Due to scheduling around the Wings games and our own hockey games, we have an early edition of the podcast this week. Both Kevin and I got to go watch the Wings live against Dallas on Thursday night and while the loss sucked; there were good things to take away from the game. There's always a silver lining, even in the Tampa game. Oh, and how about those Griffins? So, here...we...go!
You may listen to and download the podcast right over here ---> Episode 10
If you'd like to hit us up on Twitter, we can be found here:
And what a shot it was! If you didn't already know, Danny DeKeyser scored his first NHL goal on Monday at Winnipeg. I love when a player gets his first goal, especially while shorthanded. DDK Forever! If you haven't seen it yet, please evaluate your life choices, then watch below. If you have already seen it, watch it again below:
Holy awesomeness!
Obviously, this goal is really easy to break down, so I won't do the usual screenshot/explanation thing. What happens: Weiss makes a Weiss decision to win the faceoff back to Kronwall, who then quickly passes to DDK, who then blasts a one-timer on the low glove side.
...okay fine, I'll post one screenshot and talk about it a little:
This is from the moment DDK shoots the puck. Let's get our hockey nerd on!
The biggest reason the goal was scored (excluding the awesomeness that is DDK) was the Jets player is screening the goalie when the puck was shot. When you re-watch the video, notice how he's going from left to right across the screen. This definitely doesn't allow Montoya to track the puck properly. He's unable to get a solid read off the shot since his teammate is in the way as he shoots. Don't do that to your goalie, kids.
Because Montoya can't see exactly what's going on, his angle is slightly off. I had a goalie coach growing up who had a saying, which my parents re-created to the following, which explains oh so much about numerous things: "Always line your butt crack up with the puck and the center of the net". Hi, I'm a hockey blogger (and I wonder if how much Michelle regrets starting this project with me). But yes, Montoya is slightly favoring his blocker side, leaving just a bit of room on the glove side for DDK to slam it home. I would feel an NHL goalie should be able to read this play better and play the proper angle, especially off a face off. But, he didn't, and DDK was rewarded.
Something else I thought of that is just a theory: This was an offensive zone face off while on the PK. Obviously, NHL teams have set coverage they use when losing a draw on 5 on 5, 5 on 4, etc., I'm just curious as to how often they practice this situation - a 4 on 5 face off in their own zone. I would think that each winger would just skate immediately towards the point, while the center took the other center, and one d-man would cover the other forward. However, because this happened so quickly, I doubt it would have made much difference. Maybe if the forward had covered the entire shooting lane from DDK? Who knows. I'm glad they did what they did.
Also, YAY HAVING ALMOST ALL LEFT HANDED PLAYERS! If any of the three players who factored in on the scoring were righties, this goal would not have happened, at least in this fashion. Weiss won the draw on his strong side. The puck went to Kronwall on the boards. If he's a righty, I doubt he would have made that accurate of a pass to DDK because it would have taken him a half second to gather the puck and he'd have more pressure. And if DDK is a lefty, there's no way he would have been able to one-time the shot with such authority. Long story short, had Samuelsson been on the ice, it would have led to disaster.
In summary, a clean face off win, quick pass, DDK being amazing, and a screen causing the goalie to be slightly off angle are the main reasons this goal happened. DDK forever.
And the first person to e-mail bluelinepatrol@gmail.com will receive an autographed puck from a current Red Wings player! You want this so hard, I know!
I know, I know. I said yesterday that we should not expect much from Darren Helm in his return. Now I'm going to break down his first goal back because why not? Hockey is the best.
If you haven't seen the goal yet, or just want to watch it again (and again, and again, and again), here it is:
Okay, so there's not a whole lot of hockey things to break down, but hey, this was such an awesome moment that I'm going to keep going anyway. Deal with it.
Here...we.....GO!
Pretty innocent looking play right here. The Oilers dumped the puck in on Mrazek, and he easily directs it towards Alfredsson. There's only one Oiler on the forecheck at the moment, so the Wings have time to head up the ice. Cleary curls to the center for a breakout pass while Helm turns up the left wing.
Edmonton's left wing come in to put pressure on Alfie, so he attempts to get the puck to Cleary (I'm not convinced Cleary touched the puck, but as of this writing, nhl.com still has an assist to Cleary, so we'll go with it). The puck either deflects off Cleary or bounces over his stick. Either way, the puck continues towards the Wings blue line.
Whether Cleary deflected it or not, the puck thankfully is bouncing. The third Oilers forward is in the proper defensive position here. He tries to intercept the pass, but the puck is not exactly easy for non-Datsyukian players to get when it's in the air like that. We have Datsyuk. You don't. Hash tag winning. Anyway, so what happens next?
The puck clears the Wings zone and is still bouncing. Again, Edmonton is in good defensive position, with Petry (GO GREEN!!) back to make the safe clear back into the Wings zone and because it's a Wings goal analysis post we know that didn't happen. Petry can't stop the puck, and with only a few feet between him and Helm, it's not even close.
The puck is now Helm's for the taking. Not much left to break down here, let's just take a look at how fast Helm pulls away and is able to get a clean shot with no back side pressure.
(this looks to be about the time Petry loses all of his "give-a-fuck")
LOOK AT THAT FACE HOLY SHIT TOTES ADORBES!!!!!
And now:
So awesome. In summary:
Mrazek makes a smart play on the dump in and plays it to Alfie
The Wings have minimal pressure at first so take time to head up the ice
The puck is bouncing (possibly because Dan Cleary tipped it)
The Oilers are in proper defensive position but can't handle the puck
Darren Helm is dangerously fast
That's all for this one, folks. Yell at me on twitter (@KevinN37) if you'd like to see another goal analyzed and tell Michelle (@Slapshot0al) that Petr Mrazek got his first NHL shutout because FRK YEAH MRAZEK! Then follow the @BlueLinePatrol account because you don't want to hate puppies, do you?
Darren Helm is expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Edmonton First Rounders. Hooray!
We all know the situation - Helm has played less than four periods of hockey in the NHL since March of 2012. Proof. Mr. Danger Zone did play two games in the AHL two weeks ago, in which he played pretty well and missed two shorthanded opportunities, because that's what happens. He looked tired towards the end of each shift/period, but it's to be expected. On that note...
We shouldn't be expecting Helm to be on fire right away. Yes, he may play well in his first game or two, but over the first few games, he's going to have issues adjusting back to the NHL game compared the AHL game/not playing. If you're expecting him to come out and play 17 minutes of hard, aggressive hockey, you're in for a disappointment. As much as I want him to get there, it's going to take time, and the Wings should ease him in slowly.
The safest bet is to play Helm on the fourth line and aim to give him between 8 and 11 minutes of ice time. He should get some penalty kill time, but I'd still give Andersson/Miller the bulk of the duties. Maybe play Helm 30-45 seconds (if possible) for each shift and a regular 4th line shift.
If the Wings can do that and slowly get him up to game shape, I'm thinking Helm will return to form in 15-20 games, with the obvious caveat that he doesn't hurt something else. That being said, let's enjoy Helm's return to the lineup. It's always great to see someone work so hard to return to the lineup. Now, if he would just keep his damn shirt on so it wouldn't make things that much harder for me with the ladies I mean YEAH HELM!
In case you're not pumped up enough for the game, this should get you in the mood:
LET'S GO RED WINGS!
update at 2:08pm
Motherfu....
Babcock said Helm will play on line with Miller and Samuelsson, who is in for Eaves, a healthy scratch. Franzen, as noted earlier, is out.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) November 2, 2013
Helm is now going to take 65 games to get up to speed and will score negative ALL OF THE GOALS.
The Appledaiquiri, Applegator, Abdelgator, Gator, Abby, Fischer, Larionov, Nill edition of the Podcast is here. We barely fit all the juicy hockey talk into one podcast, but we managed to do it. Hold on to your butts, because we've got lots to dive into, including...
What I saw from Red Wings prospects Jake Paterson and Andreas Athanasiou in their OHL game that I attended. If you'd like to read the full write up, it can be found right here.
Griffins update: Wins, losses, injuries, and roster moves.
Brief (very brief) recap of the Wings last three games (complete with sound effects from Kevin).
Who's qualified to make player judgements, and why it's all Kyle Quincey's fault.
Wings roster moves, line moves, and situation going into their 4 game Canada trip.
What we expect from the Wings upcoming road trip.
Ok, we've done 8 of these bad boys now, and Kevin and I are still pretty new to this gig. We're pretty sure at least one person listens to these (Hi Sprout!) and we would very much like to get make our product better. That's where y'all come in. We would appreciate feedback and yes, even constructive criticism so that we can continue to improve. You can e-mail us at Bluelinepatrol@gmail.com and let us know what you think, and what we can do to improve. We promise not to throw flaming poo at you if you have criticisms. This has been a message from quality control, now back to your regularly scheduled podcast.
The podcast is available for your listening pleasure here --->Episode 8
If you'd like to hit us up on Twitter, we can be found hereKevin and here Michelle. You can also follow the Blue Line Patrol Twitter feed @BlueLinePatrol
Welcome to the WOOOOOuellet episode of the podcast. Kevin and I tried to keep our Ouellet and DeKeyser excitement contained, but that's asking a lot.We had a lot to cover and not a lot of time, so here we go! In this episode we've got...
Brief recaps from Colorado and Phoenix, the McLeod hit on Kronwall, Riggy making us proud, what missing Kronwall means to the team.
Danny Mother Frking DeKeyser!
Xavier Ouellet (WOOOOUELLET!): Amazing? or incredibly amazing?
What we learned against San Jose: Our young defense is better than a lot of people gave them credit for.
Kevin and I attended the Grand Rapids Griffins home opener. What happened, who looked good, who will eat your face off, and oh yeah, Ouellet Ouelletwalled someone and it was amazing.
Darren Helm saga and what the Wings roster looks like in the near future.
And more Ouellet and DeKeyser talk. These guys are very, very special players.
The podcast is available for your listening pleasure here --->Episode 7
Here's the marvelous, wonderful, amazing, fantastic [insert other synonyms here] video of Ouellet knocking Joe Thornton on his assterisk.
And here's a sample of things to come.. a mini Ouelletwalling as Ouellet hits Andrew Desjardins.
You can also find more Griffins (and other Wings Prospects) details (box score, highlights, in game observations, etc...) here in my prospects report on Winging it in Motown.
We hope you enjoy the podcast and always welcome suggestions. If you'd like to hit us up on Twitter, we can be found hereKevin 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
