Faceoff Factor

Red Wing Roundup - May 24th

Ashley Gallant | National Hockey League

May 24, 08:33 AM | Hype this story!

Expected lineup

It has been said that Mike Babcock wants to keep his game 6 lines intact for tonight’s game. If that’s indeed true, then tonight’s lineup should look a little something like this:

Forwards
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Datsyuk
Filppula-Hudler-Cleary
Samuelsson-Draper-Drake
Maltby-Helm-McCarty
Defence
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Stuart-Kronwall
Lebda-Lilja
Goaltender
Osgood

Coaches in the Stanley Cup Finals tend to hold their cards a little close, so don’t be surprised if the lines change between now and 8PM ET.

Bad luck for Detroit sports fans

As we count down the hours until game-time, sports fans in Detroit must make a decision – do they watch the Detroit Pistons or the Detroit Red Wings?

It just so happens that the Detroit Pistons will be taking on the Boston Celtics in games 3 and 4 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals on the same nights that the Detroit Red Wings play games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

It will be interesting to see if this scheduling conflict has an impact on television ratings and game attendance.

Anti-Pens, Pro-Red Wing posters

Red Wing fans have been putting Photoshop to good use. The Detroit Free Press has posted a number of fan-made posters in a photo gallery. Some posters lean towards a ‘Detroit is the best’ message, while others put roasted penguins in the Stanley Cup.

Reminds me a bit of the Pensblog, no?

Detroit Fans: Don’t wear your Red Wings hat when buying octopi in Pittsburgh.

The octopus has been a playoff mascot of sorts for the Detroit Red Wings since the early 1950’s, but Red Wings fans in Pittsburgh will have difficulty purchasing octopi from local markets.

Dan Wholey of Wholey’s Fish Market has gone on record and said that he will not sell octopi to anyone he suspects of supporting the Red Wings for fear that they will throw the sea creature on the ice at Mellon Arena.

“I have the utmost respect for all the people of Detroit,” Wholey said. “They are great citizens and great hockey fans, just like I am. But I’m a Penguins fan first and foremost and I want to see the Penguins win, period.”