From the Detroit News...

Everybody knows the Wings are going to have to clear some salary cap space to fit Andreas Lilja back on the roster. Lilja will play his final game at Grand Rapids on Friday and if all goes well, he will be back Saturday. That means Ken Holland is going to have to shed roughly $1.2 million off the books before the trade freeze goes into effect Friday afternoon (though the waiver wire is open beyond that).

Apparently the following teams are going to have scouts up in the press box:

Florida, Dallas, Vancouver, Washington, Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Montreal, New York Islanders, Ottawa and Chicago.

Dear Jeebus, that's a lot of teams.  McCosky seems to think Jason Williams is the guy in the cross-hairs.  It makes sense at $1.5 in Gary's Cap-hit and the fact that it's a one year deal that isn't likely to be re-upped.

But did we really give J-Willz a fair chance?  He's played in less games than Ville "Boogerman" Leino and has more points.  I can think of a couple other people we could move out..say Lebda, Meech, and/or May (or some combination).

Will the value of the draft pick that we get back be worth sending our only right-handed option on the 2nd PP unit?  Not to mention, he was the only one to score on Tuesday's shootout.  I suppose that it all depends on the offer Kenny Holland gets.  But the fact that so many teams are sending scouts to JLA tonight makes me think this is for real.

But I have to ask you; is Jason Williams really the guy to trade?

Why not?  We're playing the Seafood tonight.  And drastic times call for drastic measures.  I present to you, one of the many masterminds behind the Winged Wheel...

Mike Babcock as Count Dooku...

I know at least one of you suggested Dr. Manhattan and I was thinking along the lines of some overlord too, but remember, he's not the master, just another piece in this chess game.  Mixed emotions swirl around him, but he's a major part of the master plan.

"Join me, Obi-Wan.  And together, we can destroy the Sushi!"

Remember this little number after the Wings beat the Seafood the last time?

It was a little before I honed my paint skills, but the selection behind the glass remains the same.

It's the same San Jose team it's always been.  Sure they have Dan Boyle back, but it's the same old Heartless Joe Thornton.  It's still the same old whiny pot-head Dany Heatley.  Still old as dirt and large-bottomed Rob Blake.  It's still just the Seafood.

I want that sushi roll

Hotter than wasabi

We're racing for the play-offs

Shake 'n bake

Ricky Bobby

Thanks Young Money. 

Alright, so I'm little loopy today, but the facts remain the same.  Two home games before the big break.  Two must-win games. Four must-have points.  No excuses, just win.

I swear that Ansar Khan(!) checks this site.  No sooner was I in the middle of writing a complaint for lack of news, that he posts this.

Tomas Holmstrom (bone bruise in left knee) will play tonight against San Jose.

He even provides us with the lines and D pairings:

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi
Franzen-Filppula-Cleary
Draper-Helm-Maltby
Holmstrom-Miller-Williams

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Meech-Stuart
Lebda-Ericsson

Howard (starting)
Osgood

Those are "projected" lines, mind you.  But thanks for answering the call, Khan(!)  It's always feast or famine around here with news.

Diggers?  Hello?  Did the Wings skate this morning?  How is Holmstrom feeling?  What are the line combinations?  What are the defensive pairings?  Any updates?  Ms. St. James?  McCosky?  Khan(!?)

Dear lord, I think our "beat writers" are still on Pacific Time.  Let's see what the injury report tells about tonight's game:

So no Lilja (obviously), but if he comes back, we're going to need to free up another $1.2 mil in cap space.  No Eaves, and no Kronwall.  Is that because Kronwall is still waiting for his new knee brace to arrive?  Did they not over-night ship it?  Did this radical new design need to be reverse engineered and slightly altered before it could be patented and built?  If he's sitting because it hurts, why not just tell us?

Is Holmstrom playing or not?  I'd like to know.

Oh and this too...

F**k off, St. Louis.

Charlie Gillis of macleans.ca had a sit-down with the captain of all captains, Steve Yzerman to talk about the upcoming Olympics.  In the interview, Stevie goes into surprising details about many different topics.

Why did the aging hipster get the "C"?

Why don't you allow faux-hawks on the team? (Mike Green was cut)

But the most pressing question if you're a Red Wings fan was, in fact, the last question asked:

Q: Are we going to see Steve Yzerman managing an NHL team someday?
A: [Laughs] That depends on how the Olympics go. You may never see me again!

It's not something that we have to worry about now, but maybe somewhere down the road...would Stevie leave us for another organ-i-zation?  You can't let Kenny Holland go.  He's done more for this team during his tenure than anybody could have possibly imagined.

We were lucky enough that Jim Nill has stuck around as a supporting role for so long.  Nilly needs to talk to Yzerman...he needs to tell him reasons for staying, over and over and over again.

Stevie-Y, even as a GM, working for another team is just unthinkable.

Anyway...back to stressing about tonight.

Give me back that filet-o-fish...give me that fish!

The Sharks got beat 3-0 last night in Columbus.  Back to back games after getting your butt handed to you?  Hmmm...they must LOVE the idea of playing Detroit in that scenario.

...isn't that depressing?

F**k you, dolphin!  F**k you, whale!  And F**k you, Shark!

Although I was wrong by telling you yesterday that if Anaheim beat Edmonton last night that they would move past us in the Western Conference Standings, they did indeed pull even with us in points.  They have more wins than we do, but remain in 10th place because they have played one additional game.

Guess what?  We need four out of our next possible four points before the Olympic Break...period.  We.Need.These.Points.

The race in the West in definitely tightening up, and Detroit is going to find teams starting to breathe down their neck.  That doesn't bode well for a team that has been showing a glaring lack of killer instinct.

If we head into the Olympic break with 69 points, we'll be alright...probably back in the top 8.  If we head to Vancouver with anything less, then prepare yourselves for a wild March (it will be regardless, but at least we'll feel a little better going into it).

The Sharks are hungry.  Even though they're running away with the Pacific Division and well on their way to yet another President's Trophy, they are hungry.  Hungry because they haven't beaten the Wings all regular season, and they need to prove that they can beat us.  Because if the regular season ends and Detroit is sitting in 8th, that President's Trophy is going to look a lot less glamorous heading into Cow Palace for Game 1 knowing that got swept by a team plagued with Free Agent Exodus in the off-season and high-profile, long-term injuries all season.

The Wings need to be hungrier.  We need to see some play-off-like desperation.  We need two points and the game plan should be simple: just do whatever it takes.

Let's go Red Wings.

The word getting around is that Holmstrom may have to miss the Olympics with his banged-up knee.  There is also word that Franzen (with his banged-up knee) might be Holmer's replacement...

So which would you rather have playing in the Olympics?

Neither.

If Holmstrom has a bruised/sprained/whatever kind of problem with his knee, then it's only going to get better with time.  So why put yourself at risk of making it worse?  If Holmer plans on playing his game (gritty, in front of the blue paint), he puts himself at an increased risk of getting hurt again (obviously).  If Sweden's strategy is to use him in any different manner, then why bother using him at all?  That'd be like Yzerman telling Crosby to toughen up and be the enforcer (groins, beware!)

And Franzen just needs to chill.  Seriously, dude.  You're already pushing it by coming back so soon.  We were all so pleased when you told Team Sweden that you were coming back for the Wings, and not for them.  Don't let them guilt you into putting yourself and our big play-off push at risk.

Let's be smart here.

We come to it at last, the final issue.  And who better to unveil at the end than the pair that serves at the Save-the-Play-offs Super Team's last defense.  Ladies and gentlemen, the goalies...

Chris Osgood as The Comedian...

A warrior battle tested, hardened, and perhaps a little cynical.  But when it's crunch time, he usually gets the last laugh.

Jimmy Howard as Harry Potter...

He possess unmeasurable potential.  The boy may stumble along the way of his journey, but the man he will become is destined for greatness.

So there you have it, all of the major players (for now).  Perhaps more issues are in order as time goes on, but paint needs a break and so do I.

Now we know why Jimmy doesn't wear glasses...yikes.