And I bet you were just saying to yourself, "you know, our injury list is looking a little too slim".  Well, here you go:

Three players went down during that stink fest on Saturday.  Detroit is proving that no lead is safe until that final buzzer sounds.  Now, given the fact we could only run 3 full lines with Miller, Eaves, and Holmstrom going down from flying pucks...I suppose it's reasonable for the team to get tired towards the end of the game.

We're still only 2 points out of 8th place, and 3 points away from 7th.  And the Cali trips are done for the season.  We have one last trip to the West to face the Flames, Oilers, and Canucks in mid-March, but aside from that, most of the games will be in or near own time zone.  That's the 'okay' news.

The 'good' news is that tomorrow we'll get Franzen back.  We'll also be playing a St. Louis team that has to fly all the way out to Denver tonight and be back tomorrow to face us in their barn.

So my advice to you is to crumple up Saturday's game and throw it in the trash.  Put it out of your mind, if you can.  Hopefully those "Questionable"'s will yield a favorable answer.

Via NHL.com...

To ease the backlog, the Wings on Saturday traded left wing Ville Leino to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefson and a fifth-round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft.

Don't know much about Tollefson other than he's been fighting injuries all season.

Issue #3 is produced almost as fast the characters within it.  Sometimes, when the marquee heroes can't seem to get the job done, they turn to grinders, the little guys who get their noses dirty to make sure that job gets done...

Patrick Eaves as The Human Torch...

Not overwhelmingly strong and powerful, but underestimate this speedster, and you'll get burned.

Darren Helm as The Flash...

No one on Earth is faster.  He can get you out of trouble before you can say "Jack Robinson".

Kris Draper as Chuck Norris...

When the Boogeyman goes to bed, he checks his closet for Kris Draper.

There you have it...Issue #3 showcases the "Little Red Corvette" line.  Next on the agenda, who makes the final cut on offense for the 2009-2010 Save-the-Playoffs Super Team???

Back by popular demand...it's your 2009-2010 Save-the-Play-offs Super Team!  In this issue, an unlikely alliance is made with a notorious villain in order to help save the post-season hopes of the Detroit Red Wings...

Dan Cleary as Batman...

Not possesing any real "super" powers, he uses his physicality, smarts, and work ethic to be successful.

Val Filppula as Longshot...

This fair-haired heart throb not only gets by with uncanny luck, but also boasts impressive speed and agility.

Todd Bertuzzi as Sabretooth...

He is evil incarnate.  This hulking beast preys on the weak and is incapable of mercy.

Sorry for the delay between issues.  Work got crazy.  Since you guys seem anxious to participate go ahead and shoot me an e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to have your own Save-the-Play-offs Super Team Hero posted.

Issue #3 will be out later tonight or tomorrow.  "Weekend posting?"  You bet your sweet bippy.

Greetings!  The Wings are in 9th place and for the first time in many ages, are in danger of missing the Stanley Cup Play-offs!  Who can save this team from hitting the golf-course pre-maturely?

Thomas Holmstrom as Wolverine

He takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  He's nasty, ill-tempered, and has messed up teeth.

Henrik Zetterberg as Spider-Man (Zetterman?)

Quick, agile, and intellegent.  He's effective attacking and defending, a jack of all trades.

Pavel Datsyuk as Gambit

Funny accent, good with a stick, and always seems to have an ace up his sleeve.

Hey, it's Friday, our news doesn't come until way late.  I'm just trying to entertain you guys.  I've got more lined up, or if you think this is stupid, I shall go no further...

Khan(!) fired off a post at 9:30 last night.  The article most discusses King Lidas, but the looming Cap situation is also touched on.

Holland said he’s talked “a little bit’’ with potential trade partners as the Red Wings face a Monday deadline to trim at least one player and roughly $700,000 from their roster prior to Johan Franzen’s scheduled return to the lineup Tuesday in St. Louis.

The Red Wings can only acquire a draft pick or future considerations in return. And when teams know you must move a player or two or lose them on waivers, that makes it harder to deal.

“All you can do is call around, get the word out,’’ Holland said.

If he is unable to make a trade, Holland said the only other option is to waive a player or two.

This stuff is imminent, gang.  Someone is moving and moving soon so we can (finally) get the Mule back into the lineup.  I think it's worth mentioning that if Franzen would wait until after the Olympic Break to return, it would allow Kenny Holland more time to work out a deal so we're not simply waiving players...just a thought.

Oh and Andreas Lilja is still alive after playing in his first game in nearly a year.  Holland is planning on heading to Grand Rapids to watch him play this weekend.  Conditioning stints only last so long, and a decision about Lilja (even more Cap-related-issues) is coming soon.

The opposing goalie, that is.  Just take a look at Jonas Hiller...

2/3 vs Wings: 47 shots, 46 saves, 1 GA...

2/4 vs Kings: 31 shots, 25 saves, 6 GA...

Now granted, I didn't watch the LA/ANA game so I can't make any comparison of quality chances, deflections, etc.  And I realize that he was playing on back-to-back nights...but come on.  .979 sv % against the Wings, .806 sv % against the Kings.

That's a pretty big margin.

Well...here's how those games played out last night:

An early Valentine's Day (I am NOT seeing that movie, by the way...sorry, Justine) present is the fact that NONE of these games went into overtime.  No three point games?  Sorry, Gary.

So what do those scores mean in terms of the standings?  Well, I'm glad you asked because I already had this ready to go:

So we're no longer tied with Nashville, but Colorado and Vancouver didn't get any farther away and Dallas and Anaheim didn't get any closer.  We still have more than a game buffer before we fall any spots in the standings, and remain within an arm's reach of 6th place in the Western Conference.

Anybody else get a sense that Denver is ripe for a fall?  The moving and shaking in Calgary might see that team start winning again (or maybe not) and Nashville, so long as Barry Trotz, AKA Jack in the Box is behind the bench, will always be tough.  So I'm going out on a limb and predicting that we're not too far off from the Rocky Mountain boys being in the spot we are now, on the outside looking in.

http://redwings.nhl.tv/team/embed.jsp?catid=-6&id=59210"></iframe>

Who wants donuts?

Don't let the fact that the Red Wings have a few days off keep you from being stressed out.  Here are tonight's Western Conference games and what they mean to us...

Dallas (9th) at Columbus(14th)...If Dallas wins, they're only one point behind us. Columbus is 11 points behind us and no real threat.  Go BJ's.

Vancouver (3rd) at Ottawa (East)...simple - Go Eastern Conference.  Vancouver is only six points clear of Detroit.  Hopefully, Ottawa keeps its hot streak going and leaves it that way.  Go Sens.

San Jose (1st) at St. Louis (12th)... San Jose is pretty much out of reach of Detroit, unless we can make up 17 points between now and the end of the season.  St. Louis, on the other hand, is only 5 points behind us.  So, as much as I hate to say it: Go Sharks.

Colorado (6th) at Nashville(7th)...We're tied in points with Nashville, but they have two games in-hand on us.  The Avs are currently 4 points clear of us.  Want to bet this game goes to OT?  I still think the Avs can still fall apart this season, and I don't want Bubba taking any points.  Go Divealanche (in regulation, pretty please).

Edmonton (15th) at Minnesota (13th)...The Oilers' goose is pretty much cooked already.  Pinky's Wild are 6 points south of Detroit in the standings.  Go Oil.

Anaheim (11th) at Los Angeles (5th)...The Toronto Situation Room aided Anaheim in climbing within 3 points of us in the Western Conference.  Los Angeles is 7 points ahead of us.  This one is tough, but I hope the Kings stay hot (9-1-0 in their last 10) and stick it to the Ducks (in regulation, of course).  Go Kings.

How many go to OT?  I'll say at least 2 out of 6.