Alright team- I haven’t written a post since September 8th when I was predicting all 16 games for our Detroit Lions (where I currently sit 3-2 overall on), which is just completely unacceptable. Now, in my defense, in this month+ time I have recorded a weekly podcast and launched our brand store so it’s not like I have been just sitting in my apartment with my thumb up my ass cranking it to Matt Prater highlights, but this website was born on the written word and I don’t want the written word to turn into Niklas Kronwall and disappear for months at a time for no bona fide reason. So with that being said, here we are.

Last night our boys took on the brand-spankin’-new-and-shockingly-undefeated Vegas Golden Knights and whooped ’em 6-3 in their own barn with four unanswered goals in the third period. It was definitely the most entertaining game of the season to this point which saw our captain, on the 15th anniversary of his first NHL goal, record his third goal of the season and pick up a playmaker (three assists) in the process.

The boys are now 4-1 through five games this season, finishing their first road trip of the season with a 3-1 clip, falling only to Dallas on Tuesday evening 4-2.

Now Vegas- not the hockey team, the gambling sports book powerhouse of the United States, gave the Wings some of the absolute worst odds in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup before the 2017 season began. Now a 4-1 start literally changes NOTHING. Remember last year after the Wings dropped their first two games, they went on a 6 game win streak and everyone was rock solid at the idea of a 26th year of making the playoffs? How’d that turn out? I’ll tell ya- it resulted in Riley Sheahan waiting 81 games to score a goal, Petr Mrazek realizing he’s not god’s gift to hockey, and Blashill looking like this…

…90% of the time. So do I believe this great start with W’s against an expansion team from Vegas or a forever forgettable Arizona/Phoenix squad gives the boys the stamp-of-approval that the Wings are back and ready to fuck for 2017-18? No. But through these first 5 games, we are seeing a sense of urgency, hustle, grit, and tact the team was overtly missing from the team’s final campaign at Joe Louis Arena.

While most of the goals in this game we’re pretty damn atheistically pleasing, I want to really focus on the Wings’ second goal of the game, the video below is cued up right where it begins.

https://youtu.be/6gyKaFVfuUc?t=3m57s

It starts with Luke Glendening making a big hit in the offensive zone, knocking the bucket off of the Vegas defender and forcing a shitty pass out to the neutral zone which results in Vegas turnover with Jansen picking up the puck. Vegas is gassed here also trying to change, Jansen gets it over to Helm, who in the Vegas line change/jarring hit confusion, is challenged by two defensemen at once, leaving Dream Boat wide open for a saucey little finish on the face of the Vegas franchise (Marc Andre-Flurry). It was beautiful. And it all started with that Glendening hit in the offensive zone.

If Detroit can continue to create goals like that this season they WILL be successful. We no longer have a Pavel Datsyuk or the star-studded lineups of old. The super-star talent on the roster is borderline nonexistent (with the exception of Mantha), so the boys will need to outwork teams in the deeper lines in order to win games. And last night they beat Vegas to about 90% of loose pucks which resulted in a 4-0 third period.

Another note in this game- Blashill switched up the lines on the fly before the third period witch resulted in a line of Mantha, Z, and Nyquist. And honestly they looked like they had been a line pair for years the way they worked together. The puck rarely left the Vegas zone with those three out there, and it was great to see a Blash-decision directly correlate into success on the ice. I am not 100% sold on the guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I am also no where near wanting his head on a platter- this season will be the beginning of which way I ultimately lean in terms of that. But with moves like that, he’s heading in the right direction.

Additionally, it was great to see Petr get his first W. And while it would be great to see Jimmy and him tag team this fiasco with equal success this year- Jimmy Howard is clearly the starter to this point. And me saying that is a big deal. I was the biggest Jimmy Howard hater for as long as I can remember, I’ve never really been sold on the guy and am still not 100% in his camp. But if the guy keeps playing the way he has thus far, it will be his job to use and I will eat my own shit at the end of the year, which I have no problem doing if it’s for the betterment of the Winged Wheelers and their nation of Wing Nuts.

And before we sign off here, I have to point out that Tomas Tatar GOT IN A FIGHT. And WON. Not only did he get into a fight, he WANTED it. Called Haula out, dropped mitts and tossed bucket. Tomas TATAR did this. He’s got a new contract, and he’s hungry to win. It was AWESOME to see, and we need to stay hungry all year like that if we’re going to win.

Right now Jimmy is stopping the puck, Z is showing once again that he is age-less, and Mantha is by far and away the most entertaining player to watch on the roster who has REAL big-man star potential. Guys got a fucking cannon. So to this point let’s just keep #lgrw-ing and hope the boys can maintain this clip passed November.

Remember: It’s a good start, but that’s all it is. #lgrw 🍾

– Frank

Oh yeah, and if you haven’t- check out the store: http://champagneathletics.bigcartel.com