The Buzz in Hockeytown

Finally! I watched a Wings game and they won! It took a lot more than it should have playing against a Calgary team that only arrived in Detroit at 4 am though. Calgary came out a lot harder than Detroit and won almost all of the battles for the first period, taking a 2-0 lead. After the first frame though, the game was all Detroit and with the Wings still trailing 3-1 half way through the third, the defending champs managed to really pick it up a notch and take over. Two goals in four minutes tied it up and Lidstrom managed to bury the winner in OT. As well as Detroit played in the second and, especially, the third periods, they need to do that from the opening faceoff a little more often to avoid giving up three every game. In net at the other end, it was Curtis McElhinney getting a rare start and absolutely standing on his head on a night where Detroit could have gotten 6 or 7 with all of the quality chances they had.

One last comment about the hockey game last night ... the refs did a decent job, but there were three penalties that follow a pattern I've been disturbed by this season. I realize that the league wants to open up the offense and eliminate the clutching and grabbing. However, there has been a rash of hooking, holding, and interference penalties that I think go too far. Rather than use judgment as to whether or not the player was inhibited from being able to make a play, the refs have been instructed to just call it as soon as a stick touches an opponent above waist level. Calgary got called for a phantom hold in the first period and Detroit was called for phantom hooks in the first and second. I know that by the rule book they were all the right calls. I just have visions of important games getting decided by power play goals on penalties that were really marginal in the level of interference run.

Onwards to tonight's New Orleans - Chicago game at Soldier Field. The weather is supposed to be cold and a bit breezy, but without snow or anything too severe. While I would imagine that the Saints will struggle a bit in the elements, and because they have gone win one, lose one most of the year, I don't trust the Bears to defeat any strong opponents. Chicago had a couple of strong wins in the early going against Indy and Philly, but that was before either of those teams started playing well. Since their bye week, the Bears only wins have been against the real weaklings of the league in Detroit, St. Louis and Jacksonville. So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Drew Brees will do enough to get New Orleans a couple of TD's and the Saints will win a tight one.

Tune in tomorrow for the rest of my picks for the weekend!