I don’t think you can overstate Brett Hull’s value to the Wings. He is still so good, even at this point in his career, that he can dominate a game. He has a couple of great linemates in Zetteberg and Datsyuk and really makes the most of it. He was definitely the best acquisition of the Big 3 and might be the best of Holland’s GM career. A half-million raise is very much deserved by Hull. He would have been back anyway but I’m glad they signed him again. Keep it up, Hully!

Brett Hull, who got his 33rd career hat trick, scores against former Red Wing Chris Osgood. (AP)

The Wings still own the Blues. They crushed them today 6-2, ruining Pronger’s return (the Wings didn’t ruin his return though, Pronger ruined his return….he played dirty the whole game and took bad penalties, though he got a goal). Hully had a hat trick, Pavel scored an individual effort goal and Nick and Feds scored. Zetterberg ended up with 2 points, Datsyuk with 4 and Hull had 4. Manny Legace got the start and the win for the Wings. He is such a steady backup. Good job today Manny. The only downside to this game was having to listen to Gary Thorne and Co.

The game was intense all the way through, very physical (Zetterbeg was absolutely leveled and only escaped serious injury because he saw it coming and bailed out…..he assisted on Hull’s first goal on that same shift)with many fights, especially at the end where the Blues lost their self-control. There were only 4 players on the bench for the Wings in the last minute and 3 for the Blues, all the others had been sent to the locker room. Assistant coach Joe Kocur got into a shouting match with Blues head coach Joel Quennville near the end. Jackman fought Bykov and Shanny got into a fight with Nash, who was trying get back at Shanny for his really nasty high stick earlier on (I hope Brendan doesn’t get suspended for that, he probably will though….it was pretty bad). Draper and Maltby were ambushed at the blue line by some Blues goons. Even Luc got involved and might have hurt his hand. It looked like a bomb went off at center ice, with all the equipment scattered everywhere. Wings assistant coach Joe Kocur threw a chair onto the ice and will proabably be fined. t looked more like an Avalance-Wings game than a Blues-Wings game to me. The refereeing was worse than usual, from both points of view.

The Wings are still #2 in the Western Conference, one point behind Dallas (they were #1 for a couple hours until the Stars beat the Sharks), with 104 points. They are again 7 points in front of St. Louis and have all but won the division. Something drastic will have to happen for them not to win it (ie. they’d have to lose all their remaining games and the Blues would have to win all of theirs). The Avs are #4 now and are only 2 points behind the Canucks, which are in the same division. Hopefully the Canucks will win enough to hold off the Avs but lose enough to stay behind the Wings. Next up: the Predators on Monday @ the Joe at 7:30. GO WINGS!!! | full recap | box score

Another important game today against the Blues. This is the last of the on-paper “tough” games until the playoffs. The rest of the games are against non-playoff teams, with the exception of the Islanders who probably will be the 7th or 8th seed in the East. Those games won’t be easy though because those teams will be playing for their jobs. Hopefully the Wings won’t take a win for granted and float through these last 5 games. They need to win most of them, if not all of them.

Freep Wings notebook 3/29/03…. Defenseman Jiri Fischer said he had improved in the past week and felt better during practice than he had since his left anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. He will see a doctor Monday, and he could return as soon as Thursday night against the New York Islanders.

Well, the playoff teams are all set for the Western Conference: Detroit, Dallas, Vancouver, St. Louis, Colorado, Anaheim, Minnesota and Edmonton. Colorado and St. Louis are tied with 97 points and will probably play eachother in the first round, since they are both winning and neither will most likely pass anyone but Colorado/St. Louis. The Wings are behind the Stars by 1 point (103 to 102) but they have one more game than Dallas has left in their season. They also have one more game than Vancouver who has 101pts. The bottom 3 teams could end up in any order, like the rest of the playoff teams can. Anaheim is at the top of the bottom 3 with 90 points with 4 games to go but Minnesota has 89 with 5 to go. Edmonton has 87 with 5 to go also. I’m not 100% sure which team I’d rather have the Wings play. I’d probably the Ducks, because we’ve beaten them in the past (though it took a couple multiple-OT games to do it in ’97). I’d like to see the Wild go farther in the playoffs and I think a series with Dallas would be awesome for their fans, since they both are really Minnesota teams. I’m not so sure about the Oilers. They usually seem to play well against us. No matter what, it’ll be an interesting first round and a very tough playoff run for the Wings.

The East only has 6-playoff-spot clinched teams: Ottawa, New Jersey, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington. I don’t know much about the East, so I won’t try to analyze it, though I am pretty sure the Rangers won’t make the playoffs, which I think is hilarious. They really make big-market teams look bad. It’s probably because of them that Bettman hates teams with money because I’d think it would be pretty tough to hate a team as successful as the Wings. I don’t care if Ottawa wins the President’s Trophy, as long as they get eliminated before the Finals so if the Wings make it there, they’ll have home advantage. The Sens have 105 points so they have a good chance of doing it. | NHL standings

Here is some news that will have an effect on the rest of the Wings’ season. Blues captain defenseman is coming back on Saturday for their game against the Wings at St. Louis. He hasn’t played since he tried to nail the Captain last year in the playoffs. This makes the Blues a lot stronger and that much harder to beat. Especially since there are only 5 games left and just 5 points separating them from the Wings. The Blues have had injuries all year and are now getting healthy, just in time for a playoff run. Valeri Bure will also be back Saturday and Tkachuck is practicing now. Pronger won’t be wearing the “C” because he wants MacInnis to wear it until they lose in the playoffs (-;

[San Jose head coach Ron] Wilson weighed in on the races for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) and Norris Trophy (best defenseman). Wilson said St. Louis defenseman Barret Jackman had made more of an impact as a rookie than Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg. But, Wilson added, “Three or four years from now, you’ll say Zetterberg’s the better player. I have no doubt there.” As for the Norris, he said St. Louis’ Al MacInnis had been more valuable to his team than the Wings’ Nicklas Lidstrom. But, Wilson added, “The best defenseman, without a doubt, is Lidstrom.”

Wilson makes a good point about Jackman. Being on such a good team probably hurts Zetterberg’s chances. It’s not like Jackman’s on a terrible team either, though. Too bad they both can’t win it……
More from Wilson.