Skip to main content

Central Division bloggers preview the Red Wings

Our Central Division bloggers roundtable of NHL previews continues today with the Detroit Red Wings, covered by the blogs mentioned below. I'll have the Nashville Predators preview in this space next Monday.
Behind The Jersey: Christy takes a look at the changes in personnel from last season, with the Wings shedding "deadweights" Robert Lang and Kyle Calder up front, and of course Mathieu Schneider on the blue line. Those three are basically being replaced by Brian Rafalski, Dallas Drake, and a younger player who gets on opportunity, which should keep the Wings typically talented on defense, with a bit more grit up front. The biggest risk to team success is going to be the health of Dominik Hasek, and whether he can sustain Detroit through the long regular season and remain in condition for a playoff drive.
Gorilla Crouch: Dave ponders some of the interesting questions heading into the new season, such as whether Johan Franzen can develop into a legitimate power forward, whether Jiri Hudler is ready to step into a larger role, who's going to fill in the depth spots on the blue line, and if the Wings are going to follow Anaheim's lead and go with a tougher, more aggressive style of play.

Kukla's Korner: George James Malik chimes in with a lengthy, detailed post reviewing all aspects of the team, including his concern (which I agree with) about the number of players who've left Detroit since April, and whether letting young guys step up will really pan out.

So far, these folks have shied away from making a prediction about the fate of the Central this season, but all sensible parties have the Red Wings winning the division handily.
There will be a few more of these popping up later today, so check back for an update.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Cheer up, it's the holidays...

Why is it that various media outlets continue trying to put their own spin on the "what's wrong with the NHL" story? Our latest example comes from The Hockey News , in a piece by Jay Greenburg entitled, "Excitement Level On The Decline." Take the opening sentence: Attendance is down and yet still up from before the lockout, leaving it arguable whether buildings in New Jersey and Florida are half-full or half empty. It's no surprise that attendance is down from last season, particularly if you compare the first half of 2005-06 to the first half of this year. Coming out of the lockout, there were legions of fans starved to see the on-ice product, particularly in light of the massive rule changes. This year is more indicative of business as usual, so the fact that the league is above pre-lockout levels is a positive. Toss in the projection that overall revenues are increasing despite a 1% decrease in attendance, and I'd say that paying fans have come back ...
Read more

How I'm Trying To Make Money Sports Blogging

To kick off this series of articles general sports-blogging articles here at OTF Classic, I think it's best to start with a comment that Brad left here last week, after I shared my goals for 2012 , which include specific revenue targets: I considered diving into the world of internet marketing myself, but I felt that my friends would hate me for bugging them about stuff. I mean, it's pretty low-risk high-reward, so it's tempting. I wouldn't mind reading about tips on how to maximize impact of blogging in general to make it a legitimate income source. Trying to make money at sports blogging can be a very touchy subject - for the vast majority of us, this is an activity we pursue to both exercise our creativity and share our love of the game, whether it's hockey, football, badminton, whatever, with fellow fans. Mixing that personal conversation with a commercial message can turn people off, especially if it becomes too intrusive for the reader. It's not unrea...
Read more

Social Media, Internet Marketing, and Real, Paying Customers - it really works!

Applying the basic tenets of internet marketing (SEO best practices and social media network building) have helped me grow the readership and engagement over at On The Forecheck tremendously in recent years, but lately I've been wondering if those same techniques could be applied to small- or medium-sized local businesses, to help them drive real, tangible business results. I'm talking about not just drawing idle hockey fans looking to a blog so they can muse over line combinations, but helping businesses connect with potential customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't occur. Recently, I was able to help make just such a thing happen, and it shows just how great the opportunities are for small, local businesses which may not have the resources or skills available to extend their brand effectively on the internet.
Read more