From The Jingle Jangle Morning Comes an October Review

By Adam W Parks

The Detroit Red Wings have shown something in this first month of the 2009-10 season that we as fans have not seen in quite some time: what it’s like to be an average hockey team in the NHL. With just 13 points (5-4-3) the reigning Clarence S. Campbell Bowl winners currently sit at eleventh in the Western Conference and are just three points from the bottom along with Anaheim and Minnesota. However, let us forget about today until tomorrow. The Wings are only four points away from the Central Division lead behind Chicago (17) and Columbus (15). They are coming off their most complete game of the season, a well-rounded 3-1 victory in Calgary, and the Wings are now back in Detroit. With a lot still to improve upon, the near future looks promising.

Bringing It All Back Home

It has been a tough, eye-opening month for the Wings, for better or worse. They have taken some hits (Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula) and have absorbed some humiliation (two-goal leads turned losses at home against Colorado and away at Phoenix). They have sailed ‘cross the seas to Sweden, traversed the Arizonian desert, scaled the Rocky Mountains, and survived three straight games in America’s hat...Seriously though, the 'five games in ten days adventure' away from home could have buried the Wings in October. With two wins and six points earned, Detroit fought their way through their longest road trip of the season with only one loss in regulation. The 3-1 defeat in Colorado, the team that tops the conference with 22 points, was a thievery job by goaltender Craig Anderson. Consequential to the Avalanche loss, the victory in Calgary on Halloween night was paramount to leave Western North America on a high note and return to Detroit with confidence. The Wings have not played a game at home, where they are 3-1-1, since October 17. On Tuesday they will play the Boston Bruins in Joe Louis Arena, a cozy, comfortable place where they will get to play six of their next eight games.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

The recent road trip had to have been taxing physically and mentally on the Wings, having to fight against excellent goalies, multiple goal leads, injuries, the flu, and every opponent's absolute best effort. Look out Wings, it’s something you did! In the past 15 seasons, the Wings have won the Western Conference six times. No other team in that span has won the West more than twice! When a team is that dominant for that long they become the measuring stick that all the other teams that get dominated gauge against. Road matchups are especially difficult as the host teams have an excess of motivation to beat the Wings. Now, since Detroit has shown signs of weakness in this admitted ‘rebuild year’, teams smell the giant's blood in the hallways of their arenas, and the Wings simply do not have the same talent pool of years past to consistently dip into in order to overcome all the pitfalls this season has to offer. So, when the Wings return home on Tuesday, even the city of Detroit will look like the Gates of Eden.

Get Sick, Get Well, Hang Around The Rink-Well

The Wings left Canada with two wins and a few germs. Jonathan Ericsson picked up his third goal of the season and the flu in Edmonton. Despite the best efforts from Wings head athletic trainer Piet Van Zant to disinfect everything the players touched in that dirty country, Ericsson still caught the bug and missed the game against Calgary. The good news: it is not the H1N1 strand that has hit several other players in the NHL. The bad news: Ericsson spread it to fellow defensemen Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronwall. The trio of defenders missed practice on Monday and are hopeful to play against the Bruins.

It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding From The Eyeball)

The Wings were also missing the presence of tough-guy Brad May during Monday’s practice. During the game against the Flames, May took an errant stick from teammate Jason Williams to the eye that caused a case of hyphema or, in layman’s terms, a bunch of blood that pools around the eye that looks really gross and creepy. May did not fly with the team out of Calgary after the game, but did hop a plane to Toronto to see his family and scare his kids with his creepy eyeball. He will be with the team on Tuesday, but expect him to be scratched against Boston.

This post goes out to Henrik Zetterberg, from one Bob Dylan fan to another.

Peace.