So here we are after 2 western road trips and just a handfull of home games and where are we ...?  6 wins and 5 losses... for a total of 12 points ( just out of reach of the last spot in the Western Conference ) and currently in second in our division behind only Chicago... sounds pretty decent eh ..? you might think so on the surface... but delving a little deeper... yea that's where you will find a few issues... for trick portion of this little article i give you our team defense ( or lack thereof ) we went from owning the leagues best penalty kill to 19th in about a week... yes 19th...  next trick injuries Commodore , Hejda , Murray , Modin... these have been mounting as of late and it seems each is taking more away from our collective...  next trick last year even though Steve Mason had his bad nights or when he was dealing with being ridden like a horse near the end of the season... or when he was fighting mono it still seemed like when he was in net we had a shot at not only winning that night but shutting the opponent down completely ( 10 shutouts ) ROY , Vezinna finalist 4th in MVP ( Hart trophy voting ) currently this team is giving up 3.46 Goals a game ( 4th worst ) ... some say its a sophmore slump setting in... some say its due to Hejda and Commodore being injured... say what you will... but it is what it is... and its has to be better... and the final trick... the ol plus minus... as of right now... Klesla , Tyutin , Russell , and Stralman are a combined    -18  again... like the Mason trick above... this too has to change and fast

Treats... Rick Nash 15 points in 11 games ( 12 of those points have come away from Nationwide earning 5G and 7A on the road ) ... he has been solid and even better while short handed which is always a treat ... while Rick has been leaned on by this franchise since draft day he is getting help as well... Vermette is second on the team with 10 points in 11 games and Huselius and Voracek have been solid point producers as well... and as of late Brassard has shown some of that pre-injury magic from last season...   next treat 3 out of 4 wins at home in front of the fans... you gotta love that... if this or any team wants to be playing hockey in the spring you have to win at home...  last treat... Detroit is currently in 12th in the Western Conference lol... sorry that just makes me giggle...

Lets hope we get this ship back on track and get healthy soon... we've got some business to take care of in the spring ...