It's almost here

(Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Can you feel it?  Four more days until Red Wings' hockey is officially back. 

Last night the Wings sent 13 players down to Grand Rapids and the roster is all but complete.  One of the 13 players sent down was none other than Brendan Smith.  I only had a chance to watch two preseason games and parts of others, but I can tell you that Smith to Grand Rapids is the right move.  I think it was the expected move going into this season too.  I had hoped Smith would've been so good in camp that Kenny couldn't keep him off the roster, but it was a long shot.  At times he looked lost on the ice.  At other times he had moments that made you think he's going to be something special.  The highlight for me was watching him play next to Lidstrom for a few shifts.  I'm looking forward to following his progress with the Griffins and I hope he gets called up for a few games late in the season.  I fully expect Smith to be a Red Wings in 2011/2012.  Other players I was impressed with in the preseason: Cory Emmerton, Jan Mursak, and Tomas Tater.

And now onto the big club.  This morning the Wings' waived Mattias Ritola.  I've been on Team Miller all offseason and this news is no surprise after Mike Babcock said that Drew Miller has a spot on this team.  So where does this leave the club?  A few more cuts have to be made and I fully expect to see Joey MacDonald, Derek Meech, and Doug Janik sent down.  Kirk Maltby will also most likely be spending time with the Griffins and training the young kids to run their mouths to perfection just like he has done during his career.  Here's the line-up I want to see this Friday against Anaheim:

Pavel Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom
Johan Franzen-Valterri Filppula-Todd Bertuzzi
Jiri Hudler-Mike Modano-Danny Cleary
Justin Abdelkader-Darren Helm-Drew Miller/Patrick Eaves

Nicklas Lidstrom-Niklas Kronwall
Brad Stuart-Brian Rafalski
Jakub Kindl-Ruslan Salei

Jimmy Howard
Chris Osgood

Scratched/Injured: Kris Draper (groin), Jonathon Ericsson (vagina), Miller/Eaves

Of course, we'll probably see Big Rig in the line-up instead of Kindl.  If Eaves ankle is good-to-go, I think he should get the final spot on the 4th line.  If he's not ready, then it's Miller Time. 

Four more days. 

The road to 12 begins on Friday.

Let's Go Red Wings

(Note: This is my 19th post at BSI, so I felt like it was important to remind the world that Steve Yzerman is the greatest hockey player ever.)