2007: A Year in Review
As 2007 winds to a close, it’s time to do the obligatory year in review post. This review includes the big Red Wings stories as well as the more popular BTJ posts over the year.
- Behind the Jersey: No. 19 was opened to the public on July 30th. To date, almost 16,000 pages have been viewed at BTJ19. Not too shabby for a fan site dedicated to No. 19.
- BTJ had a steady increase in visitors and page viewers during the year with a noticeable increase from last year’s numbers.
- Sports Business Daily named BTJ one of the top ten NHL blogs.
January 2nd
The biggest day for BTJ in 2007 was just the second day of the year when BTJ favorite Steve Yzerman saw his retired jersey reach the rafters of Joe Louis Arena. BTJ thoroughly covered the event with a general recap and photos and a media roundup.
The blogosphere took notice of my hard work and sent thousands of readers to BTJ on January 3rd.
Interviews
Thanks in part to people visiting/linking BTJ for the Yzerman coverage, I was able to interview Michael Sarner of In the Crease, Adrian Dater of Blood Feud, and I did private and off the record “interviews” with Eric Adelson at ESPN the Magazine and Derrick Luck at Lucky Sports Management (he even sent me this). In April, I interviewed Michael McKinley of Hockey: A People’s History.
Trade Deadlines & Contract Signings
Ten days before the 2006-2007 trade deadline, the Red Wings signed Tomas Holmstrom to a three year contract extension worth $2.25 million per season.
Despite heading to Chicago for the Wings-Blackhawks game on the day of the trade deadline, I covered the three way trade dealing Jason Williams to Chicago and the trade with Florida that sent Todd Bertuzzi to Detroit. Following the game, I compared the United Center with Joe Louis Arena.
Just before the playoffs, Pavel Datsyuk agreed to a seven year contract extension worth $46.9 million.
The opening of the unrestricted free agent signing period began with a bang as Mathieu Schneider and Todd Bertuzzi headed west for Anaheim and Brian Rafalski joined the Red Wings.
Shortly thereafter, restricted free agent Jiri Hudler signed a two year deal with the Wings. Later that week, goaltender Dominik Hasek (aka Skeletor or the Crazy Czech) re-signed for another year. GM Ken Holland continued his busy week by signing former Red Wing Dallas Drake for just $550,000.
In late October, Kris Draper signed a three year contract extension worth $4.75 million.
Just earlier this week, the Wings extended Nicklas Lidstrom’s contract for two more years at a slight discount of $7.45 million per season.
Playoffs
BTJ extensively covered the Red Wings journey to the Western Conference finals in the 2007 playoffs. From the first round defeat of Calgary to the close series with San Jose to the team’s loss to Anaheim in the WCF, BTJ talked about the games and collected roundups from around the blogosphere. A good, bad, and ugly review concluded the Red Wings run.
Last season, I worked as a game night intern for the Plymouth Whalers (OHL) so when I could, I kept BTJ readers updated with their playoff hopes. I was fortunate enough to watch my team win the OHL Championship.
NHL/Red Wings business posts
As a Sport Management major at University of Michigan, I find myself drawn to discussion regarding business decisions made by the NHL as well as the Red Wings. Some of my more popular posts included discussions on these topics.
Jan. 29 - Business Decisions in the NHL
April 27 - Analyzing Red Wings ticket sales
May 6 - A look at TV ratings
May 9 - Wings compete for attention
July 23 - A look at season ticket waiting lists
November 25 - Revenues, payrolls, & winning in the NHL
Misc. Posts
BTJ celebrated the tenth anniversary of the March 26, 1997 showdown at the Joe, which resulted in an invitation to talk about the game on NPR.
BTJ also honored a much more tragic ten year anniversary.
I conducted a Detroit sports blogger roundtable discussion in June and you can view the discussions for part one, part two, part three, part four, and part five.
Between my spring and summer term classes, I visited Columbus for the NHL Draft and posted my photos and experiences from the weekend.
The most commented post was the one where I announced the Wings selected me as one of their PR interns. Aside from the Yzerman retirement ceremony, this was surprisingly the most popular BTJ post this year. USA Today’s sports blog even mentioned it.
Previewed the 2007-2008 season and how it might play out for the Red Wings.
Free Press readers believe in Red Wings
The Detroit Free Press conducted an online poll with more than 3700 respondents asking voters to pick which local team has the best shot at winning their respective title in 2008.
Red Wings: 46.0%
Tigers: 26.5%
MSU hoops: 15.2%
Pistons: 10.9%
Other: 1.3%
I think what makes these results more impressive is the blockbuster Tigers trade, which many people believe makes them World Series contenders. Yet 20% more individuals like the Red Wings’ chances at a Stanley Cup better, it’s nice to see that.
Wolverines 6, Friars 0
I spent eleven hours of my day today working at the Joe for the Great Lakes Invitational, but I was able to sit and watch most of the two college hockey games this evening so here are some quick thoughts about the action.
My Michigan Wolverines opened up the night against the Providence Friars and won 6-0. The game was a bit closer than the score indicates as a couple goals were pretty weak, but a win is a win and the Wolverines will play in the championship game Saturday night at 7:30pm. The team has not won the GLI since 1996 and hopes to change that this year despite missing four players due to the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic. Head coach Red Berenson commented on this in a press conference following the game:
“It has been talked about a lot. We are not here in this tournament just as a guest, we are here as a team that wants to compete. We want to get in the final game, and then we want to have a good final game. It is a mini-championship, if you will. It has been important when we have been winning it, and it has been important for us when we haven’t been winning it. So, we want to put our best foot forward.”
The second game of the evening consisted of the GLI host, Michigan Tech Huskies, and Michigan State. This was the more interesting of the two games, in my opinion, with flashes of brilliance and sloppiness for both teams. The game ended with a 4-1 victory by the Huskies, but two of Tech’s goals came in the last minute of the game so for the majority of the game, it was closely contested. MSU had numerous chances in the second period to tie the game up at two apiece, but failed to capitalize on every opportunity thrown their way.
I must say that I was impressed by Red Wings prospect and MSU junior forward Justin Abdelkader who took eight shots on net (a team best today) and earned an assist on the sole MSU goal. It was his 100th career game as a Spartan. I thought he played a physical game and many of the solid chances that went State’s way in the second were a result of his play.
Note: I will be unable to watch the Red Wings game against Phoenix tomorrow as I will be working another eleven hour day at the Joe.
Wings 5, Blues 0
The Wings shut out the Blues last night in a 5-0 victory and sent Manny Legace to the bench after allowing four goals on just 16 shots. It was an enjoyable game to watch youngsters like Filppula and Hudler step up with injuries to Zetterberg and Holmstrom.
My game recap is up at Winging It In Motown.
Lidstrom agrees to two-year extension
Veteran defenseman and team captain Nicklas Lidstrom has agreed to a two year contract extension with the Detroit Red Wings. Despite possibly earning his sixth Norris Trophy this season, Lidstrom will be taking a slight pay cut for the next two years. He’s currently making $7.6 million. He will be making $7.45 million over the next two seasons.
“Nick has been the best defenseman in the world for several years,” general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. “He’s a great captain and role model who does everything right both on and off the ice. We’re proud to have him continue as a Red Wing for another two years.”
This was certainly a nice Christmas surprise for Wings fans. I think it’s safe to say none of us were surprised about an extension, but that it happened this early in the season and that it was a decrease in pay (albeit a small one) was a pleasant surprise.
“Kenny approached me during training camp to see if I was interested,” Lidstrom said. “I said I was. We’ve been talking, not a whole lot over the fall, but we sat down right before Christmas and we got a deal done.”
Hank, Homer, & Maltby still out with injuries
Yesterday, Melt Your Face Off asked for a few Christmas wishes including the following:
For the Detroit Red Wings: Some injuries, damn it. Let the rest of the league catch up.
Well, that wish is coming true. Before the Christmas break, the Wings were able to beat Minnesota, 4-1, without Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom thanks to the secondary scoring stepping up in the victory. Three Red Wings players will not be making this three game road trip.
We had been led to believe that Hank would be able to return after getting three days off during the NHL break. Unfortunately, his back is still ailing and he will not play tonight. He saw a specialist who just prescribed rest because it’s just inflammation. His status is day to day, but he will not play any of the three road games. Hopefully by the time the Wings return to Detroit, Zetterberg will feel well enough to play.
As BTJ mentioned earlier, Tomas Holmstrom suffered a deep bone bruise. While that was good news considering he could’ve torn a ligament or cartilage, further tests revealed that he will have to miss at least two weeks of action.
Kirk Maltby continues to struggle with lower back problems and GM Ken Holland doesn’t believe he’ll return until after the New Year. In fact he likely won’t join the team on the ice until next week according to MLive.com’s Ansar Khan.
As such, Mark Hartigan has been re-called from Grand Rapids and will play tonight.
Merry Christmas!
I would like to wish all of the BTJ readers out there a Merry Christmas!
Like many of you, I will be spending the next day and a half enjoying the holiday with family. One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is that my grandparents come over for dinner and we watch Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation every year. And the best part is that my Grandma laughs so hard during the movie that we start cracking up at her and it’s always good fun.
I hope you all have a great holiday and are able to just relax and enjoy this time of year. I am still working on the BTJ re-design and it should come in the next week (think of it as a belated Christmas gift) and I’ll be giving out some nice prizes including two tickets to a Wings game so keep your eyes open for that!
Merry Christmas!
Free Press Wings holiday section
I must say that I was amused by the Detroit Free Press Wings holiday section in today’s paper. Pieces included Festivus (Seinfeld holiday) grievances, wish lists, gift ideas for teammates, and Christmas traditions. The Festivus grievances were definitely the funniest and here are some of my favorites:
Gifts for Teammates
Brian Rafalski for former Fighting Irish player Brett Lebda: “I would get Lebs a new football coach at Notre Dame.â€
Draper for Kirk Maltby and Pavel Datsyuk: “I would get Malts a Caribou (Coffee) card because he’s a Caribou coffee drinker. Pavel, he’s always looking for bagels in the morning, so I would have to get him an Einstein (Bros. Bagels) gift card.â€
Datsyuk for Maltby: “I buy him a Starbucks card, as joke, because I know he likes Caribou.â€
Festivus Grievances
Chris Osgood, on Chris Chelios, Tomas Holmstrom and Hudler: “Cheli uses too much self-tanner. Homer uses too many cliches when he talks to reporters. And I really wish Hudler would be an inch taller.”
And because Niklas Kronwall is a BTJ favorite, here were all the sections pertaining to the Swede. They are shown after the jump.
Chelios is a Downey fan
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big Aaron Downey fan. No he’s not the player that Zetterberg or Datsyuk is, but he does seem to be a nice player to have on the team and helps remind us of the Grind Line glory days.
Chris Chelios agrees with me in a recent interview:
Does Aaron Downey play with a full-deck?
He’s a great kid, he has all these sayings and philosophies. He is a very intelligent kid. He is great to have in the room; he takes a lot of pressure of the guys. Back in the day every team used to have five or six guys like that. Aaron brings that and we haven’t had it in a while. He’s a great guy to have in the room and a great guy to have on the team.
As Downey once said, “Life’s a garden. You just got to dig it.”
Houston, we have a problem.
Bruce MacLeod is reporting that Henrik Zetterberg will miss today’s game due to back spasms. Uh oh. No Homer or Hank tonight.
Zetterberg will rest his back over the Christmas break and see how he feels on the other side.
“I’m not too worried,” said Zetterberg. “There’s been a lot of games played. I feel a little bad today. Hopefully, I get three days off, I’ll feel a little better after Christmas. Of course I want to play tonight, but if you think, be a little smart, you get a few days off and hopefully it won’t get worse. … Today was the first time it was bad enough to not go out there. We decided not to play. It’s been pretty good lately. Overall for the year, it’s been good and bad days, but overall it’s been good.”
The results of Homer’s MRI are in and thankfully there was no ligament damage. He did suffer a bone bruise so he won’t be playing until at least next Wednesday.