Road Warrior Wings Win Another Away From The Joe-Manchester United Continue To Cruise Towards An EPL Title Beating Wigan On The Road

While the Red Wings haven't been as good at home as they would like to be they more than make up for it with their performances on the road this season. It was another frustrating beginning to the game for the Wings giving the Sabres an early 2-0 lead. The Wings played much better in the second period carrying the play to Buffalo for most of the period and Pavel "Magic Man" Datsyuk got them on the board, scoring on a power play. The Wings continued to play well throughout the rest of the game and really came on in the final 10 minutes of the 3rd period and "Happy" Hudler found a juicy rebound in front of the net and banged it home coming off the bench as the extra attacker to tie the game at 2. Both teams had chances to win it in the overtime period but both goalies made big stops for their teams and the game would be decided in a shoot out. The Sabres were undefeated in shoot outs this season with a record of 5-0 in them, but that just meant they were due. After Joey MacDonald saved Drew Stafford's shot on the Sabres first attempt Datsyuk had the first shot for the Wings and was absolute magic on his attempt going forehand backhand and lifting the puck over Miller's left shoulder. Joey MacDonald made it 2 for 2 on saves in the shoot out stopping Tomas Vanek and giving Jiri Hudler the chance to win it for his team, and win it he did. Following Pavel Datsyuk's lead Huds went forehand backhand adding a little motorcycle kick to his move and banking the puck of the post, off Millers back and into the net for the game winner giving his team a much needed 3-2 win, starting their road trip off on a good note. The Red Wings will hop on Red Wing 1 and pick up Brian Rafalski and drop off Johan Franzen on their way out west for the next 4 games starting in LA on Monday night.

It was all Red Devils today against Wigan with Man U winning 4-0 on the road. Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez opened up the scoring for United in the 17th minute of the match. Wigan had some bright spots but in the end they could never trouble Edwin Van der sar to much who kept a clean sheet through the game. Chicharito would add another goal to his total for the game and Wayne Rooney and Fabio would round out the scoring for the Red Devils. This was Manchester United's tune up match before taking on  Chelsea and Liverpool on the road this up coming week, where wins in both games would pretty much put them out of reach of any team trying to catch them in the race for the league title this year.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and welcome back Mike Madono its great to see you back out on the ice in the red and white.

Drew in the D

Wings Lose To Dallas Making it 2 In A Row At Home-Dirk Kuyt Lifts Liverpool Past Sparta Praha In The UEFA Europa League

It was another very frustrating night for the Wings and their fans with them losing 4-1 to the Dallas Stars. The lose tonight makes it 2 in a row at home and it adds to the teams home woes of late. Give full marks to Stars net minder Kari Lehtonen who was great in goal tonight for his team stopping all but one shot by Tomas Holmstrom late in the game on a power play. While there is still a lot of hockey to be played until the playoffs come around, the Wings need to nip this in the butt now and start making it hard for teams to get a result from playing at the Joe. The Wings will make a quick trip out to the east coast to play Buffalo, which will also be Mike Madono's first game since his wrist injury. Then they get to go on another Gary Bettman road trip out west to take on two of the conferences hottest teams LA and San Jose. While i expect the team to play well on the road as they usually do i will be paying special attention to their return game, which i might very well be going to, March 9th against the afore mentioned Kings.

Liverpool manager Kenny Daglish haasn't lost at home in any competition since taking over the position earlier this year and after todays 1-0 Europa league win he still hasn't. Todays return leg at Anfield between Liverpool and Sparta Praha was very evenly matched with both teams carrying the play to the other throughout the 90 minutes. With extra time and penalties looming large with the game still tied late Dirk Kuyt made sure there would be none of that drama by heading in a well taken corner to give his team the 1-0 win which sends them through to the round of 16 in the Europa League. The Europa League is Liverpools last chance at winning some hard wear this season considering they are out of the Champions League and 18 points back of Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and thats gotta sting still Michigan

Drew in the D

Bayern Munich Snatches A Crucial Away Goal And Win In The San Siro Today

It looked for all the world like the first leg of the Champions League knock out round between FC Bayern Munich and FC Internazionale Milano would end in a scoreless draw. That is, until German striker Mario Gomez picked up a loose ball in the box and slotted it home behind Inter goalie Julio Cesar in the 90th minute. It was an entertaining game and Inter had plenty of chances to get a goal of their own but just couldn't find a way to put the ball on target. Argentine international, Esteban Cambiasso had Inter's best chance when a deflected ball fell to his feet inside the box but he put it over the crossbar, missing a wide open net. Inter will now have to look for some big away goals of their own in the return leg, when they travel to the Futball Arena Munchen in Munich down 1-0 to Bayern. I wouldn't be surprised to see Diego Milito get a starting spot in Inter's line-up for that match if he is healthy by then considering he is a big target up front for the team.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world

Drew in the D

Wings Drop Yet Another Return Game Against the Sharks-Spartans Get Big Tournament Resume Win On The Road In Minnesota

The first game back in the Joe from a road trip has been a problem for the Wings all season and it was again tonight against the Sharks. After a very productive 3 game road trip on which the Wings were able to take all 6 of the available points they returned home for a short 2 game home stand starting with tonights game against the sharks. Tonights game started out well enough with the Wings putting 9 shots on the Sharks goaltender Niemi, but 4 Shark power plays including a full 2 minute 5 on 3 wiped out that advantage by the end of the 1st period and saw the Sharks take a 1 goal lead into the break. Dan Cleary gave his team a big lift in the 2nd netting his 20th and career high 21st goal of the season which also gave him 3 straight seasons of 20+ goals which is also a first in his career. The 2nd period would end tied 2-2 setting up a hard fought 3rd period between the two teams. The Wings carried the majority of the play in the period, Datsyuk and Stuart both banged shots off of the goal post, coming that close to giving their team the lead in the game but just as it usually happens in a hockey game scoring chances missed at one end end up being scored on the other and the Sharks would take a 4-2 lead shortly after. Z made it close scoring on a late power play with about 2 minutes left in the game, the Wings had a few chances late but just couldn't find a way to put in the equalizer. A side-note to this game was Patrick Eaves going down with an apparent lower body injury in the 2nd period, hopefully its nothing serious because the speed he has brings an extra element to the teams offensive attack.

When the Spartans entered the season ranked #2 in the nation no one thought that they would be looking for key wins at this point just to get into the tournament next month, i certainly didn't. But that's exactly the situation that the team is finds itself in right now, on the outside looking in for the tournament. Tom Izzo has his team playing better of late with 3 straight wins in conference including a big-time road win against Minnesota tonight. It's nice to see the team being able to string together a couple of wins in a row which shows that they can perform more consistently than they had been pretty much up to this point. But it's still strange to me that it seems like some of the players, and the senior players at that, are having trouble fitting in to a role out on the floor for this team. I have to admit that i have been less than impressed with Durrell Summers play this season, now there have been rumors that he is dealing with certain things internally that he is struggling with which i can understand being a college student myself. But im sure even he was expecting a lot more out of himself this season, if anything he just wanted to do the best he could to help his team get over that final hurdle to a national championship. The Spartans win over the Gophers in Minnesota will definitely help their cause but they are not out of the woods yet, they still have a big game coming up against top ten Purdue at home on Sunday along with a their final home game against Iowa and the rivalry game on the road against Michigan to end the regular season. In my opinion a win against Purdue would guarantee the Spartans a spot in the dance but in failing that i think 19-20 wins will see them through.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world

Drew in the D

So Yea Its Been Awhile....My Bad

So its been probably a month or even a little longer since i have posted, but i plan on starting up again now that im getting back into the grove with school and everything. It's been a great week for the Wings who are now on a 5 game win streak and are looking very solid in all phases of the game once again. My Spartans are slowly but surely coming out of their season long funk picking up two crucial wins this past week including one over a ranked Illinois team. I am going to try and mix in some European football posts along with the Detroit teams since i am a huge footie fan and have been watching as many matches as i can lately, so be on the look out for that as well. That's about it for tonight (or should i say this morning) i'll be posting after the next Wings game on Tuesday along with the Spartans game on that day and you can catch my comments on Inter Milans first leg Champions League match against Bayern Munich on Thursday.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and congratulations to Todd Bertuzzi on game #1000

Drew in the D

Spartans Make It Two In A Row In OT At Home-Wings Split Home And Home With Columbus

Instead of writing about each game individually of the Detroit-Columbus home and home series i thought i could talk about them after the series wrapped up tonight in Detroit, i had know idea they would be so similar. Friday night was another game when the Wings didn't start "on-time", as head coach Mike Babcock likes to say, and the Blue Jackets took an early 2-0 lead. The Wings just can't get out of the way of this injury bug lately and it came up to bite them again last night when Jim Howard went down with an apparent knee injury (Howard is day to day with a sore knee) and net front presence Tomas Holmstrom left the game with a broken hand (Holmstrom is out for 3-4 weeks with the injury). The Wings kept battling and found a way to tie it up and send the game into overtime. Both teams would trade scoring chances in the overtime period and the game would be decided in a shootout which was the Wings 3rd shootout in 5 games. Joey McDonald came on in relief for the injured Jim Howard and didn't allow a goal until Antoine Vermette won it for the Blue Jackets.

Tonight was another game that the Wings didn't start "on-time as head coach Mike Babcock like to say with the Blue Jackets jumping out to an early 2-0 win (sound familiar?). This time though the Red Wings would tie it up before the end of the 1st period on goals from Valtteri Filppula and Drew Miller. The teams would trade leads and ties for the rest of the game Jonathan Ericsson, Brian Rafalski, and Kris Draper would add goals for their team to put them up 5-4 in the 3rd period. The most underrated player in the league and the one player that scares me the most as a fan Rick Nash scored with the goalie pulled to send this game into overtime (i feel like i've seen this before). But this time Johan Franzen would make sure that his team wouldn't go to another shootout when he scored on an absolute snipe shot off of a great feed by Zetterberg to win it for the Wings by a final of 6-5. The Red Wings head back out on the road on Tuesday when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pen's in their new arena. The injury report update for both teams are that Jim Howard is thinking that he will be ready to go on Tuesday night and Sydney Crosby is still unknown with post-concussion symptoms.

The Spartans hoops squad had to come back and win in overtime in their last two games at home. First it was a gritty comeback win against Wisconsin on Thursday night with Draymond Green leading the way with another one of his double-doubles this season. This afternoon was no different, Northwestern gave the Spartans all they could handle in a game that saw over 10 lead changes. Draymond Green tied the game again on two big free-throws with under a minute to play before fouling out in the overtime period. Freshman and Senior guards Keith Appling and Kalin Lucas filled up the scoring column for their team today scoring 19 and 18 points respectively, the 19 points Appling scored setting his career high. Turnovers reared their ugly head for the spartans again today with the team turning the ball over 16 times, which gave the Wildcats way to many opportunities to stay in the game. The Spartans will try to carry the momentum they gained from these two overtime wins with them when they play Illinois on Tuesday night at Illinois.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and please beat the Jets tomorrow Patriots i can't stand Rex or any of his players.

Drew in the D

Wings Try To Make It 3 Comebacks In A Row Against Colorado, Come Up Just Short

The Wings made it interesting in the 3rd pulling to with in one but they couldn't find away to get the equalizer and lost to the Av's by a score of 5-4. Tonights game was another one where the Wings found themselves playing from behind giving up a 4-1 lead to Colorado in the 1st period. But they found away to claw their way back into the game scoring at the end of the 1st period to make it 4-2 and then scoring on a 3rd period powerplay to bring it back to a 1 goal game at 5-4. It just wasn't enough tonight though as they weren't able to find that last goal to tie it up and ended up losing their first road game in the last 7 games. The team has been hit by the injury bug with key players going down for lengthy periods, but Henrik Zetterberg hasn't seemed to be effected by this very negatively. Hank has been on a 11 game point streak since his Euro Twin Datsyuk went down with a broken hand, and had 2 points tonight to help his team try and get back in the game. The Wings will wrap up this long roadie with a home and home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets starting in Columbus Friday than in Detroit on Saturday.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and congratulations to the National Champion Auburn Tigers.

Drew in the D

Howard Makes Save Of The Year In Wings OT Win Over Vancouver

It was another gutsy win for the Wings Saturday night in Vancouver, when they beat the NHL's top team in overtime. Jim Howard had what could possibly be the save of the year when you robbed Daniel Sedin on a breakaway, snatching the puck out of mid-air just before it crossed the goal line while laying on his back. It was a hard fought game that ended 1-1 going into overtime. Franzen scored in regulation to tie the game up for his team and Jiri Hudler netted the game winner in overtime and give the Wings the extra point. Once again though it was Jim Howard that kept his team in the game and gave them the opportunity to win it for him by not only making the amazing save on Daniel in the 1st, but also making another great glove save on the other Sedin brother, Henrik. Its nice to see the Red Wings playing well and finding ways to win despite the major injuries to some key players they have to deal with right now, but i can't help but wonder how close these games really would have been if Modano, Filppula, and Datsyuk were in the line up.

Wings Douse The Flames In OT

Wings win 2 straight games in Alberta, beating Calgary 5-4 in overtime. A night before the Red Wings face off against the best team in the Western Conference in Vancouver they had to grind out a big win against the flames. For most of the game Calgary outplayed the Wings and the score showed that, until the 3rd period when Brian Rafalski tied it up on his 2nd goal of the season and the game. Howie was a little shaky in the first 2 periods but he picked it up and held strong between the pipe during a big 4-3 penalty kill in overtime to send it to a shoot out where he wouldn't allow a goal to help his team to 2 points. It wasn't all good news for the Wings tonight, yet again another key player went down with a serious injury. Brad Stuart's jaw was broken on a very dirty hit by Tom Kostopoulos in the 2nd period. The hit is probably (should) bring on a suspension for Kostopoulos but i couldn't believe that he was only assessed a 2 minute minor, what no 4 minute double or maybe a 5 minute major for that asinine hit on Stuart. Hopefully the Wings can stay healthy until some of their players get healthy and get back on the ice with the team. The team will take the short trip out to Vancouver to take on the 1st place Canucks at 10 pm.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and how about those Spartans beating #8 Michigan in OT.

Drew in the D

Wings Start Long Road Trip With A Win In Edmonton

After dropping two straight games at home the Red Wings were looking to get back on a winning track tonight in Edmonton. That is exactly what they did beating the Oilers 5-3 in the first of 5 road games the Wings have in their up coming schedule. The Wings opened up the scoring tonight when Henrik Zetterberg scored in the first period to give his team the early lead. The Red Wings would build up a 3-1 lead through the 2nd period only to give up 2 3rd period goals to allow the Oilers back in the game. The Wings has to of been thinking about losing their last two game at home and how bad of a taste that left in their mouth because they turned it on in the last 5 minutes of the game and took it to Edmonton. Bertuzzi and Helm would score about 30 seconds apart from each other to give their team a 5-3 lead with less than 3 minutes left in the game. Bertuzzi and Helm came up huge in the game both recording multi point game with 2 goals and 1 goal and 1 assist respectively. The teams win also gave Chris Osgood his 401st win of his career which now puts him just 2 wins behind his childhood idol Grant Fuhr in the all-time wins list. The Wings continue their second Canadian road trip on Friday when they skate with the Flames in Calgary.

I would be remiss if i didn't offer my opinion on how both of my Football teams finished on the season this past weekend. First the Spartans, what can i say it hurt to see my team get dragged through the turf up and down the field b a faster and more physical Alabama team, but i can't nuke the whole season just because how they performed in a post season "money" bowl. Yes i wanted them to win and yes i probably was jaded in thinking that they might actually have a chance against a team that is light years ahead of them in talent but Michigan State athletics is and will always be with the Red Wings my first loves in sports. 

Now as for the Lions, can we please get this new collective bargaining deal done NFL PLEASE!!! I need, we need...No Detroit needs this next season more than any sports team in any city in the world has needed a season. The way this team has come together and has been coached and guided in these past few weeks has been everything that i have asked for from this organization as a whole and that i have never gotten, until now.  There is a feeling within the Honolulu Blue Nation that there is a new day dawning in downtown Detroit at Ford Field the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel coming this off-season and in the 2011-2012 season. Our two best players have been our two best players all year, and to be honest they were the two best players at there position in the entire league this year. Calvin Johnson 77 catches for 1,120 yards and 12 Td's with three different quarterbacks and Ndamukong Suh with 66 tackles 10 sacks an interception and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in his rookie year as a defensive tackle. I know all the old guard fans will say oh its just meaningless wins that don't effect the outcome of this season. Well you know what FUCK YOU then if you can't get excited about winning after winning only 2 games in the past 2 seasons than you don't deserve to feel the joy and pride i feel for my team today. This team has started on a path to redemption this season, they didn't start out pretty but i think we can all agree even in those early season loses there was something different about this team than the past few, a mentality that they could not just play with every team but actually beat them and we saw that in the Philadelphia game and the Jets game. Yes we lost both games but there needs to be some perspective with a team that set the water mark for being bad in sports. Martin Mayhew and the management did a great job this off season of not only getting talented players here but finding players that would work in this kind of system and environment and even thrive in it. Jim Schwartz would probably admit this off-season that he made some rookie coaching mistakes this year that ended up costing a game or two for his team, but i don't think anyone can argue that he had his team running at top gear for every game this year especially in the last 4 that they won. In the first time in a long time i am excited yes even giddy to see what kind of moves Mayhew and Schwartz make in the free-agent market and the Draft this off-season to improve this teams chances of being even better this up coming season, so again i beg of you Roger Goodell and NFL owners PLEASE PLEASE!!! Get this deal done not just for Detroits sake but for all the NFL fans.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and thanks for a fun and entertaining football season Michigan State and Lions.

Drew in the D

Spartans Get Back On Track, Winning Their Big Ten Opener-Islanders Give Wings An UnHappy New Year

Losing in overtime to a now 11 win team isn't the way the Red Wings nor their fans wanted to ring in the New Year. But that exactly what happened tonight down at the Joe with the Isle's winning 4-3 on a powerplay goal in overtime. The Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson helped his team carry a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period by coming up with big stops in the first 2 periods. Valtteri Filppula gave his team some much needed momentum going into the 2nd intermission when he scored with 8 seconds left to bring the Wings back to within one goal. In the 3rd period the Islanders were in full defensive mode trying to hold onto their slim 3-2 lead and Tomas Tatar made them pay by scoring his first ever NHL goal. The game would go to overtime tied at 3 and after the Islanders killed off about 1:30 of a Red Wing powerplay Henrik Zetterberg took a bad holding penalty to give the Isles their own powerplay which they would score on to end the game. The Red Wings seemed to have broken head coach Mike Babcock's cardinal rule of always starting on time by not getting going offensively until midway through the 2nd period and allowing the visiting team to build a 3-1 lead. It was fun to see the Wings mount a 3rd period come-back but im sure all the fans wanted to see a win tonight just like i did for New Years. The Wings will welcome in one of the best teams not only in the Eastern Conference but in the entire league and also one of their former players on Sunday when Ville Leino and the Philadelphia Flyers come to town.

The Spartans opened up their Big Ten title defense with a come from behind win against Minnesota today. It didn't start out the way the Spartans had hoped it would with them being down 28-22 at the half but they found their mark in the 2nd half. Michigan State outscored Minnesota 49-34 in the 2nd thanks in part to Durrell Summers leading the way in scoring for the Spartans with 19 pts. Draymond Green also had a nice game scoring 14 pts with 6 rebounds and 4 helpers to help his team to a win. Some positives that the team can take from this gritty win were getting 24 assists on 28 baskets and only turning the ball over 8 times, which had been a problem for the Spartans in the non-conference games. The team will enjoy this win on New Years day and get back to work on Monday when they travel to Evanston to take on Northwestern in the Spartans first Big Ten road test of the season.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! and good luck to the Michigan State football team tomorrow when they take on Alabama in the Capital One Bowl

Osgood Notches Win #400 In Overtime In Colorado

Third time was the charm for Chris Osgood, after failing to get his 400th win on two prior attempts he finally gained access to the ultra-exclusive 400 win club tonight in Colorado. It was an exciting game between the Red Wings and Avalanche in the Pepsi Center tonight with the teams going back and forth in scoring all night until Kronwall won it for his team in OT. The win gave the Wings their 50th point of the season tying Pittsburgh for tops in the league, but tonight was all about the Os-man. Chris Osgood became only the 10th goalie all-time to ever reach the 400 win plateau for his career and doing it in stellar fashion might i add. Ossie was flashing the pads all night stopping 46 of 49 shots again and making key saves when his team needed him to. As much as we all know that Osgood would have loved to have won number 400 in front of the fans in Detroit it seems fitting that the win came against a team and in a arena that he has always performed so well against. Tonight was just another chapter to the history of the Detroit-Colorado rivalry that Osgood has played a major part in over the years, who doesn't love watching the youtube video of he and Patrick Roy going toe to toe in the second Wings-Av's brawl. Now that he has reached his personal goal of 400 wins in his career he can start peeking ahead in the record books with Grant Fuhr at 403 and Glenn Hall at 407, both numbers very reachable for Ossie by the end of the season. 

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and once again congratulations to Chris "Ossie" Osgood for winning his 400th NHL game.

Drew in the D

This Is What 23,000 Teddy Bears Look Like On A Hockey Rink

This is the annual Calgary Hitmen Teddy Bear toss where the fans throw teddy bears on the ice after the first Hitmen goal is scored and the teddy bears are hand delivered to the local childrens hospital by the players, how cool is that

Lidstoms Hat-Trick Helps Wings To A Win Over The Blues

It took 1,442 games into his carrier but Nick Lidstrom finally has his first hat-trick. Lidstrom's 4 point night helped his team beat their divisional rival St.Louis 5-2.  Cleary and Zetterberg also had big multi-point nights to help their team to the win. Datsyuk only recorded one assist on the night but he was up to his old tricks going all "Magic Man" on the Blue's defensive players, at one point beating 3 out of the corner and almost setting up Z for a goal. The "Magic Man" also pulled a new trick out of his very deep bag when he tried to go backhand forehand through his legs and almost beat Jaroslav Halak far side had the Blues goalie not been able to get a piece of it to send it just wide of the post. It was a very nice bounce back game for the Wings tonight after what had to have been a frustrating night on Monday getting shut out by Jonathan Quick on 51 shots. The Red Wings will travel out to Chicago tomorrow to get ready to take on the 'Hawks friday night at the United Center.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and once again hats off to Nick Lidstrom on his first career hat-trick

Drew in the D

Quick Denies Detroit A Third Win In A Row

Uhh..is there a reset button on this thing? That's what the Wings were saying after their 5-0 loss to Jonathan Quick and the Kings tonight. Kings goalie Quick played out of his mind tonight saving 51 of 51 shots against him for his 1st shutout against the Wings. Basically this game was the entire Red Wings team against Jonathan Quick, and you know what Quick 51 Wings 0 i give the LA 'tender full marks for his outstanding play tonight. The fact that the Wings got shut out wasn't for lack of trying but it was just one of those nights when a hot team runs into a hot goalie and something had to give, except tonight Quick didn't give..AT ALL. While it wasn't what the Red Wings had in mind for their rematch with the Kings they can't let this one linger as they have two big division games this week, starting on Wednesday against the Blues at the Joe and Friday night against the wannabe Wings in Chicago

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and will someone get the number of that purple and white truck that just ran over the Red Wings....i mean seriously WTF!!!

Drew in the D

Lions Give Fans Early Christmas Present

The Lions won their 3rd game of the season ending a 10 game losing streak to the Packers and picking up their first division win in 19 games. It was all about Detroit's defense today holding the Packers to 66 rush yards, 3 pts, 3 turnovers, and recording 4 sacks. Landon Johnson knocked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of the game in the 2nd quarter with a concussion when he finished a tackle bouncing Rodger's head off of the turf. Back-up Matt Flynn took over for the Pack' and for a time looked to fill the void fairly well until he threw a huge interception to Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy in the end zone. 3rd string quarterback Drew Stanton did just enough to win the game for his team today tossing tight end Will Heller the ball on a well set-up and executed screen play that went for the games only touchdown, thanks in part to a great down field block by running back Jahvid Best. The Lions finally had a run game today gashing the Green Bay defense for 190 yds on 41 carries. It was great to see this team finally close out a game getting stops at the end when they needed to and not making the "same old" mistakes that us as Lions fans i'm sure were expecting to see. But those penalties never came, the bone headed mistakes never came and the Lions can and should feel good especially on the defensive side of the ball about their teams 60 minute effort today, i know this fan does. Detroit heads back out on the road next weekend to Raymond James stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to try and get that ever elusive road win.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and get those shovels and snow blowers out people you're gonna need them tomorrow.

Drew in the D

Spartans Hold Of Gizzlies Down At The Palace-Osgood gets win # 399 Against The Devils

The Red Wings put in two early goals on Martin Brodeur to start on their way to a 4-1 win tonight in New Jersey. Pavel "En Fuego" Datsyuk was en fuego tonight recording another 3 point night with a goal and 2 helpers in the game. Pav's twin Henrik Zetterberg also had a multi-point night scoring a goal and recording an assist, Holmstrom and Cleary would also score on the greatest goalie of all time tonight. Not to be out done by his teammates Chris Osgood played in what was most likely his best performance this season stopping 33 of 34 shots and nailing down win number 399 of his hall of fame career. With this win Ossie brings himself with in one win of the exclusive 400 win club and now is just 5 wins away from passing Grant Fuhr and owning the 9th most wins in NHL history, i think its safe to say he will get there before the end of the season. The Red Wings will fly back to Detroit tonight and get ready to play the LA Kings Monday night down at the Joe when they will try to avenge the lose in OT they suffered out in la la land last week.

The Spartans avoid an upset to Oakland University in another out of conference road game down at the Palace of Auburn Hills, winning 77-76. The Grizz' gave MSU all it could handle never letting the Spartans build on a lead keeping it close to the final buzzer. Kalin Lucas led the way for his team scoring 25 pts and 5 assists, while Draymond Green had another solid game with 11pts and 5 assists. The team seemed to finally get control of their turnover problem during the game today only giving the ball up 8 times, although Lucas turned it over 5 times by himself. Little by little you can see this years team starting to gel and get more comfortable with each of their own roles on the floor, but they are a long way from being the pre-season #2 team and National Champion favorite that a lot of people had them at. 7-3 is a disappointing start to their season but im sure no one would argue that they have had one of the most difficult if not the most difficult out of conference schedules, playing all of their ranked opponents on the road. They have two more home games against Prairie View A&M and then against Texas before they open up the Big Ten season on New Years eve against Minnesota in East Lansing.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and congrats go out to one of the great Swedish players ever to play in the NHL, Marcus Naslund's #19 was retired in Vancouver tonight and very deservingly so.

Drew in the D

Wings Snap Their 3 Game Slide With A Win Against Original 6 Rival Habs

First off let me apologize for being missing in action for the last few days, with a nasty cold and finals this coming week i was a little distracted so i humbly ask for your forgiveness. Now onto the real business, Jim Howard put on another all-star showing tonight in his team 4-2 win over original six foe Montreal. The Red Wings big guns were on display tonight with Lidstrom, Kronwall, and "Magic Man" Datsyuk all scoring goals. Lidstrom got his team on the board and tied the game at one when he scored with 1.2 seconds left in the 1st on a 5 on 3 power play in the 1st period. Jim Howard was the big star for the Wings again tonight stopping 36 of 38 shots and stonewalling the Habs in the 3rd when they tested him on multiple occasions, including a spectacular glove save on a rebound from his behind. Howie has quietly become the goalie that every team wishes they could have and has had anything but a sophomore slump this season with 16-4-2 record and a .916%. The Red Wings will take the flight out to New Jersey tonight to take on the Devils tomorrow night at 7pm.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and GO GREEN in the Big Chill tomorrow

Drew in the D

Wings Go Duck Hunting In Anaheim

Jim Howard records his 2nd shutout of the season blanking the Ducks again this time in Anaheim 4-0. This wasn't cheapy either Howard stopped all of Anaheim's 41 shots on goal, with more then a few high light saves. Johan Franzen broke the ice scoring just 1:09 into the 1st period and the Wings would take that 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission. Anaheim come out strong in the 2nd carrying the play to Detroit and bulging their shot total to 25 to the Wings 10 mid-way through the 2nd. But the Wings picked it up and Homer found a juicy rebound off of a Zetterberg shot in front of the net and banged it home putting the wings up 2-0, and about 4 minutes later Cleary would deflect in his team leading 12th of the year giving his team a 3-0 lead at the break. The Red Wings played a solid third but the Ducks were still able muster 41 shots on net that Howard had to deal with and deal with them he did, always managing to find a way to get in front of the puck and keep his 2nd clean sheet of the season intact. It was self-admittedly not the teams best 60 minute effort but when you have number 35 between the pipes right now you don't have to be perfect every night. The Wings will take the short trip up to L.A. from Anaheim to take on the young and dangerous Kings tomorrow night at 10:30, looking for the sweep on this short 3-game road trip.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and maybe don't do the sing-along next time Rich Rod it's just not working.

Drew in the D

Wings Take A Bite Out Of The Sharks

The Euro Twins were in full effect last night in the Wings 5-3 win over San Jose at the Shark Tank. The Wings didn't waist time getting on the board first ,when Henrik Zetterberg recorded his first of 4 points on the night putting the puck on Cleary's stick for a tap in, giving Cleary his 11th goal of the year and his team a 1-0 lead. The it was Datsyuk's turn and once again he went all "Magic Man" splitting two San Jose defenders and fighting off a desperation hook to regain control of the puck and shot it past a sprawling Antero Niittymaki, making it 2-0 in favor of the Red Wings. Datsyuk and Zetterberg would combine for a total of 7 point on the night with Pavel recording a goal and 2 assist and Zetterberg scoring twice and getting 2 helpers on the night. Jim Howard just continues to be the solid-get the job done goalie that this team needs between the pipes with all the offensive talent that he has playing in front of him. He saved 25-28 shots and made a big save that lead to Zetterbergs 2nd goal on the night providing a big 2 goal swing in the 3rd period that made it a 3 goal game and basically sealed the win for the Wings. The Sharks scored late in the game to make the score a little more palatable for the home fans but they were never really in this one after giving up that early goal in the 1st period. The Wings will make the short trip up to Anaheim where they will get an extra day off and play Friday night at 10 pm est.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world

Drew in the D