Posted by Jeremie Bellenir

12:00AM - Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Detroit Red Wings have long feasted on their opponents in the Western Conference's Central Division, but are the days of satisfying their hunger for winning with Blackhawks and Blue Jackets over? This week brings three more divisional games, two at home against Chicago and St. Louis, and the lone away game against the Blue Jackets. While devouring opponents in the Pacific and Northwest divisions on the way to a 13-4-1 record, the Red Wings are just 2-3-1 against teams in their own division.

This Saturday brings the pesky Blackhawks to Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. The Blackhawks, with new comers Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, are a fun group to watch. Handing the Red Wings three losses (two regulation and one shootout) with a 10-8-0 overall record, Chicago is just a handful of points behind Detroit for the division lead. What does this mean? Games against the Blackhawks have meaning. This is good news because the once fierce Original Six rivalry is inching closer and closer to restoration, and that is great news for the NHL.

Detroit won't have time to rest on their laurels, because they will find themselves in Columbus for a late afternoon match the very next day. The first meeting between these two teams handed the Blue Jackets a 4-1 loss, but this team is markedly improved under Ken Hitchcock, and will be eager to prove their above .500 record thus far is not a fluke. Hitchcock has players like Zherdev playing with motivation, and the stellar play of Pascal LeClaire finally has this team moving in the right direction.

Next Wednesday, Detroit will play St. Louis for the second time this season, losing Tuesday's tilt to the Blues 4-3. Under John Davidson, this team is also improved. St. Louis has been hovering around .500 waiting for veterans like Kariya, Rucinsky, Weight, and Tkachuk to get rolling, and they recently recalled Erik Johnson from Peoria. You may remember Johnson was the first overall choice of the 2006 draft. This hulking youngster was sent down for a short conditioning stint, but has a goal and three assists in only five games with the big club. In net, Manny Legace has been decent, but he will need to perform at a higher level if the Blues are to make a serious move in the division.

It is early in the season, but the Central looks to be competitive compared to years past, even with a stripped down Predators squad. Every team in this division currently has an above .500 record. Will this be the best division in hockey by seasons end? We can only speculate, and the question of continued Detroit dominance in the Central will only be answered with more time.

In other games...

If you are state side, have dual tuners on that DVR with the Centre Ice package, you'll want to record Hockey Night in
Canada this Saturday. Two Ontario teams will battle it out at Air Canada Centre when the Senators (Is Martin Gerber the story of the season thus far or what?) visit the Maple Leafs, and The Battle of Alberta will follow as the late contest. For a hockey fan, it doesn't get any better than this.