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HFNHL Red Wings

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The Wings are in the middle of their toughest stretch of the season having completed 5 out of 10 consecutive games against .500+ teams.

The Wings have gone an impressive 4-1 in the first 5 with wins against the Blues (x2), Jackets, and Leafs with the lone loss being dealt by the Jackets. The wins were tight scoring games with the Wings only winning by 1 goal in 3 of them and 2 of those 3 were OT victories. The lone loss was also by a 1 goal differential.

During the past stretch the Wings briefly took over top spot but were bumped back to second the next day after the Blues defeated the Bruins. This is only the second time the Wings have briefly held the top spot in the West and in both cases that only lasted 24 hours. The previous time the Wings temporarily claimed top spot, over two months ago, the Wings went on a losing streak that briefly dropped them as low as 4th in the conference and have had to claw their way back into the race. Obviously Detroit management hopes history does not repeat itself.

The second half of this tough 10 game stretch begins tonight when they yet again face off against the Blues. In the most recent two games against the Blues, St. Louis came in a bit banged up and recently have been experiencing brain cramps in their roster submissions to officials. The Wings will tonight face a healthy Blues team and do not expect any roster submission excuses from St. Louis.

The next 5 games will see the Wings face the Blues (.686), Jackets (.529), Hurricanes (.653), Bruins (.567), and Flyers (.559).
 

HFNHL Red Wings

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Following last night's tilt at home with the Blues the Wings have improved their record to 5-1 through this critical 10 game stretch.

Last night's game was a very defensive affair with each team limiting their opponent to only 23 shots and both teams PK units were a perfect 3 for 3. At the end of the day goaltending proved to be the deciding factor as the Blue's chose to dress Garon (76 OV w/ condition 99) instead of Turco (82 OV w/ condition 98).

With both team boasting significant fire power it is interesting that the past 3 games between these two rivals have been defensive struggles. The higest shot count so far has only been 26. Despite the low shot counts the scores have been relatively high as, until last night, neither teams goaltenders have really stepped up.

There is only one more game left between the Blues and the Wings and, as it falls on the 2nd last day of the season, it may ultimately decide which team will emerge as the Central Division champion for the 06/07 season.
 

HFNHL Red Wings

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One thing at a time lads :amazed:

I seem to remember being up 3-0 against the Wild last year in the first round and then getting booted.

There's still 14 games left and the Ducks are only 3 games back. It's very possible the Ducks could pass both of us. Never mind the Eastern Conference teams might have something to say about claiming the President's Trophy.

Don't anger the sim gods!

:bow: :gargoyle:
 
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SPG

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Feb 27, 2002
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One thing at a time lads :amazed:

I seem to remember being up 3-0 against the Wild last year in the first round and then getting booted.

There's still 14 games left and the Ducks are only 3 games back. It's very possible the Ducks could pass both of us. Never mind the Eastern Conference teams might have something to say about claiming the President's Trophy.

Don't anger the sim gods!

:bow: :gargoyle:

The way my season has gone, the sim gods must already be angry with me...
 

Dryden

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Feb 27, 2002
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Hey Nick,

Don't worry...the Wings have to play the Hawks again...and we all know how thats going to work out.
 

Dr.Sens(e)

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Hey Nick,

Don't worry...the Wings have to play the Hawks again...and we all know how thats going to work out.

Go gettem Dry!! Despite my shot totals looking good in every game against the Wings, they still seem to have the Blues number, at least with the latest line combinations. Adding Shanny and Morrow certainly didn't help. Tricky Wings.
 

Wildman

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Feb 28, 2002
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Toronto
Don't anger the sim gods!

:bow: :gargoyle:[/QUOTE]

Yea Josh, just pray that Drew is not angry with you and maybe he will let you in the playoffs:D
 
Yea Josh, just pray that Drew is not angry with you and maybe he will let you in the playoffs:D[/QUOTE]

LMAO!!!

Maybe if i'd sent Olli Jokinen Drew's way for Martin Straka like he wanted, or not angered him by moving Berard (who coincidentally is making major contributions at keeping Ottawa in the playoff hunt!) I might still be in 1st :sarcasm:

I'm still in recovery over belting the living daylights out of teams on a daily basis (and it wasn't just small Margins...almost EVERYBODY had their goalie dragged. I think I was averaging about 5.4 Goals a game over my 15 game near unbeaten streak, and Allowing about 2.8 :amazed: ) to going to the worst team in the league over the next 15 game who can't score, has more injuries than we've had all season and can't stop the puck!

Not that I'm actually serious on this one, but as I've lost marleau 3 times since the berard deal (and he's got 95 DU!) and one of my guys finally lost a fight this season :eek: I'm not taking any chances here!

ALL HAIL SIM GOD DREW!!!!

:bow: :devdance:
 

HFNHL Red Wings

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Hey Nick,

Don't worry...the Wings have to play the Hawks again...and we all know how thats going to work out.

Bah! I thought I was done with your annoying Hawks. Guess I'll have to rest a few players that day.

Despite my shot totals looking good in every game against the Wings, they still seem to have the Blues number, at least with the latest line combinations.

Huh?
I would generally say something about quality over quantity or something similar but the shots were fairly close with only a marginal advantage to the Blues. In the past 3 games your shot advantage was +1, +3, and 0 for only an aggregate 4 shot difference over the 3 games
As an FYI I have never found there to be a strong correlation between shots and victories. I tried looking at these numbers awhile back and found that the team with the most shots was only winning approximately 60% of the games. Since we're farther into the season now I might try and update the numbers to see if that is continuing since it seems the team with the most shots went 4-1-2 last night - the Wings were the only team to lead in shots but loose last night :(
 

Ohio Jones

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Feb 28, 2002
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As an FYI I have never found there to be a strong correlation between shots and victories. I tried looking at these numbers awhile back and found that the team with the most shots was only winning approximately 60% of the games.

I'd settle for that... just like I'd settle for a guy who consistently wins 60% of his draws.

60% of 7 is 4 (actually 4.2), and that's the kind of math that wins you Cups. ;)
 

Dr.Sens(e)

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Feb 27, 2002
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Huh?
I would generally say something about quality over quantity or something similar but the shots were fairly close with only a marginal advantage to the Blues. In the past 3 games your shot advantage was +1, +3, and 0 for only an aggregate 4 shot difference over the 3 games
As an FYI I have never found there to be a strong correlation between shots and victories. I tried looking at these numbers awhile back and found that the team with the most shots was only winning approximately 60% of the games. Since we're farther into the season now I might try and update the numbers to see if that is continuing since it seems the team with the most shots went 4-1-2 last night - the Wings were the only team to lead in shots but loose last night :(

Well, in past losses to the Wings (past seasons anyway), the Blues typically saw their shot total drop significantly. This season, that hasn't been the case. And I'd least like to have one of those damn games. Or at least a couple of the goals from the 5-1 win earlier in the year for one of those first two games. And to get swept on the home and home by both you and Douglas has made me sick to my stomach. :cry:

Perfect time of the year for the Blues to go into a major funk :help:
 
Well, in past losses to the Wings (past seasons anyway), the Blues typically saw their shot total drop significantly. This season, that hasn't been the case. And I'd least like to have one of those damn games. Or at least a couple of the goals from the 5-1 win earlier in the year for one of those first two games. And to get swept on the home and home by both you and Douglas has made me sick to my stomach. :cry:

Perfect time of the year for the Blues to go into a major funk :help:

Did someone say Major Funk?

Oooh! Ooooh! can I play?:yo:

Now I know how the 95-96 devils felt...as Claude lemieux lead Colorado to a cup. Hmmm....of some of my key pieces last year....Berards in ottawa, Nash is in Nashville (such a fitting place for him! Like Dion having Phanuef on his team) and Last year's Conn Smyth winner (my very own personal HFNHL Lemieux) is playing over in Europe after turning down my 1 year $3million offer! Surely if he knew his HFNHL value was so high he'd have stuck around in real life just so my Sabres could have him for another post-season?

Very selfish Dick!:shakehead
 

Donga

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Is it just me or am I that thick? :help: What is Josh really trying to say? I may live in the same country as him but he lives in hillbilly country with Cohen. There must be some Cajun slang happening within 10km of our locality.

I'm a bit lost. Can someone please explain it to me?:help:
 

HFNHL Red Wings

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Perfect time of the year for the Blues to go into a major funk :help:

I've been wondering about that - actually Douglas and I briefly talked about it. Not that I'm complaining ;)
Earlier in the season you were running your controlled line combination tests. Are you still doing that? i.e. sticking with a line combination recently that isn't working.
I know you had a couple of brief injuries and then had your backup start 3 or 4 consecutive games so I'm not sure how much of this is driven by the sim streak effect vs. sub optimal lines.
 

HFNHL Red Wings

Guest
Hey Nick,

Don't worry...the Wings have to play the Hawks again...and we all know how thats going to work out.

Bah again. Just realized we actually have two games remaining :(

All I can hope is that since all or matches this year came early in the season and my roster has changed significantly that the 'new' Red Wings perform a lot better.
The numbers for the first 6 meetings are pretty bad though with a 3-2-1 record for the Hawks with you averaging 3.67 goals vs. my 2.67 despite the aggregate shots being even at 173.

Go Wings.
 

Dr.Sens(e)

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I've been wondering about that - actually Douglas and I briefly talked about it. Not that I'm complaining ;)
Earlier in the season you were running your controlled line combination tests. Are you still doing that? i.e. sticking with a line combination recently that isn't working.
I know you had a couple of brief injuries and then had your backup start 3 or 4 consecutive games so I'm not sure how much of this is driven by the sim streak effect vs. sub optimal lines.

I've doggedly stuck to my line combination plan, but given the last two cylces were close to line combos that have worked in past (really just narrowing down my options), I must say I'm a tad confused. In fact, lines that were working before all of a sudden are not. I have had some injuries and several line issues, but nothing so extreme I could really blow off the results as the direct cause of these problems. Which is to say, I feel quite at the whim of the sim gods right now. I'm just hoping my down cycle isn't as long as my early season up cycle - or anything close to what has happened to the Sabres!!
 

Dryden

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Feb 27, 2002
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Bah again. Just realized we actually have two games remaining :(

All I can hope is that since all or matches this year came early in the season and my roster has changed significantly that the 'new' Red Wings perform a lot better.
The numbers for the first 6 meetings are pretty bad though with a 3-2-1 record for the Hawks with you averaging 3.67 goals vs. my 2.67 despite the aggregate shots being even at 173.

Go Wings.

Time to start resting Rolosson...Ty Conklin is now the starting goalie till I play the Wings
 

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