Schneider fractures left ankle
Letting veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider leave for Anaheim is looking better and better now that he has fractured his left ankle during his first preseason game with the Ducks. He had an MRI taken today and it showed he suffered a “non-displaced fracture of the ankle.”
He will have to miss at least four weeks to recover from this break. He recently signed a two year contract with Anaheim (worth $11.25 million). He played with the Wings last season and his injury during the playoffs (broken wrist) was one of the key reasons why the Wings could not beat the Ducks in the Western Conference Finals.
Fortunately for Anaheim, this injury comes at the beginning of the season.
Wolverines 38, Fighting Irish 0
After the past two incredibly depressing Saturday losses, it was great to finally go to the Big House and enjoy a blowout victory over Notre Dame, 38-0. Admittedly, it was against a Notre Dame squad that has more issues than even UM. Still, it was a fun game to watch as a UM student.
Photo taken by my roommate
Mike Hart rushed 187 yards in 35 carries after guaranteeing last week that the Wolverines would win today’s game. Two of those carries resulted in touchdowns. As usual, Hart was out there playing as the leader he is as well as the heart and soul of the team.
“I knew I was going to perform because you can’t say something like that and not perform,” Hart said. “Especially with Chad [Henne] going down, it was more on my shoulders. I accept it. I love it, and I’m going to keep doing what I have to do to help the team win.”
Hart was not willing, however, to make another guarantee.
“Never again,” he said. “That was a one-time thing.”
True freshman quarterback Ryan Mallet made his first collegiate start after senior Chad Henne suffered a knee injury in last week’s game. With a strong running game and an early lead, the pressure was off of Mallet who completed 7 passes and threw 3 touchdowns (and no interceptions). While he did throw 8 incomplete passes, it was a good game for him to start to help build his confidence without the pressure of a close game. He has a lot to learn, but I can’t say it was a bad first game.
It certainly made UM’s job easier when Notre Dame fumbled five times (but recovered three of those) and threw two interceptions.
Ilitch pleased with Tigers turnaround
Yesterday at a team photo, Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch posed with his baseball team and then answered questions afterwards. After owning a successful hockey team for so long, it has to feel great to have your baseball team start to turn around with games selling out for the most part.
On how this season will be the first in which the team draws three million fans: “Isn’t that something? I used to look at the Red Sox (who sell out every game) and say, ‘I’d love to be like that one day.’ “
On how the Tigers remain in the wild-card race despite many injuries: “It’s incredible … and we didn’t get the pitching and hitting coinciding. You feel you should be 15 games out, or 12.” …
On whether drawing 3 million instead of 2.5 million increases the club’s spending power for next year’s roster: “Yes, but not that much to make a difference if you want to sign a real big player. … If a player comes along and we need him, somehow you always try to figure out how you can get him.”
I’d love to attend one more Tigers game this season, but it’s hard to get decent seats for face value and the Wings first home preseason game is next Thursday so I’m going to get pretty busy with work (I have this week off because they’re all up in Traverse City for training camp).
The Tigers have won 7 of the last 10 games, but are pretty much out of reach in their division race. In the wild card race, they’re four games back from the NY Yankees. They have 15 games left in the season so it’s going to be a very tight race to the finish and it’ll definitely keep us Tigers fans on the edge of our seats.
Lions’ game could be blacked out
Yep, you read that headline right. For a change, the Detroit Lions are having a slight struggle with ticket sales. As of yesterday afternoon, the team needed to sell 3500 more tickets by Thursday at 4:05pm in order to prevent a local blackout of the game.
There are still 3,500 tickets remaining for Sunday’s game with the Minnesota Vikings and if it’s not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff — 4:05 p.m. Thursday — the game will be blacked out.
It’s possible the Lions might get a 24-hour extension by the league, moving the deadline to 4:05 p.m. Friday.
Fans who want to purchase tickets online can do so by either going to detroitlions.com or ticketmaster.com. The phone number to TicketMaster is 248-645-6666.
If the game fails to sell out, it’d be the first time since moving into Ford Field in 2002.
As much as I’d love for the game to sell out so I could actually watch it on TV, I think it’d be better for the team if it doesn’t sell out. Maybe team owner William Ford would actually take note and if he notices a slight pinch in his pocketbook, maybe he’ll fire Millen?
If you didn’t already know, I’m partaking in my own personal boycott of the Lions in a financial sense. Yes, I do watch the games on TV and blog about the team at MVN’s Lions Den, but I have not and will not buy a ticket to a game (even though I’d like to go) or buy any kind of Lions merchandise/memorabilia until Matt Millen is fired or the team is over .500 at the completion of a season.
Update: The NFL granted the Lions a 24 hour extension so they have until Friday at 4:05pm to sell out (around 2000 tickets are left). If they do not sell out, it would end their 40 game sell out streak.
Chelios packs mountain bike
So the Red Wings are driving up to Traverse City as we speak. The Detroit News has a gallery consisting of 13 photos of various players pulling their luggage or placing their golf bags in the bus storage compartments.
Source:: David Guralnick/Detroit News
And then, they show the oldest player in the NHL packing a mountain bike. I don’t know about you guys, but the image made me laugh.
Source:: David Guralnick/Detroit News
9/12 - Quick Links
A few quick links for today…
- I published a new post on Winging It In Motown today: Brian Rafalski settling into his new team
- The Detroit Red Wings website has a nice little article about captain Nick Lidstrom’s experience at the Belle Island Grand Prix when he drove the pace car.
Lidstrom led the Le Mans field of 27 sports cars to a rolling start of the race. He also led a parade lap prior to the IndyCar race on the final day of the Detroit Grand Prix.
“I got out there for a couple of practice laps before the actual race started,†he said. “I was the second car going around and then we went into the pit stop and that’s when they all started. I got it up to about 100 (m.p.h.) on the straight-aways. It was a fun car and fun to get the chance to drive it, especially on that course and the conditions.
“There’s some 90-degree angles and curves, so those guys are flying.â€
- At this year’s training camp, the Wings have invited 68 players to attend. 22 of those players participated in the prospect tournament held earlier this week in Traverse City.
- After having a solid prospect tournament performance, Evan McGrath had some bad luck with injuries on Tuesday.
Evan McGrath had a rough outing on Tuesday. Although he scored and padded his team-leading offensive stats (five points in four games), the 6-foot, 195 pound center took a nasty hit from behind in the second period and was sent head-first into the end boards.
Then, in the third period, the 21-year-old took a vicious slash and lost a chunk of his finger. He didn’t return and will need to consult with a surgeon before he can be cleared to play in Detroit’s main camp.
Henrik Zetterberg feels healthy
Forward Henrik Zetterberg showed up on Monday at the Joe for an informal practice before the team headed up to Traverse City for training camp. The good news is that both Zetterberg’s wrist and back feel fine. Earlier this summer, there was concern that his back had flared up when he pulled out of a charity game. He did pull out of the game, but it wasn’t because of a sore back.
Zetterberg said he withdrew from a couple of charity games in Sweden over the summer not because his back was hurting but because he hadn’t started skating yet.
“I thought it wasn’t right to myself and the team that my first time on the ice I go play a game, so I told them I couldn’t go,” Zetterberg said. “I think the media in Sweden blew it up a little bit. It wasn’t a big thing.”
Asked if he experienced any flare-ups, Zetterberg said, “Of course you have your bad days and good days, but (skipping) the games had nothing to do with my back.”
Wings fans in Phoenix to pay more
Thanks to a link from George @ Snapshots, I was able to find news that the Phoenix Coyotes organization will once again raise ticket prices for their home games against the Detroit Red Wings. As much as it sucks for Wings fans in Phoenix to pay more when your team comes to town, the ticket prices have been reduced from last year’s raise if that’s any consolation.
When the Detroit Red Wings come to town on Saturday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 29, single game tickets will range from $23 to $138. This represents a 20% to 37% price reduction as compared to the single game ticket prices for the Red Wings games last season. There are also two separate seven-game mini plans that each include a Red Wings game priced at the regular single game ticket prices along with six other great NHL games this season including the Opening Night game against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 4. Seven game packages start at only $90 ($13 per ticket).
9/11 - News Clips
Before I get to the variety of newsworthy items I need to mention about the Wings, I wanted to take a second to remember the tragic events that happened six years ago. I know I’ll never forget the horror of 9/11/01 and the images of a burning and later collapsing World Trade Center towers as well as the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania.
Due to my busy schedule, I got a bit behind on the latest Wings news. Let me briefly touch on what has happened since my last post…
Blackshere sentenced in slayings at Chelis’ Chili Bar
Justin Blackshere was sentenced to life without parole this week after being convicted of first-degree murder or a chef and also a restaurant manager at Cheli’s Chili Bar in Detroit. Chef Mark Barnard was stabbed 28 times on the morning of January 2nd. Blackshere stabbed 49 year old restaurant manager Megan Soroko 14 times. He then stole $10,000 from the restaurant safe.
Chelios released the following statement regarding Blackshere’s sentencing:
“The past eight months have been very difficult,” Chelios said. “I am relieved we can now begin to bring closure to this ordeal for the friends, family and co-workers of Mark Barnard and Megan Soroka and begin to put this tragedy behind us. I again want to wholeheartedly thank the Detroit Police Department and Chief Ella Bully Cummings for their professionalism throughout this entire process. I would also like to thank Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey and her staff for their exceptional work. Due to their diligent efforts, this case was solved quickly, and for that, I am extremely grateful. I’m also grateful to the entire Detroit Red Wings organization, my teammates, our fans and the patrons of Cheli’s Chili Bar for their ongoing support. Mark and Megan were exceptional people and we will do our best to keep their spirit alive. I ask you to continue to keep Mark and Megan and their families in your thoughts and prayers.”
Prospects play in Traverse City
Over the past week, prospects for eight teams including the Detroit Red Wings have played in a tournament hosted by the Wings in Traverse City. Some of the big stories (not including game scores) have been the play of Igor Grigorenko, which hasn’t been as great as one could hope, and the impressive play of Evan McGrath.
Forsberg to the Wings?
TSN predicted the teams most likely to land veteran forward Peter Forsberg. Darren Dreger put the Wings in at number three.
3. Detroit. Nicknamed “Little Sweden,” the Red Wings have many faces very familiar to Forsberg. Ken Holland didn’t spend foolishly in free agency, so cap space in Detroit is not an issue.
Osgood reacts to new jerseys
Backup goaltender Chris Osgood was actually pleasantly surprised by the new jersey style after trying on an earlier prototype.
“I’m pleasantly surprised,” said goalie Chris Osgood , who was expecting something similar to the prototypes the players wore during practice last winter. “They’re nice and light. The ones we wore last year were really, really tight and uncomfortable. Now they’re perfect — they feel really good.”
Quick Links
A couple links to recent posts at my other Red Wings blog, Winging It In Motown:
I answer questions posed by ESPN columnist Scott Burnside about the Red Wings upcoming season.
GM Ken Holland extends a tryout invitation to Brent Sopel.
Central Division preview from Blackhawks’ fan
Chris at The Third Man In has posted his preview for the Chicago Blackhawks as part of an effort led by Dave @ Gorilla Crouch to get us bloggers writing about our Central Division teams. The Third Man In is a Chicago Blackhawks website so his season preview will have three sections dedicated to the upcoming season. Currently, you can read the first part which is a thorough look at the current roster including former Detroit Red Wings players Robert Lang and Jason Williams.
The Detroit Red Wings bloggers will be posting our season previews on September 24th so stay tuned!