Game 4 Live Blog: Wings/Pens
Come back at 8pm for a BTJ live blog for Game #4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Go Wings!
Wings head to resort on their off day
On Thursday, the Wings took advantage of their two day break before Game #4 on Saturday night by heading to the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa, which is 90 minutes outside of Pittsburgh.
If you read one article this week outside of game recaps, read this Detroit Free Press article about their day of relaxation. I love feature type stories that highlight the humor of the players and makes them look human. This article does just that- a fun look at the Wings’ day off. This article was certainly the most entertaining one I have read all week. If I could blockquote the entire article, I would. But I can’t so here are a couple of excerpts:
“It was good for the whole team just to get away,” Kronwall said. “Just the bus ride brings guys together even more, so I think any time you do stuff like that, it just brings the team even closer together. It was an amazing place, just beautiful. They had everything.” …
Chelios had so much trouble casting that at one point, half the rod came off and landed in the water.
“I guess I would say I didn’t bring anything to shore,” Chelios conceded. “I had some on the line. I got frustrated. I’ve never fly-fished before and I didn’t like it and I’ll never do it again. You’ve got to have a little touch, a little more technique. Fishing should be relaxing. I thought I’d try it because I’d never done it, and now I know I don’t ever want to do it again.” …
While many players tried something exotic, several formed two groups and headed off to play a competitive round of miniature golf. Perhaps it’s a good omen heading into Game 4 that Chris Osgood was the reason his group won.
“It was a lot easier than we thought,” Draper said of winning. “Ozzie once again elevated his game. I rode Ozzie’s coattails like I have for the past two months. It was perfect.”
The Detroit Pistons just lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, 89-81. This is the Pistons third straight loss in the ECF, which is frustrating to say the least. Between the series loss, the Lions continual suckage, and the Tigers disappointment, let’s hope the Wings can bring something nice and shiny to Detroit and give us all a reason to celebrate!
City of Novi becomes “Little Sweden”
Thanks to the influx of European players on the Red Wings team, players have flocked to the city of Novi. The Swedish players seem particularly drawn to the area as all but one of the seven Swedes live in the Novi city limits. Henrik Zetterberg is the only Swede to live elsewhere. He resides in West Bloomfield.
In Metro Detroit, six of the team’s seven Swedish players live within five miles of each other in Novi, prompting coach Mike Babcock to recently dub the suburb “Little Sweden.”
The concentration is no accident. It gives the foreign-born players comfort to live near each other where they can speak Swedish and where their wives, girlfriends and kids can socialize during the team’s long and frequent road trips.
“For me, I picked Novi because my wife wanted to live close to some countrymen,” winger Mikael Samuelsson said. “You’ve got to have a convenient situation for the family and it helps the guys here too. It helps me relax when I’m on the road. I know they’re having a good time.”
Detroit fans pick Wings over Pistons
For the first time this series, Detroit chose to watch the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals over the Detroit Pistons, who are playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s about time!
Last night’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC earned a 2.8 overnight rating and a 5 share, the best overnight rating for a Game 3 in six years (2002 – Carolina-Detroit, 3.8/8). The Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings garnered an 18.2/28 in Detroit, trouncing the Detroit Pistons-Boston Celtics NBA Eastern Conference Final head-to-head by more than 14 percent in “Hockeytown” (15.9/24).
The 2.8/5 was an 87 percent increase over last year’s Game 3 on NBC (Anaheim-Ottawa, 1.5/3).
I didn’t even flip back and forth between the two games. I just stuck with the Wings all night.
Misc.
I am moving to Chicago for my ten week summer internship on Sunday so updates will be coming, but less frequently as I pack and get everything together for my move to the Windy City. I start my internship there on Monday and then will be rushing back to Detroit to catch Game #5 at the Joe so updates from me should resume as normal by next week. Sorry for the inconvenience and crappy timing.
I will be going on “The Sports Docket with Aceman & the Kwass,” an internet radio show, for a Stanley Cup Final roundtable with the two hosts, Brian Compton of the NHL.com, and a blogger or two from the infamous Pensblog at 7:30pm. You can check it out here for the live show or catch it later on the same website.
Update:
You can listen to the podcast here. If you just want to listen to the SCF roundtable, skip to the 30 minute mark. The roundtable lasted just over 20 minutes. We talked about the coaches, Conn Smythe and SCF predictions, the age of the Wings, Gary Roberts, and the crowd at Mellon Arena among other things so be sure to check it out. Thanks to Ethan for the invite and Brian, Derek, and Adam for the great hockey conversation!
CSN Chicago: Wings/Blackhawks at Wrigley Field
Joe Hass here. Comcast SportsNet in Chicago is reporting that the NHL and the Chicago Blackhawks will announce as early as today (but probably Friday) that they’ve chosen the Red Wings and the Blackhawks for the 2008-09 outdoor game at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
As both a Red Wings fan and a Cubs fan, there are no words to describe how incredible this would be for me. Combine the facts that it’s an Original Six matchup, the large number of former Michigan residents (and likely Wings fans) who already live in the Chicagoland area, and the limited seating capacity of Wrigley (40,000, give or take a bleacher bum or two), and I think this could be even more incredible than the Pens/Sabres game last year.
Game 3 Live Blog: Wings/Pens
BTJ live blog will begin once the puck drops. Go Wings!
Interesting Wings-Pens facts from reader
BTJ reader Dan Huyck sent me an email with these interesting facts below and I thought I’d pass them along to you guys.
Last time the Penguins scored against the Red Wings: Dec 12, 2005 Mark Recchi with 28.9 seconds to go in the third period.
Last time the Penguins defeated the Wings: Nov 18, 2003
Last time the Penguins defeated the Wings in consecutive games between those teams: Jan 2, 2000 and Dec 10, 2000.
Just sayin’
Be sure to stop back by BTJ tonight when I live blog the action starting at 8pm.
Hakan Andersson to sign two-year deal
The Detroit Red Wings made a great move in offering European scout Hakan Andersson to a two-year extension. This is the man responsible for finding and drafting Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Andersson has not yet signed the extension, but will within the next month.
Swedish super scout Hakan Andersson, responsible for uncovering gems such as Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Tomas Holmstrom, is in Detroit for the finals. He is in the last year of his contract, but has two-year extension waiting for him and said he’ll sign it before the NHL draft, which falls June 20-21.
That is fantastic news. The Wings are only as successful as they are because they find gems hidden in Europe. Andersson has been a huge part in that and would have been a significant loss had the Wings been unable to hang on to him.
Update: The Toronto Sun has a great article on Andersson and how he came to find Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, and Holmstrom. There’s even this interesting tidbit:
When Scotty Bowman considered leaving the Red Wings for a position with the Maple Leafs last summer, he wanted to take Andersson with him. He asked the scout how much money he made and offered to almost double it.
Since then, Andersson has signed a new two-year contract with the Wings. Whatever he is being paid — fewer than $200,000 a year we’re told — it isn’t enough.
And there are more Andersson players on the way. The rich are simply getting richer.
Jonathan Ericsson, the last pick in the 2002 draft, is a defenceman who has some people talking about Larry Robinson. He will play in Detroit next season.
In the same article, Andersson that he would not trade Dick Axelsson away for any prospect in Europe. Coming from Andersson, that speaks volumes about the left winger.
Thoughts on Game #2: Wings 3, Pens 0
What a game! The Wings are up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals and it feels amazing to be able to say that. Now the Wings still have two more wins to earn and they are heading to Pittsburgh where the fans at Mellon Arena hope to make it difficult for Detroit. If Detroit can get one of the two games there, I would consider the road trip quite a success. But Game #3 isn’t until tomorrow so let’s take a look back at what happened last night at Joe Louis Arena in the 3-0 Detroit victory.
Impressive. I’m not sure how else to describe Valtteri Filppula’s amazing goal in the third period. Take a look in the clip below.
And who got an assist on that goal? The man, the myth, the legend. Ah yes, Johan Franzen is back ladies and gentlemen.
Filppula had quite a game between an assist on the game winning Brad Stuart goal, a beauty of a goal himself, and I remember him clearing the puck on quite a few key penalty kills as well. In his 15:45 of ice time, Filppula was a +2 and won 53% of his 15 face offs. Not too shabby.
Now onto the goaltender that has Penguin fans all riled up and who causes Wings’ fans to break out in chants after every big save, Chris Osgood. From Pens’ head coach Michael Therrien to the bloggers at Pensblog, they are calling Osgood a diver. Here’s the moment they are referring to:
I see Petr Sykora leaning his shoulder into Chris Osgood causing him to lose his balance. Did he embellish his fall? I think so. Was he hit though by Sykora? Yes.
Here’s what Therrien had to say about the Wings’ so-called obstruction and Osgood’s “dive”:
Question: You had a conversation with Malkin about him being the leader in this game. How do you explain him having zero shots in this game?
Michel Therrien: It’s really tough to generate offense against that team. They’re good on obstruction. It’s going to be tough to generate any type of offense, if the rules remain the same. So it’s the first time we’re facing a team that the obstruction is there, and we’re having a hard time skating to take away ice.
We took two penalties tonight on the goalie. We never take penalty to the goalie in the playoff. I’ll tell you something, I reviewed those plays. He’s a good actor. He goes to players, and he’s diving. Took away our power play. Got to get focused. I know our players are frustrated right now. It’s tough to play the game. But Osgood did the same thing against Dallas under Ribeiro.
Our team never go to goalie. We never did it. And we don’t target the goalie. But this is, want to talk about experience, he goes to players, and he knows what to do, I guess.
I think Therrien needs to focus on why Malkin has only gotten one shot on goal in two games this series instead of worrying about the so-called obstruction.
Is Osgood’s play worthy of the Conn Smythe Trophy?
James Mirtle ponders this very question and notes the following:
Chris Osgood’s GAA, after last night’s shutout, is 1.38.
No netminder, in NHL history, has won eight playoffs games or more and posted a GAA under the 1.61 Martin Brodeur had in 2000.
Osgood’s save percentage, too, is way up there at .939, better than all but three netminders have managed in postseason history among those with eight or more wins. (Giguere’s .945 is the gold standard here.)
Now, there’s no question Osgood’s had a terrific season, the best of his career I would argue (which is interesting given he’s making just $800,000 at age 35), but there’s no question he’s benefited in these playoffs from the fact he sees so little rubber. …
What the question really comes down to is, on a team dominated by defence, puck possession and strong special teams, one that allows as few shots as the Red Wings do, can the goaltender be the MVP?
Obviously Osgood can only stop what’s thrown his way, but at what point are low save totals high enough to warrant the postseason’s top individual honour?
In my opinion, Nicklas Lidstrom is the MVP for this team. But will he win the Conn Smythe? Highly unlikely. Mirtle called him a “boring superstar” last week and it’s so true. He is our best player. If you were to remove one Wing from the line-up, Lidstrom’s loss would hurt our team the most. Despite that, he doesn’t bring enough flash to his game to warrant the Conn Smythe. The only defenseman I could see winning it would be Niklas Kronwall because he leads NHL defensemen in offensive points this postseason and draws attention with those big hits of his.
However, I see either a forward like Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk winning it. If Johan Franzen had not missed six games with the concussion-like symptoms, I would have pegged him as my top choice for the honor. Osgood definitely has a strong chance if he keeps up his strong goaltending, but the number of shots he faces each game may hurt his chances at the Conn Smythe.
Speaking of Pavel Datsyuk…
He played a terrific game and we saw him continue to be physical. Before last night’s game, he surprisingly led the team in hits. Last night? He had three hits, won both of his face offs, finished +1, and had five shots on goal.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Datsyuk throw a couple punches at Gary Roberts (!) in the scrum that ensued after the Sykora and Osgood incident with a little over a minute remaining in the game (see the YouTube clip above).
The guys from Melt Your Face Off wrote this entertaining recap of the scrum in their game review for Deadspin:
Osgood, in turn, one-upped Franzen. With 1:15 remaining in the game and no chance for a Penguins comeback, Osgood pulled a Madame Butterfly and died when Petr Sykora lightly grazed him. Soon afterward, Brooks Orpik tangled with Andreas Lilja, Franzen (still cured!) pounded Malkin, and Roberts lost a quick battle with Pavel Datsyuk. Pens fans, your hero lost to a Lady Byng finalist. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Earlier in the third, Ryan Malone hit his Eurotwin, Henrik Zetterberg, and Datsyuk stepped in to defend his best friend. Just a joy to watch between his fantastic stick work and physical play. He has truly come into his own over the past two seasons.
Bruce MacLeod had similar thoughts on Pavel’s play last night:
What a ridiculous goon cheap-shot by Gary Roberts skating up from behind — from behind — and clocking Johan Franzen. No honor whatsoever. Of course seeing Roberts’ face after Pavel Datsyuk threw punches at him was priceless. Actually, better than Roberts’ face was Brett Lebda’s smile when he saw Datsyuk taking on Roberts. And a beautiful job by Datsyuk of answering Ryan Malone’s late hit on Henrik Zetterberg in the third period. …
I’m still not sure why Datsyuk and Zetterberg didn’t get more MVP attention this season. I’m not just saying this because they’re outplaying Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa in this series. At the end of the regular season I asked why Datsyuk wasn’t an MVP finalist after finishing fourth in the league in scoring and being a finalist for best defensive forward. Three forwards were named as finalists (including Malkin). There aren’t three forwards more valuable than Datsyuk or Zetterberg. And if you’re curious, I gave Datsyuk my first vote for the Selke and voted for Datsyuk as a Hart finalist behind Alexander Ovechkin.
BTJ readers: Who would you select as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner IF the Wings were able to win the Cup?
5/27 Kronwall Quick Hits
Similar to my BTJ quick links, these are the quick hits of articles/blogs about BTJ favorite Niklas Kronwall. There are way too many great articles about the Wings for me to round up, but George Malik at Snapshots has done a great job in that regard.
ESPN’s Conn Smythe Watch has Kronner as their #3 choice for the playoff MVP trophy.
3. NIKLAS KRONWALL
• Stats — Games: 18; PTS: 12; +/-: 13; PIM: 16; SOG: 19; ATOI: 22:15.
• Summary: Once again, Kronwall was a physical terror. Kronwall sent Jarkko Ruutu flying early on with a wonderful open-ice hit at the Penguins blue line. Hits like that may explain why you can’t find Petr Sykora and a number of other Penguins forwards with a magnifying glass.
[Upward] Trend: Kronwall again helped set the tone early for Detroit.
Bob Duff of the Windsor Star makes the case that the Penguins can’t get their forecheck going or put pressure on the Wings because of the talent of the Wings’ defense.
Alright, move to the second pair then, Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall.
Will they cave?
Don’t think so. Stuart and Kronwall are a combined plus-32 in the playoffs. Kronwall is crunching everything in sight with punishing bodychecks and Stuart scored the game-winner Tuesday, his first playoff goal since 2004.
People talk about Detroit’s puck-possession game, but no team can play that style without a smart, mobile, puck-moving blue-line corps.
“If you get back and you get the puck going in a hurry and you put it on the tape, your forwards are way faster,” Babcock said. “Where if it’s NHL’d out - in other words, banged off of the glass - it’s hard to have speed through the neutral zone.”
In Game #1, Kronwall’s hit on Ryan Malone resulted in a broken nose for the Penguin.
Malone suffered a broken nose in Game 1, courtesy of a hit dished out by Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall, the third broken nose of his career.
“I broke it and they just pushed it back over,” he said. “I don’t mind. I need 11 more to catch my dad.”
His father, Greg Malone, played for the Penguins and later scouted for them. Greg Malone now works for the Phoenix Coyotes.
On Saturday night, Kronwall properly introduced Malone to Detroit. Last night? It was Jarkko Ruutu’s turn.
KRONWALL A BIG HIT: Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall isn’t very big – he’s listed very generously at 6 feet, 189 pounds – but he lays a huge hit. Jordan Staal and Ryan Malone were on the receiving end of a pair of mid-ice hits on Saturday night. “I’ve always enjoyed that part of the game,” said Kronwall, whose brother Staffan plays for the Maple Leafs.
And as this article suggests, he is certainly helping to break the stereotype of a soft Swede.
The player getting hit is clearly not expecting to be slammed there, but it’s legal and Kronvall actually admits to waiting until the puck is heading towards the receiver before making the decision to seek and destroy.
And though at 6 feet and 190 pounds he is relatively tiny for a defenceman, that’s exactly what he does.
“I never think about it like that, because what we’re talking about as a team is being physical as possible and it’s something I’ve always done,” said Kronvall, who’s had three seasons interrupted by three serious injuries, a broken leg in the first year, a torn ACL, and last season a broken sacrum. Can’t imagine why.
Update: Courtesy of the updated game notes from last night.
Red Wings’ Stuart, Kronwall, Draper pad plus-minus rating:
Red Wings defensemen Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall and center Kris Draper each have posted a +6 rating through two games of the Stanley Cup Final. They recorded +3 ratings in the 4-0 Detroit victory in Game 1 and also were +3 in tonight’s 3-0 win.