This is one of those games that's usually best not to write about the night of. It's usually full of bitterness and strong statements that don't quite hold up after a night of sleep. However, I've got some ideas.

To preface this, this loss sucks. By far the most disappointing of the season, but not the worst. This was a sure win where Detroit looked like the better team for 58 minutes. I said some terrible things during the end of this game, and it ruined my night. This type of game is absolutely inexcusable. And it's not one you can just throw out, because this is a trend that's been happening all season, and it's been happening even more frequently of late. Before I launch into my little spiel, I need to acknowledge that I'm even guilty of some negative thinking via Twitter, something I already regret saying and currently disagree with. I was mad after the game, and the last thing I wanted to read was something along those lines -- as if this wasn't a total team collapse and Howard had a chance.

After reading the thoughts of others on Twitter and the Winging it in Motown game thread, I changed my tune. The mood of the internets right now is something slightly worse than hopelessness. People are taking this loss hard, and I don't blame them. It did give me a little perspective, and the opportunity to say something that maybe other Wings fans won't be saying:

Let's. Be. Positive.

This line of thinking comes from what was recently a major event in my life. Obviously, I'd like to think hockey is something I know a lot about. But what a lot of you probably don't know is that entertainment is what I consider to be my second big interest. Films for one, but also the world that is late night television. If you're interested in that area at all, you're obviously aware of the recent tragedy that is the late night scene at NBC involving Conan O'Brien. I have been absolutely transfixed on this situation over the past three weeks. I've been watching more late night TV than ever, and watching clips of what every late night personality is saying about this in my spare time. The reason is, Conan has always been an idol of mine. He's shaped my sense of humor more than any other single person.

I was the only 6th grader who regularly watched Conan (through re-runs mostly, but there were definitely a few nights I was up until 1, regretting it the next day), and my fascination with the show continued into high school and heavily into college. I have no doubts he'll land a new job, but I couldn't help feeling bitter and a little sad that he lost The Tonight Show. Sure, $33 million is a pretty good deal -- it's not like he was completely screwed over. But when you put yourself in his shoes, it's the job that he worked his whole life to get, and dreamed of getting to that point. How easy would it be for you to give up your childhood dream job for a few bags with dollar signs on them?

These were his final words at his Tonight Show desk:

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.

That stuck with me. It's not all that deep, but I found it pretty inspiring. He could have said anything he wanted to end his show, but he chose those words. After sticking it to NBC for weeks, he was able to end on a classy note. I really started thinking about it, and was able to apply it to my position as a blogger. Obviously, I dislike losing. But there's nothing that sets me off more than bitterness and cynicism from commenters, even some bloggers, after the Wings lose a game like this. It's pointless. I spend far too much time arguing with people who are being too cynical, when really, things are pretty good. Relatively speaking, to where we could be, that is. We could be a lot worse off. We're in sole position of 8th place, by one point with one game in hand. Over a team playing some absolutely terrible hockey. We could have made up some ground today and made our jobs a lot easier, but that just didn't happen. But it's not over.

There's a ton of time left in this season. Making the playoffs is not nearly going to be as difficult as people are making it out to be. We're 8th now. Ninth place, Calgary, is fading fast. Dallas just isn't good and is finally starting to lose more games in regulation than overtime. Minnesota and St. Louis are playing decent hockey but are still a ways behind. The major threat to Detroit from below is Anaheim, who's starting to get it together after some terrible first half play. Los Angeles is only barely hanging in there after falling from the top of the West, and Nashville still has to play Detroit four times. We control our destiny.

People see games like this, and Washington and Los Angeles where Detroit blew leads, and they say things like "we're not going to make the playoffs with stuff like this." I couldn't disagree more. Larry Murphy had a quote earlier this season about how "there's just a few of those games every year that you just ball up and throw away" and it's become increasingly concerning that Detroit is having too many of those games. As a rule, I would agree with that. However, Detroit has had a ton of those games and are still in a very good place heading into the final 30 games. They got one star player back tonight and have a couple impact players coming back very soon. It is just... ridiculously negative to think that with the guys we have out in the lineup, we're going to continue dominating teams and blowing leads in the waning minutes. It sucks that we've done that as much as we have, but it just... will not keep happening, and that's what I honestly believe.

I take way more good out of this game than bad. What's bad is obvious: we blew a third period lead. We gave away points to a team we need to gain on in the standings. Nearly every goal was the result of a defensive melt down. This "worst loss of the season," "there's always the draft" stuff has got to stop. The following things happened during this games and are reasons for optimism; if you disagree, I will question whether or not we watched the same game.

• Pavel Datsyuk was by far the best forward on the ice, as he has been each of the past ten games, but not as many before that.
  
• Nicklas Lidstrom would easily be a Norris nominee, again, if his past 10-15 games were anything like his first 35. He's been exceptional, and it's clear what most people saying were right -- once he gets his first goal, they are just going to come in bunches. I would wager money that he scores 10 by the end of the year, he looks great out there right now.
• Niklas Kronwall came back and made an impact. He could probably play a little more (21 minutes is a little low for him), but he looked really confident with the puck. Kronwall is the best defenseman in the league at making a move on a defending forward at the blueline, and he did that about four times tonight. It's a sign that it won't take long for him to get to 100%. He made no mistakes. He's not Derek Meech. All good things.
• Detroit's 3rd line continued to be absolutely excellent. Once everyone's healthy and they are likely the "4th line" (which could be before the Olympic break) Detroit will once again be among the deepest teams in the league.
• Detroit dominated for roughly 59 minutes. All but about three minutes in the 2nd, and the final two minutes of the game.
  
• Most importantly, for those saying this is the worst loss of the season, Detroit took a point out of this. They didn't lose 6-0. It's disappointing, but it's not the Islanders. We lost to a team playing good hockey, and a team that did not give up after falling behind twice. Not even close to the worst loss this season.
• This is another tally on the list of teams Detroit has looked clearly superior to in the past few weeks: Chicago, San Jose, Minnesota, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, and now Phoenix. Are you afraid of playing any of these teams in a first round matchup?
• Detroit was six inches away from sealing this game with an empty net. You can only blame puck luck so much; but missing an empty net from your own end by six inches is just about the definition of puck luck. And if that isn't enough, Phoenix's 3rd goal went off the inside of Brad Stuart's elbow. You can only beat yourself up so much over that.
• Unlike recently games where Detroit's choked, where offense and capitalizing scoring chances has been the problem, Detroit scored four goals tonight with only three powerplays.
  
• Detroit rebounded from a major setback (two quick goals by Phoenix) for the first time this season when Patrick Eaves scored 11 seconds after Keith Yandle.
• Todd Bertuzzi was very good and actually found some pretty instant chemistry with Valtteri Filppula. Best game from a 2nd line in a month or two.
  
• No weak goals.
• Brad May had three shots and drew a penalty. It's a Festivus miracle.

To me, the team playing well and losing makes is better than the team playing poorly and winning. Granted, only to a certain extent. Making the playoffs is the priority. As long as we're in that position -- the seed doesn't matter to me. Once we get to that point, I'm looking for positive trends that will continue in the future. To me, the individual performances we saw from a handful of players today greatly outweighed the disappointment of the outcome. I don't feel like I'll be completely joined in that thought in the comments tonight.

My second points, briefly: context. Going hand in hand with cynicism, I hate when people take one stat, and use that as a reflection of poor performance. Case in point: people saying Brad Stuart played poorly because he was a -3. Yes, he was a -3. But I can guarantee you that most people pointing this out don't remember what he was doing on the three goals he was on the ice for.

1. He was defending along the boards. Kronwall vacated the front of the net covering a forward in the high slot, and Filppula got beat down low by Yandle. Tremendous pass by a talented playmaker in Radim Vrbata.
2. Stuart and Lidstrom each took a side of the net to protect the pass out front. Before Stuart was completely set, a centering pass banked off his skate and went in front. No Wing, even Howard, knew where it was before it was put in.
3. Jonathan Ericsson abandoned Shane Doan in front of the net and Doan had all day.

Maybe I'm just naive, but I don't see the doom and gloom today that everyone else does. I'm mad, sure, but this won't last. Being a cynic and calling for the head of Babcock, Howard, Stuart, Lidstrom, whoever, is just, frankly, dumb. You don't have to be as positive as me after this, but let's not be needlessly cynical. There's no doubt in my mind this team won't make the playoffs and isn't capable of a long playoff run. And I don't think there's anything from this game or any of the other disappointing ones before it that should make you believe otherwise.

Wings are in Minnesota tomorrow (what is with these back-to-back, different city games, Gary?). I'd expect Chris Osgood to start, but I hope Howard starts. I'll get heat for this after what I said about Osgood blowing leads, but Howard made some huge saves for us. It was a miracle that it took Phoenix as long as it did to tie it up. I fully expect a convincing, thorough effort.

They should come up with a word for that.

Eat your heart out, Mebdeech

Extremely spectacular news today from The Ansar. Too bad he (or almost certainly, his editor) still doesn't know the difference between Niklas and Nicklas.

Guess what? You'll never guess. There's a distinct chance that in the next ten or so days, Johan Franzen will be the only Red Wing injured. Well, because we're the unluckiest team ever, there will probably be some new injuries. But of the current players injured, there's a very distinct chance that Franzen will be the only one injured. Dig this:

• Niklas Kronwall is set to return to the lineup tomorrow. Confirming speculation that I will be booking it back to my apartment after my class gets out at 7:40.
• Jason "This is only significant because he's better on the powerplay than Derek Meech" Williams is looking at a Friday return against Nashville. (thanks to @thenewthomas for bringing to my attention that Meech will leave the lineup tomorrow for Kronwall).
  
• So is Tomas Holmstrom, but based on the face that they also mentioned Sunday's game against Pittsburgh probably means no for Friday. But Wings fans aren't too picky anymore.
• Franzen isn't in the immediate future but seems to be really set on returning before the Olympics. I don't care as long as he's 100% because I would hate nothing more than seeing him come back for two games and tweaking something when he could have an additional three weeks of rest.
• Get this: I solved a mystery. For the past year or so, I've noticed that this guy named Andreas Lilja is listed on our roster. I just wasn't sure who he was. Apparently, he's been having some headaches. Mick dropped a huge bomb on Saturday that Lilja could return next week. Ken Holland gave him the old, "well, nothing's changed" and Wings fans chalked it up to Mick's in-game beverage habits. However, apparently what Ken Holland didn't say was that Lilja has been thirteen days without headaches, and doctors will clear him if he makes it fourteen days. Pray to your deity, sacrifice something, do whatever you can to make sure Lilja makes it through this last day. Don't make any annoying loud noises either, just in case. He works out like crazy and practices every day. Is 1-2 weeks an unreasonable time frame if he gets cleared by doctors?
  

Now the questions arise as to what Detroit can do to make room for this. They have 21 players on the active roster. Kronwall makes 22. Holmstrom and Williams makes 24, putting Detroit one over the limit. The easy solution is sending Justin Abdelkader down to the AHL, but he's 12th in the league in hits. He's looked very good at times, although a little shot of confidence (although Grand Rapids kinda sucks right now) from the AHL might help his offensive game. Other options include trading Derek Meech or Ville Leino or biting the bullet and sending Bray May down to the AHL. Doesn't seem like something Detroit would do, but the bottom line is Abdelkader is one of the team's best 12 forwards and at least needs to be in the playoff roster.

Thoughts? Scenarios? It's just so nice to get all this unbad news at once.

I don't want to talk about this game at all. Instead, my roommate decided tonight he wanted to blog for me. So he decided to write down his thoughts on the game as he saw fit. To preface this, Paul isn't a huge hockey fan. In fact he wasn't much of a fan at all until he met me, because that's how cool of a person I am. He's getting into it more and more, watches bits and pieces of most games, but he doesn't get hardcore into it until the playoffs. He decided to dish out his thoughts on the Wings based on tonight's game, completely uncensored, no holds barred. Here is what transpired:

A quick note this afternoon. Casey at Winging it in Motown hooked up another interview for me, this time with Willie Coetzee of the WHL's Red Deer Rebels. Coetzee didn't get drafted this past draft, but he signed with Detroit in the summer after they invited him to their Traverse City camp and he impressed. With tryouts, if they're still draft eligible, you can invite them to your prospect camp and it gives you a two week window to sign them during the season. Coetzee impressed enough to where Detroit drafted him.

As usual, they have an eye for talent. Coetzee is on pace to easily double his offensive totals from last season. He's been a mainstay among the WHL's top ten scorers all season.

Check out my interview with him here. And if you missed it, check out the one I did with Nick Jensen that I did last week.

This is going to be one of those pictures that future nieces/nephews/grandchildren will laugh at.

After I made the (relatively unpopular, and justifiably so) decision this week in my Offseason Guide to suggest that Detroit should maybe go with Mattias Ritola under Drew Miller, Miller decides to slap me right across the face in the form of a really clutch goal and a terrifying shootout winner. Terrifying in that Detroit literally was out of reasonable shootout options. There was just nobody left that you could justify shooting next. Maybe I would have gone with Justin Abdelkader, but there was nothing about the finish in anybody's game that would have made them a leading candidate to shoot next.

It was also terrifying in that it was a long shootout, and script that the game was following was exactly like a handful this season where we blew a 3rd period lead and then lost in the shootout... Something raising countless arguments, like what's worse, blowing the lead, or having such a talented team that's so bad in shootouts?

Miller was never on my bad side. I really like his game, and I appreciate the hard work he's putting in every night because the Wings sorely need that right now. I was just thinking if nobody retires, since he was just a short-term fix it wouldn't be a terrible thing if he had to be let go. He's certainly stating his case though. I think all of the six goals (and certainly the shootout winner) have come at pretty big times for Detroit. That's nothing to sneeze at. Those are qualities absolutely required in Red Wings' players. With the likes of Kirk Maltby on the 4th line the past few seasons, we've forgotten how important it is to get timely goals from 4th liners. Miller's on the 2nd line now, but a healthy Detroit likely puts him on the 4th line. For now, like I basically said before, I wouldn't be upset if he came back and I wouldn't be devastated if they let him go. If there wasn't someone like Ritola we'd have to let go, Miller would be a lock to come back in my eyes.

On the note of Wings making me look bad, I could have used a little big more from Jimmy Howard. I took a pretty pro-Jimmah position in ripping Chris Osgood, mainly his unprofessional attitude. It was not entirely his fault that Detroit lost, but I brought up the point about a goalie stepping up to seal a game in the third. Naturally, Jimmy didn't seal a lead in the 3rd yesterday. Like Osgood, he can't be faulted entirely on any of the goals. However, Jimmy did step up and make some monster saves in the shootout and for the duration of the 3rd when the Wings took their foot off the gas a bit. He got the win -- which is all that matters. I wouldn't say a thing about Osgood had he won that game.

It's a shame that it went to overtime, but I think there's more good than bad to take out of recent games. Detroit has absolutely looked like the better team in each game since the NY Islanders "incident," which is really important. More important right now is winning. It is refreshing that even with some essential players on the shelf, this team is competing with and at times dominating the best teams in the league. So long as they aren't blowing too many games against weak teams, we should be in good shape.

Keeping it short today. I was wondering if anyone else noticed that Nick Lidstrom is continuing to round into excellent form. Timing could not be any better. Todd Bertuzzi rebounded very nicely after costing Detroit the game on Tuesday -- good news for a player who nobody considers to be all that strong mentally. Ville Leino had a pretty decent game in terms of finally creating some scoring chances, but there were no results other than sadness... especially that shootout attempt -- aren't Finns supposed to be good at that?

Unfortunately, the black sheep of the Miller family, Ryan Miller, isn't as great as his brother and lost his 3rd period lead and shootout, in a game that dropped Detroit from 7th in the standings to 8th. Five points back of 4th place with a game in hand. One point back of Los Angeles with an unimaginably crucial head-to-head, win-in-regulation-PLEASE game on Saturday. Suddenly, tearing apart the team at the deadline and firing the coach is seeming like a bad idea... This is just a friendly reminder to all the folks that frequent my comments.

Some of you might have noticed (likely quicker than me) that under the Latest Posts, a little thing popped up about a mobile application for BDS if you have an iPhone or an Android. I didn't actually know they were adding anything like that, but it does look like some people are using it. It didn't appear on the front page, so if you missed it, check out the page now.

In case anyone was having trouble, the iTunes link wasn't working so I'd figure I'd pass it along that I fixed it. Let me know what you think about it, and if there are any other issues. Because I'll have no idea how to fix it, because I have a non-cool phone.

My friend Jeff says, and I quote, "it's amazing." He doesn't just throw praise around like it's nothing. Trust Jeff's opinion. Get the app for Jeff.

I've got something pretty cool going on today, so I wasn't going to write about the game. However, I've decided to say a little something about Chris Osgood today.

I'm not going to pin yesterday's loss on him. However, that doesn't mean I can't say he didn't play well. Questionable goals, couple Howard-esque rebounds. Was he supposed to get a shutout? No, he was rusty. But to act like this is the best game a rusty goaltender has ever played is just stupid. It's not an excuse. He is a professional athlete. It's his job to be ready when he's on. It is not his job to whine about not getting an opportunity, lose, and then say "I toldya so" instead of owning up to a poor game. You know who owned up to a poor game? Todd Bertuzzi. Stupid penalty. He knew it. He played well other than that, but that's all certain folk will remember. Which is completely forgivable, because Bert has taken some untimely penalties. But it's funny the same people who have no trouble reminding you that hockey is a "team game" and this is a "team loss" are perfectly comfortable blaming Bert and not Ozzie.

What I'm a little fed up with is the guy's attitude. We've got a hot shot rookie goaltender, and a savvy veteran. Which one is more likely to be whining to the media? Osgood has a good point -- Jimmy Howard went a month without starting too. He didn't say a word about it. He made the most of his opportunities when he came in cold. A true professional.

What is he accomplishing with all this? Everyone's said all season what a good mentor he is by Howard. Sure Jimmy -- take some advice here. Pout when things don't go your way and bring up all the things you've accomplished. Publicly criticize your coach at will. And oh, don't feel awkward at all that mommy and daddy are fighting over you. Just keep playing top notch hockey and act like nothing's going on at all.

These comments are absurd though. What exactly is he saying here?

"I've gotten him a lot of points, you can write that," Osgood said. "I got him to the Stanley Cup Finals the last two years, you can write that, too."

Osgood is apparently now a one man team. He has no competent defenders in front of him, and he won every game 1-0. He didn't score, but he assisted on every goal. He deserves full credit for the Red Wings 31 playoff wins in the past two years.

"At the start of the year, Howie didn't play for a month and now I haven't played for a month," Osgood said. "To me, that's not a good way of doing things, to let one guy get stagnant. You've got to have both guys going, especially with the amount of games we're going to have."

Osgood is apparently an NHL head coach. He's also not concerned about making the playoffs. If Howard weren't stealing games every week, this would be valid. Howard's had several 30-40, and one 51, shot games, and he's been able to handle it. Osgood had 23 shots, and he let in his usual three goals. That's unacceptable. The first goal wasn't his fault, the second was weak, and the third was equally weak and flukey. It's not his fault they lost. But in my mind he's done absolutely nothing to earn another start in the next few weeks.

"It's frustrating not to play for that length of time," he said. "I would have liked to play prior to (Tuesday's game)."

You and 29 other backup goalies, Chris. But the starter, and the team, are trying to make the playoffs. You're 7-7-4, letting up three goals on 25 shots almost every night. I can't believe the Wings wouldn't play this all-star.

"When I've played, I've played good,"

7-7-4 disagrees with you, but I do believe he's better than last season's regular season Osgood. By the same logic, when Howard's played he's played excellent.

"I hadn't played in 12 games. That's not my decision."

Good -- finally a valid point.

"I can't do anything about that. I don't even think too much about that stuff any more."

Really? Really? Because it sure sounds like you're thinking about it, and it sounds like your trashing your coach every week.

"Do I want to be sitting out for 12 games? No. That's way too long."

Again, apparently this is Chris's decision.

"I will be ready for the playoffs."

I hope so. Detroit needs someone to open the door and hold the clipboard.. Plus I've heard Osgood's handwriting is much neater than Howard's.

Let it be known that I was a huge Osgood fan. I'm not one of those people who believe that the Wings won the Cup in spite of him. I am a Jimmy supporter too. But right now I'm a Red Wings fan who wants to make the playoffs. If Osgood's going to shut up and play some puck, then I'm all for him starting. He just cannot keep defying his head coach publicly, and then no doing a thing to back up his talk. This was not his first opportunity. He had the chance in the Islanders game too. Detroit was trash in front of him and had absolutely no chance of winning. But Howard got pulled, all Osgood needed to do was stop the bleeding. And what happens? Howard comes out of the game looking like the better goaltender.

What Babcock was doing was absolutely fine. What else could he do? This is two straight years Osgood refuses to deliver in the regular season. And this team isn't talented enough to give up 20 shots a night and have to worry about giving up 3-4 goals. You can't just keep giving him starts when he's proving over and over again that he's the second best goaltender in this organization. Detroit does not owe Osgood a thing. They have him the chance to salvage his career, and he did. Spectacularly. They're by no means bound to keep starting him because of that. Babcock's only "mistake" was finding a quality starting netminder that is giving him a chance to win every night, and stealing a few games. He's not the only coach to ever have a clear starter. Detroit's priorities are, as they should be:

1. Making the playoffs.
2. Finding a playoff starter.

There wasn't a goaltending controversy. Now there is, because of Osgood. Funny that the same people who give such heat to unnamed prospects with attitude problems are coming to the defense of a goaltender with an attitude problem. Playing time is earned, I was always told, over and over and over. Howard is earning starts on the ice. Osgood is not. Osgood is trying to earn starts off the ice -- and it's not working. Good.

My point is that if you're going to talk absolute garbage for two weeks leading up to the start, you better deliver. Osgood flat out did not, and there's no argument against that. Howard has been absolutely sensational lately and finally looked human against Chicago. Not bad, but just human. Detroit kept the best player in the league to zero shots for the first time all season and had a lead in the 3rd period. That's the time your looking for your goaltender to step up and seal up the W. That's what Jimmy's been doing this season. That's what Osgood didn't do yesterday.

I'm now officially flipping. I wanted Howard to start until Detroit was comfortable in the playoffs, then I wanted to give Osgood a chance to round into form. How is that fair? It looks like the more Detroit tries to start Osgood, the longer they're going to need Howard to get them into the playoffs. Just give Howard the reigns right now and see what happens. I didn't even think he'd be able to play this good. He never showed any of this in Grand Rapids (in front of a star-studded defense that regularly featured some of the worst defensive defensmen in the history of the AHL). You can say "well let's wait for the other shoe to fall" as much as you want, but the bottom line is this: that shoe hasn't fallen yet. If you're so confident in delicate little Osgood, why not give Howard every chance and challenge along the way? When he fails, you can just say "I told you so." I'm just thinking more and more that he's going to hold up, and I think some people are feeling the same but are a little afraid to admit that.

If Osgood decides at any point that he'd like to be an NHL goalie and a rational decent person, re-consider if he can put a few games together. It is just not fair to take that chance away from Howard, when Osgood has done absolutely nothing to earn that position this season.

Act like you've been there before.

FREE JIMMY.

It's the second half of the season -- the "stretch run." That will possibly become the most overused phrase on this blog and others in the coming months, as this half of the season hasn't been so important for Detroit in years.

While the prerogative is to actually make the playoffs, and play well for a change, something that's already popped up and is definitely good to keep at least in the back of your mind is contract talk. Detroit's scratching their way towards the playoffs now, but it seems a hot topic of discussion with several players lately has been their future in Detroit -- have they done enough where they deserve another contract?

Detroit didn't commit to any long contracts in the offseason, so they'll pretty much be exactly where they were last offseason. Because of how long it took to get their own free agents picked out, they only had the bargain bin to pick through in August. Ken Holland is likely going to start re-negotiating with some players relatively soon, and I would expect a signing or two before the playoffs -- which is when Holland shuts down negotiations for a few months to not distract any players.

So while Detroit's off today, and I have some major free time, I wanted to open up the discussion among fans as to who deserves to come back.

Forwards

(cap hit, until when in parentheses)

Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083, '21) | Pavel Datsyuk ($6.7, '14) | Johan Franzen ($3.954, '20)
Danny Cleary ($2.8, '13) | Valtteri Filppula ($3.0, '13) | Kris Draper ($1.583, '11)
empty | empty | empty
empty | empty | empty
empty, sorta.

As you can see -- the core is under contract, and under contract for a while. This leaves Detroit a lot of flexibility because if worst comes to worst, they can basically blow this team up and start over. Those six give you a good base and a good balance of talent and leadership, to where the parts around it are largely interchangeable, depending on cap space. Before we look at our impending free agents, let's look at the two wild cards.

Jiri Hudler: Hudler signed a two-year contract in the KHL, so he's not expected back. However, the winds of change are upon us, and the Hudler rumors are starting to get moving early. The hot rumor out there is that Hudler called Ken Holland to wish him a happy New Year. Gasp, how scandalous, right? Well, that gets people talking and many are wondering if that was really the only thing they talked about. The real reason I take stock into believing something like this is because the KHL has been an absolute circus this season.

From game cancellations due to 619 penalty minutes in the first five minutes of a game to the continuing politics of the KHL trying to keep players from going to the NHL, the "rival league" isn't looking so fierce anymore. Hudler is all but blacklisted from international play (no Olympics) and doesn't have much securing him into staying for next season. His contract there is worth $5 million a season, which is equivalent to somewhere between $7-$9 in NHL money million when you consider that's tax and escrow free, and consider that KHL clubs pay living (food, shelter, even transportation) expenses for their players. It's essentially all Hudler's to spend on rich guy stuff like yachts and rare minerals. He may determine that he's had enough and come back to Detroit. And if he ever comes back, he's locked into Detroit for two years at a cap hit of $2.875 -- a lot for Happy "The Rock" Hudler, but decent value for a talented player who was demanding nearly $4 million.

Ville Leino: If you read that lineup up top and know anything about Detroit's contracts, you'll know that Leino is actually under contract for next season. However, if things keep going the way they are, Leino may find himself in a new city for next season. Leino's rookie season has been nothing short of disastrous. Unlike most rookies, you can't just chalk it up to inexperience because Leino will actually turn 27 in October. His play from here to game 82 should answer this question. If Leino continues to disappoint, Detroit would likely looking in to trading him to a weaker club for anything while they still have a chance. They may not even get that opportunity to, because if he feels he's going to be in and out of the press box all season again, he may prefer to bolt back to Finland. I'm sure that'll upset the contingent of fans who take terrible offense to the notion that a player does not want to play for the Red Wings (see Axelsson, Richard), but sometimes it just doesn't work out. I can't personally blame him, or say that I'd be at all upset by it. If he does return next season, he's locked into one more year at $800,000.

Now, let's briefly look at Detroit's impending unrestricted free agents at the forward position. They're listed with their cap hit from this season.

Tomas Holmstrom, $2.25 -- Many, including myself, were curious just when the shelf life for a player like Holmstrom expires. Detroit's had a handful of players play into their 40s, but none even come close to taking the punishment that Homer takes every night. He was productive until he got hurt, but his injury isn't too concerning, because a foot injury isn't concluded on the long list of things that have hampered Homer every year (particularly, groin, back, and knee). No doubt that Holmstrom is back if he chooses not to retire, I'll pencil in a one-year deal at $1.5 million. Significant discount, still a bargain for a 20-goal scorer.

Todd Bertuzzi, $1.5 -- Todd is possibly the reason I started writing this post, as there's been quite a bit of talk (including the podcast) about Bertuzzi finishing his career in Detroit. As an unabashed Protuzzi fan, you probably think you know what I'm going to say. However, you'd be wrong. I cringe at the idea of Bertuzzi getting a deal to finish his career in Detroit, because the guy is a walking time bomb. I'm a big fan of his play, but I don't have enough faith in his durability to see him get a 3-4 year deal. He's spent the last few years with a nagging back injury, which has prevented him from staying in top form. Supposedly he feels better, and I think that's very apparent from his play on the ice. I hope he does come back, but I'd prefer one-year deals until he inevitably breaks. At best, I'd give him two years at $2.0 million. Enough of a raise to keep him a big part of the team, but cheap enough where it's not going to destroy Detroit if he's only 80% the next few years, unable to backcheck, play along the boards, and score the way he has this season.

Jason Williams, $1.5 -- You might recall I was also a fan of bringing Williams back in the fold, but it's important to remember that was only because I believed he was the best fit of the free agents left in August. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of his play. He's in a tough spot as Detroit was playing like trash before he got hurt, and he's since seen a lot of young players put up as good or better numbers than he was putting up in his 4th line role. I don't think he was bad, but I'd prefer letting him walk this summer and trying to focus free cap space on a player of bigger impact.

Kirk Maltby, $0.883 -- Sadly, if Maltby wants to come back Detroit will re-sign him. That's just the way it works -- he's one of the Wings where the loyalty factor comes into play for. Ideally, he's going to see the bigger picture. When Detroit's healthy, I don't anticipate he'll see much regular ice time. Hopefully he hangs them up, but if he had to come back, it would most likely be for just slightly above the league minimum.

Brad May, $0.5 -- A failed experiment, absolutely a horrific mistake if he's brought back. Refuses to have a fight of value, a liability on the ice, and now publicly taking credit for other people's accomplishments. I honestly believe we're in the last ten games of May as a Red Wing, as you've got to figure with Holmstrom and Williams on the mend, May will soon be a regular scratch and/or AHL-bound. I do like him as a person, hopefully he's able to find work in hockey in some facet next season.

And restricted free agents:

Darren Helm, $0.599 -- Without a doubt, Helm must be signed long-term. That may not be plausible without having a ton of cap space freed up, which would only come from something like a Lidstrom retirement. I think for now we could possibly squeeze out a four-year deal with something close to a $1.2 cap hit. Tough to say what his real worth would be, hopefully he doesn't yet realize exactly how great he is.

Justin Abdelkader, $0.85 -- Definitely coming back, and definitely an NHL regular next season regardless of whether or not he finishes this season there. Like Helm, he looks like he should be a player who needs to be a Wing for life, but it's going to be tough this season to give these players more than they're worth and still fit everyone under the cap. Abdelkader is already making a lot for a rookie, so it's not ridiculous to suggest he takes a paycut if it involves a one-way deal (Howard did), maybe in the $700,000 neighborhood. I'd give him two years at that number.

Patrick Eaves, $0.5 -- Like I said yesterday, he guaranteed himself a contract extension regardless of what happens for the rest of this season. He's formed a formidable tandem with Helm both on the 3rd line and Detroit's regular penalty kill. Durability is still an issue, but he's young and hasn't had any troubles with the concussions that have nagged him in the past few years. I'd try three years at $800,000.

Drew Miller, $0.525 -- I'm a big fan of how hard he works, but I don't necessarily see him as a lock to be signed. I don't think he's been as great in the past few weeks as he had been, and he hasn't really made much of the chances he's had on a scoring line. If you think about it, if Detroit even brings back two UFAs, along with the above three RFAs who are locks, that puts Detroit in a tough spot. If Hudler OR Maltby come back, Miller might be out. Also to be considered is...

..Mattias Ritola, $0.511 -- Ritola is an RFA who needs to clear waivers to play in Grand Rapids next season. He's been waiting patiently and looked especially good in his NHL stint this season. Rumors are starting to swirl that Ritola would prefer to go back to Sweden over another season in the AHL. I wouldn't be upset, at all, if Miller was re-signed, but if it all plays out the way I see it and Detroit had to make a choice between Miller and Ritola, I'd kind of prefer to see what the younger and more offensively skilled Ritola is capable of.

Other FAs: Kris Newbury (UFA), Jeremy Williams, Evan McGrath, Ryan Oulahen, Jamie Tardif, Johan Ryno. I wouldn't expect more than one of them would be re-signed, just for veteran Grand Rapids depth. I'd wager on McGrath.

Next in line: Tomas Tatar, Jan Mursak, Cory Emmerton, Francis Pare.

Defensemen

Brian Rafalski ($6.0, '12) | Brad Stuart ($3.75, '12)
Niklas Kronwall ($3.0, '12) | Jonathan Ericsson ($0.9, '11)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883 '13) | empty
empty | empty

The core is in tact, but the real question is obviously Nick's big decision. Kindl is on a one-way deal and will be on the team in some form. The other interesting nugget is that most teams don't carry eight defensemen, but Detroit has really benefited from having all eight in the past two years. With Kindl graduating, Detroit might be more comfortable carrying their eight defensemen, since Sergei Kolosov, Logan Pyett, and potential rookie Brendan Smith would be their top call-ups from Grand Rapids.

Nicklas Lidstrom, $7.45 -- There was a rumor earlier this season that Lidstrom was close to a new two-year deal, but recently it seems more likely that he won't make a decision until this summer. He'll only play if he feels he's still effective. I think during that goal drought, he might have been doubting himself. I think now he'll keep producing steadily through the end of the year -- that drought, though freakishly long, was a fluke. I think he re-ups for two final years at $5.0 a pop.

Andreas Lilja, $1.25 -- Sadly, it looks like his career might be over, but Detroit's a classy enough organization that they'd probably give him another chance if he can make some kind of medical break through. In my mind, that would be absolutely ideal, so he could switch in and out with the youngsters in Kindl and Ericsson as needed. Neither are particularly good in their own end, but Lilja is. He could be used when needed, and would likely come at a bargain price since not too many teams would take a chance on him. If he were medically cleared, I would jump all over one year at $1 million.

Brett Lebda, $0.65 -- Lebda's in an interesting spot. He had a pretty regular role as a rookie, but has since had his role reduced with almost every season. He hasn't demonstrated much confidence this season. I believe it will come down to keeping one of Lebda and Meech -- splitting the Mebdeech. I think Lebda is the most likely, as an unrestricted free agent, to bolt for a regular role on a worse team. I don't expect Detroit would get in any sort of a bidding war for him.

Derek Meech, $0.483 -- Meech is in an interesting spot too. He's actually making below the league minimum, because of when his contract was signed and for how long. I would prefer they let Meech walk, but given the choice between Lebda and Meech, I think Meech offers a little more and has less of a problem containing bigger forwards and less of a problem of just staring at the puck. He's a little younger as well. I'm not sure how well he'd respond to likely being a #8 defensemen once again. He might not have a choice, as the lone restricted free agent on this list. One year, $550,000.

Other FAs: Doug Janik, Andy Delmore (UFAs), Sergei Kolosov. I see Kolosov coming back.

Next in line: Sergei Kolosov, Logan Pyett.

Goaltenders

Jimmy Howard ($0.716, '11) | Chris Osgood ($1.416, '11)

All good here. Expect Howard to play even more, and regardless of what ends up happening this year, starts in the playoffs so Detroit can be more comfortable with him if next year is Osgood's last.

Other FAs: Daniel Larsson. He should return, but it's difficult to say where his head is at. Pressure from McCollum and all indications that Detroit is much higher on him could chase him back to Sweden, but if all is well Larsson will be in the mix for an NHL job in 2011-12.

Next in line: Larsson (probably due to get a taste at the NHL at least next year), Thomas McCollum (potentially three years away from an NHL debut, they're going to milk him all they can in Grand Rapids)

Based off my projections, here's a rough estimate of our situation for next year.

Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083, '21) | Pavel Datsyuk ($6.7, '14) | Johan Franzen ($3.954, '20)
Tomas Holmstrom ($1.5, '11)* | Valtteri Filppula ($3.0, '13) | Todd Bertuzzi ($2.0, '12)*
Danny Cleary ($2.8, '13) | Darren Helm ($1.2, '14)* | Patrick Eaves ($0.8, '13)*
Mattias Ritola ($0.6, '11)* | Justin Abdelkader ($0.7, '12)* | Kris Draper ($1.583, '11)
13th forward

Nicklas Lidstrom ($5.0, '12)* | Brian Rafalski ($6.0, '12)
Niklas Kronwall ($3.0, '12) | Brad Stuart ($3.75, '12)
Jakub Kindl ($0.883, '13) | Jonathan Ericsson ($0.9, '11)
Andreas Lilja ($1.0, '11)* | Derek Meech ($0.55, '11)*

Jimmy Howard ($0.716, '11) | Chris Osgood ($1.416, '11)

This gives Detroit $1.862 million in cap space according to CapGeek, which is a safe number because the cap may not go up at all this season. With that cap space, I'd hope they could add another scorer -- maybe knowing that a little earlier will help that player be a little more talented than Jason Williams. Then you could flip that player in and out of the lineup with anyone on the 4th line. Additionally, Detroit could possibly squeeze out a little more cap room in the very likely event that Lilja doesn't re-sign. Another spare defensive defenseman could cost less. In a pinch (say, if a miniature Czech forward comes back), Ritola could be bumped out and Meech could be the 13th forward. Tatar is also a realistic option, while other prospects may need a while.

That's how I see it. Comments and disagreements are welcome. I just wanted to get people thinking in the second half about who deserves to stick around next season. Despite the struggles this season, looking at it this way makes me feel a lot better about it. There is a lot of flexibility, but I chose to keep most of the team together because I think they'll be fine when healthy. We'll see, I suppose.

Most of you probably know I write a weekly prospects update article for Winging it in Motown. Last week, I was lucky enough to be able to interview a Detroit prospect in 2009 5th round pick Nick Jensen. Pretty cool opportunity I figure, he's an interesting guy who's accomplished a lot since Detroit drafted him, so I tried to touch on as much of it as I could. Hopefully it was the first of many, so stay tuned in to WIM for more of them, though I'm sure I'll pass it along on here. Check it out.

And as long as we're passing on community notes, the new episode of The Obstructed View is up. Six episodes strong and still improving each week. Well, maybe -- I've only just finished downloading this one. Seriously though, it should be great. I never really listened to podcasts before, but the quality every week of this one has been excellent. If you haven't heard it yet, you're missing out.

I'm not even mad... that's just impressive.

The Patrick Kane Cab Company: Dropping the gloves on high prices

The Anchorman quote is because I'm not really upset Detroit lost today. That was a great game, one of the best regular season games I've ever seen.

All things considered (aka, getting royally screwed over by the NHL, then hosting the hottest team in the NHL 22 hours later on the opposite side of the country), this was a good weekend. I ripped Dallas yesterday for racking up so many overtime loss points, but now the Wings have jumped to eight on the year. Sadly, because of that stupid loser point, Detroit had the same outcome this season as they would have if they won a game and lost one. I think based off where we were on Tuesday, a lot of people would accept that.

One of those terms that everybody and anybody likes to throw around is "statement game." This was a chance for Chicago to make a statement that they're officially usurping Detroit, or this was a chance for Detroit to prove that they're not going anywhere. I think Detroit is too experienced to be caught up in making statements through just one game. "Oh no, we lost to Chicago again, now they're officially better than us." Does that sound at all like anything Detroit would say?

The game was pretty back and forth, but I can say pretty confidently that Detroit was the better team throughout most of the game. Chicago is talented and had Detroit hemmed in pretty good at times, but really most of their offense came with Detroit playing a man down. At the very least, you have to admit these teams are pretty equal. Now imagine if Detroit were healthy, and Chicago were missing Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook, Troy Brouwer, and Dustin Byfuglien as a rough estimation of what roles Detroit was missing today. Can you honestly say that things would have wound up the same?

Plus, can you really take a team who puts Tomas Kopecky on the second powerplay unit seriously? Detroit's got Drew Miller and Derek Meech on theirs and still looked more dangerous than Kopecky did at any point. Silly tennis-loving Slovaks.

While a lame excuse, injuries are a definite major factor in this rivalry right now. For the third straight game against Chicago, Mebdeech looked totally outmatched and outclassed throughout. Lebda is officially afraid of venturing with the puck into the offensive zone, something he was once proficient at. He did his best impression of ECHL defensemen when he just decided to stand next to Brad Stuart, leaving Patrick Sharp all alone to put home Chicago's third goal of the game. Not to be outdone, Derek Meech knocked Stuart over, leaving Meech alone to defend Hossa one-on-one. The entity was the worst player on the ice. Note that I said on the ice, meaning it does not include Brad May, who was the worst player on the bench.

Regarding Stuart's recent struggles, Casey said it best in the WIM game thread: it's Mebdeech's fault. Stuart is forced to babysit these two, and his play has suffered for it over the past two weeks. He really needs Niklas Kronwall, so at least he can anticipate when Kronwall's going to step into the play. Mebdeech, Meech especially, are just absolutely terrible about jumping into the play.

In light of the recent record 44 comment (and counting) post on whether or not Detroit should trade Nick Lidstrom (seriously: some people are suggesting Detroit should trade Nick Lidstrom), Lidstrom now quietly has two goals in three games. This is just how he is. I bet he finished the year with his usual 10. He's going to be shooting like crazy now. Does anyone recall him making any mistakes in the past week? I don't.

Today was a perfect example of Detroit's players being the best players in the ice. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were something else. Clearly the best two players on either team. How often has that happened this season? This is now officially the standard for them.

Saving the best for last: Patrick Eaves. If there was any doubt he was going to be re-signed long-term, there isn't anymore. He could probably do nothing the rest of the season and get a new contract after today. I don't know what prompted him to fight Kris Versteeg, but he definitely landed his share of solid blows. Eaves was the one cut, but Detroit needed that fight more than Chicago. You just knew Eaves was going to make a big play after that, and he got it with his goal. As for Versteeg? Well, I just had to check to make sure he didn't get hurt, because I didn't notice him once after that fight.

Washington on Tuesday. Jimmy Howard was fine today (first goal was weak), but I think I'd like to see Chris Osgood finally on Tuesday. The Capitals give him a chance to make a huge statement, with their ridiculous offense. Think about it. If he gets lit up, it's Howard for the next month guaranteed. If he plays like he did the first time Detroit played Washington, he's officially back in the picture. We'll see.