Jacques Demers on the Wings
Joe here. In yesterday’s USA Today, former Wings coach Jacques Demers paid high praise to the Wings performance when it comes to balancing European and North American players:
Look at the Detroit Red Wings’ roster and you see names like Lilja, Franzen, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Samuelsson, Filppula, Holmstrom and Kindl. In fact, almost half of the team’s playoff roster hails from Europe or Russia. That the Red Wings have been able to blend players from such different backgrounds into a solid team is a testament to the management and coaching philosophies of Ken Holland and Mike Babcock.
But it didn’t start with them. When I was coaching the Red Wings in the late 1980s, our general manager Jim Devellano had the foresight to begin scouting in Europe and Russia because he knew that was the only way the team would be able to rebuild itself.
A look at former Wing Jeff Sharples
My name is Joe Pelletier. Some of you will know me for my websites, Greatest Hockey Legends.com, 1972 Summit Series.com and Hockey Book Reviews.com. Others will recognize my name from store book shelves, where I’ve written The World Cup of Hockey and The Legends of Team Canada.
Christy Hammond asked me to write a guest piece for her website. We’ve been mutual admirers of each other’s work in the past, and I was eager to jump at the opportunity to write for her website, Behind The Jersey.
Christy’s idea was for me to quickly summarize the Detroit hockey legends I have profiled over at Greatest Hockey Legends.com. That would have been easy and beneficial for me, but I wanted to create something original and unique for Ms. Hammond. She creates some of the best hockey content on the web, and I figure as her guest writer I should carry on that originality.
So today I want to profile a Detroit Red Wing of the past, but no legend by any stretch. In fact, I bet most of you have long forgotten about the one Detroit Red Wing player I followed more than any in the late 1980s.
While most hockey fans were in awe of Steve Yzerman back then, I was in awe of Jeff Sharples. Sharples, you see, shares the same home town as I. Beautiful Terrace, British Columbia, famous for it’s world class sport fishing.
Sharples was already a legend in the city of 15,000 people. Being a junior hockey star, he was popular at the local hockey school, and lent his name to local causes. Somewhere in my storage closet I have his poster supporting local libraries.
In these parts, Sharples name is as synonymous with the 1983 Terrace midget reps as it with any NHL team. The 1983 team capture the national midget championship - then called the Air Canada Cup, now known as the telus cup. That team featured Sharples on defense, Wade Flaherty in net and Dale Kushner up front, all who went on to play in the NHL.
I was just starting grade 7 when Sharples broke into the league and impressed as a rookie defenseman in 1987-88. He made the jump directly from junior to the Detroit Red Wings who had drafted him 29th overall in 1985.
Detroit Red Wings attendance woes
Last semester, I took Sports Economics and for our final project, we had to come up with our own topic and then present our results. While my results don’t really prove anything since I don’t have the knowledge to perform higher levels of statistical analysis on the data, I did want to share my results and apparently the report was good enough for an A on the assignment. It’s a fairly long report so you will have to click on the read more link to see it in its entirety. The actual results aren’t until the second half of my report.
Question Statement
What factor has the strongest relationship with the Detroit Red Wings attendance: ticket prices, Michigan economy, the success of the Detroit Tigers, the success of the Detroit Pistons, or the NHL lockout?
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.
October: A Month in Review
I want to start a new feature here on BTJ called a Month in Review where at the conclusion of each month, I will take a look at how things have progressed over that timespan regarding the Red Wings. This review will include key dates, game results, injuries, events, etc.
Once again, the Wings are off to a strong start going 10-2-1 in their first month of action this season. What makes these results even more impressive is the fact that the Wings took two western road trips (one to the three California teams and Phoenix and then visiting the three western Canadian teams) in a span of three weeks and managed to come back with a winning record. As many Wings fans already know, these western road trips usually aren’t very kind to the Wings so that was pretty impressive.
Opening Night - October 4th
The Wings defeated defending Stanley Cup champs, the Anaheim Ducks, on opening night on a shootout goal by Jiri Hudler, 3-2. Unfortunately, the focus of attention was not on the final result of the game, rather the fact that the Wings’ 396 game sellout streak had snapped. Even a month later, the mass media across the country have commented on Detroit’s attendance woes and the “Hockeytown, USA” label.
Other Game Results
October 6th / Chicago Blackhawks / Wings lost 4-3 (SO)
October 8th / Edmonton Oilers / Wings won 4-2
October 10th / Calgary Flames / Wings won 4-2
October 12th / Chicago Blackhawks / Wings lost 3-2
October 14th / LA Kings / Wings won 4-1
October 15th / Anaheim Ducks / Wings lost 6-3
October 18th / San Jose Sharks / Wings won 4-2
October 20th / Phoenix Coyotes / Wings win 5-2
October 24th / Vancouver Canucks / Wings win 3-2
October 26th / San Jose Sharks / Wings win 5-1
October 28th / Vancouver Canucks / Wings win 3-2
October 30th / Edmonton Oilers / Wings win 2-1
The Wings only played a Central Division opponent twice this month, both against Chicago and resulting in two losses. In November, they play nine games against their division opponents so this will be a key month in terms of staying on top of the Central.
After going 10-2-1 in October, the Wings are the number one team in the NHL in the standings. They also have the October Player of the Month on their roster in Henrik Zetterberg, who dominated with 24 offensive points. As Eric Duhatschek of Globe and Mail points out, you can’t give all the credit to the players and GM Ken Holland for putting this group together.
When the Red Wings originally hired Mike Babcock away from the Anaheim Ducks to replace Dave Lewis, they did so knowing the inherent risk. Babcock was the antithesis of the low-key Lewis — he didn’t mind rattling a few cages and asserted his authority when necessary. That isn’t always a popular approach on a veteran team. The tendency for the players is to ask, who does this (newcomer) guy think he is anyway? Sometimes, that manifests itself in a player revolt — and a revolving door in the coaching office. Instead, the Red Wings’ players bought into what Babcock was selling. They are grittier than they were two seasons ago; are more dogged and persistent in their fore-checking; and yet they retain a high skill level, a Red Wings’ characteristic for going on 15 years now.
Wings’ Fight of the Month
Kyle McLaren of the San Jose Sharks hit Dallas Drake resulting in a fractured cheekbone on October 18th. Later in the game, Aaron Downey decided to seek revenge and make McLaren pay for injuring Downey’s teammate. The Wings went on to win that game, 4-2.
The Detroit Free Press wrote this snippet about Downey and his role on the team following that game:
“I think all of us got a little extra energy there when he went out and did that,” Zetterberg said. “It was a great fight, and it changed the momentum back to our side again. It doesn’t happen that often, but now we’ve got four fights this year in eight games, and it’s good — I think it belongs to the game and the fans like it, and we like it, too.”
The difference between Downey and last year’s experiment with enforcer Brad Norton is that Downey is a smart contributor.
“In all the games he’s played, he’s been effective,” Babcock said. “He knows how to play. He’s never going to be accused of being overly skilled or overly fast, but he is overly determined and he’s a great team guy. He says good things and does good things, and he makes our team better.”
Downey said his role is to make sure his teammates can play safely.
“I want to contribute some way, and I didn’t like what McLaren was doing with Dallie Drake and then with Henrik,” Downey said. “You’ve got to send a message, and I’m sending a message right now — that no one is going to mess with this team this year.”
Honoring a tragic 10 year anniversary
Source: Detroit Free Press
Ten years ago, the Detroit Red Wings were supporting two teammates and a team massage therapist at Beaumont Hospital only six days after winning their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.
“It’s amazing that a decade has gone by,” said Wings general manager Ken Holland, who was assistant general manager under GM Jimmy Devellano at the time of the accident. “You get caught up in your own life, in your job. Days turn into months, months into years, and then you are looking back: Where does the time go?”
Ten years ago, most of the team attended a golf outing at Orchards Golf Club to celebrate their NHL title. At the conclusion of the outing, everyone got in their respective cars. Defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Fetisov, and Sergei Mnatsakanov went in a limo together. The driver, Richard Gnida, blacked out at the wheel and did not wake up even when Fetisov, Konstantinov, and Mnatsakanov pounded on the glass to try to wake him up. The limo rammed into a tree injuring all of those in the car.
“We were just praying the whole way there that it wasn’t as bad as it turned out to be,” said John Wharton, the Wings’ trainer at the time. “We’d heard that the limo hit a tree, but we were like, ‘It’s a limo. How bad can it be?’ I wasn’t prepared for what we arrived to at the hospital that night.”
Fetisov escaped from the twisted wreckage with relatively minor injuries and was released from the hospital a few days later. Richard Gnida, who was behind the wheel, also was treated and released — he’d later serve seven months in jail for driving with a suspended license.
Detroit bloggers’ roundtable (Pt. 5)
Last week, I sent an email to many sports bloggers who cover Detroit teams with five questions about why the city of Detroit is such a great sports city. I received so many great and well thought out responses that instead of posting the answers to all five questions at once, I will spread it out throughout five days.
Today is Day #5 for the Detroit bloggers’ roundtable. You can also view the discussions for part one, part two, part three and part four.
I’d first like to once again thank the bloggers who participated in this discussion:
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Scott @ Quo Vadimus & Cutoff Man (Detroit Sports & Detroit Tigers)
Sean @ Pride of Detroit & Michigan Sports Center (Detroit Lions & UM Sports)
Matt @ Lets Go Wings (Detroit Red Wings)
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner (Detroit Red Wings/NHL)
Al @ The Wayne Fontes Experience (Detroit Sports)
Ripismoney @ Detroit Sports Unleashed (Detroit Sports)
The fifth and final question I asked the panel was… “How has the recent success of three of the four big professional teams done to help a city (and state) struggling so much economically?”
Detroit bloggers’ roundtable (Pt. 4)
Last week, I sent an email to many sports bloggers who cover Detroit teams with five questions about why the city of Detroit is such a great sports city. I received so many great and well thought out responses that instead of posting the answers to all five questions at once, I will spread it out throughout five days.
Today is Day #4 for the Detroit bloggers’ roundtable. You can also view the discussions for part one, part two and part three.
I’d first like to once again thank the bloggers who participated in this discussion:
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Scott @ Quo Vadimus & Cutoff Man (Detroit Sports & Detroit Tigers)
Sean @ Pride of Detroit & Michigan Sports Center (Detroit Lions & UM Sports)
Matt @ Lets Go Wings (Detroit Red Wings)
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner (Detroit Red Wings/NHL)
Al @ The Wayne Fontes Experience (Detroit Sports)
Ripismoney @ Detroit Sports Unleashed (Detroit Sports)
The third question I asked the panel was… “What is your favorite Detroit sports memory?”
Detroit bloggers’ roundtable (Pt. 3)
Last week, I sent an email to many sports bloggers who cover Detroit teams with five questions about why the city of Detroit is such a great sports city. I received so many great and well thought out responses that instead of posting the answers to all five questions at once, I will spread it out throughout five days.
Today is Day #3 for the Detroit bloggers’ roundtable. You can also view the discussions for part one and part two.
I’d first like to once again thank the bloggers who participated in this discussion:
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Scott @ Quo Vadimus & Cutoff Man (Detroit Sports & Detroit Tigers)
Sean @ Pride of Detroit & Michigan Sports Center (Detroit Lions & UM Sports)
Matt @ Lets Go Wings (Detroit Red Wings)
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner (Detroit Red Wings/NHL)
Al @ The Wayne Fontes Experience (Detroit Sports)
Ripismoney @ Detroit Sports Unleashed (Detroit Sports)
The third question I asked the panel was… “How do you think the sports scene in southeast Michigan will look in five years?”
Detroit bloggers’ roundtable (Pt. 2)
Last week, I sent an email to many sports bloggers who cover Detroit teams with five questions about why the city of Detroit is such a great sports city. I received so many great and well thought out responses that instead of posting the answers to all five questions at once, I will spread it out throughout five days.
Today is Day #2 for the Detroit bloggers’ roundtable. You can view the discussion in part one at this page.
I’d first like to once again thank the bloggers who participated in this discussion:
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Scott @ Quo Vadimus & Cutoff Man (Detroit Sports & Detroit Tigers)
Sean @ Pride of Detroit & Michigan Sports Center (Detroit Lions & UM Sports)
Matt @ Lets Go Wings (Detroit Red Wings)
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner (Detroit Red Wings/NHL)
Al @ The Wayne Fontes Experience (Detroit Sports)
Ripismoney @ Detroit Sports Unleashed (Detroit Sports)
The second question I asked the panel was… “How has the team you cover contributed to this title of best sports city?”
Note: These answers all came before the Pistons lost in the 2007 ECF.