Detroit’s Unlikely MMA Fighter and Powerplay Defenseman

By Rhys Richards ()

The Detroit Red Wings are 4 and 0. That represents the first time they have been 4 and 0 to start a season since they won the Stanley Cup in 2007-2008.  Detroit is on pace to win 82 games and will hoist the Cup.

Two of those statements are true, one unrealistic, and one potentially true, though a long season makes for a number of twists and turns that can derail any quest for the most famous trophy in all professional sports.

Red Wings fans should be more than optimistic based on the play of Ian White, Jakub Kindl, Jimmy Howard, and Ty Conklin, to name a few players who have played well in the first four games. Detroit fans should arguably be most excited by the play of 2010-2011’s biggest disappointment, Jiri Hudler.

Hudler spent the off-season training with John Chambers, the trainer for mixed martial arts star and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, in Montreal, Quebec. Hudler spent two-and-a-half months in Montreal training daily with MMA fighters, defenseman Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and right wing Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers.

That hard work is paying dividends in this young season as he is tied for the team lead in scoring and plus-minus with Johan Franzen with two goals and two assists and a plus-four. Hudler tipped in the tying goal in Detroit’s win over Minnesota at 3:46 in the third period last night.

At full strength, Hudler has seen time on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk, which should make Hudler and his fans salivate. For the past two games, he has skated on the second line with Valtteri Filppula and Franzen. He has really helped bring that second line together. Regardless which line Hudler plays with, he appears to be a lock for a top-six role in Detroit.

Detroit scored its first powerplay goal of the season last night in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Wild. While Hudler was not on the ice when the winning tally went in off of Franzen’s skate, the second unit has been impressive with Hudler on the point.

The Wings returned to the four-forward second powerplay against the Canucks on Thursday night. Hudler was again manning the point with Niklas Kronwall last night. Filppula, Franzen, and Cleary round out that unit with Todd Bertuzzi and Jakub Kindl snagging the occasional shift.

While the second powerplay unit did not tickle the twine, Hudler made several plays, especially against Minnesota, that were reminiscent of a less fleet-footed Sergei Federov on the blue line.

At full strength and on the powerplay, Hudler has been especially surprising when called into defensive service. He is back-checking and has even had the occasional takeaway in the defensive zone and he has made several brilliant plays to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the powerplay.

Time will tell whether “Happy” Hudler can keep up his current scoring pace and compete level, but fans can rest assured that the UFC is not likely to poach the services of the 5’10,” 182-pound Czech in the near future.

During the preseason, Hudler told The Windsor Star, “Don’t expect me to fight. Those (UFC) guys are in unbelievable shape.”  He added, “I wasn’t sure, but I went there. The way they work was unbelievable. There’s was no talking, just sweating. I was really happy about that.”

Detroitfans can tune in to watch Hudler work and sweat against the Columbus Blue Jackets next Friday at 7:30 at Joe Louis Arena. On Saturday, the Red Wings will travel to Washingtonfor a 7:00 tilt against the always-dangerous Capitals.

* Height, weight, and statistics obtained at .   

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