Getting You Ready for Tonight's Penguins - Red Wings Game

As far as November regular season games go in the NHL, tonight's Penguins - Red Wings tilt is a pretty big one, if for no other reason than it's the much anticipated rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Finals, which the Wings ultimately won in six games.

It was a bad omen for the Penguins when, prior to game one, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury tripped and fell over the red carpet as he was exiting the tunnel. I was at Joe Louis Arena that night, and as soon as he went face-first into the ice it was difficult to not get that feeling of, "oh, so it's going to be that type of series." The rest of the team followed in that path for the first two games, falling all over themselves, as Detroit was clearly the superior team.

The Penguins fought back, however, pushing it to six games only to fall inches short as Marian Hossa's last ditch effort was stopped as time ran out on the season.

This year, Hossa is suiting up for Detroit and frankly, as a Penguins fan, I'm not sure how I should feel about that. On one hand, we're always complaining about athletes putting the almighty dollar above the ultimate prize (winning) and this is an example of a guy who clearly did no such thing. He turned down a longer, more lucrative deal from the Penguins to sign a one-year deal in Detroit for the sole purpose of trying to win.

Plus, he was such a crucial part of the Penguins playoff run that you have to remember that, had it not been for him, there may not have been a Stanley Cup Finals to experience. So, we owe him that.

On the other hand, he signed with Detroit. That hurts. Had he signed in, oh, I don't know, Dallas, it might have been different. But Detroit?

... Winging It In Motown talks about how Hossa has exceeded expectations thus far in Detroit, while Penguins center Max Talbot is still angry about his departure.

... While Hossa is the only major change to the Red Wings roster, the Penguins have quite a few new faces. Gone are Hossa, Ryan Malone, Jarkko Ruutu, Adam Hall, Georges Laraque and Gary Roberts, and in are Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Matt Cooke, Eric Godard and Paul Bissonnette.

Satan has been a bargain at $3.5 million, leading the team with eight goals and already picking up 12 points in 14 games.

... Despite not having two of their top defensemen in Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, the Penguins have still been one of the better defensive teams in the league (2.50 team Goals Against Average) due in large part to the play of Fleury. Despite this being Fleury's fifth season in the NHL, he's still the second youngest (23) starting goalie in the league. Only Montreal's Carey Price (21) is younger.

... The Pensblog gets you ready for tonight's game as only they can.

... This is the first of two meetings between these teams this year, as they'll play in Pittsburgh on Sunday, February 8.