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| Colorado Avalanche | 7pm ET / 5pm MT | Detroit Red Wings |
| 14-14-1 | December 15, 2008 | 20-5-4 |
| 29 points | Joe Louis Arena | 44 Points |
| 12th in West | Detroit, MI | 2nd in West |
It's been an interesting weekend for me. On Thursday night, a massive ice storm rolled into New England knocking down trees and knocking out power all over the place. My town was largely unaffected, but if you drive five minutes outside of town there is devastation everywhere. Much of southern New Hampshire is without power, and may be for several days, even with hundreds of line & tree-cutting crews working their asses off around the clock.
Why am I telling you this? While we thankfully have power, my wife's parents do not and so they've moved in with us. And, school was canceled Friday and today and there's been talk that trend will continue for at least one more day. I love my in-laws and my children (of course), but the changes to my normal lifestyle (including sleeping on the couch) have me a little less focused on hockey than normal.
And that's probably a good thing, because tonight's game doesn't figure to be a happy one (well, except for the always gracious Abel to Ysebaert crowd). The average-Joe (minus their above-average-Joe) Avalanche will be facing the league's 2nd ranked offense and number one powerplay, and they'll be doing it with Andrew Raycroft in net(Granato is holding Peter Budaj for the more-winnable Tuesday game in Philadelphia). Here's what I expect to happen: the Wings will control the puck all night long (they are ranked #1 in the league in faceoffs). The Avs will do their best to keep the Wings off the board and might even get an early goal from someone like TJ Hensick, but the Avs will eventually start taking penalties as they chase around the stupid Wings and the goals will start building. I'm thinking something like 5-1.
Darcy Tucker, Marek Svatos and Ben Guite are all on this four-game road trip. Tucker and Guite both practiced Sunday. Svatos did not. It doesn't sound like any of the three will be in the lineup tonight, but any or all of the three might see action at some point. Brian Willsie did not make the trip (seriously, when do we find out how long he'll be out for?).
I should have a recap up tomorrow, but with my household a little but upside-down, I'm not 100% sure when that will be. I believe our fearless leader will be back sometime today, sporting his all-over tan (no px, pls). I'm sure he would ask for the usual tonight: keep the comments flowing, but stay civil.