15 Consecutive Home Victories

Hello world, it's been awhile. This octopus is in honor of the 15 consecutive home victories (passing the Red Wings previous record of 14, back in 1965) the Red Wings achieved on Jan 16th 2012 against the Buffalo Sabres. I was lucky enough to be at the Joe when they chased Ryan Miller in his hometown putting up 5 goals before the 30 minute mark. I didn't have an octopus to throw on the ice but I hoped this would make up for it. And today I can say that yours, mine and our Detroit Red Wings currently are sitting NUMBER 1 in the entire league after defeating Phoenix last night. Let's keep it up!!

Winter Classic

After an entertaining Winter Classic in Philly there has already been talk amongst the masses that the next Winter Classic will be held in Hockeytown. There are two enormous factors to consider in this game, the NHL marketing equivalent to the Super Bowl.


Where is one of the NHL's most important games to draw revenue going to be held? 


There seems to be only two logical locations on where this game will be played. The first being Comerica park, owned by Mr.Illitch. Comerica sits in the heart of Detroit and an event here will draw loads of money for the downtown area (hopefully fixing a few things up here and there). Comerica Park would be the obvious choice for Illitch drawing in a nice crowd and a decent amount of money.

The other choice would be The Big House, they have already played a game there once, and there is approximately 107,501 seats so the largest Winter Classic and it will eclipse all other previous and future Winter Classics. It has also been stated that Michigan has been contacted by the NHL on the possibility of using the Big House for next years Classic.

 

Is the Winter Classic ready for a Canadian team?

Yes, Toronto is just across the Detroit river, making it easily accessible for our Canadian compadres that are looking to come to Detroit or Ann Arbor. But the main concern is that there already is a game in the Heritage Classic which is set up specifically for the Canadian teams. Why would we not give other teams in the US a chance in the Winter Classic? Say Colorado, or a repeat of the Hawks game in 09'? Toronto's mayor is trying to get a Winter Classic to be held in Toronto saying “We would love to host a game and the league knows it.” But where would it be played at? Seeing that the Sky dome doesn't open during winter, and  BMO field only holds around 20,000 there really isn't a lot of revenue to be brought in, in Toronto.

What do I think will happen?

For my money, I believe the Winter Classic will be held in Ann arbor at The Big House. It will be Detroit vs either Toronto or Boston (both would be nice match-ups) and I predict the wings will win 5-2 with Datsyuk netting 2 goals with 1 assist, one of the goals being of the spectacular variety.

Favorite Player Of All Time

It may seem strange to some people, concidering I grew up watching Steve Yzerman lead us to 3 Stanley Cups, The Russian Five, The Grind Line, etc that my favorite player of all time is still currently in the prime of his career. It was a tough decision but when I was a child my favorite player seemed to change every time an exciting, important, dramatic goal was scored. I mean come on, I watch this goal over and over again and every time I'm met with the same feelings of nostalgia and pride.



Pavel Datsyuk


However there is no denying that despite all of that my favorite player of all time is Pavel Datsyuk. This guy is as close to a wizard as I've seen. The guy has an entire legion of youtube video highlights for every 15 year old drooling teen and myself to gauk at all through summer while waiting for him to get back on the ice and show us something new. Half of my youtube favorites literally is taken up by this guy, the things he can do with the puck is beyond anything I've ever seen before.

Here is a breakdown of his stats since the lockout.

05-06 - GP 75, G 28, A 59, Pts 87, +- 26
06-07 - GP 79, G 27, A 60, Pts 87, +- 36
07-08 - GP 82, G 31, A 66, Pts 97, +- 41
08-09 - GP 81, G 32, A 65, Pts 97, +- 34
09-10 - GP 80, G 27, A 43, Pts 70, +- 17
10-11 - GP 56, G 23, A 36, Pts 59, +- 11

He has been extremely consistent aside from one down year spent playing 09-10 with an injury riddled Detroit team. Last year looked like it could have been the year he finally broke 100 points (and judging by his playoff performance it seems very likely) if it weren't for a serious wrist injury that kept him out a good chunk of the season. Concidering the lines are switched around almost on a whim it is good to know that Datsyuk can play with just about anyone and on top of that, make them a better player. He is extremely versatile and can be played on the wing as well (this helped me out a lot in my fantasy league last year). On top of being one of the most entertaining players on the ice, he's also one of the funniest players in the locker room. His broken english and twisted dry humor have become somewhat famous around Hockeytown.




I could go on and on and hit you with stats and random facts but I'd rather just leave you with one of my favorite Datsyuk compilations.