BTJ reader attends Wings game
Last month, David M. won two tickets to see the Wings-Kings game last Thursday courtesy of BTJ (and my parents who donated their season ticket seats for the contest). Unfortunately for David, the Wings lost 3-5 but it sounds like he still had a good time at the Joe. I asked David to send along a few photos and notes about the game so here you go:
The promo’s run by the Wings were entertaining. It was 80’s night and I think everyone enjoyed the 80’s music trivia. (although I mistakenly thought it was Tiffany not Madonna on the last question).
The view of the game was great. I am impressed for an older building that the sight lines are good from wherever you are sitting. Despite the history of the Joe, I am surprised that there hasn’t been a push to upgrade/build a new arena. There appear to be few luxury boxes and the restaurant choices are limited.
Overall I am still impressed with Hockeytown’s fans. I didn’t think the game would have a full crowd based on it being a Thursday night and with the Kings being the 15th place team in the Western Conference. However the crowd had lots of energy and it was an enjoyable game overall.
David is the one on the left and his friend, Chris, is on the right.
Yzerman’s knee still a pain
Tomorrow after my exam and quiz, I will post about Yzerman’s induction ceremony into the Michigan Hall of Fame as well as post photographs from Dave, who was the winner of the BTJ tickets to Thursday’s game. I hope to write plenty about No. 19 because, well, that’s how I roll.
Until then, the first two “paragraphs” from a Detroit News column today will have to hold you over until then.
He still looks like he could play. Same weight, same love of the game. Unfortunately, same right knee, too.
“Oh, the knee is terrible,” Steve Yzerman said, chuckling. “I have a tough time doing a lot of things, but I still do them.”
And this is why I’m such a Yzerman fan. I feel like right there, he was me talking about my knee. My mom actually called me and read me that excerpt from the article before I even had the chance to because she felt that what he said was actually me talking.
Cleary out 2 months with fractured jaw
After enjoying a 65 degree day in South Carolina, I return to Detroit and its lovely -9 degrees. I make it to the Joe for work to learn that not only did we lose to the Maple Leafs in overtime yesterday, but we lost gritty forward Dan Cleary to injury. A puck shot by teammate Mikael Samuelsson fractured Cleary’s jaw in a couple places.
Doctors told him he could have the jaw wired shut for two months and allow the bones to naturally heal, or choose surgery. Cleary has already had his operation, which resulted in 12-15 screws and three metal plates. His jaw will be wired shut for the next two weeks. As such, he should be out for about two months. Yikes.
Cleary had scored 20 goals this season and had won the Hardest Working Player award (decided on by the coaches and the front office) so his presence will definitely be missed out on the ice. IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman reminds us exactly what we will be missing out on:
Let’s go ahead and take a quick look at what the Wings will be trying to replace. Dan Cleary, who hadn’t missed a game this season, leaves a hole in the lineup to this kind of tune:
5th in points with 40.
2nd in goals with 20.
7th in assists with 20.
+23, fifth best on the team.
5 PP goals and 3 game winners.
161 shots. With the Wing mantra of “just shoot it bitch.” That’s three Cleary lasers per game gone.Oh, and that’s 17 minutes, 24 shifts per game: gone. Dangerous shifts. Gritty shifts. Shifts that can’t be replaced by an oompa loompa who can’t score anymore, or a brawler who never could score. 24 shifts that can’t be replaced by a legend in Grand Rapids or a guy we used to hate but now wears #17.
On top of all that, the Wings lost to the Anaheim Ducks yesterday (yes, their third straight loss), 3-2.
Add all this up and Detroit fans are starting to stress a bit.
Out of Town
Updates will be slow over the next few weekends due to work and travel.
For example, this weekend…
Thursday: class @ 8am through working the Wings game until 11pm
Friday: working @ the Joe from 10-3pm then flying to South Carolina
Saturday: South Carolina
Sunday: flying to Detroit and then working the Wings game until 7pm
And with exams and summer internship applications due over the next couple weeks, life will be hectic for the month of February. I will update when I can, but I just want to apologize in advance.
Next weekend, I will be in Chicago for this Diversity in Communications event for selected Big Ten students. The weekend after that, I will be visiting a friend in NYC and attending my first NY Rangers game (against the Florida Panthers) and the rest of that week I will be without internet as I will be volunteering in Detroit with a church group for the rest of my spring break (yes, U of M’s spring break is Feb 22-29 and yes, it’s ridiculously early). As you can see, I’m booked!
Yzerman named GM for Team Canada
After last year’s success at the World Championships in Moscow where Team Canada went 9-0 and won the gold, Steve Yzerman was named GM once again for Team Canada. This year’s World Championships series will take place in Quebec City and Halifax from May 2nd through May 18th. Luc Robitaille, a former Detroit Red Wings player himself, will be Yzerman’s assistant GM as will Doug Armstrong.
“Working with Hockey Canada and their staff for the world championship last year was a terrific experience, and I am very pleased to be given the opportunity to return,” Yzerman said. “Over the coming months, myself, Doug and Luc will be looking to name a coaching staff and players that will give Canada the best chance to defend their gold medal in Quebec City in May.”
“Hockey Canada is very excited that Steve Yzerman has agreed to return as Canada’s general manager for the 2008 IIHF World Championship, the first-ever world championship to be held in Canada,” said Misley. “We are confident that Steve will provide us with the leadership we need to help Canada stay on top of the hockey world.”
Apparently, this is an important year to win the gold as it would give Team Canada the top ranking in the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver.
The Hockey News has gotten a bit ahead of themselves, in my opinion, with an article speculating that success in this tournament may cause Detroit to allow Yzerman to take the helm as GM allowing a team like Toronto to hire current GM Ken Holland.
Think about it. Yzerman could be moved into the president-GM role with the Red Wings and would still have the expertise of assistant GM Jim Nill, senior vice-president Jim Devellano, uber consultant Scotty Bowman and a top-notch amateur and pro scouting staff to help him. And if Yzerman isn’t ready yet, the Red Wings could promote Nill to the GM chair until Yzerman is ready to take over.
And if Holland does become available, he automatically becomes not only the frontrunner for the Maple Leafs, but the only candidate in whom they should have any interest. He is without a doubt the best GM in the league – THN named him that last season, so it must be true – and he meets every single one of the criteria needed to satisfy the Leafs.
I think even Yzerman himself would say that he’s not ready to be the GM for the Wings. Yes, I eventually would like to see Yzerman in the GM or Assistant GM position, but the organization has a great thing going right now and I don’t think anyone is in too big of a rush to switch things up and mess with a good system. Being the GM for Team Canada in the World Championships is like a kid learning to ride a bike. Yzerman still needs his training wheels, which is what he gets with the Team Canada GM position. He’s not quite ready to go without those wheels yet as a GM for a professional hockey team.
Kronwall’s injury worse than expected
BTJ favorite Niklas Kronwall will be out with a shoulder injury (a sprained clavicle) longer than expected. Originally, he was expected to miss ten days and hoped to play in the game on Feb. 9th against Toronto (the team his brother Stefan plays for). Unfortunately, a more recent MRI has indicated that the injury will need more time to heal and the team is currently sitting 17 points ahead in the Western Conference and 15 in the NHL over Ottawa. The team has the luxury to not rush Kronner back to play.
“Pretty much skated to get the pace going, get my heart going again. Just did a little puck handling, felt so-so,” Kronwall said. “We’ll see what the doctor says. He took a look at the MRI the other day, said it’ll probably be a little longer than 10 days. I was hoping to play in Toronto (Saturday), but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
He did skate today for the first time since injuring his shoulder albeit by himself before the team practiced.
“It’ll probably be a little bit longer than 10 days,” said Kronwall. “We’ll just have to go from how the rehab goes and how it feels on the ice, try to think positive and go from there. … Obviously you don’t want to do anything stupid to re-injure it and miss more games.”