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Wing Things: Line Nicknames, Howard's Return, Break Up the Datsyuk Line?

October 21, 2013, 4:05 PM ET [49 Comments]
Erik Marsh
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
HOWARD PLAYED BETTER THAN STATS SUGGEST

It’s only nine games into the 2013-14 regular season but it appears that the Phoenix Coyotes are the stick in the spoke of the Winged Wheel.

On Saturday night the ‘Yotes scored 5 straight goals including one by goalie, Mike Smith to take their second victory against the Red Wings this year.

In his return to the lineup from injury, Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard, played better than his stat line of four goals against would suggest. His stop on Shane Doan’s penalty shot attempt was certainly a good indicator of that. One one of the goals, Antoine Vermette used the Detroit D as a screen and Martin Hanzel’s shot was pretty much perfect.

I don’t even think Howard can be much to blame for Mike Ribiero’s two goals, both of which came off tough-to-prevent rebounds. Ribiero seemed to appear out of nowhere and fire it into a yawning cage. On both accounts he should have been covered -- or at least tied up -- by the defense to buy Howard some time.

Tonight, the Wings take on the powerhouse San Jose Sharks at the Joe. Based on the play of their veterans like Joe Pavelski and Joe Thorton, the breakout performance of rookie Thomas Hertl, and the length of Brent Burns’ beard, the Sharks look more like a team playing deep into the post season than one playing in October.

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SHOULD WINGS BREAK UP THE TOP LINE?

The Wings' top line of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Daniel Alfredsson is made for the highlight reel but without much secondary scoring as of late, using the "stack the deck" approach on the first lines is leaving the rest of the lineup a little thin.

Perhaps we could see Alfredsson moved off the top line again. The positive is that Alfie seems to be capable of being effective on any line.

As a line, Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Alfredsson accounts for half of the Red Wings’ total points so far this season.

As much as splitting them up seems like a necessary move right now, it would be nice see the other lines pick up the slack so that the trio could be kept together; it just might be the most skilled line in the league.

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WANTED: A GOOD LINE NICKNAME FOR THE DATSYUK LINE

Call me nostalgic but I long for the days where nicknames extended to individual lines and stuck for years after the respective members' careers. Names such as: The Production Line, The French Connection, The LCB Line, The Russian Five, The Kraut Line, and The Punch Line. Whether they were acronyms, clever puns, or fairly politically incorrect by today’s standards, these lines carried with them an identity that was an extension of the crest they wore on their chest.

Not only was it the 1948 Red Wings you were playing against, it was THE PRODUCTION LINE of Gordie Howe, Sid Abel, and Ted Lindsay lining up across from you. Before the puck was dropped you knew what to expect and if you were a goalie, you applied some SPF 30 to the back of your neck to avoid sunburn from the goal light going on all night.

Though it looks like their time together may be relegated to powerplays, and it is only nine games into the season, what are some thoughts on a moniker for the Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Alfredsson trio?

When Alfie played alongside Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza in Ottawa the line was called the “Pizza Line” on account of the free slice of pizza given to fans with a ticket stub if the Sens scored more than 5 goals.

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MONDAY LOOSE PUCKS: STARING AT THE NUMBERS

A recently published study from Ph.D. candidates at Michigan State University concludes that forecheckers on both the Red Wings and Coyotes saw the opposing team’s numbers at least a dozen times respectively. Indeed, the researchers estimate the sum total of numbers seen each season to be in the thousands.

Sorry, just having having a little fun with the "saw the numbers" debate that went round and round after Cody McLeod's controversial hit on Niklas Kronwall last week.

McLeod’s hearing to determine the length of his suspension is scheduled for Monday in New York City. With Maxim Lapierre getting 5 games for his hit on San Jose’s Dan Boyle I would expect McLeod’s suspension to be of the same length or perhaps one game shorter.
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