Welcome to the newest addition to the hockey coverage here at RealGM with our hockey blog called Hockey Talk. Running on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Hockey Talk will examine player and team trends, as well as take a more in-depth look at the game. This is an interactive project, so feel free to email your opinions to Douglas.Benton@realgm.com, and your thoughts may just appear in this space. January 4 It sounds like a broken record after all these years, but the Detroit Red Wings are once again the class of the NHL. Dominance is a good word to describe them, but I?m not sure it does them justice. Detroit (30-8-3) is second in goals per game, first in goals allowed per game, and has a goal differential average of 1.34. The next closet team is the Ottawa Senators at 0.79. They have also outshot their opponents by 11.4 shots per game, followed next by the New York Rangers at 4.9 shots. Left winger Henrik Zetterberg (25 goals, 27 assists) is playing at a MVP level, but it is the blue liner combination of Nicklas Lindstrom and Brian Rafalski which is setting the tone. Lindstrom has been a mainstay in Detroit and has continued his all-star play with an incredible +31 this season. However, the addition of Rafalski from the New Jersey Devils over the summer has proved to be the missing piece. He is third on the team in assists with 28 and has the highest goals per shot percentage amongst defensemen on the team. Also, don?t underestimate the impact his playing for the Devils is having on the Red Wings now and what it will have come playoff time. January 2 New Year?s Day was an important day for the NHL as their inaugural ?Winter Classic? took place between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. It was a 2-1 shootout win for the Penguins in a game which had to deal with some ice and weather problems. The league and NBC, however, got to spotlight their star in Sidney Crobsy, who scored the clincher in overtime. The day was a success overall for the NHL because it put the sport on a front page usually dominated by college football bowl games. Planning an event like this as a New Year?s tradition would be a wise step by Gary Bettman. The San Jose Sharks won their 10th straight road game on Monday by beating the Minnesota Wild 3-2. The Sharks (22-12-5) have been getting it done on defense being led by the excellent play of goaltender Evgeni Nabokov who is having a rebirth of a season with a 1.99 GAA. As a team, San Jose is second in goals allowed, only trailing the Detroit Red Wings. Even with center Joe Thorton ranking 5th in the NHL in assists at 33, the Sharks have struggled on offense, ranking 22nd in goals scored. They will need to get improvement, especially from forward Johnathan Cheecho, if they want to erase memories of playoff underachievement. December 31 The Los Angeles Kings have been the worst team in the NHL point-wise this season, but in back to back games this past weekend, the Kings won games at Coloroado and Chicago. The Kings came back from a third period deficit of one goal against the Avalanche and a two goal deficit against the Blackhawks. The Kings don?t have a roster full of answers and have holes to fill (like a steady goaltender). The Kings are 29th in the league in goals allowed at 3.26 which is only better than the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, they have two pieces in forwards Anze Kopitar, 20, and Dustin Brown, 23. Brown signed a 6-year extension earlier this season. Kopitar has 16 goals and 22 assists and a -10 rating. In the 13 Kings' victories he has played, he has eight goals, nine assists, and a +13 rating. Brown, on the other hand, has 16 goals to go with 14 assists and a -5 rating. After reading our first entry, be sure to check out the New Year?s outdoor game between Pittsburgh and Buffalo. These types of games are always exciting and a great way to market the game.