HE RISES!

A bad moon is a risin’ and Glen Hanlon is a werewolf. It’s the only way to explain what is going on. The man we all (read: I) gave up on weeks ago, the man that had me trading away key pieces for John Vanbiesbrouck in fictional trades, has risen.

Hanlon shutdown a very mediocre Blues team and then gave up three goals against a very good Edmonton team, but won the game.

Throw a win by Greg Stefan in between and all of the sudden we have nice little three-game winning streak and the Red Wings have moved into first place in a very weak division. The North Stars, a team behind the very mediocre Blues at the beginning of last week, have moved into third. The Blackhawks suck again, Toronto is pulling a Toronto, and you better know by now that the Blues are very mediocre.

As we get closer to the halfway point in the season, things are starting to shake out. The Flames, Oilers, Canadiens, Bruins, Islanders and Devils are very good. The Kings, Rangers, Whalers, Blues, Canucks and Nordiques range from bad to incredibly and utterly mediocre. Everyone else is in-between, including the Red Wings.

Even if we are to believe Glen Hanlon’s possession by evil spirits will last the rest of the season, the Red Wings still need some defensive depth and some third-line scoring, or consistent scoring from anybody other than Steve Yzerman and Bob Probert, really, if they’re going to contend for a title. The good news is that it’s still early. The bad news is that it’s not that early. The even worse news is that teams outside the division are beginning to show they’re on another level than the Red Wings.

Something big needs to happen soon. Whether that comes internally or externally doesn’t matter. Just something needs to happen. I mean, Doug Houda played in another game fergodsakes.

When looking around the league, every team other than the Montreal Canadiens has to be worried. Granted, Montreal has played 29 games already, but its put up 38 points. They would be running away with the division if not for Boston, the second best team in the league.

Even when looking at the Patrick Division, it’s pretty easy to see, the Prince of Wales Conference is the class of the league. Hooray for more bad news for the Red Wings!

RED WINGS POINT LEADERS

Steve Yzerman, C: 30

Bob Probert, LW: 24

Gerard Gallant, LW: 22

Petr Klima, RW/LW: 15

Darren Veitch, D: 14

RED WINGS GOAL LEADERS

Steve Yzerman, C: 16

Petr Klima, RW/LW: 11

Bob Probert, LW: 10

Gerard Gallant, LW: 9

Brent Ashton, LW: 9

RED WINGS ASSIST LEADERS

Steve Yzerman, C: 14

Bob Probert, LW: 14

Darren Veitch, D: 13

Gerard Gallant, LW: 13

Doug Halward, D: 10

GOALTENDING STATS

STANDINGS

FULL RED WINGS STATS