Like I said last week… Kronwall has dropped off, Ericsson is soft, and Abdelkader is…wait – where IS Abdelkader? Don’t remember even hearing his name last night. Even Hank was skating in slush.

Other than Dats, I didn’t see much I liked last night. Looking forward to Helm’s return.

I agree with the changing of the guard though. IMO, Babcock and Co. have done a poor to mediocre job of grooming guys to fill spots over the past 3 years.

Wing are playing with less and less edge… inspiring less and less fear.

First off, the Redwings need to play better defense. To come out and lay an egg like that against a Division Rival does not bode well for them. I wouldn’t say that the Wings are in trouble, but they need to win next game and establish solid defense. Once they got that, Their top line will handle the rest.

Vancouver…WOW. Cory Schneider had a bad day, but like I said with Detroit, don’t count them out just yet. We have only played one game. Hopefully Luongo doesn’t play like a sieve as well, or else too much of the workload will be shouldered by The Sedins and not the defense. The Canucks are looking like a mirror image of Detroit, only a tad younger. We will see what happens.

As for my boys, I am interested to see what Vokoun can do against NYR. Hopefully, he can be a solid backup and provide balance in the net behind Flower. Great win yesterday, keep it up.

5 things for further analysis and discussion:

5. Stars had a great day, but Jagr cant to it all: Pay Jamie Benn what he wants if you hope to make the playoffs.
4. Rookies shined yesterday, including Granlund, Huberdeau, Conacher, and definitely Tarasenko. Look for these young players to be a force.
3. Stanley Cup Hangover. Sorry, Kings fans, but they had a bad day.
2. I think the Blues and Panthers are for real again. Also, look for Tampa Bay to be a force this year. Lets see if Lindback can hold the fort. Good win against Washington. Interesting.
1. Everyone was so big on Carolina making the playoffs just because they got Jordan Staal and overpayed for Semin, who doesn’t backcheck at all. Carolina will still not make the playoffs, and yesterday showed that. The Canes think their offense can stand alone, but they forgot to address the defense in the offseason. Staal will realize how good he had it in Pittsburgh, and realize that he cant score 35-40 goals a year, like Carolina wants him to. Good luck, though.

Pumped that hockey is back! So relieving and yesterday did not disappoint. Get ready for another great season and another great day for HOCKEY!!!

The way they were knocked off the puck, couldn’t clear their own zone, obtained minimal quality scoring chances….This screams of the 89-90 team.

Sure Zetterberg & Datsyuk are terrific players, but I highly doubt they can be leaders of the Yzerman or Lidstrom ilk that can lead a team to championships. They are simply highly talented players, that complemented Yzerman & Lidstrom nicely.

It’s gonna be a long short season in “Hockeytown”.

Roll dam tide.