Wings waive Ty Conklin

After some speculation it is now official, Ty Conklin has been waived and Joey MacDonald will remain our backup goalie for the rest of the season.

Conklin will most likely take over as the #1 goalie down in Grand Rapids while Joey will give Jimmy Howard a breather once in a blue moon. Although some people were speculating whether sending Joey back down to GR would be the good move in order to keep him “Fresh”, this move makes perfect sense and for the first time in a long time I truly feel content about our goal tending situation.

Good Luck Mr. Conklin!

It is kind of sad to see Conklins time with us come to an end like this. I wasn’t too confident in him when he came during the summer due to his bad play last year but like most others I bought into the notion that it was because the Blues were crap.

I wish the best of luck for the Conkblock down in Grand Rapids and now we can all put this chapter behind us.

Playing Catch Up

After about a months absence I am back and the Datsyukian Deke is back up and running.

After the Winter break was over I had very little free time and slowly slid away from this blog. However, I am back and hopefully back for good. I also have some new features being planed for the blog including a podcast and player interviews.

In the past month a lot of things have happened for the Wings. The Winter Classic has been announced and the Wings are on a 23 game home win streak. As for the players, Joey MacDonald has emerged as a more than capable backup goaltender and has proven that he can win in the NHL. The Wings are currently a top the entire NHL in points and are playing their best hockey in years.

I have to admit, I am very excited about this team and truly feel like we can make a run at the cup.

Thats all for now, talk to you soon!

Wings vs Blackhawks Preview: Chicago Hate Continues

After beating the Phoenix Coyotes in a shootout on Thursday, the Wings take on the Chicago Blackhawks on National TV to take the lead in the Central Division. The previous two games between these teams have both been in Chicago so its nice to see them playing in the Joe today.

Playing at home has obviously been a huge advantage for the Wings as they have won their last 13 at home. If they win today, it ties a record that dates all the way back to the mid-sixties.

Lets get Jimmy his 101th win today!

Like I said above this game has huge division implications. If the Wings win this one and the Blues lose in regulation or in OT, the Wings lead the Central Division and have a one game advantage on the Blackhawks. The race for the division title will be close until the end so getting points in these games will be key.

Todd Bertuzzi is a game-time decision and if he is good to go then Emmerton will most likely be scratched. Mike Commodore is still out with a foot injury.

Lineup

Johan Franzen — Pavel Datsyuk — Danny Cleary

Valtteri Filppula — Henrik Zetterberg — Jiri Hudler

Drew Miller — Darren Helm — Jan Mursak

Cory Emmerton/Todd Bertuzzi — Justin Abdelkader — Tomas Holmstrom

*

Nicklas Lidstrom — Ian White

Niklas Kronwall — Brad Stuart

Jakub Kindl — Jonathan Ericsson

*

Jimmy Howard

Puck Drop is at 12.30 pm on NBC. This game is nationally televised so I can watch it on my TV not on some crappy link. So guys enjoy cause this games going to be a good one.

Milestones Galore! Wings beat Coyotes 3-2(SO)

The Wings beat the Coyotes 3-2 in a shootout that would include three milestones that would be broken, Jimmy Howard got his 100th career win, Daniel Cleary would get his 200th assist and Mike Babcock got his 400th career win as a head coach. This was also the 13th straight Wings victory at the Joe.

As most of their games as of late have started, the Wings would find themselves in a hole early as Radim Vrbata would score after 9 minutes. However, unlike past games, the Wings would not totally collapse as a goal by Filpulla would tie the game up at 1-1 heading into the 2nd period.

Jimmy made 25/27 saves as the Wings won yet another home game!

The 2nd period gave many chances to both teams although neither team could capitalize. The Coyotes would take the lead in the third with a goal by Taylor Pyatt after 3 minutes. Johan Franzen would score a couple of minutes later tieing the game up. The score would remain 2-2 after the end of the OT so the game would end up going into a shootout.

Datsyuk would score in his attempt to give the Wings a 1-0 lead. Misses by Hudler and Gilbert Brule would allow Vrbata to tie it up heading into the third round. Both Filpulla and Oliver Ekman-Larsson would miss, so the shootout would go to a 4th round. Henrik Zetterberg would score and it was a beauty. He went in on goal before making a cut just as Smith  was going to shove away the puck. He managed to get the puck across Smith and he scored. jimmy Howard would save Lauri Korpikoski’s shot giving the Wings the victory 3-2.

Here is Zetterbergs shooutout goal.

Jan Mursak played his first game of the season tonight as Todd Bertuzzi sat out.

Next us is a big match-up against the Blackhawks on Saturday.

Wings vs Coyotes Preview: Mursak or Datsyuk?

After a dismal loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday, the Wings hope to get back into their winning form tonight as they host the Pheonix Coyotes.

Jimmy Howard is back in goal while both Pavel Datsyuk and Mike Commodore are game-time decisions. This means that if Pavel is infact inactive for tonight, Jan Mursak will get his first start of the season as he has just returned from a fractured ankle that he suffered in the preseason. Datsyuk did participate in the morning skate so expect him to play although we will just have to wait until game time to see.

Hank, me no feel good.

Datsyuk did say that he is feeling better and that he will make the decision on whether to play or not later on tonight.

Lineup

Johan Franzen — Pavel Datsyuk — Todd Bertuzzi

Valtteri Filppula — Henrik Zetterberg — Jiri Hudler

Danny Cleary — Justin Abdelkader — Drew Miller

Tomas Holmstrom — Darren Helm — Cory Emmerton

*

Nicklas Lidstrom — Ian White

Niklas Kronwall — Brad Stuart

Jonathan Ericsson — Jakub Kindl

*

Jimmy Howard

Puck drop is after 7.30 pm. The game will be on Fox Sports Detroit.

All-Star Rosters Released: Datsyuk, Howard get in

The NHL All-Star rosters have officially been released and Pavel Datsyuk and Jimmy Howard have made the team. Nicklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg did not make the final cut, which to me is correct as neither has played good enough to make the team.

Nick Lidstrom reportedly made the team however asked the NHL if he could skip it in order to be with his family over the break. This move makes perfect sense for him and he won’t get injured by playing which also is good.

Go Jimmah!!

It is also really nice to see that Jimmy Made it despite him being left of the original ballot. He has been having a Vezina type of season and making the All-Star team is just one more step into stardom for our young goalie.

For the complete rosters click here.

Namesake Out, Conkblock still in: Wings vs Islanders Preview

News broke early this morning that the namesake of this blog is out for tonight and is day to day with a injury suffered in the OT of the Chicago game on Sunday. Ty Conklin who played great against the Blackhawks will get his second straight start tonight as the Wings get Jimmy Howard yet another games rest.

The Islanders have been very bad this year, only the Ducks and Blow Jackets have less points. While the Wings can’t go into this game feeling the win is in the bag, if the Wings play good and if Ty Conklin plays like he did versus the Blackhawks the Wings should be able to win this game.

Me no play tonight

Due to Datsyuk being ruled out so late in the day, the Wings will only have 11 forwards and will role 7 defenseman.

Lineup

Johan Franzen — Mike Commodore?????– Todd Bertuzzi

Valtteri Filppula — Henrik Zetterberg — Jiri Hudler

Danny Cleary — Darren Helm — Drew Miller

Tomas Holmstrom — Justin Abdelkader — Cory Emmerton

*

Nicklas Lidstrom — Ian White

Niklas Kronwall — Brad Stuart

Jonathan Ericsson — Mike Commodore/Jakub Kindl

*

Ty Conklin

 

This should be a very solid win if they stay focused and Ty Conklin plays like he did a couple years.

Puck Drop is at 7pm.