10/4 Quick Hits
Wings dealing with injuries
Both Chris Chelios and Tomas Holmstrom missed last night’s preseason game due to knee injuries. While Homer hopes to still play this weekend, Chelios is out for 3-6 weeks with a fractured tibia. Pavel Datsyuk has been missing action thanks to a groin injury, but hopes to play this weekend because developing chemistry with linemate Marian Hossa is very important to him.
Wings defeat Toronto, 5-3
Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Joe and left after a 5-3 loss at the hands of Johan Franzen & Co. Franzen scored twice including the game winning goal with just 1:57 left in the third period. In his four exhibition games, Franzen has three goals and two assists. Thus far, Franzen has been on the same line as Henrik Zetterberg and Jiri Hudler so that certainly helps with your offensive production.
ESPN the Magazine
Earlier this week, I was invited to answer some questions for ESPN the Magazine about the upcoming NHL season. You can check out my responses along with numerous other hockey bloggers’ opinions over at their website.
The Kronwall Brothers
Thanks to the tip from George at Snapshots, Staffan Kronwall was inspired by his brother’s success this past season. Like his brother, Staffan has had to deal with numerous injuries over the past three years and hopes to become a regular in the NHL. In last night’s game against Detroit, Staffan played on the third defensive pairing in just his third exhibition game this preseason.
“I kind of felt like it was me raising the Cup,” the 6 foot 4, 210 pound Staffan said. “We’re as close as brothers can be and I was so happy for him.
“It definitely gave me inspiration and motivation to work even harder. If I learned one thing it was how important you have to work as a team. There was no doubt after that first game which team was going to be raising the Stanley Cup.”
Congrats
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers is a blogger by night, but a sports writer for the Mining Journal by day. We would like to congratulate Kurt, one of our favorite Detroit sports bloggers, for a job well done and certainly a deserving honor.
Mining Journal sports writer Kurt Mensching won the top award in the category for three columns on topics as diverse as the beginning of baseball season, Northern Michigan University football and high school sportsmanship at the Superior Dome.
Judges said Mensching’s writing was “funny” and “stood out as very clean.”
Mensching thanked the people of the Upper Peninsula for sharing their stories and for reading his.
“I’d also like to thank all my teachers at Manton High School, especially my English teacher, the late Diane Schimpke,” Mensching said.
Soap Opera Actor Cheers For Wings
During the playoffs, soap opera actor Thorsten Kaye blogged on NHL.com and attended games at the Joe. The NY Times printed a piece on Kaye’s loyalty to the Winged Wheel.
“Look at that,” Kaye said, pointing to an empty Champagne bottle signed by all the Red Wings after they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup last season. “I wish I was there to celebrate with them that night.”
Kaye saw three games of the finals in Detroit but could not make it to Game 6 in Pittsburgh, where the Red Wings raised the Cup. He was in the studio that day, but he watched most of the game in character, through his cameraman’s lens.
“My camera guy put the game on his viewfinder so that I could see it while we were filming,” Kaye said.
Still Friends
Despite Scotty Bowman leaving the Wings to advise the Chicago Blackhawks, Wings head coach Mike Babcock and Bowman will remain friends and continue to talk hockey. The two have already discussed how the Wings will be able to repeat. As you may recall, Bowman’s teams in ‘97 and ‘98 were the last to repeat as Cup champs.
“Why wouldn’t you call your friends?” Babcock said, sitting in his office while the Stanley Cup champions took a day off from training camp Thursday. “I’ve talked to him a number of times since he joined Chicago.
“A lot of the things we talk about are not just pertinent to the Red Wings, but to hockey. I can’t see that going away, I just can’t.”
Radulov: Datsyuk is “best player in planet”
I had to do some research on the KHL/NHL dispute for a media journal for my Global Media & Press Freedom class in which we compare US media and another country’s media coverage of a single event. I chose Russia and used this dispute as my first entry. While I’m not going to discuss that whole situation right now, I did come across an interview with Alexander Radulov that was posted today on Sports.Ru. He talks about a variety of things, but the one that stuck out to the Wings fan in me is Google translated as follows:
But Pavel Datsyuk said that not even minimal likelihood that now he will return to Russia.
Pavel Datsyuk - the best player the planet. Perhaps it is interesting to play it in the NHL. I chose Russia, my hockey here. I am confident in my decision and I do not want even to discuss it more. You know, if you transition the way, it is best to cross it and not dwell on the middle and five back.
I just found it interesting that Radulov said Datsyuk was the best when he could have chosen other popular Russian players like Alexander Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin. Interesting…
Text message reports Yzerman’s return
Yesterday afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings sent out an email advertising their new free service, the Red Wings Mobile News. This service will send out two text messages per day during the training camp in Traverse City as well as one message each week during preseason. It will also include game recaps, box scores, and player news.
Those who signed up for the service received an interesting text message, which stated the following:
“Breaking news,” the message read. “Steve Yzerman will come out of retirement and return to the ice in Mid November. Come to the Joe to catch the action!”
The Wings refuted this message and are currently trying to figure out how this message made its way out to fans.
Steve Violetta, Red Wings’ senior vice president of business affairs, said a third-party vendor handles the text-message system for the club and was trying to get to the bottom of the hoax Friday morning.
One possibility is they were testing the system and made an error, another is that the system got hacked.
“I promise you, he’s not coming out of retirement,” Violetta said, chuckling.
Interestingly enough, you can no longer subscribe to the service via either of the two suggested methods (a text to a certain number or through their website). I’m guessing they pulled the subscription offer to fans until this is figured out.
As George at Snapshots pointed out, Yzerman’s knee is just not healthy enough for him to play. Let’s say Yzerman wanted to pull a Brett Favre or Lance Armstrong and un-retire, he would have to have had a knee replacement on steroids or something to feel good enough to play. In past interviews, he has stated that his knee still hurts daily and this is without him skating a lot much less taking big checks from NHL players. Yzerman’s body won’t let him return even if his heart wanted to do so.
Our biggest Yzerman concern should be whether he’s going to stick with the Red Wings organization as a member of management. According to a fan who attended Fan Fest on Sunday and asked that very question, Yzerman discussed this topic with those in attendance.
“Steve, recently Ken Holland gave an interview and he said that you were ready to be a GM. That statement has struck fear in the hearts of those of us that analyze every word out of that genius’ mouth. Obviously, Ken Holland will be around for quite a while and he does an amazing job, which doesn’t give you the opportunity for quite some time. Would you consider going to another team or do you plan to be a Red Wing for your ENTIRE career?” (yeah, I’m wordy.)
That question probably didn’t make him too happy (since he’s in front of a bunch of dedicated Wings fans), but I give him a ton of credit for answering honestly… even if his answer made me sad. Basically, the legend said that he thinks sooo highly of the Wings organization. And he spent some time praising all the people in the front office. He said that he signed a contract with the Wings with the understanding that he would learn how things worked on the executive level of the business so that he could go further up the chain. Then he said that he has a lot of goals left to fulfill in his career and he may have to go to another team to fulfill them.
Wings re-sign Chelios & Quincey
It’s official, the Wings have re-signed defensemen Chris Chelios and Kyle Quincey. Financial details about the deals have not been released, but Quincey’s deal is good for two seasons. Cheli’s contract is for one season and the base salary is less than last season ($850,000), but we do not know the exact amount yet. [Update: Chelios will make $750,000 per year according to TSN.]
As expected, Chelios will find himself watching the game from the press box or wherever a bit more this year because the younger defensemen need playing time to develop.
“Obviously in my situation and age, and being on the best team in the league — you have some young guys on the team that you have to play or you’re going to lose them — so I understand the situation and I love playing here,” Chelios said. “My role, I’ve accepted that, so I’ll make the best of it. I guess I can say I’m a survivor because I’m still here at this age. But things change quick in this game. We’ll start the season and I’ll make the best of it and work hard.”
Chelios agreed to accept a lesser role this season, noting that many of the younger defensemen – namely Brett Lebda, Kyle Quincey, Derek Meech and Jonathan Ericcson — need more ice-time.
“The only difference is that guys have to play. It’s understandable,” Chelios said. “But when you watch and see what happened with Brett Favre — and I don’t put myself in the same class as him by no means — but that’s the nature of the beast. For now, I’m happy to be back, and I’m looking forward to another great year.”
Despite the decrease in salary base for Chelios, I believe the Wings will still be over the cap with these two signings so it’ll certainly be interesting to see how GM Ken Holland gets the team salary down to fit under that cap.
8/31 Quick Hits
Here are some quick links to relevant Red Wings articles and posts around the internet on this holiday weekend:
- Next Sunday (September 7), the Red Wings are hosting a Fan Fest. For just $5, fans will be able to play interactive games, take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Joe, act as a play-by-play announcer, and even ask questions to Yzerman, other players and alum. The event will last from 10am until 5pm. In addition, the Wings will be giving out prizes including signed jerseys and other merchandise. I think this is a great opportunity for the team to reach out to its fans (reminds me of the Blackhawks Convention this summer). I don’t know if there’s a limited number of tickets so you may want to buy the tickets in advance at Ticketmaster, JLA box office, or Hockeytown Authentics.
- Don’t buy the rumor that Mats Sundin is visiting Detroit this weekend and touring Joe Louis Arena. Does it look like the Wings have room under the salary cap for this guy? That’d be a no. The same article reports that Darren McCarty notified GM Ken Holland that he will likely sign the two-way contract with the Wings. Chris Chelios is also expected to make a deal when he returns to Detroit before training camp.
- Joe Pelletier at Greatest Hockey Legends, the best resource on the web when it comes to hockey biographies and historical moments, is counting down the greatest photos in hockey history. Coming in at #5 is Gordie Howe’s lying in a hospital bed with a fractured skull replying to fan mail.
- Kevin Allen at USA Today has his preseason picks for the upcoming season. It’s not too much of a surprise to see the Wings in the top spot.
- Abel to Yzerman has a series determining the Wings’ biggest rivals using six key factors. Today in Round #3, Bill looks at the Ducks also known as the Poultry over at A2Y. If I had to pick a team I personally despise the most, it’d be Anaheim. Between Chris Pronger (who I loathe), Brian Burke, the 2007 playoff loss to them, and then Schneider and Bertuzzi signing with them after said loss, there’s not much to like.
Chelios plans to return to Blackhawks
According to Chris Chelios, he hopes to return to the Chicago Blackhawks either as a player or team personnel.
“You don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” Chelios told the Chicago Tribune. “I found a new home in Detroit, but Chicago is always going to be home. My parents still live here, and I intend on coming back home here some day and spending the rest of my days here, whether it’s as a player or somehow being involved with the Blackhawks.”
Personally, I don’t see Cheli returning to play with the Blackhawks. I know he wants to play longer, but I think he’ll play long enough until his kids, who are very happy in Detroit, have graduated from high school. Once they do, I could definitely see him playing a management role with the Blackhaws, which may allow him to still go back to Detroit frequently enough to check in on his Cheli’s Chili restaurants. But that’s just my guess…
Chelios visited his hometown on Friday to show off the Stanley Cup around town. He made an appearance at the Chicago Cubs game and even sung “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and then went to the South Side and took the Cup to the White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field.
“We’ll just do a milk run all over the city,” he said. “I know I’m bringing it with the wrong team, but at least I brought it back home.”
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch had hoped to catch Cheli with the Cup this weekend so be sure to stop by his blog tomorrow to see if his plans worked out.
Wings lose more personnel this summer
According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, the Wings have lost yet another staff member this offseason. While the Wings were able to hang on to all of their key players and even boost their roster with the presence of Marian Hossa (who looks great in the Winged Wheel by the way), they have struggled to retain their personnel talent this summer. The absence of Scotty Bowman is bad enough, but the Wings have now lost two members of the coaching staff, a scout, and the assistant equipment manager. Man. Sure, it’s great to see these guys get promotions for their hard work, but did they all have to leave at once?
The biggest losses have come from the staff. Associate coach Todd McLellan was hired as head coach of the San Jose Sharks and took video coach Jay Woodcroft with him as an assistant coach.
Consultant and former coach Scotty Bowman became an advisor for the Chicago Blackhawks and will spend more time with his son, Stan, an assistant general manager.
Pro scout and former NHL head coach Bob McCammon retired, and assistant equipment manager Chris Scoppetto left to become head equipment manager of the Florida Panthers.
“You’ve had success, and other people want your people,” general manager Ken Holland said. “We had good people. I’m disappointed that we’ve lost them, but in every case they’ve got a bigger role, a bigger paycheck.”
If the Wings season ends up being more like this year’s Tigers (which has been a huge disappointment after all of the preseason hype) than repeating as champs (or at least going far in the postseason), I think the reason may lie in the loss of key personnel and not necessarily the players on the ice. However, I believe in the wisdom of Ken Holland and Mike Babcock so I’m sure the replacements are well-qualified and will hopefully be great fits with the organization.
Team creates Kronwall scholarship
In late July, Niklas Kronwall had his day with the Stanley Cup and shared it with a local hockey school, family, friends, and the arena where he played four seasons at before leaving Sweden. Not only did he do all that, but he then went to the arena where the Jarfalla Hockey Club plays to show off the Cup in front of more than one thousand people. The club then announced the Niklas Kronwall scholarship.
Bouquets of flowers were handed to Niklas as part of a very special presentation, which included the announcement of a Niklas Kronwall scholarship. “Through hard work, humility and great talent, Niklas Kronwall has reached unprecedented heights as a sportsman,” began the proclamation. “In 27 years, Niklas has already won two Swedish league championships, the World Cup, Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup, making him a unique athlete who belongs to a very small circle of Swedish hockey. We in Järfälla Hockey are very proud of the fact that Niklas had his hockey education with us, and see him as a great ambassador for Järfälla, both on and off the ice. We want to honour Niklas by introducing a scholarship in Niklas’s name. It will go to the under-sixteen (year old) player who we feel best meets the many wonderful traits shown by Niklas Kronwall when he was at the same age: diligent work ethic, good sportsmanship both on and off the ice, having played at least five seasons in the Jarfalla Hockey system and showing the potential to continue hockey at an advanced level.” The scholarship pays the recipient 5,000 Swedish Krona, or approximately $800 US.
Congrats to Kronner!
Wings’ best and worst moves this summer
Cory at Canes Country, a great Hurricanes blog, has a new post up where he lists each NHL team’s best and worst moves of the offseason.
Best move: Signing Marian Hossa to a one-year Cup-quest deal was a brilliant move by the Wings’ management. A line of Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Hossa could very well be unstoppable.
Worst move: Getting Ty Conklin was a decent move in my opinion, but passing over Jimmy Howard again has got to have Detroit’s goaltender-of-the-future (for what seems like 10 years running) somewhat frustrated. Still, GM Ken Holland & Co. got Howard to re-sign through 2010-11.
I don’t think any hockey fan would argue with the best move being the signing of Marian Hossa. And with the Wings this year, it’s hard to determine what their worst move was. Personally, I’m quite content with Jimmy Howard getting another year to develop and having a steal of a deal Ty Conklin as the team’s back-up. So if that’s the case, what would be the worst move of the summer in my opinion? Re-signing Andreas Lilja for two more seasons. Now, I do realize that GM Ken Holland has commented that some players may be moved at training camp and has said that Lilja could be trade bait. However if Lilja stays with the team this season, that re-signing would be my pick for the Wings’ worst move this summer.
What do you guys think?
8/14 Quick Links
This is my least favorite time of the NHL offseason. A majority of the Wings moves have been made and the remaining ones tend to come closer to training camp, which is still just under a month away. The football season is gearing up so more media coverage tends to go in that direction. Not to mention the 2008 Beijing Olympics drawing the media’s attention right now. It has now been over two months since a game.
I spent the past 10 weeks as a PR intern for an agency in downtown Chicago, which was fantastic, but I didn’t spend the summer working at the Joe so I haven’t been at the arena for work since June 9th. After a long and wonderful season working there, it feels like I’ve been gone for forever. And now I’m finally back home and was eagerly looking forward to returning to the Joe for another great season, but I had a minor knee dislocation last week, sprained my LCL, and may have torn my lateral meniscus so I’m on “bedrest” for the next two weeks and sadly must delay my return to the rink until I heal up. I’m getting antsy and just can’t wait for hockey to return.
Despite this time of the season, there still is some relevant Wings coverage out there so I’m going to touch on these items (including some items I missed over the past couple of weeks).
Aaron Downey close to signing with Wings
According to a report in the Detroit Free Press (hat tip to Kukla’s Korner), Aaron Downey is close to re-signing with the Detroit Red Wings. It is a two-way contract (as GM Ken Holland said it would be earlier this summer) for this upcoming season. He would make $100,000 with the Griffins and $575,000 with the Wings.
The NHL Players Association web site no longer lists Downey as unsigned. The web site lists Downey as a Wing with compensation of $575,000 for the 2008-08 season.
I spoke to Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill shortly before noon and he said “we’re very close” to signing Downey to a one-year, two-way contract.
I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say this again. Yzerman is my favorite all-time player. Kronwall is my favorite current player. Downey is my favorite player to talk to (and the easiest to talk to). He is a great guy - down to earth and fun to talk to. His attitude was a great fit for the locker room and I’m happy to see him returning for another season even if he is in GR for a lot of the time.
Wings forward lines?
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch has his take on possible lines that Mike Babcock will use this upcoming season. You can read his blog post to view his reasoning, but these are the two top lines he envisions on the ice this year.
Filppula-Datsyuk-Hossa
Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary
I find it hard not to get giddy thinking of the impact Marian Hossa will have on the roster. And how sweet do our top two lines look?
NHL Division Rankings
Adam Proteau at The Hockey News ranks the six NHL divisions and the Central Division comes in at number four.
4. Central. I know, I know, the presence of the Red Wings alone makes the Central a division to reckon with. The burgeoning Blackhawks and never-say-die Predators also help in that regard – and the fact that more than half of Detroit’s regular season losses came at the hands of teams in their division is a fact that’s nothing to sneeze at, either.
The Blue Jackets and Blues are playoff dark horses, but even then, both of those franchises have a handful of young talent to build around. In sum, there could be many more Cups bound for the Central Division and not just to Michigan. Just not for a couple more years.
Spector’s season prediction: Wings win back-to-back title
Spector predicts that the Wings will take home the silver trophy for a second straight season. It will certainly be a challenging season and injuries play a huge role in the success of a team so I wouldn’t say the Wings have got it in the bag, but I do like their chances for a repeat should the key players stay healthy come playoff time. Outside of injuries, the biggest challenge the Wings will face is the loss of Todd McLellan, __, and Scotty Bowman. Bowman’s absence will hurt the most, especially since he left for a division rival.
The defending champion Detroit Red Wings will likely be the consensus pick to become the first club since the 1998 Red Wings to repeat, although that was a considerably different version from the club that won it all this year.
Most experts will point to the Wings keeping their Cup-winning roster practically intact while adding more offensive punch in winger Marian Hossa as the reason they’ll win it in 2009. Some might even be tempted to suggest the Wings could become the first team in over a quarter century to win three consecutive Cups.
Recent winners Anaheim, Carolina and Tampa Bay lost too many key players to free agency, leaving their respective front offices scrambling for affordable replacements that ultimately proved ineffective in bolstering a return to the Final.
Wings sign McCrimmon and McKittrick to staff
The Wings filled out their coaching staff with the signings of Brad McCrimmon and Keith McKittrick. For more details, you can check out my blog post at Winging It In Motown. In keeping with tradition, both of these guys have the “Mc” prefix in their last name. It has done well for the team in the past so I don’t mind continuing this trend.