Wings vs. Devils GP...

Wings vs. Devils @7 PM

1. Well, the good news is that it appears that Ericsson will be playing tonight (Does anyone even want to think about what the defensive lineup would’ve looked like if he wasn’t able to go tonight?). Of course, I won’t really believe that until I see him skate a shift, but I’m cautiously optimistic. However, it looks like Rafalski’s still going to be sitting out, so we’ll be seeing more of Jakub Kindl. I’m less terrified of this than I would have expected myself to be, and I don’t think holding him out of an extra game is the worst thing in the world. The last thing the Wings need is for his sore back to turn into another long-term injury. Still, the question needs to be asked: how’s the defense going to do tonight?
2. The Wings have had some issues lately running into backup goalies who play far above their ability against the team. Now that they’re facing a true top of the line goalie in Martin Brodeur, will they be able to catch a break or two?
3. The Wings have a long and storied history of mirroring the ability of their opponents. New Jersey’s currently sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference and boasts one of the best goalies in the league. Will the Wings show up to match their level of play tonight?
4. It appears that Chris Osgood will be starting tonight. How will he look after seeing Jimmy Howard get three straight starts?
5. This is the last day of Todd Bertuzzi’s free pass from me. How will he choose to use it? He’s had a decent few games since scoring that goal in the shootout, so here’s hoping he keeps it up.
6. Mike Babcock appears to have decided to reunite the Flying Circus line. Any time I see the Eurotwins out on the ice together it makes me happy. Will it be a glorious reunion that brings joy to all the good little Wings fans out there or will the concentration of scoring ability on that line relegate the rest of the forward units to a level of abject ineffectiveness? Only time will tell.
7. The Devils are holding a pre-game ceremony honoring their 1995 Cup team. It’s nice of them to wait until the Wings came to town. Oh well, if they had to lose that ’95 series to set up the run they went on afterward, I’m okay with it. However, the Wings have another tradition of being completely listless after pre-game ceremonies. Will they be unfocused as a result of the celebration, or actually come to play?

Okay, I know I said I probably wasn’t going to get a GP up today…and then I went and wrote the longest one ever. It helps that it’s only a half hour until puck drop and I’m already gearing up for the game. Also, I just noticed that tonight's Post Game Snipes will be my 200th post. When I started writing this nonsense, I fully expected to lose interest in it after a couple of weeks and forget I'd ever started a blog. It turns out that it's somehow managed to not only hold my interest, but to become ridiculously fun to write...and a giant black hole into which my very limited time gets sucked on a daily basis. So thanks for reading. I can't believe that I made it this far.