Detroit Red Wings

This team, with this run, is making me a believer in Mike Babcock again. After a season where I wasn’t sure what to think about this group, except kind of depressing thoughts, and where I was (unfairly) pretty sure Babcock’s time had maybe run out, I’m now stunned to find them up 3-1 on a Blackhawks team that looked like an unbeatable juggernaut before the series. This group doesn’t quite have the buy-in to the system that the 2008 team had, but this is coaching. It’s Babcock. He has them playing with an edge that is driving the Hawks nuts and they’re keeping their cool that’s exemplified by Z’s complete non-reaction to Toews’ slashing start to that Penalty Trick. There are gaps, but as long as they continue to drive opponents crazy, this could turn into something really good. If I were anybody on another NHL team, I wouldn’t want to face the Detroit Red Wings right now. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Babs.

Hold on to your butts, because it's about to get clench-tastic around here. Wings finally end the PK streak of the Blackhawks and have a 1-0 lead heading into the third period. Johnny Toews leader blah blah blah. 20 minutes to a stranglehold. This should be fun.

The Blackhawks haven't lost three games in a row this season and the last time the Red Wings beat Chicago three straight times in the playoffs was June 1-6, 1995.

That was a period of hockey. What to call it? I'm not sure. Both teams looked a little tentative, but the Hawks seemed to control possession even if they didn't get a ton of great chances. I'm sure the Corsi numbers will get the Hawk chubbies going, but it's still 0-0 where it counts. The Wings have been good in the second so far in this series. Can they keep it going?

Tonight is not special. It is just like all the others that end in 'y'. And, despite what anyone tells you, the series will not be decided in the next few hours. People will say, "Their team is tough"... so is ours. "Their team is good"... so is ours. Their minds though.... their minds are weak. And, it is that which we must exploit. For it is tonight that we try to worm our way even deeper into the Chicago psyche. It is tonight that we once again will go to work. It is tonight that we go out and do what we do. Tonight, we KEEP CALM AND BABCOCK ON. LGRW, Josh

DETROIT – With each Red Wings’ playoff win, Danny DeKeyser’s hopes rise. “As long as they keep winning it gives me a better chance for a return with every win they get,” said DeKeyser, who suffered a fractured right thumb in Game 2 of the Anahe...

Chicago captain ranked second in the NHL in faceoff percentage during the regular season but has been dominated in the circle by Zetterberg.

The Dirt No personnel changes for the Red Wings and it looks like the lines will stay the same. There will be some changes on the powerplay units though, in an attempt to get them going. If practice yesterday hold through to tonight, Babcock will keep the top 2 lines together for the powerplay, which would mean Nyquist comes off the PP and... Abdelkader goes on? They practiced with Mule-Pasha-Abby with Kronwall-Brunner and Filppula-Zetterberg-Cleary with Kindl-Colaiacovo. Abdelkader doesn't know if he'll be called on to play on the PP or not, but who knows. He said if he does get the nod, that he'll continue doing what he does, grinding, retrieving pucks, going to the net. I actually think I like this idea because Abby has become the closest thing we have to a Holmstrom replacement and we all know now key Homer was on the PP. I'm in favor of Abby on the PP, give it a try and see if it works. Franzen was cast in that role a little bit earlier this year, but that's not really his strength. Not everyone has that kind of skill set. Brendan Smith said "Chicago's going to come out blazing. We're going to have to come out and make sure we have our best effort." If anyone can get him to say "assholes blazing" next time, I will buy you a beer... or two or three. In his pre-game presser, Babcock said We've never talked about being ahead or behind before, we just talk about the game we're going to play and that's what we're doing now. When you put on our sweater, there's an obligation to Mr. Howe, Mr. Lindsay, and the people who came before you, to compete like a Red Wing. I don't think there's an obligation to win like a Red Wing, I think there's an obligation to prepare for the opportunity you're given, to compete for what you've been given, and to maximize your potential; that's what life's about, maximizing what you've been given. That doesn't' guarantee winning. You need a certain amount of players, depth, and breaks to win. The pressure comes to prepare well, to work hard, to compete hard, to make sure you're doing what you should do, and respect of the uniform and respect of one another, and yourself. He could have saved himself some time by just saying, "we have to be gay porn hard, all the time". Brendan Smith echoed Babcock's sentiments about working hard and having high expectations. It's been a tough year with a lot of injuries and stuff. Near the end when we knew they were must wins, we kind of came together a little more. Even since then, we've had injuries like Danny DeKeyser and Sammy's been in and people have been changing around. Just knowing how the demand to win is such a big thing in this room and we understood that. For myself and a bunch of the young guys we fed off the veterans. The whole atmosphere of the Detroit Red Wings is they demand perfection and wins, so that's what we came out to try to do and ultimately it's been working for us. Smith also weighed in on how the team is approaching keeping Chicago off their game. If we play our style and play our system, it will end up frustrating them and we'll make it more difficult for them to play their game. We don't go out there trying to focus on them, we focus on our game, focus on how we should be playing, and take care of the puck. Ultimately it does frustrate them and puts us in a better position. If you missed Babcock's off day presser yesterday, I recommend giving it a listen. Based on practice lines, it looks like Quenneville may be change his lines up a bit. In practice yesterday Quenneville had Sharp practicing with Toews and Hossa, while Saad practiced with Kane and Bolland. Those two line combinations saw some action towards the end of game three, so maybe Quenneville liked what he saw, maybe he's looking to shake things up, or maybe he's just trolling. Quenneville said he's considering all options when it comes to his lines. His Powerplay lines may also see a shake up. In practice he had Sharp-

It's Thursday morning which means it's finally game day. The Red Wings and Blackhawks have enjoyed the rarity that is the "extra day off" twice in this playoff series so far, and we're only at Game 4. For a Red Wing team that played 4 games in the final week of the season and then 7 in 14 days against Anaheim in the first round, the rest has been welcome. Unfortunately, down time between games in this day and age means that we as fans get to do what we do best: complain about anything and everything that has happened so far. Games 1 and 2 didn't really provide us with much to talk about outside of our team's poor performance (the timing of which depended on who you cheered for), but Game 3 gave us plenty to talk about. Game 3 was easily the best of the series to date because it was the first time that both teams actually showed up to play a competitive game. After rolling over for the Blackhawks in Game 1, Chicago returned the favor in Game 2, and both teams understood the importance of Game 3 and what a win would do for them going forward in the series. Some Chicago fans will portray Game 3 as a situation where they out-played the Wings (by pointing to the shot totals) and will convince themselves that the controversial no-goal call against Andrew Shaw in the third period was the difference, because that would have tied the game and given the Blackhawks all the momentum. Detroit fans will likely point out that Niklas Hjalmarsson not getting called for boarding Johan Franzen led to Patrick Kane scoring, so the score should have been 2-1 anyway, and besides, Pavel Datsyuk scored 2 minutes later to give the Wings the lead. Neither side is right and neither side is wrong, and that's what is so frustrating for a lot of people. Looking back at the no-goal, I can understand why the referees made the decision to wave off the goal, but if the situation was reversed and that was a Wing in the crease when that call is made, I'm probably using words that would make my daughter wonder whether I was a crazy person. Conversely, I'm sure there are a lot of reasonable Hawk fans out there who, in their heart of hearts, know that had that been Niklas Kronwall hitting Patrick Sharp like that, and that led to a Henrik Zetterberg goal, they'd probably be pretty upset that what looked like an easy boarding call (especially considering all that had been called up to that point) was missed and led directly to a goal against. When both sides of a series are pointing out calls (or non-calls) that had such a direct impact on the game, it becomes obvious that the referees have made themselves a focal point of the series, and that's something that no one wants to see. The best referees are the ones who you don't remember after a game is over, because they called a good game and didn't have any real influence on the final outcome. Calls will be missed throughout a game, and that's just fine. I believe that those things tend to even out over the course of time, so if the Red Wings had more power plays or less isn't really a big deal. I'm also not one to believe that the referees had anything to do with the Wings winning or losing, so I don't get up in arms over every single thing I believe should or should not be a penalty. I don't have enough hair to concern myself with that stuff. But after Monday's game all I could think about were those 2 instances and it made me sad, because these are two teams that are playing as if it's the final chapter of a storied rivalry and giving it everything they've got. The Hawks were the best team in the league over the course of the regular season, and the Red Wings are proving to be the plucky underdog that is playing their best hockey of the season at the right time. We should be sitting back and marveling at the talent of players like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews. We shouldn't have to spend hours upon hours arguing about semantics within a rule that may have altered the course of

DETROIT – It’s a game within the game – the faceoff circle. There will likely be 60-some faceoffs in tonight’s Game 4, and everyone one of them will be as critical as those taken during the first three games of the Western Conference semifinal...