Michigan heads to Frozen Four
The University of Michigan hockey team won its second game in consecutive days in the NCAA tournament, which means the Wolverines are heading to the Frozen Four! They defeated Clarkson tonight, 2-0, and Niagara last night, 5-1.
Be sure to visit The Blog That Yost Built for all your latest UM hockey news!
Michigan will face the winner of the Michigan State/Notre Dame game that is just about to face-off. The CCHA is now 5-0 on the tournament, about to be 6-1, with two teams guaranteed into the Frozen Four, and one guaranteed to make the NCAA Championship game. For the record, the WCHA is 2-4, will be 3-5 after tomorrow, and can put a maximum of one team into the Frozen Four. But they weren’t overrated this year or anything….
The Frozen Four game would be on April 10th at 4pm or 7pm (MDT). Go Blue!
Opening the SI Vault
Just last week, Sports Illustrated released it’s newest web portal, the SI Vault.
Essentially, it’s an online version of their magazine archives. You can search for certain players, teams, or stories and have them appear going way back in time. Here is a link to all of the NHL covers over the years.
I love it because you can read complete articles from each of these issues, which were previously unavailable for free. So I can read the Wings cover article from June 1997 entitled “Down and Dirty.” Pretty cool, huh?
NHL players pick Wings to win the Cup
According to last week’s Sports Illustrated issue, a poll of 365 players found 62% of them picked the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup this postseason. Players could not vote for their own team.
Which team will win the Stanley Cup?
Detroit Red Wings - 62%
Anaheim Ducks - 20%
Ottawa Senators - 8%
San Jose Sharks - 3%
Montreal Canadiens - 2%
Calgary Flames - 1.1%
We always hear the media try to say that the Wings wins are inflated because of the division heavy schedule and a variety of other reasons. Despite all that, the majority of NHL players like Detroit’s chances this season. I like it.
If I knew the Wings would be healthy, I’d pick the Wings to win the Cup as well. But that’s the huge if at the moment.
Red Wings win 50th game this season
For a third straight season, the Detroit Red Wings under head coach Mike Babcock have won at least 50 games in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Columbus. Babcock also set an NHL record by becoming the first head coach to win 50 games in each of his first three seasons with a team.
And what makes this even more impressive is that Detroit did all this after cutting their payroll in half following the NHL lockout.
“After the lockout we had to buy out some players (Derian Hatcher, Darren McCarty and Ray Whitney). We were all on a level playing field (in terms of salaries) with other teams, but the organization has found a way to find players and still be competitive out there,” Lidstrom said. “We’re still able to win games. It shows a lot about the coaching staff and players here.”
Babcock had a few interesting quotes in today’s Detroit Free Press article, including one where he says this season’s squad is the best he has had the opportunity to coach in the NHL.
“Not even close,” Babcock said when asked if this was his best team. “Didn’t have as much points as the team a few years ago, (but) best team I’ve ever coached.
“More depth, faster, harder, the will to win. Yeah, best team I ever coached.” …
“If you prepare hard and you get lucky, and I’ve said this before — lucky means healthy — we got a shot,” Babcock said. “And all you can ask for is a shot.” …
“Since the start of February we’ve been grinding,” Babcock said. “It’s not like we go out, the puck’s dropped and we have the puck for 60 minutes like we normally do and the other team doesn’t get to touch it. The other team gets to touch it right now.
“It’s been great for us. We’ve had to work, work, work — compete like crazy.”
I would have to agree that this year’s team is the best version since the lockout when healthy. If the team can find a way to get healthy come playoff time and then stay relatively healthy, I like our team’s chances. If we can’t get healthy or a key player gets injured, I can’t say I’d have that same confidence. But I do like our team’s work ethic and their grit and hustle this year. Last year, we showed that we can be a physical team and that attitude has stayed with the squad this season. Sure we’re not the most physical team in the league, but I think we’re physical enough to be successful.
Michigan wins CCHA tournament
This past weekend, the University of Michigan Wolverines defeated Northern Michigan on Friday, 6-4, and then Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, 2-1, to win the CCHA title at Joe Louis Arena.
College Hockey Showcase Championship: Check
Great Lakes Invitational Championship: Check
CCHA Regular Season Championship: Check
CCHA Tournament Championship: Check
NCAA #1 overall seed: Check
How sweet is that? Now hopefully UM will continue this level of success in the NCAA tournament. Based on the team’s top seed and the fact that Wisconsin made it to the tourney (and was placed in the Madison, WI regional), UM will play in the East regional and should come out of that regional. It’s obviously not a lock or anything like that, but it’s certainly in the Wolverines’ favor.
If you’re curious about how they selected who goes where and want more bracket analysis, be sure to check out this great MGoBlog post here.
I must admit I cracked a smile in the press box when I saw the players pile on top of each other when that buzzer rang ending the game and it was great to see Michigan going to the rafters of the Joe for the second time this season. Hopefully, they will be raising a certain National Championship banner to the rafters of Yost Ice Arena this season. Go Blue!
Playoff hockey this weekend
For all of you southeast Michigan hockey fans out there itching for the playoffs, you can support two of the local teams this weekend in their playoff run.
Friday night at 8:05pm, you can cheer on the Maize and Blue as the University of Michigan hockey team takes on Northern Michigan in the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena. Earlier in the day at 4:30pm, Miami (OH) and Notre Dame will face-off. The winner of those two games will play in the CCHA championship game on Saturday at 7:35pm. The two losing teams will play at 3:35pm. The winner of the CCHA tournament gets an automatic bid into the NCAA tourney.
Yours truly will be working all four games this weekend as well as volunteering at the first ever CCHA Fan Fest, which will be held at the Ren Cen.
The CCHA Fan Fest will be open on Friday, March 21 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and will re-open for the CCHA Championship party at 10:30 p.m. The Championship party, presented by Olympia Entertainment and the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, will include live music from the band 9 House featuring former NHL player Kraig Nienhuis. Fans will also have an opportunity to explore the Fan Fest during the Championship Party.
“It’s a fun night of entertainment. People get to come and see live entertainment and socialize with other hockey fans and enjoy the camaraderie of a sporting event outside of the arena. Hockey people love being around other hockey people and this is an opportunity for everyone to come and enjoy each other’s company and have some fun,” CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos said.
The Fan Fest will also be open on Saturday, March 22 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
I will be working at the Fan Fest from 10am-1pm on Friday and 10am-11:45am on Saturday before heading to the Joe for the games. So if you are looking for something to do, come downtown for the Fan Fest (it’s free!) and then come over to the Joe and watch some hockey!
Since I will be working 26 of the 48 hours on Friday and Saturday, it’s safe to say I won’t be posting here until Sunday evening or Monday.
Plymouth Whalers
As many of you know, I was a game night intern for the Plymouth Whalers last year. If you don’t already know, the Whalers are the local Ontario Hockey League team in southeast Michigan. Well, their playoffs begin tomorrow in Kitchener when the Whalers take on the No. 1 ranked Rangers. The two teams will then travel to Plymouth for Game #2 of the series to be played on Saturday at 7:05pm. Tickets are just $15 for center ice or $11 otherwise.
Game #4 will also be in Plymouth on Wednesday, March 26th. The Wings don’t have a game on the 26th and they are on the road on the 22nd, so if you can go support the local OHL team! Playoff games are always fun and it’s the OHL so they are affordable too!
Uh oh: Stuart out with broken finger
Wings fans just got some more bad news this morning.
Ansar Khan reported that recently acquired defenseman Brad Stuart suffered a broken finger during the third period of last night’s game when he blocked a shot. This type of injury usually takes 3-6 weeks to heal and the Wings are estimating that it’ll take closer to three. Fortunately, it’s a finger injury so Stuart will be able to stay conditioned and it won’t take quite as long to adjust once he is inserted back into the lineup. He will start skating next week.
Until then, Chris Chelios will be paired up with Niklas Kronwall on the second line with Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda together on the third pairing.
IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman:
Well that pretty much sucks. The DDC also reports that none of the injured forwards will be returning tonite and that Chris Chelios will move up to the second defensive pairing with Niklas Kronwall. Strange, since he was “competing for that 6th spot,” eh?
The train is open, as you know. But before you board, consider this. Stuart had no problem jumping right into the system when he was dealt here and he’ll be skating consistently while his digit heals. As long as he’s back for the playoffs, I’m not going fetal about it.
The thing is, it doesn’t sound like he will be back in time. The playoffs start in 2.5 weeks. Are the Wings usually ever back from an injury on time or even early? Not so much.
I just wish this injury bug would go away. Hopefully, we’ll get it all out of the way before the playoffs and it’ll be all good.
FSN Detroit extends deal with Wings
The local FSN Detroit station has extended its deals with the Detroit Red Wings as well as the Tigers and Pistons to carry games well into the future (no definitive end has been given). FSN Detroit will be able to broadcast at least 70 Wings games each season (with any overlapping schedules going on FSN Plus). FSN’s deal with the Wings actually won’t go into effect until 2012-2013, which is when the 1997 signed contract expires. FSN Detroit has had the rights to all local Wings broadcasts since 2003.
For the first time, FSN Detroit will also have the only rights to local broadcasts for the Pistons’ games when the new deal goes into effect next season. Detroit sports fans will also catch at least 70 Pistons games each season. In addition to that, FSN Detroit will now broadcast a possible 152 Tigers games (they only showed 134 last year) and a whopping 103 of those games will be shown in HD.
The three deals are estimated to be worth over a combined $1 billion over at least ten years. Why would a company be willing to spend that kind of cash on broadcast rights?
FSN considers Detroit’s pro teams to be good business. It said the teams’ ratings — 7.5 for the Tigers last season, 4.8 for the Wings and 4.5 for the Pistons this season — rank second or third in their respective leagues for teams televised by regional networks.
Personally, I love the FSN coverage of the Detroit teams. After watching other games on Center Ice, I just feel fortunate to be able to watch/listen to Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond call the game. FSN senior vice president and general manager Greg Hammaren said that he is quite satisfied with FSN’s air talent, and said “Who doesn’t love Mickey Redmond?”
The on-the-field prospects of all three teams has Hammaren smiling, too.
“I’m thrilled,” he said. “There’s a real possibility the city could have three championships this season. FSN has made a huge investment in the town I’ve come to love. Now the fan is coming out in me.”
The only downfall I see to all of this is that Pistons games used to be shown on Channels 4 and 20. Channel 4, WDIV, is a local broadcast station allowing fans without cable to view games. I’m thinking of my Grandpa who doesn’t have cable, but loves to watch the Detroit teams play. Now, his options are down to the Lions and maybe an occasional game that gets bumped to Fox 2.
Draper & Homer still out with injuries
Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom are both still out with groin injuries and will not play in tomorrow’s game against Columbus.
Darren Helm was recalled to fill the roster spot left by Draper. He had just been sent back down yesterday, but then the team realized Draper wouldn’t be ready to play Wednesday and recalled Helm. Draper could return Thursday as he felt good after skating in practice today, but just wasn’t quite ready for Wednesday’s game.
Holmstrom is a bit farther behind Draper in terms of recovery. The earliest we’ll see him back in the lineup is next week, but who knows if that will actually happen. Homer still doesn’t like doing the hard stops and starts right now.
Bruce MacLeod has a great article on Johan Franzen’s recent offensive success, which can be partially attributed to the greater ice time with Homer out.
Franzen, 28, is the ultimate late-bloomer on a team laced with late-bloomers. He wasn’t drafted until he was 24, meaning that he was passed over by every NHL team in six entire drafts before the Red Wings selected him 97th overall in 2004.
Franzen didn’t reach the NHL until he was 25. His NHL ice time has been like an elevator going up, starting at 12:27 per game as a rookie, then 15:35 as a sophomore, to 17:27 in his third season. His only special-team time at first was on the penalty-kill and now he’s on the top power play on the NHL’s best team.
Chris Osgood will get the start on Wednesday with Dominik Hasek starting Thursday in Nashville.
Media noticing Kronwall’s solid play
Niklas Kronwall has always been a BTJ favorite. Even when it wasn’t popular. Sure, my reasoning certainly wasn’t the best. I was first a fan because he was predicted to be a top defenseman and dealt with a rash of unfortunate injuries. What can I say, I’m a sucker for players who fight through injuries especially when one of them was a serious knee injury. In fact, he did a signing back in the day and I have an 8×10 Kronner photo that reads: “Christy, Good luck with your knee!” and then signed by No. 55. And of course, I am one of the few Wings fans to own an autographed Kronwall jersey that I got a couple years ago.
Over the years, Kronner has frustrated Wings fans with his brilliant hits and plays, which would then be followed up later in the game by a boneheaded pass or defensive error. Then he’d go down with a serious injury and miss the rest of the season.
While he has still had to fight the injury bug this season, fans and the media alike are starting to recognize how important Kronwall is to this club. Obviously the team struggled when Kronner, Lidstrom, and Rafalski all suffered injuries, but when Kronner came back (before Lids did), the team started to click. You could clearly see the positive impact Kronner had and he quickly demonstrated that with four assists in his first two games back from suffering a sprained clavicle injury.
Anyways, the NHL.com has a nice article about Kronwall’s progress in the NHL including a variety of quotes from teammates and even Daniel Alfreddson of the Ottawa Senators, who played with Kronner in the 2005 World Championship tournament. If I could copy and paste the entire article, which consisted primarily of quotes, I would. But since I can’t, here’s an excerpt and you can read the rest here:
“I think he’s great,” says New York Rangers Brendan Shanahan, who spent nine seasons in Detroit. “Kronvall just had some bad luck with injuries, but if he hadn’t been hurt the first few years of his career I think he would be an All-Star by now. Kronvall has offensive upside. He is a big hitter and a great skater. This guy is just a great player that the NHL hasn’t seen enough of yet, because he has had some freakish injuries.” …
“Kronvall would have come on a bit earlier, but he had quite a few setbacks with those injuries,” Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said. “Niklas is such a good skater and, especially under the new rules, he is able to join the rush and get the rush going. He is not a big guy, but he can really throw the big hits because he’s got great timing.
“I played with Niklas in the 2005 World Championships and he was unbelievable,” Alfredsson said. “I hadn’t seen him before (that event), so he caught me a little by surprise but he was outstanding. I thought for sure that he was going to be the next star offensive defenseman in the NHL. I think he has the potential to be one of the best in the League.”