The trade deadline came and passed and Carolina moved on from Mikko Rantanen. A bit of clarity on the situation was finally revealed after the player that Carolina had paid a solid return to Colorado for took less money to extend in Dallas than was offered in Carolina. The initial trade to the ‘Canes hadn’t set well with Rod Brind’amour now saying that the forward stated, “there are 4 teams I will sign with, and Carolina isn’t one of them”. Since the trade, the ‘Canes seem to be rejuvenated and are on a 5 game win streak.
Detroit’s victory over Buffalo saw a second line that seemed to greatly benefit from Kasper’s presence but a top line that looks slightly diminished as Soderblom was swapped in. The game ended in some seldom seen fireworks with the now viral referee call of a penalty and 9 misconducts. However, Buffalo isn’t Carolina.
Detroit has to stay out of the penalty box and make hay on the man advantage to have a chance in this tilt. The penalty kill is disturbingly bad and when the power play is clicking it is shockingly good. Debrincat eclipsed the 30 goal mark with Larkin (27) looking to do the same. Raymond has 22 goals and 46 assists. He will find a way more often than not to contribute on the score sheet. While it was good to see some “fight” in the team (take the pun or leave it) more than the actual confrontations the group needs to have that sense of “us against everyone” and “backs to the wall” to find their way through the last stretch.
The internal conflict:
Just a quick note. I’ll admit that the end of the game against Buffalo was exciting and I enjoyed the chaos. Then, a tragedy in the WHL. I won’t embed the clip, but during a fight one of the young men appeared to have been knocked out and started having seizures on the ice. It was pretty nasty. All of a sudden I felt pretty bad about being so engaged and enthusiastic about what happened in Detroit. Hockey is a dangerous sport. It’s surprising we don’t see more injuries with the speed and strength of the modern player. At this point, if the CHL banned all fighting it may be the better route. Of course, that will affect the talent pool of players that can or will drop the gloves in the NHL. Let me know your thoughts, and if you think there will be a call to end that part of the game.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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