This way west trip is everything. If the Wings lose three it doesn't mean they're out of it, technically. It just confirms what many of us suspect: the horizon is disgusting and the trade deadline means less than ever and 35-1 odds are actually accurate.

35-1 odds. That's where Detroyet stands today, according to the wagering pharmacists.

We can argue it and scoff but it's steeped in fact. The Wings have a butt-ton of road games and they can't win on the road. The way west teams, and pretty much everybody, will brutalize this team because OH FOR THIRTY ANYTHING on the road PP is a good reason to take liberties.

It makes me sad. It does. But a turnaround, a nice little junket to the provinces? That could, you know, signal something nifty. But it has to be now, and it has to be convincing, because the road--literally--gets no easier.

It's a Live Blog, you bitches. And if you're not stressing now, you've resigned yourselves to this: mediocrity now, and maybe for the near future as long as the status quo remains behind the bench and upstairs where "kicking the tires" is, apparently, acceptable as long as you made a few cursory, empty, phone calls.

Howard's down with the flu. Ian White is...what? Felled by personal reasons? I don't care if the guy sits, but that's just...baffling.

Here we go. If the turnaround's gonna happen, it starts tonite.