I’m not even going to mention who remains, because if that shit happened…..I’m pretty sure Babcock would cry. Poor bastard.
At this point everyone seems to be twittering and twattering that Zetterberg is out long term, he drove himself to the hospital for an MRI blah blah. All we know for certain, Ohlund is currently being permanently exiled from Sweden.
Below are my other random thoughts from the Wings 3-0 victory against Tampa Bay.
- At the top of the first period, Mick points out that if someone has missed a lot Wings games this season, they won’t reconginze most of the team. Sad but true.
- Drew Miller (Go Green) scored the game winner in the first period against the team that let him go. It all started with a beautiful pass from Rafalski, and ended with some fantastic hand eye coordination by Miller to knock the puck down and stick handle for a beautiful goal. Excuse me while I do a little dance to the MSU fight song…
- Speaking of Rafalski he hasn’t recorded a point in 10 games, but had 2 tonight. Nice to see since the Wings secondary production has become their primary production. Time for everyone to step up.
- Newbury had some big hits in the first period.
- At one point an errant puck goes into the Wings bench and I immediately begin taking bets as to which player will be injured…
- Leino actually had a fairly strong game. He was skating hard and making some good plays giving himself and his linemates a few solid opportunities. But you can tell his confidence is a bit shot from his benching and poor play. At this point we can only hope he gets on a Todd Bertuzzi roll and can turn his season around.
- Now that Zetterbergs out, will Williams be the next Griffins call up? With so many injuries the Wings may be on their second Williams.
- The Wings PK was perfect tonight. Their PP on the other hand has been awful. You almost wish they stay at even strength. With the majority of the PP guys out, no on seems to know what the hell to do out there.
- Abdelkader once again had a great game. Really impressed with the way he has stepped up. Since he’s a Spartan, I’ve seen him play quite a bit. Tonight was the first time I really noticed how fast he can be.
- Bertuzzi scored his 5th goal in 3 games. A great shot but an even better pass from Homer who was patient for the puck and waited for Bertuzzi to get open.
- Just under 4 minutes later, Patrick Eaves scored. Lidstrom, as always, was patient with the puck and made a beautiful pass to Eaves who just came off the bench. Eaves snuck the puck in near side showing he has nice hands as well as speed. Really enjoying watching him play and hoping he sticks around with the Wings.
- Datsyuk had a great game. He really stepped up after Zetterbergs injury.
- This was Howard’s first career shut out, Babcock’s 300th victory as a head coach, and the Wings 4th straight win. Their longest winning streak of the season.
Overall another great grind it out win by an even more depleted Wings team. It really will be the Griffins playing at the Joe pretty soon. According to Babcock’s post game interview, we should know more about Zetterberg’s separated shoulder tomorrow. And apparently Filppula is the closest returning Wing which means Helm is worse than they initially let on.
Rough season, but an impressive, determined, and resilient Wings team that fans certainly can be proud of.
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