October 1, 2008

The Wings and Canadiens faced off last night for their second meeting of the pre-season. Montreal won it 2-1 in a shoot-out. I'm not sure how many regulars were missing from the Montreal squad, but Detroit was minus Lidstrom (the best defensive player in the league), Zetterberg (last year's Conn Smythe trophy winner), Datsyuk (arguably the best two-way player in the game), Franzen (hottest player at the end of last season with 27 goals in 27 games), and Osgood (their All-Star goalie). Sounds to me like the core of the Detroit squad last night was little more than a ragtag gang of up-and-comers trying to land a job. And they nearly pulled off a win against the mighty Canadiens, the team predicted to dominate the Eastern Conference this year. Doesn't say much for their chances if they make it to the Finals against Detroit's regular players, does it?

Some observations from last night's game:

• Jimmy Howard looked solid, playing just as well as Carey Price, Montreal's starting goaltender. I thought he could have been a little stronger in the shoot-out, but there's a lot of pressure on this kid. If he doesn't outshine Ty Conklin, it's another year in Grand Rapids for him.
• Kopecky had a pretty good hit laid on him by one of the Canadiens. Now maybe the You'Tuders can stop crying about the hit Kopecky laid on Carle.
• Aaron Downey on the bench looked like a rabid dog eager to get out there and bite someone's ass. That wide-eyed, maniacal stare is enough for me to give him the job over Darren McCarty. Mac looks like he's half asleep most of the time.
• You can tell the Canadiens fans are pumped about their team; the Bell Centre was packed to the gills last night. Compare it to the half-empty Joe where you could practically hear a pin drop. I think there's more excitement in my livingroom most game nights. And I know for sure the beer's cheaper.