Tape to Tape Pass: Working on the details

Friday's game was hard to stomach. The Wings seemed disjointed all game, unable to gain the middle of the ice in any zone and especially incapable of generating traffic in front of the net. Against a goaltender as big as Pekka Rinne, this was an easy recipe for unmitigated disaster and the game played out as such. Luckily, Mike Babcock saw the same things we saw and complacency has been thrown into the Detroit River with the playoffs approaching. Babs will be juggling the lines for today's tilt with the Panthers, moving the oft buzzed about (at least among the Wings faithful) Gustav Nyquist up to play with Datsyuk and the Mule. Will it work? With only four regular season games left, it better.

Operation Eaves: Showing a Downed Wing That we Care via Winging It In Motown
The boys over at WIIM are passing along messages to Patrick Eaves, who is struggling to recover from the concussion suffered after taking shot to the face in November. Head on over, leave a comment, and show him why Wings fans are the best in the league.

Mike Babcock looks for fix to spark Wings offense via Detroit News
Babcock pulls no punches in discussing his feelings about Friday's line combinations, and some discussion of working on small details prior to the playoffs

Stunned- Mike Babcock Relieved of Duties via Nightmare on Helm Street
Keep in mind what day it is

Red Wings-Predators quick take: Wings, you've got some serious-ass problems via The Malik Report
George captures the tenor of Friday's frustration very well. A great read.

Tape to Tape Pass: Pre-Columbus Update

Detroit is resembling their brethren in Grand Rapids less and less at just the right time (i.e. right before the playoffs). The Mule and Ericsson are back in the lineup tonight, and Gustav Nyquist has played himself in as well. Jimmy Howard, who was on pace to start Friday vs. that team down south, will now likely start on Sunday instead. Ansar Khan has all the updates here. If Khan's lines are the same ones Babs goes with tonight, then I'm not a huge fan. This is mostly in regard to Nyquist's use. Granted, I don't know who I think I am to question Mike Babcock, but here are the lines I'd rather see:

Filppula-Zetterberg-Franzen

Nyquist-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Hudler-Abdelkader-Cleary

Miller-Emmerton-Holmstrom

21 for 21

21 straight playoffs appearances means 21 lasting years of memories. Some playoffs runs have left us with indelible images, building legends and strengthening a franchise. Other runs have left little besides disappointment and frustration. Captured here is a mix of both, from the most euphoric moments to the most soul-sucking.

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

...

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Like the choices? Hate 'em? Let me know on Twitter @TGOBlog1, by email at theoctopigarden@gmail.com, or by leaving a comment

In Babs we trust...but who should he trust?

It's late in a game, and there's a faceoff in your defensive zone. Obviously the goal is to win the faceoff, but how important is it to do so? There's a must-read article by Gabe Desjardins of behindthenet.ca over on Hockey Prospectus that answers this question. Go there, read the article, have your mind blown by the two graphs, and come back here to figure out how it applies to the Wings.

The first three charts below show total faceoffs a player was on the ice for in each zone, how many were won, and how many were lost. This isn't the number of faceoffs the player took because there's obviously no way Ian White's taken over 400 draws. Instead, it's purely how many they were on the ice for. The top portions of the tables aren't all that useful because it's all defensemen and they really don't have much of an impact on faceoffs. It makes sense that they were out there the most as their shifts are typically longer and their ice time higher. If you're on the ice more than a forward, you're going to be on the ice for more faceoffs than a forward. The charts become more useful a little further down, when we can see what forwards tend to be on the ice in what situation and how they tend to do.

We really want to focus on defensive zone faceoffs for the purpose of this post, but I threw in the offensive and neutral zone charts as well. Why? Because they were already open in my browser and I spent time on them this weekend, so why not. Also, like I mentioned earlier, you can track performance across situations with them. Expect some sort of more fully developed post about them in the near future.

If you didn't read the article listed above (and really, you should) you need to know that average opponent shot rate increases to about that of a 5-on-3 powerplay during the first few seconds after a lost defensive zone draw. That means a defensive zone faceoff specialist, or at least someone halfway decent at d-zone draws, plays a critical role in reducing shots faced. 

Before really delving into the players and their faceoff percentages, I should note how I got from the chart above to the one below. The chart below is looking only at centers who have taken over 250 faceoffs this season. Typically the center is the player who is expected to take the faceoff, and even though said player can sometimes get tossed from the circle it hasn't happened enough this year to be worth accounting for. The next highest forward is Franzen with 176, and there's a huge dropoff after that. 

Do the Wings have a defensive zone faceoff specialist? Yes, and then some. Datsyuk and Helm are both winning over 60% of their d-zone draws, and only Emmerton is really struggling in this area. Little things like this are the reason that Datsyk is perhaps the best forward in the world, and the reason that Helm keeps racking up minutes in spite of his hands of rock. Mike Babcock is in the enviable position of having 5 centers  he can trust to win a defensive zone faceoff, two of which could be considered elite.

Moral of the story: if it's late in a playoff game and there's a faceoff in Detroit's end, hope that 13 or 43 are in the circle to take the draw. If they are, there's a good chance Detroit won't have to handle a barrage of shots against.

All raw data via behindthenet.ca

A Pavelian Retrospective

The always interesting Puck Daddy blog posted a fantastic interview with Pavel Datsyuk today that touched on many topics, including alternate career choices, fellow Russian-born players, captaincy and more. The interview added depth to a player who, at least locally, is already known for his subtle wit and humor.

Compiled here are all of the Datsyuk interviews I could find, a sort of one-stop-shop for more information about everyone's favorite magician. The interviews reveal that the league's quietest superstar may be its most thoughtful as well.

Puck Daddy chats with Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk about NHL playoffs, using figure skates and Giroux’s ‘Datsyuk’ move

Dmitry Chesnokov's latest lengthy interview that touches on the aforementioned topics

Puck Daddy chats with Pavel Datsyuk about Red Wings, realignment, working at Tim Horton’s and Halloween

Puck Daddy chats with Pavel Datsyuk, Part 1: Defending the Cup, committing to Detroit and debating hockey's best player

Puck Daddy chats with Pavel Datsyuk, Part 2: Dream linemates, Russian Olympic gold, fast cars and embarrassing ringtones

THN in Russia with Pavel Datsyuk Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 via The Hockey News

Very thorough account of Pavel's summer hockey camp in Russia

IN HIS OWN WORDS … | mitchalbom.com via Mitch Albom's official site

A great piece, and one of the first that I can recall revealing the personality of Pavel

Datsyuk settles in: ‘This is my second home’ via The Macomb Daily

Insight into Datsyuk's hometown and comparisons between it and Detroit

I'll continue to update this as I find additional interviews. Found one I missed? Let me know on Twitter @TOGBlog1, via email at theoctopigarden@gmail.com or by leaving a comment

Tape to Tape Pass: Finally, light on the horizon

Tonight, we've reached rock bottom. It's unfortunate that it had to happen against the Eastern Conference leaders in the world's most famous arena, but that's what being ravaged by injuries will do to a. team. The news out of today's injured-players-only-plus-the-guy-who-might-start-if-the-other-guy-can't-make-it-here-in-time skate was positive, and wholesale changes to the lineup may be coming as soon as Saturday.

Ty Conklin starting for Wings vs. Rangers per Free Press
Video of the morning skate, plus injury updates

Wings' Ty Conklin clears waivers, will start vs. Rangers per Detroit News
Lots of quotes, including one from Ericsson that he should be ready by next Wednesday's game

The front page of theproductionline.us
Just read the first three articles. The loss candy is so sad, and yet so, so appropriate. The injury updates in the first article are in bullet format for those who are looking for the quickest way to read up on today's news

There's a lot to be encouraged by today. Lidstrom and Howard will likely be back Saturday, and Ericsson and Kindl should be back by next Wednesday. Franzen still doesn't have a timeline for his return, but not having an MRI done on his back could be taken as a positive sign.

Let's look at tonight's defensive pairings:
Kronwall-Stuart
Quincey-White
Smith-Janik

Let's look at what we might see next Wednesday:
Lidstrom-White
Kronwall-Stuart
Quincey-Kindl

We'll likely look back on this and appreciate the experience it gave the young guys, especially the forwards, but I like the look of next Wednesday's lineup. Maybe a lengthy playoff run isn't as ridiculous as it seemed just a few days ago.

Tape to Tape Pass: Hurting in so many ways

Everyone is hurt. Radulov is coming back to the Predators. The Wings are down 4-1 after 2 against Washington at home (y'know, that place they used to be unbeatable). It's 80 degrees in March. What is happening?

Red Wings' Darren Helm out for at least a month with an MCL sprain and Oh swell: further clarification needed for Red Wings goaltender Joey MacDonald's back issue per The Malik Report

All the injury news fit to print

Red Wings Gameday Updates: Lidstrom Talks Recovery per Winging It In Motown

Woo not everything today is awful!

Why did KHL allow Alex Radulov to leave for Nashville? Because they expect him back next season per Puck Daddy

We will hope that Nashville, even stronger with the Kostitsyn brothers and Radulov, won't last long in the Stanley Cup, and Alexander gets free in time for the Russian National team.             -Alexander Medvedev 

....and I've found common ground with Medvedev on the Radulov situation. Still can't believe he's actually going to suit up for an NHL game, but it's hard to rule anything out when it comes to the KHL. Personally, I liked the theory that the NHL granted Radulov permission to return knowing that the KHL wouldn't, therefore absolving themselves of any blame the NHLPA could place on them when it comes to CBA talks later this year.