Game 35 Preview: Wing Night

by Justin Azevedo on Dec 22, 2011 10:45 AM PST in The Department of Game Posts

The Detroit Red Wings roll into town (hyuk hyuk) on the second night of a back to back, coming off of a loss last night in Vancouver to the surging Canucks. This will be the second time in the past two contests that the Flames will get the benefit of playing a team on a back to back-of course, Minnesota being the first on Tuesday.

Talk today has revolved around Niklas Kronwall's hit on Ryan Kesler. As much as I hate Kesler, that hit was pure garbage. A few of us were watching the game at the bar last night, and after seeing the hit on YouTube as well, it's obvious Kronwall leaves his feet and attempts to turn into Kesler-and his movement dictates that the first point of contact was intended to be the head. A suspension is absolutely justified there. Certianly, Kesler should've "kept his head up"-but the onus is on Kronwall to hit the player safely, not jump into him. This is the type of thing the league needs to eliminate before the sport becomes extinct due to it's injury risk.

Speaking of injuries, I've been hearing some people cite injuries to justify the Flames' poor record thus far this season. I'm of the opinion that injuries are as much a part of the game as scoring or skating and good teams find a way to battle through them. Every team gets injured at some point of the season. There's exactly two players in the league who's impact on the team is so great they can't afford to be injured. Even when injuries build up I can't accept that as a valid excuse-the organization should have players who are NHL capable in the system.

Jimmy Howard's having a whale of a year thus far for the Wings-20 wins, a .940 EVSV% and a OVSV% of .925. It's quite the improvement from last year's .916 EVSV% and OVSV% of .908. I'm not quite ready to proclaim his current stats as his "true talent", but he's close.

Players to Watch

Jarome Iginla-Only 3 Goals away from 500 now. Maybe he catches the backup tonight and makes magic happen?

Pavel Datsyuk-He was recently named the "Most Skilled Player" in the league by TSN. Or maybe it was "Player with Most Skills"? Who knows. I was drunk.

Lastly...

The Flames really need to take advantage of what is probably a tired opponent, since tomorrow likely won't go well.

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I’m really scratching my head here, who are those two players?

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by exsanguinator on Dec 22, 2011 11:07 AM PST reply actions

brodie and kronwall

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by Justin Azevedo on Dec 22, 2011 11:18 AM PST up reply actions

quit fucking with me, that was a serious question.

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by exsanguinator on Dec 22, 2011 2:30 PM PST up reply actions

I was being serious!

I AM SO CONFUSED RIGHT NOW

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by Justin Azevedo on Dec 22, 2011 2:55 PM PST up reply actions

A suspension is absolutely justified there.

A 2 minute minor for charging was justified, but that’s not a suspendable offense. I don’t know how you can say with any certainty that Kesler’s head was targeted, especially since Kronwall did keep his arms down and essentially threw his butt into Kesler’s chest.

And just so you know I’m not typing this with my tin foil hat on, there are a number of independent hockey people who agreed that this was not a “dirty” play.

Oh, and as a rookie in 2009-10, Jimmy Howard posted an EVSV% of .925 and an OVSV% of .924, so maybe last year was the exception and what he’s doing now is the more of what we should be expecting of him.

Looking forward to a good game. Hopefully the Wings can somehow contain Iginla.

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by Amerinadian on Dec 22, 2011 11:20 AM PST reply actions

fair enough. I saw it differently.

interesting. I generally tend to take a more pessimistic view of performance, and I weigh more recent performance heavier. it’s entirely possible last year was the outlier, but I’d like to see a little more before I declare anything concrete.

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by Justin Azevedo on Dec 22, 2011 11:23 AM PST up reply actions

I gotta hold with the “no suspension” crowd on this. Kronwall left his feet so it was absolutely a dirty hit but a dirty hit of the two minute minor penalty variety.

As far as howard goes… I dunno. He’s never stood out as in any way exceptional to me but my own viewings of him are infrequant enough to call into question via small sample size. He’s one of those guys who I wonder if they didn’t play of an excellent team whether they’d get exposed as mediocre or not.

by Parallex on Dec 22, 2011 1:50 PM PST up reply actions

no penalty on the play

Even though he clearly lept. And why the hell did he turn like that? It was such an odd hit. Maybe kesler should be happy he got kronwall’s ass and back to the head, instead of a shoulder pad

I don’t know if it is suspension worthy, but perhaps a phone call from Shanahan and a stern finger-wagging?

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by Temujin on Dec 22, 2011 1:13 PM PST via mobile reply actions

He turned like that

to avoid blasting Kesler in the head.

Which is part of the reason he wasn’t suspended.

by J.J. from Kansas on Dec 22, 2011 1:40 PM PST up reply actions

Going to the game tonight, so I hope you guys have fun on the GT without me. I’m planning ahead to drink enough to soothe the pain of watching our team lose. Definitely interested in watching the kid line, but I don’t have much hope for them against this kind of competition.

Looking forward to seeing everyone out at Shanks tomorrow night for the blogger meet-up. That said, it’s going to be a painful couple of days of hockey.

by mike_H on Dec 22, 2011 1:59 PM PST reply actions

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