On the Wings

According to the Detroit Free Press, assistant coach Barry Smith is not thinking about going to coach for the Pens. HNIC commenters had said on Saturday that the Penguins might be interested in Smith, who wants to be a head coach. He says he would have to be offered a very good deal for him to be willing to leave Hockeytown. Way to go, Barry.

Chris Chelios has withdrawn from the US national team because of family comittments and personal reasons.

The Detroit News says the Wings aren’t likely to do much on the open market this off season. Their first priority is resigning their own players, Larionov, McCarty, Woolley and Fedorov. Yzerman is an UFA but if he’s playing next year, he will be resigned so there are no worries there. While I think that’s okay for the most part, I kind of hope they go after Todd Marchant of Edmonton. The Wings could use a couple more tough forwards.

The News has an interesting article on Igor Larionov and the possibility of his return next year.

The Wild did the unthinkable last night, beating the Avs 3-2 in OT to extend the series to 7 games. The scary thing for Avs fans must be the fact that the Wild were up 2-0 in the 3rd and the Avs had to come back to go into OT and still lose it. The GWG scorer was Richard Park, the Wings semi-nemesis (he always seems to score when we play them…..). The next game is tonight and will be Colorado’s 5th straight Game 7. Last year the Wings embarrassed the Avs and hopefully the Wild will do something like that this year. A Wild victory would give a new look to a playoffs that already has no Red Wings. The winner of the series will face either Vancouver or St. Louis. Those two teams play tonight also, in Vancouver for their own Game 7, thanks to a comeback from the Canucks. Go Wild and go Blues!

Toronto saved their season for at least another night when they beat the Flyers last night, 2-1 in the 2nd overtime. Their next game is tonight also, in Philly. There’s a lot of good hockey tonight.

According to a Detroit News article today, I and my fellow Wings fans are to expect some turnover this off season. That’s because Ken Holland has made it clear there will be changes heading into next year. Those changes could include losing Fedorov, McCarty and Larionov to free agency. Fedorov is considered a priority and all the others come second. He could make it hard for the Wings to keep him, since he’s reportedly asking for $12 million a year, which is something the Wings most likely couldn’t pay. He turned down a 5 year, $50 million contract with the lame excuse that he wanted a longer contract. (He’s 33, five years would put him at 38…….he’s no iron man who’ll go till he’s 40, methinks). McCarty just wants more time on his contract, last I heard. The Professor might be let go, not only because of his age and price but because they need to make room for Williams and Grigorenko somewhere. The Wings will almost definitely drop Robitaille but will supposedly look to keep Woolley. Steve Yzerman’s contract is also up but there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that if he plays next year, it’ll be for the Wings. The only sticking point would be for how much he’ll be playing. I think Datsyuk is a restricted free agent. The Wings also probably have to make room for Niklas Kronvall, a Swedish defenseman who they might bring up next year. No matter what happens, the Wings aren’t likely to play the market too much this year because of the revenue lost from an early exit and with the big contracts needing to be signed. Give us something to pay attention to in the next few weeks before the Awards. UGH!

Ted Kulfan’s Red Wings grades came out today. Again, they are pretty accurate, if a little soft on some guys.

I saw today that Igor might be going back to Russia to play for his old club team for their playoff run. Cheli was named to preliminary roster of the US national team. He’d compete in the World Championships in Helsinki on Saturday.

The Stars eliminated the Oilers last night in Game 6. The score was 3-2. I wish the Oilers had been able to hold on and upset Dallas but I guess they couldn’t. The Stars will play Anaheim in the 2nd round. Colorado couldn’t beat the Wild last night (they lost 3-2) and they now lead the series 3-2 (instead of 3-1). Game 6 is Monday and is at home for Minnesota. The crowd will be going crazy there, I’m sure. I wouldn’t want to be the Avs, on the Wild home ice, even though the Wild most likely won’t win. The Flyers made sure their game didn’t go into OT with the Leafs and won 4-1. The next Blues/Canucks game is tonight @ 7 in St. Louis. The Blues have a chance to put Vancouver away (sorry Lisa) and hopefully they will.

I hope everyone has a great Easter! Remember what it’s really about.

I watched most of the 2nd period of the Canucks/Blues game last night. I noticed a lot of things that had been missing in the Wings/Ducks series. Hitting, intensity, effort, skilled plays, excitement and, most of all, goals. That’s what the Wings had last year and they didn’t have it this year. It’s too bad the defending Stanley Cup champions couldn’t find it in themselves to play like the other playoff teams; with passion.

Someone brought up the point on an e-mail list that we can’t judge the first round until the 2nd round is over. I guess that’s true. He said that for all the fans feeling bad about the Ducks sweeping the Wings because maybe the Ducks will continue on and not get rocked by whoever they play next. One side of me wants the Ducks to get destroyed but another side of me knows that will just make the Wings look worse. Even though the Ducks played well, I don’t think they have what it takes to beat a team that is playing like a playoff team, unlike the Wings. When they face a team that will hit them and play with intensity, I think the Ducks will fold and JS Giguere will fall apart. Maybe I’m wrong but I know that the Wings could have beaten the Ducks, if they had played like they are able. They didn’t play to their ability so they lost.

The Freep’s Wings corner said today that some Red Wings players will go to play in the IIHF World Championships. Maltby, Draper and Dandenault will play for Canada. Datsyuk will play for Russia. Zetterberg is 90% sure he’ll go play for Sweden. Lidstrom said he won’t go. Chelios may play for the US. At least the guys will have something to do.

There also is a quote from Chelios: “We feel we’ve cheated everybody by what we’ve done.” That’s how we feel about you too, Cheli. Thanks for admitting it.

Check out Nick Cotsonika’s Red Wings grades. He lets some guys off pretty easy but is fairly accurate, in my opinion, with most of the players.

The Canucks won last night (congratulations Lisa) and kept their playoff hopes alive for at least one more game (GO BLUES!). The Lightning actually came back and are now leading their series 3-2. Today’s games: Toronto @ Philadelphia (2-2), Minnesota @ Colordao (3-1) and Dallas @ Edmonton (3-2).

Mitch Albom’s article is really good today.

I’m still unbelieving. I never would have expected this. Ever. I’m not sure if I really believed the Wings would win the Cup, I knew they could but also knew they might not. Even so, I never thought they’d lose in the first round, especially swept. I thought that if they were going to lose, it’d be in the Conference Finals or at least against Colorado or Dallas, not the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. I expect the Ducks to be destroyed in the next round by whoever they play. Because that would be typical.

The Blues have a chance to advance tonight, they’re up 3-1 in the series with the Canucks. I can’t say I’m surprised (sorry Lisa), because the Canucks really aren’t that deep. They have an awesome first line though and it’s too bad they couldn’t face a team with less depth so they could advance past the first round.

Ottawa and New Jersey advanced. Not surprised about that either. I will be surprised if the Sens make the Finals though. Dallas is up 3-2 in their series with the Oilers, which sucks. Hopefully the Oilers will hang on Saturday and make it go to 7. I don’t know why I care, actually. It’s not like it will affect the Wings at all, not any more. Same with the Avs, they’re up 3-1 and can finish of the poor Wild on Saturday. Toronto and Philly keep going back and forth, looks like they’ll go to 7. I’m really surprised the Lightning came back and tied the Caps at 2 games.