As per Pierre LeBrun's
tweet this morning.
I'm not going to lie, I expected to see
Todd Bertuzzi at least have to participate in a disciplinary hearing to discuss with NHL league officials his thinking as the play occured. Although the intent certainly did not appear to be there to injure
Ryan Johnson or aim for his head, the hit did result in an apparent head shot.
Considering the league's crusade to limit and curb such events, I'm surprised to hear they aren't at least formally investigating further. At most, I was thinking Bertuzzi might get a two game suspension.
If nothing else, just to continue drilling home the message to NHL players the league is militant about wanting to avoid seeing such shots to the head of their opponents. Yet their decision indicates they likely conducted an informal investigation after the contest and determined the penalty given during the game was sufficient for the infraction.
In reality, Bertuzzi did essentially serve a one game suspension last night (the infraction took place at the 5 minute mark of the first period), albeit with pay.
The fact that Johnson did return to the game after adhering to the NHL's new protocol for possible concussions, and finished the remainder of the game may have played a factor in the league's decision. Furthermore, after the game Johnson's quote to the Chicago Sun-Times seemed to confirm he also didn't feel the collision was worthy of a suspension:
"I knew it was a high hit, but I didn’t see it. I didn’t think it was malicious or anything. He’s a pretty big guy and I skate pretty low to the ground. I knew I was going to take a hit on the play. I’m not going to sit here and judge what it was. I know it wasn’t anything malicious and he was very apologetic and came in here and said ‘sorry.’ That’s it.”
Given the focus on head shots, do you think the NHL made the right call here in not giving Bertuzzi further discipline???
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As for the game itself last night, hockey fans everywhere must be salivating at the prospect of a possible Detroit-Chicago first round playoff matchup after last night's entertaining display. Although I'm certain both teams aren't "afraid" of facing anyone given the confidence in their abilities, I'd also suggest the only positive either side would find with a such a matchup in the opening round is the reduced travel.
Certainly
Joey MacDonald did his best to quell the fears of Red Wing fans who were in a state of shock and panic on Saturday night when
Jimmy Howard went down with what at first appeared to be a substantial shoulder injury. In stopping 38 of 41 shots on this night vs. a talented Blackhawk group, MacDonald was the principle reason why Detroit garnered a point and had an opportunity to steal the extra point. Although it has been a small sample size thus far this season, MacDonald's numbers suggest he is more than capable in handling the back-up duties if
Chris Osgood in fact is unable to return to full health this season.
Even if Osgood is able to return to full health, will the rust factor after three full months of ZERO game action still leave MacDonald as
Mike Babcock's top option in the postseason should Jimmy Howard get injured or falter during the playoffs? After witnessing last night's performance, MacDonald did nothing to hurt his case. He owns a 2.13 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and has only allowed more than three goals in a game only once during his eight starts.
Unfortunately, it's the remainder of the team that needs to get more consistent. In particular, the team defense still worries me at this point of the season. Allowing 41 shots on goal is not a good sign and indicates Detroit did not succeed against Chicago in employing their trademark puck possession game. They haven't been winning nearly enough battles in their own end and in particular last night, allowed the likes of
Jonathan Toews,
Patrick Kane and
Marian Hossa to be rather dominant in Detroit's end of the ice.
The 41 shots on goal allowed continues an alarming trend for the Red Wings over the past five seasons. Consider their league ranking the past five regular seasons in shots allowed per game:
2006-07 - 24.6 (1st)
2007-08 - 23.5 (1st)
2008-09 - 27.7 (2nd)
2009-10 - 29.4 (7th)
2010-11 - 30.4 (14th)
Even of more interest is the fact that their statistics in the postseason of those years did not deviate much at all from the regular season, aside from last year.
2006-07 - 24.7 (up 0.1, lost Conference Finals to Anaheim)
2007-08 - 23.6 (up 0.1, Won Stanley Cup vs. Pittsburgh)
2008-09 - 28.1 (up 0.4, lost Stanley Cup Final to Pittsburgh)
2009-10 - 32.2 (up 2.8, lost 2nd round to San Jose)
Although Detroit isn't playing poorly right now, they also aren't finding a way to win, as their 5-4-4 record in March would suggest. In addition, as their defensive stats indicate, they are no longer able to consistently clamp down on teams in their own end. As the early years of the above analysis suggests, you can afford to be thrifty in your spending on goaltending if you are allowing the fewest shots against in the league.
But what happens when you are in the middle of the pack and allowing more scoring chances? Your goaltending better be up to the task and heavier workload. It does not inspire confidence that this team can "flip the switch" defensively come the middle of April and lower the number of shots allowed in the playoffs, given past history.
Can they buck the trend this spring and show a renewed commitment to defensive hockey? For all of the publicity Detroit received in the past as being a team with high-scoring superstars, it was their commitment to strong defensive play and limiting the opposition's scoring chances that made them champions.
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There is no argument Detroit is a much different team with #13 in the lineup. And it's for that reason that I believe this group is really licking their chops at tangling with Nashville this weekend. With the likely return of Datsyuk to the lineup for that affair, it's no secret Detroit would like to send a message to a Predators team, which has had their way with the Red Wings this season going 4-1 thus far in the season series.
Nashville has become the fashionable pick to spring a first-round upset in the playoffs, in particular if they are matched up against the Red Wings. They have won the past four meetings vs. the Red Wings by a combined score of 13-4. With both teams having six games remaining on the schedule and six points separating them in the standings, a Nashville win could make things extremely interesting for Detroit in the final week.
With "Pavs" and possibly Howard back in the lineup for Saturday night's contest, that game in my opinion will speak volumes in my mind as to whether this Red Wing team can elevate its game when called upon and begin showing the "quiet confidence" past Red Wing teams have shown in the past heading into the playoffs when taking on the up and comers.
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Red Wing beatwriter Ansar Khan of mlive.com confirmed that the Red Wings re-signed forward
Cory Emmerton:
The Red Wings have signed forward Cory Emmerton to a three-year, $1.6 million contract extension. Emmerton, a skilled center Detroit selected with its top pick in the 2006 entry draft (41st overall in second round) has 11 goals and 26 assists in 59 games in Grand Rapids in his third full season with the Griffins.
Emmerton is out of minor-league options after this season, so he would be subject to waivers before being sent down, if he doesn’t make the NHL roster. His new contract is a two-way deal for the first season (lower salary in the AHL) and one-way the final two years. The salary cap hit is $533,000.
Similar to the
Jan Mursak signing, this does not come as a surprise to most observers who were impressed with Emmerton's play in his brief stint with the Red Wings during their injury-plagued portion of January. The continued transition to youth will continue next year with the inclusion of these two players to the lineup, adding a nice combination of speed and skill to the club's third and fourth lines.
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