1. The Red Wings have had an incredibly tumultuous season that has seen them lose over 300 man-games to injury.  Still, somehow, they have managed to find their way to the playoffs for the 23rd straight season, as they lost to the Penguins 3-2 in a shootout.

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The young players, such as Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheehan, and Dan DeKeyser, are the reason the Wings are where they are.  They are also the reason Detroit will be a dangerous playoff team, and the reason this streak has a chance to continue for several more years.

To do this in a league that has had a salary cap for the last ten seasons is remarkable.  They have not had a top-18 draft pick since 1990, and many of their main contributors are late-round picks.

The next order of business is trying to lock up the seven seed.  The Wings have 91 points, which is tied with Columbus, who is currently in seventh place.  The Blue Jackets hold the tiebreaker over Detroit.  Whichever team finishes eighth will have to play Boston, and the seventh seed will play a more banged up, vulnerable (in my opinion) Penguins team.

2.  The Tigers have major bullpen issues.  Joe Nathan, seemingly the only 'sure thing' in the pen this year, gave up three runs in his one inning of work last night, surrendering a 6-3 lead.  Detroit eventually took the lead on a Victor Martinez home run in the top of the tenth inning and ended up winning 7-6.  On the bright side, Ian Kroll looked very good out of the bullpen and Nick Castellanos belted his first career home run.

3. The Pistons got blown out by the Cavs 122-100.  Detroit appears to be locked in the eighth-worst record in the league, which gives them a good chance to hold on to their draft pick.

4. A good story by Mike Griffith of Mlive.com on Michigan State backup quarterback Tyler O'Connor.  O'Connor has slid down the depth chart with the emergence of Connor Cook and possibly Damion Terry, but O'Connor has no intentions to transfer at any point.

5. In baseball, Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton is out 6-8 weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb.  Hamilton got injured sliding headfirst into first base.

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Steve Miller is on-air from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. producing ‘Mad Dog in the Morning’ on The Game 730 AM.  Follow him on Twitter @SteveMilllerWVFN.

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