Blue Line Patrol Podcast: Episode 3

Welcome to our last podcast of the 2013 preseason! Kevin and I are ready for preseason to be over and some real hockey to start. As we get ready to bid farewell to the preseason, we take a look back at...

• Saturday's game that Kevin was able to attend (and the rest of us could only listen to on the radio)
• The ever growing list of injuries, their implication for the team, the start of the season, and groins...so, many, groins.
• Good things and players so far
• Not so good things and players so far
• A quick preview of the remaining preseason games
• Damien "Oh god why didn't I sign the offer the Wings made me in the Summer" Brunner.

Also, Kevin says dirty things.

The podcast is available for your listening pleasure here ---> Episode 3

We hope you enjoy the podcast and always welcome suggestions. If you'd like to hit us up on Twitter, we can be found here Kevin and here Michelle. You can send us an e-mail to Bluelinepatrol@gmail.com.
You can also follow the Blue Line Patrol Twitter feed @BlueLinePatrol 

Let's Go Red Wings!!! Let's Go Griffins!!! 

Preseason Game Report - Bruins 2 - Wings 0

There was none of this tonight :((((((((  Source: mlive.com

This was a game that happened and I (Kevin) attended.  Thankfully, it didn't count.

The Wings didn't really have anything tonight.  They weren't horrible defensively, but only created a few decent chances in the offensive zone with a couple of really craptastic power plays.  Let's review some of the players:

• SPROUL - Played really well at the start.  Fell of a little at the end, but not too much.  It was my first time seeing him play in a game, and I was impressed.  Also, he can shoot the puck.
• OUELLET - Started not well and improved to just "meh".  Fell down out of nowhere and had a couple of bad giveaways.  Did have a nice hip check on a guy behind the net, so there's that.
• SMITH - He creates a lot of chances, sometimes for both teams.
• QUINCEY - Not too noticeable in a good or bad way.  Few smart plays, few "oh shit" moments. Also, had to help cover for Smithicles.
• DeKEYSER - Outside of one bad giveaway, impressive.  Needs bigger legs.
• LASHOFF - Pretty solid defensively, which is all we ask from him.
• NYQUIST - (bias alert) Did play well on the second line and got moved with Mule/Weiss in the third. Created a few nice chances. He needs to start converting on some and he'd be even more amazing. Lord, give me strength if he is sent to the AHL for more than a week...
• JURCO - Didn't impress me. Made a couple of decent plays, but needs to make more if he wants to earn a call up this year.
• WEISS - Played good for the most part.  Is definitely more of a "north/south" guy than Fil, which is the most obvious analysis ever.  Water is wet.
• FERRARO - Didn't get a whole lot of playing time, especially in the third.  Didn't look out of place, but didn't make an impact.
• IRON HOOK - (okay fine Jarnkrok) - Looked nervous at times, but had some good moments.  Played the point on the power play.  He didn't cause the power play to suck, but didn't help it either.  Wanted to see more out of him.
• GUSTAVSSON - Looked good until his groin broke.  The goal was a fustercluk and nothing he could do on it.
• MRAZEK - Came in to start the third.  Only goal was when Bergeron was left open in front during a Bruins power play.  Looked good.  Also, played well.

It was a fun time even thought the Wings stunk and the overall hockey wasn't good.  Yay preseason.  Is it October 2nd yet?

Twitter @KevinN37
             @SlapshotG0al
             @BlueLinePatrol
        

Teemu Pulkkinen Suspension: Four PRESEASON Games

From nhl.com:



Personally, I (Kevin) think the suspension was really light.  I thought he was going to get 4/5 regular season games just to "send a message", leading to us being pissed when a similar hit gets 1 or 2 games in January.

This means that the Wings won't have to do what they did with Smithicles two years ago and call him up for a couple of games at a time to burn his suspension off.  Pulkkinen can still play in the last two preseason games.  As of this writing, I don't know if the AHL will put additional games on, as they did with Smith back in 2011.

So...the Wings and Pulkkinen caught a break here, in my opinion.  Hey Angus, next time, make good choices, Angus.

Blue Line Patrol Podcast: Episode 2

Hockey is back! Frk Yeah!

There's a lot happening in the hockey world already, so there's a lot to cover this week, including...

•  Training camp: Kevin and I both attended camp and we'll let you know who looked good, who looked great, and who didn't blow our skirts up.
• The first two preseason games: Who looked good, who didn't impress, hey PK practice!, and look forward to the Bruins game Thursday night.

You can listen to or download the podcast here. ---> Episode 2

There was one thing that both Kevin and I forgot to mention on the podcast that we want to rectify.  Justin Abdelkader looked very, very good in training camp. He played with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and that line was on fire (in a good way, not a dumpster fire). I'm sure we all remember when Abby first got moved up to the first line because we had approximately 6.75 healthy players left on the team. It was painful to watch at times because Abby was in way over his head. As the season progressed, he got more comfortable and competent in the new role he was assigned. Abby is essentially filling the Homer role, but he has more skating and puck handling skills than Homer did. There were times in training camp, and in the first preseason game where Abby reminded us a lot of Homer. He's was really good at digging pucks out of the corner, screening the goalie, creating chaos in the crease, but he also has decent puck handling skills and while his skating isn't mind blowing, it doesn't hold him back. Abby improved a ton last year in this role, and he looks even better now, than he did at the end of the playoffs. Both Datsyuk and Zetterberg have said they like playing with him, and Z even said that hopefully they can keep playing together.

When we re-signed Cleary, Babcock said he originally planned to put buckets up on the top line in Abdelkader's place, but Abby played so well that Babs didn't do it. I am 100% in favor of keeping Abby on the top line, and Kevin is 95% in favor of it. Abby is younger, stronger, and has more future potential than Cleary (or Bertuzzi) and keeping him on the top line so he can continue to get better at the role, is better for the future of the team. 



Here's the link to George Malik's post with the "highlights" from the game against Chicago.

Here's the awesomely awkward picture of Ouellet and Sproul (the article is worth a read as well).


We hope you enjoy the podcast and always welcome suggestions. If you'd like to hit us up on Twitter, we can be found here Kevin and here Michelle.
You can also follow the Blue Line Patrol Twitter feed @BlueLinePatrol 

Let's Go Red Wings!!! Let's Go Griffins!!! 

Our Official Position Of SPROUELLET:

Ryan Sproul and Xavier Ouellet are making their (preseason) NHL debut tonight at Chicago.  Having watched them patrol the blue line (see what I did there?) at training camp (and Michelle watching them at both training and development camp), it's safe to say we're pumped for the awesomeness that is sure to be SPROUELLET!

We'll be podcasting tomorrow (Wednesday) evening and will have plenty of talk about this fantastic set of defensemen.  If you have any topics or suggestions for the 2nd episode of the Blue Line Patrol podcast, let us know via email (bluelinepatrol@gmail.com) or twitter:

Michelle:  @slapshotg0al
Kevin:       @KevinN37
BLP:         @BlueLinePatrol

Dan Cleary: Why?

We all know the roster situation with the Red Wings forwards right now.  The Wings had 16 forwards and planned to carry 14 on the roster.  Math tells us that two forwards needed to go.

The truth, by some genius.

Then Dan Cleary signed a one year deal for $1.75M.  With the Red Wings.  And not the Flyers.  And Red Wing nation collectively jumped off all of the bridges and died.  And Holland was having such a great summer too...

If the Wings didn't have a roster crunch, I wouldn't hate this signing.  I mean, I wouldn't like it, but you'd get a third line/power play front net/penalty kill guy for a rather decent price.  Not going to set the world on fire, but he'd be able to get 30-40 points and play 13-15 minutes a game.  Not bad for $1.75M.

Now let's step out of fantasy land where the Wings have too many forwards.  And add Cleary.  Ugh.

I think everyone knows that I'm a huge fan of Tomas "The Souse" Tatar.  Based on certain things that happened today, I would say that this is probably the end for him in Detroit.  I hope I'm wrong, but we're all thinking it.  Buck falls.

I guess the only positive is that it's a one-year deal.  But we both know that Holland is loyal (probably too loyal) and will look to sign Cleary to an extension as soon as it's allowed (January 1st for one-year deals).  Happy Winter Classic Day!

Okay, hopefully tomorrow will bring good news out of camp.  I'll update with anything important.

Ugh.

Yell at me on the twitter: @KevinN37
                                        

Blue Line Patrol Podcast: Episode 1

Welcome to the first episode of the Blue Line Patrol Podcast!

Kevin and I covered a lot of ground, and we went a little (lot?) longer than planned, but we hope you enjoy the bonus content and will stick with us as we cover...

• The NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City
• Why Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill is so good
• The Griffins upcoming season and what the roster might look like
• Who might be the next young guy(s) to be called up to the Wings
• A brief preview of the Red Wings Training Camp
• And More...

 The link to listen to and download the podcast can be found here --> Episode 1

If you'd like to read my full writeup of each of the Prospect Tournament games, complete with player evaluations and video of the games, they can be found here:

Game 1: Detroit (3) vs Minnesota (1)
Game 2: Detroit (4) vs Dallas (2)
Game 3: Detroit (4) vs St. Louis (1)
Game 4: Detroit (4) vs Buffalo (2)

These are the Griffins "Between the Benches" videos Kevin mentioned in the podcast. These are amazing videos and we both highly recommend watching them. The griffins also have a lot of other very cool videos on their vimeo channel that are worth the watch.

(Part 1) Between the Benches: Calder Cup Playoffs - PEDAL DOWN
(Part 2) Between the Benches: Calder Cup Playoffs - FIRST TO THREE
(Part 3) Between the Benches: Calder Cup Playoffs - SACRIFICE AND FOCUS
(Part 4) Between the Benches: Calder Cup Playoffs - THE PROCESS
(Part 5) Between the Benches: Calder Cup Playoffs - 100 GAMES
(Part 6) Between the Benches: Calder Cup Playoffs - TAKE IT IN BABY 

We hope you enjoy the podcast and always welcome suggestions. If you'd like to hit us up on Twitter, we can be found here Kevin and here Michelle

Thanks for listening!

Welcome To The Blue Line Patrol

Thanks for checking out the Blue Line Patrol, a new hockey blog/podcast about everything and anything related to the Detroit Red Wings or hockey in general.  Kevin and Michelle here to give you a brief introduction to the blog.

Our amazing logo!  Created by Josh Howard

We've named ourselves the Blue Line Patrol mostly because Nicklas Lidstrom.  Also, because Michelle currently plays goalie and Kevin played goalie before switching to defense on his current rec league team. The forwards typically get most of the credit in hockey (see the majority of the Hart Trophy winners), so we're giving some credit to the defense and goalies out there.

So, what is this blog and associated going to contain?  Well....we're not 100% sure yet.  Once the season starts and things start happening, we'll play it by ear and see what happens.  We're hoping to record a podcast every week or so and keep it very topical.  Both of us follow the Griffins and other prospects in college/juniors, so we'll attempt to provide some coverage there as well.  There may or may not be plenty of Samuelsson rage. I'd put my money on "may".

We'll do our best to be informative and entertaining while discussing the awesomeness that is hockey. We appreciate feedback and if there's anything you'd like to see on the blog or discussed in the podcast, feel free to let us know.

Follow/yell at us on twitter:

Michelle: @Slapshotg0al

Kevin:     @KevinN37

Blog:       @BlueLinePatrol

And you can email us as BlueLinePatrol@gmail.com because that's what the cool kids do.