Wings acquire Cory Cross
The Wings made two moves before the 3pm trade deadline today: sent Jamie Rivers packing to Phoenix for a 7th round pick and acquired Cory Cross from Pittsburgh for a 4th round pick.
Cross to Detroit from Pittsburgh
Holland acquired Cory Cross making it his third NHL team in six weeks (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, and now Detroit). He has an $847,000 price tag and also cost the Wings our fourth round pick in 2007. I don’t know much about him so I don’t have much to say although he is a big guy, 6′5″ and 225 pounds (Rivers weighs 190 and is 6′0″).
“We’re very pleased to have Cory,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. “He’s a veteran NHL defenseman that brings size, strength and depth to our blue line. He moves the puck well and will fit into our style of game.”
The Detroit Red Wings website has a poll asking fans, “Does the addition of Corey Cross firm up Detroit’s blueline for the upcoming Stanley Cup run?” Out of the 401 votes so far, 37.4% said yes he provides good depth, 34.7% said no, and 27.9% said yes he provides grit.
ChicagoSports.com has the most direct quotes from Holland that I’ve seen all day:
“We didn’t want to do anything significant because our team has performed pretty well,” general manager Ken Holland said in a phone interview Thursday. “A lot of our players are playing well, and some could be better, so we didn’t think a major trade made sense. We made two deals to add a player to compete for one of the last spots on defense.”"Things just didn’t work out with Jamie Rivers and the new coaching staff, and that seemed to start in training camp,” Holland said. “That led to him not playing as much or producing like he did two years ago.
“Cross is a veteran that adds some size (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) to our defense, and while he’s not really physical, he’s not going to get pushed around. Nothing is guaranteed for him, but he’ll get a chance to compete for a spot.”
Thoughts regarding this deal
I’m not sure how much of an upgrade Cross is over Jamie Rivers. He obviously offers a much bigger presence and a different element, but both are, obviously, depth players on a team like the Red Wings. That said, Detroit has played so well this season and gotten such great contributions from players like Andreas Lilja and Niklas Kronwall on the backend that they don’t really need any parts for an extended playoff run. You can’t lead the Western Conference this season and not be a Stanley Cup contending team. (So much for the dire predictions made at the start of the season for the Red Wings.)
Cross has to be praising the hockey gods (offering up incense, sacrificing his new pair of hockey skates or whatever those guys do) he’s no longer in the lower ring of hockey hell and has moved to a legitimate and serious contender for the Cup. “Aww,” you say. “He won’t be able to play with Syd the Kid any more!” No, he’ll just get to play with Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom Mathieu Schneider, Chris Chelios….. you get the point. I think he can find a way to be happy, despite no longer being on the same roster as hockey’s Annointed One.
And the reaction is not good. Glance at the Wing message boards and the opinion ranges from Holland traded for trading sake (absolutely ridiculous based on Holland’s track record) to just outright stupid considering Rivers and Cross are similar, low-impact players with the advantage to Rivers based on his knowledge of the Wings system.I’m a little more reluctant to fry Holland because (a) there is still time, about 90 more minutes for a deal to be announced and (b) we have no idea what happened today. The Rivers deal was announced about 35 minutes prior to the Cross trade. In the meantime, Witt went to Nashville.
Wings give up a 4th and Cross was just on the Fan 590 and said he is at the hospital now, wife just had a baby. He talked with Holland and he will be a depth player. He will be with the Wings on Saturday for the morning skate.
Rivers to Phoenix
Rivers seems to be disappointed about leaving a Cup contender, but looking forward to a chance to no longer be a depth player.
“It’s tough to leave a contender, but it’s not a secret that I’ve been more of a depth guy this year and haven’t really contributed much in terms of games played,” Rivers told TSN. “I just think it’s an opportunity to show that I can play more minutes in this league and maybe play a bigger role. You never know where the Coyotes might end up in a couple of years.”
The 30 year old has only played 15 games this season earning one assist in that timespan while making the league minimum of $450,000. This gave GM Holland an extra roster space to bring in someone else (originally thought to be Brendan Witt before he went to Nashville) and a seventh round pick in 2006. IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman has some thoughts on Rivers being sent to Phoenix:
Did Holland deal Rivers, clear space, in anticipation of a pending Witt deal that fell through? Or maybe he was angling for Willie Mitchell, who just went to Dallas? If so, he obviously has to take some blame. But, if that was the case what did he lose by taking a chance? Jamie Rivers, who wasn’t going to see the ice in the postseason, in exchange for Cross who may not either?
Wings take on Coyotes tonight
Tonight I will be at the Joe watching the Wings take on the Phoenix Coyotes in the lower bowl. Rarely do I get to go to a game in the lower bowl for the ticket price (and not higher prices). My dad’s employee’s boyfriend has 4 lower bowl tickets (in section 125) and he couldn’t make it tonight so I’m going with my two brothers and dad (for around $300). When my dad and I went to the Canucks game on my birthday to sit on the glass, it was $550 for 2 tickets. Craziness.It should be fun. However, the last time the Wings played Phoenix at home, I was there and the Wings played awful and we lost so hopefully that won’t happen tonight.
There will be no photos from tonight’s game, but feel free to check out photos from the public practice and previous games (and a couple OHL Plymouth Whalers games) here.
For up to the date news, check out Abel to Yzerman, Kukla’s Korner and On the Wings.
Update (11pm): Why am I not surprised that the Wings lost this one. They played crappy the first period, pretty good in the second (so many close ones), and an eh third period. And since it happened on the opposite side of the rink, why in the world did Mowers take that penalty shot? I thought that they had the penalty shot opportunity because a Coyote’s stick was thrown in front of someone shooting, but I didn’t think that it was Mowers shooting (but I could be wrong). So please, someone, clarify this for me.
I enjoyed my time at the Joe, but it seemed that our seats were extremely cramped (even more so than I remember the upper bowl seats being). I’m 5′5″ yet my knees were touching the seat in front of me causing a great deal of pain (I’m having an allograft ACL revision in May). I just felt bad for my 6′0″ dad and my 6′2″ brother, they were even more cramped. Anyways, I’d gladly take those seats again and hopefully I’ll get a set for the playoffs before my May surgery when I’m in Cinci for 8 days (they better show the Wings games there assuming they are still in the playoffs or I’m gonna be one unhappy camper). Alright, well I got a long day of classes and studying tomorrow (since I went to tonight’s game) so good night everybody!
Behind the Blog: Japer’s Rink
Today’s Behind the Blog features Japers’ Rink, a blog run by Jon (more commonly known as JP) dedicated to covering the Washington Capitals and other NHL news. His daily roundups recap the previous night’s Caps game along with who would win the end of the year NHL awards if it was based solely on the previous night’s performances. Be sure to check out his blog if you don’t regularly read it already!Interested in answering 15 questions to be in next week’s Behind the Blog? Drop me an email or leave a comment to this post. Thanks guys!
Q.1 – What made you decide to create an online hockey blog and why did you name it Japers’ Rink?
I actually started writing the blog last summer while I was studying for the Maryland State Bar Exam. I needed to break up the monotony of studying (I’m sure you can relate) and thought a hockey blog would be a good way to do it, since I felt like I had some things to say on the subject and my fantasy hockey league was probably sick and tired of reading about it on our message board.
As for the name, “Japers†is sort of a spin on JP, but also a japer is “one who says or does something jokingly or mockingly†or “one who makes mocking fun of,†which is very fitting for me and this blog. Japers’ Rink sounded good, so I went with it, though if I had a nickel for every incorrect variation of it - Jasper’s Rink, Japer’s Rink, etc. - I’d have, well, a medium-sized handful of nickels.
Q.2 – What do you hope to accomplish with your blog over the next few years?
I don’t have any grandiose plans for The Rink, but from the start I’ve wanted to make my site sort of a homepage for Caps fans (and other hockey fans as well), somewhere fans would start their hockey-surfing day. I aim to aggregate all the Caps-related info out there, provide some analysis on it and other hockey issues, link to other hockey-related resources, and have a good amount of discussion on the team and the game, generally.
I also wouldn’t mind a co-contributor for the site, and would love to do a rivalry-type page a la the Battles of Alberta/Ontario, so if there are any Penguin (or similarly detestable team) fans interested, let me know. Of course, I’m not sure they have the internet in Western Pennsylvania yet, so that might be a problem.
Q.3 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?
It was back in 1982-83 against the Islanders in the playoffs (the first time the Caps had ever made the postseason). I was eight and remember going out to the old Capital Centre in Landover with my dad, though I can’t remember the game itself.
Q.4 - Why is the Washington Capitals your favorite team? Where do you see them in 5 years?
They’re my favorite team because I’m a masochist. And because I’m from the D.C. area and my dad’s had season tickets for the past 20 or so years. From the time I was eight until I was 22, the Caps made the playoffs every year and they’ve had some great teams with great players, including Rod Langway, Scott Stevens and Mike Gartner on through recent stars like Peter Bondra, Olie Kolzig and some new Russian kid. Until very recently they’ve always been both competitive and entertaining (now they’re only usually competitive and frequently entertaining), and I latched onto them.
In five years I see the Caps as an annual contender. With Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Eric Fehr and whichever center they choose in this year’s draft, a stable of good forward prospects and a solid blueline of Steve Eminger, Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz (and who knows which other prospects will turn out to be the real deal), the only question mark may be in goal, and the ownership has shown that they are willing to open up the checkbook once the team is only a piece or two away from completing the puzzle.
Q.5 – Since you have seen him play throughout the season, what are your thoughts on rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin?
He’s unreal. I’ve never seen a player that combines his speed, strength, scoring ability, physicality and, perhaps most importantly, love for the game. The rest of the world got to see some of that in Turin, but to see it night-in, night-out has been a real treat. If there’s a negative aspect to his game, he does try to do a little too much sometimes, but I chalk that up to being young, confident and not having the best supporting cast. As he gets older and the team gets better, he’ll become an even better player, as scary as that is to imagine.
Q.6 - Which team has surprised you with their performance thus far? Disappointed you?
Carolina has really surprised me. I looked at their roster on paper at the beginning of the year and didn’t see a playoff team. I’m still not sure how they’re getting it done, exactly, but there’s really no reason to think they’ll let up any time soon. As for disappointments, I thought San Jose would be a contender in the West - great goaltending, deep blueline, some talented forwards and an excellent coach. Similarly, I expected more out of the Bruins. And I’d say that the Penguins have been far worse than I expected, though that doesn’t disappoint me in the slightest.
Q.7 – If you had to predict two teams that will be in the Stanley Cup finals, which ones would you pick?
If I pick someone other than the Wings in the West, will you still post this? 
Actually, I think the Wings will come out of the West, but if Marty Turco somehow turns into a playoff goalie and Guerin remembers how to score, Dallas could be tough, as could Calgary or Nashville if their great goalies get hot. In the East, Ottawa needs Hasek back, but even with the Dominator, Carolina has shown that they can handle the Sens. I’ll make a surprise pick in the East, though - how about the Flyers? Once they get healthy and Bobby Clarke makes a move or two, they’re going to be tough to beat. You said predict seven teams, right?
Q.8 - Who is your favorite all time NHL player? Why?
I’ve had favorite players by era. As a young Caps fan, I loved Scott Stevens for his toughness and Bengt Gustafsson for his grit and offensive ability. Then in the early ‘90s I became a huge Peter Bondra fan - his speed and shot were so exciting to watch. Later in the ‘90s I became a big fan of Olie Kolzig because of all he has meant to the team both on and off the ice. Now, it’s hard not to love Alex Ovechkin. But my favorite of all-time is probably Rod Langway. When he came to D.C. he turned the franchise around and ushered in 15 or so years of (relative) success. Remember when the Norris Trophy was given to defensemen who played defense? That was Langway.
Q.9 - What are your thoughts on the 2006 Winter Olympics and its outcome concerning the Ice Hockey tournament?
I think the tournament is better in theory than in practice. Can you really expect great hockey when you basically have all-star teams flying across the ocean for one or two practices before playing 7 or 8 games in 11 days? But it was a bit of a coming out party for Alex Ovechkin, so to that end it made me happy. I think the elephant in the room that no one’s talking about is that early US and Canadian exits exposed the inability of the North American game to translate to the international ice surface. As much as the “new NHL†has opened up the ice, the game over here is still a relative clutchfest interrupted by all-too-frequent powerplay (not that I don’t love it).
Q.10 - Which division do you think has been the most competitive this season?
Probably the Northwest. You’ve got all five teams within 12 points with the top three separated by just two points. The last place team (Minnesota) is only five points out of the playoffs as I write this - pretty tight.
Q.11 – Aside from the many things you wrote in your blog, what did you enjoy most about your trip to the owner’s box with Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals?
Winning. The night would have been much different had the Caps lost, but it was a good, hard-hitting game that the home team won, which put everyone in good spirits and provided us with the opportunity to go to the locker room afterwards to meet the team. Had the game gone the other way, it still would have been a nice night, but the win made it nearly perfect.
Q.12 – What did you do to pass time during the NHL lockout?
Graduated from law school and passed the Bar. But honestly, looking back on it, I have no idea how I made it through last winter. I mean, “Lost†wasn’t that compelling.
Q.13 - For your daily roundup posts, you post the winners of popular NHL awards if it had been based on the previous night’s performances. When and why did you start doing that feature?
I don’t recall when I started doing it, but it goes back to my desire to be part of people’s daily routine. By providing people with a quick recap of what went on the night before and acknowledging impressive performances without much editorializing, it’s a quick stop to start your hockey day. To be honest, I figured the feature would spark more discussion - people disagreeing over who was the best defenseman of the night, etc. - but I guess I’m always right.
Q.14 - What advice would you give to fellow hockey bloggers, especially newcomers?
Chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self ‘cause shotgun bullets are bad for your health. Yeah, you know who you are. Just kidding. I’d say the key is focus. The most successful blogs, I find, are the most narrowly-tailored - there are tons of hockey blogs out there. The easy way to distinguish yourself is to do so by the subject matter you cover (the hard way to distinguish yourself, btw, is to be really really good at what you do). The more specific your blog is, the easier it is to find an audience and it also helps you to focus your writing.
Q.15 - Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?
Eric at Off Wing has been tremendously helpful to me on more than a few occasions, and his blog is both informative and insightful. I love Jes Golbez’s blog - wicked sense of humor, appropriately snarky and condescending. As I alluded to above, I like the rivalry sites (Alberta/Ontario) a lot as well - trash talking is such an integral part of hockey and being a third-party observer to buddies (I think) dishing it back and forth in a friendly manner is great fun. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Capitol Punishment, a Washington Nationals blog that is probably the most comprehensive and entertaining team-specific blog I’ve ever seen.
Any additional comments?
If Esa Tikkanen didn’t miss that empty net in Game 2 of the 1998 Cup Finals, the series would’ve gone back to Washington tied 1-1 and anything could have happened from there. Sigh. On the plus side, I did get to meet the Wings at the White House the following January.
JP’s photos from the event:
Wings 2, Mighty Ducks 0
The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks early after scoring both goals in the first period. The Wings have the next two days off before their game Saturday at 9:00pm against the Phoenix Coyotes.
First Period
The Wings scored two goals in the first (and the only two goals of the game). 7:28 into the period, Tomas Holmstrom scored on quick pass from Henrik Zetterberg who got it from Pavel Datsyuk. For once it wasn’t the typical Holmstrom deflection, rather a slick backhand shot. The first goal came while on even strength.
Less than a minute later, at 8:14 into the period to be exact, Nicklas Lidstrom took a shot inside the blue line which was stopped by Holmstrom upon which it fell to the ice when Zetterberg put it in the back of the net. The second goal happened while on the power play. Notice a pattern yet? All offensive points belong to the Wings who stayed in Torino until at least the semifinals. Datsyuk may not have earned a medal in Italy, but he’s helping the team offensively even with a fractured finger. He also extended his point streak to six games following tonight’s win.
Chris Osgood, the Wings goaltender for the evening, made 12 saves in the first period while the Ducks goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, allowed two goals on 15 shots.
Second Period
Not much happened in the second period, but I must say that Osgood looked pretty sharp to me. Within the last two minutes of the period, Osgood made an excellent save even though the whistle was blown to call the play offsides.
With 1:23 left in the second, Mikael Samuelsson got called for roughing and sent to the penalty box. During the penalty kill, both Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom blocked a couple shots. It sure is nice to see No. 5 back in the lineup; even exhausted and jet-lagged, he’s one of the better defenders in the league.
Both teams had six shots apiece during the second, but no goals made it past the goaltenders.
Lidstrom had 20 shifts in the first two periods lasting a total of 18:04 minutes, he’s leading the Wings in ice time tonight even though there are certainly more rested Wings than Lidstrom. Zetterberg only played slightly over four minutes in the second period after playing about eight minutes in the first.
Third Period
Once more, nothing much happened. No goals scored. Only 4 penalties in the final period and the Wings were unable to convert on all four instances. Osgood made six saves in the third. With less than five seconds left, Brendan Shanahan rocketed a shot towards the empty net and hit the goalpost.
Osgood stopped 24 shots tonight to earn his second shutout this season and his 43rd of his career. It was his first game in a month so that’s a pretty impressive performance to me at least. It was the Wings third shutout in the last six games.
Other Notes…
An NHL.com article by Doug Ward briefly mentioned that both head coach Mike Babcock and GM Ken Holland supported the 5 Swedes to go celebrate in Stockholm and miss Tuesday night’s game in San Jose. It also went on to say that the Wings can learn from the losses of Team Cananda and USA in the Olympics.
Not everyone in the Detroit locker room will be walking on air. In contrast to his gold-medalist Detroit teammates, the Wings’ Kris Draper came home empty-handed and disappointed after playing for tournament favorite Team Canada. Chris Chelios played for the United States team that won only one game in Italy.Babcock said his Wings could learn a lesson from the disappointment Team Canada and Team USA endured in Torino.
“We can have all the skill,” Babcock told the Detroit News, “but if we don’t play well as a team, we’re not going to win. These teams were good teams (in the Olympics) and showed you can’t win individually.”
The Wings were the only team, to my knowledge, that played back to back games to return from the Olympic break and the Wings had the most players participating in the gold medal game. “I don’t think any team could have had a worse scenario than us, missing five guys and the week road trip on the West Coast,” Chelios said. “It’s not an advantage, but that’s the way it is.”
Pretty good “excuse” for the San Jose loss (even though that was an awful game to watch as a Wings fan). Speaking of which, a Detroit News poll asked readers “Are you upset the gold medal-winning Swedes missed the game against San Jose and the Red Wings were blown out?”
75.72% said, “No; they deserved to go to Sweden for the celebration.”
21.14% said, “Yes; they are paid by the Wings and should have been there.”
3.14% said, “It didn’t matter as the Wings would have lost anyway.”
Datsyuk, like his fellow Olympians, had to adjust after playing in the larger Olympic size ice rinks.
“Just a little bit scared,” Datsyuk said before the game against the Sharks. “Every board is too close.”Datsyuk was referring to the ice surface at HP Pavilion. The Olympic ice sheets Datsyuk played on for the Russian team in Torino were 15 feet wider than those in NHL rinks.
Lidstrom needs four more assists (after getting an assist in tonight’s game) to reach the 600 assist milestone. Captain Steve Yzerman currently has 684 career goals, six goals shy of Mario Lemieux’s. He also needs to play in 6 more games to become the 10th player in NHL history to play 1,500 games (should happen on March 15th against Anaheim in Detroit).
Black Hockey Players & Good Books
Once my Sociology of Sport professor started lecturing on race in sport, I suddenly remembered this post from Vancouver Canucks Op Ed on black hockey players. I quickly ordered the book by Cecil Harris entitled Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey. The book talks about what it was or is like to play in the NHL as a black player (or in the leagues leading up to the NHL). The stories of black hockey players include Herb Carnegie, Willie O’Ree, Bill Riley, Ray Neufeld, Donald Brashear, Sandy McCarthy, Kevin Weekes, Tony McKegney, Mike Marson, Grant Fuhr, Mike Grier, Anson Carter, and Jarome Iginla. Many black players in the NHL looked up to black athletes in other sports. For example, Georges Laraque refused to quit playing hockey [after hearing a ton of racial slurs as a young kid] because Jackie Robinson didn’t quit baseball.
“I felt that if he did it, I should be able to do it too…I think it became a mission for Jackie Robinson to make it in baseball, to shut all those people up, and it became my mission to make it in hockey - all the way to the NHL,” Laraque said. (p106)
Tony McKegney didn’t have any black hockey players to look up to who were playing when he was young so he looked at black athletes in other sports.
“I used to draw strength from what black athletes were doing in other sports,” he said. “In the sixties and seventies blacks were making their marks in every sport but hockey. I looked to people like Muhammad Ali. I was a huge fan of his. And I was also a big fan of the NBA…” (p115)
It’s the current black hockey players who grew up with other black NHL players as role models. Case in point, Jarome Iginla who admired McKegney.
“Tony McKegney showed me it was possible for someone like me to play in the NHL,” Iginla said. “He set the example. He was a role model.” (p115)
I’ve read just over half of the book so far and I feel like I’ve learned a lot! Don’t just believe me, read Jeff and Alanah’s review of the book.However, the Acid Queen had a differing view:
I would take the book with a large grain of salt. I have absolutely no doubt about some of the hate and nastiness that the guys interviewed for the book faced, but…..Cecil Harris is known here in the Triangle as somebody who hates hockey and who has told several fans that he feels it’s a racist sport simply because there are so few black players. When he worked for the News and Observer, he viewed his assignment as Hurricanes beat reporter as punishment duty of the worst sort, and took every opportunity to take shots at the Hurricanes and their fans. Back in the days of the old Hurricanes Penalty Box message board, he used to come on and regularly call people that took issue with his articles “idiots” “fools” and “dumbasses”. He’s a rude, snide, arrogant and just plain nasty little man, and really the book is much like all his articles for the News and Observer were: half-assed, exaggerated, and self-important.
The book really falls short of what it could have been, thanks to the battleship-sized chip that Cecil Harris carries on his shoulder all the time. Just my 1/50 of a dollar.
Other Good Books
Speaking of reading good sport books, specifically hockey, I wanted to list some of my favorite sport books here and they aren’t in any particular order. I love reading sport books so if you know of a good book, please email me or leave a comment and let me know!
by John Manasso [looks at the tragic accident involving two Atlanta Thrashers’ players, Dan Snyder & Dany Heatley]Behind the Blog: Kukla’s Korner
Today’s Behind the Blog features Paul Kukla of the ever so popular Kukla’s Korner. After working on Breaking Sports over the lockout, Paul purchased a domain and went to work on it. One can always catch the latest news on his blog whether it’s Red Wings updates or NHL news. Numerous BtJ blog entries have originated from an article found by Paul and posted at Kukla’s Korner. I’d like to thank Paul for taking the time to participate in BtB!Q.1 – Why did you create Kukla’s Korner, specifically the hockey section? And why did you decide on its current format: reading like a Daily newspaper?
Kukla’s Korner was established by the success I had with a previous blog, called Breaking Sports. I was not getting the information I needed about the NHL lockout from my Detroit area newspapers and other media, so I would search and search for any information I could find regarding the lockout. I decided to share that information with other hockey fans and decided just to blog whatever I found.
Q.2 – How many hours a week do you spend working on KK because it seems that there is always a new post about the latest hockey news?
I don’t even want to know!!! Whenever hockey news breaks, I try to get it up as soon as possible. When not near my computer, I travel with a pocket pc which allows me to access the web from wherever I am. So basically I am “on” 24/7, give and take a few hours a night for sleep. I am blogging on a full-time basis, so I look at it as any new owner would, you have to put in a lot of hours for it to succeed.
Q.3 – Where do you see KK in the next couple of years?
Bought by Google for about $2 million or so!!! I have swayed back and forth about opening up a forum section and letting readers interact more. It is a lot of work to maintain and I want it to be top notch, but that is one of my goals. Another is to be on the cutting edge that software technology allows. I know little about the back office of a website, but learning as I go and always on the lookout for anything new an improved. I would hope by the next hockey season, Kukla’s Korner would by a ‘must stop’ for every hockey fan on a daily basis.
Q.4 – How are the Detroit Red Wings doing in comparison to your preseason predictions? Better? Worse? About the same?
I thought when the Wings were in training camp, they would be seeded 4th or 4th in the West. But after their 12-1 start, I upgraded that to a top 2 team in the West. Granted, their division is very weak, but Babcock has kept his team on their toes the whole year, and I am looking forward to a long playoff run.
Q.5 – How long have you been a Detroit Red Wings fan and where do you see the organization in five years? The NHL?
I have been following the Wings before they put the escalator in the old Olympia. I remember watching the Wings in black on white when Channel 50 would join the game in progress in the 2nd period..I see the Wings maintaining their level of play in the foreseeable future and the NHL will be enjoying a re-birth, although two or three teams will re-locate.
Q.6 – You recently interviewed Detroit’s national anthem singer, Karen Newman. What made you think to interview her?
Sometimes I like to throw a change of pace into the daily routine. I had to find a face hockey fans were familiar with and felt Karen was the perfect choice, plus Elisha Cuthbert wouldn’t answer my ten or so emails per day.
Q.7 – Which Wings’ Stanley Cup win did you enjoy the most? Why?
The cup in 1997. I had to be at the Joe and to be truthful with you, I snuck in. Went in the media door when it was busy and just floated in with the mass of people. I also enjoyed the 1998 victory because I was able to attend games 3 and 4 in Washington. It was Joe Louis south, the arena was filled with Wing fans and seeing Vladdy on the ice was something I will never forget.
Q.8 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Favorite Wings player? Why?
My favorite right now is Ovechkin. I think he may have the ability and charisma to help bring the NHL into the spotlight again. Wing player is Zetterberg. His game has improved steadily over the last few years, and is a threat on the ice every shift. His defense goes unnoticed but look for Selke talk in the next few years. All-time favorites in order, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Jean Beliveau.
Q.9 – The NHL has had its fair share of ups and downs this season. What has been your most and least favorite event or moment to report on?
Least favorite has to be the Gretzky reports. I hated posting information about him, but readers were flocking to Kukla’s Korner to get as much information as they could. I tried to keep it fair and balanced, but reporting anything negative about him tore me apart.
The ups were the Malik shootout goal, AO’s goal on his back, and the report that Jiri Fischer had survived his heart problems and was out of danger.
Q.10 – What changes do you believe the Wings need to make in order to have a successful playoff run?
In my opinion, the Wings have lost faith in Chris Osgood and need to find a goaltender who can come through in case of an injury to Legace or take if Manny runs into a bad streak in the playoffs. A stay at home defenseman would be great too, but just about every playoff team is also in need of one too.
Q.11 - Where do you see the Detroit Red Wings finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?
Wings will finish 1st or 2nd in the conference, and will face some stiff competition if they have to play Calgary in the West. If they can avoid them, I see the Joe filled in mid-June.
Q.12 – What did you do to pass the time during the NHL lockout?
See Breaking Sports. My first attempt at blogging, that kept me very busy.
Q.13 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?
My first game was 1962, but I have no idea who the Wings were playing. All I know is Gordie Howe was.
Q.14 – How do you think defenseman Niklas Kronwall’s return will affect the team and its performance?
It is funny, the rest of the league has yet to see or feel the affects of Kronwall. Many people don’t realize it, but he was the best defenseman in the World Championships last year and is under the radar. Kronwall’s game is one that will flourish in the coming months and he will be able to take some pressure off of Lidstrom. He is a future Norris candidate and will be the anchor of the Wings defense for many years. At this stage of his career, he is better than Lidstrom and that is saying alot. Staying healthy is something he must prove.
Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?
Sharkspage, Hockey Rants and On the Wings gave me the inspiration to start KK. I visit numerous hockey blogs on a daily basis, and the majority of them are excellent. Each blogger has their own style and are very informative. The ones that draw my attention are updated on a regular basis, and contain information I want and a bit of the ‘off the wall’ stuff helps too.