NHL Dal-Det: Air Franzen

McKeen's correspondent/photographer Sharon Stead provides her first impressions on four possible NHL newcomers - Johan Franzen, Jimmy Howard, Shawn Belle and Vojtech Polak - from Thursday's preseason Detroit-Dallas matchup.

Jimmy Howard (G) - moves very well side to side and sees through traffic extremely well .. keeps his shape and is usually in good position, signs that he is already reading the game nicely at this level .. beaten on the first goal by Bill Guerin, who forced him to commit and go down early .. had no chance on Guerin's second goal as the Stars' gunner was left wide open and took advantage of an early pass .. but Howard held the fort to preserve the win as Dallas really came on strong in the third .. remained calm and collected throughout - never got rattled in spite of a number of scrambles just outside his crease most involving the Stars' heavy shooters, who logged a lion's share of the icetime .. stopped all three attempts in the postgame shootout (Guerin, Arnott, Zubov) .. came out aggressively to cut down his angles and reacted impressively against each of the shooters .. based on this performance, he should give MacDonald some competition for the No. 1 spot in GR, and might just be Detroit's first injury call-up.

Johan Franzen (C) the big unheralded Swede played a very solid game, scoring two of Detroit's three goals .. displayed impressive focus and intensity and used his size quite effectively .. doesn't seem to be fazed by the NHL, the new rules, or anything at all .. worked extremely hard at both ends of the ice and in the corners .. moves the puck, makes accurate passes and appears to see the ice well .. strong on his skates too and willing to take punishment to get the garbage goals .. the Wings definitely need players with this kind of grit .. one area he needs to improve in is face-offs as he didn't take many and mostly came up empty when he did.

Shawn Belle (D) - seemed tentative, especially in the corners, and wasn't nearly as aggressive a the player I saw last year in Tri-City .. did not fully use his great size and strength like he is capable of .. nevertheless, he still had good positioning and solid for the most part, particularly when Dallas was shorthanded .. seems to be getting a feel for the NHL though it also appears that there will be a learning curve.

Vojtech Polak (LW) - the first thing that comes to mind is wow - does this kid have some wheels! .. speedy and agile on his skates, though he seems to require a little more room than normal to build up to his top gear .. however this might not be as much of an issue with the new rules as there does seem to be more room to move around now.

Icebits: Lots of adjustment to the new rules, though I think in time they will prove to be a benefit .. like the delay-of-game penalty for anyone sending the puck out of play .. the Wings got caught for this twice and the Stars once that I remember, but I like that it doesn't give the players an easy out when the pressure's on .. and to see the looks on their faces - SO beating themselves up for it! .. the exhibition shootout was fun to watch - nice show for the fans .. glad it won't be used in the playoffs however .. personally, I don't think it should be in the Olympics either - see Shanahan, 1998.