Tomorrow we play the Blackhawks.  I'm hoping that by some happy twist of fate...our little cousins from Columbus pull of an upset and take the heretofore unbeaten indians down a notch tonight.

We've lost three guys already that were supposed to be helping our blue line.  We MAY have one of them back tomorrow...though probably not the one you would like.

I don't really feel the need to discuss the season opener anymore.  Suffice to say - the defense has been looking better...but we've got a long way to go.

This is the type of performance a lot of us expected from the Red Wings when the season started. Good offense, shaky defense, and timely stops by Howard. Early in the first I really thought this was going to be a blowout. Detroit went an entire 1:30 of a 5 on 3 without a shot. Meanwhile, the Wild were playing solid puck possession hockey and peppering Howard with shots.

Howard stood tall, though, and the Wings took over in the second. Kind of. We’ll discuss that after the jump.

Continue reading for the full recap:

Well...it's been anything but an ideal season thus far.  For starters, we lost the greatest defenseman to ever play the game.  Then we lost half of the season.  Then we lost a bunch of players to injury on our way to losing 2 out of the first three games.

That's a lot of losing.  And losing is not something we've become accustomed to in Detroit.  Let me take that back...we're not used to the RED WINGS losing a lot.  But - there's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne.

It's time to shake things up a bit with this line up.  Some twins separated...and two debuts.

Make the jump for more.

It's easy to get frustrated when your team can't score, cant convert on the power play, cant kill penalties and leaves your goalie out to dry like their defense consists of Brett Lebda and 5 of his cousins.

This team is good, and yes the defense isn't what it used to be, but that will change. Three games gone on an already depleted schedule. 45 games left to change everyone's opinion.

Click the jump for your early pregame breakdown.

Guest Post By Franklin Steele: 

Brendan Smith's first season as a full-time Detroit Red Wing was not supposed to start like this.

Then again, this entire squad's opening weekend went like something taken from the middle pages of a Disney sports movie script... tragedy befalls our intrepid heroes! How will they respond to the adversity?

After losing Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement and Brad Stuart (thanks for catching this folks!) to his family/the San Jose Sharks, Smith probably figured that his shot at finally making the big team was pretty stellar. Not staring up at guys like Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski doesn't hurt chances, right?

What he didn't count on—what no one in the organization counted on—was an injury bug as contagious as bubonic tearing through Detroit's locker room.

I blame Kyle Quincey for the bug. It would be no surprise that the guy who was traded from the Colorado Avalanche was carrying a bio-engineered defensemen corps melting super virus, would it?

The reports have been steady and staggering, and the only thing more constant than injuries for the Wings this season has been the dwindling of Quincey's plus/minus rating.

It seems like since training camp opened at least one Red Wing has gone down with an injury every day. As irritating it was to lose guys like Darren Helm and Todd Bertuzzi, the (hopefully) short-term loss of these players was stunted a bit by an (alleged) depth of talented forwards up front.  Where Red Wings had next to no wiggle room for injury was on the blueline.

Hit the jump for more on Smith: 

Detroit looked uninspired at times tonight, gassed at others, and the result was a 2-1 loss to the Stars to kick off the home opener. Howard played an outstanding game and prevented another blowout with his performance, but the team gave him no help on offence.

More after the jump:

So tonight’s the night that we lose another member of the Wings family to retirement.  Homer is calling it a career as the last member of the Four Cup Club.  His retirement announcement is at 4:30 and you can watch it here.

Behind the commotion caused by the injuries and random signings of former Blues, I feel that Homer hasn’t really been given his due for his absolutely dedicated fifteen years of service wearing the Red and White in front of the opponents net.  This leaves a void that might be just as hard to fill as the one that #5 left on blue line. 

Homer was special.  Not special like #5.  Only Yzerman and Howe are on that level. Losing Lidstrom is like losing your father to old age.  But losing Homer is like having to put your dog down who has unconditionally loved you and gave his heart and soul to protect you for his entire life.  Losing either is terribly sad, but a different kind of sad.

So for tonight’s game, we honor #96 with our gameday poster. 

This one really hit home for me.  Josh did an excellent job. 

The Wings need to come out and give it their all tonight, if only to honor what #96 did for so many seasons.  

Live blog it for Homer.  

LGRW

So Detroit’s new D man is Kent Huskins.  If you’re like me, you’ve heard of Kent Huskins but couldn’t tell you which sport he even played let alone a fair scouting report on the fellow.  If I was a respectable NHL reporter, I’d find out what a NHL scout has to say about him and analyize his statitics before writing a scouting report on him.  However, since I’m not, I’m going to see what a quick Google search and Twitter has to say.  You know, the right way.  Starting with the Hockey News’ bio:

ASSETS: Plays a safe brand of hockey that keeps the mistakes to a minimum. Is very dependable and will play through injuries.

FLAWS: Lacks the overall skills to contribute on offense consistently. Does not use his good size nearly enough. Is injured a lot. (!?!?!?!?)

CAREER POTENTIAL: Depth defenseman.

Great, so we can expect one game out of him before he goes down too.

Mathew Danambassis ‏@MathewDanam

I've seen Kent Huskins play before; he's like a poor man's Brad Stuart, but a lot more physical and blocks a ton of shots.

Jeremy Pellek ‏@JeremyInToledo

Wings fans being cynical, but Huskins shut down the Wings with both Anaheim and San Jose. He's a good player.

Hit the jump for more on Huskins:

Update:  Kent Huskins is the mystery D-Man.  

Losing Colio yesterday leaves Detroit down to five defensemen and puts Kenny Holland on notice.  Well, according to the Free Press, he’s been busy:

Depleted on defense less than one week into the season, the Detroit Red Wings are bringing in help from the outside.

General manager Ken Holland told the Free Press this morning that he is working on signing a veteran and hopes to be able to use the defenseman in tonight's home opener against the Dallas Stars.

Holland didn't want to name the player until the deal is finalized. The contract has to be cleared by the NHL, and the player has to get to Detroit.

Interesting stuff.  According to the Wheel Deal, it’s already been finalized and will be announced soon.  No idea who he could be.

Also, Sammy is out with a groin injury tonight, so they are bringing up Nyquist to take his place.  That is a great positive from my view.  I haven’t been impressed one iota yet with the return of #37.  He’s dumber, slower, and less accurate with his shot than when he left Detroit.   That’s not saying much considering I’ve always thought he was dumb, slow and had a sh!t shot. 

We’ll keep you updated. 

Last nights win wasn't pretty, but i'll take 2 points however they come. Tonight the Wings open the season at home against Dallas and its anyones guess how it will turn out.

Dallas is one of those teams that never seem to get out of Detroit's hair, but that might all change this season. GM Jumpin' Joe Nieuwendyk has made some questionable moves that will either make him look like a genius or send him packing.

Let's break those down a little bit after the jump