As per Larry Lage's article yesterday from the Associated Press:

The Detroit Red Wings have earned home ice advantage in the playoffs for the past 17 years. Detroit senior vice president Jim Devellano says it will take "a miracle'' to extend the streak. Devellano says making it to the postseason will be "a grind'' without players who combined for 88 goals last year and two more forwards who are out with injuries.

"We're going to have to fight just to make the playoffs and it's going to be a grind,'' said senior vice president Jim Devellanno, the first person owner Mike Ilitch hired when he bought the team in 1982. "To get home-ice advantage would be a miracle. A miracle.''

Detroit has been a top-four seeded team the past 17 postseasons, winning three Stanley Cups and finishing as the runner-up last season for the second time during its dominant stretch. Devellano says just making it to the postseason will be a difficult task because the team lost players such as Marian Hossa during the offseason who combined to score 88 goals and now is without forward Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula because of injuries. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland disagreed, insisting the roster is still talented enough to win a ninth-straight Central Division title and 13th in 16 seasons.

Kenny Holland's response: "Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are two of the best players in the world and they're in the prime of their careers,'' Holland said. "Our top four defensemen rank among the best in the league and Chris Osgood has shown what he can do in goal. Who's going to run away with our division? Chicago? We got off to a bad start and the Blackhawks are only two points ahead of us, and there's still a lot of hockey left to play.''

Kirk Maltby' thoughts: "Guys need to look at [the standings],'' Maltby said. "But we have to keep things in perspective because we've only played 13 games. If it was a '73' up there instead of '13' it would be a different story. I'm not going to question what Jimmy D thinks about us at this point, but I don't think it's going to take a miracle to repeat in the division.''

Is it me or has Jimmy Devellano really developed a pair of loose lips over the course of the summer? It just seems very peculiar that the senior vice-president of the team is coming out and making such comments. Whether they are true or not is beside the point. I don't necessarily feel his comment is absurd, although some exaggeration is obviously at play in suggesting it would take a "miracle" to finish in the Top 4 of the Western Conference.

However, even if Devellano truly believes this to be the case, his thoughts should remain in-house. It leads me to speculate perhaps there are some differences of opinion on past decisions or future direction amongst the Red Wings' hierarchy, which may have resulted in Devellano being so open with his thoughts on this year's edition of the Red Wings over the course of the past few months.

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I will have a post-game blog following tonight's tilt to examine how Detroit fared matching up against the Western Conference's new measuring stick, the San Jose Sharks.

As per the NHL.com, here is a look at the Sharks heading into tonight's game

Team scope: -- The Sharks are looking for a sweep of their three-game road trip after winning 6-1 at Carolina on Sunday and 3-2 in a shootout at Columbus on Wednesday. They've won six in a row and are 7-4-0 on the road.

In fact, the Sharks learned they have a new fan in Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock, who told the Columbus Dispatch prior to their meeting on Wednesday: "There's a reason they win. It's not because they have a lock on the talent. It's because they play the game the right way."

"I respect Hitch's comments, but we're not that way all the time," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "We have our warts. We try to work through them just like every other team."

The San Jose way has led them to second place in the Western Conference with a conference-high 55 goals while permitting only 40.


Who's hot -- For the Sharks, Patrick Marleau has 6 goals and 10 assists in his last nine games, Ryane Clowe has a goal and 4 assists in his last three games, Dany Heatley has 2 goals and an assist in his last three games. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk has 2 goals and 6 assists in his last four games, Darren Helm has a goal and 2 assists in his last two games, Brad Stuart has a goal and an assist in his last two games, and Kris Draper has 2 assists in his last two games.

Injury report -- For the Sharks, centers Joe Pavelski (lower-body) and Torrey Mitchell (leg) are on injured reserve, and right wing Devin Setoguchi (lower-body) and forward Ryan Vesce (lower-body) are day-to-day. For the Red Wings, defenseman Andreas Lilja (concussion) and forwards Valtteri Filppula (wrist) and Johan Franzen (knee) are on injured reserve, and winger Brad May (eye) and defensemen Rafalski (flu) and Ericsson (flu) are day-to-day.

Stat pack -- Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was named the NHL's Third Star for the week ending Nov. 1. He posted a 3-0-0 record with a 0.97 goals-against average and .963 save percentage, helping the Sharks climb to first place in Pacific Division. Nabokov stopped 28 shots and five of six shootout attempts in a 2-1 victory against Los Angeles on Oct. 28, made 24 saves in a 3-1 victory against Colorado on Oct. 30, and finished the week with a 25-save effort in a 5-1 victory against Carolina on Nov. 1.

mark.spizzirri@hockeybuzz.com