Here’s a 5 day old column that’s still relevant. It basically says the Wings must do everything they can to make a run at the Cup next year because the CBA will run out in September 2004. A lockout is very possible and that whole season will probably be lost. When a new agreement is reached, there will most likely be a salary cap, which could be around $32 million. A salary cap like that would rip the Wings apart, if the lost season doesn’t do that beforehand. Players like Yzerman, Hull and Chelios will almost certainly be done after next season, especially if there is no ‘04-’05 season (Hull has said that if there is a lockout, he’s done because he can’t go a year without playing). Lidstrom could even decide to go back to Sweden (he’s been saying he will for years). The Wings would have their young guys left and would still be a good team but much there will be little chance of getting experienced players if they can’t spend the money. Next year has to be the year.
Monthly Archive for April, 2003Page 2 of 9
It’s happening again. The Ducks beat the Stars in the 5th overtime last night, 4-3. Our buddy JS Giguere had 60 saves, 40 in OT. Turco had 51 saves. I watched some of the game and it had a lot more action than the Wings/Ducks games. There was a stretch of play in the 3rd where it was end to end for about 5 minutes, with clutching and grabbing being the main ways players were kept from scoring. The Ducks looked to be getting all the lucky breaks once again because the Stars had many chances where the puck went just wide or a pass went bad. I’m pulling for the Ducks, even though the fanatic in me wants the Ducks to be destroyed. You can’t judge the 1st round until the 2nd round is over so if the Ducks beat the Stars, theoretically, the Wings don’t look so bad, even though every Wings fan knows what would have happened had the Wings faced the Stars. Four of four games with the Stars were ties this season. That would have been an exciting series but we got stuck with the boring, lucky Ducks……
Anyway, the other playoff game last night was between the Devils and the Lightning. The Devils shut out the Lightning and won 3-0. Is anyone surprised about that? I’m not. The Devils get a lead and then shut down the other team using their insanely boring system and Martin Brodeur’s brillancy. I wouldn’t expect the Lightning to win any games in the series.
The Wild play the Canucks tonight in Vancouver @ 10:30 EST (stupid West Coast games…ugh!). Though I’ve said I’ll be cheering for the Wild, I’m actually struggling to decide which team I really will cheer for. I like the Wild and they beat the Avs, those are good reasons to cheer for them. On the other hand, they have an incredibly boring system that will probably end up killing exciting, offensive hockey in the future (I can only hope that as the Wild get more talent, Lemaire will begin to use another system). I’m not sure if I want to cheer for a team that plays a suffocating style like that. The problem I have with cheering for the Canucks is that they’re coached by Marc Crawford, the former Avs head coach who almost took Bowman down a few years ago. I guess I’ll be glad when the Wild win but not mad when the Canucks do. I won’t be able to watch many of the games anyway, since they’re all on late and school starts up again next week.
The other game tonight is the Ottawa/Philadelphia game. I have nothing to say about this except I hope the Sens win, even though I’m not so sure they will. Lack of toughness.
This also was in USATODAY a couple days ago:
News: Steve Rucchin is being heralded as the next great defensive forward after his first-round shutdown of Sergei Fedorov.
Views: I’ve always like Rucchin and have thought that he’s one of the most underrated centers in the league. But let’s face it, folks, as a defensive whiz he’s an imposter. He had the Ducks’ third-worst plus/minus this season, marking his third straight season of declining plus/minus marks. It was a lot easier for Rucchin to post positive plus/minus marks when Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya were racking up those impressive offensive numbers from 1996 to 2001.
His main value now to the Ducks is his ability to win faceoffs. He didn’t so much shut down Fedorov in the first round; he frustrated the Wings with faceoff wins and getting in the neutral zone once in a while. But everyone in the NHL knows Rucchin takes a few nights off during the season. It’s funny how the playoffs so drastically change the makeup of some players’ games.
I’ve said Sergei Fedorov is the Wings most important free agent. He still is, but only if he plays through things like the Rucchin shadow. He did not play through it this year, he instead played with no passion and is one of the biggest reasons the Wings did not advance. Last year, he was one of the biggest reasons the Wings won the Cup. If Segei can find consistency, he’ll be worth that $10 million. As it is right now, giving him that much would be a gamble because he has not shown that he will play 100% the majority of the time throughout his career. He had a good regular season but a terrible playoff, not because of Steve Rucchin but because he did not give the effort needed to succeed. Just like the rest of the Wings. With Yzerman close to retirement, Sergei needs to begin taking up a leadership role on this team, he has the talent and he can be just as good as Forsberg, if he would just play.
Today’s interesting quote:
“This is not a hockey team, it’s a cult. They’ve got a total buy-in on their system, they work hard and they’ve got excellent team speed. It’s going to be a very, very difficult opponent for us.”
- Vancouver GM Brian Burke on the Minnesota Wild
A lot of people around here seem to think Barry Smith will leave for Pittsburg, even though he’s said he won’t unless he gets a really great offer. I’m not sure if that will happen but I know that if it is, I hope it happens soon because I want the Wings to get Igor Larionov to be a coach. I don’t think they should let him leave the organization but I’m not sure they can play him any more, with the young guys coming up next year. He is worth too much in experience and abilitty to let him go and not have him around the rookies. He’s helped out Datsyuk and look at how good he is. I think the Wings should ask Igor to coach, maybe even if Smith doesn’t leave. It’s not like a player hasn’t gone directly from playing to being a coach, Fetisov did it with the Devils and I think Granato did it with the Avs (though that didn’t turn out so well….). The Wings need to keep him in the organization, at least.
This was in USATODAY a couple days ago:
News: Sergei Fedorov may leave the Red Wings.
Views: The unrestricted free agent has said publicly that he wants to return to Detroit, but the Red Wings suddenly have some financial concerns. They have to find money to pay free agents like Fedorov, Darren McCarty and Steve Yzerman, and they need to make a difficult decision regarding Igor Larionov, who has said he’d like to return to the club next season (and who, by the way, was arguably the team’s best forward during the second half of the season and during their truncated postseason).
Fedorov will be heavily courted by the Rangers, the only team that can realistically afford him. I wrote several months ago that Fedorov has told friends that he would like to play in California, most likely in Los Angeles. Many of you wrote to me to tell me I was way off base, and yet hockey commentator Al Morganti has said the same thing. The fact is, though, the only way the Kings could afford Fedorov is if they dumped significant salary.
But the very real possibility exists that Fedorov might leave the Wings. He talks a good game, but he feels deep down that he has long been underappreciated by the Wings and their fans, and his father is always after him to ditch Detroit. Stay tuned.
Sergei is the Wings most important free agent. They have to sign him. Hopefully he won’t be greedy and ask for more than the Wings can pay, especially since his playoffs sucked.
This was in the Globe and Mail yesterday:
The Red Wings can�t blame Curtis Joseph for their demise. They scored only six goals against Anaheim, and that wasn�t nearly enough to overcome Giguere and Anaheim coach Mike Babcock�s defensive system.
GM Ken Holland has to bring in some young legs, which means veterans Igor Larionov and Luc Robitaille might be let go.
While Red Wings fans were disappointed, seizing on Joseph as a scapegoat, there was less outright anger in Detroit than in Denver where the Avalanche�s collapse after being up 3-1 in the series against a Minnesota club with one of the lowest payrolls in the NHL sparked immediate calls for drastic change.
�This was the night that will live in infamy of Denver sports history,� wrote Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla.
GM Pierre Lacroix�s firing of Bob Hartley and decision to hand Tony Granato the coaching reins are being harshly revisited. Some suggest it is time for 37-year-old goaltender Patrick Roy to retire.
�It will take weeks for the dust to settle from this loss, and even longer to wash away the stench,� wrote Kiszla, who added: �These Avs go down as the biggest chokers who ever wore a Denver uniform.�
The Avs� last five playoff series have been seven-gamers, and that was a downfall, wrote Rocky Mountain News columnist Bernie Lincicome: �You imagine the Avs unable to walk past a railroad track without tying themselves to it. It is as if they wandered under open windows waiting for a safe to fall.�
Looks like I’m not the only one who noticed that ridiculous attitude coming out of Denver. The Avs have been in the playoffs ever since the Nordiques moved to Denver so I guess people don’t know how to deal with a setback. Wings fans have had to deal with playoff disapointment for years. Get over it, Avists. They’ll be in it next year.
letsgowings.com’s Red Wings grades came out on Monday. I think these are the most accurate of the ones I’ve seen.
The guys over at Hockey Pundits had this to say today:
Never let it be said that there are players with no holes in their game. Every player in the NHL has some aspect of his game that could be honed to a finer point, the better to finish off an opponent.
Patrick Roy, at age 37, is surely the finest netminder ever to grace the NHL. He has more wins, more games, and more minutes than any man to play before him. But he has one major flaw. You can’t count on Patty in the clutch.
I’m sure there are many fans who could think of no better goalie to have in a pressure situation. How many times have you heard, either in print or on TV, that “if I HAD to win one game, I’d want Roy in the nets”? Well, don’t believe them, because when it comes to “must win” games, the finest goaltender in NHL history is rather pedestrian. Even prior to last night’s loss to the Wild, Patrick Roy’s record in game 7’s was, well, average at best. Six wins, six losses. None of those wins on the road, mind you. A .500 guy. You NEED a win? Well, St. Patrick can get you one….half the time. And now, not even half the time. Now, you’re not so sure who you want between the pipes.
Regardless of what happened last night, you’d much rather have Ed Belfour when the chips are down and it’s winner take all. Up until last night, the Eagle had rolled a 7 in game 7 four straight times. Now, due to a lack of defense in front of him, Eddie’s game 7 record is no longer perfect, but he still closes them out 80% of the time.
So you can have all the Patrick Roy you want, with all the gaudy regular season statistics, and, of course, all the Stanley Cup rings, but when the chips are down and the series needs to be won, I’d much rather fly with the Eagle rather than pray that St. Patrick might somehow see me through.
Hey! It’s every Wings fan’s favorite idiot, Woody Paige! Mr. Paige’s article is full of despair, as though the Avs have no chance of ever recovering from this tragedy. He cites the leading Avs players’ ages as evidence that they have lost their chance at a dynasty. Oh, yes, Mr. Paige, the Colorado Avalanche are SO old, I don’t know how those old geezers stayed so good for so long……. Wait a second, your oldest player (Patty Wah) is 38? How old is Sakic? 34? Foote? 32? Forsberg? 30. I dunno, Mr. Paige, it looks to me like you have a pretty good few more years coming up. The Avs aren’t as good as everyone says they are if they are too old NOW. Look at the Wings, they really ARE old and yet they will make a legitimate run at the Cup next year. No one is giving up here.
Here’s another beautiful article from the Denver Post: Avs’ choke wasn’t their first, but it was the worst. A quote: “The greatest NHL dynasty that never was died at 11:02 p.m. Causes of death: Avalanche arrogance and Wild passion.” Ahem, “the greatest NHL dynasty that never was”? What have they won, two Cups in 7 years? I think “the greatest NHL dynasty that never was” title should go to the Red Wings, winners of three Cups in 6 years. Sorry, Colorado. Another quote: “Coach Granato needs to be held accountable for blowing a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series to a Minnesota team with the lowest payroll in the entire league, and being made to look like an April fool by Wild counterpart Jacques Lemaire.” Maybe he’s right about Granato needing to be held accountable but Lemaire is a much better coach than Granato, a first year coach. Looks like firing Hartley was a BIG mistake, Mr. Lacroix.
The attitude coming out of Denver is hilarious to me. It seems like everyone is giving up. Pretty funny when you consider that this was just one playoff series and they have the youth to get it back in the future. If anyone has the right to despair, it Wings fans (first from being swept and second from the Wings age) but you don’t see most of us doing that do you? If Avs fans are ready to give up, maybe they need to re-examine their fanship because hard times come with being a sports fan. Though, maybe Patty is done, after choking two years in a row in the playoffs.
An interesting quote from Granato: “I think the biggest way to look at that is that it just shows the parity in our league - two great teams playing a good series. I think the balance we have right now is really exciting.” That was said after the Wings were eliminated by Anaheim. I wonder what Mr. Granato thinks about the league “parity” now.
Nothing to report about the Wings today, the papers are empty.
But, I do have something to say about the other playoff series. The Minnesota Wild eliminated the Colorado Avalanche last night when they won Game 7 3-2 in OT (YES!). This just about makes my day. I was going to watch the game but our power went out (stupid power company…….). I can’t believe I missed out on one of the biggest upsets in a long time. That’s five Game 7’s in a row for Colorado and two in a row lost (last year’s embarrassment was courtesy of the Detroit Red Wings) These playoffs are definitely ones for huge upsets, first the Wings, now the Avs. Who’s next??? Minnesota will play Vancouver (GO WILD!!!! (sorry Lisa)) in the 2nd round because the Canucks beat the Blues 4-1 last night in their Game 7. That sucks (sorry Lisa). I thought this might actually be the Blues’ year, with the Wings being out. Dallas is playing Anaheim, I’m hoping for an upset their too (then the Wings wouldn’t look so bad).
Oh, yeah, the Flyers advanced last night too, they beat the Leafs 6-1 in their Game 7. Yay. Maybe the Cup will actually go to the East this year, with two of the three biggest contenders gone in the West.
Yeah, right.
Here’s one for the “unrealistically hopeful” and “expecting too much” categories: Teemu Selanne has decided not to exercise a player option in his contract for next season with the Sharks. This makes him a free agent and open to offers on the free market. I’ve heard a few people wondering if he’ll come to Detroit. I doubt it, though that’d be cool. I don’t know if he’d fit into the Wings’ system anyway. Also, the Wings would only have the money to get him if Fedorov leaves and Selanne is no Fedorov replacement. He’s a great player but doesn’t have the versatility to replace Sergei.
