Thanks to Southwest Airlines taking 40 minutes to get me my bags this morning, missed most of the morning fun at the St. Pete Times Forum. But I was able to hear coach Barry Melrose talk glowingly about the Red Wings. Melrose has a long history with the club with which he played 36 games over two seasons in the 1980s. He played four seasons for the AHL Adirondack Red Wings, and was a teammate of Detroit general manager Ken Holland. Melrose coached Adirondack for three years, winning the 1992 Calder Cup title.

"They are the model of every organization," Melrose said of the Red Wings. "Kenny Holland is the best general manager in the NHL. They're an aggressive team, but they have stability and don't panic, and I think that's great for other organizations to see. I think they are one of the five best organizations in the world in sports."

Olie Kolzig gets the start in net and Matt Pettinger gets into the lineup. Melrose said he wanted to try to generate some more offense with Pettinger, and he didn't want Kolzig sitting too long on the dispiriting loss in Washington.