Road Music: Round 1, Game 2 Blues @ Detroit Red Wings

For the last two years, these Detroit Red Wings have been hyped as a "contender" ... but they sure didn't show it during the last game. More like a wannabe than a gonnabe. Grant Fuhr stoned them 2-0 in game 1, and you almost have to ask ... will the Wings ever score again? OK, that might be hyperbolic - a little - but there's no question that Grant looked sharp. As long as the Blues can take care of business up front, Fuhr can handle the rest. Keep it up, and we'll send the Wings back home, crying to their mama.

This past summer, the Ded Things coined the phrase "Hockeytown" for themselves. Who do you think you are, Wings? If Detroit keeps losing, they're going to lose that title to a team that's actually won something.

Since Detroit couldn't solve Fuhr, there are no playoff points leaders for the Wings; they're all tied with "0". But if you go back to the regular season, you'd see who the Blues need to watch out for:

Former Bluenote Brendan Shanahan led the Wings with 87 points (46G, 41A). Right behind him was Steve Yzerman with 85 points (22G, 63A). After that, there's a drop to 63 points, from Sergei Fedorov (30G, 33A). Perhaps a more telling stat is this indicator: The top 8 scorers on the Detoilet team are a combined +197 in plus/minus. For those of you that are not stat nerds, that simply means that those players were on the ice for almost 200 more goals-for than goals-against (not counting PPG). OK, maybe we should start taking these guys more seriously. After all, that stat tells the whole story, right?

Speaking of holes, Vladimir Konstantinov ... what an A-Hole. From the Punch Up in Piestany (which our honorable Pierre Turgeon did not take part in), to this year's 151 PIMs, this jerk has proven to be a thug on skates. The sooner he's out of the game, the better.

As for goaltending, the Wings were platooning Mike Vernon and Chris Osgood this year. It looks like they're going to stick with Vernon for the playoffs, though. He had a 13-11-8 record, with a 2.43 Goals Against Average, and a .899 Save Percentage. The backup, Osgood, was 23-13-9 in 47 games this year, with a 2.30 GAA and a .910 Sv%. So, the Wings are sticking with the player with the lesser stat line - suckers. Let me know how that works out for ya. Hockeytown, indeed..

Bottom line, the Blues just need to continue to take care of business. Keep Shanny and the commies off the scoreboard, pot a couple of your own, and we're home free. Simple, right? Come back to St Louis Game Time later today for the official playoff Game Day Thread, and see it all play out.  Comment below, try to predict the score of today's game. Say you'll be there with us, and bring friends! See Game 2 become 1 step closer to the Cup that we all want!

Also, we need some sort of motto for this rivalry. Something short, and concise. Something that expresses our disdain for, not just the team, but for the entire damn city of Detroit. We encourage your suggestions down below.

Hmmm...