Dan Cleary's Numbers - I Don't Even Know Anymore

Below are the Red Wings stats so far this season (courtesy of HockeyDB).  I know these don't look at CORSI, PP/PK time, yadda yadda yadda, but just look at Dan Cleary and some of the names ahead of him: Miller, DDK, Big E, Nyquist (by 9), Tatar (by 14), and Sheahan is tied after THIRTY NINE LESS GAMES.

Cleary gets 1:31 PP time and 1:34 PK time a game on average as of this writing (proof).  He's adequate in the defensive zone and on the PK, I will agree.  But holy crap Dan/Danny/Daniel, score a fucking goal before you're inevitably a healthy scratch.

#	Name	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	Birthdate	Age	Birthplace	Hght	Wght
40	Henrik Zetterberg	L	40	16	28	44	16	19	1980-10-09	32	Njurunda, Sweden	5.11	195
13	Pavel Datsyuk	C	35	15	17	32	6	-2	1978-07-20	35	Sverdlovsk, Russia	5.11	194
11	Daniel Alfredsson	R	40	12	20	32	6	5	1972-12-11	40	Gothenburg, Sweden	5.11	200
55	Niklas Kronwall	D	50	6	25	31	36	7	1981-01-12	32	Stockholm, Sweden	6.00	192
93	Johan Franzen	R	31	9	14	23	22	6	1979-12-23	33	Vetlanda, Sweden	6.03	222
21	Tomas Tatar	L	43	12	10	22	8	5	1990-12-01	22	Ilava, Slovakia	5.11	176
8	Justin Abdelkader	L	47	5	14	19	25	8	1987-02-25	26	Muskegon, MI	6.01	212
14	Gustav Nyquist	L	27	9	8	17	6	4	1989-09-01	24	Halmstad, Sweden	5.10	169
2	Brendan Smith	D	42	1	12	13	44	-5	1989-02-08	24	Toronto, ONT	6.02	198
18	Joakim Andersson	C	46	7	6	13	10	-8	1989-02-05	24	Munkedal, Sweden	6.02	198
43	Darren Helm	L	20	7	4	11	4	2	1987-01-21	26	Winnipeg, MAN	5.11	195
44	Todd Bertuzzi	L	44	6	5	11	34	-16	1975-02-02	38	Sudbury, ONT	6.03	225
4	Jakub Kindl	D	47	1	10	11	20	-11	1987-02-10	26	Sumperk, Czech Rep.	6.03	216
65	Danny Dekeyser	D	36	2	8	10	20	1	1990-03-07	23	Clay Township, MI	6.03	190
20	Drew Miller	F	52	5	5	10	21	-6	1984-02-17	29	Dover, NJ	6.02	178
52	Jonathan Ericsson	D	32	1	8	9	28	12	1984-03-02	29	Karlskrona, Sweden	6.04	220
27	Kyle Quincey	D	52	3	6	9	64	-9	1985-08-12	28	Kitchener, ONT	6.02	206
15	Riley Sheahan	C	12	3	5	8	0	3	1991-12-07	21	St. Catharines, ONT	6.02	212
71	Daniel Cleary	L	51	4	4	8	31	-9	1978-12-18	34	Carbonear, NFLD	6.00	203
26	Tomas Jurco	R	13	2	3	5	4	1	1992-12-28	20	Kosice, Slovakia	6.02	193
17	Patrick Eaves	R	21	2	2	4	2	-4	1984-05-01	29	Calgary, ALTA	6.00	191
90	Stephen Weiss	C	26	2	2	4	12	-4	1983-04-03	30	Toronto, ONT	5.11	193
37	Mikael Samuelsson	R	26	1	2	3	6	-4	1976-12-23	36	Mariefred, Sweden	6.02	218
41	Luke Glendening	F	27	0	3	3	6	-6	1989-04-28	24	Grand Rapids, MI	5.11	200
23	Brian Lashoff	D	48	0	3	3	18	-1	1990-07-16	23	Albany, NY	6.03	207
25	Cory Emmerton	L	11	0	2	2	4	-1	1988-06-01	25	St. Thomas, ONT	5.11	183
53	Adam Almquist	D	2	1	0	1	0	-1	1991-02-27	22	Jonkoping, Sweden	5.11	174
22	Jordin Tootoo	R	10	0	1	1	5	-3	1983-02-02	30	Churchill, MAN	5.09	194
47	Alexey Marchenko	D	1	0	0	0	2	2	1992-01-02	21
61	Xavier Ouellet	D	3	0	0	0	0	0	1993-07-29	20	Terrebonne, PQ	6.00	18

Blue Line Patrol Podcast:Episode 14

After a month-long absence due to shoulder injuries concussion-like symptoms sore groins life getting in the way, we're back with a Goosetastic new episode and we try to balance out the good and the bad, the positive and the negative, then excitement and the tears. You know how it goes. Kevin and I talk about the walking wounded Wings, how the call-ups are doing, who's impressing us, and if we think we can actually score some goals. We've also got plenty of Griffins talk when we look at who's hot and who's not this season, what to do with guys like Mitch Callahan (Callyhands) and Landon Ferraro who lose waiver exemption and are UFA's after this season, and what the Frk is going on with Martin Frk.

You may listen to and download the podcast right over here ---> Episode 14

-AND-

We're also on iTunes now, so you can listen, subscribe, and leave us feedback there as well. 

Blue Line Patrol on iTunes

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Kevin @KevinN37
Michelle @Slapshotg0al  
Blue Line Patrol @BlueLinePatrol 

and you can always e-mail us at Bluelinepatrol@gmail.com

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

Goal Analysis: Riley Sheahan's First NHL Goal

Riley Sheahan scored his first NHL goal against the Kings last weekend. It's time we break it down (sorry for the delay, I was on vacation then got started watching a TV show on Netflix (not saying which one to avoid spoilers).

Let's check out the goal:



First NHL goals are the best.  Let the breakdown begin!

This play looks pretty simple to start.  The Wings have three players on the rush while the Kings have 2 d-men back and a forward (Richards) coming off the bench.  However, the Wings have Tatar, so yeah, I like where this is going.

Tatar chips the puck into the Kings zone.  They call this a "soft ship" because he wanted the puck to stay in the corner; keeps the goalie from playing it.  Souse executes this to perfection.  The Kings d-man (44) can't hold Tatar too long or get in his way, so our boy speeds past him to the corner and gets the puck.  Here's where the fun starts!

There's a lot going on in this frame.  Let's review the think black lines first.  These relate to which player each Kings player is going to cover.  The d-man our front has Sheahan, Richards has transitioned to get Tatar, and the middle Kings player has shifted to cover Bert.

Now the circle.  Bertuzzi maybe kind of sort of interferes with Richards just a touch.  This could be incidental, but it's Bert.  He knows what he's doing and it creates an opening.  See the next frames:

Even though it was very subtle, Bertuzzi getting in Richards way creates separation for Tatar.  He typically doesn't need much help in doing so, but I'll take it!  Tatar has plenty of room in front of him here and uses it to drive to the net with Sheahan providing a screen.

Lots happening here.  Tatar goes to the net with Richards all over his back (a penalty woul dhave been called here except for...well, yeah). Sheahan and Bertuzzi are creating havoc in front of the net.  But I think my favorite thing here is Dustin Brown.  He can see that Tatar is going to beak Richards to the front of the net.  He stands there.  He could have tried to pressure and help, but nope.  At least he didn't dive.  So, what happens next?

Tatar gets the shot off and now the Wings and Kings each have three players right in front of the net.  The puck is currently right in front of Quick. I'm not sure what it hits but it will slowly move to his glove side.  Thankfully, Sheahan is left-handed (because Red Wings) and it ends up on his backhand for the tap in.

Awesome.  Let's summarize:

• The Wings had a 3 on 3 but Tatar used his speed to force the Kings to change coverage
• Bertuzzi may or may not have got in Richards way on purpose (ahem)
• All the Wings went to the net
• Sheahan did a good job screening and was rewarded with his first goal

That's all for now.  Per usual, feel free to yell at us on the twitter for podcast topics, blog post ideas, or other goals you want me to break down.

Kevin
Michelle
Blue Line Patrol