Detroit Red Wings: Jiri Hudler's Impact and Four Other Reasons To Get Happy

For the record, when it comes to predicting team success in the regular season, the preseason is meaningless.

Sure, they still televise some of the games and keep score to determine a winner, but, NHL exhibition games largely resemble the Friday night pick-up game at your local ice rink: some of the guys play together regularly, others are just trying to keep up and some are hoping to get noticed by the right people; you can keep score, but, team performances are more a result of dumb luck line combos than anything else.

With large numbers of players shifting on and off the roster from game to game, it is virtually impossible to take anything of significance away from an exhibition game, win or lose.

Still, as useless as the exhibition season is at determining whether or not a given team is "good" or "bad", the preseason can reveal small things about individual players that may in fact have some relevance once the regular season starts.

These things are, for the most part, not quantifiable, but more often judged by look and feel.

Indeed, the most accurate thing you can say about players in the preseason is that they, "Look like they feel such and such".

As imperfect as such judgments are, they are worth noting.  For, as meaningless as preseason games are to the team at large, individual players, especially those expected to play new roles or earn a roster spot, treat them very seriously.

They are, essentially, their job application, and, like anyone serious about securing employment, they're not likely to exclude anything that would earn them the opportunity.

For the Red Wings, there are several players that are both trying to earn spots, and, trying to fit more comfortably into the spots they've been assigned.

So far, a few have shown promise worth noting.

We'll start with a guy who's good cheer off the ice and good play on the ice should make for a pretty "happy" combination.

The Return of "Happy Feet"

Sorry for the title, my kid is now ensconced in the world of Dr. Seuss, and therefore, so am I.

Early on in his Red Wing career, Chris Osgood gave Hudler the handle, "Happy Feet".

When asked if it had anything to do with his skating ability, Osgood replied, "No, he looks like a penguin."

"Happy Feet" was eventually shortened to just plain "Happy" and, when juxtaposed against Hudler's carefree attitude, and down right goofiness off the ice, it seemed an apt label to apply to the Czech forward.

When he decided to bolt to the KHL last summer, it wasn't just his scoring, but his personality that was missed by the team.

Now that he has returned to Detroit, Hudler's positive energy and ample offensive skills are both welcome additions to a team that suffered through a serious drought of both last season.

The perpetually happy Hudler took the summer to train hard in preparation for this season and though he's only played in one exhibition game so far, he looks fast and more than comfortable on the ice.

The reason for Hudler's late appearance in the exhibition season is also something to note.

He suffered a bruised foot after blocking a shot in an intra-squad scrimmage at the end of training camp.

Now, he's not going to be much good to this team, cheeriness aside, if he's sidelined by injury. But, his willingness to do something like block shots, and that in a training camp practice game, shows that Hudler has arrived from Russia with his competitiveness and team-first attitude fully intact.

Hudler didn't take long to make an impact during Sunday's preseason game against the New York Rangers, setting up line-mate Dan Cleary less than two minutes into the contest.

However, Hudler's injury has delayed the development of the third-line combination, which, along with Cleary will also include Mike Modano.

It may yet take some time, and that spilling over into the regular season, before that line can work out the kinks and become the scoring threat they appear to be on paper. But, with "Happy" Hudler skating along side them, it figures to be just a matter of time before Cleary and Modano are perpetually happy themselves.

We Will Be Seeing Less Of Henrik Zetterberg, Which Means We Might See More

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GLENDALE, AZ - APRIL 16: Henrik Zetterberg #40 of the Detroit Red Wings looks up at the video board in Game Two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Phoenix Coyotes during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Jobing.com Arena on April 16,

Throughout his entire NHL career, there have been few, if any, reasonable criticisms directed towards Henrik Zetterberg.

He can score, he can pass, he plays defense and he makes anyone he plays with better; there are precious few players in the league that can lay claim to all these traits.

However, the one thing you'd typically see under 'flaws' in his scouting report would make reference to his size.

At 5' 11" and 180 lbs., Zetterberg was never confused for a large man. 

Though he has established himself as one of the best two-way players in the NHL, has won a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe trophy, Zetterberg eventually took the criticisms regarding his size to heart and bulked up last summer to a playing weight of 195 lbs.

The extra weight made him a bit tougher to move off the puck, but it also slowed him down and hampered his agility.

Though injuries and fatigue were largely to blame for Zetterberg's sub-par, 70-point season in 2009-10, the extra 15 lbs. he was playing with didn't do much to help either.

As a result, Zetterberg has returned to his normal playing weight and looks all the better for it. He's noticeably quicker off the hop and appears more able to zip around defenders en-route to the net.

A leaner, ostensibly meaner, Zetterberg should be able to produce much more than 70 points this year and still arrive relatively fresh and hungry come playoff time.

Several Prospects Are Knocking At The Door, and The Knocking Is Getting Louder

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DETROIT - SEPTEMBER 24: Jordan Owens of the Detroit Red Wings tries to get around the stick of Brian Campbell #51 of the Chicago Blackhawks during a pre season game on September 24, 2010 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/G

So, we were led to believe that, heading into camp, the two brightest stars not yet bona fide Detroit Red Wings were forward Mattias Ritola and defenseman Jakub Kindl.

Ritola figured to be a strong candidate, perhaps the favorite, to make the squad as a 14th forward, handing a more experienced player such as Drew Miller a ticket out of town.

But, Ritola has been sidelined with an ear injury and, as a result, has not been able to establish himself through the preseason.

Jakub Kindl has looked solid at some times, shaky at others, but he should round out to be solidly in the race for a spot as the team's seventh defenseman.

Then there's guys like Jordan Owens who would need to have been promoted to be an after-thought when camp began.

Owens was acquired from the New York Rangers last year when Detroit traded forward Kris Newbury and was immediately assigned to Grand Rapids.

Despite never having played for Detroit or New York, Owens is looking more and more like a serviceable NHL player.

Owens has had a strong camp thus far and raised his profile even higher in the two back-to-back contests with Chicago. The 24-year-old exhibited blazing speed, offensive creativity (he nearly scored twice in each game), and an outright preference for hitting anything that moves.

Though Owens is a new-comer to the Detroit system, Jan Mursak and Corey Emmerton, his line-mates in each of the two Chicago games, have been on Detroit's radar for a couple of years.

Each player has strong defensive instincts and exhibits the kind of poise and hockey sense one would expect from an NHL player. That neither has yet to play in the NHL makes such features even more valuable.

However strong their play remains throughout the preseason, it is all but certain these three will be Grand Rapids Griffins in 2010-11. Still, should an injury necessitate an AHL call-up, any one of Owens, Mursak or Emmerton look to be more than able to step up to the challenge.

Some Spare Parts On The Big Red Machine Are Turning Into Permanent Fixtures

Though GM Ken Holland re-signed restricted free-agents Drew Miller, Patrick Eaves, and Justin Abdelkader over the summer, each of them, to some extent, came into camp as spare parts.

While Abdelkader isn't going anywhere, the arrival of Mike Modano and the presence of Kris Draper suggested he'd not get many opportunities to play a regular role for the Wings this season.

Both Eaves and Miller were acquired last year (the former, via free-agency, the later, via waivers) and turned out to be solid contributors, but, with the added depth at forward and the expected emergence of Mattias Ritola, one of them figured to be on the outside looking in once the season began in Detroit.

Perhaps that's providing some motivation for them to make it impossible for the Red Wings to toss them aside.

Both Eaves and Miller look good, really good, so far this pre-season. And, given their experience and youth (both are 26), a decision to not have these two start the year as Detroit Red Wings is looking very unlikely for Ken Holland.

While it may mean exposing a high-profile prospect like Ritola on waivers, the risk would be worth ensuring both Miller and Eaves are on Detroit's roster this season.

It's looking more and more like they're going to do some damage for someone this season, it might as well be the Red Wings.

(Hopefully) This Is Jimmy's World, and We're All Just Living In It

If making assertions about the strength of a team based on preseason performance is useless, then it might be doubly so when it comes to handicapping goalies.

With rare exceptions, NHL teams do not go into training camp hoping that one of their goalies will emerge as the No. 1.

Battles for back-up spots are more common, but even those are often foregone conclusions.

However, there may be something resembling knowledge gleaned by observing a young goalie who is beginning his first training camp as the anointed starter for his team.

Coming out of nowhere and winning the starter's job the year before is one thing. But, how much will it weigh on that player the next year when he realizes that he's the guy with the job to lose.

If Jimmy Howard's demeanor in net so far is any indication, and again, it might not be, any weight that might be on his shoulders isn't effecting him in the slightest.

The preseason provides a number of challenges for any goalie.

First, there's the challenge of getting back into a groove and shaking the rust off your game. Then, you start playing behind a group of players, many of whom are unknown to you and you to them, making reading each other next to impossible. Finally, even if and when the players in front of you become less mysterious, you start facing opponents you don't know who are looking to exploit that knowledge to score on you.

Some goalies let these pressure get to them, I'm looking at you Carey Price.

Others, simply go out and play their game, regardless of who's on the ice with them. This looks to be how Jimmy Howard is approaching this year.

In a word, Howard looks 'solid'.

His positioning, his greatest asset, looks good and he appears to have nothing resembling doubt when squaring up against opposing shooters.

Howard looks like a No. 1 goalie and, if this is an indication of how he's going to approach the rest of the season, then any worries about a sophomore slump are quickly going to be dismissed.

Additionally, Howard's scheduled back-up, Chris Osgood, might be in a better position to contribute this season than he has the previous two.

Despite taking a loss (and again, this is preseason, losses and wins are imaginary), Chris Osgood looked great in goal facing Chicago on the other end of the home-and-home series.

Facing what could definitely be termed Chicago's "A" squad, Osgood had more than a few Blackhawks looking up towards the rafters of the United Center searching for an answer to the question, "How did that not go in?"

Howard looks more than ready to pick up where he left off last season, but, Osgood looks prepared to leave last season well behind him, and that's a promising thought.

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