Team Canada 2010 Mens Olympic Ice Hockey Team Announced

Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman announced today in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan the roster for Team Canada.


The 23 man Canadian Team Roster.

The Forwards
Patrice Bergeron
Sidney Crosby (Alternate Captain)
Ryan Getzlaf
Dany Heatley
Jarome Iginla (Alernate Captain)
Patrick Marleau
Brendan Morrow
Rick Nash
Corey Perry
Mike Richards
Eric Staal
Joe Thornton
Jonathan Toews

On Defense
Dan Boyle
Drew Doughty
Duncan Keith
Scott Neidermayer (Captain)
Chris Pronger (Alternate Captain)
Brent Seabrook
Shea Weber

In Goal
Martin Broduer
Roberto Luongo
Marc Andre Fleury

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Detroit Shutout for Sixth Time This Season

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

In a goaltending duel that lasted into the final two minutes of overtime, the Columbus Blue Jackets snapped their loosing streak by dropping the Detroit Red Wings in a 1-0 victory.

The only goal of the game came three minutes into overtime when Fredrik Modin backhanded in his own rebound.

The story of this game was the goaltending clique that was being put on at both ends of the ice. Jimmy Howard stopped 39 shots of the 40 that he faced and finished the night with a .975 save percentage, a number that normally would end up with a check going into the win column. However, and maybe unfortunately for the rest of the Central Division, Chris Mason played with the poise that won him a Calder Trophy last season and stopped all 36 shots he faced.

In Play! Man of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Despite the loss, Howard played a better game than counterpart Mason and made 39 saves. The only goal that beat him he might have had a chance to get if Drew Miller hadn’t pushed a Blue Jacket into Howard.

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Bertuzzi Nets Two in Wings’ Victory

By AJ Petronzi
Photos by AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Photo by AJ Petronzi / In Play! Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings came back after a bad first period to score two unanswered goals and extend the Columbus Blue Jackets loosing streak to 9 games in a 2-1 victory in Detroit.

Columbus’ Antoine Vermette scored the Blue Jacket’s lone goal in the first period. Then in the second, Todd Bertuzzi tied the game up on a powerplay breakaway fed from Pavel Datsyuk. In the third, Bertuzzi netted another goal to give the Wings the win.

Photo by AJ Petronzi / In Play! Magazine

Through 20 minutes the Wings looked like the team that got shutout twice by Chicago earlier in the week, but then they began to click and recorded 21 of their 27 shots in the last two periods.

Photo by AJ Petronzi / In Play! Magazine

Big for the Wings tonight was the return of Valtteri Filppula who hit the post on an empty net shot late in the game but looked ok throughout.

Darren Helm had the save of the game when he dove over Jimmy Howard late in the second and batted the puck out of mid air before it could go into the net.

In Play! Man of the Game: Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi was rather quiet most of the game which is what led to him sneaking in for both of his goals.

ADDED BONUS! POST GAME AUDIO FROM THE DRESSING ROOM.

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No Goals as Red Wings Loose to Chicago Again

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings sent 20,066 fans home with heavy hearts as they celebrated 30 years at the Joe Louis Arena with a 3-0 shutout loss against the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the fifth time the Wings have been shutout this season, a first since the 1958-59 season.

Chicago opened scoring with a powerplay goal 30 seconds into the second period by Patrick Kane. Despite deafening boo’s from the fans, they then increased that lead with a four-on-four goal by Patrick Sharp, an assist was credited to Marian Hossa. The Blackhawks capped off the night in the third with a final goal by Jonathan Toews.

This is the second time the Wings faced a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Blackhawks this week. After a hopeful run last week that put the Wings back into a playoff spot, this three game slump put them in ninth going into tonight and the Wings are now 10 points back from the Blackhawks in the Central Division. With Valtteri Filppula being injected back into the lineup on Saturday, and going up against the hard slumping Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit may be able to finally score some goals and maybe even bang out a win.

In Play! Man of the Game: Antti Niemi. Although his name sounds like something uttered from the mouth of a small child, Niemi put up a big game and recorded his fourth shutout in 10 starts. Niemi had 33 saves on the night.

ADDED BONUS. POST GAME AUDIO FROM THE DRESSING ROOM AFTER THE GAME


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Red Wings Seek Revenge Against Blackhawks

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After a shutout loss in Chicago on Sunday, the Detroit Red Wings are looking for some holiday luck and a win for their fans today against the Blackhawks in Detroit.

The Blackhawks are coming off a loss last night in Chicago where they out-shot San Jose 47-14. Detroit is hoping to give their fans an early Christmas gift and pull a big win out tonight. The Wings made some changes after Sunday; the biggest being that forward Kris Newbery is being replaced by Mattias Ritola. Tonight will be Ritola’s first game of the season. The Wings will need to play a physical game tonight and make the Blackhawks to work hard to move the puck. The Wings will need to force turnovers tp avoid a repeat of Sunday.

The big news from the Wings is that injured forward Valtteri Filppula might be returning too the lineup the day after Christmas.

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RED WINGS RECALL FORWARD MATTIAS RITOLA

In Play Magazine

Detroit, MI... The Detroit Red Wings announced today that forward Mattias Ritola has been recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. He will be inserted into Detroit’s lineup on Wednesday evening when the Red Wings play host to the Chicago Blackhawks at Joe Louis Arena.

Ritola, 22, appeared in two games for Detroit during the 2007-08 season. He played in his first career game on March 15, 2008 vs. Nashville and notched his first career point (assist) the following night at Columbus. The Borlange, Sweden native has appeared in 31 games for Grand Rapids this season registering 14 points (7-7-14), 20 PIM and a -4 plus-minus rating.

Mattias Ritola, Left Wing
Born Mar 14 1987 -- Borlange, Sweden
Height 5.11 -- Weight 205 -- Shoots L
Selected by Detroit Red Wings in the 4th round (#103 overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft

--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2005-06 Leksands IF SEL 30 0 3 3 10

2006-07 Arboga IFK Swe-1 3 1 0 1 2

2006-07 Leksands IF Swe-1 23 1 4 5 4

2007-08 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 72 7 15 22 62

2007-08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 2 0 1 1 0

2008-09 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 66 15 27 42 32 8 0 2 2 0

2009-10 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 31 7 7 14 20

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Totals 2 0 1 1 0

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RED WINGS ASSIGN NEWBURY TO GRAND RAPIDS

Detroit, MI... The Detroit Red Wings announced today that center Kris Newbury has been assigned the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate.

Newbury, 27, was called up to Detroit on Dec. 14 and appeared in four contests. He scored one goal (1-0—1) and had four PIM in averaging 8:41 of ice time.

Kris Newbury
Center
Born Feb 19 1982 -- Brampton, ONT
Height 5.10 -- Weight 205 -- Shoots L
Selected by San Jose Sharks round 5 #139 overall 2002 NHL Entry Draft

--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1998-99 Belleville Bulls OHL 51 6 8 14 89 21 4 6 10 23

1999-00 Belleville Bulls OHL 34 6 18 24 72 -- -- -- -- --

1999-00 Sarnia Sting OHL 27 6 8 14 44 7 0 3 3 16

2000-01 Sarnia Sting OHL 64 28 30 58 126 4 1 3 4 20

2001-02 Sarnia Sting OHL 66 42 62 104 141 5 1 3 4 15

2002-03 Sarnia Sting OHL 64 34 58 92 149 6 4 4 8 16

2003-04 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 72 5 15 20 153 -- -- -- -- --

2004-05 Pensacola Ice Pilots ECHL 6 2 4 6 20 -- -- -- -- --

2004-05 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 55 4 9 13 103 5 0 0 0 26

2005-06 Toronto Marlies AHL 74 22 38 60 215 5 0 1 1 12

2006-07 Toronto Marlies AHL 37 12 24 36 87 -- -- -- -- --

2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 15 2 2 4 26 -- -- -- -- --

2007-08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 28 1 1 2 32 -- -- -- -- --

2007-08 Toronto Marlies AHL 54 16 27 43 101 19 4 9 13 73

2008-09 Toronto Marlies AHL 33 6 23 29 72 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 1 0 0 0 2 -- -- -- -- --

2009-10 Grand Rapids Griffins* AHL 27 7 12 19 95

2009-10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 4 1 0 1 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Totals

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Red Wings Play Terrible, Killed by Blackhawks

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings played a terrible hockey game and got destroyed in a 0-3 shutout loss in Chicago on Sunday night.

Chicago opened the score column with a powerplay goal by Duncan Keith. In the end of the second period, the Blackhawks added to their lead with goals from Brian Campbell and Dustin Byfuglien, both goals coming within the last four minutes of the period.

The Wings played horribly tonight. Cristobal Huet, who got the shutout, didn’t really do anything to earn the shutout. The Red Wings managed one good scoring chance the whole night and really didn’t have any prolonged possessions of the puck the entire night. The Wings also didn’t get the goaltending from Chris Osgood that they had wanted. Seeing as the Wings played in Dallas Saturday and had a long night of travel coming into today, they may stand a better chance on Wednesday in Detroit.

In Play! Man of the Game: Kris Draper. Draper, who’s struggled on face-offs this season, went 3 for 3 in the face-off circle and played a strong game in a night when the Wings, and for that matter the Blackhawks, all played a weak game.

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Wings vs. Blackhawks – Round 2

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings will play the Chicago Blackhawks today for the second time this season, the first since the return of Blackhawks forward and former Red Wing, Marian Hossa.


The Wings dropped their last game yesterday against the Dallas Stars in a close 3-4 loss in regulation. The Blackhawks gave up more than two goals in a wild 5-4 shootout win against Boston on Friday.

The Wings are going to struggle to contain the division leading Blackhawks due to the injuries that are destroying Detroit’s lineup. Although the Wings did see the return of Darren Helm in yesterday’s game, they are still missing 8 skaters to injuries. The Wings will have to shut down Chicago’s top line to stand a chance at winning today. If all else fails, the Wings will get to try again on Wednesday.

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HENRIK ZETTERBERG INJURY UPDATE DEC 18

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

…Red Wings Forward Out A Minimum Of Two Weeks…

Detroit... Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg will be out of the Detroit lineup for a minimum of two weeks after suffering a slight left shoulder separation during last night’s 3-0 Red Wings victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Joe Louis Arena. Zetterberg was injured in a first period collision with Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund. He left the game at that point and did not return. Further tests performed after last night’s game revealed the slight separation.

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Howard Gets First Shutout, Wings Beat Lightning

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Red Wings played a dominating game over the Tampa Bay Lightning and took a 3-0 win in Jimmy Howard’s first career shutout.

Drew Miller (4) opened scoring on a breakaway that was set up by Brain Rafalski. Miller took the pass at almost at his shoulders and after the game he said his days of playing lacrosse helped him gather in the pass. Fans had to wait until the third for another goal, when both Todd Bertuzzi (9) and Patrick Eaves (4) put goals up on the board. Eaves' goal was his 100 career point.

Soon the “Man of the Game” section of this blog is going to change to the “Injured Man of the Game.” The Wings won their forth straight game all of which they have lost a player to injuries in. Tonight Henrik Zetterberg was injured on a crushing check from fellow Swedish player Mattias Ohlund. Zetterberg drove himself to the hospital for an MRI. The Wings outplayed the Lightning for most of the game, but looked very weak on their penalty kill. If not for the goaltending of Howard this game would have turned out completely differently.

In Play! Man of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Howard played a strong game and was forced to make several scrambling saves. He faced 10 shots a period and made all 30 saves to record his first career shutout.

Added bonus. Listen in to post game audio directly after the game as Jimmy Howard talks about his first career shut out and Babcock tells In Play! about his 300 NHL win.




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RED WINGS RECALL DEFENSEMAN DOUG JANIK

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

…Veteran Blue Liner Returns For Second Stint With Detroit This Season…

Detroit, MI... The Detroit Red Wings announced today that defenseman Doug Janik has been recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. Janik, 29, will be inserted into Detroit’s lineup on Thursday evening when the Red Wings play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Agawam, MA native will be making his second appearance with the Red Wings this season. Janik played for Detroit on November 3rd vs. the Boston Bruins, finishing with an even plus/minus rating in 13:56 of ice time. In 162 career NHL games played, he has 16 points (3-13-16) and 123 PIM.

Janik has appeared in 27 games for Grand Rapids this season, recording three goals, 12 assists and 38 PIM.


Doug Janik, Defense

Born Mar 26 1980 -- Agawam, MA

Height 6.02 -- Weight 210 -- Shoots L


Selected by Buffalo Sabres in the second round (#55 overall) 1999 NHL Entry Draft
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2001-02 Rochester Americans AHL 80 6 17 23 100 2 0 0 0 0

2002-03 Rochester Americans AHL 75 3 13 16 120 3 0 0 0 6

2002-03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 6 0 0 0 2 -- -- -- -- --

2003-04 Rochester Americans AHL 74 2 14 16 109 16 1 2 3 22

2003-04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4 0 0 0 19 -- -- -- -- --

2004-05 Rochester Americans AHL 76 2 10 12 196 9 0 2 2 10

2005-06 Rochester Americans AHL 71 5 19 24 161 -- -- -- -- --

2005-06 Buffalo Sabres NHL -- -- -- -- -- 5 1 0 1 2

2006-07 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 75 2 9 11 53 1 0 0 0 0

2007-08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 61 1 3 4 45 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Dallas Stars NHL 13 0 1 1 2 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Rockford IceHogs AHL 4 0 2 2 4 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Montreal Canadiens NHL 2 0 0 0 2 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 18 0 5 5 10 6 0 0 0 7

2009-10 Detroit Red Wings* NHL 1 0 0 0 0

2009-10 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 27 3 12 15 38

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Totals 162 3 13 16 123 6 1 0 1 2

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JONATHAN ERICSSON INJURY UPDATE

In Play Magazine

…Red Wings Defenseman Out Indefinitely…

Injury woes continue to battle the Wings.
After a brutal collision last night, the outlook does no look good for Jonathon Ericsson.

Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson will be out of the Detroit lineup indefinitely after suffering a significant bone bruise to his left knee during last night’s 3-2 Red Wings victory over the Phoenix Coyotes at Joe Louis Arena. Ericsson was injured in a first period collision with Coyotes forward Shane Doan deep inside the Red Wings zone. He left the game at that point and did not return. Further tests performed after last night’s game revealed no damage done to the major ligaments within his left knee.

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Wings Beat Coyotes for Three Game Win Streak

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

It didn’t take long for the Wings to take a lead tonight and they never lost that lead, taking a 3-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.
After being called up from Grand Rapids, and then taking a bad penalty, Kris Newbury opened scoring on a failed pass to Drew Miller. Patrick Eves then scored shorthanded on another Newbury penalty. Phoenix’s Taylor Pyatt put the Coyotes on the board before the end of the first. Early in the second Derek Meech replaced the two goal lead. Radim Vrbata scored Phoenix’s final goal.

The big story coming into the game was the injury to Darren Helm, the big story coming out is the injury to Jonathan Ericsson. Ericsson is likely to miss a lot of time because the knee on knee collision with Shane Doan looked bad. However, there is NO reason that Doan should see any kind of punishment for the hit. It was a clean hit and their knees only made contact as a result of the position Ericsson was in and the size of both players. While unfortunate, it was a clean hit. The Wings finally played a game they should have won and did. This is three straight wins, and tonight was the first of those wins that came in regulation.

In Play! Man of the Game: Kris Newbury. After not impressing in training camp Newbury was all over the box score tonight. He scored the first goal and took the penalty that led to Eaves’ shorthanded goal.

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Bertuzzi Puts Red Wings Over Predators in OT

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Todd Bertuzzi nets an overtime game winner for the second night in a row to give the Detroit Red Wings a big 3-2 victory over Nashville on Saturday.

Todd Bertuzzi was the first to score tonight with a spin-o-rama goal early in the second period. Drew Miller batted the puck into the net out of mid air after Datsyuk hit the crossbar to give the Red Wings a two goal lead. Nashville’s Ryan Jones scored on a deflection late in a powerplay to put the Predators behind by one after two periods. The lone goal of the third came from David Legwand. Then only 24 seconds into overtime Bertuzzi scored on a breakaway to give the Wings the win.

The Red Wings looked stronger tonight then they had in a while. Despite being out shot the Wings didn’t look like they were struggling throughout the game and played well as a team. The Wings did allow a powerplay goal against, however, and they were unable to score a powerplay goal of their own. Detroit has played much better on the road then they have at home, but their record does not show that. Coming into Friday, the Wings had been shut out in three of their last five home games, the first time that had happened since 1939, but the Wings have not failed to score a goal away from home yet this season.

In Play! Man of the Game: Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi had his second two goal game in the last 24 hours, in both games netting the overtime game winner. Bertuzzi should consider a career in real estate after his hockey career because Pekka Rinne bought the farm on Bertuzzi’s overtime breakaway.

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Bertuzzi’s OT Goal Gives Red Wings Win Over Ducks

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After being down by two goals after two periods, the Red Wings battled back and beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime.

Anaheim’s Saku Koivu opened the goal sheet tonight in the second period. Then with only 56 seconds left in the second period, Dan Sexton gave the Ducks a two goal lead. After Anaheim took a penalty early in the third, Tomas Holmstrom slammed the puck into the back of the net off a great feed from Ville Leino. Todd Bertuzzi scored the Wings’ second goal just seconds after another powerplay expired. In overtime Bertuzzi netted the game winner, again on the powerplay, for his 100th career powerplay goal.

The Red Wings didn’t play great through the beginning of the game, but in a night when the referee’s were itching to blow their whistles they did the best at staying out of the box. Not counting the fighting majors to Corey Perry and Justin Abdelkader, which was Abdelkader’s first career fight, Anaheim took 10 penalties to Detroit’s four. The Wings were also outshoot by the Ducks. Detroit played the game they’ve played in most of their last games but, by virtue of how the Ducks have struggled as of late, were able to top Anaheim for the Win.

In Play! Man of the Game: Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi had two goals, one on the powerplay, which was his 100th career powerplay goal, and the other just after a powerplay had ended.

ADDED BONUS POST AUDIO


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DAN CLEARY OUT FOR 4 WEEKS

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Dan Cleary will miss the next 4 weeks with a separated shoulder according to the Red Wings’ coach Mike Babcock.

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St. Louis Leaves Red Wings Singing Shutout Blues

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The St. Louis Blues topped the Red Wings, for the third time this season, in a 1-0 victory in Detroit on Wednesday.

The only goal of the game came less than two minutes into the game. Detroit, which has been weak in the early minutes of games, gave up the goal to Brad Boyes who had a wide open net.

The Wings have been struggling with offense and that simply was the problem tonight. Every one of Detroit’s shots tonight either hit Conklin square in the chest or bounced off the glass and boards behind the net. Nicklas Lidstrom, who was held goalless for his 28 straight game, rang the post twice during the night. Both chances should have been in the net.

In Play! Man of the Game: Ty Conklin. Conklin, who faced his team former team for the first time in Detroit since signing with St. Louis, posted his second shutout of the year on a night where he made 42 saves. While most of the saves were not that impressive, several of the saves were great. While he did allow a goal that was called back, it was the most legitimately called back goal against Detroit this whole season.

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Red Wings Beat Rangers in 3rd Period

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After being down a goal at the end of the first period, the Detroit Red Wings battled back and beat the New York Rangers with a pair of goals in the third.

The Rangers opened the score sheet with a goal by Brian Boyle at the end of the first. In the second Ryan Callahan failed to score on a penalty shot, but ten minutes later Pavel Datsyuk scored just a few seconds after a power play ended. Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, who assisted on Datsyuk’s goal, would combine again and feed Dan Cleary for the game winning goal with only two minutes left. Kris Draper would add an empty net goal to cap off the night.

The Wings played a strong game through the first 40 minutes, but faltered in the third and took a win they needed, but didn’t necessarily deserve. The Wings gave the Rangers at least four wide open net opportunities while on the penalty kill, but the Rangers missed all of them. Jimmy Howard did have a good night in net, but the Wings just didn’t play well through the first 15 minutes of the third. .

In Play! Man of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Howard faced 29 shots, of which he stopped 28. He also stopped a pair of breakaways and a penalty shot.

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Red Wings Can’t Clear Devils in New Jersey

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Despite coming from behind and forcing overtime, the Detroit Red Wings couldn’t get the job done and lost 4-3 in a shootout to the New Jersey Devils.


New Jersey jumped out to a two goal lead after Jamie Langenbrunner and Johnny Oduya netted goals in the first. Kris Draper scored the first goal of the second, but New Jersey took another two goal lead after Rob Niedermayer scored. With only 30 seconds left in the second, Tomas Holmstrom scored the only powerplay goal of the night. In the third Patrick Eves scored to force overtime.

The Wings struggled through the first 40 minutes of the game, but looked strong for most of the third period and overtime. They did not shine in the shootout, while Pavel Datsyuk did score a goal, the rest of the Wings showed little effort and didn’t stand a chance against Martin Brodeur. Todd Bertuzzi made a good move but missed the net.
The Wings are still struggling offensively and, by giving away the puck on the breakout, are giving up too many odd man rushes against. Tomorrow in New York, the Wings need to play a better all-around game if they are going to break this loosing streak. While New York did play tonight, they won in regulation and are a little better rested than Detroit.

In Play! Man of the Game: Patrick Eves. Eaves was the only player who finished the night with more than one point, but after going hard into the boards and missing most of the first to get stitches, Eves came back and scored the game tying goal.

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Red Wings & Devils – December 5

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Saturday the New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings will face off in New Jersey. It is the only meeting between these two teams this season.

Detroit is struggling offensive and medically. Most of the team is behind their goal paces from last season or sitting out because of injuries. Both Red Wings goalies have had their good and bad games. Jimmy Howard is coming off a string of starts, the last of which was a 4-1 loss on Thursday in Detroit. Seeing as the Wings will play again tomorrow, it is unclear as to whether Chris Osgood or Howard will start today.

New Jersey is on its last game of a four game home stand, although after playing on the road Monday they will play they next five at home. The Devils slipped a goal through with less than a minute left on Friday to win their game against the Lightning. Martin Brodeur played Friday so there is no word as to whether he’ll play on Saturday. The only thing that is certain is that Brodeur would love to record his 103 career shutout, tying him for the all-time record with former Wings legend Terry Sawchuk, against the struggling offense of the Red Wings.

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Red Wings Dropped by Edmonton

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings played a game they should have won and instead gave two easy points to the Oilers in a 4-1 loss.

Tonight’s first goal honors went to Lubomir Visnovsky and Edmonton’s Robert Nilsson netted their second goal 12 minutes later. Dan Cleary scored Detroit’s only goal off a great feed from Todd Bertuzzi with less than a second left in the first. In the second, Edmonton added a pair of goals, both from the stick of Patrick O’Sullivan.

Detroit did not play well tonight in a game that saw very little in the way of penalties. Detroit had 12 giveaways in the game, but had 11 after the first two periods. Other than the goal by Cleary and a couple good chances, including a wide open net missed by Tomas Holmstrom in the second, the Red Wings just didn’t look like they were together for tonight’s game. Even with only three penalties called in the whole game, there was still a referee controversy when Holmstrom was tripped on a breakaway and no penalty shot was given. That did, however, lead to the Wings only powerplay the night.

Good news from the dressing room was that Jonathan Ericsson, who left late in the third when his skate caught a rut in the ice, is only day to day with a knee injury and will still leave tonight for the team’s upcoming road trip.

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Red Wings Get Big Win in Detroit

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco continued his career trend of loosing in Joe Louis Arena as the Wings topped the Stars 4-1 on Monday night.

Drew Miller was first to tally a goal after beating out a Dallas defenseman for an iced puck. Then with 15 seconds left in the period Brenden Morrow tied the game. In the second, Darren Helm and Dan Cleary netted goals to push the Wings to a two goal lead, then in the third Todd Bertuzzi scored to cap off the night.

The Wings played a dominating game despite almost being matched in shots by the Stars. Most of the shots Dallas got on net were not clean shots, but Jimmy Howard managed to make several huge saves throughout the night. The Wings also saw big games from Kris Draper and Darren Helm, plus Miller had a good night and was rewarded with a goal. The Wings didn’t play any different than they have in their last few games, it was just that their “puck luck,” as Wings coach Mike Babcock calls it, improved as most of the bounces seemed to go their way tonight. The only sour note for the Wings was that they went 0-4 on the powerplay, but contrasting did go 4-0 on the penalty kill.

In Play! Man of the Game: Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi, coming off of his shootout winner, scored a nice goal off of a shot from the boards. Bertuzzi, who was also the Man of the Game on Saturday, has looked good in most of his games this season but seems to be finding the back of the net lately.

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Detroit Red Wings Rematch Dallas Stars

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After a 3-2 loss to Dallas less than two weeks ago in Detroit, the Red Wings are looking for a win tonight against Dallas.

Dallas recently got two forwards back from injuries and is now healthy; the Wings are two to three months away from being healthy. The Wings have struggled as of late with scoring, having been shut out in its last two games at home. However, coming off a last minute goal and a shootout win in St. Louis, the Wings hope that scoring momentum will swing their way.

One of the issues facing Detroit has been the play of backup goalies. Starting with Dallas two weeks ago, Detroit has been beaten by backups, all of which registered higher than a 92% save percentage in the games they played. Wings’ forward Brad May scored his first goal of the season in the last game against Dallas, but it was called back. With May’s birthday being yesterday, he’ll be looking for a goal as a gift to himself tonight.

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Wings End Blues in St. Louis

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After going down by two goals, the Wings battled back for a 4-3 shootout win, their first win against St. Louis this season.

David Backes cracked open the score sheet and four minutes later the Blues followed up with a goal by Roman Polak. Early in the second, Tomas Holmstrom scored a goal to put him only one short of 200 in his career. Early in the third, Kris Draper tied the game up a two goals, but Brad Boyes put St. Louis in the lead again. Going into the last minute of the game, Henrik Zetterberg bounced the puck of a defender and into the net to tie the game.

In a shootout it came down to four shooters after Datsyuk and Andy McDonald scored. T. J. Oshie, the Blues forth shooter, beat Jimmy Howard but lost control of the puck. The Red Wings questioningly put Todd Bertuzzi up as their forth shooter, but Bertuzzi slowly skated into the zone and dumped a backhander over Steve Mason for the win.

The Red Wings didn’t play as dominating of a game as they had in their last two, but the main difference came in that tonight the Wings looked like they were shooting to score goals rather than for deflections. They also got huge games from Zetterberg, Draper, Darren Helm, Patrick Eves and Todd Bertuzzi. The result was the Wings first victory in three games.

In Play! Man of the Game: Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi tied for a team high nine attempted shots and scored his first shootout goal of the season, it was his first attempt too. He was credited for three shots on goal, but one of his missed shots rang off the post and he also had a shot on a wide open net blocked by a teammate.

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Wings vs. Blues: Round Three

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After being shut out twice at home, the Detroit Red Wings will travel into St. Louis tonight for their third game of the season with the Blues. It’s their first meeting in the States.

St. Louis is looking to expand their current win streak to three and, after beating the Wings twice in Stockholm, are hopeful about tonight’s game. The Wings, however, are just hoping the puck will end up in the net tonight. The Wings were shut out by Florida on Wednesday and by Calgary on Friday.

Despite the two shutouts, Detroit has actually played well lately, but needs to take better shots. They spend way too much time passing the puck or trying for deflections. Most of the 40 shots on goal in the last two games have ended up hitting a goaltender that couldn’t even see the puck. The Wings aren’t shooting for the back of the net, but rather for the front of it. That strategy just doesn’t work.

A big question for the Wings is the officiating in Friday’s game. Dan Cleary had two goals called back, both of which the referee had no justification for taking the goal away. This has been a theme for Detroit this season, having lost four games now because of good goals taken away by referees.

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Wings Shut-out by Atlanta

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

After coming off a loss Monday in Nashville, the Detroit Red Wings were shut-out 2-0 by the Atlanta Thrashers Wednesday in Detroit.

Atlanta opened the score sheet only five minutes into the game with a goal by Nik Antropov. Then in the second, Vyacheslav Kozlov added a breakaway goal on the powerplay.

Detroit outplayed the Thrashers in the box score, but on the ice the Wings looked lethargic and gave the puck away many more times than they were credited for. Although they amassed 40 shots on net, most of the Wings' shots hit Ondrej Pavelec directly in the logo of his jersey. In fact, Pavelec made less than five good saves the whole night, most of the time the puck simply just hit him. If the Wings play like this again on Friday, they’ll be blown out by Calgary.

In Play! Man of the Game: Kris Draper. Draper forced Pavelec to make two glove saves on close range slap shots in the third, but also looked good all game long. He also finished the night winning 75% of his face-offs.

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Detroit Unable to Stop Predators

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Coming off several good performances, the Red Wings just couldn’t muster the same effort against Nashville and lost 3-1 on Monday.
Jason Arnott and Martin Erat scored goals for Nashville, both on the powerplay to open the first two periods. Drew Miller would net his first goal for the season, and as a Red Wing, to get the Wings on the board. In the closing minutes of the game, Erat would score his second goal of the game.

The Wings were shut down by Nashville for the first two periods while the Predators were averaging 10 shots a period. While they did manage to put on a clinic in the third, it was too little too late and Pekka Rinne played a great third period. The Red Wings have struggled lately as it seems that every goalie they face has an outstanding game. Detroit did seem to struggle without Niklas Kronwall, who has been the best player on the Wings' defense for the last two weeks. Detroit will need to win both its remaining games this week or they will be burying themselves deeper in the standings than they might be able to get out of.

In an update on the Kronwall situation, Montreal enforcer Georges Laraque, who kneed Kronwall and injured Kronwall's knee for the next four to eight weeks, was suspended today for five games.

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Detroit vs. Nashville November 23

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings will play the Predators in Nashville tonight. Neither of these teams has played each other yet this season. Last season, Nashville bested the Wings in the season series.

The Red Wings are coming off a shootout win in Montreal on Saturday while the Predators are coming off five straight wins, the last two being in a shootout. In its last three games, the Red Wings have played well despite a pair of losses.

The biggest issue facing the Wings is the loss of Niklas Kronwall, who will miss four to eight weeks after being kneed on Saturday. While this is bad, originally is sounded like Detroit was expecting Kronwall to miss as much time as Johan Franzen, so the news that Kronwall could be back around Christmas is good. Detroit will need its top defensive line to step up tonight. While the offense has looked good, both Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom have struggled in the last three games. With Kronwall out, look for Rafalski to see some time with Brad Stuart and Lidstrom to play with Jonathan Ericsson.

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Wings top Canadiens on Road

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Red Wings’ 3-2 shootout victory in Montreal was overshadowed by the injury sustained by Niklas Kronwall in the first period.

Brad Stuart scored the Wings first goal during the second leg of an unusual triple minor given to Georges Laraque (four minutes for high sticking and two for tripping). Later in the first, Pavel Datsyuk would score, again on the powerplay, on a shot-pass from Brian Rafalski. The game remained 2-0 until Montreal's Mike Cammalleri tallied a pair in the third, the first of which came only nine seconds into the period. Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored in the shootout.

The big news of the game was the injury sustained by Kronwall, which is likely going to be the talk in the NHL for the next several days. After recklessly drilling Darren Helm in the mouth with his stick, Laraque skated down the ice and maliciously kneed Kronwall, who did not return to the game. Laraque was only given two minutes for tripping Kronwall, but should be suspended sometime in the next 48 hours for the play.
In Play! Man of the Game: Brad Stuart. Stuart netted his second goal of the season and recorded 10 shots in the game, eight of which came in the first period. Stuart played a great game, but will likely feel it in his arms tomorrow.

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Detroit vs. Montreal

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Tonight, in Montreal, the Red Wings will play the Canadiens for the only time this season.

Montreal is coming off a 3-2 win in Washington, last night, where they were outplayed by the Capitals but managed to steal a win. Detroit is coming off a loss, also last night, where they outplayed the Panthers in Detroit but were stopped in overtime. Even though this game is being played in Montreal, Detroit actually traveled a shorter distance than Montreal last night to get to the Bell Centre.

With Carry Price having been in net last night, it is possible that Montreal’s backup Jaroslav Halak could be in net tonight. Detroit has played backups in both of its last games and lost. “It was just a case where they put in their backup and he had his best night of the season,” Wings’ coach Mike Babcock told media last night.

Montreal has struggled this season and is not known for their goaltending. If the Wings play like they did last night and can get another 40 shots on goal, they will likely walk away with a win today.

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Panthers Grind Out Wings in Detroit

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Despite completely outplaying Florida, the Detroit Red Wings lost to the Panthers Friday in overtime.

After a goalless first, Pavel Datsyuk scored his fifth goal of the year on a short powerplay opportunity. In the third, Florida scored off a pass that redirected off of Chris Osgood to the stick of Stephen Weiss in the crease. Only 40 seconds into overtime, Bryan McCabe blasted a one timer by Osgood.

Detroit simply dominated this game and shouldn’t be happy with the fact that they only will walk away with one point. Darren Helm, who played a great game, came up with nothing despite two breakaways. Including blocked and missed shots, Detroit fired 75 pucks at Scott Clemmensen. Including blocks and misses, Florida only managed 39 shots. This should have been a blowout for the Wings, who play again Saturday in Montreal.

In Play! Man of the Game: Scott Clemmensen. Clemmensen posted a .975 save percentage and made 39 saves. Clemmensen also psyched Darren Helm into loosing the puck on his first breakaway, and made the quick save on Helm’s second opportunity.

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Red Wings and Stars November 18

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Tonight the Dallas Stars come into Detroit to play the Red Wings. It is the first meeting of these teams this season.

Detroit comes into tonight on a three game win streak, coming off a 7-4 victory Saturday against Anaheim. Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg has four goals and nine points in his last three games. Jimmy Howard will be starting for the Wings in goal. Howard has been in goal for all three of the Wings victories in this streak. Wings goalie Chris Osgood is still suffering from the flu. Marty Turco will start in goal for Dallas.

Detroit will need to continue with their offensive dominance that has been the characteristic of their recent success. Against Columbus and Anaheim the Wings looked as they did last season. With Howard struggling like he did against Anaheim, Detroit will need to have their offensive game going if they are going to continue their win streak to four.

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ZETTERBERG, KOVALCHUK, MILLER NAMED NHL 'THREE STARS' OF THE WEEK

In Play Magazine

NEW YORK (November 16, 2009) -- Detroit Red Wings left wing Henrik Zetterberg, Atlanta Thrashers left wing Ilya Kovalchuk and Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller have been named the NHL 'Three Stars' for the week ending Nov. 15.

FIRST STAR -- HENRIK ZETTERBERG, LW, DETROIT RED WINGS
Zetterberg led all scorers with nine points (four goals, five assists), tallied two game-winning goals and recorded a +5 rating, helping the Red Wings (10-5-3) post three consecutive victories. Zetterberg notched a pair of assists and a +2 rating in a 9-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Nov. 11 and tallied the game-winning goal, an assist and a +2 rating in a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks Nov. 12. Zetterberg completed the week by posting a career-high five points (three goals, two assists), including the game-winning goal, in a 7-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Nov. 14. Zetterberg scored all three goals in the third period in notching his fourth career hat trick. The 29-year-old Njurunda, Sweden native leads the Red Wings in scoring with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 18 games.

SECOND STAR -- ILYA KOVALCHUK, LW, ATLANTA THRASHERS
Returning to action after missing six games with a foot injury, Kovalchuk ranked second among NHL scorers with eight points (three goals, five assists) as the Thrashers (10-6-1) won three consecutive games. Kovalchuk recorded a goal and two assists in a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers Nov. 12, notched four points (two goals, two assists) in a 7-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings Nov. 13 and tallied an assist in a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Nov. 15. Kovalchuk is off to the fastest start of his eight-year NHL career with a club-leading 12 goals in his first 11 games.

THIRD STAR -- RYAN MILLER, G, BUFFALO SABRES
Miller posted a 3-0-0 record with a 1.30 goals-against average and .953 save percentage, helping the Sabres (12-4-1) open a five-point lead in the Northeast Division. Miller stopped 28 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Nov. 11, turned aside 25 shots and three of four shootout attempts in a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames Nov. 13 and made 29 saves in a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 14. Miller improved to 12-2-1 with a League-leading 1.77 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage and two shutouts in 15 appearances.

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Red Wings Top Ducks in 7-4 Night

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings came out fast and hard in an attempt to take advantage of the fact Anaheim played last night. Despite walking all over the Ducks for the first two periods, it was the third period that really marked the game.

Dan Cleary broke the score sheet in the first period. Brian Rafalski put another goal up for Detroit with only seconds left in the first. Corey Perry scored the only goal of the second period. Bobby Ryan tied the game up in the third and from that point forward it just wasn’t good to be a goalie. After Ryan, the goals in the third were Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit (D)), Joffrey Lupul (Anaheim (A), Henrik Zetterberg (D), Ryan Getzlaf (A), Zetterberg (D), Darren Helm (D), and Zetterberg (D).

It was a bad night to be a goalie, but a good night to be a shooter or to be in the stands at Joe Louis Arena. The third period was so exciting that “the wave” made its first appearance of the year in Detroit. The Wings succeeded in getting lots of shots at Jonas Hiller, many of the shots were redirected helping them find a way behind him.

Jimmy Howard did not look great in net for the Wings, but managed to grind through, not allowing Anaheim to score any unanswered goals in the third. For the second time in three games the total goals scored made double digits, again Detroit came out on top and is now on a three game win streak.

In Play! Man of the Game: Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg had three goals and two assists including the Game Winning Goal. Zetterberg also took his second penalty of the year in the game.

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Red Wings Welcome Ducks to the Joe

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings will play the Anaheim Ducks today at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings are coming off of back to back wins. In those two games the Wings have scored 12 goals. Niklas Kronwall has three goals and an assist in his last two games. On Thursday, Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg scored goals, both had been held goalless in Detroit’s 9-1 win on Wednesday.

Anaheim comes into Detroit off of a shootout loss in Columbus on Friday. The Ducks are 2-2-2 since loosing four games of a six game home stretch in the end of October.

This is the first meeting between the Wings and Ducks this season. The Ducks have struggled without Chris Pronger, who was traded over the summer to the Flyers. Detroit will need to get pucks on net if they plan on winning. The Ducks are hurting defensively and are involved with a goalie crisis with Jean-Sebastien Giguere threatening to walk out if he’s not the starter, putting Jonas Hiller under a lot of pressure to maintain his starting position. It is likely Hiller will start as Giguere played Friday. Anaheim is also not well rested having played to a shootout Friday.

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Steve Yzerman Ceromonial Puck Drop + Wings Post Game Interviews

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

November 12, 2009 Post game interviews with Red Wings Nick Lidstrom, Jimmy Howard, Head Caoch Mike Babcock and newly aquired Drew Miller. In the 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, Wings goalie Howard recorded his first NHL point.



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Red Wings Win Back to Back Games

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

The Detroit Red Wings stole a 3-1 win from the Vancouver Canucks only 24 hours after topping Columbus 9-1.
Tomas Holmstrom broke onto the score sheet late in the first to put him only two goals short of 200 in his career. In the second period, Mason Raymond scored on the powerplay to tie the game up. Midway through the third Henrik Zetterberg shoveled a backhander over the shoulder of Roberto Luongo for the game winner. Niklas Kronwall would add an empty-netter with an assist by Jimmy Howard, Howard’s first NHL career point.

The Wings were simply out played, out matched, and out worked by the Canucks. Luongo, who had his first start back from a broken rib, did not look outstanding in net. Howard, on the other hand, played an excellent game. The one positive note on Detroit’s defense was that they managed to avoid allowing the Canucks second chance opportunities. They also held Vancouver to only 6 shots in the third period.

In Play! Man of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Howard made 31 saves tonight, having come off of a 25 save night yesterday giving him 56 saves in the last 24 hours. He also got his first NHL career point and looked great all round in net tonight.

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Red Wings Almost Net 10 in Columbus

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Detroit came into tonight trying to recover from a horrendous loss in Toronto and managed a 9-1 victory against Columbus. Every Red Wing that scored tonight netted their third goal of the season.

Dan Cleary opened scoring for Detroit in the first period. Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, and Niklas Kronwall would soon follow. Rick Nash scored Columbus’ only goal to make the game 4-1 halfway though the second, but Todd Bertuzzi and Ville Leino would both score within a minute of each other before the period ended. Kronwall added a second goal in the third and Justin Abdelkader scored twice in the third.

The Wings came out and simply just took advantage of a Blue Jackets team that didn’t want to play defense. Columbus let the Red Wings free wheel the puck and do whatever they wanted.

The real victim of the night was Steve Mason. He let a few weak goals in, but on half the Wings tally’s he needed the support of his team, but never got it.

On the other side of the ice, Jimmy Howard looked uncomfortable in net and had problems setting himself up early but was always bailed out by his team. He did find his game by the end of the third.

In Play! Man of the Game: Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall recorded his third and forth goals of the season and an assist. Kronwall also rang the post and crossbar in the game and was robbed by Mason late in the third.

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RED WINGS CLAIM DREW MILLER OFF WAIVERS

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

...Former Michigan State Spartan To Join Team In Detroit On Thursday…

Detroit... The Detroit Red Wings announced today that the club has claimed forward Drew Miller off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 14 games with Tampa Bay this season he registered no points and two PIM.

Miller, 25, was originally a sixth round pick (186th overall) of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He played in parts of three seasons with the Ducks before joining Tampa Bay for the 2008-09 season. In 67 career NHL games he has registered 15 points (6-9-15) and 25 PIM. He also appeared in 16 postseason games for Anaheim from 2006-2009.

Miller played three seasons at Michigan State University before joining the NHL. In 2005-06, he was named Michigan State’s Most Valuable Player and was selected as the CCHA’s best defensive forward. Drew’s older brother, Ryan, is the current starting goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, while his cousins Kip, Kevin and Kelly have also played in the NHL. Kevin played with the Red Wings from 1990-91 to 1991-92 and again in 2003-04.


Drew Miller, Forward
Born Feb 17 1984 -- Dover, NJ
Height 6.02 -- Weight 178 -- Shoots L
Selected by Anaheim Mighty Ducks round 6 #186 overall 2003 NHL Entry Draft

--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2003-04 Michigan State University NCAA 41 4 6 10 39

2004-05 Michigan State University NCAA 40 17 16 33 20

2005-06 Michigan State University NCAA 44 18 25 43 30

2005-06 Portland Pirates AHL -- -- -- -- -- 1 0 0 0 0

2006-07 Portland Pirates AHL 79 16 20 36 51 -- -- -- -- --

2006-07 Anaheim Ducks NHL -- -- -- -- -- 3 0 0 0 2

2007-08 Portland Pirates AHL 31 16 20 36 12 16 1 7 8 12

2007-08 Anaheim Ducks NHL 26 2 3 5 6 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Iowa Chops AHL 53 23 15 38 10 -- -- -- -- --

2008-09 Anaheim Ducks NHL 27 4 6 10 17 13 2 1 3 2

2008-09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 14 0 0 0 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NHL Totals 67 6 9 15 25 16 2 1 3 4

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Hall of Fame Induction

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Four of the greatest players to have played hockey were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 9. Three of the 4 players at one point in their careers, wore the winged wheel for Detroit.

Brett Hall, third in the NHL for career goals scored, two time Stanley Cup Champion, and former Detroit Red Wings player was an easy choice for his first year of eligibility. In fact, all four players were first ballot inductees. Hull was one of the greatest snipers to ever play the game.

Brian Leetch, long time New York Ranger and the only American born player being inducted this year, is arguably one of the best defensemen to ever play the game. In 1992, Leetch became the fifth, and last, defenseman to amass 100 points in a single season. He finished his career with over 1000 points. He won his only cup in 1994.

Luc Robitaille, another magical goal scorer and one of the NHL’s greatest ninth round draft picks ever, was the only inductee to split his speech between English and French. Robitaille only hoisted the cup once in his career, that being with the 2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings, but played with the poise that should have earned him many more.

Steve Yzerman, sixth all time in points (1755) scored, over 1000 career assists, and a three time Stanley Cup Winner. Steve was the crown jewel of the induction. Yzerman currently holds the record for most NHL seasons as a single team’s captain. On November 9, he captained the 2009 induction class.

A reoccurring theme through the weekend and induction night itself was the Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings of 2001-2002. Only eight years ago that group graced the ice surfaces of the NHL, but already it is considered to be the greatest single team ever assembled. A team that held anywhere from 5-15 future hall of fame players, only time will tell exactly how great of a team it truly was.

Many people thanked the Wings and the Illitchs, or at least referenced to the dynasty that they created in Detroit. Some year there may be a whole hall dedicated to the 2001-2002 Red Wings, but for today we must only look back to November 9, the night that many people have said was the 2001-2002 Red Wings Hockey Hall of Fame Induction.

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Red Wings Blown Out by Toronto

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Detroit saw their three game win streak snapped in Toronto on Saturday in a 5-1 loss against the Leafs.

Toronto stuck first with a snapshot from Wayne Primeau that beat Chris Osgood. Then with less than 30 seconds left in the first period, Phil Kessel scored on a redirecting puck that bounced off multiple players before rolling through Osgood’s five-hole. Toronto’s Jeff Finger scored in the second. Primeau, Kessel and Finger’s goals were their first of the season. Dan Cleary put Detroit on the board with his 100th career goal on a breakaway before Toronto scored two more goals.

Toronto did a good job of blocking shooting and passing lanes. Detroit left lanes open and allowed Toronto full access to Osgood. The result was a game they never had a chance to win. The worst part of the game for the Wings came when forward Jason Williams suffered a broken leg when his skate caught a grove in the ice while he was falling and was trapped underneath him when one of the Leafs fell on top of him.

In Play! Man of the Game: Jonas Gustavsson. Gustavsson made 35 saves on 36 shots. Recording a save percentage of .972.

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Budd Lynch Celebrates 60 Years with the Red Wings - The Interview

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

In Play! Magazine sits down for an exclusive one on one interview with Red Wings PA announcer and hockey historian Mr. Budd Lynch.

The interview is in depth and broken up into three segments.

In part one, Mr.Lynch drops the ceremonial puck to celebrate his 60 years with the Wings, then the interview begins.

Watch and listen as Mr. Lynch talks about WWII and how he came to work for the Wings.

Old time hockey fans will absolutely love this candid interview.

Budd Lynch Interview Part 1 of 3



In part two, Mr.Lynch talks about Clarence Campbell's suspension of "The Rocket" Richard and the ensuing riot in Montreal, the atmosphere at the old Olympia and his friendship with Ernie Harwell.

Original Six fans, you have to listen to this segment.
Budd Lynch Interview Part 2 of 3



In part three, Mr.Lynch talks about Steve Yzerman, the Production Line, NHL expansion into Europe and Mr. Lynch's view on fighting in the game.

Classic hockey at its best.
Budd Lynch Interview Part 3 of 3


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Red Wings Stop Sharks at 6 Wins

By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine

Bobbleheads, Bud Lynch drops the face-off, a Wings third period comeback, and a 2-1 shootout win, there wasn’t much that tonight’s game lacked.

Budd Lynch ceremonial puck drop. Photo by AJ Petronzi/In Play! Magazine

San Jose opened scoring with a goal by Logan Couture, his first NHL career goal. That tally came in the late second period. Early in the third period Henrik Zetterberg stuffed a goal through Evgeni Nabokov off a Nicklas Lidstrom blast from the point. Chris Osgood would stand on his head throughout the rest of the third to force overtime.

Nabokov would return the favor in overtime by coming up huge on several multi-chance opportunities for the Wings. In the shootout, Osgood put up his best effort of the year stopping both San Jose’s chances. Pavel Datsyuk and Zetterberg pulled great dekes out of their bag of tricks and recorded goals in the shootout. Jason Williams was stopped by Nabokov who slid to the boards searching for the puck which he’d though had gone into the net.

Pavel Datsyuk Scores in the Shootout. Photo by Jack Rosenberg

The Wings played well in the latter stages of the game, but effectively stole a point from San Jose who played better throughout the game. The Sharks had won their last 6 games coming into tonight. The Wings did play the body tonight recording a team total of 32 hits, but only blocked 8 shots. Osgood stopped 34 of San Jose’s 35 shots on goal.

Henrik Zetterberg shootout game winner. Photo by Jack Rosenberg

In Play! Man of the Game: Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg recorded 3 shots on goal, one of which found its way to twine. He also gave the Wings a goal in the shootout with a great deke.
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