Wisconsin 3 Michigan 0

Fuck...........................

Bruins 4 Red Wings 1

My excitement for this game was ruined by the pace of play. It didn't have to do with the players themselves, but the fact that both teams played the night before and looked gassed. It was like watching slow motion hockey. The Wings seemed to control the pace in the first period, but a few bad breaks on offense combined with Conklin's awful play put them in a hole they could not dig out of. The Red Wings can come back from 3-0 on almost any team in the NHL, but Boston is not one of those teams.

Michigan 6 Minnesota 3

WAY TO GO MICHIGAN! They stormed into the College Hockey Showcase in Wisconsin and stunned the #1 Minnesota Golden Gophers. This is a huge win for this team after the mediocre play to start the season. Got out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back. Now lets complete the weekend sweep and take out Wisconsin tomorrow night!

Red Wings 5 Blue Jackets 3

Yikes! Ozzie let by a center-ice goal. Shades of 1998. Remember, every time he let by a goal like that in the past he came back with a shutout or a solid performance. On another note, I'm content with Andres Lilja getting into a good fight every other game. My biggest complaint about the Wings as a fan has always been their lack of fighting compared to other teams. Way to go "Pain Train!"

Canadiens 3 Red Wings 1

What concerned me more about this game than the loss was the fact that FSN was using that stupid nosebleed camera from the top of the upper deck the entire game. Let's not do that anymore. I HATE THAT CAMERA!

Canucks 3 Red Wings 2 (OT)

Well, ain't the Canucks quite the surprise this year? Two of the Wings OT losses are to these guys. To put it straight, Curtis Sanford was incredible for Vancouver. Osgood did just fine, and despite the fact he didn't face nearly as many shots, he also had to make some amazing saves. Vancouver definitely made sure the shots on goal they had were quality scoring chances.

Wings/Habs tomorrow. Love it when the Wings play the Eastern original 6 teams! If I remember correctly, the Wings haven't played too well against Montreal at home over the past few meetings. But I could be wrong....

MEEECHIGAN

Haven't mentioned much about Michigan hockey yet this season. Perhaps it's because they are clearly playing below the level that they did last year. They are also in a rare spot, 4th in the CCHA with a 5-5 conference record after being swept this weekend by Miami, who look like they are going to run away with the regular season this year. Another surprise this year is Sparty's hockey team, which is in 10th place. They've also scored an abysmal 20 goals in 10 games. Unless things turn around quickly, it looks like our state's college hockey teams will take the back seat to powerhouses like Alaska and Nebraska-Omaha.

Red Wings 5 Flames 2

This was a very important road win for two reasons.

1) The Flames were coming off two solid defensive performances.
2) The Red Wings were facing adversity in the third period and didn't need the power play to get themselves out of it this time

Nice job to Malts and Lebda for making a rare appearance on the scoring sheet as well.

Red Wings 8 Oilers 3

Well, that score was the combination of the last two games anyway.

Solid outing again by Conklin in the 4-0 victory. He is proving to be a great pickup in the offseason. I'm not too worried about our goaltending situation if Ozzie gets hurt.

Ozzie played just as well in my opinion last night in the 4-3 victory. A lot of guys on the radio are saying he needs to watch his back for the starting job, but I disagree. He faced a lot more shots last night than Conklin did in his shutout, and may have been the key reason for the 1-goal victory. The Oilers actually outshot the Wings in the 1st and 3rd period last night.

Tomorrow night's game at Calgary should be interesting (Hockey Night In Canada telecast!) Kipper is coming off of a shutout.

Red Wings 3 Panthers 2

Decent pair of road wins this week, and there seems to be a recurring formula this year. Hossa gets a few, the Wings let the opponent back in for a while and then capitalize on a power play opportunity to get the victory.

Red Wings 4 Lightning 3

Good thing we can put the craziness of the other night behind us. The Red Wings are thriving on the power play and it got them back into this game. Albeit they were dominating the shots on goal department from start to finish, it took a 5 on 3 to tie the game. As long as they keep converting on their opportunities, I have no problem with that.

Penguins 7 Red Wings 6 (OT)

Wow.......

What a goat show by the Red Wings in the 3rd period. This was definitely a lesson in playing 60 minutes to a team that should know better. I didn't care that much at all about 4 goals against when it was 5-4. Pittsburgh's second goal was a flop, the third one was a 5 on 3 and then the 4th was after a very rare Datsyuk giveaway. But the Wings never buckled down and the Pens kept coming...and the Wings stopped. All of a sudden, the Pens are skating around them and drawing penalties and in OT Datsyuk has another rare giveaway and the game is over.

This team is strange this year. Saturday night they played great defense and timely goals. And then tonight it was like watching a game in the 1980s. It was fun, but I'd like to watch two different teams play awful defense then two teams favored to go far in the playoffs.

Red Wings 3 Devils 1

Thank you to the two linesmen in this game for allowing the McCarty/Clarkson fight to go on and on. It was great to watch, plus Darren McCarty actually got to be noticed for more than 30 seconds.

10 Things I Learned In October

1) I'M STICKING WITH MY CUP PICK
The Sharks look amazing and I'm not giving up on Tampa Bay. They've been in every game and have a winning streak right now. They have a big road trip coming up in November that will likely indicate if they will compete or not

2) FANTASY HOCKEY IS AWESOME
After a two year break, I've rediscovered how fun fantasy hockey is, especially since I have NHL Center Ice on cable. Every night there is a big game!

3) THANKS TO MICHIGAN FOOTBALL, I APPRECIATE MICHIGAN HOCKEY MORE
It's all U-M has going for them right now in terms of popular sports. Great job SMOKING Ohio State this weekend! GO BLUE!

4) MARTY TURCO IS SLIPPING FAST
Something is wrong with this guy, and the Dallas Stars in general. The Stars allowed an absurd 50 goals in October and don't even come close to resembling the team that made it to the WCF last season

5) ALEXANDER OVECHKIN IS INVISIBLE
A very disappointing start to the season for this guy.

6) I WAS WRONG ABOUT THE WILD
I thought they would be sub-par this season. So far I'm wrong. Lemaire is a damn good coach and has put a system in place that makes it so tough to score goals on this team. Plus Mikko Koivo and Antti Miettenen are playing outstanding together.

7) RON WILSON IS THE BEST COACH IN HOCKEY
The Leafs don't have a great record, but it's not bad either. I've watched a few Leaf games this year, and these nobodies skate hard and compete every night. Kudos to you, Ron.

8) MONTREAL HAS A TEAM THAT CAN GO ALL THE WAY
You would think that the big stat for this team would be offense, but I bet you don't know they are statically one of the best defensive teams in the league. Only 24 goals allowed so far!

9) THE VERDICT IS STILL OUT ON THE BLACKHAWKS
Some nights they look all there, other nights I'm not so sure. We'll just have to wait and see.

10) SOMETHING ISN'T WORKING IN OTTAWA
They have a horrid home record and aren't getting much offensive contribution from their second-tier players, but I think they'll come around.

Red Wings 3 Canucks 2

Thanks Ozzie for standing on your head in the third period. I truly thought this was going to be a complete game performance for the Wings until the third. The Canucks controlled the entire period and could have easily tied the game. With Lidstrom and Zetterberg at -2 and the team at -10, this win was a steal. Thank goodness for the power play.