Reactions to new scheduling format

With the introduction of a new scheduling format, fellow hockey bloggers and news organizations are voicing their strong opinions regarding the matter. I want to first present many of the opinions out there before presenting my own.

Before getting to the opinions, let me cover some of the basic highlights of the 2005-2006 season regarding the Detroit Red Wings schedule. The season opener is against the St. Louis Blues at home on October 5. Every team will be playing that day to start off the regular season with a bang. In total, the Wings will play seven home and home series. Each team plays their division opponents a total of eight times. In the Wings’ case, they will see Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, and Columbus at home and then away four times a season.

They will also play all of their Western Conference opponents outside of the division (10 other teams). Against their Eastern Conference foes, the Wings only get to play a total of 10 games. Five Eastern Conference teams from one division will host the Wings. This season the Southeast Division, consisting of Tampa Bay, Florida, Washington, Atlanta, and Carolina, will all be visited by the Wings. Detroit hosts another five teams in the Eastern Conference. The Atlantic Division, composed of the Devils, Flyers, Rangers, Islanders, and Penguins, will visit Hockeytown. On December 12, Detroit will see Pittsburgh with their newly acquired phenom, Sidney Crosby.

For the traditional New Year’s Eve game, Joe Louis arena will feature Columbus v. Wings. On February 1, during Super Bowl week, the St. Louis Blues will visit Detroit. In the last week of October, the Wings play away in Columbus for two consecutive games then go on to play Chicago for three straight games.

While Hockeytown fans are pleased with the return of hockey, many aren’t overjoyed with the new schedule.

“It’s an absolute joke,” said David Miller, a 25-year season-ticket holder from West Bloomfield. “It used to be that there were games you wouldn’t give up your tickets for, regular-season games you looked forward to. That isn’t the case anymore.” 

Missing from this season’s schedule are fellow Original Six teams, Boston, Montreal, and Toronto. Instead, focus will be placed on divisional rivalries. Even Red Wings general manager, Ken Holland, acknowledges the increase of games against divisional foes. “There are some quirks in the schedule, where the league is trying to emphasize the divisional rivalries,” Holland said.

Original Six teams have been rivals for ages and always marking special and competitive games. However, the new scheduling changes will only allow the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers to visit Joe Louis only once every three years. The Wings host the Rangers on January 14. In an exhibition game on September 30, Toronto will make a brief appearance in Hockeytown. Unlike other leagues, the NHL stands apart with the history of the game and its Original Six teams. Many fans view this new scheduling format as ridicule to the sport and its history.

Rick Schulte of Wyandotte: “You can’t forget the history of the game, but with this schedule, the league is turning its back on that history.” 

Jennifer Starchenko of Woodhaven: “You’re taking away from the tradition of the game. Those rivalries are a big part of the NHL.”

Laura Agemak of Flat Rock: “Detroit is part of the Original Six. The hard-core hockey fans are going to be upset with this. They’ll miss those teams.”

Holland understands the fans’ frustration, but understands the NHL’s attempt to foster stronger divisional rivalries.

”I can go both ways,” he said. “On the one hand, not to play Toronto, Montreal and Boston, I can understand (fans’ frustration). You need rivalries and those are, and were, great rivalries. But we’re going to have to build other rivalries. The feeling around the league is when you start seeing teams more and more, you can build rivalries…I’d love to see more Montreal, more Boston and more Toronto. But there are some teams in the East that we don’t have any relationship with. Could they have handpicked certain teams? Maybe that’s something I can bring up at a general managers meeting down the road.” 

The Detroit News conducted an online poll asking readers the following: “No Toronto, no Montreal, no Boston for the Red Wings this season. But plenty of Columbus and Nashville. Is an NHL schedule that emphasizes intradivision play good for the game?” 90.06% of those who responded believed that it was not good for the game while 9.94% believed that intradivisional rivalries would help the game. Fans were also given the option to leave comments regarding the poll and their individual opinions. Here are some of the comments left:

GhostofProbert from Toledo, OH - “In a way, this is a totally rational move by the NHL, in that it essentially pits Original Six teams with huge drawing power (Detroit, Toronto) against smaller market teams, the very teams that need that boost to revitalize their fan base. Having said that, as both a fan and student of the game, this strategy totally ignores the history of the game. There should always be a special category of match-ups, in my opinion, the “Original Six” match-ups. This category of games should be ranked very highly in any optimization model (which is the technique used to devise the schedule) with the goal of maximizing these matchups (with other constraints). Unfortunately, hockey fans such as Detroit fans (of which I am obviously a member) are the least of the NHL’s worries…we are so loyal and Detroit such a strong market that, paradoxically, our wishes are ignored. I’m sure people in Toronto and Montreal are feeling the same pinch. 

T Unit from Sterling Heights, MI - “This is an outrageous demand that you put upon us as Detroit Red Wings fans. Gary Bettman and the NHL have already alienated so many fans with their stupidity in the last year, it is sad that we must go through yet another hardship. First we have to wait a year to see “professional hockey,” although it was entertaining to watch the mechanics play on UPN in place of the Wings. Then we have to ship out fan-favorite players because we’re not allowed to pay so much for them anymore under this new salary cap. Finally we have to play this annoyance of 24 games against St. Louis, Columbus, and Nashville. I’m not sure what the NHL is trying to do, but if they wanted the Red Wings to not be as dominant under this cap, it seems they might have made the wrong move. ‘Red-Wing-Proofing’ the NHL seems improbable when you give them 24 wins for free.”

Phil at The NHL is Back voiced his concerns, “Hey, at least you aren’t a Hawks or a Wings fan. They play each other back to back to back. That’s right. Three games in a row versus the same team.”

Brett at Red Line Sports believes that the 2005-2006 schedule really stinks.

This is how the NHL pays back the seventeen fans it has left? With all of the NHL’s jabbering about fixing the game and making it more fan friendly, which one would reasonably think should include marketing the snot out of it, the best the NHL think-tanks can come up with is this flaming dung-muffin. 

While Brett believes that emphasizing inter-conference especially intradivisional play will help build rivalries and limit travel costs/time, he is especially concerned with the inability to play most of the opposite conference. Forty percent of the schedule is spent playing within one’s division. You don’t need to play a grand total of eight games a season to develop a rivalry.

Some may say that the added divisional emphasis is long overdue. But, keep in mind that it comes with a price tag. A steep one. There will be no visits to Canuck-ville (or many Western teams) from the likes of Mario Lemieux, Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and the defeding Cup Champs, Dan Heatley & Ilya Kovalchuk, Martin Brodeur, Alexander Ovechkin, and more importantly, the NHL’s new poster child, Sidney Crosby. 

As a fan of hockey in general, I’m a little ticked off. As a fan of the Canucks, I’m downright choked.

A reader of Brett’s blog with the username Rethinking the NHL voiced his own thoughts:

They should consider making each team play 4 games against each divisional rival (16 games), 2 games against each team in the other conference (30 games), and 3 or 4 games against nondivisional foes within the conference (32 games). All in all, a nice 78-game schedule where every team hosts each of the other teams at least once and NO team plays more than two home games against the same team. Also, they should return to the win-loss-tie format that they never should have messed with in the first place (2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, zilch for a loss). 

Hockey Country, an Ottawa Senator blog, talked about how the new format affected the Sens:

With the new schedule set-up and a greater emphasis placed on inter-divisional play (which for the Sens means facing the Leafs and Habs eight times), we will unfortunately see less of the Western Conference clubs. In fact, the Sens don’t play a Western Conference team until December when the Kings come to town on the 2nd. Under the new-set up, every year, a team only plays teams from one division of the other conference. For the Sens, it’s the Pacific, which means the grueling West Coast road trips are still on tap (something I’m sure most Eastern teams are glad to be seeing less of). 

Eric at Off Wing Opinion has similar concerns to many fans and in a recent entry, his thoughts were covered in sarcasm:

In Denver, this means two more games with Vancouver. On Long Island, that means two more games with the hated Rangers. 

Here in Washington, it means six more games with Carolina, Atlanta and Florida. I’ve died and gone to heaven!

David Singer at The Ice Block strongly opposes Eric and others with the same opinions. He believes that Wings fans and other Original Six team fans should stop complaining.

The NHL can do no right according to some. 

You want more passion in your games? Have some rivalries says the NHL, and out come the whiners. “We don’t get to see every ‘Original Six’ team every year!”

Huh?! So? Who cares - the Wings played the Canadiens once in the 2003-04 season. Memorable it wasn’t - but hey - the jerseys were old school and we wouldn’t want to miss that! Complaining that the Habs-Wings game is being replaced by a divisional game against the Predators or Blue Jackets is just asinine. The Predators and Wings are developing a nice rivalry, one that probably would have blossomed well if there was a season last year (as they played a six-game playoff series against each other during the 2003-04 playoffs). The Blue Jackets are another new team, yes, but you’re also talking about adding games against the Blues and Blackhawks - and remember, rivalries will only grow with the increase in number of games played.

The reality is the Wings will play the Habs, but instead of once per season, it’s twice in one season every three years. The reduction is one game per three seasons. Wow, break out the Kleenex, I can only imagine the intense game that we’ll all miss.

But David seems to be in the minority, Boltsmag doesn’t even want to think about all the games Tampa Bay plays against their divisional foes: “I get sick looking at how many times the Lightning play the Panthers or Hurricanes or Thrashers (sidenote - any other Tampa Bay resident mistaking THrashers for Threshers lately?). The Panthers and Bolts play a home-and-home series on the 7th and 8th of October and 2 games within a week in April.”

Melissa, who just started a blog covering Colorado for Most Valuable Network, believes that this format will make certain teams (like Tampa, Detroit, or even San Jose) easy conference titles while weakening other teams’ chances.

She points out that in the Central Division, Detroit brought in a divisional, conference, and league title with 109 points. St. Louis and Nashville nearly missed the cut with 91 points. Other division teams, Chicago and Columbus, weren’t even close. Respectively, they had 59 and 62 points placing Chicago second to last in the entire league. Melissa is worried about her team, Colorado. The Avs took fourth overall in their conference with 100 points placing only second in their division. The Canucks were up by one point and the Flames finished behind the Avs with 94 points (3 more than Nashville and St. Louis). While Minnesota and Edmonton did not make the playoffs, they at least were up on the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets by over 20 points.

By adding two more games against each divisional opponent, her worries only compound. Melissa can only hope that with the new salary cap teams like Chicago and Columbus will now be placed on a more equal competitive level with Detroit. This makes Colorado in a similar boat with Detroit instead of last season’s disparity. “That way, if the Avalanche are facing relatively equal and tough opponents, at least their non-divisional opponents will also have to work harder to earn their points.” Another chance to even out the field will be the new points format. Without ties, stronger teams in weak divisions won’t gain as many points. At least hopefully for her team.

She also noted a similar or even worse difference in the Eastern Conference between the Northeast and Southeast divisions.

The Northeast Division is probably the most competitive division in the entire league: 4 out of the 5 teams made it into the playoffs, and of the 4 teams, 3 teams had over 100 points. Furthermore, the only team that didn’t make the playoffs, Buffalo, was only 6 points behind the last 3 playoff teams, and ranked second among non-playoff teams, eighteenth in the league overall. Meanwhile, the Southeast Division was probably the least competitive in the NHL. Tampa was the only team in the division to earn a playoff berth; the other 4 teams, Atlanta, Carolina, Florida and Washington weren’t even close, together averaging a mere 72 points total. 

In my mind, everyone brings up very valid points. As a hockey fan, I really don’t want to play any team eight times a season much less Columbus. While our rivalry with Nashville was already building in the 2003-2004 season, I don’t want to watch back-to-back games against the Blue Jackets. And the fact that I can’t watch my beloved team face off with historically strong Original Six rivals is really disappointing. I realize that even before the lockout the Wings didn’t yearly play Toronto or Montreal, but I had hoped that with the new CBA a change would happen.

My favorite aspect of the game is the rivalry. I remember last Christmas watching the infamous Wings game against Colorado with “The Turtle.” My Dad and I started off watching the game at a party. Within ten minutes, the room filled with cousins and uncles surrounding the big screen cheering on Darren McCarty, Brendan Shanahan, and more. I especially took great delight in watching Roy take a beating. While I realize that the Wings will play Colorado four times this season, they’ll be losing competitive rivalry games against the Rangers, Bruins, Canadiens, and Maple Leafs.

Posted in: Features, NHL News | Comments(5) | July 30, 2005

7/28 Notes

I love how there is so much Red Wings hockey to talk about and the season hasn’t even started! The Red Wings have announced the new assistant coaches, Shanny picked up his option, Goodenow resigned, and McCarty’s letter to the fans was published in the Detroit Free Press.

New Assistant Coaches
The Detroit Red Wings announced today that they have hired Paul MacLean as an assistant coach. The other assistant coach will be officially announced tomorrow, July 29th, according to detroitredwings.com. Unofficially, Todd McLellan will join Mike Babcock and MacLean. Barry Smith and Joe Kocur will not be returning as members of the coaching staff.

The 2005-2006 season will mark MacLean’s third season in the NHL and also as assistant to Babcock. Before assisting Babcock, he was the head coach if the Quad City Mallards of the UHL between 2000 and 2002. The Mallards won the Colonial Cup Championship in 2001 and went 112-27-9.

“Paul brings a great deal of experience as player and coach,” said Babcock. “The success we’ve had in the past and the relationship we have will help us do great things in Detroit. He’s a former Red Wing and will be a great addition to our staff.” 

Aside from coaching in the UHL, he also was the head coach for the Kansas City Blades (IHL) from 1997-2000. In 1994, he received the Hockey News Minor League Coach of the Year when he lead the Peoria Rivermen to a division title going 51-24-6. He also scouted for the St. Louis Blues in 1991-1993.

Between 1980 and 1991, MacLean played for Winnipeg, Detroit, and St. Louis. In 719 regular season games, he scored 324 goals and 349 assists. In the 1984-1985 season, he had a career high 101 points when he was then named to the Campbell Conference All-Star Team. When playing in Detroit, MacLean played on a line that still holds the record for most goals and points. His linemates were Steve Yzerman and Gerard Gallant.

Brian at On The Wings covers Todd McLellan’s coaching background:

As for Todd McLellan, he was the head coach of the Houston Aeros of the AHL, affiliate to the Minnesota Wild. McLellan has never missed the playoffs in all of his professional coaching, and led the Aeros to the 2003 Calder Cup Championship. He has been successful at coaching at all levels of minor league play, from the IHL to AHL to WHL, enjoying coach of the year and all star game honors. A sharp contract to the success of his NHL career, which lasted a mere 5 games during the 1987-88 season with the Islanders. 

Shanny exercises option
Brendan Shanahan will return this season while earning $2.4 million. In 2003-2004, Shanny finished with 53 points, 25 goals and 28 assists. “He can do a lot of things,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “He’s a veteran, he’s a leader, and he can score goals.” Shanahan was one of the bright figures during the lockout when he brought together players, coaches, broadcasting personnel, and front office executives to talk about rule and competition changes. This December meeting has been coined the Shanny Summit.

Darren McCarty’s Letter to Fans
July 28, 2005

Don’t be sad it’s over — be happy it happened.

In the past few days, since the official word came of the buyout and as the status of my contract teetered, the reality that I’m not going to be a Red Wing anymore has set in, and I’ve taken some time to reflect.

I don’t know if it’s maturity (’cause if you know me, that’s never been an issue) or the painstaking reality of the past 12 months without hockey. Either way, I’m saddened to leave an organization in a place where I’ve grown up, raised a family, been part of a first-class and first-rate team, won three Stanley Cups and achieved great personal success.

But looking back, what I really feel is gratitude — thankful for the opportunity to realize a childhood dream to play for my childhood team. Grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch and their entire family for letting this boy become a man and always treating my family as one of their own. Grateful to the entire Red Wing organization from Ken Holland and his staff, to John Hahn and Anne Marie Krappmann in the PR department for their ever tireless effort. Grateful to Piet Van Zant and Paul Boyer for patching me up and getting me back out on the ice. Grateful for the support and memories from everyone at the Joe whom I will miss seeing daily, and thankful to the media for not only their endless support of myself but in the way they’ve always supported the McCarty Cancer Foundation and my band Grinder.

What will I miss most about playing hockey in Detroit? That’s simple. The fans. From the day-to-day coffee stop or gas station conversation to the people who say hello on the street or ask for an autograph at the checkout, there are no greater fans than those in Detroit.

These are the great things about my time as a Red Wing that I will always remember no matter where I go. Thank you to all of you. But please don’t shed a tear ’cause it’s over — crack a smile ’cause it happened, and no one can ever take that away. I’ll always be a Red Wing at heart, and Detroit will always be my home.

Much love to you all,

Darren McCarty, Red Wings No. 25

Reactions to McCarty’s absence
Tuesday night McCarty thanked fans by signing hundreds of autographs (and shook hands and posed for photographs) at J. Baldwin’s restaurant in Clinton Township where he along with his band, Grinder, attended a benefit. The benefit honored the Grinder’s bass player, Jim Anders, who died two months ago. Anders left a wife and year old son. “It’s great. I mean, think about it, people have spent the time to come out here just to say goodbye. It’s so cool. I love that. A guy comes up to me and says, ‘Dude, we’re having bike night up the street. You wanna come?’ I mean, he knows I’d go if I could,” McCarty said. A 43 year old lady from St. Clair Shores who stood in line outside the restaurant for over an hour, “We’re going to miss you, Darren, we really are,” Marcie Ballard said.

McCarty also talked to the Detroit News about his reaction to the buyout.

“It’s hard, it really is…It’s obviously disappointing because this is the only place I’ve ever played and I grew up here. But you know what? I’ll always be a Red Wing at heart. This will always be home. And even though I won’t be playing, I’ll be cheering for the team. I’m just very grateful for the opportunity and the success and all the things I’ve been able to accomplish here in Detroit. The support of the fans…I just can’t say thank you enough,” McCarty told The Detroit News. 

Bob Goodenow resigns
After meeting with other members of the Executive Committee about the NHLPA’s future, Bob Goodenow will no longer be the NHLPA Executive Director and General Counsel.

“With the conclusion of the negotiations and the ratification of the new agreement, the parties concur that this is an appropriate action for the future. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the Players over the past 15 years and to have had the support of a tremendous staff at the NHLPA. I wish the Players every success under the new CBA,” Goodenow said. 

Ted Saskin, previously the Senior Director of Business Affairs and Licensing, will be replacing Goodenow.

“I have enjoyed working closely with Bob for the Players over the last 15 years. I know how dedicated Bob has been to the Players. I plan to continue to serve them by building on the strong base that Bob created at the NHLPA.” 

I only wish that Gary Bettman would be next to go. I know that with the owners success, this is only a wish of mine. Brian also chimed in about Goodenow and Bettman:

While not something being speculated on lately, this comes as pretty expected. Almost 80% of the NHLPA broke rank with Goodenow’s hardline stance in the CBA vote when Goodenow refused to personally endorse it. He obviously isn’t a good representative of the players at that point, and I’m sure they asked him to resign before formally firing him. 

Now I know everyone’s going to say “one down, one to go” in reference to calling for Gary Bettman to resign as well, but I just don’t see that happening. He just won a landslide victory for the owners, and from that he enjoys overwhelming support from the Board of Governors.

Posted in: Wings News | Comments(0) | July 28, 2005

Yzerman offered one year contract

The Detroit News reports that Steve Yzerman has been offered a one year contract earlier today at lunch.

Steve Yzerman could officially be back with the Red Wings by Saturday. Yzerman, 40, was offered a one-year contract by the Red Wings Wednesday at a Toronto lunch with general manager Ken Holland and senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano. Financial terms of the offer were not disclosed. “We offered Steve a one-year contract and he said he’ll get back to us by the end of the week,” Holland said. 

The Wings are likely to make some sort of announcement at Saturday’s NHL entry draft in Ottawa. The Wings had hoped to have an answer from Yzerman before the unrestricted free-agent period begins Monday.

Holland believes Yzerman can be a significant addition to the Wings this season. “I want Steve to play this year,” Holland said. “With the new coaching staff, he can be a tremendous asset to the coaches with his leadership in the locker room. He has some great hockey left in him.”

In other news, Darren McCarty has made a five paragraph open letter to the fans.

Darren McCarty may no longer be a Red Wing, but in an open letter to Detroit fans, he says his heart will always be with the team, and Detroit will remain his home. 

“Please don’t shed a tear ’cause it’s over,” McCarty says in the five-paragraph open letter, obtained Wednesday by the Free Press. “Crack a smile ’cause it happened, and no one can ever take that away.”

The 33-year-old forward, who was on three Stanley Cup championship teams with the Wings, was placed on waivers Monday, and his contract was bought out by the team on Tuesday.

In the letter, signed with his name and the number he wore for the Wings, McCarty said “looking back, what I really feel is gratitude — thankful for the opportunity to realize a childhood dream to play for my childhood team.”

You can read the entire letter to fans tomorrow in the Detroit Free Press.

I’m not one much for rumors, but Kuklas Korner has heard from a source that Barry Smith will not remain as assistant coach for the Wings. It appears that Kocur will be offered some position within the organization, but no longer as assistant coach.

Posted in: Wings News, Yzerman | Comments(0) | July 27, 2005

7/26 Notes

Sorry that I’ve been MIA over the past few days even with all of the hockey news circling around. I have a bad sinus infection and it hurts to move- bad headaches are the worst! But anyways, I want to quickly touch upon a variety of topics. Detroit Red Wings’ buyouts, Pavel Datsyuk, Mark Mowers, and Steve Yzerman.

McCarty, Hatcher, & Whitney placed on waivers
As many of you have probably heard by now, Darren McCarty, Derian Hatcher, and Ray Whitney have been put on waivers.

“For a whole lot of reasons we needed to buy those guys out,” Holland said. “First off, we were at $31 million with 12 players signed. We’re going to go to about $36 million or $38 million on our payroll and leave some flexibility there in case of injury. When you need to sign 10 more players and you have only $4 million, it doesn’t take a genius to say the math doesn’t add up.” 

But this wasn’t only a short-term fix. Holland has an eye to the future as well.

“Another factor is that all three of those players had deals that are longer than one year. And going into next summer, not knowing what the new cap number will be, unrestricted free agency will be 29 not 31, and for eight pro seasons not 10, so we needed to look ahead,” Holland said.

If they aren’t picked up within 24 hours, they will be bought out at up to 67% of their total contract. “They’ve been a big, big part of our franchise,” Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. “This is just a part of doing business right now with the new CBA.”

McCarty, a fan favorite, has played for Detroit for 11 seasons. He stood to earn $1.71 million if he hadn’t been put on waivers. I wasn’t surprised about these three being chosen, but it’s so weird to think that McCarty will be playing for another team next season. “It wasn’t a surprise,” McCarty said in an interview with WDFN-1130. “Everybody has to restructure.” If you haven’t already read it, you can view my Behind the Jersey column about McCarty, No. 25, here. I’ve always personally admired his hard work, gritty style, and his community service. “He’s a hardworking, roll-up-your-sleeves kind of guy,” Nill said. “He’s really what the city’s all about. He came every night to play hard.”

Two winters ago, I stood in line at Hockeytown Authentics for 3-4 hours in 25 degree weather to get an 8×10 photo of McCarty signed. The rules were: 1 item may be signed and no personalizations. The fee was at least one pair of mittens/hats/gloves for a local charity. I had recently finished reading his dad’s book (Craig McCarty) about his fight with cancer and his son’s hockey career. I had brought that book along with the photo. My brother brought a puck. When it was my turn in line, he signed the photo and the puck. He then noticed the book in my hand. He then asked for my name and wrote a quick message inside the cover:

Christy,
Enjoy the Book!
Darren McCarty 25 

For someone who had already signed over 500 items, it was a very nice gesture for him to sign two of my items. And one of them was personalized. The book, Rinkside, remains one of my favorite of many Red Wings memorabilia decorating my room. I realized that McCarty hasn’t been the strength to the team that he used to, but it saddens me to see him leave. I saw a brief interview that he did with Channel 7 here in Detroit and you could trace absolutely no bitterness to the team or city. He plans to live here in the summers and his kids will continue to attend school here in Detroit. His daughter, Emerson, just finished her Kindergarten year at my high school. I wish Darren the best of luck and maybe for the 2006-2007 season we can negotiate some sort of deal to get him back here in Hockeytown.

Hatcher, also a Detroit native, may be returning back to Dallas. He would’ve cost the team $4.94 million this upcoming season and that’s including the 24% rollback. Unfortunately, we never really got to see what impact Hatcher could have in his hometown. After tearing his ACL in the third game, he came back as a different player. I’ve torn my ACL. I’ve had the surgery. And I’m waiting to have my ACL revised again. I can’t even imagine coming back from the surgery close to playoff time and people expecting you to perform at 100%. I was hoping we’d have the opportunity to see what he could really do when he had enough time to fully recover. I’m also disappointed to see him leave because I was so excited when I found out he was coming “home.”

Whitney, on the other hand, will not be missed as much. Like Brian pointed out at On the Wings, Whitney only finished the 2003-4 season with 14 goals and 29 assists.

As for Whitney, I could care less he’s gone. If you’re worried about losing his numbers (14 goals and 29 assists), remember that most of his points came off of second assists. Numbers like that are not impressive when you’re on the Wings - the best offensive team in the league with highly skilled linemates. I’m sure his bought out salary can be well spent on another forward out there… 

Wings sign Mark Mowers
The Detroit Red Wings have reportedly signed Mowers to a one year deal valued at the league’s minimum, $450,000. The Detroit News, however, says that the Wings picked up an option year on Mowers’ contract valued at $375,000. But that would change to match the league’s minimum, I’m sure. “You just don’t know what the market’s going to be,” said Mowers. “Some days I thought (the new structure) would help me and some days I thought it could hurt me.”

Problems signing Datsyuk
TSN.ca reports that Holland has gotten his payroll to $22 million with 9 players. Obviously, the players who really need to be signed are young star forwards, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. TSN heard rumors that Datsyuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, has spoken of his client’s careful consideration to an offer from Moscow Dynamo. He reportedly talked about how it was a good deal and it’s now up to the Wings to compete. “My client is one of the best players in the NHL. He deserves a great deal,” Greenstin told Booth newspapers. “Both Pavel and I would like him to stay in Detroit and finish his career there. But it’s a business. Now Detroit has to make a move.”

Is Yzerman coming back?
As we all know, Steve Yzerman is either going to finish his career here in Detroit this next season or his last moment as a Red Wings player ended when the puck deflected into his eye. “I would like to end my career on a positive note,” Yzerman said, “but we’ll determine that soon.”

The Red Wings organization would obviously want to see Yzerman return for another year. “We want him back. He’s a tremendous leader, we still believe he’s got some real good hockey left in him. I think he should go out playing the game on the ice,” Holland said. He plans to meet with Yzerman soon to discuss his future. No contract offer has been created or presented yet. They just plan on talking. “I’m looking forward to sitting down and talking to Steve,” Holland said Tuesday from Detroit. “Beyond that, I have no idea if Steve wants to play or doesn’t want to play. I’ve made no contract offer to Steve. We just are planning to meet.”

Yzerman would’ve earned $4.5 million if the lockout hadn’t wiped out the 2004-2005 season. He will obviously need to sign for less if he is to remain on the team. What he’ll settle for is the big question. “It’s up to Stevie,” Ilitch said. “If he feels he wants to play another year, he’ll play another year. He’ll have to make that call, and I think it’s going to be shortly.” Yzerman won’t want to stay on the team for a farewell tour or as a pity case. He’ll want to make sure he can be of an asset to the team while being fairly compensated. “He can make us a better team. When you think of the Detroit Red Wings, you think of Steve Yzerman. I think he should go out playing the game on the ice,” Holland said.

In an interview on the WXYT 1270 radio program, “The Big Show,” Yzerman commented on the situation.

“If it makes sense to come back, I will, and if the right thing is to step aside, I will, and we’ll determine that in the next few weeks…It’s not really a tough decision. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. I think it will be an easy decision…and I’ll make the right decision for the Detroit Red Wings.” 

Another worry for Yzerman is his health. He commented that his knee would’ve had an easier time adjusting between a four to five month period, but “this will be 18 months,” he said, a reference to NHL regular-season games resuming this fall, “and that’s too much.” Ilitch also brought up Yzerman’s injuries.

“We all want to have him come back, but he’s 40 years old, and he’s had some serious injuries the last couple of years,” Ilitch said. “I don’t know what the extent of those injuries are today, if they’re lingering-type injuries, but he’s a very well-conditioned athlete, probably one of our best. You never worry about his shape. 

On August 14, Yzerman plans to attend Team Canada’s training camp.

Yzerman has heard of only good things about new head coach, Mike Babcock, from his close friend, Steve Thomas (who played for Babcock in Anaheim). “I don’t believe he’s as defensive-minded as he is portrayed to be,” Yzerman said. “His teams are aggressive, play at high tempo. I think he’ll fit in well.” Yzerman also admitted to the Detroit Free Press that he immediately noticed that the new head coach is only two years older than himself. “It wouldn’t be awkward,” Yzerman said. “Maybe we can hang out together.”

Posted in: Wings News | Comments(2) | July 26, 2005

Status of Wings’ Assistant Coaches

Within the next week, the assistant coaches to Mike Babcock will be announced. The question is: will he stick with Barry Smith/Joey Kocur or bring his assistants from Anaheim (Lorne Henning/Paul MacLean)? Personally, I think it would be interesting to compromise- keep Barry Smith and combine him with Henning or MacLean. Smith is a great coach and someone who I believe would still be a strong asset to the team. He knows the players and can help Babcock adjust to a new team. He can help the players make the transition a smoother one from one head coach to another. On the other hand, I don’t see how Babcock will keep Kocur. Maybe he’ll go back to his job as video coach or something, but I don’t see Kocur being a valuable fixture to the coaching staff.

But would it be better for a completely fresh start? New head coach. New assistant coaches. New CBA. Possibly new players. I know Holland doesn’t want the team to remain stale, but after the Bowman/Lewis era- will it be to much of an adjustment with an entirely new coaching staff?

It’ll be interesting to see who Babcock picks for his staff in the coming week. Smith told the media on Monday that he will be meeting with Babcock later this week. Holland hasn’t decided what would be best for the team in this situation: “Is it important to have a (previous) assistant that’s going to give Mike knowledge about the players and how players handle certain situations?” Holland said. “Or is it important to have a totally new staff, where players don’t have any comfort level and are trying to impress the staff? I’m not going to force anybody on Mike, and he’s not going to force anything. We’re going to work together.”

In other news…
Holland and Nill went to New York for a meeting on Sunday with other NHL officials. There they received a crash course in the new CBA. Comments on the specifics of this agreement will not be allowed until its ratification.

Holland is praying for a miracle in landing the number one pick in the entry draft on Thursday during the lottery. The Detroit Red Wings have been given one ball. Detroit has a 2.08% chance of winning the top prize, Sidney Crosby. “We’re going to go to church and be on our knees for a week, like every other team in the league,” he said. “There’s a special player (Sidney Crosby) out there.”

Unrelated Detroit Pistons rambling…
Is anyone else upset that the Detroit Pistons fired Larry Brown? In the two years he has been here, he led the team to an NBA championship and to the finals. Are they crazy? Sure he has some health problems and has now coached for 10 different teams (both NBA and college)- but he wanted to still coach the Pistons! There was another year in him, why not wait until the 2005-2006 season is over? Ugh.

“This is just one of more unique scenarios I’ve ever seen,” Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer said. “That a successful coach doing a successful job parts ways with an organization. That doesn’t happen often. It happened with Doug Collins when he was replaced by Phil Jackson way back when, and it happened with Rick Carlisle when they brought in Larry Brown. And this is the only other time I can think of. “ 

I’m really sad to see Brown leave. He was a great coach who really gelled well with his players. It’ll be interesting to see how this next season goes. I mean the team really floundered when Brown missed 17 games for a hip replacement and bladder surgery.

I had two unbelievable seasons there,” Brown said. “This kind of sets me back a little bit. I love that team. I’m going to miss them.” 

As for what he will do next, Brown said: “I really don’t know what’s next because that really wasn’t an issue until now. Many people haven’t gotten the opportunities that I have, and I’m thankful for that.”

His agent, Joe Glass, told the Bloomberg News Service earlier in the day: “There’s no ands or buts about it. There’s no point in mincing words. There are two very indisputable facts. One, Larry is willing and able to coach, and two, the team doesn’t want him.”

Reportedly, the sides had been negotiating since last week. Brown will be leaving the Pistons with $6 million and the opportunity to coach another NBA team this upcoming season. The New York Knicks may become Brown’s next home while Flip Saunders (former Minnesota Timberwolves) seems to be one of the leading candidates for the Pistons’ head coach position.

Posted in: Wings News | Comments(2) | July 19, 2005

Hockey is back

Mike Babcock, the new head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, will help the team transition from big spenders loaded with hall of fame players to suppressed spenders relying more heavily on the youthful stars.

It finally came. The announcement that the NHL and NHLPA had finally reached a tentative deal after 301 lost days. All it takes to ratify the agreement is a majority vote by the NHL board of governors and NHLPA. Assuming that the new CBA deal is ratified, the Detroit Red Wings will come back as a different team. New coach with a fresh approach of coaching. Many of the older players will have to move on because the Wings simply cannot afford them or would rather go in a younger direction. In the 2003-2004 hockey season I started thinking that the Detroit Red Wings were becoming a stale team. Same core of players and coaches. They became stale. The younger Tampa Bay squad took the Stanley Cup.

Ken Holland started thinking the same way and decided to finally switch things up. When he saw the tentative deal on the horizon, Holland started shopping around for coaches. Mike Babcock was the coach for Holland. Holland believed that Dave Lewis, who has been with the Wings organization for the last 18 years, would be an amazing coach with a team other than the Wings. “I can understand where Kenny was coming from,” forward Kirk Maltby told WXYT-AM (1270). “Maybe the one downfall was that (Lewis) was too nice of a guy. That’s not to say he couldn’t make the tough decisions, but that he didn’t. I’m not sure if he was afraid to step on toes.” A friend of mine recently bumped into Ted Lindsay at a funeral. He was quite upset that Lewis was leaving and believed that Dave was doing a solid job.

Holland thinks Babcock is exactly what the organization needs at this important time. “He has tremendous passion for the game. He has tremendous energy,” Holland said. “He’s got specific ideas in mind on how he wants to the team to play, how he wants the players to play. He’s the boss. He’ll give the players the parameters whereby they can do whatever they do, and if they step outside the boundaries Mike will deal with it.”

As a team with a lot of veterans (we’ll see how the CBA effects that number), Babcock refuses to let them take it easy.

“I believe in leadership. I believe in being the best in the world at what I do…When you don’t make people accountable, it leads to a superstar mentality where not everyone on the team is important…Maybe the most exciting thing is that I’m coming here to join a family in Detroit that’s philosophy is based totally on a passion for winning,” Babcock said. 

Babcock received a degree in physical education from McGill University in Montreal and later performed graduate work in sports psychology. His education background helps him coach the players’ mental and emotional aspect. Babcock focuses on how the mental and emotional state of a player affects his game.

“Jimmy (Devellano, vice president of the Wings) and Ken (Holland, general manager) got a competitive, fiery guy, who can kick over a garbage can or slam a door,” said ESPN analyst Barry Melrose, a former NHL coach with the Los Angeles Kings. “He’s a motivator and a passionate guy. He got more out of those guys in Anaheim than other guys could have, and to me that’s a sign of a good coach. Do the same with Detroit’s lineup and you’ll win a Stanley Cup.” 

Babcock loves to use a grinding style of hockey to physically beat the opponent when their on the defensive. This brand disrupts the opposing team’s offensive flow and creates offensive opportunities for his team. This style fits the Wings’ style of play – grittiness and hard work as seen in the “Grind Line.”

“He’s a very intelligent coach who I think has been unfairly portrayed as a defensive-only coach,” said Al Strachan, a columnist for the Toronto Sun and a regular contributor on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada telecasts.

“He’s a coach who has that ability to see what’s needed to win and he has a subsequent ability to take advantages as they exist. 

When he was in college hockey, he was very offensive-minded. And if the rules are changed to reward offense (the NHL is considering changes ahead of the 2005 season), he’s smart enough to institute a system that will take advantage of it.”

Strachan also believes that Babcock could put fear in his players where they’ll produce. Lewis couldn’t do that after being with the organization so long especially as assistant coach.

“People were terrified of Scotty,” Strachan said. “Players will tell you fear is a good thing — that being afraid of losing, afraid of a coach, motivates better players to play as well as they can. I don’t think anybody was afraid of (Lewis). He was just too nice of a guy. But Babcock can be tough, he can be very sarcastic. He can put guys in their place. He has almost a Hitchcock-like (current Flyers coach Ken) ability to be a friend and a psychotherapist. He’s a modern coach and that’s a good thing to have in Detroit.” 

Babcock will be responsible in this upcoming transition season where he must develop younger players like Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Jiri Hudler, Jiri Fischer and Niklas Kronwall while pushing the veterans. These players will be whom the Wings rely heavily on over the next season.

“There are some great, great players here. Unbelievable passers. I think on the backend that you have some guys who can really get the puck going upfront,” Babcock said. “You have so much skill and obviously the leadership of Stevie Yzerman. You can’t say enough about that. We want to play an uptempo game, we want to get after the other team and we want to be entertaining, but we want to win.” 

Scotty Bowman has called Babcock a “passionate man.” While living in Cincinatti, Babcock grew close with the neighborhood kids who he’d spend time with whether it was hockey, football, etc. His neighbors’ son, Jeffrey Hayden, was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was coach of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Jeffrey died in September of 2003 where upon Babcock delivered the eulogy at the funeral. Along with Jeffrey’s parents, they created a website, www.jthf.org, to try to increase awareness of pediatric brain tumors. “He’s been a great friend of our family,” Tim Hayden said. “He gave a wonderful eulogy that people still talk about today.” Babcock also lost his mother, Gail, to cancer. “Mike and his mom were extremely good friends,” Mike Sr. said. “When she died, I would say that was the biggest loss of his life.” Babcock’s agent’s brother and his friend’s son both died of brain cancer. With so many close ties to brain cancer, Babcock has remained involved in the Jeffrey Thomas Hayden Foundation since its start 10 months ago. “There were some kids in California that were going through some bad times,” Hayden said. “Mike gives the parents his cell phone and says, ‘Tell the kids to call when they’re feeling down.’ And Mike ends up calling and asking how they’re doing.” He doesn’t mind giving his phone number to so many kids because “if I can talk to someone on the phone for five minutes and make their day, I’ll do it.”

During the lockout, he worked with the foundation, which hopes to give parents a place to share experiences and a safe place to disclose medical information with families who can’t travel far for a second opinion. Babcock then met with several cancer organizations and then got the NHL involved. “I’m not surprised,” Hayden said. “That’s Mike. It’s his thing. What he dedicates his free time to, this is it.”

The Haydens are excited for Babcock to move closer to Cincinnati and believe that Mike will appreciate Detroit. “He’s not afraid to be in Hockeytown,” Tim Hayden said. “I think he’s going to like it a lot better than Hollywood. Detroit’s a hockey town, and he’s a hockey guy. The guy breathes hockey. I hope the people take to him.”

Look for Post #2 of Hockey is back coming soon (sorry it wasn’t finished Saturday like originally promised)!

Posted in: Features, Wings News | Comments(0) | July 16, 2005

Babcock to coach Wings

The Associate Press reports that the Detroit Red Wings will officially announce Mike Babock as their new coach Friday morning at a press conference in Joe Louis Arena. This announcement comes directly after the tentative deal made yesterday between the NHL and NHLPA. Team spokesman John Hahn said Thursday that Babcock had agreed to become the Wings coach. When I have time, I’ll go into more detail with reactions to the tentative deal, Wings’ new coach, and how this will affect the Wings’ team.

Posted in: Wings News | Comments(0) | July 14, 2005

Tentative CBA Deal Reached!

To be totally and completely honest, I don’t have time right now to truly update but I plan to do so later. And I love how the baseball all-star game is going on in Detroit but the Detroit News’ website places the hockey deal headline over all the all star events. :)

So there has been a tentative CBA deal reached and all that needs to be done for it to be finalized is a majority vote in the NHLPA and NHL. The NHL Board of Governors will vote to ratify the CBA next Thursday (needs 16 out of 30 owners). The NHLPA will vote on Tuesday with 350+ players needed to ratify the CBA.

The CBA consists of a six year agreement with a player out-clause after four years. The agreement itself is a whopping 600+ pages. Brian at On the Wings helped to summarize some of the important points.

Among the terms of the new CBA: 

-hard team-by-team salary cap between $21-39 million (for the first year and including all player costs). This range will move up or down in the following years with the changing revenues -player costs must not exceed 54% of revenues
-24% salary rollback for all existing contracts, 2004-2005 contracts nullified
-liberal free agency (UFA status at 31 in 2005, 29 in 2006, 28 in 2007, 27 in 2008)
-improve pension benefits and revenue sharing plans
-more restrictive entry level system ($850,000 with bonuses up to approx $4 million)
-two-way salary arbitration
-percentage of salaries put into escrow
-no player can earn more than 20% of the team payroll, meaning $7.4 million is the maximum salary for next season
-revenue sharing where top ten clubs donate funds to bottom ten
-buyouts at two-thirds
-participation in 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy

Yay hockey will hopefully be back!

Posted in: NHL News | Comments(2) | July 13, 2005

Dave Lewis no longer Wings coach

The Associated Press reports that Dave Lewis will no longer be the Red Wings’ coach after two seasons plus a lockout year. GM Ken Holland announced this at a press conference today. Holland gave insight into their reason for not renewing Lewis’ contract.

“I worry that Dave has made the transition as much as he could from assistant to head coach,” Holland said. “Of course, how could Dave grab their attention? He’s been here forever. I think he did an unbelievable job of making the transition, but you can only go so far.” 

This will be the first season Lewis hasn’t been on the Wings’ staff since 1987. Holland told Lewis the news yesterday. “He was obviously very disappointed, but I also think he understood,” Holland said.

Like rumored, this event will surely allow Mike Babcock to find his way to Hockeytown. However, Holland denies that anything has been final and he has other coaches he’d like to consider aside from Babcock. “I have had conversations with Mike Babcock and his adviser over the past week,” Holland said. “He is not hired. I expect to have further conversations with him and/or his adviser. I have other people in mind that I have not talked to.”

Unfortunately, the press conference was not broadcasted here in Detroit at 11am when the conference was held. Fox Sports Net (Detroit) is promising that the press conference will be shown once this beach volleyball game is finished (at least I like the sport and it’s featuring Misty May and Keri Walsh, who I enjoyed watching during the Olympics). While I don’t feel that Lewis was working well with the Wings because they needed a fresh coach. But I do feel sad that he’s been with the organization for 18 years (I’ve only been alive for that length of time) and now he has to move on from a city he’s lived in for so long.

Update: After watching the press conference, Holland offered great praise for Lewis and said that it was a hard transition from assistant coach (traditional mother) to head coach (traditional father) of the same team and that he would make for a great coach in a different organization. It was hard for the players and Lewis to work in a different relationship as head coach than an assistant coach. Holland did mention that he offered Lewis a job in the organization as some sort of scout because he has a great eye for hockey. Once a new coach is in place, Barry Smith and Joe Kocur will be given strong consideration. However, the new coach will have great input with the people he will be working with.

Another reason for the coaching change is that Holland wanted a continuity for the team after winning the cup in 2002. With the same core group of players and with a continuity in coaches, Holland didn’t want to interfere with a winning team. But with the lockout break and a new CBA, the continuity will have been broken. Holland didn’t want the team to be “same old, same old.”

Holland talked with Steve Yzerman on Thursday and will continue to do so in an effort to keep Yzerman on the team. He also believe Nick Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the world and wants to have him remain in the squad. He wants a coach on the bench who can take the team as far as it can go.

I’ll update later tonight if there is anymore Wings’ news!

Posted in: Wings News | Comments(0) | July 8, 2005

Red Wings Rumor

For the past month, there has been a quite buzz about a meeting of minds among the NHL and NHLPA. Now that this agreement appears imminent, rumors have quickly surfaced with teams trying to fill their staff.

Rumor #1 - Is Mike Babcock the new Wings coach?
Detroit Red Wings GM, Ken Holland, announced that there will be a news conference on Friday morning at 11am regarding the coaching situation. Holland refused to give any specifics. Dave Lewis’ contract expired June 30th and has yet to be renewed. Even with new owners and a new GM, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim now have to find a new coach. Mike Babcock turned down their offer to stay as the Mighty Ducks coach and rumor has it that Babcock is heading to Detroit. His two year contract along with a one year extension with the Ducks ended June 30th.

“I received a call from Mike Babcock last night, and he told me he was not going to accept the offer of a one-year extension that I had tendered to him and that he was taking another opportunity,” Ducks general manager Brian Burke said Thursday on a conference call. 

According to Burke, Babcock asked if the Ducks could “sweeten the pot” or extend the deadline in a meeting but the declined his requests. “I said, ‘No.’ I was not going to add a penny, extend the deadline a day,” Burke said. “There was no negotiation here.” Burke also commented that Detroit has not contacted him and if the Wings did sign Babcock (even if his contract had expired), his hiring would be a “shocking breach of etiquette.”

In Babcock’s first season with Anaheim, he led the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 2003. However, they didn’t even make the playoffs in the 2003-2004 season. Like my friends at On The Wings said,

That said, I’m not sure how I feel about Mike Babcock. His success against us in the playoffs was more due to a dominating goalie and a suffocating style of clutch-and-grap than to his ability to coach excitement and skill. Still, the Ducks were not the most skilled team and he obviously worked with what he had. I’m a little concerned with his ability to coach stars, however. The situation with Sergei Fedorov in Anaheim did not go very well and, although they don’t have such a prima donna on the roster now, the Wings are a team with more skill as well as one set in its ways. He will also have to face up to a lot more pressure from the fans here in Detroit. 

The Detroit News contacted Lewis who said that he met with Holland on Tuesday for about a half hour and planned to meet on Friday as well. “We had a good conversation,” Lewis said. He was also surprised when he heard that the Wings supposedly talked to Babock and didn’t want to speculate on any matters. TSN, however, learned from his agent that he has contacted other teams for openings for his client.

Wings assistant GM, Jim Nill, has connections with Babcock. Babcock coached in the AHL where he coached Jiri Fischer and also assisted Nill with Detroit’s prospects. In the summer of 2004, Nill was the GM for Team Canada. Nill chose Babcock to coach the team after Joel Quenneville got sick at the last minute. Babcock led the team to a gold medal which consisted of Wings players Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper.

I wish that the Wings had followed Scotty Bowman’s advice and picked Barry Smith in the beginning of this coaching mess. But since that won’t happen, I guess having a fresh set of eyes in the coaching staff would be a welcomed change. But Babcock? I guess we’ll just have to see what Holland has to say tomorrow.

Posted in: Wings News | Comments(0) | July 7, 2005